FILM 2010: DEAR JOHN

FILM 2010: DEAR JOHN

TRIVIA: On its opening weekend in the United States, it went to number one, becoming the film to finally end the reign of James Cameron's Avatar (2009), which had sat at the top of the box office for seven consecutive weeks.

"Dear John" is military slang for a letter from a girlfriend breaking up with a soldier.

The character of Alan was inspired by writer Nicholas Sparks' son, who is afflicted with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism.

Amanda Seyfried wrote the song Savannah sings to John. Titled "Little House," the whole song is featured on the movie's soundtrack.

FILM 1894: HULK

FILM 1894: HULK

TRIVIA: Creating the Hulk in CGI was one of the most complex tasks Industrial Light & Magic had ever undertaken at that time. The computer model used 12,996 texture maps, and required 1,165 muscle movements and one hundred layers of skin. It took the combined work and efforts of about one hundred eighty ILM technicians (sixty-nine technical artists, forty-one animators, thirty-five compositors, ten muscle action animators, nine CG modellers, eight supervisors, six skin painters and five motion-capture wranglers), over two and a half million hours, and one and a half years for him to be effectively created and portrayed in the film. With all of that work, some of the public complained that the Hulk looked too fake, comparing him with Shrek (2001).

Edward Norton was approached to play Bruce Banner, but turned it down, as, despite being a fan of the Hulk, he didn't like the script. He later accepted the role in The Incredible Hulk (2008).

A lot of the microbiology work we see on-screen is real, and is the work of Director Ang Lee's wife.

According to the animators at Industrial Light & Magic, the Hulk weighs 3,452 pounds (1,565.8 kilograms), and can exert fourteen tons of pressure per square inch. His skin is ten times as strong as Kevlar. His chest measures seventeen feet and four inches (5.3 meters), his waist twelve feet and ten inches (3.3 meters), his foot four feet and three inches (1.3 meters), and his neck six feet and nine inches (2 meters). If he wore shoes, they would be (U.S.) size eighty-seven. He can move at a top speed of three hundred miles (four hundred eighty-three kilometers) per hour, and cross three to four miles (4.8 to 6.4 kilometers) in a single jump.

Nick Nolte had his hair grown wildly for this movie when he was arrested on drunk driving charges and photographed for his now infamous mug shot.

Ang Lee performed the Hulk using motion-capture technology.

Ang Lee employed the split-screen technique to cinematically mimic the panels of a comic-book page. This required many takes of one scene, which was draining for Eric Bana. It took him four takes to film Banner's first Hulk transformation, and by the time of its completion, he was on the verge of collapse.

This film holds the record for largest second weekend box-office drop for a film that opened at number one, with a 69.7 percent drop.

When the first transformation of Banner into Hulk occurs, the color of the Hulk is either gray or greenish-gray. This is an homage to the first appearance of the Hulk, when he was actually gray in his debut comic (May 1962). The publisher couldn't do gray very well, so Stan Lee changed the color to green, simply because green hadn't been used much by other characters. From the second transformation, he maintains his prominent emerald hue.

CAMEO:Lou Ferrigno: (At around twelve minutes) As a security guard. 

CAMEO: Stan Lee: (At around twelve minutes) The creator of the Hulk (1962) appeared as a security guard. Lee ad-libbed his lines.

FILM 1798: DUNKIRK

FILM 1798: DUNKIRK

TRIVIA: According to actor-director Kenneth Branagh, roughly 30 Dunkirk survivors, who were in their mid-90s, attended the premiere in London. When asked about the film, they felt that it accurately captured the event but that the soundtrack was louder than the actual bombardment, a comment that greatly amused director Christopher Nolan.

Christopher Nolan, along with his wife Emma Thomas and a friend, made the crossing from England to Dunkirk on a boat, the way the civilians would have done during the original evacuation. Nolan said it took 19 hours because of sea conditions.

After first-hand accounts of the Dunkirk evacuation revealed to Christopher Nolan how young and inexperienced the soldiers were, he decided to cast young and unknown actors for the beach setting.

Director Christopher Nolan rode in the Spitfire shown in the movie in order to get a sense of the aerial feel of the fighter plane, and to help him shoot and provide a realistic experience of the dogfights.

Told from three points of view: on the beach with the infantry (including Fionn Whiteheadand Harry Styles), the evacuation by the navy (featuring Cillian Murphy and Mark Rylance, showing how civilians came to the rescue) and then in the air (with Tom Hardyengaging in plane combat). Speaking about the narrative structure in "Premiere" magazine, Christopher Nolan stated: "For the soldiers who embarked in the conflict, the events took place on different temporalities. On land, some stayed one week stuck on the beach. On the water, the events lasted a maximum day; and if you were flying to Dunkirk, the British Spitfires would carry an hour of fuel. To mingle these different versions of history, one had to mix the temporal strata. Hence the complicated structure; even if the story is very simple. Do not repeat it to the studio: it will be my most experimental film."

The ticking sounds that serve as a crucial theme on the film's score were recorded by composer Hans Zimmer from one of director Christopher Nolan's own pocket watches. He then put the sounds into synthesizers and altered them in different ways for the soundtrack.

Charles Lightoller, the most senior surviving officer of the RMS Titanic, participated in the Dunkirk evacuation with his private motor yacht, "The Sundowner". The craft has been preserved by the Ramsgate Maritime Museum in England.

Dunkirk (2017) is the seventh film between Christopher Nolan and Michael Caine after Batman Begins (2005), The Prestige (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) and Interstellar (2014). Caine appears in an uncredited voice cameo (he's the voice on the radio talking to a Royal Air Force officer early in the film) . Caine previously portrayed a Royal Air Force officer in the movie Battle of Britain.

The scene in which Tom Hardy's character's Spitfire lands on Dunkirk beach was real; done on location with an actual Spitfire in flight, and was the first time a plane landed on that beach since 1940. After the scene was completed, however, the Spitfire became stuck in the sand. There was subsequently a frantic rush to get the valuable Spitfire out off the beach before the incoming tides could damage it.

The film was shot on the actual beach at Dunkirk where the evacuation took place. When scouting for the film, director Christopher Nolan found a button from an English soldier's uniform in the sand.

FILM 1797: JACK REACHER

FILM 1797: JACK REACHER

TRIVIA: Coincidentally, the source novel, "One Shot" by Lee Child, specifically references (though not by name) the film A Few Good Men (1992), which starred Tom Cruise. In the novel, Reacher reflects upon a line of dialogue spoken by Jack Nicholson's character.

Rosamund Pike was pregnant with son Solo during the shooting for this film.

Robert Duvall's character is seen using empty .38 special cartridge cases as ear plugs. This goes back to the 1950s. Since he was an old timer, he would have done this.

Jai Courtney and Josh Helman had so much trouble with the American accent required for their roles, that several planned scenes were scrapped, and many of Courtney's lines were dropped from the sides.

Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman, Vince Vaughn, Jamie Foxx, and Will Smith were considered for the role of Jack Reacher before Tom Cruise was cast.

Reacher asks Helen "Drop me at the auto parts store". When she says "Which one?" he explains that he wants the one that "stands out in your mind as *the* auto part store". In the next sequence, the actual auto part store sign is visible: it is called "DeFault Auto Parts".

CAMEO: Lee Child: The film's source novelist as a Police Desk Sergeant, and the cop that gives Jack Reacher his personal belongings back when he leaves jail.

FILM 1598: FROM HERE TO ETERNITY

TRIVIA: Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster were romantically involved during filming.

Montgomery Clift threw himself into the character of Prewitt, learning to play the bugle (even though he knew he'd be dubbed) and taking boxing lessons. Fred Zinnemann said, "Clift forced the other actors to be much better than they really were. That's the only way I can put it. He got performances from the other actors, he got reactions from the other actors that were totally genuine."

The now classic scene between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr in the rushing water on the beach was not written to take place there. The idea to film with the waves hitting them was a last minute inspiration from director Fred Zinnemann.

The MPAA banned photos of the famous Burt Lancaster-Deborah Kerr passionate kiss on the beach for being too erotic. Many prints had shortened versions of the scene because projectionists would cut out frames to keep as souvenirs.

An urban myth regarding the casting of Frank Sinatra was that the Mafia made Columbia Pictures an offer they couldn't refuse. This of course was fictionalized in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather (1972) and its subsequent film adaptation. The real reason for Sinatra's casting was mainly his then-wife Ava Gardner, who was shooting a film for Columbia head Harry Cohn and suggested to him that he use Sinatra. Although initially reluctant, Cohn eventually saw this as being a good idea, as Sinatra's stock was so low at the time that he would sign for a very low salary. Sinatra had been lobbying hard for the role,even suggesting he would do it for nothing, but he was eventually hired for the token amount of $8,000.

In the book, Karen Holmes reveals that the reason why she can't have children was because her adulterous husband infected her with gonorrhea which led to her having to have a hysterectomy. Naturally this was far too racy for 1953 film censors so had to be toned down.

In the bar scene where Magio asks Prewett for a cigarette he says "gimme a nail." A nail was a nail for his coffin. This was a common expression popular at the time that referred to the health hazards from smoking.

At the time of the original novel's release, it was dubbed "From Here to Obscenity" because of its frank content and profane language. The book was banned in libraries across the US for years.

Frank Sinatra credited Burt Lancaster and Montgomery Clift with helping him find his feet dramatically for the film. Prior to this, most of Sinatra's film engagements had been comedic roles or in musicals but by working alongside such heavyweight actors, Sinatra was able to hone his craft in new directions. Indeed, he and Lancaster remained friends for the rest of their lives. Sadly, the relationship with Clift was not so long-lasting. Three years after From Here to Eternity (1953), Clift was involved in a life-altering car crash that required facial reconstruction and left him addicted to pain medication. This, coupled with his alcoholism, made him a very different person from the actor who played Prewitt. At a party thrown by Sinatra, Clift made a drunken pass at one of the singer's entourage that ended up with him being thrown out of the party and denied access to Sinatra and his inner circle.

Montgomery Clift had real difficulty letting the character of Prewitt go after filming was completed and would often rock up drunk in Hollywood drinking establishments with his bugle and Hawaiian shirts.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

The beach used many years later for the love scene with Henry and Lucy in 50 First Dates (2004) (QV)

CAMEO: James Jones: in the background chatting with hostesses and other soldiers over Ernest Borgnine's shoulder as Fatso (Borgnine) plays the piano at the New Congress Club.

FILM 1477: THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS 

TRIVIA: This film was very rarely shown in France until recently, and the torture scenes were cut in the US and UK.

The only film in Oscar history to be a nominee in two separate non-consecutive years. It was a foreign film nominee for 1966, and then a nominee for screenplay and direction for 1968.

Director Gillo Pontecorvo and composer Ennio Morricone had regular disagreements over the movie's score. At one point, Pontecorvo had a melody stuck in his mind which he desperately wanted as a theme in the movie. He went to Morricone's apartment to play it for him, and hummed the tune all the way up to the top floor. Then Morricone asked him to wait with the tune, since he had conceived a melody of his own. To Pontecorvo's surprise, the tune was exactly the same as the one he had in mind, and he was delighted to find out that after all those months of struggling, they had finally found something, separate from each other, on which they could agree. It wasn't until months later at the Venice film festival that Morricone admitted that he had pulled a prank on him; he had already heard Pontecorvo humming the song while coming up the stairs, and decided to pretend he had come up with the same melody himself.

In 2003, the New York Times reported that the Pentagon screened this film for officers and civilian experts who were discussing the challenges faced by the US military forces in Iraq. The flier inviting guests to the screening read: "How to win a battle against terrorism and lose the war of ideas".

The movie is famous for using almost only non-professional actors, who were chosen primarily for their resemblance to the people they play, acting skills being secondary. Director Gillo Pontecorvo got the performances he wanted from them by careful lighting, adequate staging and skillful directing.

FILM 1434: THE GUEST

TRIVIA: The day Dan Stevens was cast, he was assigned personal trainers and dietitians to begin his physical transformation for the role. He worked out daily for 2 hours a day, even during shooting eventually putting on 25 pounds of muscle and building six pack abs for his shirtless scene.

When David and Anna are at the Halloween party a guest can be seen wearing the Fox mask worn by one of the home invaders in Adam Wingard and Simon Barret's previous feature: You're Next. The party guest is played by Steve Moore, who composed the score for the film.

The film is intentionally structured as a horror film with the pace of a thriller.

Steve Moore, who composed the score for the movie, used the same type of synthesizers that John Carpenter and Alan Howarth used for composing the score of Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (1982).