FILM 2018: GRETA

 FILM 2018: GRETA

TRIVIA: The film is set in New York, but was actually filmed in Ireland.

Greta's last name, "Hideg", is the Hungarian word for "cold".

The restaurant scenes were shot over the space of a week. By the end of the week, the smell of fish on set was so bad, it made people need to leave early.

In the film, Frances' friend's name is Erica. This is the same name as the character Isabelle Huppert plays in the 2001 psychosexual thriller, The Piano Teacher.

Neil Jordan and Stephen Rea previously worked together in the 1992 film "The Crying Game" and the 1999 film "The End of the Affair."

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 2011: JUST GO WITH IT

FILM 2011: JUST GO WITH IT

TRIVIA: This is the first collaboration between Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston. The two of them have known each other for twenty years, before either of them became famous. They met through some mutual friends and shared meals together. She also used to watch him perform at the Improv, and she attended his wedding in 2003. He had also tried to get her to join Saturday Night Live (1975) during his time there, but she turned it down to join Friends (1994).

FILM 2010: DEAR JOHN

FILM 2010: DEAR JOHN

TRIVIA: On its opening weekend in the United States, it went to number one, becoming the film to finally end the reign of James Cameron's Avatar (2009), which had sat at the top of the box office for seven consecutive weeks.

"Dear John" is military slang for a letter from a girlfriend breaking up with a soldier.

The character of Alan was inspired by writer Nicholas Sparks' son, who is afflicted with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism.

Amanda Seyfried wrote the song Savannah sings to John. Titled "Little House," the whole song is featured on the movie's soundtrack.

FILM 2000: IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

FILM 2000: IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

TRIVIA: Filming was shifted from Beijing to Macau after Chinese authorities demanded to see the completed script. Director Wong Kar-wai never used scripts.

Maggie Cheung wears a different cheongsam dress in each scene. There were 46 dresses in total, though not all made it to the final cut.

During filming, director Wong Kar-wai improvised often with the actors, crafting the story and mood of the film as he went along. Originally, In the Mood for Love (2000) was a much more obvious romance film, with the actors throwing witty dialogue at each other and engaging in several scenes of lovemaking. Eventually, the actors and director decided to tone the mood down to the more subtle version that was released in theaters.

Maggie Cheung's hair and makeup took five hours each day to apply.

The number of the hotel room where Chow (Tony Leung) stays is 2046. Director Wong Kar-wai's next feature length film was 2046 (2004), which also starred Tony Leung.

The film was ranked #2 in BBC's "100 Greatest Films of The 21st Century" list, and the highest ranking non-English film.

The film is included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," edited by Steven Schneider.

The film's original Chinese title, meaning "the age of blossoms" or "the flowery years" – Chinese metaphor for the fleeting time of youth, beauty and love – derives from a song of the same name by Zhou Xuan from a 1946 film. The English title derives from the song, "I'm in the Mood for Love". Director Wong had planned to name the film Secrets, until listening to the song late in post-production.

FILM 1997: LOLITA

FILM 1997: LOLITA

TRIVIA: Jeremy Irons originally turned down the role because he knew playing this character would hurt his career. After thinking it over and being convinced by Glenn Close that working with Adrian Lyne was an experience he should not missed, he agreed to play Humbert Humbert, not before securing a good paycheck anticipating a few years of possible unemployment.

As Dominique Swain was a minor at age 15 when the movie was filmed, an adult body double had to be used for most of the sex scenes.

Natalie Portman turned down the role of Lolita.

In the novel, Lolita is only 12 when Humbert first meets her. In the film, her age was changed to 14. The same thing happened in Stanley Kubrick's Lolita (1962).

Charles Chaplin's relationship with his second wife Lita Grey was reportedly the inspiration of the novel "Lolita" as she was underage when they first started their relationship.

Melanie Griffith plays the mother of Lolita, but in real life it was a young Melanie who went off with an older man. When she was just fourteen she fell in love with her mother's co-star (Don Johnson) and the two pursued a relationship.

Over 2500 girls, including Christina Ricci and Melissa Joan Hart, tried out for the title role.

Ralph Fiennes was considered for the part of Humbert Humbert.

FILM 1994: MURIEL'S WEDDING

FILM 1994: MURIEL'S WEDDING

TRIVIA: The writer/director P.J. Hogan wanted to use the music of ABBA in the film. At first, permission for the music to be used was denied. When the director promised to fly to Europe to plead his case to the founders of the band, permission was granted, as long as the band received a percentage of the film profits. The film turned out to be a big international hit, and thus helped inspire the very successful Broadway show which became the movie Mamma Mia! (2008).

Toni Collette gained 40 pounds in 7 weeks with the help of a dietitian for this role.

Bill Hunter was filming The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) and Muriel's Wedding (1994) at the same time, each requiring him to have different length hair, beard and to be in different parts of the country. Both films developed international cult followings and prominently featured the music of ABBA.

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

In the video store where Muriel works, a poster for the movie Strictly Ballroom is visible. Bill Hunter, who plays Bill Heslop (Muriel's father), Is also in Strictly Ballroom in the role of Barry Fife.

P.J. Hogan based Muriel's personality on himself, but Muriel's actions were inspired by his sister, who embezzled $15,000 from their father and then disappeared to Sydney to live with a friend.

Betty Heslop passes a magazine called Womans Day in the supermarket. Womans Day is a real magazine which did a feature article about the movie. The same cover (as the one in the movie) was used.

FILM 1993: SLIVER

FILM 1993: SLIVER

TRIVIA: During filming, a crew was sent to Hawaii to film an active volcano for the opening credits. During the flyover, the volcano erupted, and the helicopter carrying the crew crashed. No one was killed, but all film was lost. The opening credit scene is referenced in the film by the crystal volcano in Zeke's Room.

According to Phillip Noyce, Sharon Stone and William Baldwin disliked each other and demanded that their scenes be filmed separately whenever possible.

The script originally called for full male frontal nudity, but William Baldwin changed his mind after the scenes had been shot.

While filming a kissing scene, Sharon Stone bit William Baldwin's tongue with such force that he couldn't talk properly for days afterwards.

Johnny Depp and Val Kilmer turned down the role of Zeke Hawkins.

Sharon Stone signed for the lead for $2.5 million.

The book "Flesh and Blood" that Jack sends to Carly has a cover that is similar to the poster for Dead Calm (1989), another Phillip Noyce film.

The soundtrack includes "Unfinished Sympathy" by Massive Attack. They were sued by bassist Ralphe Armstrong for copyright infringement alleging they lifted vocals and other samples from his song "Planetary Citizen" from the Inner Worlds album by the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Ralphe claimed he became aware of the copyright issue while watching this movie. The suit was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

FILM 1992: EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL AND VILE

FILM 1992: EXTREMELY WICKED, SHOCKINGLY EVIL AND VILE

TRIVIA: The name of this film came from a quote from the court judge on Bundy's trial. He quoted, "The crimes were extremely wicked, shockingly evil, vile, and the product of design to inflict a high degree of pain."

There was once a petition in 2016 from fans to cast Zac Efron as Ted Bundy in the upcoming biography movie. Former lawyer of Ted Bundy agrees that Efron actually bears a resemblance to the serial killer.

When Ted is asking Liz if he ever laid a hand on her or raised his voice the film neglects the instances from the past where he was controlling and odd One one occasion he pushed Liz into a lake during an argument. The film also neglects to mention his constant stealing.

FILM 1988: LOVE POTION NO. 9

FILM 1988: LOVE POTION NO. 9 

TRIVIA: Although the movie is called Love potion #9. The love potion used throughout most of the film is love potion #8

The film grossed $754,935 at the box office.

FILM 1987: CRAZY RICH ASIANS

FILM 1987: CRAZY RICH ASIANS

TRIVIA: Netflix wanted to produce the film and offered a much bigger budget, but Kevin Kwan deliberately turned down the offer in favor of a modest $30-million budget from Warner Bros. This was done to send a message that Asian-American studio movies are commercially viable.

Awkwafina was supposed to wear several different wigs throughout the movie; however, after putting on the blonde wig, it was decided to scrap other wigs and just keep the one. The joke about this was kept in the scene where actor Ken Jeong starts calling her "Asian Ellen [Degeneres]".

This is Henry Golding's first movie; he was only a travel show host before this, but was introduced to the project after a producer met a studio accountant in Singapore, who suggested his name. However, Henry turned down to audition for the role several times as he did not think he was good enough for the part and believed a "legitimate" actor would be better suited. It was not until the director, Jon Chu, reached out to him via a mutual Facebook friend that he was finally convinced to do the part.

As of October 2018, the film had grossed over $235 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing romantic comedy in a decade.

The tiger in the foyer of Tyersall Park (where Nick and Astrid would hide their cigarettes) was an interesting movie prop. Per the Hollywood Reporter, "The mansion's taxidermied tiger was problematic. The best specimen was in London, and the production designer realized he'd have trouble getting it across international borders. Instead, he hired sculptors in Thailand, to create a tiger out of foam and fur, only to have it held up in Thai customs because agents thought it was the real thing. 'We finally got it installed the night before we filmed the scene,' he says."

FILM 1986: THE BREAK-UP

FILM 1986: THE BREAK-UP

TRIVIA: Vince Vaughn's parents have bit roles in the movie. His mother plays a tourist and his father plays Jennifer Aniston's father.

Vince Vaughn gained 26 pounds for the role. Vaughn was reported to have gained weight as a result of his recent decision to quit smoking.

In the opening scene at Wrigley Field, Jon Favreau makes a reference to going to "Wiener Circle" to have hot dogs after the game. Wiener Circle is a hot dog stand famous for the staff yelling and cursing at customers when they order. If the customer does not return the favor, they do not take your order. Generally, though, this only happens late at night on the weekends.

Toward the end, Vince Vaughn uses his favorite line when he tells the passengers on his tour boat about getting hopped up and making some bad decisions. He uses the same line at the beginning of his role in The Wedding Crashers.

Jennifer Aniston's character Brooke gets a "Telly Savalas" wax job during the movie. In real life, Savalas was Aniston's godfather.

This is the fourth time Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau have been in a movie together (after Swingers (1996), Made (2001), and Rudy (1993)).

John Michael Higgins plays a member of an acapella group called the Tone Rangers in this movie. Several years later, he goes on to play an acapella competition commentator in the movies Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2.

Second film starring Vince Vaughn and Vincent D'Onofrio, the first one was " The Cell" (2000)

FILM 1984: MOONSTRUCK

FILM 1984: MOONSTRUCK

TRIVIA: Nicolas Cage's screen test didn't impress the studio, and they wanted to get someone else to play Ronny. But Cher insisted that Cage was the one to play that role, and threatened to quit unless he was hired. After a few days, the studio relented.

Norman Jewison has stated that the climactic kitchen sequence was the most difficult scene that he ever shot in his career. The crew were dismissed and Jewison rehearsed with the cast for some time, using a stage production approach. Only after the actors perfected their timing did he decide where to put the camera.

The opening title sequence was originally played on the score from "La bohème" opera but was changed to the Dean Martin track "That's Amore" as the preview drew negative test audience reaction. Many shifted uncomfortably on their seats thinking that they had been lured into an art film.

The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

While filming between takes, Cher motioned to Olympia Dukakis that the movie was going to be a dud. She originally thought that she was giving a bad performance. She went on to win the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Actress.

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

Ranked ninth on Premiere Magazine's "20 Most Overrated Movies of All Time".

FILM 1980: BURNING

FILM 1980: BURNING 

TRIVIA: The scene in which the main characters talk at Jong-su's house was filmed for about a month. They were only able to shoot for a few minutes every day to capture the twilight on camera.

Paju, the hometown of Jong-su, is famous for its fog. According to cinematographer Kyung-pyo Hong, there were many foggy scenes at dawn, but some were deleted because they came out so beautifully. Many of the scenes where Jong-su runs to search greenhouses at dawn were also deleted because the foggy landscapes were too beautifully shown.

Official submission of South Korea for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 91st Academy Awards in 2019.

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 1968: EIGHTH GRADE

FILM 1968: EIGHTH GRADE

TRIVIA: At a screening in San Francisco, director Bo Burnham said he originally intended for all the young characters to communicate with one another over Facebook. When his star, Elsie Fisher, saw his script, however, she said, "No one uses Facebook." He then made that a line in the movie and had the characters use Instagram and Snapchat instead.

Speaking on Marc Maron's WTF podcast, director Bo Burnham said that technology company Apple was going to provide laptops and phones for the film for free, but they were unhappy with the scene where the iPhone broke when it got thrown. As a result, the laptops shown in the film were those belonging to the crew and the broken iPhone scene was kept in.

Filming began one week after actress Elsie Fisher graduated eighth grade.

Was listed as one of former US President Barack Obama's favourite films of 2018.

MY VERDICT: This film really spoke to me – I was the shyest of all teenagers and I was just like this girl - except I didn’t have the luxury of any of the social media. The last third of the film brought me to tears and just reminded me how hard growing up is. I’m so glad I’m an adult now – I wouldn’t wish teenage years on my worst enemy. Even though I grew up in a different era I think teenage awkwardness is pretty universal and I think this film is genuine and true to real life. Watch it let me know if you can relate… Also there were some bits that made me really laugh out loud - so don't go into it thinking it's a sombre film because it's not that at all.

FILM 1965: THE BODYGUARD

FILM 1965: THE BODYGUARD

TRIVIA: Rachel's mansion is the same mansion as the "horse's head in the bed" mansion in The Godfather (1972).

Whitney Houston suffered a miscarriage during production and missed a couple of weeks of production recovering.

As of 2015, with over 37 million albums sold, the film had the best-selling soundtrack of all time. Saturday Night Fever (1977) places second--with nearly 10 million fewer albums sold.

Whitney Houston would give Kevin Costner singing lessons on set in exchange for acting advice.

This film was originally proposed in the mid-'70s, starring Diana Ross and Steve McQueen, but was rejected as "too controversial". The film concept was to be attempted again in the late 1970s, with Ryan O'Neal and Diana Ross cast as the leads. The project fell through after only a few months because of irreconcilable differences between O'Neal and Ross, who had been dating.

Crew driver Bill Vitagliano was killed in an on-set accident when he was crushed between two colliding scissor-lifts, during the preparation for an underground parking garage scene.

Rachel and Frank go and see Yojimbo (1961), which was released in the United States as "The Bodyguard".

This was the second-highest-grossing movie in the world for 1992, behind Aladdin (1992).

The wisecracking host at the fictional Academy Awards ceremony is comedian Robert Wuhl, who wrote jokes for Billy Crystal's Academy Awards hosting duties in 1990 and 1991.

Originally "I Will Always Love You" wasn't in the movie - the big single was "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted." When that song was used in Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (1991), Kevin Costner suggested "I Will Always Love You."

FILM 1951: THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY

FILM 1951: THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY

TRIVIA: Matt Damon actually sang the song "My Funny Valentine."

Jude Law learned to play the saxophone and Matt Damon learned to play the piano for this film. However while Damon's training enabled him to recreate the proper keyboard fingering the music heard in the film is played by Sally Heath (the Bach) and Gabriel Yared (the Vivaldi).

This is Matt Damon's favorite film he has made.

Leonardo DiCaprio was considered for the role of Tom Ripley.

Fausto and Dickie (and Tom, later) sing "Tu Vuo' Fa' L'Americano," a humorous song about an Italian man in the 50s who wants to imitate the American lifestyle he sees in the movies. But American food doesn't do him any good and in the end, the money he spends comes from his mother's purse.

After viewing this film, Tommy Wiseau was so emotionally moved that he vowed to make a film just as, if not more compelling. This film would become The Room (2003).

When Anthony Minghella learned that Cate Blanchett was interested in playing the small supporting role of Meredith - as opposed to the female lead - he duly expanded the role to get her on board.

DID YOU KNOW?… Some extraordinary research has found that couples who are in love and bond in a romantic relationship synchronize their heart rates after gazing into each others’ eyes for three minutes.

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SPOTLIGHT ON: BASIC INVITE

SPOTLIGHT ON: BASIC INVITE

Today I want to share with you a great invite website called Basic Invite. 

As you know I am a huge fan of stationary and it’s always great to see a website that gets it right.

The website is beautiful and so easy to use and they have some really excellent features like how they can capture your addresses from your social media – I didn’t even know this kind of thing was possible.

They can print in almost any colour, which is great especially if your wedding has a really specific shade of green, for example, and you can get a custom printed sample sent to you just to judge it against your placemats or bowtie. I love the fact that they offer foils not just in gold and silver but also in rose gold which is the kind of gold I’m really feeling right now. Take a look at their free wedding websites – I know about a hundred people who would have loved to use this feature for their wedding - not only are the templates beautifully designed but all the features, like digital RSVPs, maps and registries are exactly the things they needed.

It seems to me, and I don’t know about you, that this time of year everyone is having babies, and I wish I knew about this website when people asked me about their baby shower invites – they’ve got such a great range that they can be the inspiration for your theme too – I love the idea of a firefighter theme or a woodland or floral theme. They’ve even got specific invites for twins!

The website has really responsive design features and I think such a quick and easy way to order those thank you cards too – I especially love their sticker section – they’ve got a huge amount of designs and you could use them to close your letters for a long time to come – not just for your wedding stationary.

And the great news is: Right now Basic Invite is offering 15% off with coupon code: 15FF51

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This post is sponsored by a product exchange with Basic Invite but all opinions are my own.