TedStixon

Trivia: So much material was reportedly cut from the original script (which was hundreds of pages), that director Luc Besson and co-writer Robert Mark Kamen wanted to use the cut content as the basis for a sequel. However, according to Kamen, despite the film being profitable thanks to the international box office, the American box office was somewhat lower than expected, so the sequel was never made.

TedStixon

Trivia: Writer Robert Mark Kamen was brought in by the studio to help director Luc Besson with the script, which was hundreds of pages and contained numerous characters and subplots. Kamen took a meeting with Besson where he basically told him over and over that the script was unintelligible, angering Besson. Kamen thought he had burned the bridge, but to his surprise, Besson called him later and asked him to help rewrite the script. Kamen helped him condense it into a more acceptable length.

TedStixon

Trivia: This film has both the final acting role for Ian Holm, who played the older Bilbo, and the final live-action role for Christopher Lee, who played Saruman. (His only roles after were voice-overs.) Holm passed away in 2020, while Lee passed away in 2015.

TedStixon

7th Jan 2023

Mimic (1997)

Trivia: Director Guillermo del Toro's father was kidnapped and held for ransom for two months around the time the movie was made and released. Despite this, del Tor has half-jokingly, half-seriously said that working with Bob and Harvey Weinstein was the worst thing that ever happened to him, as they were rude and kept asking him to change the movie in different ways. He quipped that he at least knew what the kidnappers wanted (money), whereas he had no clue what the Weinsteins wanted out of the film.

TedStixon

7th Jan 2023

Barbarian (2022)

Continuity mistake: When Tess opens the lockbox at the beginning and realises the key is missing, she goes from having her left hand on the box to off it instantly between cuts when she finally gets it open.

TedStixon

7th Jan 2023

Barbarian (2022)

Continuity mistake: The first time Tess tries to open the lockbox with the key inside when she gets to the house, the way she is touching/holding it changes between cuts. Specifically, she goes from only having one hand on it to both hands.

TedStixon

1st Jan 2023

General questions

I remember seeing a movie about 10 years ago, I think. I wanna say it was a heist movie or something along those lines, and it may have been a British film, but I was honestly deathly ill at the time and can't remember too much. All I remember is that there was a team of criminals, and one of them was an amateur adult-film actor, and I think there was a scene where he was tortured (and possibly threatened with castration if not castrated?) and killed for information. Ring any bells?

TedStixon

Answer: The Bank Job (2008) based on a true story. A femme fatale, Saffron Burrows, convinces Jason Statham and his crew to rob bank full of safe deposits, not knowing it's a cover to retrieve some photos of a royal family member in a "Fifty Shades" situation. It takes place during the 1970's. Unfortunately, the other boxes belong to the mob. They capture and torture the adult film actor for information and as a hostage.

Thanks! That seems to be the one.

TedStixon

28th Dec 2022

Gremlins (1984)

Trivia: Key Luke actually had to wear old-age makeup to play Mr. Wing despite being about 80 years old at the time, as he looked significantly younger than he actually was. Zach Galligan once asked him how he maintained his looks at his age, and Luke simply replied "No fried food."

TedStixon

28th Dec 2022

Gremlins (1984)

Trivia: When Billy is running to work with Barney at the beginning, you can't see it, but Barney actually has a piece of fishing line attached to his collar being held by Billy's actor. The dog kept running away when they'd shoot the scene, so they had to make an "invisible leash" for him. If you look, you can see the dog suddenly speed up a few times... that's because the line started pulling his collar.

TedStixon

28th Dec 2022

Gremlins (1984)

Trivia: The dog who plays Barney, whose real name was "Mushroom," reportedly thought that the animatronic Gizmo was a real living animal and would treat it like another dog on-set.

TedStixon

26th Dec 2022

Scream (1996)

Trivia: The first major theatrical film scored by Marco Beltrami, who had previously only worked on small indie and television projects. Wes Craven and the studio wanted a new sound for the movie's score, and hired Beltrami based on a sample he provided. Beltrami ironically had never even seen a horror movie before, so he didn't approach the materially traditionally. Beltrami has since become an incredibly popular and prolific composer, with well over 100 credits to his name.

TedStixon

26th Dec 2022

Scream (1996)

Trivia: In what was then an odd move, the film was released around Christmas, with producer Bob Weinstein taking a gamble that horror fans wouldn't have anything else to watch, so they'd go see it. The movie underperformed its opening weekend, grossing only $6 million. However, strong reviews and excellent word of mouth caused ticket sales to spike in the following weeks, and it remained in the top-10 for over two months, eventually becoming a massive sleeper hit and grossing $100 million domestically.

TedStixon

26th Dec 2022

Scream VI (2023)

Trivia: Kirby is the first character in the franchise to return alive after being supposedly "killed off." Her character was last seen gasping in a pool of blood in "Scream 4," and was loosely implied to have died. However, director Wes Craven loved the character and purposely avoided showing her dead body to make her death slightly ambiguous, in case they wanted to bring her back. A small blink-and-you'll-miss-it easter egg in the fifth film confirmed Kirby in fact survived.

TedStixon

26th Dec 2022

Scream VI (2023)

Trivia: The first "Scream" movie without series star Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott. Campbell decided not to return due to a contract dispute, feeling the pay she was being offered by the studio was insultingly low given her history with the series. Her castmates and the directors supported her decision. Campbell has not ruled out a return to the franchise in the future though, stating that if she liked the script and was being offered a fair paycheck, she'd be open to playing Sidney once again.

TedStixon

25th Dec 2022

General questions

I remember seeing a sketch show in the US in the late 90's or early 2000's. There was a sketch that was parodying James Bond where the villain was going to kill the Bond character, but realised Bond always had an out for everything. (Ex. "I can't feed you to alligators because you'll just run across their heads like a bridge!" etc.) At the end, the villain got so frustrated, he just killed himself by grabbing onto an electrified panel. Does anyone know what sketch show this is from?

TedStixon

Answer: I found my answer. Evidently it's a skit by Hale and Pace, an English comedy double-act, and it's on YouTube if you search "Hale and Pace Bond." Some of their skits were shown in the US in the 90's as part of the "Ohh, Nooo! Mr. Bill Presents..." comedy show, which was a show that aired comedy skits and shows they licensed from overseas, and were introduced by the character "Mr. Bill." (A little man made out of clay who would comedically be injured and squashed in every episode while screaming "Oh nooo!"). That's where I saw it.

TedStixon

Answer: I don't know about a sketch, but in an episode of "The Simpsons," a character Frank Grimes gets so frustrated that Homer is so dumb but yet archives so much acclaim, becoming an astronaut, winning a Grammy and becomes friends with celebrities. He sets Homer up to fail, but yet wins an award. Frank throws a tantrum, doing dumb things like Homer but ends up electrocuting himself. There have also have been several episodes spoofing James Bond.

Definitely not that. This was a live-action sketch show specifically parodying James Bond.

TedStixon

Trivia: The scene in which Wanda gets angry and screams "Stop it!" at her variant's children was real. The boys were throwing things at her for part of the scene, and accidentally smacked Elizabeth Olsen hard in the face, hurting her. But they didn't realise they hurt her and kept throwing things. Seconds later, she reflexively screamed "Stop it!", legitimately terrifying them. She immediately felt terrible about snapping at them, but it worked for the scene - it was the take used in the final movie.

TedStixon

21st Dec 2022

Darkman (1990)

Trivia: The construction site where the climax takes place was a real 3-story set. Due to the budget, the actors often didn't have safety wires. Co-star Colin Friels actually fell from the top and broke his femur during filming. Ever the professional, he came back to set as soon as he got out of the hospital.

TedStixon

21st Dec 2022

Darkman (1990)

Trivia: Supposedly, the studio didn't understand the film, and cut many vital scenes before locking the picture. The weekend after "Darkman" was locked, director Sam Raimi, his producer and his editors (allegedly) broke into the studio, added back in about 10 minutes of scenes the studio had deleted, and had this new restored version mastered and prints made from it. The studio heads were furious when they found out, but had no choice but to use it, since the first screenings were only 2 days later.

TedStixon

21st Dec 2022

Darkman (1990)

Trivia: According to composer Danny Elfman, when Darkman is splashed by water from a passing car after escaping the hospital, that was him throwing water at Liam Neeson with a bucket. Elfman had never met director Sam Raimi, and visited set to interview for the job of scoring the movie. The second Elfman got to set, Raimi introduced himself, told Elfman he loved his work and wanted him to score the film... then said "Let's get to work!" and asked him to throw a bucket of water at Neeson.

TedStixon

21st Dec 2022

Darkman (1990)

Trivia: The studio really wanted Julia Roberts for the role of Julie, but she had just broken up with star Liam Neeson, whom she briefly dated. They did hold an audition together and were cordial with one-another, but Roberts had her agent politely turn the offer down, since she felt too awkward and sad working with an ex so soon after the relationship ended.

TedStixon

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