Weird (unintentional?) things in movies

but if you take Larry Clark's movies, which tend to be realistic, i don't think your mark is seen.

about Juraasic park - it's a sort of a movie cliche, one of many common in american films in particular - the viewer got used to those "cinematic phrases" and he feels comfortable seeing them, cause its talking the language he understands.
there is some website with movie cliche's which is amusing.

-- Kim (grimstitc...) (webmail), May 14th, 2006 1:50 PM. (Kim) (later) (link)

So we can tell them apart when they transform into power rangers!

‘Almost Famous’ is the first Cameron Crowe film to be lacking an appearance by Eric Stoltz. (He was going to be David Bowie. Fleetingly.) Stoltz was 3rd billing in Crowe’s ‘The Wild Life’ (1984), but also had cameos in ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ (1982), ‘Say Anything’ (1989), as a mime in ‘Singles’ (1992), and ‘Jerry Maguire’ (1996). His name, however, is mentioned in the rock biopic.

The town over-run by spiders in ‘Arachnaphobia’ (1990) is called Canaima. This is also the moniker taken by the avenging spirit of the Guyana Indians, and is the name of the Venezuelan location where film begins.

The plot of ‘The Astronaut’s Wife’ (1999) is not the only element reminiscent of ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968) – the shorn-blond haircut sported by mother-to-be Charlize Theron is markedly similar to that of Mia Farrow.

The chess moves in ‘The Avengers’ (1998) game played by Emma Peel (Thurman) and John Steed (Fiennes) are the same as in the ‘Blade Runner’ (1982) match between Roy Batty and Tyrell.

Mercedes McNab, who plays Harmony on ‘Buffy’ – Spike’s whiny blond Season#4 girlfriend who proved so infuriating a companion he staked her – has also been irritating elsewhere. In ‘The Addams Family’ (1991), she’s an annoying blond girl scout selling cookies (“are they made from real girl scouts?”) at Wednesday & Pugsley’s lemonade stand. And in the film’s 1993 sequel, she’s an annoying blond summer-camper. Who Christina Ricci gets to tie to a stake and burn as the Indian’s revenge segment of their Thanksgiving Celebrations. (There’s an ever-growing theme here…)

In ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ (1994), there’s a prominent poster for the ‘93 movie ‘Frauds’ in the video store. A movie also directed by Stephan Elliot, and also starring Hugo Weaving. Though involving substantially less Pat Butcher eye-shadow.

In ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976) Watergate security guard Frank Mills got to play himself.

Rather than re-dub or add subtitles to the movie for foreign audiences, the film unit behind ‘Al-Risalah’ (1976) decided to shoot two versions of it. So. Scene-by-scene, an English version - released as ‘The Message’ - and the Arabic version were shot on the same set, by the same crew, using two different sets of actors.

While Jasmine’s appearance was based on a combination of Jennifer Connelly and her animator’s sister, in the early drawings for Disney’s Aladdin (1992), the male lead resembled Michael J. Fox. However. Jeffrey Katzenberg, worried that such a hero might not have enough ‘appeal to women’ (how rude to Mickey J), asked that the hero be ‘beefed up’ so as to look more like Tom Cruise. (Who is, like, a real guy. And even though he’s happily married to (um, now dating) someone extremely foxy, is still more likely to be available to his audience for general fornication purposes, than is a two-dimensional character trapped in paints on a animator’s cell. And there’s me thinking we’re supposed to want to see a cartoon for its plot or jokes, not the attractiveness of its stars...) They removed Aladdin’s nipples from the film anyway - a Disney audience wouldn’t want to see nipples - which seems a perplexingly deliberate de-sexualisation of a character they’ve tried to make more sexy.

Oh, and in the film you can alsospot a toy versions of the Beast, Sebastian and Pinocchio – from ‘Beauty and The Beast’ (1991), ‘The Little Mermaid’ (1989) and ‘Pinocchio’ (1940), respectively.

An early draft of the 1979 film ‘Alien’ had a male Ripley (urgh), while director Ridley Scott apparently wanted a much darker ending to the film; the alien would bite off Ripley's head in the escape shuttle, sit in her chair, and then start speaking with her voice in a message to Earth. 20th Century Fox wasn't too happy with this plan. Just like they weren’t too happy with some of conceptual artist H. R. Geiger's early designs, which under-went several revisions because of their blatant sexuality: the top of the eggs looked a leetle too much like labia for the comfort of the Powers That Be. That the face of the alien (costume’s) head is made from a real human skull though, oh, that’s fine...

Those viewers out there who can – hey – read, might also have noticed that ‘Salako’, the name of the ship in ‘Aliens’ (1986) is the name of the town in Joseph Conrad's book ‘Nostromo’. Whose name was used for the ship in ‘Alien’.

It should also be known that Jeanette Goldstein – who played ‘Aliens’’ Vasquez, had thought the film was to be about ‘illegal aliens’, and so had arrived at the audition with waist long hair and a lot of make-up, only to find everyone else in military fatigues.

The improbably proficient basketball shot that Sigourney Weaver makes in ‘Alien: Resurrection’ (1997) – the flip from behind across half the court without even looking – was made by an improbably proficient Sigourney Weaver.

The TV movie ‘Alien Attack’ (1976) was entirely made from neatly spliced scenes of two episodes (‘Breakaway’ and ‘War Games’) of ‘Space: 1999’ (1975).

The delightful & ever-realistic (ha) film ‘Alligator’ (1980) contains a nice couple of movie-in-jokes about, um, the sewers and their inhabitants. A sewer worker character called Edward Noron from ‘The Honeymooners’ was named as one of the victims on a blackboard seen in the background of a press conference, while graffiti on a sewer-wall reads ‘Harry Lime Lives’, a reference to the ‘The Third Man’ (1949) character who was killed in a sewer.

The script for ‘American Pie’ (1999) was submitted to studios under a different moniker to that which we now know & cherish so – screenwriter Adam Herz snappily named it ‘Untitled Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made For Under $10 Million That Most Readers Will Probably Hate But I Think You Will Love’.

Long before the part of Patrick Bateman had been cast for the 1999 film adaptation of ‘American Psycho’, Bret Easton Ellis wrote Christian Bale into his novel ‘Glamorama’, as a bit-player Hollywood star of a recurring character.

Alan Arkin plays John Cusack’s “Wellness Guide” in ‘America’s Sweethearts’ (2001); in ‘Grosse Pointe Blank’ (1997) he also played Cusack’s therapist.

‘Amores Perros’ (2000), unlike most movies (though most don’t linger on dogfighting…), is prefaced with a disclaimer that no animals were harmed in the making of the film.

For ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979), Dennis Hopper had been intended to play Willard's predecessor, but had a part as a crazy photo-journalist written in for him by Coppola when it became apparent that he was ‘too affected by drugs to play a military type’. During filming, Hopper and Coppola often argued over whether it was possible to forget your lines when you didn't learn them in the first place.

In the 1993 TV-movie version of ‘Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman’, the film showing at the drive-in when Nancy goes on her rampage is the 1958 ‘Attack of the 50 Foot Woman’.

I’d like to think that if the drivers of the cars on the poster for the original ‘Attack of the 50 Foot Woman’ (1958) are going to die, they’ll die happy, delirious with their view.

During rehearsals for ‘Awakenings’ (1990), Robin Williams managed to break Robert De Niro's nose. Accidentally. Of course. (Well I wouldn’t want to break it on purpose. Would you?)

The main street in ‘Back to the Future’ (1985) is the same one used for Bedford Falls in ‘Gremlins’ (1984), and the cinema in both films is showing the same movies; ‘A Boy’s Life’, which was the working title for ‘E.T.’ (1982), and ‘Watch The Skies’, the working title for ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (1977). Their directors, Steven Spielberg, actually pops up in the film as well, playing the part of the pick-up truck driver that gives Marty a lift to school. Huey Lewis - bizarrely - also makes a cameo in the film, as the high-school band judge.

Robert Zemeckis & screenwriter Bob Gale also managed to get one of their long-standing traditions into the script for ‘Back To The Future 2’ (1989) - the two police officers who take Jennifer home are called Reese and Foley, which is what all the two-some’s police or government agents are called.

The ‘Back To The Future’ script never called for Marty to repeatedly bang his head on the gull-wing door of the Delorean - as the door mechanism became progressively more temperamental during filming, this running joke was the improvised result of several headaches. It obviously destroyed a few brain cells in the process - in the inbetween 5 years since filming ‘Back To The Future’ and its sequel, Michael J. Fox managed to forget how to ride a skateboard. But then he still managed, over the course of the two sequels, to play himself, his great(?)-grandfather, his son and his daughter. Wigs and make-up are truly wonderful things.

In ‘Bandits’ (2001) and ‘Sling Blade’ (1996), the characters Billy Bob Thornton plays are both afraid of antique furniture. Billy Bob Thornton really does have a fear of antique furniture. (“I get creeped out and I can't breathe and I can't eat around it. But it's only certain kinds of antique furniture… I've had friends tell me that maybe I was beaten to death with an antique chair in a former life.”)

‘Barney and Friends’, the CTV show which features a suspiciously un-terrifying dinosaur, was denounced, attacked and boycotted by the Ku Klux Klan in 1994. Who were ‘outraged’ that the friendly purple one was played by – SHOCK – a black man. And that he – SHOCK – was beloved of their children.

Bob Kane, creator of the original Batman comic strip, was scheduled to make a cameo appearance in the 1989 ‘Batman’ movie, but he couldn't make the shoot. However. The drawing that the newspaper reporter holds up of the ``Bat-Man'' was drawn by Kane. Even sketching from the new cast, the picture is still not entirely Michael Keaton - most shots of Batman in costume show a stunt double instead.

In the film’s 1992 sequel, ‘Batman Returns’, Christopher Walken plays a nasty man called Max Schreck – this is the name of the actor who played the vampire lead in ‘Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens’ (1922). This sequel was branded as ‘anti-Semitic’ by one writer for the ‘New York Times’, because the Penguin, Batman’s nemesis, was seen to have Jewish characteristics. For example… He has a big nose, and likes herrings. (Rather like, um, penguins do.) He was discovered floating down the underground river in a basket, much like Moses was. (The bible says nothing of his parents being circus freaks, however.) And like Christ, he is 33, and carries his umbrella into the graveyard as Christ carried his cross. (Or would have done, had it had more of a stick shape to it.) I personally think that the opinion piece itself was, very probably, the more offensive, and am yet again boggled by the imagination of film critics. (I read one piece in ‘The Face’ magazine which suggested ‘Stuart Little’ endorsed paedophilia. Not, um, fostering.)

In one scene of the (frankly appalling despite the cast & lingering crotch/bum shots in the opening credits) fourth sequel ‘Batman & Robin’ (1997) of the franchise, Batman and Robin bid against each other for the chance to date Poison Ivy. The credit card Batman wields as his ultimate weapon has an expiration date of ‘FOREVER’.

In Alex Garland’s novel, ‘The Beach’, the lead character of Richard simply obsesses over Françoise from afar, she never leaving her boyfriend. In the film, Richard is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. It would have been inconceivable to an audience that he would not get the girl. Particularly when all that was standing in his way was a Frenchman. Pshaw.

The title role of ‘Beetlejuice’ (1988) was originally penned for Sammy Davis Jr.

…Also, when Barbara and Adam are in their Afterlife case worker's office, through the blinds in the window we can see... Elwood and Jake from ‘The Blues Brothers’ (1980).

That LesterCorp is on floor 7½ is discovered 7½ minutes into ‘Being John Malkovich’ (1999).

While Kate Chapshaw’s character is waiting in a pick-up truck in the film ‘Best Defense’ (1984), she is humming the theme song from ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ (1984), which is a delightful piece of self-promotion, as she was in that one too.

Some of the lightning seen in ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ (1986) forms a Chinese symbol as it disappears, which translates ‘carpenter’. ‘Big Trouble In Little China’ was directed by John Carpenter. This is not a coincidence.

The advance poster for Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ (1963) proclaimed ‘THE BIRDS IS COMING!’, which grammatical discordance did much to irritate English teachers the world over.

Two Millennium Falcons (seemingly stalking Harrison Ford through time as well as space) appear in ‘Blade Runner’ (1982). The first is in tattoo form, on the forehead of the snake merchant in the street. The second is as a model incorporated into an actual building. It can be seen in the bottom left of the screen, in the scene where Deckard and Gaff approach police headquarters in a spinner.

When Richie gets arrested in ‘Blown Away’ (1992), a police radio can be heard announcing the capture of Dr. Richard Kimble from the TV programme ‘The Fugitive’.

‘The Blues Brothers’ (1980) holds the world record for the number of cars crashed, far exceeding the 93 cars in the 97 minutes running time of ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ (1974).

The wood-cut in the vampire tome Van Helsing is reading, in ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ (1992), when he realises the identity of his undead enemy is of Vlad Tepes, the 15th-century Impaler prince of Wallachia. This genocidal monarch was also known as Vlad Dracula, meaning Vlad son of Dracul, of the Order of the Dragon.

Several of the major battle scenes in ‘Braveheart’ (1995) had to be re-shot, as the extras were clearly & somewhat anachronistically seen to be wearing sunglasses and wristwatches.

Some of the cloud footage used in ‘Brazil’ (1985) was left-over stock from ‘The Never Ending Story’ (1985) …just as extraneous footage from Kubrick’s mountain soaring which begins ‘The Shining’ (1980) was used in the dreamy-end to ‘Blade Runner’ (1982) …just as Disney’s ‘Bambi’ (1942) uses some ‘footage’ of woodland animals and a forest fire created for ‘Pinocchio’ (1940) but never used.

At the start of ‘The Breakfast Club’ (1985), the photograph of a one-time Shermer High School student ‘Man of the Year’ depicts the janitor’s younger self. And for added realism & general tidiness, the mother and younger sister of Anthony Michael Hall (aka Brian) play his character’s mother and sister. John Hughes, the director, plays Andrew’s dad; the film was actually partly shot at his old high school in Illinois. The football oval seen at the end is owned by Glenbrook North High School, where Hughes graduated; this school was used as Shermer High in Hughes’ ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ (1986). The interior scenes of ‘The Breakfast Club’ were shot at the Maine North High School (which has since become the Illinois State Police Station). The library was actually built in the school gym.

The ‘naked blonde walks into a bar…’ joke told by Bender does not have a punchline, by the way. Beyond “I forgot my pencil.” Irritatingly, John Hughes has said that ‘that was the point’.

The circus train in ‘A Bug’s Life’ (1998) is made from boxes of Casey Jr. animal crackers. The circus train in ‘Dumbo’ (1941) has the same name.

‘Can’t Hardly Wait’ (1998) was supposed to feature Tara Benson as a Stoned Girl. With more to do on screen than simply be intrigued in a banana. Almost all of her scenes hit the cutting room floor. As did ones involving a Drunk Girl so wasted she was unintelligible. The original plan had been for her slurring garble to be subtitled. (But this could be seen as glamorising drinking? Making it Swedish?) Her scenes were cut. And a glass of tequila was digitally changed (in post-production) to be a lemon slice. Thus the film was awarded a PG-13 rating. Phew.

Oh, and for those folks curious as to the details of William Lichter's scrolling credentials – but not sufficiently interested to watch the film with the Pause facility – here they are:

Valedictorian, National Merit Scholar, Captain - State Physics Bowl Team, Captain - State Math Olympics Team, State Math Champion, State Spelling Bee Champion, National Human Spirit Award, State Science Fair First Prize, Honor Roll Recipient, Perpetual Motion Award (Space Camp), Soap Box Derby Champion, Eagle Scout, Rotary Club, French Club, Spanish Club, Mandarin Chinese Club, German Club, Dead Romance Languages Club, Large Wooden Club, Math Club, Spelling Bee Club, Debate Team, Computer Club, Brighter Minds Society, Inventors Club, Anti-Athletic Club, Klingon Language Club, Kite Club, WWW.COM Club, Bill Gates Society, Classical Music Club, Stone Cutters, Dungeons and Dragons Club (Founder), Magic The Gathering Club (Founder), Secret Society, Junior Harvard Club (Founder), Megabyte Club, Physics Club, Latin Club, Math Olympics, Academic Decathlon, and Chess Club (…My favourite is the ‘Large Wooden Club’).

Carrie Fisher was originally cast in the title role of Stephen King’s ‘Carrie’ (1976), but refused to do the nude scenes, and eventually swapped roles with Sissy Spacek, who had been cast as Princess Leia in ‘Star Wars’ (1977). Apparently. Spacek then proved so dedicated to the film that she slept in the “pig’s blood” (actually syrup and food colouring) for two nights, so as to minimise continuity errors.

The budget for ‘Casablanca’ (1942) was so small they couldn't afford to use a real plane in the background at the airport. Instead, it was a small cardboard cut-out, with midgets to portray the crew preparing it for take-off, so as to give the illusion that the plane was, well, plane-sized.

Ever one for thinking ahead, Martin Scorsese planned the ‘head in a vice’ torture scene in ‘Casino’ (1995) as a bargaining chip for the ratings board. He was certain the MPAA would insist he lose the scene, and that by protesting, the rest of the film’s violent scenes could be retained. But the MPAA made no objection to it. And so the vide scene remained. (The version we see is slightly edited though. Leaving one to wonder how much ‘fun’ the original one was…)

In ‘Chaplin’ (1992), Geraldine Chaplin plays her own grandmother.

The ‘male’ military band in ‘Chariots of Fire’ (1981) features several women cunningly disguised with false moustaches.

In the high-falutin 2000 reworking of ‘Charlie’s Angels’, Drew Barrymore’s character “drops in” on two kids playing video games, in the house where ‘E.T.’ was filmed. (A clue to which is the prominent E.T. poster over the television…)

Forward-planning and Attention-to-detail awards go to… the production designer (Rat-Face) on ‘Chasing Amy’ (1997) left two tickets clearly sticking out of Jay’s top pocket in his & Silent Bob’s diner scene. Tickets to Illinois, home of ‘The Breakfast Club’, and host state to the start of ‘Dogma’, their next film…

Alyssa (Joey Lauren Adams), the whiny-voiced but-I’m-gay! madam from ‘Chasing Amy’, tells Holden (Ben Affleck) that her previous sexual partners include Gwen Turner and Shannon Hamilton. These are characters from Kevin Smith’s ‘Mallrats’ (1995); Gwen was played by Adams, and Shannon by Affleck. Just to complicate / tie-up matters even further, Alyssa’s sisters are Heather – ‘Clerks’ – and Tricia – ‘Mallrats’ – and her best friend is Caitlin Bree, also in ‘Clerks’. Adams was dating the director while this film was being shot, and Kevin Smith’s sister got to play the girlfriend Alyssa takes to the comic convention at the movie’s end. Meanwhile, Jason Lee’s then wife, Carmen Llywellyn, played Kim, a step up from being the poster-girl Silent Bob crashes through in ‘Mallrats’. And possibly also from playing the Scooby Gang’s Daphne in ‘Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back’ (2001). (It’s all just too much for me…)

In ‘Christine’ (1983), the filmic adaptation of Stephen King’s fright-night tale of a demonic car, the character of Dennis pulls a copy of Stephen King’s fright-night tale of a demonic car from a library shelf, right before he asks Leigh for a date.

‘Citizen Kane’ (1941) contains shots of pterodactyls in flight. Setting off for the beach from Xanadu, what appear to be large birds can be seen flying behind Kane and his entourage; to reduce costs, this background had been montaged in from a science fiction film. Hence the anachronistic flying monstrosities.

‘Class’ (1983) is the first movie John and Joan Cusack made together. Since, they’ve also been co-stars in ‘Sixteen Candles’ (1984), ‘Grandview USA’ (1984), ‘Broadcast News’ (1987), ‘Cradle Will Rock’ (1999), ‘High Fidelity’ (2000). In ‘Say Anything’ (1989) and ‘Grosse Pointe Blank’ (1997) they get to play brother and sister. But that isn’t the only 6-degrees-of-thefamily-Cusack connection. Oho no. Their father, Dick Cusack, pops up in ‘Class’ and ‘High Fidelity’ too, as does another of his daughters, Susie. Joan’s dad was in her first film, ‘My Bodyguard’, as the high school principal. Dick was also in John’s ‘Eight Men Out’ (1988), and stars alongside both John and his brother Bill in ‘The Jack Bull’ (1999). But that’s not all. Bill Cusack also appears with John in ‘Elvis Stories’ (1989) as a doctor, as a paramedic in ‘Con Air’ (1997), and as a waiter in ‘Grosse Pointe Blank’, a film which also stars their sister Ann. Ann is also in John’s ‘Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil’ (1997), and ‘America’s Sweethearts’ (2001), as Billy Crystal’s assistant. Susie Cusack, one of Charlie’s party guests (& John’s real life sister) in ‘High Fidelity’ also appears with Joan in ‘Accidental Hero’ (1992). An acting family as prolific as the Baldwins, yet infinitely more talented. Marvellous…

It cost around $27,000 for Kevin Smith to get the rights to the songs on the ‘Clerks’ (1994) soundtrack, a far higher figure than the entire production cost to film ($22,000ish). This is very much a filmic first.

Prior to the involvement of Stanley Kubrick, Alex and his malenky droogs in ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971) were suggested to have been portrayed by mini-skirted young girls, OAPs, and The Rolling Stones.

The film (and book) gets its title from the opus which Frank Alexander is working on when Alex and his droogs break into his home, an abbreviation of the phrase ‘Queer As A Clockwork Orange’.

The attack on Alexander’s wife was based on an attack on Anthony Burgess' wife by four American GIs during WWII, which caused her to miscarry.

Immediately before Alexander realises Alex’s identity, as he sings to himself in the bath, Kubrick deliberately made continuity errors in the film’s editing; in order to disorientate and unsettle the film’s audience (so as our experience is akin to that of the author), the dishes on the table move around and the level of wine in the glasses change between shots, so as to give a feeling of disorientation to the viewer.

It’s Dave Prowse - country yokel body to Darth Vader - who acts as Alexender’s strong-man & nurse in the later part of the film. Though here he really doesn’t have many lines either...

The film, while remaining truer to its source than Kubrick’s (re-) working of ‘The Shining’, leaves out Chapter 21 of the book, which features a maturer Alex deciding on a more stable future. Burgess said of the change: ``A vindication of free will had become an exaltation of the urge to sin. I was worried. The British version of the book shows Alex growing up and putting violence by as a childish toy; Kubrick confessed that he did not know this version: an American, though settled in England, he had followed the only version that Americans were permitted to know. I cursed Eric Swenson [the US publisher] of W. W. Norton.''

In ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (1977), you can see an upside down R2-D2 embedded in part of the large space-ship which flies over Devil's Mountain, included along with a shark from Spielberg’s ‘Jaws’ (1975) because the SFX people needed more detail in the model...

Three endings were shot to the big-screen version of Cluedo, Tim Curry’s ‘Clue’ (1985), and a random one shown at each theatre. (You can find all three, apparently, on the video.)

Given that Professor Plum works for the World Health Organization, which is a part of the United Nations Organization, as he indicates at dinner, his employers are UNO WHO.

Airport scenes in the films ‘Coming to America’ (1988) and ‘Into the Night’ (1985) include a call over the PA system for a ‘Mr Frank Ozkerwitz’ - Frank Oz’s real name - to pick up the white courtesy phone.

Oh, and the bums that pick up Eddie Murphy’s money in this film are the ‘Duke Brothers’ from ‘Trading Places’ (1983) - also directed by John Landis - who were financially ruined by Murphy’s character in that movie.

The fake blood in ‘Conan the Barbarian’ (1981) came in the form of a concentrate, which needed to be mixed with water prior to use. Filming in cold weather, the blood would freeze, and so they mixed the concentrate with vodka instead (as it has a far lower freezing point). This proved popular with the actors. For some reason. And in the scenes which called for them to spit the blood, they would swallow it instead, and then go back to the special effects department man for more.

The quotes around the word ‘crocodile’ in the title of the film ‘'Crocodile' Dundee’ (1986) were added for the benefit of its the American release, so as people didn't think that Dundee himself was a croc.

Sam Raimi’s ‘Crimewave’ (1985) features Odegard-Trend Security – this same outfit is called out to the convenience store in ‘Raising Arizona’ (1987).

Each 25 minute episode of ‘Crossroads’ was, for many years, recorded in a single take. With no editing, any mistakes that were made during the end of the shoot would be left in, rather than re-filming.

‘The Crow’ (1994) is not usually remembered as a film which features a cameo from a stage-diving Trent Reznor, or one which Cameron Diaz turned down the chance to appear in... but the one where Brandon Lee died in an on-set accident. One scene required a gun to be loaded, cocked, and then pointed at the camera - because it was filmed in close-up, the bullets which were loaded had real brass caps, but no powder. Scene over, the props-master - the arms-master having left the set for the day - dry-fired the gun to get the cock off, and in so doing knocking an empty cartridge into the barrel of the gun. For the next scene filmed with that gun, it was loaded with blanks, which usually contain double or triple the powder of a normal bullet, so as to make a loud noise when fired. The script called for Draven, Lee’s character, to be shot as he entered the set, which would trigger the explosion of a blood pack in the bag of groceries which he was carrying. But. When the gun was fired, the cartridge stuck in the barrel of the gun was blasted at Lee through the bag he was carrying, killing him. The footage of his death was destroyed without being developed.

Lee died before the filming ended, and ‘The Crow’ - which was released in his memory - contains several scenes involving his character which were completed without him. These include:

the scene where Draven first enters the apartment after digging himself out of his grave was completed by digitally compsiting footage of Lee walking through an alley in the rain into the set. So as his wet appearance did not seem incongruous, post-production computer manipulation of the footage added drops of water to the door frame.

the shot of Draven falling from the window was created by digitally compositing Lee's face, complete with simulated blood, onto a falling body double.

the scene where Draven puts on his white make-up was filmed using a double.

the shot of Draven walking towards the window with the crow on his shoulder was composed of old footage from another scene, to which a computer-generated crow was added.

the scene when Sarah visits the apartment never allows Draven's face to be revealed, as he is being played by a double.

The Best Supporting Role By An Item Of Underwear Award, as bestowed by these very pages, is currently tied jointly between Sarah Michelle Gellar for ‘Cruel Intentions’ (1999), and Julia Roberts for ‘Erin Brockovich’ (2000):

‘The Cure For Insomnia’ (1985) is the longest film ever made, clocking in at an astonishing 85 hours. It was intended to ‘reprogram’ the biological clocks of its insomniac viewers, so as they could sleep. Although it features a 4,080 page poem read by its author, L.D. Groban, I don’t believe the intention was to bore viewers to sleep.

The dog in ‘The Dambusters’ (1954) was called Nigger. (Except when the film is shown on TV now.) For American audiences in the 50’s – more sensitive to racial abuse than we Brits – his name was overdubbed, and became Trigger. When the dog is referred to in morse code, mind, it is as -. .. --. --. . .-. (Nigger) not - .-. .. --. --. . .-. (Trigger).

Graham Greene, who plays Kicking Bird in ‘Dances With Wolves’ (1990), once used his part as Edgar Montrose in ‘The Red Green Show’ to talk himself up. In one episode, he mentions the movie, and expresses the opinion that Kicking Bird (“the native guy”) should have been given the Oscar.

(In order to fully comprehend the next trivia snippet, you must already be aware that ‘Cruel Intentions’ is a teen-rewrite of ‘Les Liasons Dangereuses’. That in itself is not the news.)

In ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ (1988), Swoosie Kurtz plays Madame de Volange, whose daughter is seduced by Valmont. In ‘Cruel Intentions’ (1999), she plays Dr. Greenbaum, whose daughter is seduced by Valmont.

One of the press-conference reporters in ‘Dave’ (1993) is from the Clamp Cable Network, which so memorably kept broadcasting while under siege in ‘Gremlins 2: The New Batch’ (1990), using Dracula as an anchorman.

‘Dead Man On Campus’ (1998) – like ‘Dead Man’s Curve’ (1998), but with jokes & Alyson Hannigan & substantially less attempted-murder – features TV’s ‘Freaks & Geeks’s Jason Segal (Nick) as the faintly alarming ex-Catholic school-boy room-mate, who soon finds a lovely ex-Catholic school-girl to help with his sexual repression. A school-girl played by his one-time ‘Freaks & Geeks’ girlfriend, Linda Cardellini (Lindsay).

‘Deep Blue Sea’ (1999), the film which (as Ed Byrne has noted) included a plot of scientific-experimentation to increase sharks’ brain-size but only a mid-plot realisation that this had caused them to become smarter, contains several nice in-jokes (as further reason to watch the movie over and over…). The license plate which emerges from the shark's mouth is the same one which was found inside the tiger shark in ‘Jaws’ (1975). The sharks are also killed in the same style (and order) as the three jawses; the first is blown up by compressed gas (a la ‘Jaws’ (1975)), the second bites into a electric wire (a la ‘Jaws 2’ (1978)), and the third is bomb-blasted (a la ‘Jaws 3-D’ (1983)). The little orange mini-sub in the wet-entry area is the one used in ‘Sphere’ (1998), which also starred Samuel L. Jackson. And his character is one who spent time in Leavenworth prison for smuggling – this is the jail he tells people he had escaped from in ‘Out Of Sight’ (1998).

The only colours used in ‘Dick Tracy’ (1990) are those that the original comic strip appeared in: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, black and white

Jay and Silent Bob owe their place in ‘Dogma’ (1999) to John Hughes and a love of Ally Sheedy. But had they researched the setting of ‘The Breakfast Club’ (1985), they might not have been so disappointed when they finally reached Illinois. Even if there is no Shermer High School, the film was shot in Northbrook, which used to be called Shermerville. There’s even a main street called Shermer Road that runs through town. (Just no red-headed girls looking for love, or a high-school in need of a dealer now Bender’s left…)

The Japanese office of United Artists initially mis-translated the title of ‘Dr. No’ (1962) as ‘We don't want a doctor’, and though the mistake was discovered at the last minute, they had had posters printed with that title.

If you freeze-frame ‘Election (1999) so as to read the newspaper article, you will be confronted with the following text: ‘If you've paused the film in order to read this entire article, your time would be better spent renting Citizen Ruth from your local video store. Do you know how hard it is to write these fake few stories for newspaper movie props? I've got better things to do.’

Unlike Julia Roberts in ‘Erin Brokovich’ (2000), who resorted to prominently displaying the cups of her bras in every outfit, the real life eponymous heroine is well enough endowed to make a low-cut top something of a distraction in the work-place. Without the brassiere itself catching the eye.

The U.S. TV series "Emergency" (1972) featured paramedics Gage and Desoto, who sometimes crossed paths with Reed and Malloy from "Adam-12" (1968), at Rampart Hospital.

The communicator in ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ (1982) actually worked, and was constructed by Henry Feinberg, a man described as ‘an expert in science and technology interpretation for the public’. The triffid in E.T.’s plant collection, cheerily, did not ‘work’…

The actor playing the ex-med school pianist in ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ (1999) is Todd Field, who had played a medical-school dropout ten years earlier in ‘Gross Anatomy’ (1989).

In ‘The Faculty’ (1998), the school principal suggests to the other teachers that money could be saved for the drama department by their re-using the set from an earlier performance of ‘Our Town’. This the Thornton Wilder play which has no set.

‘Fargo’ (1996) is not based on a true story. The Coen brothers lied… or, to put it another way, chose to preface their film (a fiction) with another fiction which was believed by an audience trusting of the validity of a type-face promise.

For her role in ‘Fargo’, Frances McDormand won the Best Actress Oscar in 1996, and thus became the first person to win for a film which their spouse (Joel Coen) had directed. And which their brother-in-law (Ethan Coen) had produced…

(Other people had previously been up for just such a keep-it-in-the-family Best-Acting Oscar privilege; Gena Rowlands was directed by husband John Cassavetes in ‘A Woman Under the Influence’ (1974), Melina Mercouri by her husband Jules Dassin in ‘Never on Sunday’ (1960), and Julie Andrews by her husband Blake Edwards in ‘Victor, Victoria’ (1982).)

‘Fast Times At Ridgemont High’ (1982) is the only film where Nicholas Cage – who plays ‘Brad’s Bud’ is credited under his real name of Nicholas Coppola.

The Spanish comedian Angel Garó did every single voice for the Spanish over-dub of the 1992 movie ‘Ferngully: The Last Rainforest.’

It is thought that ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ (1986) is the first film to have named an actor in the end credits before they have even appeared on screen. Polly Noonan is that very actor. She is seen on the school bus, offering Ed Rooney some sweets, after her name has scrolled upwards.

The driving seat cop waiting at a 23rd century McDonald's eatery in ‘The Fifth Element’ (1997), is played by an actor named Mac McDonald.

Archie Leach’s daughter in ‘A Fish Called Wanda’ (1988) is played by Cleese’s actual daughter Cynthia. Who’s no doubt much much nicer to her daddy.

The multi-talented Kristin Scott Thomas dubbed her own voice for the French version of ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ (1994).

Beverly Bonner pops up in ‘Frankenhooker’ (1990) as Casey, a role she also plays in ‘Basket Case’ (1982), ‘Brain Damage’ (1988), and ‘Basket Case 2’ (1999); all four were directed by Frank Henenlotter. The only other film she’s made was ‘Basket Case 3: The Progeny’, in which she plays a Fast Food Manager. Possibly called Casey.

Kelsey Grammar has been Emmy-nominated for playing Frasier in three different TV series – ‘Frasier’, ‘Cheers’, and a ‘Wings’ guest appearance. Many of his patients are just as award-friendly. Grammar’s radio-psychiatrist character has given advice to a torrent of celebrities. (None of whom I recognised at the time.) Including; Art Garfunkel, Ben Stiller, Billy Crystal, Carrie Fisher, Cindy Crawford, David Duchovny, Eddie Van Halen, Ed Harris, Elijah Wood, Eric Idle, Eric Stoltz, Gillian Anderson, Gloria Estefan, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, Jodie Foster, John Cusack, John Lithgow, John McEnroe, Kevin Bacon, Laura Dern, Lily Tomlin, Linda Hamilton, Macaulay Culkin (and little Kieran), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Matthew Broderick, Mel Brooks, Ron Howard, Sandra Dee, Shelley Duvall, Tommy Hilfiger, William H. Macy…

One of Johnny Depp’s first onscreen roles was in ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ (1984), where he was swallowed by his bed (I think - death is certain though). In ‘Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare’ (1991) he makes a cameo appearance in a TV commercial.

In 1956, for his role in ‘Giant’, James Dean became the first actor to be post-humously nominated for an Oscar. (In the event, however, Yul Brynner won Best Actor for his part in ‘The King And I’…)

‘Glen or Glenda’ (1953), Ed Wood’s paen to transvestism, was entirely financed by a Mormon church.

Within ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ (1992), the word ‘shit’ and its derivatives are uttered a neat 50 times, while ‘fuck’ and its derivatives clock in at a mildly astonishing 137 times. In ‘Magnolia’ (1999), ‘fuck’ is used 190 times in a 188 minute film. In ‘Casino’ (1995) meanwhile, ‘fuck’ is uttered 362 times; this (apparently) averages out as 2.05 naughty-swears every minute. ‘Nil By Mouth’ (1997) tops both, however, with ‘fuck’ and its variants spat out at least 470 times; this ups the swear average to 3.9 a minute. (Too much time on your hands, counting-people. There’s always a world just outside of your front door…)

It’s a real horse’s head in ‘The Godfather’ (1972). Oh, and in all three films, the presence of an orange indicates imminent carnage, for those eager for a visual Look Away Now pointer.)

It might seem as though some of the people crushed by the mutant lizard in ‘Godzilla’ (1998) were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. But one was killed just for his looks. The extra who dies in his car, when the scaly beast first reaches Manhattan, was cast because of his resemblance to J.D. Lees. The latter, editor of G-Fan magazine, had written nasty things about the film when details were leaked in pre-production. This was the crew’s revenge.

The shoes which (an exceedingly hungry) Charlie Chaplin eats in ‘The Gold Rush’ (1925) were made of liquorice. Not leather. (Though maybe if de Niro does a remake…)

On ‘Gone With The Wind’ (1939), Vivien Leigh worked for 125 days and received about $25,000. Clark Gable worked for 71 days and received over $120,000. Which more than compensated him for the fact that the script called for him to cry (and him a man!) over his daughter’s death (something which he nearly quit over). His most famous line was also dangerously close to never making the final cut. The Hollywood Production Code, which still had dictatorial powers over what could and could not be said or depicted on screen, took umbrage over the cuss word ‘damn’. Amongst their suggested alternatives for Rhett Butler were: “Frankly my dear... I just don't care,” “...it makes my gorge rise,” “...my indifference is boundless,” “...nothing could interest me less” and (my personal favourite) “...I don't give a hoot,” The film’s producer David O. Selznick eventually elected to pay the $5,000 fine and retain “Frankly my dear, I just don't give a damn.”

If you gauge the film’s time-span by Civil Wars battles fought, Melanie (Olivia de Havilland) is pregnant for 21 months.

Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammie, was the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award – and to win, for Best Supporting Actress – because she was coloured, she was barred from attending the film’s Atlanta premiere.

In Goodfellas (1990) former U.S. Attorney Edward McDonald gets to play himself, in the scene where Henry and Karen Hill are negotiating their entry into Witness Protection Program. Spider, who wasn’t playing himself, did get to play up to his role in ‘The Sopranos’ almost a decade later. In the film, Michael Imperioli’s character is shot in the foot for being too slow with his drinks-distribution. In the TV show, his character gets to exact the same punishment on a bakery employee for making him wait.

‘Good Girls Go to Paris’ (1939) was originally titled ‘Good Girls Go To Paris, Too’, but the censors objected. Presumably on behalf of their ever so genteel female family members.

‘Good Will Hunting’ (1997) is related to ‘Chasing Amy’ (1997) by more’n a co-star. Ben Affleck, who played Holden McNeil in the latter movie, goes for a job interview in the former movie at a company called Holden & McNeil. This would be the same actor who appears in ‘Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back’ (2001) as Holden McNeil, who sends the two lead characters to Hollywood where they meet a frosted-haired Ben Affleck, on set for ‘Good Will Hunting 2’ (and bickering with Matt Damon over ‘Dogma’…)

The McCordle estate, which provides the country house setting for ‘Gosford Park’ (2001), was also used in ‘Peter’s Friends’. So Stephen Fry at least will have been alright for directions…

Think the long-haired rugged biking star of late-night Ch5 all-action TV show ‘Renegade’ looks familiar? You’d be right. Lorenzo Lamas cut his acting teeth (?) playing Sandy’s grinning jock boyfriend/dolt in ‘Grease’ (1978).

‘The Great Escape’ (1963) actor Donald Pleasance was actually a POW during WWII.

Fearing for middle-America (who’d had such trouble with that Michael Caine), ‘Gregory’s Girl’ (1981) was re-dubbed with milder Scottish accents before it was released in the U.S.

The Inventors Convention scenes in ‘Gremlins’ (1984) contain several cameo appearances, from both humans – George Lucas rides past on a bicycle, and Steven Spielberg is the man in the electric wheelchair with a TV monitor – and from one or two other, um, creations. Such as Robby the Robot, who appears in a phone booth wearing a hat, and talking (about booze!) to the C57-D’s Cookie from ‘Forbidden Planet’ (1956), from which his actual lines are taken. While Mr Peltzer is talking in another booth, the time machine from – hey – ‘The Time Machine’ (1960) can be seen in the background, winding up to full power. The scene cuts to the Peltzer home, and when we return to the Convention end of the conversation, the machine has gone, leaving only a wisp of coloured smoke.

Oh, and the Bedford Falls medical man is called Dr. Moreau. Hee-hee.

Bill Murray was bitten twice by the groundhog during the filming of ‘Groundhog Day’ (1993). Some might say this was natural retribution for making the creature play second fiddle to Andie MacDowell, a woman so infuriating her voice was dubbed over by Glenn Close in ‘Greystoke’ (1984).

The horror ‘Halloween’ (1978) was made with a pitiful budget, which meant the props department were stuck with the cheapest mask they had been able to find in a costume store. What we see on screen is actually a hairless spray-painted ‘William Shatner’, from the movie ‘The Devil’s Rain’ (1975).

The apartment owned by Mia Farrow’s character (Hannah) in ‘Hannah and her Sisters’ (1986) was Farrow’s own.

Don Most, the former irritant Ralph Malph from ‘Happy Days’, was the voice of extreme irritant Eric (‘Cavalier’) in the ‘83 cartoon classic ‘Dungeons and Dragons’.

Exceedingly sharp-eyed viewers of ‘Hard Rock Logo’ (1996) will be gratified to note the Band-Aid clearly visible on Billy Talent's finger. In an earlier film directed by Bruce McDonald, ‘Highway 61’ (1991), characters made a Faustian pact with the devil. In return for their souls, Satan gave them what they desired. And then (bless him) a Band-Aid (for der poorly widdle fingers) – the contracts were signed in blood. Thus neatly implying that Billy sold his soul to Satan so as to achieve fame with Jennifer.

‘Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone’ (2001) retains its original title in both the UK and Canada, but in America, the film – as with the book – became ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’. Accordingly, every scene which mentioned the “philosopher’s stone” had to be re-recorded with the actors using the word “sorcerer”. Without this change, executives feared they would alienate an overly large section of their potential audience. People who would decide that tales about the most famous boy-wizard in the world were actually concentrating on musty old Aristotle. And his rocks.

One of the Hogwarts portraits is of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII and the mother of Queen Elizabeth I. Gossip abounded in the 16th century that Anne Boleyn was a witch. (The basis for this was a large mole, rumours of an extra digit, and her bewitching of the King. Though the accusations may easily have been false; Boleyn was an unpopular choice of bride. In 1530 the Abbot of Whitby described her as a ‘common stewed whore.’)

The train scenes were filmed at London’s Kings Cross, but platforms 4 and 5 were substituted for Platform 9 ¾. As yet, there have been no reports of concussed children – or adults – lying prone near solid walls on the station concourse.

Warwick Davis plays two corporeal parts in the film; Professor Filius Flitwick and the Gringotts Goblin who takes Harry & Hagrid to their vaults. He also voiced the part of Griphook who was physically portrayed by the American actor Verne Troyer. Although he played two characters in televisual Narnia adaptations – Reepicheep in ‘Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1989), and Glimfeather in ‘The Silver Chair’ (1990) – ‘Harry Potter…’ has been his only double-role gig.

Geraldine Somerville plays Lily Potter, one of Hagrid’s old school-mates. Robbie Coltrane’s Fitz, in the TV series ‘Cracker’, was also notably fond of Somerville (as D.S. Jane Penhaligon).

Richard Bremmer, the actor who provided the voice and face for Lord Voldemort, has an end-credits name-check as playing ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’.

For the scenes in Gringott’s bank, the makers of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ (2001) ACTUALLY MINTED THEIR OWN MONEY. (As pictured above. The large gold coin is a Galleon, the silver is a Sickle and the goat bronze is a Knut.) This might seem expensive and foolhardy, but I am assured it was a cost-effective venture, considering the numbers of coins that were needed. CGI still being that bit costlier than money itself…

In ‘Heathers’ (1989), (once) bosom buddies Veronica Sawyer and Betty Finn are named after other fictional friends; Veronica and Betty from the comic strip ‘Archie’, and Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Stan Laurel gives out (what was then) his real home phone-number in ‘Helpmates’ (1932).

Conor Macloud, the ‘Highlander’ (1986) lived in the same Scottish castle the Monty Python team used for ‘The Holy Grail’ (1975). The latter film however, made on a somewhat smaller budget (ahem), had Duune Castle double up as Camelot and Swamp Castle (interiors), and Castle Anthrax, the French castle and the opening one (exteriors).

The engagement ring worn by Grace Kelly’s character in ‘High Society’ (1956) is the actress’ own, given to her by Prince Rainier of Monaco.

In ‘His Girl Friday’ (1940), Cary Grant’s character tries - and fails - to adequately describe the appearance of a character played by Ralph Bellamy, ending up simply saying that he ‘looks like that film actor, Ralph Bellamy’. Grant also refers to a horrible fate suffered by the last man to cross him - one Archie Leach. Which is his own real name. And which is also the name of John Cleese’s character in ‘A Fish Called Wanda’ (1988). Which is nice.

The McAllisters’ house in ‘Home Alone’ (1990) was previously seen (occupied by slightly nicer people) in another John Hughes movie, ‘Planes, Trains, and Automobiles’ (1987). There it’s the home of Neal Page (Steve Martin) – he, like Kevin’s mother (Catherine O’Hara), arrived in the company of John Candy.

The Tool Time studio-audience sometimes seen on camera in ‘Home Improvement’ are the show’s actual studio-audience.

Inside the government warehouse in ‘Honey I Blew Up The Kid’ (1992) are stored Rosebud from ‘Citizen Kane’ (1941) and the Ark of the Covenant fought over in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981).

Disregarding the ever-persistent rumour that Michael Jackson appears fleetingly somewhere in ‘Hook’ (1991), a positive I.D. has been made on the pirate shut in the chest with the scorpion - Ms. Glenn Close. And the kissing couple levitating with pixie dust are Carrie Fisher and George Lucas. And it’s Steven Spielberg, the film director, who leads the pirate march on Hook’s ship, proudly bearing Michael’s watch on a pillow. Dustin Hoffman, somewhat unfairly, gets two chances to play a captain in the film – he also provides the voice of the pilot on the Bannings’ plane (“this is your captain speaking…”).

Also of note from this film – Julia Roberts had an assistant whose sole responsibility was cleaning her feet, a leetle luxury explained as a necessity because her character Tinkerbell was so often in the air. And who ever heard of a dirty faery? (If they have to touch ground, they’ll only ever land in the washing powder of the same name, you know… Kidding…As though you needed to be told…)

In ‘The Wizard Of Oz’ (1939), only when Dorothy got to Oz did the film become one of Glorious Technicolour. In ‘The Horse Whisperer’ (1998), a similar – if less notable – ploy was used. Only when Annie & Grace set out for the lush landscapes of Montana does the film lose its ‘television aspect’ and become a Widescreen affair.

‘Hot Shots! Part Deux’ (1993), the savvy political staire which suggests Saddam Hussein likes wearing a bra, features Richard Crenna sending up his ‘Rambo’ role of Colonel Trautman, AND Martin Sheen on a riverboat, a la ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979). I guess it’s all about connections… (And how good your agent is / how much you love your kids…)

Tori Amos wanted to be in ‘Howard The Duck’ (1986).

The gargoyles in ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ (1996) are called Victor and Hugo. This, for Disney, is a tribute.

$20,000 was spent in the making of ‘The Hunt for Red October’ (1990) JUST on ‘Sean Connery’s hairpiece. (But then Richard E. Grant claims Bruce Willis demanded extra hair be airbrushed onto his balding pate in post-production for ‘Hudson Hawk’, which can’t have been cheap. And on a Willis-riddled train of thought...) The teddy bear that Jack Ryan carries with him on a plane at the very end of the film is the same one that Bruce Willis’ John McClane character is carrying with him on the plane at the start of ‘Die Hard’ (1988), a film which was also directed by John McTiernan. The end credits list him as ‘Stanley (as Himself)’. Triple bless.

One of the buildings destroyed in ‘Independence Day’ (1996) is a cinema clearly advertising "Coming Soon: Independence Day".

In the scene where he chases the tank on horse-back, ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ (1989), Harrison Ford found he was unable to keep his hat on, despite the aid of glue, tape, and newspaper wedges, and, according to a Making Of documentary, eventually just stapled the hat to his head.

There are numerous 007 actors popping up in this film. Not only is there a former James Bond (Sean Connery), and a former Bond ally (John Rhys-Davies), but there’s also a former Bond girl (Alison Doody), two former Bond commanding officers (Michael Byrne and Billy J. Mitchell), a former Bond nightclub owner (Vernon Dobtcheff), and three former Bond villains (Julian Glover, Stefan Kalipha and Pat Roach). It also features two previous enemies of Harrison Ford – Julian Glover (who played Walter Donovan) was in ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ (1980) as General Veers, while Michael Sheard, who played Hitler in ‘The Last Crusade’ was Vader’s Admiral Ozzel. Who you children of the BBC may remember him Mr Bronson from ‘Grange Hill’. (An obvious choice for the 20th Century’s most reviled figure…)

…P.S. Indiana is the name of family dog of the director - George Lucas.

Chuck Jones, Bugs Bunny’s animator, is in ‘Innerspace’ (1987); in the supermarket queue, he can be seen eating carrots.

In the pilot episode of ‘The Invisible Man’ TV series, Fawkes’ doctors include “Baker, McGann, Hartnell, and Troughton”; these surnames belong to four of the actors who have played Dr. Who over the years.

The Hays office tried to delete the words ‘god’, ‘hell’, ‘damn’, and ‘bastard’ from the American release of ‘In Which We Serve’ (1942). There was uproar from England. They backed down, on everything except ‘bastard’.

Jack Nicholson’s contract for ‘Ironweed’ (1987) included a clause which allowed him to leave the shooting location to attend all the L.A. Lakers' basketball games.

During filming of ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’ (1996), Marlon Brando wore a small radio-receiver as a prompt for his lines. The director David Thewlis has noted; ‘He'd be in the middle of a scene and suddenly he'd be picking up police messages and Marlon would repeat, `There's a robbery at Woolworths'.’

Seth Green, who you may know as Dr Evil’s son Scott from ‘Austin Powers’, was in the lengthy TV-movie adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘It’ (1990), as a little ginger entertainer. The biggest fear of his character is werewolves… fast-forward a decade, and Seth is playing the werewolf Oz on ‘Buffy’…

All of Roger Moore's James Bond contracts include an unlimited supply of hand rolled Monte Cristo cigars; for one 007 movie, the cigar bill came to £3,176.50. (Though maybe if he hadn’t been kept quite so happy with this kind of pampering some sort of emotion might have been betrayed in his portrayal of Bond. Maybe.)

Pierce Brosnan's contract to play James Bond specifies that until he is replaced, he is not permitted to appear in any other film wearing a tuxedo.

Of the fighting skeletons in Tim Burton’s ‘James and the Giant Peach’ (1996), one is of an evil Donald Duck, and another is Jack Skellington, the ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ (1993) pumpkin king. (And in the latter film, Donald Duck’s ghost appears, as Jack sings ‘This Is Hallowe’en’…)

Liz Purr (Charlotte Ayana) in ‘Jawbreaker’ (1999) also had a part in ‘The Rage: Carrie 2’ (1999). Liz Purr’s parents (P.J. Soles & William Katt) both featured in ‘Carrie’ (1976), as Norma & Tommy. Tidy, isn’t it?

Apparently, technicians lost control of one of the mechanical sharks used to film ‘Jaws’ (1975), and it was lost at sea. To the intense puzzlement of the aquatic life there. Presumably.

Behold, my favourite self-referential moments in the inordinately self-referential (reverential) ‘Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back’ (2001):

1) Carrie Fisher having a Buddy Christ figurine on her dashboard.

2) The Where-Are-They-Now? File revealing Dante and Randal still working their shitty jobs, Brodie having ditched the chat-show life to run his own comic-book store (Brodie’s Secret Stash!), Trish still way smart (and much more culturally aware’n her sister) and Banky possibly romantically entwined with Hooper.

3) Silent Bob’s Jedi powers finally coming through. And for him to then get to light-saber duel against Mark Hamill. An actor of such importance (and in a disguise so impressive) that he had his very own introductory caption. (Happy happy Kevin Smith…)

4) Shannon Elizabeth (Nadia from ‘American Pie’) playing Jay’s love Justice, and Jay asking Jason Biggs whether he’d ever slept with Shannon Elizabeth…

5) The Baby Silent Bob. The child IS actually Baby Silent Bob. She’s played by the alarmingly-monikered Harley Quinn Smith, daughter of the film’s director & Silent star.

6) The online critic known as ‘Magnolia Fan’, who Kevin Smith gets to kick the shit out of. The (Kevin Smith World) View Askew website's message board was swamped with irate fans of ‘Magnolia’ (1999) after Smith posted a ‘strongly negative review’ of the movie. (Stands to reason such a ‘Magnolia Fan’ would be disparaging about a Jay & Silent Bob project. And that Kevin Smith’d want to kick the shit out of him.)

…Being of a ‘Buffy’ frame of mind, I was also most taken with the appearance of someone else capable of kicking Eliza Dushku’s LittleMsTrouble ass… and that Marc Blucas, Buffy’s dead-wood Season5 boyfriend (and part-time member of the Sunnydale ‘Scooby Gang’), appears in the movie (badly-wigged) as Fred, Daphne’s dead-wood boyfriend. Here his girlfriend was played by Sason Lee’s ex-wife. In the upcoming film version of ‘Scooby Doo’, Sarah Michelle Gellar is playing Daphne.

Filmed on a piffling budget, the makers of ‘Julius Caesar’ (1950) could only afford to hire one horse each day. So. They filmed different coloured horses each day, and then montaged and edited the footage so as to create the seemingly horse-filled battle scenes.

In Michael Crichton’s novel ‘Jurassic Park’, the pre-recorded narration playing in the park-tour jeeps was done by Richard Kiley, who was then hired for this very role in the 1992 movie. Also in the novel, but on the silver screen, were the deaths of Ian Malcolm and Dr. Hammond – Jeff Goldbum’s character even survived the film’s 1997 sequel.

For the TV-movie-spectacular that was ‘KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park’ (1978), Peter Criss’ voice was dubbed, and so as to allow the film a lower rating (in order to cater for the younger KISS fans), the production team added cartoon-y music to the fight sequences. Rather than cut the fight sequences. Because, as well all know, blood and violence become unrealistic if under-scored with a rollicking tune the likes of which Daffy Duck would be proud...

In his initial design sketches for ‘Labyrinth’ (1986), Brian Froud imagined a blond-haired little boy as Sarah’s brother. A baby who looked remarkably like his own son, born months later. Baby Toby was eventually cast in the role of, um, baby Toby, thus getting to play the part not only in his father’s imagination, but also onscreen.

Terry Jones (in a voice only role, for those fearful of ageing Pepperpots) played Sara’s mother in ‘L.A. Story’ (1991).

The author John O'Brien, on whose autobiography ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ (1995) was based, committed suicide two weeks after the film went into production - although the director (Mike Figgis) contemplated abandoning the production, it was decided that to film it in his memory would be a better tribute.

At the hotel in ‘Léon’ (1994), Mathilda registers herself and her assassin protector as Mr. McGuffin. To Alfred Hitchcock, a McGuffin was something of paramount importance to the film’s characters, but was an incidental plot element to its audience.

Monty Python’s ‘The Life Of Brian’ wasn't released in Norway until 1980, because it was deemed blasphemous. This led to it being marketed in Sweden as “The film that is so funny that it was banned in Norway!”

‘The Lion King’ (1994)’s James Earl-Jones (King Mufasa) and Madge Sinclair (Queen Sarabi) also played married royalty in ‘Coming To America’ (1988).

The tools used by dentist Orin Scrivello in ‘The Little Shop Of Horrors’ (1986) also appears in other Warner Bros. films, including ‘Dead Ringers’ (1988), as Jeremy Irons' gynaecology tools, and in ‘Batman’ (1989), as the Joker's plastic surgeon's tools.

What was to be called ‘The Madness of King George III’ became ‘The Madness of King George’ (1994), so as not to alienate or confuse the American audiences into thinking it was the third film in a trilogy.

Malcolm, of the TV series ‘Malcolm In The Middle’, is in the Krelboyne class for gifted students at school. Seymour Krelboyne was the name of the nerdy hero in ‘The Little Shop Of Horrors’ (1960). (In the 1986 Rick Moranis remake it became Krelborn. So we’ll ignore that…)

‘Mallrats’ (1995), were it a town, would be twinned with ‘Dazed And Confused’ (1993). The two films share producers (Jim and Sean Daniels), actors (Joey Adams and Ben Affleck), the casting director (Don Phillips), and distributor (Gramercy). And twin brothers; Jeremy (T.S.) London was in ‘Mallrats’, Jason (Pink) London in 'Dazed…'.

Oh, and it’s NOT a sailboat in the Magic Eye picture. It’s a series of geometric shapes. (Which wouldn’t have been as funny…)

At the time of filming for ‘The Mambo Kings’ (1992), Antonio Banderas couldn't speak English and his co-star Armand Assante couldn't speak Spanish; both of them learned and performed their foreign lines phonetically.

Notable as being exceptionally peculiar, and David Bowie’s modelling fantastic hair, ‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’ (1976) is also remembered as containing a power-boat jump which broke the world record for distance. (The previous record had been set during the making of ‘Live and Let Die’ (1973). Well, it’s not all work work work...)

That Jack Nicholson’s tie disappears during his speech in ‘Mars Attacks’ (1996) is intentional – Burton intended it as a sneaky laugh at the way the actor’s tie disappears in the final courtroom scenes of ‘A Few Good Men’ (1992).

Twatting about in ‘The Mask (1994), The Mask tells Lt. Kellaway, played by Peter Riegert, that an image found in the park is “a picture of your wife”. It’s a shot of Marion Wormer from ‘Animal House’ (1978), who did indeed play opposite Riegert in the movie.

In ‘Matilda’ (1996), the portrait hanging in the Trunchbull-acquired home of Miss Honey’s father Magnus, is of Roald Dahl, the book’s author.

The M-16 fired in the all-action-puppet-freakery ‘Meet The Feebles’ (1989) is firing live ammunition. This is because the director, Peter Jackson, found it easier to get hold of than blanks. (They were real swords in ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ too. And arrows. It wasn’t a real – ‘classically trained at the RSC dahling’ – Balrog, though…)

At the end of ‘Men In Black’ (1997), K arrests the alien flying the alien citing his violation of the ‘Tycho Treaty’; in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968), Tycho was where the moon monolith was found.

The director of ‘Mr. Sardonicus’ (1961) promoted his film by telling audiences he had filmed two different endings for it, and had cinema-goers issued with fluorescent cards so as they could decide on the anti-hero’s fate. They always voted to have him killed. (Which was both just – in context – and lucky. As William Castle had only filmed that one ending…)

In one scene in the CHILDREN’S FILM ‘Monsters Inc.’ (2001) Randall Boggs threatens a co-worker with a woodchipper fate. Boggs is voiced by Steve Buscemi, whose character was last seen in ‘Fargo’ (1996), murdered by his partner and stuffed into just such a machine. Far nicer was ‘Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman.’ Which didn’t star Steve Buscemi. But did feature lead characters called Mike and Sully.

In ‘Moonraker’ (1979), the musical sequence which opens the electronic lock on the door to Drax's Venice laboratory is the hailing tune from ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ (1977).

‘Mosquito Coast’ (1986) features River Phoenix as Harrison Ford’s son – in a role originally intended for Wil Wheaton (Gordy to his Chris in ‘Stand By Me’) – the family resemblance was strong enough, three years later, to have River play the young (scouting) Ford in ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ (1989).

Richard Roxbergh’s character in ‘Moulin Rouge!’ (2001), the dastardly Duke, finances the ‘Children Of The Revolution’ show written by Christian. In 1996, Richard Roxbergh was in a film entitled ‘Children Of The Revolution’.

The Hormel Foods Corporation, who give the world its Spam (spam spam spam spam spam spam spam), sued the makers of ‘Muppet Treasure Island’ (1996) for naming the film’s ugly villain ‘Spa’am’. As it maligned their luncheon meat; Hormel claimed that the high priest boar had an ‘unhygienic and immoral image’ which could ‘damage the reputation of its product’. Jim Henson Productions had argued – amongst other lines of defence – that Hormel should “lighten up.” Their suit was defeated on September 22, 1995. Yet, strangely, Hormel have never troubled Monty Python for their onscreen canned-ham re-appropriation. (It seems that Valkyrie song boosted sales…)

The ever-thoughtful set-designers on the musical ‘My Fair Lady’ (1964) had ladies restrooms custom-built for their actresses, with doors and cubicles of such a width that they would be able to comfortably enter without having to remove their extra-wide hats.

‘Buffy’ pairing Willow (Alyson Hannigan) and Oz (Seth Green) also played boyfriend & girlfriend in the boggling-horrendous Dan Akroyd film, ‘My Stepmother Is An Alien’ (1998). (N.B. If you want to remember Seth Green as a man of infinite cool, watch ‘Austin Powers 2’. Or even ‘Josie & The Pussycats’. Do NOT go near this. It will warp you…)

Everyone has to have one – a favourite Russell Crowe movie. Me? I’ve gone for one that also gets the prize of best ice-hockey movie too. Yup, ‘Mystery Alaska’ (1999) is greater’n anything featuring a Mighty Duck. It’s also deliberately funny. In the third period of the Rangers game, a crowd-member can be seen holding up a large yellow sign which reads “Hey Skank, I'm Pregnant!”

The bowling ball wielded by Janeane Garafalo in ‘Mystery Men’ (1999) was not custom made for the film. The manufacturer had made the skull ball as part of their ‘Super Fun Ball’ line.

The blood spattering from the recently deceased in ‘Night Of The Living Dead’ (1968) is actually chocolate syrup. As it was in ‘Psycho’ (1960). And ‘Raging Bull’ (1980). (And hundreds of other black and white films, no doubt. Ketchup just doesn’t have the right consistency…)

As Hugh Grant rushes his missus to the hospital in ‘Nine Months’ (1995), they pass a cinema showing ‘Home Alone VII’, the seventh sequel to the 1990 cult-Culkin original. Which would be bitchy and cruel, were Chris Columbus not the director of both movies.

‘1984’ (1984) was note only filmed in 1984, but in real time, according to the dates in Orwell’s book. Apparently. So as when you see Winston (John Hurt) subversively writing in his diary on the 4th of April, 1984, it actually was the 4th of April, 1984.

Director Richard Donner claims that many parents, having watched ‘The Omen’ (1976), went home and shaved their children’s heads, looking for a ‘666’ birthmark. None, however, had cause to complain about poor piscine treatment. In the scene where the fishbowl falls to the floor, dead sardines were painted orange, and substituted for living goldfish. The director was loath to make a fish snuff movie, refusing to kill any creature for the sake of a shot.

‘One Hundred and One Dalmatians’ (1961) features the dogs from ‘Lady And The Tramp’ (1955), in an alleyway in the starlight barking scene.

Also. Someone (patient & exceedingly driven) counted, frame-by-frame, all the black spots in the 1961 version of the movie, and reached the total of 6,469,952. People amaze me.

The following movies are “EPICS” available to rent, from the video-store in ‘Orgazmo’ (1997); ‘Birth Of Jesus’, ‘Jesus Of Nazareth’, ‘Jesus The Healer’, ‘Jesus Of Nazareth (again)’, ‘Jesus Scissorhands’, ‘Pulp Jesus’, ‘The Good, The Bad, Jesus’, and ‘Raging Jesus’.

The 1998 remake of ‘The Parent Trap’ (1961) included a cameo appearance by Joanna Barnes. In the original, she had played the father’s conniving fiancée – in the re-make, she played this character’s mother.

In ‘The People Vs. Larry Flynt’ (1996), Woody Harrelson takes the title role and his brother Brett plays Larry’s brother Jimmy.

In ‘Pet Sematary’ (1989), the role of Rachael's dying sister, Zelda, was taken by a man. Andrew Hubatsek was just skinny enough to play the part as required. Apparently, IN HOLLYWOOD, there was a dearth of emaciated women available for acting roles.

‘The Pillow Book’ (1996) is just one of many films in which Ewan McGregor is obliged – for reasons of artistic integrity and plot development – to flash his bits at the camera. There’s also ‘What The Butler Saw’ (1992), ‘Scarlet And Black’ (1993), ‘Trainspotting’ (1996), ‘Velvet Goldmine’ (1998)… amongst others. “My cock has been out in so many films now,” says the boy, “that I might as well have it written into my contract: 'It is imperative that Ewan gets his knob out at some stage in the proceedings.' I do get it out willy-nilly, as it were. But I don't have a problem with getting my spuds out for the camera. If that's what it takes to get people into the cinema, then that's all the better.” Sadly (?), it was only mentioned in ‘Moulin Rouge!’ (2001) by Satine, and not seen. (He’s quite unruffle-able about all this. “If you were to drop your pants in the office or wherever you work, people would talk about it till the end of time. So I understand where it comes from. But I’ve never done it just to show my cock – it has always been part of the story. So I don’t worry about it at all.”) The only other ‘serious actor’ (ie one not appearing in ‘Farm Studs IV’) who’s similarly unabashed is Alan Bates; ‘Georgy Girl’ (1966), ‘King of Hearts’ (1966), ‘The Fixer’ (1968), wrestling Oliver Reed naked by the fireside in ‘Women In Love’ (1969).

Joan Allen and Tobey Maguire play mother and son in both ‘Pleasantville’ (1998) and ‘The Ice Storm’ (1997).

The names of aristocrats played by Armstrong & Miller in ‘Plunkett & Macleane’ (1999) were garnered two members of Arsenal’s 1980’s/90’s ‘back five’; Dixon and Winterburn. The film also stars Noel Fielding. But his character is didactically named ‘Brothel Gent’. Which would not refer to any member of Arsenal’s ‘back five’.

Since ‘Psycho’ (1960), Janet Leigh took baths wherever she could, and only showered where there was NO alterative, and she could secure all doors and windows. She wasn’t the only one similarly paranoid. After ‘Psycho’ was released, Alfred Hitchcock received an angry letter from a father whose daughter, having seen ‘Diabolique’ (1954), refused to have baths, and was now extremely reluctant to shower. Hitchcock sent a note back saying simply ‘Send her to the dry cleaners’.

In the scene-by-scene-but-this-time-in-colour-so-it-must-be-good remake of ‘Psycho’ (1998), director Gus Van Sant could have come unstuck on the Hitchcock cameo appearance. To emulate or not to emulate? Given the obsessively faithful cover version standards Van Sant was sticking to – one door opens without a key in the remake because it did so in the original – it’s unsurprising that he chose to feature a cameo appearance of his own, talking with a Hitchcock lookalike. (Perhaps more surprising is that the film features a kitchen knife credited as belonging to John Woo.)

This was the second Alfred Hitchcock remake of 1998 to star Viggo Mortenson. In ‘A Perfect Murder’ (1998) – a re-jigging of ‘Dial M For Murder’ (1954) with Gwyneth Paltrow (pshaw) instead of Grace Kelly – he is also the female protagonist’s lover. And begins both films in bed. And is criminally involved in $400,000 of dirty money.

Somewhat disturbingly worryingly, the girlfriend/boyfriend couple Janie and Jamie in ‘Pump Up The Volume’ (1990) were played by cousins, Lala Sloatman and Ahmet Zappa.

In 1982, Larry Cohen made a horror film about a giant flying lizard plaguing New York. Called ‘Q’. The explanation of the back of the video box reads: “Its name is Quetzalcoatl, a dragon-like Aztec god that is summoned to modern day Manhattan by gory human sacrifices. But just call it 'Q,' because that is all you'll have time to say before it tears you apart.” Mmm-hmm? You called the film ‘Q’ – rather than ‘Quetzalcoatl’ – not for reasons of box office sales (“Two for Get-ze-coat-on please”), but for plot? Really? So why was it known as ‘The Winged Serpent’ outside of America? Were they worried that, despite the very obvious death-by-flying-lizard theme to the film – clearly depicted on posters and video art – a European audience would think it an offshoot Bond movie?

Working on a piffling budget, the makers of ‘Queen of the Jungle’ (1935) used stock footage from silent serial ‘Jungle Goddess’ (1922) wherever they could. And also borrowed bits of the latter’s storyline. The editing is not quite seamless. Actors used new dramatic techniques and were made-up differently in the 1930’s. That the 1922 silent footage had been printed and projected at an unusually fast sound speed did not help either.

In the Well of Souls scene in ‘Raiders Of The Lost Ark’ (1981), hieroglyphs on the walls include C3-PO and R2D2, while the multitude of snakes includes several lengths of hose-pipe (to boost serpentine numbers). The film also provides two death scenes for the British wrestler Pat 'Bomber' Roach. As the imposing Sherpa in the Nepalese bar, his first ‘exit’ is due to fire; the second occurs when his German mechanic character is diced by the plane's propeller.

The scene in ‘Rain Man’ (1988) where Dustin Hoffman’s character says he’ll only fly on Qantas because they’ve never lost a plane is cut from the version of the film shown on every major airline… except Qantas.

Nicholas Cage’s character of H.I. in ‘Raising Arizona’ (1987) on occasion wears a Hudsucker Industries uniform – this is the title of the company in (the clue’s in the title) ‘The Hudsucker Proxy’ (1994). The Coen brothers, who were behind both films, evidently think ahead.

Rodents were not intended to feature in ‘The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here!’ (1972). The film was originally titled ‘The Curse of the Full Moon’, and gave its central characters only one set of evil animals to deal with. Andy Milligan, the film’s writer and director was persuaded by his producer (William Mishkin) that a running time of 72 minutes was too short and that extra footage should be added. So they tacked on a rat-infestation sub-plot. Because killer-rats were then all the rage – ‘Willard’ (1971) was raking it in at the box office, its sequel ‘Ben’ was underway – Milligan decided to chuck in 20 minutes of man-eating rats. Those sequences, unlike the lupine ones which were shot in England, were filmed in Milligan’s hometown on Staten Island. Who must have been thrilled. As the rats proved quite hard to get rid of, thereafter. Milligan ended up offering a free live rat to cinema-goers. In promotion for a film about deadly killer flesh-eating rats. (The Monty Python people, who gave away a free coconut to American viewers of the ‘Holy Grail’ (1975), had a much sounder grasp of the way to tickle the public’s fancy.)

The knife fight in ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ (1955) used real switchblades – for protection, Jim (James Dean) and Buzz (Corey Allen), wore chain-mail (!) under their vests.

When Disney recalled all home video copies of ‘The Rescuers’ (1977) in 1999, their reasoning was there for all freeze-frame manipulators to see. There actually was a topless woman clearly visible within the film. Albeit in only two (non-consecutive) frames. Around 38 minutes in to the high-octane mouse adventure, Bianca & Bernard fly past a building on an albatross – in one of the building’s windows in the offending image. Disney believe it was added during the post-production process, but that the lady had been there even in the theatrical release.

Tim Roth insisted that his dialect coach play the lady shot by Mr. Orange in ‘Reservoir Dogs’ (1992). In revenge for her being so hard on him. (N.B. Blanks and blood bags were used.)

One of the Ewok songs in ‘Return of the Jedi’ (1983) sounds like ‘Det luktar flingor har’, Swedish for ‘It smells of cereal here’. (N.B. I’ve been to the Giant Redwood Forests which doubled for Endor. And it doesn’t. But then I don’t have the olfactory system of an Ewok.)

Kevin Costner had apparently wanted to use a proper British accent for his title role in ‘Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’ (1991) but had been dissuaded from it by the director, Kevin Reynolds, on the grounds that he sounded like a twat.

The crew for ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ (1975) had an Easter Egg hunt on-set on one day of filming, but they weren’t all found… three can be seen in the film: there’s one lurking under Frank's throne, one instead of a light in the main room, and one as the shivering group goes up in the elevator to the lab.

Also; while Susan Sarandon, Tim Curry and Meatloaf may be the only cast members you non-‘Crystal Maze’ fans have kept up with, Barry Bostwick (aka Brad Majors) is currently to be found as the Mayor in ‘Spin City’.

Joss Whedon – creator of ‘Buffy’ and the spin-off series ‘Angel’ – cut his teeth in the industry writing episodes for ‘Roseanne’. Which also featured Glenn Quinn, as Becky’s Mark. Later to pop up as Doyle. (This actor is ACTUALLY Irish. Honest. Really.)

In ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968), Mia Farrow exclaims to Angela Dorian: “I thought you were Victoria Vetri, the actress.” Terry’s response is: “Everyone says that, but I don't see the resemblance.” Victoria Vetri is Angela Dorian's real name.

Both ‘Runaway Bride’ (1999) and ‘The Blues Brothers’ (1980) feature a beauty parlour with the snappy moniker of Curl Up And Dye. Only the former film, however, feature three professionally shot wedding videos, which make use of perfectly positioned multiple cameras and tracking shots. The picture isn’t wobbly, or poorly lit, or interrupted by someone coughing. Indeed, on the second wedding, as Julia Roberts high-tails it from the church, one of the wedding video-makers had the foresight to get a behind shot of her running down the aisle, as well as shot-from-her-behind footage of a dragged-along page-boy clinging to her dress. Excellent work for a small-town operation…

The ZIP code for the Massachusetts home of Sabrina The Teenage Witch is 01970; this is the ZIP code for the Witch-trials town of Salem, Massachusetts.

In ‘Say Anything’ (1989), John Cusack’s character drives past a cinema that’s showing ‘Tapeheads’ (1988), a movie starring one John Cusack.

Filming ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993), director Steven Spielberg had hoped to be able to film inside Auschwitz. On being refused permission, a mirror image concentration camp set was built on the other side of the gates.

‘Sesame Street’ was banned by the Mississippi State Commission for Educational TV – a decision reversed in 1970 – because they disapproved of the multi-racial neighbourhood which acted as the show’s focus.

In the film ‘Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird’ (1985) – in which, if memory serves, Big Bird is dyed a fetching shade of blue (AND DOES NOT GO GREEN) – we get to see two of his muppet cohorts car-numberplates; the Count's reads “1234567890”, while Oscar's is a simple “SCRAM”.

‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994) features Gil Bellows as Thomas (Tommy) Williams, Andy’s protégée. In the ever-more meandering TV series ‘Ally McBeal’, the actor plays the part of William (Billy) Thomas.

‘The Sharktank Redemption’ (2000) – a film which presumably HAD to be made once someone had drunkenly thought-up the title – takes the premise of King’s prison movie, and transposes it to life in the Hollywood system. Its lead character, Fred Redding, is played by Alfonso Freedman, whose father played Red in ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994). A photograph of Alfonso himself is used on Morgan Freeman’s parole forms to show Red’s younger self.

The teen-fairytale-by-numbers (‘ugly duckling turns swan and so love blooms…’) ‘She’s All That’ (1999) gives Rachel Leigh Cook’s character the name of Laney Boggs, as homage to her Winona Ryder features. In ‘Edward Scissorhands’ (1990), Ryder played Kim Boggs, while in ‘Reality Bites’ (1994) she was Laney Pierce.

The film, which starrs Sarah Michelle Gellar’s current beau, Freddie Prinze Jnr. was filmed at the same teaching establishment which doubles for Sunnydale High School. As well as featuring Clea DuVall as a rich clown-faced bitch – an actress who guested in the first series of ‘Buffy’ as the invisible girl (who you did actually see in flash-back scenes) – the film also includes the world’s briefest cafeteria cameo, courtesy of a pizza-discarding Buffy Summers.

(All of which combines to create the cheerfully disconcerting impression that ‘She’s All That’ could easily have had a vampiric twist, had its lead characters only visited the library occasionally. Stephen King is noted for this kind of character cameos – the destruction of ‘The Shining’s Overlook Hotel is mentioned in ‘Misery’, for example, while ‘Stand By Me’s Terry DuChamp is revealed in ‘Carrie’ to have become a petrol-pump attendant… All of which serves to reinforce the reality of such people and places…)

To show Torrance gradually slipping into dementia in ‘The Shining’ (1980) Stanley Kubrick had each page of the character’s book contain hundreds of individually typed sentences, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. For the Italian version of the film, Kubrick used the proverb “Il mattino ha l' oro in bocca”, which translates as “He who wakes up early meets a golden day”, while for the German version, it was “Was Du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf Morgen”, which translates as “Don't postpone something that can be done today”. Again, individually typed. For method madness amongst his crew…

Dame Judi Dench and Tim Piggott-Smith have been entertaining themselves over the last few years (decades) by hiding a black glove on each other's film or theatre sets. Having discovered this, Kevin Spacey had the glove sent out to Newfoundland where they were filming ‘The Shipping News’ (2001). And then bided his time. Until Judi came to the scene where she pees on her dead brother's ashes (um…); her wily co-star was hidden beneath the outhouse with the glove on a stick, waiting for the Oscar-winning & highly respected actress to lift her skirts before moving in. “I felt something tickling my bottom,” Judi told Premiere. “Kevin says I jumped into the air screaming. It took me quite a long time to recover and it will take even longer to plan the proper revenge.”

Paul Verhoeven, the man responsible for seamy-steamy (?) ‘Showgirls’ (1995), was the first director to attend the Golden Raspberry Awards to collect his RAZZIE statuettes. In 1995, at the 16th Annual Award Ceremony, ‘Showgirls’ won 7 of the 11 categories in which the movie was nominated, including Most Insulting Film, Worst Actress and Worst Original Song.

The ogre’s accent in ‘Shrek’ (2001) is supposed to be Scottish. Originally, Mike Myers played it ‘straight’ (i.e. in his normal speaking voice) but decided – at considerable cost ($4million!) to the film-makers – this accent would better suit the character. He used to live in Britain, and so has no real excuse.

Harry Shearer, Spinal Tap (1984)’s Derek Smalls – he of the handlebar moustache & jazz odyssey – does several of the voices on ‘The Simpsons’, including Monty Burns, Smithers, Ned Flanders, Otto the Bus Driver, Kent Brockman, Lenny, Dr. Hibbert, McBain, Rev. Lovejoy and Principal Skinner. (He’s also done such ‘guest-stars’ as George Bush, Richard Nixon and, um, Derek Smalls, amongst others.)

The downpour Gene Kelly dances through in ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ (1952) was a combination of water and milk, which made his suit shrink.

Tim Burton gets to play a crazy-haired video director in ‘Singles’ (1992). Possibly utilising Stanislavskian techniques to centre his character.

Just as the colour orange precurses violence in ‘The Godfather’ trilogy, red in ‘The Sixth Sense’ (1999) points to ghostly activity.

The man behind the voice of the evil computer in Woody Allen’s ‘Sleeper’ (1973) is Douglas Rain, who played HAL in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968).

Throughout the director’s commentary on the DVD of ‘Sleepy Hollow’ (1999), Tim Burton is unable to restrain himself from gleefully yelling ‘WIG!’ whenever Jeffrey Jones looms onscreen. The actor, who I will always cherish in the role of Ferris Bueller’s headmaster, has on a mastery of woollen curls throughout the majority of the film, stream-roller flat at the top and jowl-enhancingly bushy at the sides. ‘Oooh, letting the wig do the acting there’ is one particularly excited comment from Burton.

I know some people watched ‘Zoe Duncan Jack and Jane’, because they made at least two serieses. I just don’t know anyone who’ll admit to it. Which means Michael Rosenbaum’s shaven-headed transformation into Lex Luthor on ‘Smallville’ is only entertaining to me, and me alone. So imagine my solitary joy when Azura Skye guested on the show. Newly blond, but if I could spot Jack without hair, I can see through Jane’s cunning dye-ploy. Though the hair excitement in itself wasn’t enough to assuage the Creep Factor, mind, of having actors last seen playing twins now acting as a crush and his obsessive adorer.

Dan Akroyd’s character in ‘Sneakers’ (1992) is usually referred to as ‘Mother’, although his name is actually Carl Arbogast. This was the name of the detective who tracks the runaway Janet Leigh to the Bates Motel in ‘Psycho’ (1960), and who gets killed by Norman’s ‘mother’.

Filming ‘Some Like It Hot’ (1959), Marilyn Monroe required 47 takes to correctly say the line “It's me, Sugar” – she could only manage “Sugar, it's me” or “It's Sugar, me”. After the 30th take, the director Billy Wilder had the line written on a blackboard. Another scene, which required Monroe to rummage through some drawers and say “Where's the bourbon?” involved 40 takes of her asking “Where's the whiskey?”, “Where's the bottle?”, or “Where's the bonbon?” Exasperated, Wilder pasted the correct line in one of the drawers, only to find when filming resumed that Marilyn was confused about which drawer she should open. So Wilder pasted the line in each. And the scene was finished on the 59th take.

The Madame Tussauds model of Napoleon is a double of Star Trek’s Q.

Cheryl Gates McFadden, who plays Beverly Crusher on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’, and is the only actor on that show to have a weirder name than her character (Brent Spiner comes in a close second), has long been a part of the entertainment world. Before she emerged as a full-time actress, she went under her first name of Cheryl, and did the choreography on a number of films, including ‘Labyrinth’ (1986).

Previewing footage from ‘Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country’ (1991), William Shatner became astonishingly distressed when he saw how wide his bottom looked in a scene where he walked across a bridge, away from the camera. The version of this scene included in the finished film shows an airbrushed slim-line posterior.

There are indeed 3 E.T. aliens – as inter-galactic ambassadors – in the senate rotunda scene for ‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’ (1999). They can be found in the lower left-corner of the screen, in one of the bowl-shaped seats, just after Queen Amidala calls for the vote of no confidence. (The ‘Pause’ button should prove invaluable in helping you find them…) Another reward for eagle-eyed viewers is a ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) pod from the Discovery in Watto’s junkyard.

While we had fairly gross Chinese caricatures, the German-dubbed version of the film gives a French accent to the collaborating Trade Federation leaders.

One of the hospital scenes in ‘South Park: Bigger Longer And Uncut’ (1999) shows the wall-chart itinerary for Dr. No – his duties include a memo “Kill Bond”.

Robert DeNiro’s mohican in ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976) is a wig. (You will have to imagine Tim Burton doing the excitable commentary yourselves…) Dick Smith sprayed chopped-up hair onto a plastic cap to make it look shaven. Damn good job he did too…

Larissa Oleynik and Joseph Gordon Levitt, who play Bianca and Cameron in ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ also played boyfriend & girlfriend (Tommy & Alissa) in ‘3rd Rock From The Sun’.

Michael Biehn gets himself bitten on the hand in ‘Terminator’ (1984), as he does in two other James Cameron films – ‘Aliens’ (1986) and ‘The Abyss’ (1989). Cameron seems to find these links irresistible – in an early draft script for ‘Aliens’, Bishop (the android) claimed to have been manufactured by Cyberdene.

The hospital scenes for ‘Terminator 2’ (1991) – as well as several other interior shots – were filmed at the Caleview (?can’t-read-my-own-writing) Terrace Medical Center. A site used by hundreds of other TV & film crews; the once-used hospital building was closed due to seismic damage (but is evidently only deemed unsafe for a permanent medical staff). The production crew for T2 dressed the exterior (as well as the interior), adding wire fencing and signs of such verisimilitude that the locals thought it was being transformed into an ACTUAL asylum. And picketed the site accordingly. Despite the fact that the building was notoriously used as a film-set, and that the sign read ‘Pescadero State Hospital: Criminally Disordered Retention Facility’.

Incidentally… If your film features a polymorphous creature capable of taking on the appearance of all it touches, you can save on the special effects by casting people who have twins in key roles. Handily, Linda Hamilton has an identical sister, Leslie, who played the T-1000 Sarah shot in the steel-mill sequence. And Lewis the Pescadero security guard played by Don Stanton, faces his sibling in the T-1000 guise; his twin brother Dan gets to stab him in the eye having morphed out of the floor. (Lewis, incidentally and rather dully, is the name of Dan Stanton’s character in ‘Gremlins 2’.)

It seems Hollywood has a standard command for controlling potentially dangerous movie creatures… In ‘Toys’ (1992), the General tries to stop the ‘rampaging sea creature’ by declaiming “Klaatu, Barada, Nikto”; these were the command for the robot Gort in ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ (1951).

The Whitehouse scenes in ‘Traffic’ (2000) were shot on the ‘West Wing’ sets, which are almost exact replicas of the presidential interiors (the TV show’s rooms are wider, to accommodate the crew & rigging…).

In ‘Trainspotting’ (1996), Johnny Lee Miller's character of Sick Boy is obsessed with James Bond trivia. Tidily, this one-time Mr Jolie is actually the son of Bernard Lee, who played "M" in the Bond series until 1979.

The 1969 (U.S.?) TV programme ‘Turn-On’ was cancelled ten minutes into the first show, February 5th, 1969.

The TV series ‘24’ (2001), which gives viewers 24 one-hour segments of “real time” in the life of a fraught Kiefer Sutherland & associated others actually only clocks up a maximum of 18 hours of screen-time. Each episode is up to 45 minutes long. That’s “events occur in real time”, but with advert breaks. Diddled…

In one school-based episode of the cartoon ‘Two Stupid Dogs’, the eponymous ‘heroes’ of the piece ended up crammed into lockers in a junior-high, whose slim-ankled slack-wearing camp headmaster was called Principal Schneider.

HAL, of ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) sings ``Daisy'' as he is shut down, which was the first song ever played by a non-mechanical computer.

Oh, and the rumour that the film missed out on the ‘68 Best Make-Up Oscar because the judges thought that REAL apes had been used is entirely ridiculous and unfounded. The judges having, you know, eyes. And the brains to operate them. (Though the make-up award actually went to ‘Planet of the Apes’. Which I - snooty child of the ILM Generation - don’t think all that much of...)

Our nation’s harrumphing over Hollywood’s bastardisation of the story of the Enigma machine’s capture (ruddy Americans had nowt to do with it) was intended to be slightly appeased by the inclusion of a footnote-type caption into ‘U-571’ (2000); at the film’s end, it is revealed that the machine was captured by the Royal Navy. Of Britain. No Texans anywhere in sight.

Robert Englund, the fright-faced Freddy Krueger from the ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’ series, played Wexler in ‘Urban Legend’ (1998), a character who keeps a Krueger puppet in his office. Which can be seen just before the axe is spotted. (What a clue…)

In ‘The Usual Suspects’ (1995), Kevin Spacey puts a gun to the head of Gabriel Byrne, and is then asked the time by him. Deja-vu? In ‘See No Evil, Hear No Evil’ (1989), Kevin .Spacey puts a gun to the head of Richard Pryor, and is then asked the time by him.

In ‘Velvet Goldmine’ (1998), the massive blow-up poster of Jean Harlow behind Jerry Devine’s desk is actually (supposedly) a drag-queen shot of Eddie Izzard.

The dresses worn by Sharon Stone in ‘Basic Instinct’ (1992) were designed to match, scene by scene, those worn by Kim Novak in ‘Vertigo’ (1958).

The Presidential campaign slogan in ‘Wag The Dog’ (1997) of ‘Don’t charge horses in midstream’ – found so tiresome by his aides – was actually used by Franklin Roosevelt during World War II. With some success. He got re-elected with it.

Michael Douglas (for it is he) gets to savage the shoes of Kathleen Turner in not one but two of their movies. In ‘The War Of The Roses’ (1989), his Oliver Rose character slices the heels from his wife’s shoes, just as he had done in ‘Romancing The Stone’ (1984) as Jack Colton, who got to mutilate Joan Wilder (Turner)’s footwear.

‘What’s New Pussycat’ (1965) was banned in Norway. Offence was taken at the scene where Peter Sellers tries to commit suicide by wrapping himself in a burning Norwegian flag and setting off to his death in a boat. I think Norway was more upset at the profanity to their flag than they were about Inspector Clouseau emulating the noble burial of a Viking warrior.

The old lady in the diner who says “I'll have what she's having” after Sally’s fake orgasm in ‘When Harry Met Sally...’ (1989) is Estelle Reiner, the mother of the director, Rob Reiner.

The makers of ‘Willow’ (1988) wanted Elora Danan to have a full head of hair. (Not a problem for most actresses. But then, most actresses have all their own teeth too…) The six month-old twins (Kate & Ruth Greenfield) who played Elora were too young to have a thick mane of curly locks. So wigs were provided. Wigs which were attached to the heads with SYRUP, as it was thought that normal wig attachment would be too cruel to the babies’ skin. Syrup though, that’s fine…

Attempting to universalise the story (while appeasing Dahl’s UK fans), there are no direct references to the home country of Charlie Bucket or Wonka’s Factory, in ‘Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory’ (1971). Clues cannot be garnered from car license plates, TV spots, newspaper titles, or even currency; characters such as Slugworth and the chocolate seller very carefully avoid mentioning exact amounts of money.

Richard E. Grant did not actually drink lighter fluid for ‘Withnail & I’ (1987). (He’s not that dedicated an actor / stupid.) In rehearsals, it had been water, but in the take they filmed it was vinegar. (Bruce Robinson was after a more extreme reaction…)

Professor Marvel’s coat, in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939), purchased from a second-hand store (because it had the right look of ‘grandeur gone to seed’), had actually been owned by L.Frank Baum. (This story, although confirmed by his tailor and folks on the set, was dismissed as a publicity stunt by cynical press, unwilling to believe in a coincidence of such scale.)

Zooming along London’s waterways on his speedboat in ‘The World Is Not Enough’, James Bond soaks two traffic-officer types as they clamp a car. These two are the ‘stars’ of the BBC’s ‘The Clampers’. (THIS is why we can never have an American James Bond.)

For her part in the ‘X-Men’ (2000) movie as Mystique, the blue semi-naked shape-shifter, Rebecca Romijn-Thomas had to spend 9 hours in make-up. During filming, even when off the set, she could not drink any alcohol, as it would seep through her pores and cause the scales to stick to her skin. And those yellow contact lenses gave her 10% vision.

The director of the film, Bryan Singer, couldn’t help but give himself a cameo appearance. Which he filmed. (V. cunning, this man.) In the finished film, Singer’s face was digitally mapped onto a policeman (during the station confrontation between Magneto and ‘the pigs’). Singer then found his likeness being marketed as a tie-in policeman doll for the film...

Ray Park, the actor with the little-seen face who plays Toad (he was the headless horseman in ‘Sleepy Hollow’ too), retains his Darth Maul fighting skills in this film. In the scene where he knocks Storm down the elevator shaft, he is seen spinning a bar over his head and holding it in an attack position, in a manner most reminiscent of his double-edged light-sabre prowess in ‘Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace’ (1999).

In 1983, Linda Hunt won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of the male photographer Billy Kwan, in ‘The Year of Living Dangerously’ (1982) – and thus became the first person to be rewarded for trans-gendered acting by the Academy.

The Beatles only lent their singing voices to the 1968 cartoon film ‘Yellow Submarine’. Peter Batten, who was providing a speaking voice for George, was arrested for desertion from the Army during the final weeks of production. George’s remaining lines were done by Paul Angelis, who was also the Chief Blue Meanie.

Visiting the set of ‘Young Guns’ (1988) and happily enthusing about never having been in a film gunfight, Tom Cruise was included in the film, fuzzed up with facial hair and dressed up as a bad guy, in the pivotal role of a man who walks out of a door and is promptly shot. Evidently jealous, Jon Bon Jovi pops up in the beginning of ‘Young Guns II’ (1990), as a scruffy man who gets shot in the chest and blown backwards after Doc and Chavez hoof it out of the pit jail.

Oh, and lastly, if you ever find yourself in trouble with the censors on only one scene of a film, try agreeing to their request, and then sending it back to them unedited. The chances are good that they won’t notice the problem the second time around. This tactic has been known to work for several directors, Hitchcock included. (They complained about a nipple in the shower-scene for ‘Psycho’ (1960). He sent it back unedited. They didn’t complain again.)

Or "Flowers on the Wall" by the Statler Brothers.

see also: punch-drunk love

There's also one in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and Close Encounters.

WHOA WEEEEEEEIRD

Which I - snooty child of the ILM Generation

Wait, what?

Since the same character can be found in Conrad's Heart of Darkness, I find it doubtful the role was just "written in" for Hopper. Of course Coppola might've decided to add the character to the movie only after he realized it would fit Hopper, but he's pretty significant both in the book and in the movie as proof to Kurtz's charismatic nature.

http://www.lepconnie.com/pics/lep/lep6set15.jpg

i can't think of any examples like the original poster's either. i know that i have similar reactions to things like that i just can't dredge any up now.

Similarly, the name "M. Night Shyamalan" on a movie's poster portends a filmic vision that will suck donkey balls.

I agree w/jed_ (surprise)

* En un momento de la película se ve al padre adoptivo de Junior leyendo "El Exorcista"

it's like you can tell it used to have other words.

roffles

In the movie Sin City, the character of Marv is heard to say, "Is that the best you can do, pansies?" after his first electrocution fails to kill him. According to legend, Albert Fish said the similar, "Is that all you've got?" at his electrocution in Sing Sing.

50 sets of twins appear in the movie"

O RLY? I thought I suspect I would have noticed something like that. Hm.

Noticed that 'Adam's Rib' (1949) (starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy) which Was written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin has a movie screening within the film of 'The Mortgage the Merrier'.

Seems like a reference to the earlier comedy 'The More The Merrier' (1943) which was adapted from "Two's a Crowd", an original story by Garson Kanin for which he was uncredited.

Or I might just be looking into it too much *shrug*

Strange thread, the OP is kinda dumb in how it frames its observations as complaints but does single out some interesting examples, the rest of the thread is just stupid "Easter eggs" which is much worse

there's a lot of whooping and yippeeing in the new star wars that I think they shot for coverage and didn't mean to end up in the final cut.

The budget for ‘Casablanca’ (1942) was so small they couldn't afford to use a real plane in the background at the airport. Instead, it was a small cardboard cut-out, with midgets to portray the crew preparing it for take-off, so as to give the illusion that the plane was, well, plane-sized.

I rather enjoyed this one.

In Home Alone, when Kevin is thinking of all the horrible things his relatives have said to him, he imagines his uncle saying "Look what you did, you little jerk!" but his delivery of the line is totally different from the way he said it earlier in the film. Does this mean:

1. His uncle says this to him all the time?
2. The film is commenting on the unreliability of memory?
3. The actor was told to say the line again and totally forgot how he said it the first time/didn't understand why he was asked to say the line again?

As a kid I wanted to believe that #3 was the correct answer.

I always thought it was 2, the version in Kevin's mind is hissed in a much nastier, more vindictive way which shows how unfair persecution is amplified in a child's mind. Also i think another line is changed in a similar way but not to the same extent, and there's one line (about feeding Kevin to Buzz's tarantula) that we didn't see in the earlier part of the film

I definitely think you're right but I was a dumb kid and 3 was way more fun to imagine being true.

This used to be my sister's favorite Christmas movie but I apparently ruined it for her this year when I made a casual japery about how unprofessional it is that the actor who played Kevin's neighbor never bothered to finish his coughdrop before filming a scene. Because she'd apparently never noticed him smacking his dentures through every line of dialogue and now she can't unhear it. Don't know if that counts as weird and unintentional.

Another one I like is in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, when Neil Page is sitting across from Del Griffith at the airport and he realized he recognizes him, instead of showing a flashback to him startling Del in the taxicab, the next shot is a recreation of the original startled reaction shot, but with Del still sitting in the airport, framed through the window of a detached taxi door.

*realizes

It couldn't possibly be him, but in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf during the "Liz and
Dick horsin' around on the bed" sequence, before the guests arrive. There is a picture above the closet door that looks remarkably like Jon Lovitz in his devil costume from SNL. Anyone else recall this? Or maybe has the dvd handy to see for themselves. It's very weird!

It looks like Jon Lovitz but it's actually Horatio Sanz. FYI.

Gtfo. He was probably not even born yet. Unless there is a Horatio Sanz Sr. i'm not aware of. Very funny though.

has anyone ever explaind WTF is on brad pitt's arm in Heat?

sorry, val kilmer. it's been a while

oh, thanks IMDB : "Broke his arm while filming The Doors (1991) when he performed a jump from the stage into the crowd and the stuntman failed to catch him. The injury has left Kilmer with an abnormal growth on his left elbow that can clearly be seen many times in Heat (1995)."

‘Almost Famous’ is the first Cameron Crowe film to be lacking an appearance by Eric Stoltz. (He was going to be David Bowie. Fleetingly.) Stoltz was 3rd billing in Crowe’s ‘The Wild Life’ (1984), but also had cameos in ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’ (1982), ‘Say Anything’ (1989), as a mime in ‘Singles’ (1992), and ‘Jerry Maguire’ (1996). His name, however, is mentioned in the rock biopic.

I've always loved this. I think that it also says "The Eric Stoltz Experience" or something on a marquis in the movie.