FILM 2019: US

FILM 2019: US

TRIVIA: Jordan Peele gave the cast ten horror films to watch so they would have "a shared language" when filming: Dead Again (1991), The Shining (1980), The Babadook (2014), It Follows (2014), A Tale of Two Sisters (2003), The Birds (1963), Funny Games (1997), Martyrs (2008), Let the Right One In (2008), and The Sixth Sense (1999).

Lupita Nyong'o based Red's voice on Robert F. Kennedy Jr and specifically the spasmodic dysphonia he suffers from.

Like The Lost Boys (1987), several key scenes take place on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. This is even referenced in-universe, when Adelaide's mother (Anna Diop) says, "You know, they're shooting a movie over there by the carousel."

The Bible verse that continuously appears in the film (Jeremiah 11:11) reads: "Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them."

In addition to Jeremiah 11:11 being seen written on a sign twice, the numbers 11:11 appear frequently throughout this film. When Gabe is watching a baseball game on TV, the announcer says that the game is tied 11-11. When Addie and Jason are talking in his room, the digital clock reads 11:11 pm. Also, a carnival worker in 1986 and one of the twins in the present day both wear a T-shirt for the band Black Flag, the logo of which consists of four vertical black bars that resemble the number 1111. And again at the end of the movie when the ambulance is driving down the windy back road the camera pans out and shows the ambulance number 1111 on top of it.

The filmmakers did not need to do much work on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, as many games and rides are originals going far back as the 1910's. Also, indeed there is an underground tunnel system under The Boardwalk, though it is mostly used for storage and as a shelter in case of any emergency. There is no hall of mirrors (as shown in the film) on the beach.

Nicole Richie appears at the beginning of the movie as a 5 year old because she was actually in the Hands Across America commercial.

Grossed $71 million over its United States opening weekend, the highest ever for an original horror film, and the second highest for an original live-action film, after Avatar(2009)'s $77 million.

"I Got 5 On It" by the hip-hop rap duo, Luniz, is the song featured in the Us movie trailer and remixed into several scenes in the movie. The song was released in May 1995. It was certified a platinum single (one million units sold) in October 1995. The title is a phrase meaning to pay half of a dime bag (a $10 bag of cannabis) with another person.

The fast food that the family eats is called "Copperpots" a nod to Chester Copperpot, the legendary treasure hunter in "The Goonies" which is referenced many times in the movie.

FILM 1922: BIRD BOX

FILM 1922: BIRD BOX

TRIVIA: John Malkovich would talk to the birds on set, and the cast said he had a bizarre connection with them. He would be able to tell them to move their feet and they would.

This marked the fifth time actress Parminder Nagra played the role of a medical doctor, following ER (2003-2009), Alcatraz (2012), Fortitude (2015-), and Five Feet Apart (2019).

The film immediately sparked a 'Bird Box challenge' where people (often children) would have to cross a distance while blindfolded, both indoors and outdoors. When videos started to appear on social media of people bumping into objects and hurting themselves this way, Netflix issued a statement to discourage viewers from taking this challenge.

FILM 1771: A QUIET PLACE

FILM 1771: A QUIET PLACE

TRIVIA: Actress Millicent Simmonds has been deaf since infancy due to a medication overdose. This was the second film she starred in, with Wonderstruck (2017) being her first.

The bathtub scene with Emily Blunt was done in one take. According to John Krasinski, who is also Blunt's co-star and husband in real-life, as soon as he said, "Cut," Blunt immediately fell out of character and asked the crew, "What's everyone having for lunch?"

Bryan Woods and Scott Beck's original screenplay contained only one line of dialogue.

Actor-director John Krasinski has said that the single greatest compliment he received regarding the film, was in a tweet from the master of the horror story himself, Stephen King: "A QUIET PLACE is an extraordinary piece of work. Terrific acting, but the main thing is the SILENCE, and how it makes the camera's eye open wide in a way few movies manage" (6 April 2018). 

In the opening scene, most of the shelves in the grocery store are cleared off, but the chips are completely untouched because they would make too much noise to open and eat.

Bryan Woods and Scott Beck's screenplay was named one of the ten best scripts of the year on Tracking Board's 2017 Hit List, an annual list voted on by industry professionals.

During filming, the crew avoided making noise so diegetic background sounds (e.g., the sound of rolling dice on a game board) could be recorded; the sounds were amplified in post-production.

It was initially intended to leave the American Sign Language un-subtitled, believing the audience would understand the emotional subtext of what was going on--the first trailer notably does not translate the signing. However while editing the early sequence where Regan argues with her father regarding her hearing aides, it was decided by the filmmakers that the sequence would have to be translated, so then the whole movie's use of ASL became subtitled.

FILM 1661: WINGS OF HOPE

Werner Herzog returns to the South American jungle with Juliane Koepcke, the German woman who was the sole survivor of a plane crash there in 1971. They find the remains of the plane and recreate her journey out of the jungle.

Herzog was inspired to make this film since he had narrowly avoided taking the same flight while he was location scouting for Aguirre, Wrath of God. His reservation was canceled due to a last minute change in itinerary.

FILM 1531: THE GALAPAGOS AFFAIR: SATAN CAME TO EDEN

About a series of unsolved disappearances on the Galapagos Island of Floreana in the 1930s.

FILM 1392: Z FOR ZACHARIAH

TRIVIA: Although set in the Midwestern United States of America, the film was shot entirely in New Zealand's Banks Peninsula. The two areas share a similar geography.

Tobey Maguire was originally cast as the lead role.

After leaving the filming wrap party in Methven, New Zealand, Chris Pine was pulled over by police and charged with drunk driving. He pleaded guilty and was disqualified from driving for six months and ordered to pay $93 in reparation. He was let off a fine after making a sizable donation to charity.

FILM 1359: LIFE OF PI

TRIVIA: Suraj Sharma never intended to audition for the film. He went to a casting call to support his brother, and beat out more than 3,000 hopefuls for the lead role.

The shot from overhead of Pi sleeping on the tarp, with Richard curled up in the boat and the fish swimming underneath them, replicates the best known cover of the book that the film is based on.

Suraj Sharma, was never in the boat with a live tiger. Most of the tiger shots were very high-tech CGI. Only a few scenes, like the tiger swimming in the water, included a real tiger.

Ang Lee hired Steven Callahan as a "nautical consultant." In 1982, Callahan survived 76 days adrift on a rubber lifeboat in the Atlantic after his sailboat sank.

The name Richard Parker has previously been associated with shipwrecks. 1) In the Edgar Allan Poe novel "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket", published in 1838, Richard Parker is a member of a group of shipwrecked sailors who resort to cannibalism. 2) In 1884, a ship called Mignorette sank in the ocean. Four people survived, including a cabin boy named Richard Parker, who was subsequently killed and eaten by the other three survivors.

First movie in 7 years to receive the Oscar for Best Director without winning the Oscar for Best Motion Picture. The previous movie was Brokeback Mountain (2005), also directed by Ang Lee.

Pi is on the lifeboat for 227 days. A good approximation for the number pi is 22/7.

The Vfx studio "Rhythm & Hues" won an Academy Award for this film. This was two weeks after they declared bankruptcy. Main reason was, that there where much substance changes, without paying the extra work (what seems to be normal in this business). Ang Lee did not even mention the Vfx-team at the Oscars. Most of the Work in this film was made by this team. There is also a short documentation about this, named Life After Pi (2014).

The Japanese cargo ship's name, Tsimtsum, is a Hebrew word used by 16th-century Kabbalist Isaac Luria to denote God's "contraction" of Himself from the world at Creation. In the novel, the adult Pi mentions doing a college thesis on Luria's theories about creation. In the movie, he mentions teaching a course on Kabbalah.

Tobey Maguire was originally cast as the Writer. Though he filmed his scenes, he was later replaced by Rafe Spall. Ang Lee thought Maguire was too famous for such a small role, and would have been distracting.

Author Yann Martel said he was inspired by a book review of Brazilian author Moacyr Scliar's 1981 novella Max and the Cats, about a Jewish-German refugee who crossed the Atlantic Ocean while sharing his boat with a jaguar.

At one point Jean-Pierre Jeunet was attached to write the film.

Director Cameo: Ang Lee:  A ship crewman in line just before Pi's mother, receiving his food tray from the cook.