FILM 1521: THE BLIND SIDE

TRIVIA: When Quinton Aaron auditioned for the film, he was working as a security guard between acting gigs. After his audition, he left a card with his contact information and offered to work as a security guard on the set in case he wasn't selected to play Michael Oher.

Collins Tuohy, an A student, rearranged her schedules, and dropped out of several advanced placement classes, to share more classes with Michael Oher and help him graduate.

The Lawrence Taylor hit on Joe Theismann happened November 18, 1985, during a Monday Night Football game between the Giants and Redskins. It was the most gruesome injury ever seen on a nationally-televised regular season NFL game. Taylor, who frantically motions for help after the hit, claims that he has never seen replays of it, and never wants to.

Julia Roberts was offered the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy before Sandra Bullock, who turned it down three times because of her concerns about playing the part of a devout Christian. During the first couple of weeks of shooting, Bullock thought her acting was so bad she considered dropping out. John Lee Hancock had worked so hard on the project she didn't want to ruin it. However, she didn't quit and ended up winning the Best Leading Actress Oscar for her performance.

Michael Oher was an experienced football player when he enrolled at Briarcrest. He developed into a premier left tackle, and was heavily recruited by top schools in the Southeastern Conference. Oher was less than pleased by the movie's depiction of him as passive, unskilled big guy who was only barely acquainted with football. Nor was he enamored by the Forrest Gump (1994)-like depiction of himself in the film.

While Miss Sue fibs to Michael about where the bodies are stored, she is telling the truth about the University of Tennessee and its association with the FBI. The University has a facility, started by William Bass (often called BARF - Bass Anthropological Research Facility), that does study the stages of decomposition of human remains in a variety of scenarios.

When the Tuohys are riding home from S.J. Tuohy's school play, Sean Tuohy says the "quesadilla saved our ass". According to the book, Taco Bell sales were down at one time and Sean's stores were in some financial trouble. Then, Taco Bell introduced the quesadilla and sales increased and Sean's stores prospered.

The highest-grossing sports drama of all time.

Sandra Bullock took a pay cut to make the film and agreed to a percentage of the film's profits, which turned out to be considerable.

The first time a movie marketed with a sole actress's name above the title grossed over $200 million.

The real Michael Oher (born in 1986) is two years younger than Quinton Aaron (born in 1984).

Among the texts on the set-list proposed by Miss Sue are Tale Of Two Cities and Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, and Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. All concern transformation of the protagonist into an improved person, and the latter two particularly by protagonists born in poverty.

FILM 1181: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

TRIVIA: As the film progresses, the set of the Kowalski apartment actually gets smaller to heighten the suggestion of Blanche's increasing claustrophobia.

Vivien Leigh, who suffered from bipolar disorder in real life, later had difficulties in distinguishing her real life from that of Blanche DuBois.

Vivien Leigh had already played Blanche in the first London production of the play, under the direction of her then-husband, Laurence Olivier. She later said that Olivier's direction of that production influenced her performance in the film more than did Elia Kazan's direction of the film.

Vivien Leigh, who was only 36 at the time of filming, had to be made up to look older.

Despite giving the definitive portrayal of Stanley Kowalski, Marlon Brando said he privately detested the character. However, it should be added that Brando was an eccentric character who loved misleading people and playing pranks.

As of 2014, it is one of only two films in history to win three Academy awards for acting. The other is Network (1976).

BOOK 104: THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER: CARSON MCCULLERS

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) is the debut novel by the American author Carson McCullers; she was 23 at the time of publication.

When published it created a literary sensation, enjoying a meteoric rise to the top of the bestseller lists in 1940; it was the first in a string of works by McCullers that give voice to those who are rejected, forgotten, mistreated or oppressed.

The Modern Library ranked the novel seventeenth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Time magazine included it in TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.In 2004 the novel was selected for Oprah's Book Club.

British artist Joe Simpson referenced McCullers' book in his painting of the same title 'The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter' in 2014. The painting shows two characters both reading the book on the London Underground, it is taken from his ongoing series 'London'