FILM 1867: THE SUM OF ALL FEARS

FILM 1867: THE SUM OF ALL FEARS

TRIVIA: The spray can that Liev Schreiber uses to cut through the chain-link fence is supposed to be a real-life CIA chemical spray known as "Ice Piss". When asked if a real can of Ice Piss could be acquired for the scene, the technical advisor said "I don't want to go to prison!"

Ben Affleck was on the set of Pearl Harbor (2001) when he was offered the role of Jack Ryan. His co-star Alec Baldwin, who played Jack Ryan in The Hunt for Red October (1990) persuaded Affleck to take the role. Affleck also contacted Harrison Ford to receive his blessing before taking the role.

When Ben Affleck first arrived on the set, he told Director Phil Alden Robinson, "Nice working with you again". Robinson said, "What do you mean 'again'?" Affleck explained that when Robinson was filming the scene in Boston's Fenway Park for Field of Dreams(1989), he and Matt Damon were among the thousands of extras.

Matt Damon had a cameo as a waiter, but it was cut from the final film.

Morgan Freeman played a ranking member of James Cromwell's Presidential administration. In Deep Impact (1998), the roles are reversed.

FILM 1789: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL

FILM 1789: MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL

TRIVIA: During production, Tom Cruise did the majority of his own stunts including the skyscraper sequence(s), to show the audience it was actually him. This would allow Director Brad Bird to have more capabilities with camera angles, and not having to hide the fact that it is a stuntman doing the stunts.

The windows removed from Burj Khalifa were carefully chipped away by two workers with hammers, working from a window washing platform outside the building.

Brad Bird's live-action directorial debut.

FRANCHISE TRADEMARK (jump and hang): Jeremy Renner does the signature jump-and-hang-in-air stunt that Tom Cruise did in Mission: Impossible (1996).

According to Tom Cruise, he was happy to hear that they were using a subtitle in the film's heading instead of a number like the prior two films did. Cruise has never been a fan of a number at the end of the film's sequel titles as he's always considered each film as a stand alone feature in the Mission: Impossible film franchise.

Dermot Mulroney plays cello in the scoring orchestra for this movie. Mulroney, who is better-known as an actor (Longtime Companion (1989), My Best Friend's Wedding(1997), About Schmidt (2002), etc.) is also a classical cellist who occasionally plays in recording sessions for soundtracks.

The Burj Khalifa Hotel mentioned in the movie is the Armani Hotel Dubai, the first hotel designed and developed by Giorgio Armani.

This is the first film to use the 100th Anniversary Paramount Pictures logo. Each movie in the Mission: Impossible series has used a different Paramount logo.

FILM 1683: ICARUS

TRIVIA: The film was substantially edited after the premiere at Sundance Film Festival, where it was bought by Netflix. The new version debuted at Sundance London in June 2017 before being released on Netflix in August.

https://www.behance.net/gallery/53029631/AGEof-RUINS

BOOK 145: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY

It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. It is the second of Dostoyevsky's full-length novels following his return from 10 years of exile in Siberia. Crime and Punishment is considered the first great novel of his "mature" period of writing.

Dostoyevsky conceived the idea of Crime and Punishment in the summer of 1865. At the time the author owed large sums of money to creditors, and was trying to help the family of his brother Mikhail, who had died in early 1864. Projected under the title The Drunkards, it was to deal "with the present question of drunkness ... [in] all its ramifications, especially the picture of a family and the bringing up of children in these circumstances, etc., etc." Once Dostoyevsky conceived Raskolnikov and his crime, now inspired by the case of Pierre François Lacenaire, this theme became ancillary, centering on the story of the Marmeladov family.

Despite its title, the novel does not so much deal with the crime and its formal punishment, as with Raskolnikov's internal struggle (the book shows that his punishment results more from his conscience than from the law). Believing society would be better for it, Raskolnikov commits murder with the idea that he possessed enough intellectual and emotional fortitude to deal with the ramifications, [based on his paper/thesis, "On Crime", that he is a Napoleon], but his sense of guilt soon overwhelms him to the point of psychological and somatic illness. It is only in the epilogue that he realizes his formal punishment, having decided to confess and end his alienation from society.

TRIVIA: When Crime and Punishment came up in an interview, Alfred Hitchcock told French director Francois Truffaut that he would never consider filming it. Hitchcock explained that he could make a great film out of a good book, and even (or especially) a mediocre book, but never a great book, because the film would always suffer by comparison.