FILM 1876: FRAILTY

FILM 1876: FRAILTY

TRIVIA: Directors James Cameron, Sam Raimi and author Stephen King all singled out Frailty(2001) for high praise. King considered it one of the best horror movies of its year.

Bill Paxton used the same beer can the entire filming of the movie because they could only find one Hamm's beer can like that from 1979. The can was "opened" off-camera and a sound effect added for popping its top (director commentary at 52:21).

The film is set in Texas and has three Texas-born actors as top-billed stars: Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey, and Powers Boothe.

When asked why the axe used by his character has the name "OTIS" carved into the handle, Paxton stated that he wanted the axe to have its own personality and to be unique. He found the name in Pasadena when he was there scouting for locations to film. Paxton met a homeless man and offered to give him some money. The homeless man did not want charity, so Paxton instead offered to buy the use of the man's name for his movie. The homeless man's name was Otis.

FILM 1306: FOXCATCHER

TRIVIA: According to Channing Tatum, he and Mark Ruffalo spent an intensive five to six months training for wrestling, which took its toll on the actors. During one particularly physical take, Channing insisted to Ruffalo "to just slap the shit out of me and get it over with," which resulted in Channing's eardrum accidentally getting popped. The take is in the film.

Steve Carell claimed that according to director Bennett Miller's wishes there was no joking between takes, and he did not socialize with the co-stars after work.

Before filming a particularly dark scene, Bennett Miller made Steve Carell write on a piece of paper the thing that he hates the most about himself and then put it in his pocket. Miller told Carell, "Just have it right there, and know that it's in a place where, if I was a dick, I could just grab it." According to Miller, the result is the favorite thing that he has put on film.

Steve Carell studied video footage of John duPont for hours. Carell told reporters after the film's screening at the Cannes Film Festival "I watched as much as I could, I read as much as I could about him and tried to get semblance about the type of person he was." According to director Bennett Miller, Carell's career as a comic actor hadn't suggested that he was right for the role until he had lunch with the actor. Miller said upon Carell's casting, "I think all comedians are dark."

The real Mark Schultz can be seen as an extra weighing in wrestlers in one scene. He was also very personable and approachable to the extras in the crowd scenes.

In the 1984 Olympic games Dave and Mark Schultz were accused of "excessive brutality" in their Olympic matches and a special official was assigned to monitor the rest of their bouts. Two of their opponents went straight to the hospital after their matches. Mark, 23, broke the left elbow of the 180.5-pound European champion, Resit Karabacak, 30 seconds into the match. Dave, sent Yugoslavia's Saban Sejdi to the hospital with a knee injury incurred during their 163-pound match.

Because the project took so many years to get off the ground, many actors were considered for the lead roles. Heath Ledger, Ryan Gosling and Bill Nighy were strongly considered for the lead roles in the early stages of production.

This is the third consecutive Bennett Miller film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role after Phillip Seymour Hoffman's win for Capote and Brad Pitt's nomination for Moneyball.

The screenplay for this film was featured in the 2008 Blacklist; a list of the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year.

FILM 1257: WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

TRIVIA: The original screenplay was about a woman in a coma and a man pretending to be her fiancé. Many studio executives thought this to be too predatory, but one suggested reversing the roles. Once the script was rewritten, the movie was picked up by Hollywood Pictures.

The word "fiancée" has three acceptable pronunciations in English according to Webster, with the stress on the first, second, or final syllable. In the initial hospital room scene where the Callaghans discover Peter in a coma and meet Lucy, all three pronunciations of the word are given, and in consecutive order as far as the syllables. Nurse: "She's his FIancée!" Midge: "His fiANcée"? Doctor (a few lines later, to intern): "She's the fianCEE, you idiot!"

The role of Lucy was written for Demi Moore. Sandra Bullock took the role, saying she could relate to it having just broken up from a four year relationship.

At the Callaghans' Christmas party, Glynis Johns says, "I don't drink anymore. I don't drink any less, either!" Co-star Jack Warden, who was also in that scene, delivered the same line 31 years earlier in a Season 1 episode of "Bewitched" (1964) ("It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog").

FILM 1114: THE BOONDOCK SAINTS

TRIVIA: The woman that the priest refers to in the opening scene of the film, Catherine Genovese, was an actual person. She was raped and murdered by a serial rapist in 1964 outside her home in Queens while 38 eyewitnesses did nothing to save her. This apathetic bystander phenomenon is now referred to as the bystander effect or "Genovese Syndrome", stemming from the inability to take action or to know whether action has already occurred. In both The Boondock Saints and the graphic novel Watchmen (2009), the story of Kitty Genovese inspires a vigilante to go to war against crime.

The tattoo that Connor has on his left hand/index finger says, "VERITAS," which is Latin for "Truth." Murphy also has a tattoo in the same place but on his right hand, that says, "AEQUITAS," which is Latin for "Justice/Equality."

The maximum security prison that Il Duce is being held in is actually the old Suffolk County jail in Boston, is now a 4 star hotel.

The script's initial sale garnered a considerable amount of publicity (including the cover of USA Today) as a "rags-to-riches" story; writer/director/composer Troy Duffy was a bartender at J. Sloan's in Los Angeles when Miramax head Harvey Weinstein not only bought the script, but signed Duffy to direct, his band to score the film and agreed to purchase the bar for Weinstein and Duffy to co-own. However, Duffy quickly managed to sour the deal, putting the script into turnaround where it was eventually produced for less than half of the budget offered by Miramax. After its limited theatrical release, the film gained popularity on home video as a Blockbuster Exclusive, unfortunately Duffy's contract did not give him any royalties from video sales. Duffy's initial success and consequent self-destruction are chronicled in the documentary Overnight (2003).

Mark Wahlberg turned down one of the lead roles in order to star in Boogie Nights.

The character "David Della Rocco" is named after the actor who plays him, because the character was based on and written for him.

Kevin Spacey was the original choice for Paul Smecker.

For the role of Paul Smecker, Miramax preferred Sylvester Stallone (with whom the studio had an existing relationship), Bill Murray or Mike Myers.

CAMEO: Troy Duffy:  The bar patron in the overalls and green bandanna in the scene where the McManus brothers get into the bar fight with the Russians. Duffy is actually seen standing in the background and doing nothing after the fight starts. In fact, his whole band (The Boondock Saints, formerly The Brood) have cameos in that scene, including Troy's brother, Taylor Duffy.

Film 1053: The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story

A documentary about Robert B. Sherman & Richard M. Sherman -- aka The Sherman Brothers -- the Academy Award and Grammy-winning songwriters.

Film 1019: 21 Jump Street

Trivia: Channing Tatum passed on the movie twice before he was convinced by Jonah Hill to take the role.

Jonah Hill lost over 40 pounds for his role since he and Channing Tatum are required to do a number of physically demanding stunts.

Jennifer Lawrence, Juno Temple, Julianne Hough and Gemma Ward auditioned for a role.