TedStixon

25th Oct 2022

Ghosts of Mars (2001)

Trivia: John Carpenter has said that the movie was meant to be silly and tongue-in-cheek, with a purposely ludicrous premise. He'd even come onto set every day and exclaim that the movie was "The biggest piece of s**t I've ever made!" He was reportedly incredibly annoyed that critics and audiences took it seriously, even remarking "It's called 'Ghosts Of Mars' for Christ's sake! Why would people take this movie seriously?" He's since said that he should have added more humor to clarify the the tone.

TedStixon

25th Oct 2022

Christine (1983)

Trivia: Reportedly, the films uses of the f-word were added at the last minute because they didn't think the film would get an R-rating due to most of the violence being not very bloody. (Mostly just people getting hit by cars.) They were worried movie goers wouldn't go to see a Stephen King horror movie that was rated PG, so they peppered in several f-bombs to artificially drive it up to an R-rating.

TedStixon

25th Oct 2022

Christine (1983)

25th Oct 2022

Escape From L.A. (1996)

Trivia: Despite the film having a very mixed-to-negative reception from critics and audiences, especially in comparison to the well-received "Escape from New York," director John Carpenter has stated several times over the years that he considers "Escape from LA" to be the superior film, even going so far as to call it "ten times better." He has also stated that he was delighted when he found out it has attained a cult following over the years.

TedStixon

25th Oct 2022

Escape From L.A. (1996)

Trivia: John Carpenter's movie "Ghosts of Mars" originally began life as a third "Escape from..." movie, which would have involved Snake Plisskin being trapped on Mars on a mission. It was ultimately retooled into a stand-alone sci-fi/horror movie, and Plisskin was rewritten into the character "Desolation Williams," portrayed by actor/rapper Ice Cube.

TedStixon

19th Oct 2022

Halloween Ends (2022)

Trivia: The font in the opening credits is the exact same font (right down to the blue color) used in the opening credits from "Halloween III: Season of the Witch," which famously didn't feature the Michael Myers character and told an original story. Fairly appropriate, because (MINOR SPOILERS) Michael Myers plays a somewhat smaller role in much of this film, which primarily focuses on a new character who is driven mad and almost becomes a "New Michael/Boogeyman."

TedStixon

9th Oct 2022

Hellraiser (2022)

Trivia: At Voight's estate, Trevor asks Nora "What's your pleasure, ma'am?" when offering to make her a drink. This is a subtle callback to the original film, where the nameless merchant asks "What's your pleasure, Mr. Cotton?" and later "What's your pleasure, sir?" when selling the box.

TedStixon

Teacher's Pet - S1-E4

Trivia: Musetta Vander, who plays Miss French/She-Mantis, was very squeamish about the scene where she makes an "insect sandwich" with crickets. Not only was she grossed out by having to handle real crickets, but as an animal lover, she was incredibly worried that she'd accidentally kill one of them when she folded the bread over. According to Vander, no crickets were killed during the filming of the scene. (When the showed her eating the sandwich, they switched it out with another cricket-less one).

TedStixon

6th Oct 2022

Practical Magic (1998)

Trivia: The production hired a practising witch to be a consultant. However, after being hired, the witch began making insane demands, including wanting a percentage of the gross, some merchandizing rights, and an additional $250,000 on top of what she was already being paid. After the production understandably refused, she began screaming in tongues over the phone and "cursed" the production, then began lawyering up. The studio heads freaked out, and paid her just to get her to leave the production.

TedStixon

Trivia: The barman at The Boiler Room, and the subsequent cenobite he turns into ("Barbie"), is played by Peter Atkins, the film's screenwriter, in a small supporting cameo role. (Albeit his voice was dubbed over by the director, since Atkins wasn't around during looping, kind of making it a two-part cameo).

TedStixon

5th Oct 2022

Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

Trivia: Before this sequel was confirmed, a made-for-TV remake of the original was almost produced for cable channel Freeform as announced in 2017. Star Bette Midler hated the idea of a remake, and openly stated her disapproval. Eventually, about a year later, talk of a proper sequel started up again and the made-for-TV remake was quietly cancelled.

TedStixon

5th Oct 2022

Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

Trivia: The first film was a huge disappointment at the box office and got mediocre reviews. However, it grew a massive following over the years thanks to positive word-of-mouth and yearly airings on TV around Halloween. To this day, its home-video and streaming sales have a huge spike almost every October. When star Bette Midler (who loved making the original) learned about its cult success, she began to pester Disney to make a sequel, and they finally greenlit it nearly 30 years later.

TedStixon

5th Oct 2022

Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

Trivia: Thora Birch was meant to reprise her role as Dani, and wanted to, but was unfortunately unable to appear due to being tied up on another project.

TedStixon

5th Oct 2022

Hocus Pocus (1993)

Trivia: The movie is based on a story producer David Kirschner made up to entertain his daughter about how a neighbor's cat was actually a boy who had been changed into a cat by witches. His wife thought the idea was fun, and told him he should develop it as a script. Kirschner agreed, and fleshed it out into a proper script with horror writer Mick Garris. It was originally called "Disney's Halloween House," but was later renamed to the snappier title "Hocus Pocus."

TedStixon

5th Oct 2022

Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

Trivia: Originally, Adam Shankman was attached to direct, but ended up getting attached to another Disney sequel, "Disenchanted," so he gave up the director's chair. Anne Fletcher was then selected to replace him. Ironically, Fletcher had previously been attached to direct "Disenchanted" about ten years prior, but left after production stalled. Both movies are finally coming out in 2022 as Disney+ originals.

TedStixon

3rd Oct 2022

Hocus Pocus (1993)

Trivia: The film is produced by David Kirschner, who also came up with the original story idea. Despite "Hocus Pocus" being a family-favorite, it's not Kirschner's first foray into something creepy and supernatural... he's also the main producer on all the "Chucky" movies (and the TV show), and even designed the Chucky and Tiffany dolls. It's pretty ironic... he's responsible for both delighting and terrifying 80's and 90's kids all over the world.

TedStixon

1st Oct 2022

Logan (2017)

Trivia: Hugh Jackman originally intended for "Logan" to be his final turn as the character of Wolverine. However, five years later in 2022, he confirmed his involvement in the third "Deadpool" film, having agreed to come out of retirement and play the character one final time for his friend, "Deadpool" star Ryan Reynolds, who desperately wanted to make a Deadpool vs. Wolverine film for years. Jackman has stated that he loves the "Deadpool" movies, which is also part of the reason he decided to return.

TedStixon

Trivia: Bryce Dallas Howard has stated that the studio pressured her into losing weight for the first two films in the trilogy. When this third film came about, she fought back, and director Colin Trevorrow supported her. Since both Howard and Trevorrow have more clout now due to their success in Hollywood, the studio finally relented and Howard was able to make the movie with her natural body. She said this helped with her stunt work and performance, since she wasn't weak from forced weight loss.

TedStixon

27th Sep 2022

This Is the End (2013)

Trivia: There was a persistent rumor that Emma Watson stormed off set after seeing one of the scenes they were shooting. (The scene with cannibalism and the Channing Tatum-gimp.) Seth Rogen later clarified that Watson simply wasn't comfortable shooting the scene since it was very weird, improv-heavy and different from the script, so she politely asked not to shoot it. She came back to set the very next day to say good-bye to everyone, had a good time making the movie otherwise, and even promoted it.

TedStixon

27th Sep 2022

Hellraiser (2022)

Trivia: This reboot has been in some form of production since 2007, but kept getting tied up due to rights issues and a revolving door of writers and directors who would enter and then leave production. It is finally coming out in 2022... 15 years after it was announced.

TedStixon

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