Category: Movies

13 Epic Facts About “Once Upon a Time in America”

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Eric D. Snider and Mental_Floss present 13 Epic Facts About Once Upon a Time in America.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. SERGIO LEONE TURNED DOWN THE GODFATHER TO MAKE IT. 
By his own account, Once Upon a Time in America was Leone’s pet project, the one he devoted most of his adult life to making. He became interested in the story while he was making 1968’s Once Upon a Time in the West , and was so fixated on it that when Paramount approached him a few years later to make The Godfather, he politely declined. If he’d known it would take another 12 years to get Once Upon a Time in America produced anyway, maybe he would have accepted. But then where would Francis Ford Coppola be?

8. NOBODY HAS EVER SEEN LEONE’S COMPLETE VERSION.
After the nine-month shoot, Leone had eight to 10 hours’ worth of material. He trimmed it down to six hours, hoping to release it in two three-hour parts, but the producers were having none of that. So he reduced it to 269 minutes—four and a half hours—but it still wasn’t enough. He chopped out another 40 minutes, and this 229-minute version is what premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival and subsequently played in European theaters.

American distributors butchered the film even more, cutting out another 90 minutes and rearranging the scenes into chronological order (no more flashbacks), which rendered the movie incomprehensible. The American version flopped, of course, and Leone was devastated. A Martin Scorsese-led effort to restore Leone’s original version resulted in a 251-minute cut playing at Cannes in 2012, but some 18 minutes were still missing due to legal issues over who owned the missing scenes. The 251-minute version is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. Someday, perhaps the complete version will be restored.

12. LEONE WAS A PERFECTIONIST. 
Leone and De Niro had their different approaches, but one thing they had in common was perfectionism. According to one of the screenwriters, Leone did 35 takes of a large (and expensive) crowd scene, only to insist on one more because he noticed a kid in the crowd looking directly at the camera.

16 Fun Facts About “Look Who’s Talking”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 16 Fun Facts About Look Who’s Talking.  Here are three of my favorites…

3. THREE STUDIOS PASSED ON THE FILM.
Warner Bros., Disney, and Orion Pictures all passed on the idea before Tri-Star took a shot.

11. AUDIENCES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES HEAR DIFFERENT BABY VOICES.
Foreign countries had their own celebrities voicing baby Mikey. It was Travolta’s idea.

15. IT INSPIRED THE TV SHOW BABY TALK AND THE E*TRADE BABY.
ABC’s Baby Talk, featuring Tony Danza as the voice of the little one, wasn’t as successful as the movie; star Scott Baio called it a “nightmare.” The E*Trade baby endorsed the financial company from 2008 to 2014.

10 Deliberate Facts About “12 Angry Men”

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Eric D. Snider and Mental_Floss present 10 Deliberate Facts About 12 Angry Men.  Here are three of my favorites…

2. IT’S THE ONLY FILM HENRY FONDA EVER PRODUCED. 
The actor saw the TV production and felt strongly that it would make a great movie. Unable to find any producers willing to take a risk on it (a serious, single-room drama in a time when colorful widescreen epics were in fashion), Fonda teamed up with the writer, Reginald Rose,to produce it themselves. Fonda wound up hating the experience—not the acting side, which he loved (and he was always very proud of the film), but the business side. He hated having to worry about financial and logistical details, and couldn’t stand watching himself in the daily rushes (which producers, but not necessarily actors, are expected to do).

5. IT USES CAMERA TRICKS TO INCREASE THE TENSION.
The problem with making a film set entirely in one room is that it’s bound to get boring, visually speaking (unless it’s a very interesting room, which a jury room is not). Lumet also realized he couldn’t have his characters moving around very much, meaning most of the “action” would involve sitting around a table. So he had the camera move a lot instead. He and his cinematographer, Boris Kaufman (who won an Oscar in 1955 for On the Waterfront), also devised some photographic methods of amplifying the movie’s tone. Lumet wrote: “I shot the first third of the movie above eye level, shot the second third at eye level, and the last third from below eye level. In that way, toward the end, the ceiling began to appear. Not only were the walls closing in, the ceiling was as well. The sense of increasing claustrophobia did a lot to raise the tension of the last part of the movie.”

8. LUMET WAS ONLY THE THIRD PERSON TO GET A BEST DIRECTOR NOMINATION FOR HIS DEBUT FILM.
Orson Welles had been nominated for Citizen Kane, and Delbert Mann had actually won forMarty. About 20 directors have since been Oscar-nominated for their debuts. (Six have won.)

The Top 32 Horror Comedies of All Time

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Den of Geek posted their choices for The Top 32 Horror Comedies of All Time.

Of the 32 films they selected, I’ve seen eighteen.  Here they are with my thoughts on each…

  1. Spook Busters (1946): The Bowery Boys always felt to me like they wanted to grow up and be Abbott and Costello.  Still, I enjoyed their films as a kid and this was a fun one… as Bowery Boys movies go.

  2. Fearless Vampire Killers or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck (1967): I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve tried to watch this one all the way through.  I’ve never made it yet.

  3. Fright Night (1985): Now we’re cooking!  I liked the mix of comedy and horror in this one!

  4. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978): I’ve always thought this was too stupid to be more than a Saturday Night Live skit.  Of course the cult popularity proves me wrong.

  5. Cabin in the Woods (2012): What an inventive, crazy movie!  I want to see it again!

  6. Scream (1996): I really got a kick at how it took all the horror cliches and winked at the audience as they played out.

  7. Phantom of the Paradise (1974): This is another one that I’ve never been able to get through.

  8. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975): I saw this at a Midnight Showing with an audience armed with all the props.  A bit too kinky for me then and now.

  9. Shaun of the Dead (2004): I like my zombie stories serious but I really like Shaun of the Dead!

  10. Arachnophobia (1990): I’ve only seen this once but I really liked it much more than I thought I would.  I’d like to see it again to see if it holds up.

  11. Monsters Inc. (2001): This is a fun one.

  12. Beetlejuice (1988): Who doesn’t like Beetlejuice?

  13. The Lost Boys (1987): I liked The Lost Boys, but think it’s a bit over-rated.

  14. Ghostbusters (1984): This is one I don’t care for.

  15. Young Frankenstein (1974): Arguably the best film on the list.

  16. Zombieland (2009): Even better than Shaun of the Dead!

  17. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948): Perhaps the best movie on the list!

  18. An American Werewolf in London (1981): I’m not a fan, but most folks are.

13 Futuristic Facts About “The Fifth Element”

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Eric D. Snider and Mental_Floss present 13 Futuristic Facts About The Fifth Element.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. LÉON: THE PROFESSIONAL HELPED IT GET MADE. 
Mad Frenchman Luc Besson had five features under his belt when he started working on The Fifth Element in 1992. But his respectable track record wasn’t enough to pull in the kind of financial backing he needed for a futuristic sci-fi adventure. So after some pre-production work (including meeting with designers; see below), he put The Fifth Element aside and—in the course of 11 months—wrote and directed Léon: The Professional, starring Jean Reno, 13-year-old Natalie Portman, and future The Fifth Element villain Gary Oldman. Léon‘s strong showing ($45 million worldwide, on a $16 million budget) gave the people who controlled the purse strings more confidence in Besson’s ability to make The Fifth Element a success, and the project was put back on track.

2. BESSON KIND OF WISHES IT HAD TAKEN EVEN LONGER TO GET IT MADE. 
He explained to The Playlist: “I was a little bit frustrated because I made the film right before all the new effects arrived. So when I did the film it was all blue screen, six hours, dots on the wall, takes forever to do one shot. Now, basically, you put the camera on your shoulder and then you run and then you add a couple of dinosaurs and spaceships.” He said he’d love the chance to make another futuristic sci-fi film—maybe even a sequel to The Fifth Element—now that technology has made it easier.

4. IT BORROWED SOME IDEAS FROM PLATO.
Maybe you knew this, but Luc Besson didn’t. He conceived The Fifth Element as a teenager in the 1970s, taking the four classical elements (earth, water, wind, and fire) and combining them to make a fifth (life). Turns out that a lot of ancient people had already come up with the same basic concept, including the Greek philosopher. Besson said, “When my father came across Plato’s writings on the subject, he came to me with the book and said, ‘Do you know that your movie is a remake?’ I read it, and was amazed to see the similarities between what Plato had written and what I had put into the script”

26 Things We Learned from the “An American Werewolf in London” Commentary

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Rob Hunter and Film School Rejects present 26 Things We Learned from the An American Werewolf in London Commentary.  Here are three of my favorites…

9. Landis threatened to relocate the film to Paris after British Actors’ Equity balked about Dunne’s role not going to a member. The director actually went so far as to scout locations in France, but Equity backed down and allowed Dunne. Had he moved the production Landis already planned to re-title the film An American Werewolf in Paris. We really dodged a bullet there huh?

20. Dunne wonders why the film never used Warron Zevon’s “Werewolf of London” song, but they still don’t know. Naughton does recall that the filmmakers asked Cat Stevens for permission to use “Moonshadow” only to be told no “because he believed that werewolves really existed.”

26. They recall telling Landis that the lack of silver bullets used to kill David meant this could become a franchise. The director told them in no uncertain terms that there would be no sequel.

The Top Rated Movies of the Last 25 Years on the IMD

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In a tribute to the 25 years of the Internet Movie Database’s existence /Film posted The Top Rated Movies of the Last 25 Years on the IMD.

Of the 25 films they selected, I’ve seen twenty.  Here they are with my thoughts on each…

  • 2012: Django Unchained: Good film but over-rated.

  • 2010: Inception: See Django Unchained.

  • 2009: Inglourious Basterds: Very violent and a bit long but wow, what a cool film.

  • 2008: The Dark Knight: The best Batman film ever and one of the best superhero films as well.

  • 2006: The Departed: Excellent crime movie and works for multiple viewings.

  • 2005: Batman Begins: Average film that doesn’t hold up on closer look.

  • 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: Well done.  Truth be told though all of the LotRs movies run together to me.

  • 2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: See above.

  • 2001: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: See above.

  • 2000: Memento: Inventive story-telling.  I want to watch this again soon.

  • 1999: Fight Club: I enjoyed this and look forward to watching it again someday.

  • 1998: Saving Private Ryan: Another classic.  Endlessly rewatchable.

  • 1996: Fargo: The Cohen Brothers hit another homer.

  • 1995: Se7en: Love this film and what an ending!

  • 1994: The Shawshank Redemption: Always felt this was over-rated.

  • 1993: Schindler’s List: Spielberg’s masterpiece.

  • 1992: Reservoir Dogs: Tarantino’s best work.

  • 1991: The Silence of the Lambs: A classic.  Anthony Hopkins was only on screen for a small amount of time, but he’s what comes to mind when you think of Silence of the Lambs which is even more impressive when you think about how good Jodie Foster and the rest of the cast were.

  • 1990: Goodfellas: I’ve grown to love this movie more with each reviewing.

‘THE GODFATHER’: A HISTORICAL CURIOSITY THAT PROVED INSTRUMENTAL FOR OUR FILMMAKING EDUCATION AND APPRECIATION

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Those are Francis Ford Coppola’s notes from a page of Mario Puzo’s novel The Godfather.  If you’re a fan of The Godfather movies and love behind-the-scenes materials, then you’ll absolutely love Cinephilia and Beyond’s ‘THE GODFATHER’: A HISTORICAL CURIOSITY THAT PROVED INSTRUMENTAL FOR OUR FILMMAKING EDUCATION AND APPRECIATION.

If you click over, plan to stay a while because there are a treasure trove of Godfather items waiting.

EW’s The Top 25 Movies of the Last 25 Years

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In a tribute to their 25 years of publishing, Entertainment Weekly selected their choices for The Top 25 Movies of the Last 25 Years.

Of the 25 films they selected, I’ve seen eleven.  Here they are with my thoughts on each…

  • Silence of the Lambs: A classic.  Anthony Hopkins was only on screen for a small amount of time, but he’s what comes to mind when you think of Silence of the Lambs which is even more impressive when you think about how good Jodie Foster and the rest of the cast were.

  • The Player: An under-rated film that doesn’t get a lot of talk.  All the cameos were a hoot.

  • The Piano:  I watched it years ago and remember not thinking much of it.

  • Pulp Fiction: Inspired a new generation of film-makers and re-energized Travolta’s career.

  • Boogie Nights: I always thought it was over-rated.

  • Saving Private Ryan: Another classic.  Endlessly rewatchable.

  • Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: Well done.  Truth be told though all of the LotRs movies run together to me.

  • Memento(2001): Inventive story-telling.  I want to watch this again soon.

  • Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: See my comments for LotR: The Fellowship of the Ring.

  • Letters From Iwo Jima: Not one of Clint’s best but still good.

  • Zero Dark Thirty (2012): A good movie that I felt was over-hyped.

The 25 Most Rewatchable Movies of All Time

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Walt Hickey at FiveThirtyEight recently ran a survey to determine The 25 Most Rewatchable Movies of All Time.  From the submissions Hickey was able to determine the top 25 overall, the top 25 for men and the top 25 for women.

You might be surprised that the lists weren’t all that different…

  • All top 5 women’s choices made the men’s favorites list.
  • Four of the top 5 men’s choices made the women’s favorites list.  Only Pulp Fiction for the men couldn’t make the cut for the women.

There were quite a few movies that would have made my list of most rewatchable movies that didn’t make the cut for men or women: Enter the Dragon; The Big Heat; Get Carter [Stallone version]; Cabin in the Sky and The Outlaw Josey Wales just to name five.