FILM 2012: THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN

FILM 2012: THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN 

TRIVIA: Filmed in the same house as Halloween II (2009).

Feature film debut of Lin-Manuel Miranda.

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 1845: OVER THE TOP

FILM 1845: OVER THE TOP

TRIVIA: Years later, Sylvester Stallone explained why he agreed to appear in this movie, saying, "Menahem Golan kept offering me more and more money, until I finally thought, 'What the hell - no one will see it!'"

John Wetton, lead singer of the rock group Asia, sang "Winner Takes It All" for the movie, but after performing the song, it was felt that his voice wasn't "mean" enough, so the song was offered to Sammy Hagar, whose version ended up being the one on the soundtrack. Hagar did a music video to promote the song and the film which featured both Zumwalt and Stallone.

David Engelbach was appalled at the changes made to his script. He remarked that his original draft wasn't nearly as dumb as the final film and that it was more about truck driving and arm-wrestling than it should have been. He recalled having tears in his eyes upon seeing the film.

Rick Zumwalt was paid 10,000 USD to shave his head for the film. He liked it so much he never went back to having hair.

FILM 1633: SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON

TRIVIA: Bryan Forbes looked for that house with the turret as a film location; when he went to the owner for permission, she asked who was in the film. When told that an American actress named Kim Stanley, the woman blanched, stepped back, and said that Stanley was one of her oldest friends whom she had not seen in 17 years.

During filming, Richard Attenborough developed kidney stones and was unable to work for an entire day. Since filming was on such a tight schedule, director Bryan Forbes got into costume played his role for some shots.

Richard Attenborough wears a prosthetic nose for his role in this movie.

In an early draft of the screenplay, Billy and Myra were both male, with director Bryan Forbes planning to cast Alec Guinness and Tom Courteany as the homosexual couple. Both actors turned the film down, however.

FILM 1603: THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY

TRIVIA: One of Alfred Hitchcock's favorites of all his films.

Originally designed by Alfred Hitchcock as an experiment in seeing how audiences would react to a non-star-driven film. He was of the opinion that oftentimes having a big star attached actually hindered the narrative flow and style of the story. He also developed the film with a view to test how American audiences would react to a more subtle brand of humor than that which they were used to.

Location filming in Vermont was hampered by heavy rainfall. Many exterior scenes were actually filmed on sets constructed in a local high school gymnasium. Much of the dialogue recorded there was inaudible due to the rainfall on the tin roof, so much post-recording was necessary.

The film was unavailable for decades because its rights (together with four other pictures of the same period) were bought back by Alfred Hitchcock and left as part of his legacy to his daughter. They've been known for years as the infamous "5 lost Hitchcocks" among film buffs, and were re-released in theaters around 1984 after a 30-year absence. The others are The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Rear Window (1954), Rope (1948) and Vertigo (1958).

"What seems to be the trouble, Captain?" was Alfred Hitchcock's favorite line from all his movies.

Due to the indifferent weather conditions in Vermont, boxes and boxes of autumnal leaves were shipped back to California where they were painstakingly pinned onto trees on a studio soundstage.

Alfred Hitchcock insisted on using a real actor for the body of Harry. He chose Philip Truex.

Unlike some of Hitchock's other leading ladies, Shirley MacLaine became his "eating buddy", and he took her for breakfast every day before shooting. He never propositioned her, but thought of her as "a girl who needed to be fed". After living the poverty-stricken life of a Broadway chorus girl that she had just been plucked from, it was a pleasant change for MacLaine, and as a result she gained 15 pounds during shooting. Ultimately ending in a phone call from the studio telling her to stop eating so much as she was going to "ruin her career before it had even begun".

FILM 1600: BOY INTERRUPTED

Boy Interrupted looks at the life of Evan Perry a 15-year-old boy from New York who committed suicide in 2005. The film made by his parents Dana and Hart examines how Evan's bipolar disorder and depression affected his life and the life of his family.

Variety noted that because of his parents' occupations, they did a good job in recording his life, and produced an "elegiac little gem". The Philadelphia Inquirer called it a "remarkable, deeply unsettling documentary", scoring it 3/4 stars. The Movie Blog criticised the production quality, but found that the film still "communicated effectively and with a lot of emotion". SI Live suggested that the boy's story perhaps did not merit a documentary, but it was "valuable viewing" in that it would educate people a little about mental illness.

(Information found https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Interrupted)

FILM 1547: MIDNIGHT SPECIAL

TRIVIA: Jeff Nichols wrote the film as a reflection on becoming a father.

Jeff Nichols' fourth film to feature Michael Shannon.

At a point in the movie, Jaeden Lieberher asks "What is Kryptonite?". His father in this film is played by Michael Shannon who recently played General Zod in "Man Of Steel".

One of the government code words Adam Driver's character mentions is "red saber." Driver is well known for portraying the red lightsaber-wielding Kylo Ren in Star Wars Episode VII.