FILM 2024: 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS

FILM 2024: 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS

TRIVIA: Ashton Kutcher and Katie Holmes were originally set to play the roles of Matt and Erica. They both dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

Josh Hartnett tried to emulate his character's celibacy. He lasted for two weeks.

When Matt and Erica first meet at the laundromat, Erica is wearing a t-shirt that says "Türkiye" (Turkey) and has the map of Turkey on it. She's clearly wearing a t-shirt bought as a souvenir to give the idea that she has nothing else left to wear.

FILM 1937: THE CAPTIVE

FILM 1937: THE CAPTIVE

TRIVIA: The film was booed when it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival.

This is Atom Egoyan's second successive film based on child abduction - the previous being Devil's Knot (2013). Both films starred Kevin Durand and Bruce Greenwood.

FILM 1932: THE AMERICAN MEME

FILM 1932: THE AMERICAN MEME

THE AMERICAN MEME follows the journeys of four shocking social media disruptors, Paris Hilton (@parishilton), Josh Ostrovsky (@thefatjewish), Brittany Furlan (@brittanyfurlan) and Kirill Bichutsky (@slutwhisperer), as they hustle to create empires out of their online footprints. Although their paths to influencer status are distinct, their respective followings are akin to small armies.

FILM 1923: SEARCHING

FILM 1923: SEARCHING

TRIVIA: The film took just 13 days to shoot. However, it took two years to make due to the prep, editing and animating.

For the German, Spanish, French, Russian and Portuguese versions of the movie, every TV/phone/computer screen was recreated in its respective language, as well as every typing sequence, keystroke by keystroke.

While the film features computer operating systems, programs and (mostly) websites, they were re-created from scratch and animated on computers.

Since this movie takes place on a mock computer screen just like a previous film, Unfriended (2014), there is a small nod to that movie during the very first Facebook scene. The name "Laura Barns," a character from Unfriended, appears on the top right screen as a trending topic. It was shown very briefly.

This was the feature film directorial debut of Aneesh Chaganty.

Throughout the movie various news articles hint to an alien invasion that happening at the same time.

During one of the earlier Facebook scenes, trending topics can be seen at the top right corner of the screen. One of the topics is simply "The Dress". This is a reference to a photo of a dress that became a viral internet sensation in February 2015 when viewers disagreed over whether the dress was coloured black and blue, or white and gold.

FILM 1850: BEWARE THE SLENDERMAN

FILM 1850: BEWARE THE SLENDERMAN

Tells the story of two 12-year old girls, who attempted to murder one of their friends in an attempt to appease Slenderman, a fictional monster from a horror website.

FILM 1763: JOHNNY MNEMONIC

TRIVIA: The film takes place in January 2021.

During the scene in the back room of Crazy Bob's Computer Store, it sounds like Johnny asks for an "iPhone", twelve years before it was launched. While it would still be cute if the scriptwriter of a 90's cyberpunk movie had just made up a word, which would later become the name of a ubiquitous piece of information technology, what Johnny asks for is actually an "Eyephone", an early head-mounted interface designed by Jaron Lanier (in fact, Johnny calls it a "Thomson Eyephone", a reference to the fact that Lanier's patent was bought by Thomson Electronics).

The script was rumored to have been dumped on the doorstep of Keanu Reeves' house, a tactic that piqued his interest, and led to him accepting the role of Johnny.

Robert Longo and William Gibson originally envisaged making an art film on a small budget, but failed to get financing. Longo commented that the project "started out as an arty 1½-million-dollar movie, and it became a thirty-million-dollar movie, because we couldn't get a million and a half."

William Gibson was very unhappy with what became of this adaptation of his own story. Despite being credited as the sole screenwriter, he has insisted for years that it wasn't his screenplay that was ultimately produced.

The song "I See Through" was performed by Rollins Band and written by Henry Rollins, Melvin Gibb, Sim Cain, and Chris Haskett. Henry Rollins appears in the film as Spider.

Johnny apparently takes a Concorde to Newark, New Jersey. In real-life, the Concordes were retired in 2003.

PODCAST: THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

PODCAST: THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT 

This is the welcome note for the podcast which was at first only available on Audible but now is free on iTunes:

Hi everyone,

Welcome to The Butterfly Effect. It's sort of about porn, but it's about a lot of other things. It's sad, funny, moving and totally unlike some other nonfiction stories about porn - because it isn't judgmental or salacious. It's human and sweet and strange and lovely. It's a mystery story, an adventure. It's also, I think, a new way of telling a story. This season follows a single butterfly effect. The flap of the butterfly's wings is a boy in Brussels having an idea. His idea is how to get rich from giving the world free online porn. Over seven episodes I trace the consequences of this idea, from consequence through to consequence. If you keep going in this way, where might you end up? It turns out you end up in the most surprising and unexpected places.

So if you're thinking, why do I want to listen to a show about the tech takeover of the porn industry, I have two things to say:

1. Why wouldn't you want to listen to a show about the tech takeover of the porn industry? That's a great idea for a show.

2. Would you want to listen to a show about three women destroying a mysterious Norwegian man's stamp collection? Well, that happens at the end of episode 2. At the end of Episode 3 a woman becomes convinced that she played a part in a murder committed by an Italian priest. At the end of Episode 4 a boy in Oklahoma is forced to move to a house on the very, very edge of his town.

I hope you like our show,
Jon 

MY VERDICT: I absolutely loved this podcast. I am a fan of Jon Ronson, having devoured ‘The Psychopath Test’ many years ago, and find his story telling technique to be always surprising and often exhilarating. His voice is reassuring and he has a way of putting heart into everything he investigates. He is one of the only researchers/journalists I know of to find the positive side to every story, to get excited about things or to find a way to get excited about things where others might give boring facts.

The premise of the podcast itself allows us to see into the lives of all kinds of people and professions and it’s heartwarming to hear people open up to Jon Ronson. The subject matter is an important one, because even if you have never watched porn and know nothing about it, you can find out how it’s affecting the world we live in.

There are some truly amazing stories which I don’t want to spoil here but as Ronson mentioned it already above, the story of the custom porn creators who were asked to destroy one man’s stamp collection is fascinating.

I only finished this the other day but have already recommended it to several people, and I now recommend it to you.

FILM 1540: THE INTERNET'S OWN BOY: THE STORY OF AARON SWARTZ 

The story of programming prodigy and information activist Aaron Swartz. From Swartz's help in the development of the basic internet protocol RSS to his co-founding of Reddit, his fingerprints are all over the internet. But it was Swartz's groundbreaking work in social justice and political organizing combined with his aggressive approach to information access that ensnared him in a two year legal nightmare. It was a battle that ended with the taking of his own life at the age of 26. Aaron's story touched a nerve with people far beyond the online communities in which he was a celebrity. This film is a personal story about what we lose when we are tone deaf about technology and its relationship to our civil liberties. Written by Anonymous (IMDB)

FILM 1478: THOUGHT CRIMES: THE CASE OF THE CANNIBAL COP

Dubbed "The Cannibal Cop," Gilberto Valle was convicted in March 2013 of conspiring to kidnap and eat young women. Valle argued it was all a fantasy; the prosecution's narrative convinced jurors otherwise. Valle was facing a possible life sentence when filmmaker Erin Lee Carr began visiting him in prison. After 22 months behind bars, his conviction was overturned in a stunning reversal. Carr was there for his release and subsequent house arrest to examine a life arrested. But the question remains: given the chance, would he, could he, have done it? "Thought Crimes" unravels the conflicting stories of a potentially dangerous young man and the unexpected consequences of our online activity.

(IMDB)