Screenplay Games: Movie Facts: Newsletter Vol. 15

This is volume 15 of what we hope will be interesting bits of motion picture trivia, legend and other useless stuff brought to you by Movie Time! the board game of memorable movie quotes. This information is compiled from numerous sources and is offered to customers and supporters of Movie Time! to make their game playing more enjoyable.

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15  shopping days until Christmas!!! If you would like a unique gift for the movie fan in your life, how about a personalized copy of Movie Time!  ? If you send a message to jim@screenplaygames.com and tell me what you would like to say, then place an order through the website, we will help you do something special and maybe save you a trip to the mall.

Movie Recommendations

My friend Martha recommended that I see "Radio" currently at theaters. If you ever get to feeling low and wondering if you can make a difference in this big old world, go see this movie. Based on a true story of  Anderson , South Carolina  high school football coach Harold Jones (Ed Harris) who befriends a mentally challenged local youth (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), it will help you remember that one person can be the difference in someone's life. Actually, don't wait until you feel low, go see it now. You will leave feeling even better than when you came in. Gooding should receive an academy award nomination for best actor for his role as Radio.

As many of you know, I have been eagerly awaiting "Timeline", the time travel movie based on Michael Crichton's wonderful novel. Unfortunately, the movie has received horrible reviews with some saying it is among the worst movies of the year. Gary Cogill of WFAA TV in Dallas called it an amateur production unworthy of director Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon) and equated it to the absolutely awful adaptation of Crichton's " Congo ". While it may not be the best movie of the year, (okay, it isn't even in the top ten) I think it is still worth seeing. It's a little episodic in the approach of jumping from one mini-adventure to the next and lead actor, Paul Walker (Fast and Furious) really is not very good at his profession but it is still interesting. If you really want to enjoy a ride from the 20th century to the 14th century, read the book. It is terrific.

Finally, we saw the boat movie yesterday. "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" is one of this year's best. It's a wild, square rigger adventure of an English warship in search of a much larger, better armed and more fortified French frigate. Russell Crowe is credited as the lead actor but the real star is that boat. Some people romanticize about the great sailing ships of that era but the movie probably provides a more reasonable depiction of how difficult the life must have been. This is a well directed and acted movie that provides a nice blend of Napoleonic War action, humanity and humor. It was rather graphic in the battle scenes but a must see for most movie fans. During the filming, a typhoon came through the area. Instead of just waiting out the storm, director Peter Weir (Witness, Dead Poets Society) filmed several scenes and included them in the final cut. That touch added even more realism to the film.

Movie Facts

America 's favorite Christmas movie is probably "It's A Wonderful Life" (1946). When released, it did very poorly at the box office and it wasn't until it began to show up on television in the 1950's that it's popularity grew. In those days, it took movies a long time from release date to television viewing because they were not shown until the copyright expired. Due to a clerical error, IAWL went on TV years before it should have and director Frank Capra received zero royalties.

For the snow scenes, Capra used a fire suppression chemical called foamite to simulate the snow falling. The chemical was pumped through a wind machine and appeared realistic. All this sounds rather mundane until we know the history of snow in the movies. Prior to this film, movie snow consisted of cornflakes painted white that were dropped or blown onto the set. The problem was that the flakes made so much noise that the dialogue always had to be dubbed in during post production. Capra wanted the sound to be live so his special effects crew had to devise quiet snow. It worked and the RKO Effects Department received a special award from Motion Picture Academy for their efforts.

In one scene, Donna Reed was supposed to throw a rock through the window of an old abandoned mansion. Frank Capra hired a sharpshooter to shoot out the window of the set just as Ms. Reed threw the rock. The marksman was not necessary since her throw was true and broke the window.

A newer popular Christmas movie is "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000) starring Jim Carrey and directed by Ron Howard. If your kids are watching this on video this season, you may observe some unusual cloud formations. During various scenes, you should see the initials JC, RH and CH. These stand for Jim Carrey, Ron Howard and Clint Howard (Ron's brother who played Whobris). Carrey's make up took about three hours daily to apply and made him so uncomfortable that he needed torture resistance training from a Navy SEAL.

One day during filming, Ron Howard came in before dawn to be fitted for a Grinch outfit and make-up. He wore it all day while directing and even worked as an extra as one of the startled Whos in the city square. When Carrey first saw Howard in the suit, he was angered because he thought Howard was a stunt double who looked nothing like Carrey.

The Whoville set was built on a Universal Studios backlot behind the Bates Motel (Psycho). During a break in filming one day, Jim Carrey startled a Universal Studios tour by donning a dress and charging at them from the motel with a butcher knife in his raised hand. No one recognized him.

Famous Movie Lines

    In what movie will you hear Nicholas Cage say, "Really, it's two hours. Then we get married. End of story."?

    In what movie will you hear Barry Pepper say, "Seems to me Cap'n, this mission is a serious misallocation of military resources."?

    In what movie will you hear Chris Owen say, "Prodigious."?

    In what movie will you hear Olivia de Havilland say, "You speak treason!" and Errol Flyn replies, "Fluently."?

For the answer to these and an Online Movie Quiz. Have fun!