Movie Trivias

The first choice for the role of Indiana Jones was Tom Selleck and not Harrison Ford, for George Lucas has already cast him repeatedly and wanted to avoid being labeled as another Scorsese who repeatedly cast Robert DeNiro. Spielberg also wanted to do a Bond film and did not know anything about Indiana Smith, yes, you heard me right. The first name chosen for the film was Indiana Smith which Spielberg disliked and changed to Jones after a casual suggestion from Lucas. The outline of the main character (Indiana Jones) was decided on long before any cameras rolled. The Fedora (Indiana’s Hat), was so iconic that if it fell or was accidentally blown off everything stopped till it was back on Ford’s head which caused a re-shoot of the scene.

Another hit from now Governor Schwarzenegger, which has him play the role of a government special agent who is after Jihad extremists out to do no good in America. In the climactic rescue of his wife, the woman hanging under the helicopter doing the stunt was no stunt double was no other than Jamie Lee Curtis herself. She insisted on doing the stunt herself for all the action sequences to add to her experiences as a veteran actress. After agreeing to the stunt she promptly touts director Cameron by asking, “As I’m doing all this, where would you be Jim?” James Cameron quickly replies, “Right at the door hanging out as I film you with a handheld camera!” quickly sending her to do her stunts. It should also be noted that the tandem panties and bra Jamie Lee wore were hers and not props.

Fear of piracy has the film copies titled, “Cinnamon” when they were delivered to theaters due to fears of them being stolen. There was also a sign when a real estate sign had the name Segar’s Realty which was actually one of the film’s executive producers, Charles Segars. The story again has historian Ben, hot on the trail of historical artifacts as he tries to clear the name of his ancestors who were implicated in the assassination of one of Americas founding forefathers Abraham Lincoln. His great-great grandfather was implicated to as being an accomplice in the former president�s murder and he is forced to travel to Paris, London and eventually back to America as they uncover more than they bargain for in histories most kept secrets to clear his family’s honor and reputation.

The movie was directed and the main character played by Mel Gibson. The movie was part historic and part movie fantasy for it depicts the War of Independence by the Scots who were fighting the British as they overtook their land. Then another lady character in the persona of Queen Boudica, also had the same exploits, this time a woman who takes over the throne of his slain king husband in the war against the invaders. Many of these movies depict actual facts based on historic accounts of epic battles which were to become history. Sir William Wallace, the true Brave Heart was the historic figure behind the movie and was portrayed by Mel.

This is due to the efforts of George Lucas who owns ILM one of the leading digital film makers around and Skywalker Sound who have been responsible for many an animated classics. The use of technology might not get actors and actresses out of their jobs but rather make their jobs safer and more pleasant with more dangerous sequences not even requiring live actors, but digitally created ones. Gone are the days of multi million dollar sets and in with digitally created ones where seemingly impossible creations can be brought to life on computers Some argue that would signify the end of the classic action film but I beg to differ. Technology is there to augment and not replace us on the movie set and it should always remain that way for this is the way it has been since film was developed and created.

The film industry is evolving into an industry that is totally dependent on technology, literally. The advent of digital editing and mastering technology couple with high powered computer graphics processors have allowed the film industry to achieve never before possible action sequences that are not created on sets but on the computers of graphics artists and the likes. True to this, remember the re-runs of the epic Star Wars Saga that keep on running over and over cable? These are digitally enhanced versions of the film that have been re-mastered (digitally of course and with certain aspects such as backdrops and sets totally re-done to give them a more realistic appearance) with characters that had twenty or so puppeteers working inside them in a static position moving around like never before.

Do you remember the shots of Sylvester Stallone as “Rocky” running up the stairs that seemed to never end? Do you remember the steadiness of the shots even though the actor was moving up and down running while climbing the stairs? Or the action sequences of the movie “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”? All of these along with many other seemingly impossible shots would be impossible without the steady cam. The steady cam is a rig that can be mounted onto a car, the camera man�s body or a boom rig that gives steady shots thought the use of springs, shocks and servos that allow the camera to remain focused without the excessive movement from either the camera or the placement of the camera. This has been under development for quite some time and has been perfected through years of refinement and improvements made to the system. The oldest versions or prototypes had springs and weights to balance the camera making it effortlessly move across all plains. So the next time you see an action sequence that seems utterly still and focused, remember the steady-cam and its contribution to film and the industry as a whole.

The last installment of the Harry Potter movie franchise will be split into two, and shown a year apart. The people behind the movie came to this decision after talks with JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter novels, in order to give more justice to the story of the Boy Who Lived. Filming though, will be continuous, and will be shot as if everything were one film, in order to achieve better continuity for the story.

In casting news, Rhys Ifans is a confirmed member of the cast, but there is no news yet on who he will be playing, although numerous rumors are pointing to him playing Xenophilus Lovegood, the father of Luna Lovegood. The role of Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore’s brother will not be played by Jim McManus anymore, but by Ciaran Hinds. Emma Thompson will also not be returning as Professor Trelawney.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON: Movie Trailer – Click here for funny video clips
The movie is a very enticing one due to the utter complexity of the needed special effects, with Benjamin growing younger as opposed to older as with the rest of the cast. Some trivia’s that may have not been known, the film was initially considered for Tom Cruise as the lead instead of Brad. The producers of the film also kept in close communication with Levi’s for authentic clothes that were period authentic for the character played by Brad. The film was also the second to film in the flood-ravaged lands of New Orleans which was also for one very obvious reason, tax discounts from the state. The movie had been planned and prepared for as early as 1994. The aging process took four hours for Pitt for the early scenes and four hours for Cate Blanchett for her aging scenes as the film was ending.
The story also had a very colorful past for it was initially bought by Ray Stark in the late 70’s, and then by Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall for Amblin. The later two eventually detached from Spielberg taking the rights with them as they formed their own production firms, with the film’s rights finally being brought by Erick Roth who vowed to commit to the film upon his father’s death in 2002.

Hailed as one of the most memorable and accurate epic war movies of all time, the gory and accurate opening scenes of the invasion was so accurate veterans broke in tears prompting the Defense Department’s office of Veterans Affairs to put up a toll-free 800 number for counseling. The movie was hailed as too violent and gory that many countries wanted the film’s graphic scenes cut. Spielberg stood firm opting not to release the film in countries that wanted editing. He also insisted that the film be released uncut even if review boards issue cuts and revisions in accordance with ratings.
There are many unknowns about the film, one of the best is that it was the last (very last) film edited using traditional cut and pasting of the film negatives. Known as linear editing, the scenes are viewed, literally cut and taped together which results in a master negative from which the actual film rolls are made from. The actors all received a few weeks of boot camp except Matt Damon so their resentment of him not getting battered and bruised would show in the film. The opening invasion scene also showed two actual landing crafts that were used on D-Day. The two German Tiger tanks seen in the final battle were actually Russian T-34 tanks made to look like them.