FILM 2005: KISS KISS BANG BANG

FILM 2005: KISS KISS BANG BANG 

TRIVIA: Shane Black's directorial debut.

As a show of support for Robert Downey Jr.'s recovery from alcohol and drugs, Val Kilmerrefused to drink during the entire production.

The film was given a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.

Val Kilmer's depiction of Gay Perry is generally considered to be the first openly gay character to front a Hollywood action movie.

Robert Downey Jr.'s favorite movie of his own.

In reference to the "Ike, Mike, and Mustard" quote, Mike and Ike are boxed candies in mixed colors of black and white and are also diner slang for salt and pepper shakers. Also, pre-1950s, an "Ike, Mike, and Mustard" joke was an off color joke, generally with sexual references, that wouldn't be told in polite or mixed company.

Shane Black read several stories by Raymond Chandler when writing this script. As a result, the story is divided into chapters and the chapter titles come from Chandler works. Specifically: 1. "Trouble is My Business", 2. "The Lady in the Lake", 3. "The Little Sister", 4. "The Simple Art of Murder", and Epilogue: "Farewell, My Lovely".

The phrase "kiss kiss, bang bang" appeared in the 1960s as an overseas slang for spy movies, especially James Bond movies. It was popular in Europe and Japan. It first appeared as a film title for Kiss Kiss - Bang Bang (1966), a 1966 spy comedy made in Spain with Italian financing. It was also the title of famed critic Pauline Kael's second published collection of reviews. Kael wrote that she chose the words as her title because they are "perhaps the briefest statement imaginable of the basic appeal of movies."

Early in production, Warner Brothers considered Benicio Del Toro for Harry, and Hugh Grant for Gay Perry.

The film is credited as being based (very loosely) on Bodies Are Where You Find Them, by Brett Halliday. This was the fifth novel (of more than 70) in the Mike Shayne detective series, originally published in 1941. Brett Halliday was the pen name of Davis Dresser, who created the character and wrote the first thirty novels, stepping down from the job in 1958. Dell Publishing hired other writers to pen the rest, sometimes assisted by Dresser; all of them continued to use the Brett Halliday pen name. The book covers of the Johnny Gossamer paperbacks created for the film are based on Dell's cover design for the Mike Shayne series from the early 1950s to mid 1960s. Bodies Are Where You Find Them was reprinted by Dell with this cover design in 1959.

CAMEO: Laurence Fishburne: Voice of the bear in the fake beer commercial.

FILM 1973: THE SNOWMAN

FILM 1973: THE SNOWMAN

TRIVIA: Martin Scorsese was originally attached to direct this movie. He remained on board as executive producer.

Tomas Alfredson has said that production was too rushed. He came on board late, and reckons that up to 15% of the screenplay was never filmed. Location filming in Norway was shortened so production could move to London, which compromised the story.

Featured on episode 209 on the podcast "How Did This Get Made?".

The ringtone of Rakel's phone is cover of Edvard Grieg's piece "In the Hall of the Mountain King".

All of Val Kilmer's lines are dubbed throughout the film. According to a Reddit AMA in May 2017, Kilmer disclosed that he had "a healing of cancer," and his tongue "was still swollen although healing all the time."

Jonny Greenwood created a score that was not used.

FILM 1971: MINDHUNTERS

FILM 1971: MINDHUNTERS

TRIVIA: The primary reason the film was able to be done on such a modest budget was due to a generous tax break from the Dutch government.

Val Kilmer's next role was as the infamous porn legend John Holmes in Wonderland(2003). In order to secure Kilmer's participation, he was allowed to grow out his hair during the filming of this movie. 

The studio did not cast any character as a lead. Director Renny Harlin wanted no dummy characters or obvious victims and established a sense that "anyone could die at any moment" in the film.

A large part of the movie was filmed on the location where the Dutch anti riot police (Mobiele Eenheid) is trained. It's a fake village where riots are simulated. There are still some traces of the movie. For instance, there still hangs a large poster on a wall, as can be seen in the movie.

DIRECTOR CAMEO: Renny Harlin: a mannequin holding a phone in a phone booth late in the film.

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK: Renny Harlin: [Finland] When the others leave Vince and Gabe alone in the basement room, Finland's flag is seen on the wall