FILM 2015: SICARIO

FILM 2015: SICARIO

TRIVIA: While Benicio Del Toro's character is frequently silent in the movie, he initially had more lines. "In the original script, the character explained his background several times to Kate," Del Toro said. "And that gave me information about who this guy was, but it felt a little stiff to have someone you just met fifteen minutes ago suddenly telling you what happened to him and who he is." Working with director Denis Villeneuve, Del Toro began cutting some of his dialogue to preserve the mystery of who his character is; Villeneuve estimated they cut 90% of what Del Toro was originally intended to say by screenwriter Taylor Sheridan. Like Del Toro, Villeneuve saw power in stripping the character down to a brooding silence, stating that dialogue belongs to plays and "movies are about movement, character, and presence, and Benicio had all that."

When discussing the score with composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, director Denis Villeneuve said he wanted the the sound of a threat. The one film Villeneuve used as a comparison was Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975).

Emily Blunt based Kate Macer's character on one of four female FBI agents she spoke to in preparation for the role, whom she described as "shy" and with a "loner quality" to them.

The word "Sicario" derives from the Latin word "Sicarius," meaning "dagger man." The term was used by Romans to describe Jewish zealots who killed Roman citizens using a "sica" or small dagger hidden in their cloaks. There were so many murders in the province of Judea around the 1st Century AD that the figure of "Sicarius" was codified in Roman law ("Lex Cornelia de Sicariis et Veneficis -- Cornelian Law for Stabbers and Poisoners") of 81 AD. These words also derive from the verb "secare," which means "to slice."

PODCAST: GLADIATOR

PODCAST: GLADIATOR 

Football star Aaron Hernandez went from the bright lights of the Super Bowl to a convicted murderer in a few years. The Boston Globe’s Spotlight Team, best known for its investigation of the sexual abuse scandal inside the Catholic Church, takes a hard look at the crisis facing football through the lens of Aaron Hernandez’s life and terrible crimes. Did a brain badly damaged by football contribute to Hernandez’s violent behavior? Did he keep secrets about his sexuality that collided with a hyper-masculine football culture? Did elite coaches and teams look the other way as Hernandez was spiraling out of control? Spotlight uncovered new documents, audio, and interviews to go deep into the story of what happened to Aaron Hernandez, and what it means for those of us who cheer on a violent game. From Wondery, the podcast team that brought you Dr. Death.

MY VERDICT: Despite knowing nothing of American Football and not having much interest in sport in general, I found this podcast thoroughly fascinating. The story follows Aaron Hernandez through his career and asks questions about how the people around him could have prevented his violent decline or whether the sport itself was to blame. I don’t know if all these questions were answered but I certainly learnt a lot along the way.

FILM 1981: THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE

FILM 1981: THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE

TRIVIA: Alex Rocco, who plays bank robber Scalise, was a former member of the notorious The Winter Hill Gang that operated out of Boston, Massachusetts. Moreover, Rocco introduced Robert Mitchum to Howie Winter, who was the second boss of The Winter Hill Gang, to help Mitchum research his role as Eddie Coyle.

Peter Boyle found it very difficult to draw a glass of tap beer for his part of a bartender. Director Peter Yates arranged for a correctly-filled glass to be available for Boyle below the camera line. Unseen by the camera eye, Boyle then switched glasses.

The entire film was shot on location.

Robert Mitchum gained weight for his role as Eddie Coyle.

FILM 1839: WINCHESTER

FILM 1839: WINCHESTER

TRIVIA: The Winchester Mystery House is a mansion located in San Jose, California. It is believed to be haunted by the victims of the Winchester rifle. It has been a tourist attraction since 1923, a year after Sarah Winchester's death.

Very little of the filming took place in the actual mansion. The mansion's design in reality is extremely cramped, making filming very difficult. As such, most of the mansion's interior needed to be recreated on sound stages.

According to records kept by the Mystery House proprietors today, Sarah Winchester constantly built and rebuilt the house throughout her 38 years in residence. The Winchester house has windows and doors in the floor, doors that open into walls or go nowhere, and stairs to nowhere or into the ceiling. Its total area is around 6 acres (24,000 m²).

The promotional image for the film of Helen Mirren sitting in the carriage in mourning clothes mirrors the only known photograph of the reclusive Sarah Winchester on the estate, which is seen on the tour of the mansion in San Jose, California.

Lionsgate bought the film and photography rights to the Winchester Mansion for this film. So now tourists are not allowed to take any pictures of the interior of the mansion, because a tourist photo would be in direct competition with a Hollywood movie.

The directors are twins. Dame Mirren likened the experience to having one mind speaking through two mouths.

The quotes on the stained glass windows shown at the beginning, "Wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts" and "These same thoughts people this little world," are obscure Shakespearean quotes, and not even from the same play. No one knows why Sarah Winchester chose them.

The real life Winchester house has spider webs incorporated into its design, as Sarah believed that spider webs were good luck.

FILM 1814: CHOPPING MALL

FILM 1814: CHOPPING MALL

TRIVIA: The film was allowed to shoot at a real California mall as long as they did not damage any facilities and had removed any traces of their presence before the mall opening time of 9AM. While the mall's head of security didn't like the filmmakers and was constantly accusing them of causing disrepair, the mall's owner was supportive of the film and made sure the production was able to complete its work on schedule.

The book Gerrit Graham's character is reading is "They Came from Outer Space" which was edited by the film's director, Jim Wynorski. One of the stories in the collection is "The Racer" which was filmed as Death Race 2000 (1975) featuring Mary Woronov.

Filmed in Sherman Oaks Galleria, the same mall used in Commando (1985). Most notably when near the elevators. Both films would've been filmed around the same time. But due to budget constraints, Chopping Mall (1986) was filmed after close of business. 

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 1690: WAR ON EVERYONE

TRIVIA: The director said when Garrett Hedlund dropped out 3 weeks before shooting began, he was given a list of 6 actors he could potentially choose from, 3 he dropped immediately. He went on to choose Skarsgard because of a YouTube video he saw of him drunk at a football match, in which he's trying to whip the rest of the crowd in a frenzy as he thought they were being too quiet. He thought this made him perfect for the role of Terry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHbtq2C2PEQ 

FILM 1626: THE HEAT 

TRIVIA: The guy Mullins (Melissa McCarthy) makes out with in the bar scene is McCarthy's real-life husband, Ben Falcone.

The guy Mullins (Melissa McCarthy) makes out with in the bar scene is McCarthy's real-life husband, Ben Falcone.

Ashburn's yearbook is Sandra Bullock's actual 1982 yearbook from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. The art department digitally manipulated Bullock's picture to include glasses and braces, neither of which she had in her original high school senior portrait. They also took out all the signatures within the book.

FILM 1592: WAR DOGS

TRIVIA: The real Efraim Diveroli declined to meet with Jonah Hill. Hill said "I'm used to it. If a person is aggressively against me playing them, it's probably a good sign."

The poster design is a parody of the iconic poster for Brian De Palma's crime epic Scarface (1983), which is much referenced throughout the film by the main characters.

The real David Packouz makes an appearance as the guitar player singing in the elders house at the beginning of the movie.

Jesse Eisenberg and Shia LaBeouf were previously in talks to star.

The beach sunset scene Efraim has adorning the wall of his office at AEY is yet another reference to Scarface. Frank Lopez had the same scene painted on the wall of his office.

First dramatic film for director Todd Phillips.

In 2016, Diveroli filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., director Todd Phillips, producer Bradley Cooper, and others, seeking to block release of the film. Diveroli's suit against Warner Bros. claimed that the basis for the film was taken from his self-published memoir Once A Gun Runner.

David receives a call from Mike Finkel from the New York Times about the fake bank statements and repackaging of AK ammunition. In the movie True Story, Jonah Hill plays Mike Finkel, whose identity was assumed by accused murderer Christian Longo.

FILM 1577: THE MASK YOU LIVE IN 

Explores how our culture's narrow definition of masculinity is harming our boys, men and society at large and unveils what we can do about it.