Jon Sandys

19th Apr 2004

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Trivia: As the gang shuffle towards the pub, in one or two brief shots of the zombie mob, one of the zombies is dressed exactly like the character Tyres (a bike messenger) from "Spaced", and in fact is played by the same actor, Michael Smiley.Keep an eye out for some bright blue and yellow clothing.

Jon Sandys

19th Apr 2004

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

19th Apr 2004

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Trivia: When the gang come across another group made up of identical characters, that may be all the entertainment many people get out of the meeting. However, they're all stars of fantastic UK comedy shows, many with links to stars of this film - The leader is Jessica Stevenson, star of Spaced, which also starred Simon Pegg and Nick Frost from this, and was directed by Edgar Wright, who also directed this. Behind her are Martin Freeman from The Office, which also starred Lucy Davis (Dianne in this), Reece Shearsmith from The League of Gentlemen, Tamsin Greig from Black Books, which stars Dylan Moran (David in this), Julia Deakin, also from "Spaced", and Matt Lucas from Little Britain. Not that that's all they've done, but to list all their mighty comedic achievements would take far too long - check them all out on the IMDb. Comic geniuses (genii?) the lot of them.

Jon Sandys

24th Feb 2004

Bad Boys II (2003)

Trivia: Just after the huge car chase, as Syd pulls to a stop, note the massive sign next to her - Chase construction. (00:36:55)

Jon Sandys

15th Jan 2004

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

Trivia: The first time we see Riggs in his trailer, there's an advert for some new aftershave called "Hero" on the TV. During the attack on his trailer later, there's a close-up shot of a bottle of aftershave being destroyed - freeze-frame it and you'll see the brand: "Hero" again.

Jon Sandys

14th Jan 2004

X-Men 2 (2003)

Trivia: Two random similarities to "Edward Scissorhands" in this movie. At the start, Nightcrawler looks almost identical to Edward when he's robbing the house - pale, marks on his face, blue baseball cap. Also when Edwards emerges from the house, he's holding his scissors out towards the police, who think they're weapons he's using to threaten them - exactly the same thing happens in this with Wolverine. Deliberate, or just coincidence?

Jon Sandys

12th Jan 2004

Darkman (1990)

12th Jan 2004

Darkman (1990)

Trivia: Sam Raimi wanted Bruce Campbell to star, but was overruled. There are clear similarities between Liam Neeson's performance and Bruce Campbell's decomposed alter-ego in Army of Darkness (and as anyone with a brain knows NOW, Bruce Campbell is a genius who could have played the role perfectly).

Jon Sandys

Trivia: In the romantic scene between Elizabeth and Will where she shows him the medallion, she pulls it from around her neck. The necklace was attached to the back of her neck with sellotape to make it easily removable, but the first few times she pulled it off the tape was too tightly attached and pulled bits of hair off too. Commentary, DVD.

Jon Sandys

20th Nov 2003

Batman (1989)

Trivia: The Joker says "better make it ten [minutes]", before heading up Gotham Cathedral. Exactly 10 minutes later, the helicopter flies into shot to get him. (01:42:00 - 01:52:00)

Jon Sandys

Trivia: During their walk, when Jimmy and Oz stop by a flower stall, the three girls who run between them shouting "I'm gonna kill you." are Bruce Willis' 3 daughters. (00:12:45)

Jon Sandys

Trivia: A lot of people bemoan loose endings in this, but in part that's probably down to this movie, more than any other on this site (hence barely qualifying this as trivia), attracting utterly inane submissions, listed here for the amusement of people who've actually paid attention to the other two films. Firstly, at no point in either of the movies does anyone say that they've "destroyed the sun", which would have resulted in an error when they fly above the clouds and see it, as at least three people have submitted. They scorched the sky (ie. caused heavy cloud cover). How are you supposed to destroy the sun? Nor did anyone say that Zion was destroyed at the end of Reloaded - the battle which only Bane survived was the attempted EMP-based ambush of the machines within the tunnel system. And finally, Niobe didn't die in Reloaded - don't know where anyone got that idea from. Keep an eye on this entry for more daft submissions - I do wish people would pay attention sometimes...

Jon Sandys

30th Sep 2003

The Mummy Returns (2001)

Trivia: This is mentioned on the commentary, but I've got to mention it here because it's great. The scene where Rick's stalking Imhotep and there's a sequence of shots alternating pitch black and Rick's face illuminated, was quite tricky. They set up the camera on a dolly track, shut off all the lights, then tracked backwards while Brendan Fraser walked forwards, with two guys lighting the scene by using flamethrowers either side of the camera, trying not to fall down the holes in the floor of the set all the time. Genius.

Jon Sandys

15th Sep 2003

Matchstick Men (2003)

9th Sep 2003

Licence to Kill (1989)

Trivia: Not really a mistake, because it's said by a desperate man, but it amused me. Bond's got the DEA traitor hanging over a shark, and the only way the traitor can escape is with Bond's help. He says to Bond, "there's 2 million dollars in that suitcase – I'll split it with you". How stupid does he think Bond is? James can either rescue this bloke he obviously wants to kill and get $1 million, or he can let him die and keep all $2 million for himself. Let me think...

Jon Sandys

6th Sep 2003

Friends (1994)

The One In Barbados, part 1 - S9-E23

Trivia: When Joey and Rachel are looking for nametags to con their way into the convention, the name picked out for Rachel is Kate Miller. I just found it a bit odd that not a flicker of recognition passes across Joey's face, considering that was the name of Dina Meyer's character from a few seasons back who he was in love with.

Jon Sandys

Trivia: The police car they use is marked as "K-9 - canine patrol". John Belushi's brother James was in a movie called K-9. He was meant to appear in this, but couldn't due to other commitments.

Jon Sandys

Trivia: The pseudo Scooby gang have a heavy Buffy/Angel link. "Fred/The Guy" is played by Marc Blucas, Riley in Buffy. "Shaggy/The Dude" is played by Matthew James, the demon Merl from Angel. "Velma/Bookish girl" is played by Jane Silvia, who was in the first episode of Buffy series 4, playing "Conservative Woman". The only person who doesn't have any link is "Daphne/Redhead beauty", played by Carmen Lee (Jason Lee's wife from 1995-2001). Although if you're really going for tenuous Angel links, she was in a film called "Cowboys and Angels" in 2000. (00:16:30)

Jon Sandys

15th Jun 2003

Die Another Day (2002)