Area 51 Trivia

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Claudia Dimuro and Mental Floss present 10 Out of This World Facts About Area 51.  Here are three of my favorites…

10. IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO SNEAK INTO AREA 51 WITHOUT BEING SPOTTED—AND USE OF DEADLY FORCE IS AUTHORIZED IF ANYONE TRIES TO EVADE SECURITY.
Given the intense nature of its secrecy, it comes as no surprise that Area 51 is heavily guarded. Pilots who purposefully fly into the restricted air zone can face court-martial, dishonorable discharge, and a stint in the can. The land is patrolled by “cammo dudes,” men wearing camouflage that have been seen driving around the area keeping an eye out for pesky civilians looking to break into the area. But truth-seekers, beware: Signs placed outside the area warn that Area 51 security is authorized to use deadly force on anyone looking to sneak onto the property.

7. FORMER AREA 51 EMPLOYEES WHO WERE SWORN TO SECRECY ARE OPENING UP ABOUT THEIR WORK THERE.
Some former employees who were once sworn to secrecy about what happened at Area 51 are now free to share their stories. One Area 51 veteran, James Noce, recalled handling various mishaps that were accidentally exposed to the public eye—for example, the crash of a secret aircraft that was witnessed by a police officer and a vacationing family. The family had taken photos; Noce confiscated the film from their camera and told the family and the deputy not to mention the crash to anyone.

Noce recounted how there was no official documentation stating he worked at Area 51, and that his salary was paid in cash. He also confirmed that he never saw any alien activity at the site.

1. AREA 51’S EXISTENCE WASN’T OFFICIALLY ACKNOWLEDGED BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT UNTIL 2013.
Although it was chosen as a site to test aircraft in 1955, the government did not acknowledge that Area 51 even existed until 2013. According to CNN, maps and other documents created by the CIA were released thanks to Jeffrey T. Richelson, a senior fellow at the National Security Archives, who was granted access to the documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Unfortunately, the papers made no mention of little green men running around the facility.

Behind the Scenes and On the Rails with Buster Keaton!

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Today we have a couple of rare videos that are interrelated.  The first is The Railrodder starring Buster Keaton.

This short film from director Gerald Potterton (Heavy Metal) stars Buster Keaton in one of the last films of his long career. As “the railrodder”, Keaton crosses Canada from east to west on a railway track speeder. True to Keaton’s genre, the film is full of sight gags as our protagonist putt-putts his way to British Columbia. Not a word is spoken throughout, and Keaton is as spry and ingenious at fetching laughs as he was in the old days of the silent slapsticks.

The video below, Buster Keaton Rides Again takes us behind the scenes as Keaton makes The Railrodder. We get not only a behind-the-scenes look but also some great Keaton anecdotes and excerpts from his silent slapstick classics.

Source: First Showing.

The 10 Best Movie Monologues

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Coming Soon posted their choices for The 10 Best Movie Monologues and it got me thinking.  Movie monologues are rare, but when we happen to get a good one, they’re memorable and fun.  Sometimes they’re what we remember most from the movie.

I looked at Coming Soon’s list and picked my top three movie monologues, listed my rationale for choosing each and added one that they left out and my rationale for including it.

Blade Runner (1982) That ending monologue. Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is a lot of great things, but this final showdown-turned-speech might be one of the best parts.  (I couldn’t agree more.  Hauer’s monologue made the movie for me.  I’ve thought a lot about Blade Runner over the years and it always comes down to how that scene was the soul of the movie. – Craig)

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) A gripping drama with an all-star cast, Glengarry Glen Ross is a monologue showcase for the ages. No wonder so many aspiring actors take a page from this David Mamet script.  (I remember watching GGR for the first time and the scene with Alec Baldwin’s monologue had me smiling from ear to ear.  That scene set everything in motion. – Craig)

Pulp Fiction (1994) Samuel L. Jackson still appears in plenty of films well into the 2010s, but he was just getting started back in the early 90s. His iconic monologue in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction helped solidify his status as a true movie star. (The monologue that made Samuel L. Jackson a star.  “Say ‘What’ again!”  – Craig)

I was tempted to find a spot for Robert Shaw from Jaws and Gregory Peck from To Kill a Mockingbird, but ultimately felt that the other monologues slightly edged them out.  I would not have been surprised to find entries for Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men, Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, or Clint Eastwood from Dirty Harry.

Stallone’s monologue from Rocky Balboa should have made the list.  It became an inspirational quote / meme for so many folks and it came from Stallone.  Nuff Said.

“Avengers: Endgame” Trivia

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Film School Rejects posted 57 Things We Learned from the Avengers: Endgame Commentary.  Here are three of my favorites…

7. The Russos praise the writers for crafting dialogue that continually feels true to the character speaking it. “If you find yourself having your character say something anybody in the room could have said then it’s time to go back to the drawing board.”

20. Some online have clearly been unhappy with Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) descent into depression and weight gain, but the filmmakers love it. They praise his performance as it’s difficult to portray pathos and humor simultaneously, but they also think it’s a fantastic balance of comedy and sadness that work to build emotion. “What’s great about this character is we commit to it, and he doesn’t change by the end of the film.”

28. “This is, as declared by himself on set, Robert Redford’s last movie role.” The legendary actor declared this was his final acting performance the day he arrived for filming.

Paul Gulacy’s Bruce Lee and Quentin Tarantino’s Bruce Lee

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The art above is a rarely seen, vintage Bruce Lee painting by Paul Gulacy.  I wanted to post this today for two reasons:

  1.  It’s a cool piece of art that I think many of you will dig.
  2.  Bruce Lee has been in the news quite a bit lately due to his portrayal in Quentin Tarintino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.

Many people have gotten upset because in OUATIH, they believe that Bruce Lee comes off as arrogant and it appears that Brad Pitt’s character gets the best of Lee in a fight.  Initially, I felt that the scene was disrespectful to Bruce Lee, but as I thought about it a bit more I came to the following conclusions:

  1. In the movie the scene in question unfolds as a memory by Brad Pitt’s character.  Of course Pitt’s character is going to remember things that put him in a better light than the Bruce Lee character.  That’s human nature.
  2. The movie isn’t a documentary — think about how the movie ended.  Obviously Tarantino took a lot of liberties and his portrayal of Lee was one of them.
  3.  The fact that so many people have objected to Tarantino’s portrayal of Lee shows that this film isn’t going to harm Bruce Lee’s legacy in the least.
  4. I liked Tarantino’s OUATIH.  I am a huge fan of Bruce Lee.  Nothing has changed that.  Not even Brad Pitt’s character’s memory of his fight with a fictionalization of Bruce Lee.