Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Unlike other James Bond movies, this film is the most faithful adaptation of any James Bond novel. Everything that happens in Ian Fleming's 1963 novel, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," is included in this film.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Despite being nominated for 4 Academy Awards (and despite its decades-long cult following), this film was a box-office disaster upon its release, grossing only $8 million against a reported production cost of $46 million. Director Terry Gilliam denied the film cost anywhere near $40 million, and other reports place the total cost at around $35 million. But, even with this more conservative estimate, Gilliam went far beyond his initial budget of $25 million.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: This film was actually the third installment in director Terry Gilliam's "Trilogy of Imagination," all dealing with fantasy escapism at different ages in life. The first film of the trilogy was 1981's "Time Bandits," a surreal fantasy seen through the eyes of a child; the second film was 1985's "Brazil," another surreal fantasy seen through the eyes of a middle-aged man; 1988's "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" was yet another surreal fantasy seen through the eyes of an elderly gentleman.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: This 1994 film was originally titled "Drunken Master 2" upon its release in Hong Kong; it was the second and last time Jackie Chan portrayed the titular Drunken Master. A hastily-assembled "Drunken Master 3" was also released in 1994, but Jackie Chan did not participate in the third movie because of "creative differences" (Chan felt that the Drunken Master films were sending the wrong message about drinking and fighting). Although fans have been clamoring for decades for Jackie Chan to reprise this comedic role that he famously created, he still refuses to do it. As recently as 2014, Chan explained: "Drunken Master 1 [1978], I teach drinking, fighting, drinking, fighting, and the audience liked it. Everybody ‘Ha, ha, ha.' But then I grew up and realised I'm wrong. I send out the wrong message. I have to make Drunken Master 2 [1994] to tell the audience ‘Don't drink! Don't fight!' I have to correct myself. All those years slowly correct everything... I believe after Drunken Master 2 - stop - better that we make no more."

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: "Drunken Master 2" actually premiered in 1994, a remake/reboot of 1978's "Drunken Master" (both starring Jackie Chan). "Drunken Master 2" was later released in America as "The Legend of Drunken Master" in the year 2000.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: The original title of this Jackie Chan film was "Drunken Master 2" when it was first released in Hong Kong in 1994 (it was not actually a sequel but was a remake/reboot of the 1978 Jackie Chan film "Drunken Master"). The title "Drunken Master 2" was changed to "The Legend of Drunken Master" when it was released in America in 2000.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: After its release in 1999, "The Blair Witch Project" went on to make a fantastic $250 million profit on its lowly $64,000 budget, largely due to the film's realism; audiences were chilled by the possibility that this "found footage" was the real thing. But any cable viewers who followed the Independent Film Channel (IFC) knew very well that "The Blair Witch Project" was a purely scripted work as far back as 1997, when "The Blair Witch Project" writer/director Daniel Myrick previewed a segment of the work-in-progress featuring an 8-minute "pitch" (comprised mainly of voice-overs and edited footage) on IFC's specialty program, "Split Screens." Audience feedback was later gathered through traditional test-screenings.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: In the fight scene between Roy Munson and Claudia, it's very obvious that actress Vanessa Angel's acrobatic stunts were performed by a much more muscular woman. The stuntwoman is Donna Keegan, who played the attempted-rape victim in "RoboCop" nine years earlier.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Originally, Metro Goldwyn Mayer had planned for producer Roger Corman to make a film entitled "Captain Nemo and the Floating City," but the project collapsed early on. Producer Steven Pallos later resurrected the project as "Captain Nemo and the Underwater City," and this time the film was completed.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: While based on actual events and characters, "From Hell" takes considerable liberty with facts, in addition to leaving much of its convoluted fictional plot unexplained. The real Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline's first wife died of tuberculosis two months after they married (she was not pregnant at the time). Abberline remained married to his second wife for over 50 years, and they never had children. Abberline was not clairvoyant, was never an opium or absinthe user, either, and he died at the ripe old age of 86. The movie fabricated everything except a handful of essential historical facts regarding the Ripper murders.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: This film is based on a true story; but, of course, much dramatic license is taken with the facts. For example, while the movie depicts Lola shot in the chest (either by Willie Boy or by herself), the real-life "Lola" was shot in the back by the posse that was chasing them. Also, while the movie depicts Sheriff Cooper gunning down Willie Boy at the end, the real-life Willie Boy committed suicide by his own hand.

Charles Austin Miller

Catspaw - S2-E7

Trivia: This episode (which first aired on ‎October 27, 1967‎) was the only "holiday-themed" episode of Star Trek TOS. It was supposed to be a Halloween-ish story with witches, a spooky castle, black cats, skeletons and zombies, and there are repeated references to Halloween and "Trick-or-Treat" throughout the episode.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Although released to theatres in 1966, this beautifully-shot film was actually the pilot for an unrealised television series entitled "House of Wax" (which was never picked up by the networks). Despite its title, "Chamber of Horrors" was not particularly scary, much less horrifying; in fact, it was more like a 19th Century crime-detective drama. After the TV pilot was rejected, Warner Brothers opted for a theatrical release, even though the film was shot in television screen format rather than wide screen format. Attempting to sensationalize "Chamber of Horrors" for the big screen, Warner Brothers added the preposterous "Fear Flasher and Horror Horn" gimmick to warn audiences of imminent violence and gore...except that there was no gore and practically no onscreen violence.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: A naggingly familiar quote that has been attributed on the Internet to various authors (ranging from Edgar Allen Poe to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) is "Sleep. Those little slices of death. How I loathe them." Problem is, Poe never wrote any such thing, and neither did Longfellow. The 1987 horror film "Nightmare on Elm Street III" seems to be the genesis of the misquote, which it incorrectly attributes to Poe. So, where did the actual quote originate? The answer is Walter Reisch, lead screenwriter on the 1959 film "Journey to the Center of the Earth." In the screenplay, the antagonist Count Arne Saknussemm is urged to get some rest, to which he memorably replies, "I don't sleep. I hate those little slices of death."

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: Anthony Hopkins played George Hayden, Charlie Chaplin's biographer (throughout the film's many flashbacks). However, biographer George Hayden was a completely fictional character created only for this movie. In real life, Charlie Chaplin alone wrote his autobiography.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: When the animated series was being voice-cast, the only original actors chosen were William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelly, James Doohan and Majel Barrett (Gene Roddenberry's wife). James Doohan was going to double as Chief Engineer Scott and as Lieutenant Sulu, as well as any needed additional male voices; Majel Barrett was going to perform several female voices including the Ship's Computer and Communications Officer Uhura. When Leonard Nimoy (Spock) learned about the casting choices, he threatened to quit the animated series unless original series actors George Takei and Nichelle Nichols were hired to play Sulu and Uhura. Nimoy's opinion carried a lot of weight, so Takei and Nichols were immediately hired.

Charles Austin Miller

The Practical Joker - S2-E3

Trivia: The animated series featured the first appearance of the Holodeck (called the Rec Room) in this episode only. Gene Roddenberry wanted to use the Rec Room/Holodeck idea in the original live action series of the 1960s, but found that budgetary constraints were prohibitive at that time. The Rec Room finally appeared once in the animated series, in this episode, in 1973. It wouldn't be seen again until Star Trek: The Next Generation, in 1987, some 14 years later.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: For the last murder scene, when Norman brains his mother with a shovel in the kitchen (the only murder Norman actually commits in the entire film), his mother turns into a life-size dummy just before the fatal blow. You notice that she inexplicably leans far forward and bows her head (to hide her face for the dummy transition) just before Norman hammers her. This scene took several days to shoot, to get the transition just perfect, and it is the best practical special effect in the movie.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: When Scotty and Kirk are discussing the mysterious fate of Capt. Balthazar Edison, Scotty mentions a couple of theories, including the possibility that the USS Franklin was "captured by a giant green space hand." This is a direct allusion to the original Star Trek television episode "Who Mourns for Adonis?" in which the giant green hand of the Greek god Apollo actually grabs the USS Enterprise in space. Also, during the kaleidoscopic end credits of "Star Trek: Beyond" (specifically, at the moment the credits read "Paramount Pictures and Skydance Pictures present"), a giant green space hand reaches straight for the camera.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: For the treehouse sequence, young Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood made the 30-foot climb up the tree themselves, with no safety nets or wires. However, the tree was mostly surrounded (everything outside of the camera frame) with elaborate scaffolding, sufficient to support all the camera crew and equipment, so the boys were always within arm's reach of an adult.

Charles Austin Miller