FILM 1759: I, TONYA

FILM 1759: I, TONYA

TRIVIA: Allison Janney had seriously trained to become a figure skater throughout her childhood and adolescence. However, when she was 17, she accidentally walked into a sliding glass door and gravely injured her right leg. In 2014, during an interview on "Fresh Air," Janney told interviewer Terry Gross that her leg came close to being amputated. "I lost like three-quarters of my blood. I lost an artery and cut tendon....I was in the hospital for like seven--seven, eight weeks. I missed my first year of college. You know, and after that, of course, I didn't really--I didn't skate for a very long time."

Although Margot Robbie trained extensively for the role, she wasn't able to perform a triple axel, nor could a skating double be found as very few women figure skaters are able to perform the jump, producer Tom Ackerley stated, "There has been only six women since Tonya who have done a triple axel, even if there was one who was doing it today, she'd be training for the Olympics and couldn't risk doing it for the film." The jump was accomplished with the use of visual effects.

To prevent damaging her hair, Margot Robbie wears wigs as Tonya Harding. Surprisingly, the hair team used beer to achieve the "crunchy" permed look when regular hair products didn't produce the desired result.

Nancy Kerrigan stated in interviews relating to her Dancing with the Stars (2005) appearance that she wouldn't be seeing the movie despite not knowing how much of it would feature her, saying "I already lived through that."

Steven Rogers' script was featured on the 2016 Black List of the most-liked, unproduced scripts of the year.

Margot Robbie is five inches taller than Tonya Harding.

I, Tonya marks the third film Margot Robbie has features in in which breaking the fourth wall is a prominent part of the plot. The other two being The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and The Big Short (2015). On I, Tonya and The Big Short her characters (Tonya Harding and, basically herself) speak to the audience, whereas her character in The Wolf of Wall Street (Naomi Lapaglia) does not.

FILM 1735: THE DISASTER ARTIST

TRIVIA: Greg Sestero stated that when he was writing the book, Tommy Wiseau said that only two actors could play him in the adaptation: James Franco or Johnny Depp. Wiseau, who claims to have once lived in New Orleans, was a fan of Franco's performance in the film Sonny (2002).

James Franco spoke like Tommy Wiseau throughout each day's filming, and even directed using Wiseau's distinctive voice and syntax, though Jason Mantzoukas said that Franco did not direct in character and only spoke like Wiseau. Seth Rogen admitted he had a hard time being directed by Franco while being interviewed on The Howard Stern Show. Rogen said during the first two days, he had a hard time containing his laughter as Franco was speaking as Tommy Wiseau with his notable European accent. Franco told Rogen he would get used to it, which he eventually did.

To promote the film the distributor rented the same billboard on Highland Avenue in Los Angeles that Tommy Wiseau rented for five years to promote The Room (2003), mimicking the layout of the original billboard and including a phone number to RSVP to screenings.

In almost every interview for The Disaster Artist, James Franco mentions that Tommy Wiseau approves of "99.9%" of the film. His only objections were the lighting of the first scene, which Franco believes was because Tommy was wearing sunglasses when watching the scene, and also for the poor way James threw the football.

Besides an interview for Esquire and a video for Funnyordie.com, brothers James and Dave Franco have never worked together or appeared on-screen together until this film. Dave Franco almost appeared as himself with his brother in This Is the End, but he was later excluded because his charcter would have had to die and it was considered too sad for the already dark comedy. James was also considered for a role in 21 Jump Street (2012) respectively starring his brother Dave.

All three stars of podcast 'How Did This Get Made?' (Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael and Jason Mantzoukas) appear in the film. In a Variety article, it was revealed that the podcast episode featuring The Room which Greg Sestero appeared on, was a contributing factor not only in the source book being completed but also served as an inspiration for the screenwriters.

FILM 1706: SNOWDEN

TRIVIA: To make sure the screenplay was not hacked or leaked, Oliver Stone wrote the script on a single computer with no Internet connection.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt pledged to donate his entire salary from the film to "help facilitate the conversation" about the relationship between technology and democracy.

The real Edward Snowden advised Oliver Stone that the NSA's command centers are actually run on tight budgets and are far less glamorous than they appear in movies and TV shows. 

During the film shoot in Germany, Oliver Stone's mother passed away. Due to the limited budget and time constraints, Stone was forced to miss his mother's funeral, as taking the necessary time off would have left the production unable to complete the film within the budget and schedule.

Nicolas Cage had previously played the lead in Oliver Stone's World Trade Center (2006). He agreed to a small role in this film as a favor to Stone.

Melissa Leo plays filmmaker/journalist Laura Poitras, who directed the critically acclaimed documentary Citizenfour (2014), which chronicles the aftermath and effects of Edward Snowden's actions.

The real Lindsay Mills appears in the movie entering the cafeteria, right before Snowden meets Lindsay for the first time.

In the movie, Snowden falls out of his bunk and breaks his leg during military training, earning him an administrative discharge. In real life, it isn't known how Snowden was discharged.

This is Joseph Gordon-Levitt's second consecutive feature film based on an Oscar-winning documentary (Citizenfour (2014)). He'd previously made The Walk (2015) which was based on Man on Wire (2008).

In real-life, Oliver Stone met with Laura Poitras to discuss their respective films on Edward Snowden (the filming of Poitras' documentary is depicted in Snowden). According to Poitras, Stone suggested to her that the documentary be released after the feature film, even though the documentary was completed first, because he believed the feature would reach a wider audience. Poitras claimed she took offense to that and did not meet with Stone again.

DIRECTOR CAMEO : Oliver Stone: audience member in the last scene.

FILM 1674: MARGUERITE

TRIVIA: Shot entirely in the Czech Republic.

The name of the title character is a gallicised form of Margaret Dumont, the dignified lady with the figure of an old-time opera singer who was the foil for the Marx Brothers' gags.

FILM 1667: CHRISTINE

TRIVIA: The film's warm 'yellow' tinge and muted coloration was a trend in the 1970's. Because Christine takes place in the early Seventies this effect was chosen on purpose to make the film appear more authentic. This effect used to be naturally caused by lighting and the type of film stock used (often Ektachrome, a popular Kodak 16mm stock), but in the digital age the effect is usually added in after filming by using computer filters and overlays to create a nostalgic "vintage" look.

The owner of the company that cut the film's trailer, Robert "Smitty" Smith at In Sync Advertising, was an actual intern at WXLT-TV who knew and was friends with Christine Chubbuck. He sought out the job when he found out about the film and saw it at Sundance; incidentally, the creators had tried to seek him out for interviews during the research phases, but were unable to locate him due to the ubiquity of his name.

Despite her standoffish demeanor portrayed in the film, the real Christine Chubbuck was known on television as a cheerful woman, particularly fond of children to the point where she volunteered outside of work to do puppet shows for mentally handicapped kids. Only her closest family members really knew the extent of her depression.