Fun and Random Trivia of the Day

Trivia Of The Day (4/15/2009)

A Hard Day's Night

Writer Alun Owen put together the plot of the movie while following them around on their tour of France before they went to America. From observing them, he created their "stereotypes": John is a smart-ass, Paul is "cute" and sensible, George is quite and shy, and Ringo is dim-witted and sad. He also picked up their manner of speech, and their daily routine with which he created the plot (Despite the comic elements, it really was a "day-in-the-life" look at the Beatles).

When shooting began, The Beatles had not yet joined the British actor's union. They were hastily inducted on the set with Wilfrid Brambell proposing their membership, and Norman Rossington seconding the motion.

While all four Beatles attended the movie's premiere, reportedly none stayed for the whole show.

and to end the barrage

The first movie ever put out on DVD, it was issued as a single disc. It was later reissued as a two-disc DVD.

From 'Breakfast at Tiffany's':

"At a post-production meeting following a screening of the film, a studio executive, in reference to "Moon River," said, "Well, I think the first thing we can do is get rid of that stupid song." Audrey Hepburn stood up at the table and said, "Over my dead body!" The song stayed in the picture."

Hard to imagine the film without 'Moon River' but at least one fatheaded moron could, *lol*

Trivia Of The Day (4/16/2009)

Phantom Of The Paradise

At the airport when Beef is introduced, the "Death Records" logo on the podium was superimposed over the original logo for "Swan Song" records to avoid conflict with Led Zeppelin's record label, which had sued. Although the film's producers were certain they would win due to the fact that the phrase was common long before, they decided to make the change in order to get the film finished quickly rather than go through a prolonged court fight.

In short: even then, the members of Led Zeppelin were dicks.

More Zep trivia this time from The School of Rock:

The rock band Led Zeppelin are notoriously hesitant to allow their music to be licensed for commercial purposes. Knowing this, Richard Linklater filmed a plea by actor Jack Black in front of 1,000 screaming fans, imploring the band to let the production use the "Immigrant Song" in the movie. The plea worked and the filmed request is included on the DVD.

Its pretty funny, you should watch it.

The idea for the movie came when writer Mike White moved into an apartment next to Jack Black. White would often find Jack Black running naked through the halls or blasting much of the music featured in the movie at full volume.

Umm... You shouldn't have read this...

All parents' cars are Volvos.

I didn't know that all parents drive Volvos... My parents don't drive a Volvo... Does that mean they are not really my parents and I should look for one driving a Volvo?

The School Of Rock is one of the most overrated films of the decade. It's like Mr. Holland Opus but with Mr. Garrison from South Park playing Mr. Holland. Also, Sarah Silverman is annoying and shouldn't be allowed on a movie screen.

Buscemi wrote:The School Of Rock is one of the most overrated films of the decade. It's like Mr. Holland Opus but with Mr. Garrison from South Park playing Mr. Holland. Also, Sarah Silverman is annoying and shouldn't be allowed on a movie screen.

I thought it was hilarious, though Sarah Silverman was like the #15th character in the film... Like saying you hated the guy that the butt monkey came out of on Bruce Almighty...

A couple of other reasons of why I didn't like The School Of Rock:

-The unlikeability of almost every adult character. Even Jack Black, with himself being hellbent on getting revenge on his old band, comes out as unlikeable. The reason being that he exploits these children and forsakes their futures to do it. In real life, such a situation would be a mess and everyone's lives would be fucked up badly as a result.

-The stereotypically gay student. This character was obviously created for laughs but did they need to create this character solely on stereotypes and stilted gay jokes? No wonder why Mike White (the writer of the film and an open bisexual) has gone on to critize the portrayal of gay characters in major Hollywood comedies.

Trivia from "Kiss Me Kate" (1953):

"Originally filmed in 3D which is why the actors often throw things (including themselves) at the audience."

This was actually the second musical to be filmed in 3D. I could tell you the first but maybe that should be tomorrow's trivia, *lol* Also, they don't list it on the trivia page but Ann Miller had a much expanded part in the movie version than she did in the stage version. One of the film's most famous sequences is the "Too Darn Hot" number which was written specifically for the film. Ann Miller is tapping at a rate of about 500 steps a minute.

I never thought I'd like School of Rock, but I watched it, and I loved it, and I've watched it several times since and I still love it.

and terrific analogy W.

School of Rock was a great family-friendly comedy.. one of the best in recent memory.. (others that come to mind: Elf, Sky High, Nacho Libre, etc.--even Drillbit Taylor.. though most would argue that it's not exactly "family-friendly".. but, you know, in a Judd Apatow kind of way, it was!)

and Sarah Silverman, despite having the potential to be horribly annoying, is a comic genius.. the first two seasons of her show have been hi-larious

I'm not a huge fan of the Sarah Silverman show (it's not bad though...), but her stand up is one of the best out there...

I loved the School of Rock because it's one of the few films out there now that shows how horrible the popular culture is nowadays... There's no way that you can compare any musical artist nowadays to the likes of Hendrix, Clapton, Zep, The Doors, etc just like there's no one out there in country music that can live up to The Man in Black, Willie, Waylon, and the rest of the good ole boys.

Maybe rock will hit another golden age, but I doubt it. There's absopositivealutely no way country music will since there is no such thing as country music anymore. Garth Brooks ushered in the era of Poptry and i don't see it going away any time soon.

Sorry, this should probably be in the rant thread, but I'm not going to move it now...

Trivia Of The Day (4/17/2009)

La Bamba

According to Lou Diamond Phillips in the VH1 documentary "Behind The Music: The Day The Music Died" (1990), Ritchie Valens' sister was on the set the day they filmed the "coin toss" scene where Ritchie wins (or rather, loses) the chance to fly on the plane with Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. As the scenes were being shot, Ritchie's sister began to weep uncontrollably and when Phillips tried to console her, she hugged him and sobbed, "Why Ritchie? Why did you get on the plane?"

That's....kind of strange.

Trivia for yesterday, 4-19-09 is from A History of Violence.

For the sex scene on the stairs, David Cronenberg was concerned about the two actors getting hurt on the hard wooden steps. He asked his stunt man whether or not he had any stunt pads to soften up the stairs. The stunt man laughed, saying that in the twenty years he had been working as a stunt man, no director had ever asked him for stunt pads for a sex scene. Pads were not used for most of the scene however, and in the shot when Edie is naked on the bed with bruises visible on her back, make-up was used to hide the amount of bruises that 'Maria Bello (I)' received from the scene.

Now that is rough sex...

Trivia for Friday, 4-17-09, is from a great gangster film. The Untouchables.

Brian De Palma met Bob Hoskins over a drink in Los Angeles to discuss playing Al Capone if De Palma's first choice Robert De Niro were to pass on the role. Since De Niro didn't say yes, Hoskins told De Palma he would do it if he were available. When De Niro finally took the role, De Palma sent Hoskins a thank you note, and the studio paid Hoskins, who had a "pay or play" deal, $200,000. Hoskins called De Palma and asked if there were any more movies the director didn't want him to be in.

I need that kind of job. I would make more money by not working because it would probably be more profitable for most companies to pay me but keep me away from their company.

Buscemi wrote:Trivia Of The Day (4/17/2009)

La Bamba

According to Lou Diamond Phillips in the VH1 documentary "Behind The Music: The Day The Music Died" (1990), Ritchie Valens' sister was on the set the day they filmed the "coin toss" scene where Ritchie wins (or rather, loses) the chance to fly on the plane with Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. As the scenes were being shot, Ritchie's sister began to weep uncontrollably and when Phillips tried to console her, she hugged him and sobbed, "Why Ritchie? Why did you get on the plane?"

That's....kind of strange.

That would be tough to have to relive that moment for her.

From "The TommyKnockers":

"The title of the film refers to folklore about subterranean ghosts or creatures who are believed to menace miners. According to author Stephen King The Tommyknockers is an allegory for his own personal battles with substance abuse. The character of Jim Gardener is largely based upon King himself."

Trivia Of The Day (4/18/2009)

Coal Miner's Daughter

Joe Don Baker, who bears a strong resemblance to the real Doolittle Lynn, was the producers' first choice to play him, but he was unable to accept the offer.

and more on that same role

According to Loretta Lynn, her husband Doolittle wanted nothing to do with Tommy Lee Jones, who was playing him, until shortly before shooting began in Butcher Holler. Jones rented a Jeep, got drunk on moonshine and went tearing through the town in the vehicle, only to get arrested for drunk driving, beat up for resisting arrest and jailed. Doolittle liked him immediately after that.

That Tommy Lee Jones is a wild man!

From our Irony file, trivia for "Storm of the Century":

"Auditions were scheduled for January 9, 1998, in Southwest Harbor, ME. A massive freezing rain storm arrived on that day and left the entire state a disaster area. (Three other states and four Canadian provinces were also affected; parts of Quebec and Ontario were hit harder than Maine.)"

That ice storm destroyed thousands of trees in Quebec. It was a freezing rain in January, it soaked everything and then the temperature dropped while the wind was picking up. Trees were bent and broken in half. We all blame Stephen King.

Buscemi wrote:

That Tommy Lee Jones is a wild man!

Just think about all the wild times him and Al Gore had in college. Tommy getting drunk, throwing wild parties, and Gore..... making sure those parties are eco-friendly. Would probably put Bush to shame.

A_Roode wrote:We all blame Stephen King.

Yeah, Jake, the gas station attendant, made eye contact with him and lost 300 pounds overnight.

Trivia for Saturday, 4-18-09 is from The Blair Witch Project. Wise use of money.

This film was in the Guinness Book Of World Records for "Top Budget:Box Office Ratio" (for a mainstream feature film). The film cost $22,000 to make and made back $240.5 million, a ratio of $1 spent for every $10,931 made.

One of the video cameras used by the actors was bought at Circuit City. After filming was completed, the producers returned the camera for a refund, making their budget money go even further.

W wrote:

Yeah, Jake, the gas station attendant, made eye contact with him and lost 300 pounds overnight.

Dammit, W, where is this from?!?! I'm trying so hard to remember and it's killing me...

The guesses so far in my head:

House of Wax (2005)
The Simpsons
A Chuck Palahniuk book
Family Guy

because Roode is Thinner? leave Dark Tower out of this



shit





Okay, NEXT POST will be something funtastic......................TBA

BanksIsDaFuture wrote:

Dammit, W, where is this from?!?! I'm trying so hard to remember and it's killing me...

The guesses so far in my head:

House of Wax (2005)
The Simpsons
A Chuck Palahniuk book
Family Guy

None of those... Actually not even close. The Sandler remake of "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town"... Just "Mr. Deeds". Its one of my favorite Sandlers and the one I probably quote the most, though, its probably Billy Madison. Most people on here don't like it because it's a "cheap senseless remake." I laughed--a lot--and it didn't kill anyone, so...

Trivia Of The Day (4/19/2009)

Babe

The talking pig is a combination of 48 real Yorkshire pigs plus an animatronic double. A makeup artist added toupee and eyelashes to each, and computer digitization manipulated pictures of the snout to make the pig appear to talk.

And that is a good reason why it won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.