FILM 1504: ENEMY

TRIVIA: The cast signed a confidentiality agreement that doesn't allow them to speak and/or explain to the press the meaning of spiders in the movie.

According to the director, Denis Villeneuve, Javier Bardem was offered the lead role but the actor felt he didn't suit the character. Christian Bale was also offered the role and he wanted to do it but couldn't due to scheduling conflicts with other projects.

The quote which precedes the film's opening - 'chaos is order yet undeciphered' - is taken from the source novel 'The Double' by José Saramago.

FILM 1239: THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING

TRIVIA: Billy Boyd's singing scene largely came about because Philippa Boyens went for a night out at a karaoke bar with the younger male cast members and she was very struck by the quality of his voice. Remembering that Denethor asks Pippin to sing him a song when Faramir heads off to war, she resurrected the lyrics from the novel and Boyd himself came up with the tune for it.

Viggo Mortensen estimates that, during the course of filming the entire trilogy and including all takes, he "killed" every stuntman on the production at least fifty times.

Since John Rhys-Davies suffered constant rashes from wearing the Gimli make-up, the make-up department gave him the opportunity to throw his Gimli mask into the fire on his last day of pick-up photography. He didn't hesitate a moment to grab and burn it.

The dead oliphaunt carcass used in this film is reportedly the largest prop ever built for a motion picture. According to members of the prop department, director Peter Jackson still thought it could have been bigger.

While filming the trilogy, Viggo Mortensen got so into character that during a conversation, Peter Jackson referred to him as "Aragorn" for over half an hour without Mortensen's realizing it.

Miranda Otto had to undergo numerous fittings to finally settle on a helmet that disguised her face yet revealed enough of it so that the audience would know who she was.

http://www.mister-finch.com/

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/329677635194788369/

Film 1036: Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told

Trivia: Notorious plagiarist Lianne Spiderbaby took her writing pseudonym from the title of this film.

Star Lon Chaney Jr. sings the films quirky theme song.

The Smith Estate of Los Angeles, California was used for the exteriors of the Merrye house. The house still stands today.

The Smith estate house was originally occupied by Judge David Patterson Hatch, where he wrote occult books as well as metaphysical writings after he retired from the bench.

The wrap party was held at the home of actress Mary Mitchel and her then-husband, producer Bart Patton. The couple's dog had recently had puppies, and that evening co-star Sid Haig and his wife took one of the pups home and named it "Uncle Ned" after the character in the film.

For the scene in which Ralph climbs down the house and peers in the window, Sid Haig had a rope tied around his feet and was lowered in front of the window. Pressure built up behind his eyes and he panicked, so this footage was shot very quickly.

This had to wait 33 years before it was released to cinemas in the UK.

Film 1022: The Amazing Spider-Man

Trivia: In this film Spider-Man uses artificial devices to shoot webs, inspired from the original comics where he possessed similar devices for his webbing (only later would he gain the superhuman ability to shoot webs). Marc Webb explained the web-shooters were a creative decision to showcase Peter's intellect: "We wanted to emphasize that these are things that Peter Parker made and that he is special himself even if he feels like he's an outsider."

Ashley Greene, Mia Wasikowska, Scout Taylor-Compton Teresa Palmer, Amber Heard, Dianna Agron, Brooklyn Decker, Imogen Poots, Lindsay Lohan, Emma Roberts, Emily Browning, Lily Collins, Anna Kendrick, Ophelia Lovibond, Sara Paxton, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Georgina Haig, Hilary Duff and Dominique McElligott were considered for the role of Gwen Stacy, but were beaten out by Emma Stone. It is interesting to note that one of the other names--Mary Elizabeth Winstead--had played Gwen Grayson (named for Gwen Stacy) in the superhero spoof Sky High.

This is the first "Spider-Man" film to not feature Spider-Man's perennial love interest Mary-Jane Watson (in Sam Raimi's three films played by Kirsten Dunst). Instead, Peter Parker's original girlfriend Gwen Stacy appears (who had been played by Bryce Dallas Howard in Spider-Man 3).

To prepare for his role as Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield studied the movements of spiders and tried to incorporate them as much as he could: "Parker is a boy/spider in terms of how he moves, and not just in the suit."

After Denis Leary was cast, his friend Jeff Garlin, a Spider-Man fan, said "I knew you would get the part." To which Leary replied "Why? Because I'm such a great actor?" Garlin then said, "no, because you look just like Captain Stacy."

Andrew Garfield requested that the song "Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory be played when filming the otherwise silent scene in which Peter goes into the web harvesting room with the spiders.

Before filming, Rhys Ifans researched his role by meeting several real handicapped people (who have missing limbs). He also spent one month performing his daily activities using only his left hand - it includes tying a tie. There script has small snippet written where Connors ties a tie but it was not filmed as it was too time consuming.

Michael Fassbender was originally considered for the role of Dr Curt Connors; he eventually went on to play Magneto in X-Men: First Class. His Inglourious Basterds co-star Christoph Waltz was later rumored to be attached to the part.

Cameo: Stan Lee:  The man in the library unaware of the events going on behind him.

Scientists in Peru have discovered a species of spider that builds self-referential “spiders” out of twigs and dead insects. Whoa! They use these decoy spiders to trick predators. Pretty smart.

According to WIRED:

Believed to be a new species in the genus Cyclosa, the arachnid crafts the larger spider from leaves, debris and dead insects. Though Cyclosa includes other sculpting arachnids, this is the first one observed to build a replica with multiple, spidery legs.

Scientists suspect the fake spiders serve as decoys, part of a defense mechanism meant to confuse or distract predators. “It seems like a really well evolved and very specialized behavior,” said Phil Torres, who described the find in a blog entry written for Rainforest Expeditions. Torres, a biologist and science educator, divides his time between Southern California and Peru, where he’s involved in research and education projects.

“Considering that spiders can already make really impressive geometric designs with their webs, it’s no surprise that they can take that leap to make an impressive design with debris and other things,” he said.

http://teenangster.net/2012/12/smart-spiders/