FILM 1995: SPECIES

FILM 1995: SPECIES 

TRIVIA: Xavier Fitch (Sir Ben Kingsley) says that the alien signal was received by the Arecibo radio telescope exactly nineteen years after an outbound message was transmitted. Since the transmissions travelled at the speed of light, that means that the alien solar system is approximately nine light-years from Earth. There are two stars which are likely candidates, Sirius and Luyten 726-8A.

Fitch's comment that they made Sil female to be more docile is an in-joke that reveals his ignorance. In every predatory species known, the female is always more aggressive.

During the production, MGM opted not to shoot the "nightmare train" sequence to keep costs down. H.R. Giger was not willing to accept that, however, so he spent one hundred thousand dollars of his own money to finance the sequence.

In scenes of Dan (Forest Whitaker) talking to his therapist, there is a sign on the wall in the background that at first glance is a typical "Thank You For Not Smoking" sign. On closer inspection the text actually reads "Thank You For Smoking".

Michelle Williams dislikes this movie, due to the amount of bullying she received after it was released.

FILM 1915: LILO & STITCH

FILM 1915: LILO & STITCH

TRIVIA: The name "Lilo" means "Generous One" and its origin is Hawaiian. It can also be interpreted as "Lost" and this would give the song title "He Mele No Lilo" a loose translation as "Lullaby of the Lost". The name Nani means "Beautiful" in Hawaiian.

Disney promoted this movie with a series of trailers inserting Stitch into some of its "classic" titles. Examples: 

The Little Mermaid (1989): Stitch surfs a wave that crashes down on Ariel.

Beauty and the Beast (1991): Stitch causes the chandelier to fall during the ballroom scene, nearly smashing Belle and the Beast

Aladdin (1992): Stitch steals Princess Jasmine from Aladdin during the "A Whole New World" magic carpet ride.

The Lion King (1994): Stitch takes Simba's place on Pride Rock during the "Circle of Life" opening.

Hawaii-born cast members Jason Scott Lee and Tia Carrere helped the writers with dialog and accents.

Although it uses computer-colored (but hand-drawn) digital cels instead of hand-painted ones, this was the first Disney animated feature to use watercolor-painted backgrounds since Dumbo (1941). A conscious effort was made to give the film a warmer, more old-fashioned look than most other modern Disney films: this film does not use the "Deep Canvas" technique used in Tarzan (1999), Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), or Treasure Planet (2002); it only contains about five shots which use either a "multiplane camera" or "3D camera" effect; and the use of tone mattes (shading/shadows on the characters) was kept to a minimum.

Like the live-action monster movie that appears briefly, photographs of Elvis Presley are real pictures and not animated drawings.

Most of the license plates in the film (the fire engine, gas tanker, and Nani's Beetle - but only at the end, not at "blue punch buggy" - plus one in Lilo's room) are A113. The same as Mrs. Davis's plate number in Toy Story (1995), Mater's plate number in Cars (2006), and also used in many other Disney and Pixar films. It is a reference to a room number at California Institute of the Arts, where many of the animators at those two companies received their educations. The fuel truck in the volcano has the license number "A113". A113 was the room for the animation department at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts; the room now houses graphic design classes). During the 1970s, directors John Musker and Ron Clements, in addition to Disney/Pixar animation executive John Lasseter and Pixar director Brad Bird, studied animation in room A113. "A113" labels are hidden in many Disney and Pixar films.

After completing this film, director Chris Sanders's next project for Disney was Bolt(2008). When John Lasseter took over as head of animation at Disney, he dismissed Sanders, who then moved on to DreamWorks Animation.

Since Lilo's parents died in a car accident, where rain made the road more treacherous, it is possible the reason she wants to appease Pudge by feeding him peanut butter sandwiches and cleaning his grove for him is because she believes he controls the weather, and that if she continues to treat him in such a manner, a similar accident to the one that killed her parents won't happen again.

FILM 1865: WAR OF THE WORLDS

FILM 1865: WAR OF THE WORLDS

TRIVIA: During the filming of the underwater scenes (where the ferry capsizes), director Steven Spielberg played a prank on Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning by playing the dramatic music from Jaws (1975) (also one of Spielberg's films) through the massive underwater speakers on the sound stage.

The tripod design for the alien machines is based on H.G. Wells' original description from his book, including the heat rays at the ends of arms. The "red weed" is also from the novel, as is the alien "need" for humans.

When the aliens are investigating the junk in the basement, one of them plays with a bicycle wheel. This is a reference to the original book; the main character observes that, with all the advanced technology the aliens possess, they do not use any wheels, and wonders if the alien life form had skipped the invention of the wheel.

Due to Steven Spielberg's last minute post-production work, he had to drop out of a scheduled appearance with Tom Cruise to promote the film on The Oprah Winfrey Show(1986). This was the episode of Cruise's highly publicized "couch jumping" incident.

An actual out-of-use Boeing 747 was bought to be used as the crashed plane.

Before David Koepp was hired, Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise asked J.J. Abrams to write the script. But, he had to turn it down, as he was working on the pilot for Lost(2004) at the time.

In 2005, the plane crash set was featured in Universal Studios Hollywood's public Studio Tour. The wreckage was located only a few feet from the infamous Psycho (1960) house and Bates Motel sets.

The opening voiceover monologue paraphrases and updates the first paragraph from H.G. Wells' novel. For example, "nineteenth century" is changed to "twenty-first century".

Tom Cruise's sixth consecutive film to break the 100 million dollar barrier domestically since 2000, and his thirteenth movie to break that barrier in total.

After her actions in the film, Dakota Fanning's character was voted 'most useless thing to have in an apocalypse' by MTV

Ray drives a rare 1966 Shelby Mustang GT-350H, black with gold stripes. 1,001 were produced in total, with around 800 being produced in the black and gold color scheme. Also known as the "Rent-A-Racer", it was available for rent at Hertz for seventeen dollars per day, and seventeen cents per mile. An original example sold at auction in 2006 for 180,900 dollars, and since a crane driver would be unlikely to own such a valuable car, it's probably one of the many replicas which have subsequently been made, worth a fraction of that.

DIRECTOR TRADEMARK: Steven Spielberg: [fathers] The main character is a divorced father whose children are angry at him, mirroring Spielberg's experience with his absentee father.

FILM 1771: A QUIET PLACE

FILM 1771: A QUIET PLACE

TRIVIA: Actress Millicent Simmonds has been deaf since infancy due to a medication overdose. This was the second film she starred in, with Wonderstruck (2017) being her first.

The bathtub scene with Emily Blunt was done in one take. According to John Krasinski, who is also Blunt's co-star and husband in real-life, as soon as he said, "Cut," Blunt immediately fell out of character and asked the crew, "What's everyone having for lunch?"

Bryan Woods and Scott Beck's original screenplay contained only one line of dialogue.

Actor-director John Krasinski has said that the single greatest compliment he received regarding the film, was in a tweet from the master of the horror story himself, Stephen King: "A QUIET PLACE is an extraordinary piece of work. Terrific acting, but the main thing is the SILENCE, and how it makes the camera's eye open wide in a way few movies manage" (6 April 2018). 

In the opening scene, most of the shelves in the grocery store are cleared off, but the chips are completely untouched because they would make too much noise to open and eat.

Bryan Woods and Scott Beck's screenplay was named one of the ten best scripts of the year on Tracking Board's 2017 Hit List, an annual list voted on by industry professionals.

During filming, the crew avoided making noise so diegetic background sounds (e.g., the sound of rolling dice on a game board) could be recorded; the sounds were amplified in post-production.

It was initially intended to leave the American Sign Language un-subtitled, believing the audience would understand the emotional subtext of what was going on--the first trailer notably does not translate the signing. However while editing the early sequence where Regan argues with her father regarding her hearing aides, it was decided by the filmmakers that the sequence would have to be translated, so then the whole movie's use of ASL became subtitled.

FILM 1768: EVOLUTION

FILM 1768: EVOLUTION

TRIVIA: David Duchovny turned down a role in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) to appear in this movie.

Initially written as a serious science-fiction thriller, Ivan Reitman hired David Diamond and David Weissman to re-write the project as a comedy. The original writer, Don Jakoby, actually enjoyed the changes so much, he continued working on the film alongside the other writers.

Shot in December, DreamWorks asked the locals to delay putting up their Christmas decorations. Following the shoot, DreamWorks paid the city employees overtime to light up the town in time for Christmas.

The placement of the element selenium in Head and Shoulders shampoo is technically correct. Though regular Head and Shoulders shampoo does not have any of the element, Head and Shoulders Intensive Treatment Shampoo actually does consist of approximately 1% selenium sulfide.

In certain point Orlando Jones's character tells David Duchovny to call the government, but he answers "No government, I know those guys". This is a reference to his character in The X Files.

FILM 1682: ALIEN: COVENANT 

TRIVIA: This movie contains a scene where a toy bird drinking water (named, aptly, a "drinky-bird") is visible. In the opening scene of Alien (1979), there is such a toy bird shown on board the Nostromo's bridge.

This was the first "Alien" film to be released after the death of H.R. Giger. Giger inadvertently designed the original "Alien" looks and environments in his "Necronomicon" book, which led to Ridley Scott hiring him as Art Director for the film (and franchise). Giger essentially gave birth to the entire "Alien" look that we all know.

Walter breaks the pattern of the androids' names proceeding in alphabetical order (Ash, Bishop, Call, David). There is another pattern to their names, however. "D" is the fourth letter of the alphabet, and "W" is the fourth-to-last. The characters are named for David Giler and Walter Hill.

FILM 1678: LIFE

TRIVIA: Actress Rebecca Ferguson who plays Dr. Miranda North, British, Quarantine Officer, originally turned down the role. She thought she would not live up to standards. She was nervous and scared. She told it to the producer and was advised to talk with the director of the movie Daniel Espinosa. His philosophy and ideas for the film impressed her and decided to change her decision and eventually take part in the movie.

Second film to be written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and feature Ryan Reynolds. The first was Deadpool (2016)

FILM 1644: ARRIVAL

TRIVIA: Director Denis Villeneuve and screenwriter Eric Heisserer created a fully functioning, visual, alien language. Heisserer, Villeneuve and their teams managed to create a "logogram bible," which included over a hundred different completely operative logo-grams, seventy-one of which are actually featured in the movie.

The inky circular alien language was created by Montreal artist Martine Bertrand. It is also the artist's son who created Hannah's drawings.

Louise tells Colonel Weber that the word 'kangaroo' comes from an historical misunderstanding, and actually means "I don't know", only to tell Ian that the story is untrue but illustrates her point. This is an actual myth, not just a made up story. It involves Lieutenant James Cook and Sir Joseph Banks who arrived in Australia in the 18th century, where they made contact with the Guugo Yimithirr, a coastal Aboriginal tribe. They were puzzled by the sight of a kangaroo, and asked a tribesman what it was. According to the myth, the tribesman responded with the word "gangurru", meaning "I don't understand" in his language. Banks mistook it for the local term for the animal, spelling it as "kanguru" in his diary. The myth was debunked in the 1970s by linguist John B. Haviland. In reality, the word gangurru specifically refers to the grey kangaroo in the Guugo Yimithirr language. When Cook and Banks traveled 1,400 miles inland, they encountered the Baagandji tribe, who were unfamiliar with the other tribe and the word gangurru, and thought it meant "unknown animal". The Baagandji then started to use the word to describe Cook's and Banks' horses.

While the shape of the ship was decided early on, Denis Villeneuve had great difficulty imagining an interior that would allow humans to easily navigate through such a steep and vertical design. The later decision to turn gravity sideways offered an obvious and convenient solution.

Ted Chiang, who wrote the story the film is based upon, approved the film, saying, "I think it's that rarest of the rare in that it's both a good movie and a good adaptation... And when you consider the track record of adaptations of written science fiction, that's almost literally a miracle."

"Dirty Sci-fi" is what director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Bradford Young called the look they created together for Arrival. Villeneuve wanted it to feel like "This was happening on a bad Tuesday morning, like when you were a kid on the school bus on a rainy day and you'd dream while looking out the window at the clouds."

Scandinavian photographer Martina Hoogland Ivanow was a major influence on cinematographer Bradford Young's look of this film, especially with her exhibition and book "Speedway."

In writing the story, Ted Chiang had in mind the following quote of the great physicist Albert Einstein: "The distinction between the past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."

The siren emitted throughout the movie signaling the scientists' preparation to approach the ship is identical to the siren used in The Purge (2013) and its sequels.

Abbott and Costello resemble Kang and Kodos, the aliens from The Simpsons (1989) Treehouse of Horror segments.