FILM 1825: FORCES OF NATURE

FILM 1825: FORCES OF NATURE

TRIVIA: About a year after the release of the movie, Sandra Bullock actually did survive a plane crash when the corporate jet she was a passenger in skidded off the runway at the Jackson Hole, Wyoming airport. She was not injured in the crash.

David Strickland's last film.

FILM 1822: THE HURRICANE HEIST

FILM 1822: THE HURRICANE HEIST

TRIVIA: In the trailer, viewers are told that the heist is planned during the monstrous hurricane that is pushing 600 miles per hour. The Great Red Spot, a massive hurricane on Jupiter that can fit two Earths in it, is also a 600-mile-per-hour storm. The highest sustained wind speed ever recorded in a hurricane on Earth is 190 miles per hour.

In the early 1990s, Sylvester Stallone was attached to star in a similar project to this film, called "Gale Force," about an ex-Navy SEAL who defends a seacoast town from a gang of modern pirates during a hurricane. David Chappe had written the script and Renny Harlinwas going to direct. Carolco Pictures had a $40 million budget for the film, but creative disagreements over the script and concerns about cost forced Carolco to scrap the film and make Cliffhanger (1993) instead.

FILM 1819: THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW

FILM 1819: THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW

TRIVIA: 20th Century Fox invited a group of scientists to preview the film, to test their reactions to the science used in the film. None of the scientists were impressed with what they saw, although most conceded that the movie was enjoyable nonsense.

The river crossing scene was actually filmed on the US-Mexico border, and the extras really were crossing the Rio Grande into Mexico.

The consultation by NASA scientists was requested before the filming of the movie, but NASA stated that the events in the film were too ridiculous actually to occur, and hence denied the request. NASA sent a memo out to all of its employees stating that they were not allowed to comment on the likelihood of the events portrayed, but later rescinded this restriction.

In 2008, Yahoo! Movies listed the film as one of the Top 10 Scientifically Inaccurate Movies.

Two library-bound survivors ask whether they should burn the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, whose "The Antichrist" states in its preface: "Only the day after tomorrow belongs to me. Some are born posthumously." Part of this line provided this movie's title.

When the camera pulls away from the Earth after the astronaut exclaims "the air is so clear" the image of the Earth is a modified version of the "Blue Marble" picture created by Robert Simmon. The Blue Marble picture is comprised of thousands of satellite photos, and some of the clouds are duplicated. The Apple iPhone uses the Blue Marble picture as the default wallpaper.

FILM 1682: ALIEN: COVENANT 

TRIVIA: This movie contains a scene where a toy bird drinking water (named, aptly, a "drinky-bird") is visible. In the opening scene of Alien (1979), there is such a toy bird shown on board the Nostromo's bridge.

This was the first "Alien" film to be released after the death of H.R. Giger. Giger inadvertently designed the original "Alien" looks and environments in his "Necronomicon" book, which led to Ridley Scott hiring him as Art Director for the film (and franchise). Giger essentially gave birth to the entire "Alien" look that we all know.

Walter breaks the pattern of the androids' names proceeding in alphabetical order (Ash, Bishop, Call, David). There is another pattern to their names, however. "D" is the fourth letter of the alphabet, and "W" is the fourth-to-last. The characters are named for David Giler and Walter Hill.

FILM 1609: KRAMPUS

TRIVIA: The film was originally to release on November 25 but was pushed back to December 4 to coincide with the Krampusnacht, a traditional Austrian festival held on December 5 that celebrates the Krampus coming to punish naughty children.

The Krampus's final design was distilled from various postcards and illustrations of the creature over the years.

According to Michael Dougherty, this is a Christmas film that is both scary and sentimental: "A Christmas Carol" and It's a Wonderful Life (1946) are nightmares that show you these broken characters who experience a darker side of divine intervention. They need to be scared straight."

Krampus is a huge part of Austrian and German folklore. In Austria and southern Germany, they have "Krampus Runs" where grown-up men dress up as Krampuses and parade through the city streets and scare children.

The snow on the ground was made from material that's usually used for diapers.

BOOK 161: DOWNTOWN OWL: A NOVEL: CHUCK KLOSTERMAN

Written by Chuck Klosterman, first published by Scribner in 2008. It is the author's first all-fictional publication.

In October 2012, Gettin' Rad Productions, the production company owned by Adam Scott and his wife, Naomi Scott, optioned the movie rights to Downtown Owl. “It’s lovely and moving and funny. We just thought it’s a really great story about people that I relate to but also small enough that it would make a good first film out of the gate for us," Adam Scott was quoted in The Hollywood Reporter. However, no further updates on the film project have been released since then.

Film School Rejects writer Neil Miller said, "This book is rich with unique and interesting characters and situations that would be perfect matches for a Coen-esque romp through 1983 rural North Dakota."

FILM 1596: KEY LARGO

TRIVIA: In a classic case of a director being emotionally manipulative, John Huston informed Claire Trevor that they were to film her song that very day. Trevor was not a trained singer, and had not even rehearsed the song yet. She also felt very intimidated by the A-list actors seated directly in front of her. The result was a hesitant, nervous, uncomfortable rendition, exactly the feeling Huston was hoping to get.

In the film, James Temple describes the 1935 hurricane that devastated Matacumbe Key. This was one of worst hurricanes in U.S. history and many of the victims of the storm were World War I veterans who were building the Florida Keys portion of U.S. Highway 1, also known as the Overseas Highway. A portion of the highway is seen in the film's opening. The storm also produced the lowest-ever recorded barometric pressure over land in the North American continent.

The character of Johnny Rocco was modeled on Al Capone, who retired to Florida and died there of complications due to advanced syphilis a year before this film was produced. Screenwriter Richard Brooks later revealed he had also incorporated biographical details about another famous gangster, Lucky Luciano, into Rocco's character as well.

Fourth and final film pairing of Humphrey Bogart and his wife Lauren Bacall. A fifth film was planned several years later, but Bogart died before it could be made.

The ramshackle hotel where most of the drama unfolds was constructed on the Warner Bros. lot along with the beach area. Exterior shots of the hurricane were actually taken from stock footage used in Night Unto Night (1949), a Ronald Reagan melodrama made the same year at Warner Bros.

Apart from the opening shots, the movie was filmed entirely at Warner Bros. Studio head Jack L. Warner - still reeling from the cost of shooting John Huston's previous film, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), on location - refused to approve any more location filming for the director. The pier scenes were filmed using the studio tank with miniature boats in the background to give an illusion of depth. The shipboard shots at the end were also filmed using the studio tank, with fog used to mask the artifice.

Felipa Gómez, who played the Old Indian Woman, was born just five years after the U.S. Civil War ended.

When John Huston was scouting for locations on the Florida Keys, he asked a hotel owner where the storm cellar was. The man informed him that if you dug three feet down you would hit the ocean.