TedStixon

4th Jun 2023

Jack Frost (1997)

Trivia: Originally intended to be a $30 million thriller directed by Renny Harlin. When Harlin left the production and the budget was slashed to a fraction of the original cost, writer Michael Cooney took over as the new director and decided to rewrite the movie into a campy horror-comedy, since he wouldn't have the budget for all of the scripted effects sequences.

TedStixon

Trivia: The first "Critters" film to be rated R, as well as the first film in the series to not feature actors Don Keith Opper and Terrance Mann.

TedStixon

Trivia: Dee Wallace has said her character "Aunt Dee" was originally meant to be Helen Brown from the original film (and she still considers them to be the same), but the character had to be renamed for legal reasons since this film and the original were made by different studios.

TedStixon

3rd Jun 2023

Critters (1986)

Trivia: The Krite alien language is actually just a mashup of syllables and words from multiple Earth languages, including French and Japanese.

TedStixon

3rd Jun 2023

Critters (1986)

Trivia: The Krite that grows to human size is usually obscured, shot from a distance, or only seen for brief instances. This is because the crew wasn't happy with the way the costume looked. While the Krites looked great as tiny creatures, once they reached human-sized, they looked unintentionally hilarious. The crew had to shoot it in such a way to make it feel like a threat without directly showing it too much. This is also why the Krites don't grow that large in any of the sequels.

TedStixon

2nd Jun 2023

The Matrix (1999)

Trivia: The cutting-edge "bullet time" effect was achieved by arranging 120 still cameras around the subject on a green-screen stage. Every camera would take a photo in sequence over a (very) short span of time, and the photos were then arranged, creating the illusion that time was slowed down and the camera was moving inhumanly fast. Early frame-interpolation software was also used to smooth the shot, since gaps between the cameras made the movement a bit jittery. A CGI background was then added.

TedStixon

30th May 2023

Dredd (2012)

Trivia: The movie explains that Mega City One has a population of 800 million people and 17,000 serious crimes are reported daily, which works out to about 6.2 million per year. The current US population is roughly 331 million people, and over 9 million crimes are reported every year, which works out to nearly 25,000 per day. This actually means that Mega City One is significantly safer than the present day United States when it comes to the crime rate.

TedStixon

27th May 2023

General questions

I remember seeing a TV show episode (possibly a movie, but I think it was a show) in the early-to-mid 90's that started with a man's wife and kid borrowing his car to go somewhere in the morning. He's inside eating breakfast or talking on the phone or something and his car explodes with his wife and kid inside. He runs out and screams and the show (or movie) cut to credits. I almost want to say it was an "X-Files" episode, but I could be 100% wrong. Does this ring anyone's bell?

TedStixon

Trivia: Part of the genesis of the film was when director Tad Stones became fascinated with the character Iago. He was talking to a producer about the characters he wanted to include and mentioned Iago, and was told that Iago was trapped in a lamp. This made Stones think about how Iago might escape and what he'd do after he got out... which eventually morphed into the plot for the movie. In fact, the working title was originally "Iago Returns," before "The Return of Jafar" was settled on.

TedStixon

Trivia: To date, this is the only film ever directed by Dean Cundey. Cundey, an award-winning cinematographer who has worked on classic films such as "Halloween," "Back to the Future" and "Jurassic Park," was personally approved by star Rick Moranis for the job. However, Cundey learned that he wasn't particularly fond of the directing process, and chose to go back to being a cinematographer after the film's completion.

TedStixon

Trivia: The final live-action film to star Rick Moranis before he mostly retired from acting to take care of his kids after his wife's unfortunate passing. Moranis is however tentatively attached to appear in a legacy sequel titled "Shrunk," though the film has been stuck in development hell for some time.

TedStixon

20th May 2023

Catwoman (2004)

Trivia: The film was widely despised, including by its own star Halle Berry. She hated it so much, she actually showed up to accept her "Worst Actress" Razzie award in-person (while also jokingly holding her "Best Actress" Oscar for "Monster's Ball"), and referred to the film as a "piece of shit" and "god-awful" during her acceptance speech.

TedStixon

20th May 2023

Idiocracy (2006)

Trivia: The filmmakers had a fairly small budget. So to save money in costuming, they bought awful, cheap shoes from a new footwear company. Because the shoes were so hideous and impractical, the filmmakers thought that the shoes would be perfect for the idiots of the future, and assumed that the company would go bankrupt soon after. The company was Crocs, and to everyone on the crew's surprise and disappointment, their shoes actually ended up becoming extremely popular... just like in the movie.

TedStixon

20th May 2023

Child's Play (1988)

Trivia: By chance, while he was in college, franchise creator Don Mancini had audited an acting class being taught by actor Brad Dourif, who he greatly admired. He was pleasantly surprised when he found out Dourif was cast as Chucky several years later after his screenplay was purchased and went into production. The two later became good friends.

TedStixon

Trivia: Reportedly, Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg repeatedly tried to sabotage the film's production as he was worried it would overshadow their film "Aladdin," especially as both films featured Robin Williams as a prominent character. Williams was furious, as he felt the film's environmental message was important and that there was no reason he couldn't do both films. It's believed this may have been a factor in William's feud with Disney that lasted several years after "Aladdin" was released.

TedStixon

Trivia: Robin Williams refused be in the movie after having a falling out with Disney. Williams agreed to work for very low pay on "Aladdin," on the condition that his voice and name not be exploited for publicity. However, Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg didn't keep to his word and did exploit Williams in some publicity material, causing Williams to feel betrayed. Williams eventually settled his differences with Disney and appeared in the third film, "Aladdin and the King of Thieves."

TedStixon

Trivia: The movie was initially conceived of as a one-hour TV special/pilot to usher in the "Aladdin" animated series, but co-director Tad Stones convinced Disney that it should be lengthened slightly and released direct-to-video as a feature-film. Disney accepted his offer after being impressed by animation tests, which they felt were very high quality for the low-budget that the project was given.

TedStixon

Trivia: Disney's first direct-to-video animated sequel. Releasing it direct-to-video was considered something of a gamble at the time, as producers worried it would cheapen the Disney brand. However, the gamble paid off - it sold incredibly well, and went on to become one of the best-selling VHS titles of all time, eventually making back over 50X its budget in profit. After its release, over 50 more direct-to-video animated Disney sequels were produced (if one counts both 2D and CGI movies).

TedStixon

Trivia: When Mario tries to enter the castle, one of the guards makes a snarky comment that the "princess is in another castle." This is a reference to the original "Super Mario Bros." video game, in which Mario is repeatedly told that the princess is in another castle.

TedStixon

Trivia: Due to the financial success of the previous two films, Disney originally intended for this to be a theatrical film. However, after their success with the direct-to-video animated sequels "The Return of Jafar" and "Aladdin and the King of Thieves," Disney decided to make this their first foray into a direct-to-video live-action sequel. Given it was gamble, this decision unfortunately resulted in the budget being lowered substantially in comparison to the previous two films.

TedStixon

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