FILM 1909: SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

FILM 1909: SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

TRIVIA: Donald Glover originally planned to play the lead role of Cassius Green, but was unable to do so due to scheduling conflicts with Solo: A Star Wars Story. He recommended his Atlanta co-star LaKeith Stanfield for the role instead.

At one point, Detroit wears a pair of earrings with the phrases BURY THE RAG and DEEP IN YOUR FACE. These are lyrics from "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" by Bob Dylan, which is a protest song about a poor African-American woman murdered by a wealthy white man. ("Bury the rag deep in your face/ Now's the time for your tears".)

During the bar scene, when Danny Glover's character is asked why he isn't dancing, he responds with the, "I'm too old for this shit" line made famous from his role as Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon movie franchise.

Director Michel Gondry is paid tribute in the director's name for the claymation sequence, Michel Dongry. Gondry's influence is clear in the scenes where the garage transforms into the luxury room.

Director Boots Riley wanted to credit the claymation film within the film to Michel Gondryas a tribute to the director. Because the film was a parody he didn't legally have to clear the use of Gondry's name, but decided to reach out to him anyway to make sure he was comfortable with the homage. Gondry wanted stipulations put on the use of his name and after Riley agreed he receive a message from Gondry's agents denying him permission to use his name anyway. Riley then changed the name of the director to Michel Dongry as an insult to express his frustration with him and announced he would continue insulting him in future movies until Gondry responded.

The voice of the elevator is Rosario Dawson. 

Boots Riley was the lead vocalist for the hip-hop group The Coup. He made the album "Sorry to Bother You" in 2012, which he then used in the movie, meaning he effectively made the sound track 7 years before the film.

FILM 1840: THE INSTITUTE

FILM 1840: THE INSTITUTE

A documentary on the Jejune Institute, a mind-bending San Francisco phenomenon where 10,000 people became "inducted" without ever quite realizing what they'd signed up for.

(Find more information (preferably after you’ve watched the documentary as it gives away a lot) here: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/jp54ky/game-or-cult-the-alternate-reality-of-the-jejune-institute)

FILM 1808: ERASER

FILM 1808: ERASER

TRIVIA: The company name "Cyrez" was originally "Cyrex", but the real-life company Cyrix complained. The movie had been shot, but all dialogue was dubbed and company logos were digitally altered during post-production.

Director Chuck Russell and Producer Arnold Kopelson had a rocky relationship during the entire production. The only reason the film was able to go forward and ultimately be completed, was that Arnold Schwarzenegger got along with each man separately, and was able to negotiate schedules and logistics at a point where the two men refused to speak to each other.

Vanessa Williams and Arnold Schwarzenegger have titles. She was Miss America, and he was Mr. Olympia.

FILM 1672: THE CIRCLE

TRIVIA: Bill Paxton 's final film.

Bill Paxton died before the film's release. Glenne Headley who played his wife in the film, died the same year after the film's release.

Re-shoots took place 4 months before the release of " The Circle " which made Emma Watson's character seem more appealing, but apparently test audience reaction was even worse than previous test screenings.

The Circle's HQ looks very similar to Apple's new campus "Apple Park" which is scheduled to open shortly after the film's premiere.

At one point Mae struggles to keep up with Annie and comments how incredibly long her legs are. Karen Gillan played Amy Pond on Doctor Who (2005), and at one point another character commented that she, "...is made of legs, that's the most legs on any living human!"

During the first speech that Tom Hanks' character gives, he reveals the name of the cameras are called SeeChange. Immediately following this scene they cut to a concert featuring the singer Beck. One of Beck's most famous albums is called Sea Change.

FILM 1352: THE ZERO THEOREM

TRIVIA: The name "Qohen Leth" references "Qoheleth" (sometimes transliterated as "Qohelethin" or "Koheleth"), the original Hebrew name (and presumed author) of Ecclesiastes--the Bible book that investigates the meaning of life.

Leth may refer to Lethe. In Greek mythology, Lethe is both a goddess of oblivion and a river of forgetfulness in Hades.

The film cast includes three Oscar winners: Christoph Waltz, Tilda Swinton and Matt Damon.

According to director Terry Gilliam, Matt Damon and Ben Whishaw worked for scale just to be in this film, thus bringing the production in on schedule for a fraction of its original budget.

The "futuristic" little cars that make crossing the street difficult for Qohen Leth (near the beginning of the movie) are called "Twizy", made by Renault, and were released in 2011. The Renault Twizy is a completely electric car.

FILM 1322: ANTITRUST

TRIVIA: What appears in the beginning credits around the title and the actors' names is HTML code, with some alterations. Much of the HTML is taken from the Internet Movie Database's homepage.

At Gary's party the song playing in the background is "Heroes." A different version of this same song plays in the Microsoft commercials.

The jacket number (and reference in the NURV computer database) for Richard Roundtree's character, Lyle Burton, is ND47. The number 47 occurs frequently in science fiction (most notably in Star Trek) due to a "joke proof" written by Donald Bentley in 1964, showing all numbers to be equal to 47.

A poster for the movie Hackers (1995) can be seen on the wall of one of the programmers Phil surveys in the day-care center.

Three of Winston's thugs have the last names Schmeichel, Sheringham and Solskjaer. This is a reference to the goalkeeper and goal scorers on Manchester United's 1999 U.E.F.A. Champions League winning team. The director is a Man. U fan.

Film 1020: Gattaca

Trivia: The name "Gattaca" is composed entirely of the letters used to label the nucleotide bases of DNA. The four nitrogen bases of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) are adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine.

The winding stairs in Jerome's apartment have a helical structure, like DNA.

Jude Law's character asks to be called by his middle name, Eugene. "Eugene" comes from the Greek for "well born," which he is. "Eugenics" (the science of improving the hereditary qualities of a race or breed) is the central theme of the film.

When Gattaca was first released, as part of a marketing campaign there were adverts for people to call up and have their children genetically engineered. Thousands of people called, wanting to have their offspring genetically engineered.

The FBI agents are called "Hoovers," a reference to legendary top-G-man J. Edgar Hoover, but also a clever reference to a vacuum cleaner brand. There are numerous shots of vacuums being used to gather DNA evidence.