Brave (2012) is an animated Adventure/Comedy movie produced by Disney and Pixar. The movie is directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman.
Brave (2012) is the story of a young princess determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.
Brave 2012 Poster
The movie won Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2013. I have put together a list of interesting facts and details about Brave (2012). Let’s have a look.
13. The original title of the film was “The Bear and the Bow”.
12. Two additional software programs were specially developed for this film by Pixar in the period of three years. One of them allows simulation of Merida’s 1500 strands of hair curls to move together with her movements.
11. Merida’s name in Hebrew means “to rebel”.
10. None of the footage shown in the preview trailer is in the finished film.
9. If you look closely at the title, you can see Merida hidden in the letter B and Elinor hidden in the letter E.
8. It took six years to make this film. Mark Andrews was initially the consultant, providing the Scottish themes for Brenda Chapman. However, by October 2010, Chapman left after four years of work with Andrews subsequently taking over but still keeping the intended story that Chapman wrote. Originally 80% of the film took place in snow, but when Chapman left the project so did much of the white stuff.
7. The chess set in Merida’s room is the famous Lewis Chessmen from the 12th century, unearthed in Scotland in 1831.
Boyhood (2014) is a Drama about the life of a young boy from age 5 to 18. It is story about a boy ‘Mason’ from his early childhood to arrival at a college.
Boyhood (2014) is directed and written by Richard Linklater. The movie stars Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane, and Elijah Smith in lead roles.
The movie was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture at Oscars 2015. However the movie won 1 Oscar, under Best Supporting Actress category. Let’s look at some of the interesting facts about the Movie Boyhood (2014).
Boyhood poster
16. Had Richard Linklater died during the 12-year shoot, Ethan Hawke would have taken over the directorial duties.
15. Ellar Coltrane, who plays the boy of the title, was 7 years old when the movie started filming and 19 when it finished.
14. The film was shot over 45 days from May 2002 to August 2013 which, roughly speaking, is spanning more than 4,000 days.
13. Boyhood (2014) is one of only 11 movies to receive a metascore of 100, the highest possible score that can be attained from professional movie critics, and this is the only film to receive this score upon it’s original release.
12. The film began production as “The Untitled 12 Year Project” and then became just “12 Years”. But then director Richard Linklater changed the title to Boyhood (2014), to avoid confusion with the similarly-titled, Academy Award-winning movie 12 Years a Slave (2013).
11. Richard Linklater and his crew got together annually to film Linklater’s script about a boy who will eventually grow up into a college freshman. Linklater shot several 10- to 15-minute short films over the course of 12 years, each depicting a year in the life of the boy, and then edit them together as a feature film.
10. Longtime friends, director Richard Linklater and actor Ethan Hawke both grew up with divorced fathers from Texas who worked in the insurance business–exactly the career Hawke’s character, Mason Sr., eventually takes on in the film.
9. Each year of character Mason’s life is covered in an average of fourteen minutes of screen time.
American Sniper (2014) Is an Action/Biography/Drama movie about the Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle, whose pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home to his wife and kids after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can’t leave behind.
The movie is directed by Client Eastwood and starsBradley Cooper as Chris Kyle. American Sniper (2014) was Nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture at Oscars 2015. However it won 1 Oscar in the Best Sound Editing category.
Let’s look at some of the interesting Facts about American Sniper (2014).
19. In order to bulk up 40-plus pounds, Bradley Cooper ate around 8,000 calories a day. Using his own trainer, he worked out four hours a day for several months. Along with the massive intake of food and intense workouts, Cooper’s preparation also included twice-daily lessons with a vocal coach, as well as many hours spent studying footage of Chris Kyle. When it came to actually pointing a rifle, the actor trained with Navy SEAL sniper Kevin Lacz, who served with Kyle and was a consultant on the movie.
American Sniper 2014 Poster
18. Chris Kyle met Lone Survivor (2013), Marcus Luttrell, during their BUD/s(SEAL Training) and became close friends with him although they graduated with different classes. They kept in contact often and remained friends for the remainder of Kyle’s life.
17. At his peak, Bradley Cooper could deadlift 425 pounds, twice his bodyweight, for 5 sets of 10 reps each. Cooper said that during a workout scene in the film where he’s seen deadlifting, he was actually deadlifting 425 pounds and that it wasn’t dummy weights on the set even though the film-makers suggested he use dummy weights for the scene.
16. Bradley Cooper initially bought the rights intending to only produce it with Chris Pratt starring, but changed his mind.
15. The real Chris Kyle once said that if there is a filmmaker that would make a film about him, it would only be Clint Eastwood and no one else.
14. Bradley Cooper wears the real Chris Kyle’s walking shoes in the film, and was given them for keeps after production wrapped. Cooper claimed in interviews upon the film’s release that he was still wearing the shoes for his personal use.
13. Bradley Cooper felt he could become Chris Kylebecause he and Chris have nearly the same height, age, shoe size and body frame. Once Cooper had built up his body and had grown out his beard, Chris Kyle’s friends and family said that they would do a double take while looking at Cooper because of how much he looked like Chris Kyle.
12. Chris Kyle’s actual 2100 yard (1920 m) shot was against an insurgent with a RPG (rocket propelled grenade) that was going to be fired on friendly forces.
11. Bradley Cooper really wanted to do justice to the size of Chris Kyle because he felt he would not be accurately portraying the man if he did not look huge like him. He said that after every take, he would go and ask the crew, “Did I look big enough?”
The Imitation Game(2014) is a biography of famous Mathematician Alan Turing. During World War ll, he tries to crack the enigma code with help from fellow Mathematician.
The movie was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture at Oscars 2015. The Imitation Game won 1 Oscar under Best writing, Adapted Screenplay category.
Let’s look at some of the interesting facts about Alan Turing and The Imitation Game.
15. Cumberbatch confessed that in one of the final scenes of the film he couldn’t stop crying and had a breakdown. It was, as he said, “being an actor or a person that had grown incredibly fond of the character and thinking what he had suffered and how that had affected him.”
The Imitation Game 2015 poster
14. In an interview with USA Today, Cumberbatch said of Turing’s Royal Pardon, “The only person who should be pardoning anybody is him (Turing). Hopefully, the film will bring to the fore what an extraordinary human being he was and how appalling (his treatment by the government was). It’s a really shameful, disgraceful part of our history.”
13. Benedict Cumberbatch and Alan Turing are actually related in real-life. According to the family history site Ancestry.com, the two are 17th cousins with family relations dating back to the 14th century. Both are said to be related to John Beaufort, the first Earl of Somerset, throughCumberbatch and Turing’srespective paternal lines.
12. The official film website attheimitationgamemovie.comallows visitors to unlock exclusive content by solving crossword puzzles conceived by Turing in his lifetime.
11. Mark Strong’s character, Stewart Menzies, is the basis forJames Bond’s boss “M” (for Menzies). Ian Fleming’s WWIIespionage work at the very least made him aware of the man who ran MI 6.
10.To play Turing, Cumberbatchwore dentures, at his own behest. No one else demanded that of him.
9. The movie went on general release in the UK on November 14th. Coventry was blitzed by the Luftwaffe on the same day in 1940. It is long rumoured that plans for the attack had been discovered by the Bletchley Park code breakers but no action was taken to stop it because the British Government were worried that such action would disclose the fact that the Enigma code had already been broken. The idea that the British knew about the pending attack on Coventry is incorrect. They knew there was an attack pending, but did not know where it would be made. The allegation that Churchill purposely withheld information so the Germans wouldn’t know their code had been broken is false.
8. Benedict Cumberbatch obtained his bachelor degree in Drama at the University of Manchester, the same university where Alan Turing continued his work on computing after the war.
7. Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley previously starred together in another WWII film, Atonement.
6. Leonardo DiCaprio was originally slated to star.
5. The bombe machine re-created by the filmmakers has been on display in a special “The Imitation Game” exhibition at Bletchley Park in the United Kingdom since 10 November 2014. The year-long exhibit also features clothes worn by the actors and props used in the film.
4. Though Turing’s surviving niece Inagh Payne agreed thatBenedict Cumberbatch’s casting as Alan Turing was very well suited. she disagreed with Kiera Knightley’s casting as Joan Clarke stating that the real Joan was ‘rather plain’.
3. Cumberbatch and Knightleyhad personal milestones during the theatrical release of the film. Cumberbatch announced his engagement to theatre director Sophie Hunter in November 2014. Knightley announced that she is expecting her first child with musician husband James Righton the following month.
2. The railway station shown in the movie is Kings Cross railway station, London. The same station was shown in Harry Potter where Harry board the train to Hogwarts.
1. One of two espionage films that actress Keira Knightley appeared in during 2014 the other being Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014).
The Shawshank Redemption (1994) is Directed by visionaryFrank Darabont and originally written by Stephen King.Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins are in the lead role. The movie is the story of two imprisoned men, who bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency. The Shawshank Redemption (1994) was nominated for 7 Oscars but didn’t actually won any of them. The movie stands at #1 on IMDb Top 250 Movies of all time.
There are movies which we can never have enough of and this is surely one of them. Let’s look at some of the Super Interesting Facts About The Shawshank Redemption (1994).
1. Andy and Red’s opening chat in the prison yard – in which Red is pitching a baseball – took 9 hours to shoot. Morgan Freeman pitched that baseball for the entire 9 hours without a word of complaint. He showed up for work the next day with his arm in a sling.
The Shawshank Redemption poster
2. In the scene with Andy arriving in the library as Brooks’ assistant while Brooks’ crow Jake is squawking, Tim Robbins had to time his line, “Hey, Jake. Where’s Brooks?”, so that the crow wouldn’t squawk over him since the bird could not be trained to squawk on cue. Robbins was able to adapt to this and time his line perfectly by learning the bird’s squawking patterns, for which Director Frank Darabont praised him. Robbins’ improvisation is noticeable as he watches the bird carefully while approaching it, waiting for it to squawk, and doesn’t begin his line until after it does so.
3. Stephen King sold the film rights for his novella, Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption, for $5,000. He never cashed the check. Years after Shawshank came out, the author got the check framed and mailed it back to the director Frank Darabont with a note inscribed: “In case you ever need bail money. Love, Steve.”
4. Director Frank Darabont decided not to have the deleted scenes on the DVD release of the film because he’s embarrassed by them and doesn’t want them to be seen publicly.
5. The Shawshank Redemption initial gross of $18 million didn’t even cover the cost of its production. It did another $10 million in the wake of its Oscar nominations but the film was still deemed to be a box office flop.
6. Rob Reiner loved Frank Darabont’s script so much that he offered $2.5 million for the rights to the script so he could direct it. Darabont seriously considered Reiner’s offer but ultimately decided that it was his “chance to do something really great” by directing the movie himself. Reiner wanted Harrison Ford and Tom Cruise to play Red and Andy respectively.
7. The American Humane Association monitored the filming of scenes involving Brooks’ crow. During the scene where he fed it a maggot, the AHA objected on the grounds that it was cruel to the maggot, and required that they use a maggot that had died from natural causes. One was found, and the scene was filmed.
8. In the closeup of Andy’s hands loading the revolver in the opening scenes, the hands are actually those of Frank Darabont. Later in the film, while Andy carves his name into his cell wall (seen twice in the film), Darabont’s hands are used again for the insert shot. These closeups were filmed during post production, notably because Darabont felt that only he could do exactly what he wanted in the closeups.
9. One of the reasons why they didn’t employ the full title of the Stephen King novella – “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” – was because there was a perception in Hollywood that this was actually going to be a biopic of Rita Hayworth. Indeed, Frank Darabont even received solicitations of audition request from several actresses and supermodels and their agents about playing the lead.
10. The role of Andy Dufresne was originally offered to Tom Hanks, who couldn’t accept due to scheduling conflicts with Forrest Gump(1994). Hanks did, however, work on Frank Darabont’s next film, The Green Mile (1999).
11. Frank Darabont wrote the script in eight weeks.
12. Every picture, except for the big posters, in Andy’s cell were all hand picked by actor Tim Robbins himself.
13. The exteriors were filmed at the defunct Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. The prison was in such poor condition, renovations had to be made prior to filming. However, most of the interiors were shot on a sound stage, because they determined it would be cheaper to build duplicates of the interiors rather than renovating the interiors of Mansfield.
14. Both Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman won Best Supporting Actor Oscars for films directed by Clint Eastwood: Robbins in Mystic River(2003) and Freeman in Million Dollar Baby(2004).
15. Red says that Andy broke out in 1966. This was the same year as the landmark Miranda v. Arizona case before the Supreme Court, where it was decided a defendant must be informed of their rights (i.e. right to remain silent, right to an attorney, etc.), when put under police custody. That’s why at the end of the film, when they arrest Captain Hadley (Clancy Brown), the officer is reading the Miranda rights from a piece of paper.
16. Frank Darabont preferred to end the film with Red searching for Andy. In fact, if he had been allowed to shoot the ending as he wanted, the closing shot would have been Red on the bus heading for the field. Darabont wanted to end on an open, ambiguous note. But Castle Rock insisted on a reunion between the two to please audiences. So instead of showing us a teary reunion, the film observes it from a distance. Darabont’s response to Castle Rock’s demands.
17. The $370,000 Andy stole from the Warden in 1966 may not seem a huge amount for 20 years incarceration but adjusted for inflation to 2014, Andy stole the equivalent of $2,703,466.67.
18. There are several similarities to the Alexandre Dumas père novel, “The Count of Monte Cristo” (which is also mentioned during the film). The Dumas novel involved a man falsely imprisoned for a crime, who later makes a daring escape. After escaping, he acquired hidden treasure which he learned about in jail, and executed a plan of revenge against those who imprisoned him.
19. In 2007, two inmates of Union County Prison escaped from their prison using similar techniques to those featured in the movie. Their (partially) successful escape led to the suicide of prison guard Rudolph Zurick. When the two convicts were recaptured, they denied responsibility for Zurick’s death.
20. Red describes Andy’s dream as a “shitty pipe dream”. During his escape to live that dream, Andy crawls through the sewer pipe of the prison, literally a “shitty pipe”.
21. There are only two women with speaking roles in the film: the customer who complains about Brooks’ service at the grocery store, and the lady who attends to Andy at the bank following his escape.
22. The inmates are seen watching Gilda (1946). In the novella, the prisoners watched The Lost Weekend(1945). Because the rights to this were owned by a different studio, Darabont looked to see which old films he could show without incurring costs. He was delighted to see that one that he was able to use was Gilda, one of the greatest hits of Rita Hayworth whose image plays a pivotal role in the story.
23. The final scene was filmed on the U.S. Virgin islands in the Caribbean, but in the film it is supposed to be the Pacific Ocean. Red says he has no idea what the ladies in The Marriage of Figaro are singing about. Actually, they’re composing a letter to the husband of one of them inviting him to an assignation with the other in order to expose his infidelity.
24. Beer bottles didn’t have screw tops in 1949.
25. Despite its box office failure, Warner Brothers shipped 320,000 rental copies to US video stores, a figure a spokesman freely admitted was “out of whack” with the film’s performance in the theaters.
26. Clancy Brown said that he received several offers from real-life corrections officers to work with him to make his portrayal of Captain Hadley more realistic. He turned them all down because Hadley was an evil character and he didn’t want to misrepresent real corrections officers.
27. In the movie Red says “I committed murder.” when Andy asks him what he’s in Shawshank for. The source novella explains in detail: Red is serving three life sentences for murdering his wife, his neighbor’s wife and his neighbor’s son. Red disconnected the brakes on his car in order to kill his wife to collect on an insurance policy, he did not plan on two other people joining his wife for her ill-fated drive.
28. Although a very modest hit in theaters, it became one of the highest grossing video rentals of all time.
The Godfather (1972) is the story of The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty, who transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son.
The movie won 3 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actor (Marlon Brandon).
Let’s look at some of the mindblowing and interesting facts about this Legendary movie.
41. Lenny Montana (Luca Brasi) was so nervous about working with Marlon Brando that, in the first take of their scene together, he flubbed some lines. Francis Ford Coppola liked the genuine nervousness and used it in the final cut. The scenes of Brasi practicing his speech were added later.
40. During an early shot of the scene where Vito Corleone returns home and his people carry him up the stairs, Marlon Brando put weights under his body on the bed as a prank, to make it harder to lift him
The Godfather 1972
39. Marlon Brando wanted to make Don Corleone “look “like a bulldog,” so he stuffed his cheeks with cotton wool for the audition. For actual filming, he wore a mouthpiece made by a dentist; this appliance is on display in the American Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York.
38. Al Pacino boycotted the Academy Awards ceremony, angry that he was nominated for the Academy Award Supporting Actor, noting that his character had more screen time than his costar, Best Lead Actor nominee (and winner)Marlon Brando.
37. During filming, James Caan and Gianni Russo did not get along and were frequently at loggerheads. During filming Sonny’s beating on Carlo, Caan nearly hit Russo with the stick he threw at him, and actually broke two of Russo’s ribs and chipped his elbow.
36. For the scene where Clemenza is cooking, Francis Ford Coppola originally wrote in the script, “Clemenza browns some sausage”. Upon seeing this, Mario Puzo crossed out “browns” and replaced it with “fries”, writing in the margin, “Gangsters don’t brown.”
35. Although there are many claims of real Mafiosi as cast members Francis Ford Coppola stated in a May 2009 interview with Howard Stern that no organized crime members were cast or used as consultants. Coppola went on to explain there are expectations of reciprocity once one is provided a “favor” by an organized crime member or otherwise involved in a business action with the same. He specifically denied the connection of Gianni Russo to organized crime. The closest Coppola claims to have come to a real gangster during production, at least to his knowledge, was an interaction with Lenny Montana, who played Luca Brasi. Coppola said when he asked if Montana knew how to spin the cylinder of the revolver Montana replied “You kiddin’?”.
34. Marlon Brando did not memorize most of his lines and read from cue cards during most of the film.
33. The early buzz on the film was so positive that a sequel was planned before the film was finished filming.
32. A young Sylvester Stallone auditioned for the roles of Paulie Gatto and Carlo Rizzi, but was not cast for either. Stallone instead decided to try his hand at writing, first completing the screenplay for the modestly successful The Lord’s of Flatbush (1974). He would later get his break in Rocky (1976), alongside Talia Shire, who portrays Connie Corleone in this film.
31. In 1974, The Godfather (1972) premiered on NBC over 2 nights – Saturday November 16th, and Monday November 18th, from 9-11pm. Both nights, at 11pm, New York City’s Municipal Water Authorities had some overflow problems from all the toilets flushing around the same time.
30. George Lucas put together the “Mattress Sequence” (the montage of crime scene photos and headlines about the war between the five families) as a favor to Francis Ford Coppola for helping him fund American Graffiti (1973). He asked not to be credited.
29. There was intense friction between Francis Ford Coppola and Paramount who frequently tried to have him replaced, citing his inability to stay on schedule, unnecessary expenses and production and casting errors. (Coppola actually completed the film ahead of schedule and budget.)
28. Gordon Willis insisted that every shot represent a point of view, usually setting his camera about four feet off the ground, keeping the angle flat and even. Francis Ford Coppolamanaged to get him to do one aerial shot in the scene when Don Vito Corleone is gunned down, telling Willis that the overhead shot represented God’s point of view.
27. Gianni Russo used his organized crime connections to secure the role of Carlo Rizzi, going so far as to get a camera crew to film his own audition and send it to the producers. However, Marlon Brando was initially against having Russo, who had never acted before, in the film; this made Russo furious and he went to threaten Brando. However, this reckless act proved to be a blessing in disguise: Brando thought Russo was acting and was convinced he would be good for the role.
26. The line “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse” was selected by the American Film Institute on it’s list as one of the top 100 movie quotes, it was at #2 right behind “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” from Gone with the Wind (1939).
25. During pre-production, Francis Ford Coppolashot his own unofficial screen tests with Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, and Diane Keaton at his home in San Francisco. Robert Evans was unimpressed by them and insisted that official screen tests be held. The studio spent $420,000 on the screen tests but in the end, the actors Coppola originally wanted were hired.
24. Don Vito Corleone’s distinctive voice was based on real-life mobster Frank Costello. Marlon Brando had seen him on TV during the Estes Kefauver hearings in 1951 and imitated his husky whisper in the film.
23. According to Richard S. Castellano, he defended Gordon Willis during a disagreement Willis was having with Coppola. Coppola got revenge on Castellano by making him do twenty takes of the shots of Clemenza walking up four flight of stairs.
22. Al Pacino, James Caan and Diane Keaton were all paid $35,000 for their work on the film.
21. When Marlon Brando won the Best Actor Oscar for this movie, he sent Sacheen Littlefeather(née Marie Louise Cruz) to represent him at the awards ceremonies. The presenters of the award were Roger Moore and Liv Ullmann. When Moore offered the statuette to Littlefeather, she snubbed him and proceeded with her speech about the film industry’s mistreatment of American Indians.
20. Al Pacino’s first Oscar nomination marks his first of 4 consecutive nominations, a feat he shares with Jennifer Jones (1943-46), Thelma Ritter (1950-53), Marlon Brando (1951-54) andElizabeth Taylor (1957-60) and Susan Sarandon1992-1996.
19. James Caan actually hung out with various disreputable characters in order to better understand the underworld lifestyle.
18. Francis Ford Coppola turned in an initial director’s cut running 126 minutes. Paramount production chief Robert Evans rejected this version and demanded a longer cut with more scenes about the family. The final release version was nearly 50 minutes longer than Coppola’s initial cut.
17. In reality, all the actors who played Marlon Brando’s sons (Robert Duvall, John Cazale,James Caan, and Al Pacino) were only between six and 16 years younger than Brando, and Caan’s character, Santino, supposed to be older than Pacino’s character, Michael, are actually the same age, being born only one month apart in 1940.
16. Stanley Kubrick rated The Godfather (1972) as one of the greatest movies ever made.
15. The film makes use of a variety of Italian words:
@ Paulie says “sfortunato”, which means “unlucky guy”.
@ Michael explains that Tom is a “consigliere,” or counselor…
@ Vito calls Johnny Fontane a “finocchio,” an offensive term for a homosexual…
@ Sonny refers to Paulie as a “stronzo,” a term equivalent to “asshole”..
@ Carlo and Connie both say “vaffanculo” during their fight, which means “fuck you”…
@ Don Zaluchi says the sale of drugs to children is an “infamia,” or an infamy…
@ Both the Dons Corleone use the word “pezzonovante,” which means “.90 caliber,” or more accurately an idiom meaning “big shot”…
14. Paramount was in severe financial trouble in the early 1970s and really needed a big hit. They specifically asked Francis Ford Coppola to make the film more explicitly violent.
13. Paramount senior management, dissatisfied with the early rushes, considered replacingFrancis Ford Coppola with Elia Kazan with the hope that Kazan would be able to work with the notoriously difficult Marlon Brando. Brando announced that he would quit the film if Coppola was fired and the studio backed down. Paramount brass apparently did not know of Brando’s dismay with Kazan over his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s.
12. This is the fourth of five films as of 2014 in which three actors were competing for the same Oscar for the same film, which were Al Pacino , James Caan and Robert Duvall . The other films were: Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) in which Clark Gable , Charles Laughton andFranchot Tone competed for best actor, On the Waterfront (1954) in which Lee J. Cobb , Karl Malden and Rod Steiger competed for best supporting actor, Tom Jones (1963) in whichDiane Cilento , Edith Evans and Joyce Redmancompeted for best supporting actress, and The Godfather: Part II (1974) in which Robert De Niro , Michael V. Gazzo and Lee Strasbergcompeted for best supporting actor (which De Niro won).
11. In 1990, This film was selected for the National Film Registry, Library of Congress.
10. The film took 77 days to shoot, 6 days less then the 83 days original schedule.
The Godfather 1972
9. At one point during filming, Paramount production chief Robert Evans felt the film had too little action and considered hiring an action director to finish the job. To satisfy Evans,Francis Ford Coppola and his son Gian-Carlo Coppola developed the scene in which Connie and Carlo have their long fight. As a result, Evans was pleased enough to let Coppola finish the film.
8. In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #2 Greatest Movie of All Time.
7. A promotional board game titled “The Godfather Game” was released in 1971.
6. When writing the Godfather novel, Mario Puzo either directly or indirectly borrowed ideas from real life Mafia stories. Specifically, he borrowed a lot of from the life of New York gangster “Crazy” Joe Gallo, including the dynamics of he and his brothers. In the movie, Sonny is the “hot head” (Like Crazy Joe), Michael is the thoughtful and intelligent one (Like Larry Gallo), and Fredo is the dimwit (Like Michael Gallo). Also terms like “Sleeping with the fishes” and “Hitting the mattresses” came from the lives of the Gallos. An associate of the Gallos was killed while on a fishing trip with friends and the Gallos were sent a fish wrapped in a box just as when Sonny gets Luca Brasi’s bulletproof vest with a fish. When the Gallos revolted against their boss, Joe Profaci, they went to war and rented apartments stocked with mattresses. In real life, after Joe Gallo saw the movie, he actually considered suing Mario Puzo and Paramount Pictures for ripping off details of his life for their story. However, this never came to pass as “Crazy” Joe Gallo was murdered on April 7, 1972, almost a full month after the movie’s New York premiere.
5. Whenever you see oranges, there is going to be either a death or a near death.
4. During the scene in the study when the family decides Michael Corleone needs to kill Sollozzo and McCluskey, Santino Corleone is seen idly toying with a cane. The cane belonged to Al Pacino, who had badly injured his leg while filming Michael’s escape from the restaurant.
3. Sonny Corleone’s death scene at a highway toll booth was to take place on the Jones Beach Causeway, but was actually filmed on a small airport runway at Mitchell Field on Long Island, which was then called the Floyd Bennett Field. The scene was the most expensive in the movie to set up and film for it cost over $100,000 to set up and was finished in just one take from four or five different camera angles. The large billboard next to the toll booth was set up to hide the appearance of a modern high-rise building in the background. According to Joe Gelmis, 110 brass casings containing gunpowder squibs and sacks of blood were deployed all over James Caan’s body. Plus there were over 200 pre-drilled holes in his car, a 1941 Lincoln, filled with squibs to simulate the ambush attack.
2. During rehearsals, a false horse’s head was used for the bedroom scene. For the actual shot, a real horse’s head was used, acquired from a dog-food factory. According to John Marley, his scream of horror was real as he was not informed that a real head was going to be used.
Hugh Jackman is a renowned actor known for great movies like The Prestige (2006), Les Miserable (2012) and X-Men(2000). He is natively from Australia and widely known for playing Logan/Wolverine in X-Men series movies under Marvel’s production.
He had been nominated for One Academy Award (Oscar) under Best Actor category for movie Les Miserable (2012). He lost the award to Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln (2012).
Hugh Jackman has done a variety of roles since he started. He got lot of critical fame and fan support for these characters.
He is a beautiful (6’2″ tall) man first and Actor later. Let’s look at some of the Hugh Jackman’s real life interesting Facts.
13. Hugh met his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, while co-starring in the Australian TV series Correlli(1995).
Hugh Jackman
12. Hugh was Chosen as one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in the World” 5 years in a row, 2000-2004.
11. Before attending WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts), he did a year-long acting program called “The Journey” at the Actors Centre in Sydney.
10. His parents separated when he was eight. His mother then moved back to England. His father, an accountant, brought up five children, by himself. The first 18 months of Hugh’s life were spent with his godparents.
9. He is terribly near-sighted and has extremely blurry vision when he isn’t wearing contacts.
8. Hugh was listed as a potential nominee on the 2005 Razzie Award nominating ballot. He was listed as a suggestion in the Worst Actor category for his performance in the film Van Helsing (2004). However, he did not receive a nomination.
7. He admitted after X-Men (2000) that it was difficult to summon up the rage and darkness necessary for the character of Logan/Wolverine and it took weeks off work with Bryan Singer to find the right tone for the character. After that, however, it was relatively easy for him to play the angry character.
6. He had never seen an episode of Saturday Night Live (1975) until he agreed to host the show. The producers sent him tapes of episodes so he could understand the format of the show. He later said that his favorite was the one hosted by Conan O’Brien.
5. He doesn’t smoke in real life. He says he finds it horrible to smoke in movies.
4. He and his wife, Deborra-Lee Furness, suffered through two miscarriages, which they point to as the most difficult point in their lives. Both of their children are adopted.
3. His life goal as a young man was to be a international freelance journalist. He got a degree in journalism before turning to acting.
2. With his portrayal of Logan/Wolverine in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), he holds the record as the actor who has portrayed a comic book character in feature films the most times (seven). He’s also the only actor to star in all chapters of the X-Men film series.
1. He was diagnosed with Skin Cancer in 2013 and since then has successfully won the battle against it.
Full Metal Jacket (1987) is a War/Drama movie directed by Stanley Kubrick. The movie revolves around a pragmatic U.S. Marine, who observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.
Full Metal Jacket is indeed one of the best war movie ever made.The movie was nominated for 1 Oscar and had several other wins.
Let’s look at some of the interesting facts about this movie.
19. The videotape demonstration was not the only factor which got R. Lee Ermey the role as the drill instructor Hartmann. Ermey went to Stanley Kubrick and asked for that part and convinced that the actors on the set were not up to snuff. When Kubrick declined, Ermey barked an order for Kubrick to stand up when he was spoken to, and the director instinctively obeyed. That sealed the matter, and Ermey won the part as Gunnery Sgt. Hartmann.
18. To make Gunnery Sgt. Hartmann’s performance and the recruits’ reactions as convincing as possible, Matthew Modine, Vincent D’Onofrio, and the other actors playing recruits never met R. Lee Ermey prior to filming. Stanley Kubrick also took care of it that Ermey didn’t fraternize with the actors between takes.
Full Metal Jacket poster
17. R. Lee Ermey actually slapped Vincent D’Onofrio(Pvt. Pyle) in the scene where he knocks his hat off. It was actually D’Onofrio’s idea to get slapped. Unfortunately for him, he forgot about Stanley Kubrick’s perfectionism. He had to endure take after take of real slaps. Ermey (being a muscular former Marine) tried not give any damage to D’Onofrio. But his first mild slaps drove him to slap more violently.
16. Vincent D’Onofrio gained 70 pounds for his role as Pvt. Pyle, breaking Robert De Niro’s movie weight-gain record (60 pounds) for Raging Bull(1980). It took him seven months to put the weight on and nine months to take it off with physical training.
15. According to an interview with Vincent D’Onofrio, the production schedule for the film was so drawn-out that lead actor Matthew Modine(Pvt. Joker) got married, conceived a child with his wife, the child was born, and then turned 1 year old…all during the course of filming.
14. Another cut scene involved a sex scene between Pvt. Joker and the Vietnamese prostitute. According to the actress, Stanley Kubrick cut the scene because it detracted from the cold mood of the film.
13. In his memoir, Matthew Modine claims thatStanley Kubrick didn’t want him to leave the set to be present at his wife’s delivery, and he threatened to injure himself in order to get to the hospital before Kubrick relented and allowed him to leave.
12. Advertisements for this film were censored in some parts of Canada due to the tagline “In Vietnam the wind doesn’t blow, it sucks.” At that time, Canadian censors had not yet decided whether the phrase “it sucks” (or “this sucks”) was obscene.
11. The Vietnam sequences of the film were shot first, the Parris Island scenes second. The graduation of the recruits was the last scene shot.
10. The Charles Whitman shootings (which Sgt. Hartmann describes to the recruits as an example of “what one motivated Marine and his rifle can do”) took place 1 August, 1966, presumably a few months before the recruits arrive on Parris Island. Though only one person (Cowboy) raises his hand when the recruits are asked who Charles Whitman was, the Associated Press and United Press International called the shootings the second most important news story of 1966 – trailing only the Vietnam War.
9. While location scouting for the film Stanley Kubrick was driving his wife’s new SUV around the countryside with cinematographer Douglas Milsome and R. Lee Ermey as passengers. At one point Kubrick noticed a potential location out his window, and became so distracted describing to Milsome how he wanted the location used in the film that he crashed the car into a six foot deep ditch, rolling the SUV onto its side. Undeterred, Kubrick continued talking about the location uninterrupted as they climbed out of the car and walked back home.
8. Most actors auditioned for their roles by submitting videotapes of themselves performing a scene in Vietnam. Stanley Kubrickand the studio placed ads throughout the US for young aspiring actors to send in audition tapes for the film. They received around 3000, of which Kubrick personally watched about 800.
7. Lines from the scene in which Private Joker (Matthew Modine) and Private Rafterman (Kevyn Major Howard) are approached by the Da Nang Hooker (Papillon Soo) were sampled in 2 Live Crew’s 1989 hit “Me So Horny” on the album ‘As Nasty As They Wanna Be’. The exchange between Joker and the hooker – “What do we get for ten dollars? / Every t’ing you want. / Everything? / Every t’ing.” – is used at the very beginning of the song. While the “Me so horny. Me love you long time” sample is used in the chorus of the song, as well as throughout. If you listen carefully to the samples at the very beginning and end of the song, you can hear Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'”, which plays under the original scene in the movie. The song also contains a sample from Which Way Is Up?(1977).
6. This was Stanley Kubrick’s first film edited by computer rather than linearly spliced film.
5. Stanley Kubrick’s frequent cinematographerJohn Alcott was approached to shoot the movie but turned it down, instead focusing on US-based projects, and Alcott’s focus pullerDouglas Milsome took over his duties. Filming took about six months and was shut down for 20 weeks from June 1985 to September 1986. Alcott died of a heart attack at end of July 1986.
4. If you pay attention to Joker’s uniform collar throughout the movie, you’ll notice that he starts out as a Private and by then end of the movie he is a Sergeant.
3. There was supposes to be an extra scene after Joker killed the sniper,it even was in the script. After Joker killed the sniper, Animal Mother would bring out his machete and chop of the sniper’s head and throw it out the window. The scene was cut for obvious reasons.
2. The term “full metal jacket” refers to the type of small arms ammunition used in warfare, as heard in Private Pyle’s famous line spoken on the toilet, “7.62 millimeter, full… metal… jacket.” Full metal jacket ammunition has a copper coating covering the lead core of its projectile. Under the Geneva Convention, only FMJ can be used by military personnel. FMJ bullets while very deadly are more likely to pass through a person without greatly expanding or breaking up than other types of bullets (hollow point or unjacketed soft lead bullets). Thus the title is a commentary on the absurdity of trying to make civilized rules for war.
1. The only three female actors with lines (not counting stock audio footage in the soundtrack) are Papillon Soo as the Da Nang hooker, Ngoc Le, as the Vietcong sniper and Leanne Hong as the Motorbike Hooker.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) is an Adventure/Comedy movie directed by Wes Anderson and starring Ralph Fiennes. The movie is about the adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous hotel from the fictional Republic of Zubrowka between the first and second World Wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.
The movie was nominated for 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture at Oscars 2015. The movie won 4 Oscars including Best Achievement in Music written, Original score.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) Poster
Let’s look at some of the interesting facts about The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).
13. Tilda Swinton spent hours in the makeup chair to play 84-year-old dowager Madame D. “We’re not usually working with a vast, Bruckheimer-type budget on my films, so often we’re trying a work-around,” said Wes Anderson. “But for the old-age makeup I just said, ‘Let’s get the most expensive people we can.'”
12. According to Wes Anderson, the whole cast stayed in the same hotel [Hotel Börse in Görlitz] during the film’s principal photography. He insisted on all make-up and costume happen in the hotel lobby of to give the process more urgency and speed up filming. The owner of the same hotel appears in the film as an extra working on the front desk of the Grand Budapest, and after filming finished for the day the crew would often return to find him at the front desk of their own hotel.
11. Johnny Depp was Wes Anderson’s initial choice for the role of M. Gustave.
10. The cast includes four Oscar winners: Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Fisher Stevens and F. Murray Abraham and eleven actors that were nominated for an Oscar (not necessarily in the acting category): Bill Murray, Jude Law, Jeff Goldblum, Edward Norton, Owen Wilson, Harvey Keitel, Bob Balaban, Tom Wilkinson, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan and Ralph Fiennes.
9. As of January 2015, this is the highest-grossing film of Wes Anderson’s film-making career, grossing $175 million worldwide. It was also the highest-grossing independent film of 2014 and the highest-grossing limited-release film of 2014. In its first week it grossed over $811,000 in just 4 theatrical screenings, averaging $202,000 per screen.
8. Jeff Goldblum plays Vilmos Kovacs, a tribute to cinematographers Vilmos Zsigmond and László Kovács.
7. In an interview with Stefan Zweig’s biographer,Wes Anderson singles out two of Zweig’s books; ” ‘Beware of Pity’ and ‘The Post Office Girl’ from which The Grand Budapest Hotel(2014) has elements that were sort of stolen …”. He also states “Two characters in our story are vaguely meant to represent Zweig himself – our ‘Author’ character, played by ‘Tom Wilkinson’, and the theoretically fictionalised version of himself, played by Jude Law. But, in fact, M. Gustave, the main character who is played byRalph Fiennes, is modelled significantly on Zweig as well.”
6. Wes Anderson’s first film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture or Best Director, despite his esteemed reputation as a filmmaker for nearly twenty years.
5. The movie soundtrack features a rare instrument – the balalaika. It is a typical triangular-shaped Russian folk instrument which was carefully chosen by producer Wes Anderson. Its triangular body and three strings come in various sizes much like the violin, from prima to contrabass. Several dozen players from France and Russia gathered in Paris to record the soundtrack in Wes Anderson’s presence. The instrument is heard throughout the movie but is most prominent in the second part of the official trailer (down the ski slopes) with the balalaika’s most popular theme: The Moon Shines (svetit mesyats).
4. In addition to this film, Edward Norton starred in Birdman. Both films led the 2015 Oscar nominations with nine each.
3. Gustave’s prisoners number is 112, the emergency response number most of Europe.
The grand Budapest Hotel (2014) poster
2. After Johnny Depp turned down the part of M. Gustave, Robert Downey Jr., Sean Penn, Bruce Willis and Ben Stiller were considered for the part.
1. Second film with Tom Wilkinson involving the stealing of a painting; the other one is ‘RocknRolla (2008)’. Both films are also comedies.
Selma (2014) is a Biopic on Martin Luther King Jr. campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.
The movie is directed by Ava DuVernay.
Selma (2014) was nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Picture at Oscars 2015. However, the movie won 1 Oscar under Best achievement in music written, Original song.
Selma (2014) poster
Let’s have a look at some of the interesting Facts about Selma (2014)
14. Lee Daniels was originally set to direct. The cast for his film included Hugh Jackman as Sheriff Jim Clark, Liam Neeson portraying Lyndon Johnson, Robert De Niro attached to star as segregationist governor George Wallace,Cedric the Entertainer as minister and activistRalph Abernathy while Lenny Kravitz was also on board as activist Andrew Young. David Oyelowo was attached to star as Martin Luther King Jr. and was the only actor the previous selections that Ava DuVernay kept in the film when she took over as director.
13. For this film, Ava DuVernay wrote new variations of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches because another studio purchased the rights of the real speeches.
12. David Oyelowo fought very hard for 7 years to get the role of Martin Luther King Jr. Lee Daniels, the original director attached, didn’t think he was right for it. Ava DuVernay did.
11. Selma is being screened for free at the Selma Walton Theater in Selma, Alabama.
10. The film has caused a minor controversy regarding its depiction of President Lyndon Johnson (Tom Wilkinson). Various historians, critics and journalists have disputed the film’s depiction of Johnson as a reluctant supporter of Voting Rights and an opponent of the Selma March. By most accounts, Johnson was in fact a strong ally of the Civil Rights movement and supporter of the march, albeit with a good deal of pressure from Martin Luther King and other activists.
9. After Lee Daniels left the project actor David Oyelowo campaigned for Ava DuVernay to take over as director.
8. Directors who were at one point interested in directing the script include Steven Spielberg,Stephen Frears, Paul Haggis, Spike Lee, Lee Daniels and Michael Mann.
7. David Oyelowo and Carmen Ejogo are both British-Nigerian.
6. In response to criticisms regarding the film’s historical accuracy, director Ava DuVernaytweeted: “[the] bottom line is folks should interrogate history. Don’t take my word for it or [an] LBJ rep’s word for it. Let it come alive for yourself.”
5. Director Ava DuVernay and lead actor David Oyelowo’s omissions from the 2015 Academy Award Nominations sparked an outcry from moviegoers and Hollywood insiders. Their omissions have been credited to the lack of racial diversity in Hollywood and the fact the studio (Paramount) failed to send “screeners” of the film to members of the Academy in time for all of them to see it.
4. This is the second film to co-star David Oyelowo, Oprah Winfrey, and Cuba Gooding Jr.The three previously co-starred in Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013). Both films are about the Civil Rights Movement.
3. Although she receives no screen writing credit,Ava DuVernay claimed to have done a 90% rewrite of Paul Webb’s original script, including writing all of King’s speeches.
2. The movie is titled Selma after the city Selma, Alabama, the starting place of the historic voting rights march depicted in the movie.
1. Tim Roth who plays Alabama Governor George Wallace grew up during the Civil Rights Era and said he remembers George Wallace, being “amazed at what was coming out of his mouth” and thought of him as a “monster”.
Movie Details Facts and Trivia 