FILM 1976: THE BIG SICK

FILM 1976: THE BIG SICK

TRIVIA: The film was released in the United States on Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon's tenth wedding anniversary.

While writing the script, Kumail Nanjiani wanted his on-screen family to reflect the jokey and humorous traits of his real-life family. He bemoaned that so many Muslim characters were so frequently depicted as overly serious, and he aimed to avoid that stereotype.

The decision to add the real-life photos of Emily and Kumail in the credits was suggested by actress Leslie Mann after seeing an early cut of the film.

Producer Judd Apatow reached out to Ray Romano for the part of Terry, after briefly working with him in the movie Funny People (2009). He was also a huge fan of Romano's sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond (1996).

In an interview on The Late Show, Zoe Kazan admitted that while filming the scenes where she was in a coma she often fell asleep and inevitably ruined takes by waking up in the middle of them.

The film was the only non-Best Picture nominee for the year to be nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars.

Mary's stand-up routine with the flip-chart easel is based on Aidy Bryant's real stand-up routine.

FILM 1900: BROADCAST NEWS

FILM 1900: BROADCAST NEWS

TRIVIA: Albert Brooks revealed that when he first read the script, the scene where Aaron does a weekend broadcast simply noted "Something bad happens to Aaron on the air." Albert was watching CNN, when a reporter he'd never seen before (and hasn't seen since) began sweating badly. Albert phoned Writer and Director James L. Brooks at three in the morning, and stated that Aaron HAD to start sweating profusely.

Jack Nicholson was not paid for his role, at his own request.

John Cusack is credited as "Angry Messenger". During the staff firings, a young man yells "sons of bitches!", and angrily throws a messenger bag to the office floor. We don't see the character's face, but the voice sounds like Cusack's.

James L. Brooks wrote this movie especially for Debra Winger, but she was forced to turn it down because she was pregnant with her son Noah Hutton. Before casting Holly Hunter as a replacement, Brooks considered Sigourney Weaver, Judy Davis, Elizabeth McGovern, Christine Lahti, and Elizabeth Perkins.

Marc Shaiman and Glen Roven, who played News Theme Writers, are real-life composers, who have also done television jingles. Shaiman, after doing this movie, went on to score major motion picture films, and has since been nominated for five Academy Awards.

The only Best Picture Oscar nominee that year to not be nominated for Best Director.

First theatrical film in four years for James L. Brooks, whose previous film was Terms of Endearment (1983), which won five Academy Awards including Best Picture. Albert Brooksand Jack Nicholson appeared in this movie and Terms of Endearment (1983). At least eighteen members of cast and crew worked on both of these movies. Also, both of the movies were Oscar nominated in numerous categories, with this movie and Terms of Endearment (1983) receiving seven and eleven Academy Award nominations, respectively.

The movie was selected to be included in TIME Magazine's Best Films of the 1987 year list.

Jane Craig was inspired by CBS News Producer Susan Zirinsky. Before filming began, Holly Hunter spent time job shadowing Zirinsky to see how things worked in a real newsroom. Hunter also cut her hair into a "bob" style haircut to resemble Zirinsky.

When Jennifer is sent to Anchorage, Alaska, to report on bodies that had been found, after being buried by a serial killer, that was the Robert Hansen case. He would hunt women after raping them . Eventually convicted of seventeen murders.

William Hurt (Tom Grunick) is less than eight years younger than Stephen Mendillo, who played his father.

Brother and sister John Cusack and Joan Cusack are listed in the film's cast list for this movie. This film is one of ten cinema movie collaborations of the siblings (to date, June 2015).

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

FILM 1883: INCREDIBLES 2

FILM 1883: INCREDIBLES 2

TRIVIA: At one hour and fifty-eight minutes, this is not only the longest Pixar movie to date, but also the longest computer-animated movie to date, breaking Cars's record as longest Pixar film, which was one hour and fifty-seven minutes.

A typo on the movie theater marquee shown towards the end of the movie reads "A113", one of the most famous recurring Easter Eggs. Several Pixar producers and animators studied at California Institute of the Arts in classroom A113 and this number appears in every Pixar film.

HIDDEN MICKEY: The spirals on Screenslaver's hypnosis machine form a slightly lopsided, but still recognizable Mickey Mouse.

In one scene, while Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) is trying to help Dash with his homework, he can be seen wrangling with "New Math", describing it as making no sense at all, and exclaiming "This is Math! Why would they change Math?" New Math was a brief, dramatic change in the way mathematics was taught in American grade schools during the 1960s (the approximate time frame of the Incredibles universe) which was highly criticized and quickly fell out of favor. The relevance of this joke evolves from the frustration modern parents (and students) occasionally experience with "Common Core" mathematics.

Made more money domestically in one weekend (one hundred eighty million dollars) than Pixar's previous summer release Cars 3 (2017) earned in its entire release of twenty weeks (one hundred fifty-three million dollars).

The fourteen-year gap between the first film and this follow-up was the longest waiting time between a Disney/Pixar movie and its sequel. (Finding Dory (2016)'s thirteen-year gap was the second longest, Monsters University (2013) was the third longest with a twelve-year gap, and Toy Story 3 (2010) was the fourth longest with an eleven-year gap.)

This was Pixar's twentieth feature film.

The background of the News Set Is an exact replica of that used in Broadcast News, which starred Holly Hunter.