CLASSIC SCENE: “I Don’t Tip”

Film: RESERVOIR DOGS.
Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino.

Setting the Scene:
Eight men dressed in Black suits, sit around a table at a breakfast cafe. They are: MR. WHITE (Harvey Keitel), MR. PINK (Steve Buscemi), MR. BLONDE (Michael Madsen), MR. BLUE (Eddie Bunker), MR. ORANGE (Tim Roth), MR. BROWN (Quentin Tarantino), NICE GUY EDDIE (Chris Penn) and the big boss, JOE CABOT (Lawrence Tierney). Most are finished eating and are enjoying coffee and conversation. Joe had been flipping through a small address book that Mr. White took from him and Mr. Brown had just finished telling a long and involved story about the meaning behind Madonna’s song “Like a Virgin”…

[Everyone at the table is laughing as Joe stands up.]

JOE
Alright, I’ll take care of the check you guys can get the tip. Should be about a buck a piece.

(to Mr. White)
And you! When I come back I want my
book.

MR. WHITE
Sorry, it’s my book now.

JOE
Hey, I changed my mind. Shoot this piece of shit,
will ya?

[Mr. Blonde pretends to shoot Mr. White with his finger. Joe exits.]

NICE GUY EDDIE
Alright, everybody cough up some green for
the little lady.

[Everybody whips out a buck, and throws it on the table.
Everybody, that is, except Mr. Pink.]

NICE GUY EDDIE
C’mon, throw in a buck.

MR. PINK
Uh-uh. I don’t tip.

NICE GUY EDDIE
You don’t tip?

MR. PINK
No. I don’t believe in it.

NICE GUY EDDIE
You don’t believe in tipping?

MR. BLUE
Do you know what these chicks make? They make shit.

MR. PINK
Don’t give me that. She don’t
make enough money, she can quit.

NICE GUY EDDIE
I don’t even know a Jew who’d have
the balls to say that. So let’s
get this straight. You don’t ever
tip, huh?

MR. PINK
I don’t tip because society says I
have to. Alright, I mean I’ll tip if somebody
deserves a tip. If they
really puts forth the effort, I’ll give them
something extra.
But this tipping automatically,
it’s… for the birds. As far
as I’m concerned, they’re just
doin their job.

MR. BLUE
Hey, this girl was nice.

MR. PINK
She was okay. She wasn’t
anything special.

MR. BLUE
What’s special, take ya
in the back and suck your dick?

[They all laugh.]

NICE GUY EDDIE
I’d go over twelve percent for
that.

MR. PINK
Look, I ordered coffee, right? Now we’ve
been here a long fuckin time, and
she’s only filled my cup three
times. I mean, when I order coffee, I
want it filled six times.

MR. BLONDE
Six times? Well, what if she’s too fuckin’ busy?

MR. PINK
The words “too fuckin busy” shouldn’t be
in a waitress’s vocabulary.

NICE GUY EDDIE
Excuse me, Mr. Pink, but the last fuckin’
thing you need is another cup of
coffee.

[They all laugh.]

MR. PINK
Jesus Christ! I mean, these ladies aren’t starvin to
death. They make minimum wage.
I used to work minimum wage, and when I did… I
wasn’t lucky enough to have a job
that society deemed tipworthy.

MR. BLUE
You don’t care they’re countin’ on your tips to live?

[Mr. Pink rubs his thumb and forefinger together.]

MR. PINK
Do you know what this is? It’s
the world’s smallest violin,
playing just for the waitresses.

MR. WHITE
You don’t have any idea what
you’re talking about. These
people bust their ass. This
is a hard job.

MR. PINK
So’s working at McDonald’s, but
you don’t feel the need to tip
them, do ya? Why not? They’re servin ya food, but no, society
says “Don’t tip these guys over here, but tip these guys over here”. That’s
bullshit.

MR. WHITE
Waitressing is the number one
occupation for female non-college
graduates in this country. It’s
the one job basically any woman
can get, and make a living on.
The reason is because of their tips.

MR. PINK
Fuck all that.

[They all laugh.]

MR.BROWN
Jesus Christ!

MR. PINK
Hey, I’m very sorry that the
government taxes their tips.
That’s fucked up. But that ain’t
my fault. It would appear that
waitresses are just one of the
many groups the government fucks
in the ass on a regular basis.
I mean, if you show me a piece of paper says the
government shouldn’t do that, I’ll
sign it. Put it to a vote, I’ll
vote for it. But what I won’t do
is play ball. And this non-
college bullshit you’re giving
me, I got two words for that:
“Learn to fuckin’ type.” Cause if
you’re expecting me to help out
with the rent, you’re in for a big
fuckin’ surprise.

[Mr. White flicks some food at Mr. Pink]

MR. ORANGE
He’s convinced me. Give me my
dollar back.

NICE GUY EDDIE
Hey! Leave the dollars there.

[Joe's comes back to the table.]

JOE
Alright ramblers, let’s get
ramblin’. Wait a minute, who
didn’t throw in?

MR. ORANGE
Mr. Pink.

JOE
(to Mr. Orange)
Mr. Pink?

(to Mr. Pink)
Why not?

MR. ORANGE
He don’t tip.

JOE
(to Mr. Orange)
He don’t tip?

(to Mr. Pink)
What do you mean you don’t tip?

MR. ORANGE
He don’t believe in it.

JOE
(to Mr. Orange)
Shut up!

(to Mr. Pink)
What do you mean you don’t believe in it? C’mon you! Cough up a buck, ya cheap
bastard, I paid for your goddamn
breakfast.

MR. PINK
Alright, Because you paid for the
breakfast, I’ll put in, but
normally I would never do this.

JOE
Never mind what you normally would do. Just cough in your goddamn
buck like everybody else.

(If you’d like to hear the dialogue played as you’re reading, skip to 3.50 on the video)

Mark Walker

New Feature Announcement.

Hello my blogging chums! Apologies to many of you for my recent absence but I will be paying more frequents visits again very soon. There have been many reasons why I’ve had to take a break: Namely, my dear wife and beautiful kids; my new 10 week old puppy; my work and the course I’m studying for; escaping to the hills and building a home there and also my – out of control – Scottish drinking habits Most importantly for you bloggers, though, I’m aware that a lot of you are pining over the temporary hiatus of my running feature Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits. Fear not! As there has been another good reason for me taking a break.
I’ve had another little idea that I’ve struggled to get off the ground due to time constraints and now that some time has been freed up, I’ve been able to do a little work on it.

I won’t keep you in suspense for too long as the first one will go up tomorrow and it should feature at least once a month (or more frequently, depending on demand) so that Trivia Tidbits can return to it’s usual weekly slot.

More info, I hear you say?

Sshhh! There, there! Okay, then…

Basically, it’s my version of Classic Scene’s from cinema. I notice that other bloggers do these types of posts but my intention is to provide it a little differently and do it in true transcript form with the added bonus of an accompanying video clip, wherever possible. As an avid reader of screenplays, I always find that the words from a scene can really stick in your head and jump off the page and that’s as good a reason as any to share some of my favourites with you. For anyone that shares this enthusiasm with me, then my new Classic Scene’s feature should appeal to you too. Hope you enjoy it!

2013 Lammy Awards

As most, or all of you will know, the 2013 Lammy Awards have entered their final stage. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued support and interaction on Marked Movies and to those that were kind enough to vote for me in the submission stage. As a result, I’ve now made it to the nomination stage in my first full year of blogging and I can’t tell you all how happy and honoured I am to be considered amongst so many great sites. This would never have happened if it wasn’t for the warmth and encouragement from so many of you out there and for that I’m entirely grateful.

When the nominations were announced on the Lambcast and my beloved feature Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits didn’t make the cut in Best Running Feature, I went through the 5 stages of grief…

Denial…

Anger…

Bargaining…

Depression…

Acceptance…

I came to accept, when I realised that I had been included in the nominations for Best Reviewer (one which I didn’t expect at all) and for Best New Lamb. These are two very strong and reputable categories to be involved in and here’s hoping I can go that one step further when the winners are announced in May after the close of ballot on April 30th.

Not only would I like to thank everyone for their support but I’d also like to wish my fellow nominees the very best of luck. It’s an honour to be included amongst you all.

Mark

TUESDAY’S TRIVIA TIDBITS

Welcome back to Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I will be posting weekly and info that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…

1: Director Martin Scorsese’s first choice for the role of Sam Bowden in “Cape Fear” was Harrison Ford. He had Robert DeNiro call Ford to try convincing him to take the part. Robert Redford was also considered before Nick Nolte eventually took the role.

2: In “Cinderella Man“, professional boxers played Jimmy Braddock’s (Russell Crowe’s) opponents. They were told to land their blows as close to Crowe’s body as possible. Unfortunately, they sometimes couldn’t pull back in time and ended up injuring the actor.

3: The scene in “The 40 Year Old Virgin” where Andy (Steve Carell) has his chest hair removed required five cameras set up for the shot. Carell’s chest hair was actually ripped out in the scene. The actor had told director Judd Apatow just before shooting the scene: “It has to be real. It won’t be as funny if it’s mocked up or if it’s special effect. You have to see that this is really happening.” The scene had to be done in one shot.

4: So disappointed was he by the poor reception of “The Night Of The Hunter” on its initial release both critically and commercially, Charles Laughton vowed never to direct a film again, and he never did. The film he was planning to direct next was going to be a screen adaptation of “The Naked And The Dead.“

5: In Derek Cianfrance’s “Blue Valentine“, the scenes in the ‘past’ when Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) are falling in love were shot first, in three weeks. After this Gosling and Williams spent a month together in a rented house to age themselves in preparation for the ‘present’ scenes. They spent a lot of their time grocery shopping, cooking dinner and learning to pick fights with each other.

6: On October 17, 2006, Wesley Snipes was indicted on eight counts of tax fraud. He was ultimately found guilty and sentenced in April, 2008, to three years imprisonment. It was determined that he had not filed federal income tax returns from 1999 to 2007 and owed the IRS approximately $20,000,000 in back taxes. On the day he was sentenced, he paid $5,000,000 to the IRS.

7: Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale, and John Leguizamo auditioned for the role of Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann’s “Romeo & Juliet“, before Luhrman decided to make Mercutio black and cast Harold Perrineau, Jr instead. Benicio Del Toro was also considered for the part of Tybalt before Leguizamo took that role.

8: On the first day of shooting his film debut in “Mrs Brown“, Gerard Butler had to run naked into a freezing sea and, as a result, developed hypothermia. Later during the filming, he saved a young boy from drowning in the River Tay, Scotland and received a Certificate Of Bravery from The Royal Humane Society.

9: During the filming of “The Birds“, Tippi Hedren’s daughter Melanie Griffith was given a present by Alfred Hitchcock: a doll that looked exactly and eerily like Hedren. The creepiness was compounded by the ornate wooden box it came in, which a young Griffith took to be a coffin.

10: The scene at the beginning of “Apocalypse Now” with Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) alone in his hotel room was completely unscripted. Sheen told the shooting crew to just let the cameras roll and he was actually drunk in the scene and punched the mirror which was real glass. Sheen also began sobbing and tried to attack Francis Ford Coppola. The crew was so disturbed by his actions that they wanted to stop shooting, but Coppola wanted to keep the cameras going.

Unfortunately, there will be no Trivia Tidbits next Tuesday or for the short, foreseeable future as it’s at this time that I will be stepping back from this feature and regrouping. Having just missed out on a 2013 Lammy nomination for this, I have decided that fresh material is required. If you must know my true feelings, then the picture of Martin Sheen (above) should suffice in conveying my dismay and despair.

Don’t threat, though, the feature will return in time, when I have researched more and can come back with more material for you all to enjoy. Until next time, the curtains of Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits have now drawn but in the meantime you can still check out earlier editions that you may have missed.

Just click here.

TUESDAY’S TRIVIA TIDBITS

Welcome back to Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I will be posting weekly and info that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…

1: In “Saturday Night Fever“, in Tony’s (John Travolta) bedroom there’s a poster for “Rocky“, a film directed by John G. Avildsen. The sequel to this film, “Staying Alive“, was written and directed by the star of “Rocky“, Sylvester Stallone. In fact, Avildsen was the original director of this film but was fired by producer Robert Stigwood shortly before principal photography began due to “creative differences”. John Badham was approached to fill in at the last minute. Tony also has a poster for “Serpico” on his wall. Avildsen was originally considered to direct that film as well, but left the project due to “creative differences.”

2: The three main characters in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” are named after dogs. Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) was named after screenwriter Willard Huyck’s dog, Willie (Kate Capshaw) is named after Steven Spielberg’s dog and Indiana (Harrison Ford) is named after George Lucas’s dog.

3: Kiefer Sutherland is named after Warren Kiefer, pen name of Lorenzo Sabatini. Sabatini directed “Il castello dei morti vivi“, in which his father Donald Sutherland made his theatrical film debut.

4: Anjelica Huston was offered the leading role of Annie Wilkes in “Misery” and was interested, but was unable to accept it due to her commitment to “The Grifters“. Bette Midler also turned the role down before it went to Kathy Bates.

5: In the closing credits of “Jackie Brown“, Quentin Tarantino gives special thanks to “Bert D’Angelo’s Daughter”. In the late 70′s, Paul Sorvino starred in a TV detective show, “Bert D’Angelo/Superstar“. Thus “Bert D’Angelo’s Daughter” is Paul’s daughter and Tarantino’s girlfriend (at the time) Mira Sorvino. Sorvino can actually be seen (out of focus) in a brief court room scene.

6: The original director of “Malcolm X” was going to be Norman Jewison but he had to withdraw from the project due to outside pressure demanding that the subject be made by a black film-maker. At one point Oliver Stone also expressed interest in directing it as a follow-up to “JFK“; Stone’s first choice was Denzel Washington, who went on to star in the title role when Spike Lee came on board as director.

7: The part of John Keating (Robin Williams’ role) in “Dead Poet’s Society“, was once intended for Dustin Hoffman. The film was also going to be Hoffman’s directorial debut before Hoffman withdrew from the film. Liam Neeson had then originally landed the role to be directed by Jeff Kanew, but lost it to Robin Williams when director Peter Weir came on board. Bill Murray was also considered at one point.

8: The name of the high school in “Carrie” is Bates High, a reference to Norman Bates from “Psycho“. In addition, the four note violin theme from “Psycho” is used over and over in the film.

9: Kate Winslet holds a unique position in Academy Awards history: Only twice have two actresses been nominated for playing the same character in the same film. The first two were Gloria Stuart and Winslet in “Titanic“. The second two were Judi Dench and Winslet in “Iris“.

10: Director Francis Ford Coppola explains on the DVD commentary of “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” that Mina (Winona Ryder) and Jonathan Harker’s (Keanu Reeves) wedding was a reshoot done at a Los Angeles Greek Orthodox church. They filmed the entire ceremony with a genuine Orthodox minister and realized afterwards that Ryder and Reeves really were (unintentionally) married.

So there you have it. 10 esoteric Tidbits to masticate on. Some you may know. Some you may not. If you have any thoughts, stick your donations in the comment box.
See you next Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

TUESDAY’S TRIVIA TIDBITS

Welcome back to Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I will be posting weekly and info that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…

1: In a TV interview, Charlie Sheen credited Keith David with saving his life on the set of “Platoon“. While shooting in an open-doored Huey gunship, the helicopter banked too hard and Sheen was thrown towards – and would have gone through – the open door. David grabbed him and pulled him back in.

2: At one point Steven Spielberg considered directing “Awakenings” before passing it on to Penny Marshall. The time he spent on the project did yield one useful outcome for him: Steven Zaillian’s script took several short chapters, each about different patients, and put them together into a linear whole. This brought Zaillian to Spielberg’s attention, and he offered Zaillian the similar task of adapting “Schindler’s List“, which ended up winning Oscars for both of them.

3: Leonardo DiCaprio was originally offered the role of Dirk Diggler in “Boogie Nights“. He liked the screenplay but turned it down because he had already signed on to do “Titanic“. However, it was DiCaprio who suggested Mark Wahlberg for the role.

4: Martin Scorsese stated before the release of “Casino” that he created the “head in a vice” scene as a sacrifice, certain the MPAA would insist it be cut. He hoped this would draw fire away from other violent scenes that would seem less so by comparison. When the MPAA made no objection to the vice scene, he left it in, albeit slightly edited.

5: In “Aliens“, Lance Henriksen caught a dose of food poisoning from the milk and yogurt combination that he had to spew up when his chest was pierced by the alien queen’s tail. Having this lactose combination sitting around under hot studio lights created a bacterial breeding ground. Curiously, the crew of the first “Alien” film opted not to use milk for Ash’s “death” scene (where he also spews the milky substance out of his mouth) as they thought a fluid made of milk would go sour under the hot lights.

6: When trying out for the parts of Bill and Ted in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure“, each actor was paired up with another. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter were paired up, Reeves trying out for the part of Bill while Winter tried out for the part of Ted. They were cast opposite what they auditioned for.

7: During the climatic motorcycle chase in “The Great Escape“, director John Sturges allowed Steve McQueen to ride (in disguise) as one of the pursuing German soldiers, so that in the final sequence, through the magic of editing, he’s actually chasing himself.

8: In “Glengarry Glen Ross“, Alec Baldwin, was initially hired to play Blake (a role which wasn’t in the original play) but with the agreement that if Al Pacino was unable to play Roma, Baldwin would play him. Early in preproduction it looked as if Pacino was going to be unavailable, so Baldwin began working on Roma, only for Pacino to join the project and Baldwin went back to Blake.

9: “Dances of Wolves” ran so far over budget that Kevin Costner was forced to invest his own money. This caused rumors that the film would be another out-of-control, disappointing western like “Heaven’s Gate“. In fact, some studio people were referring to it as “Kevin’s Gate”. It went on to win the first Best Picture Oscar for a western since “Cimarron“, over 50 years before it.

10: When the film “Gangs of New York” was first conceived in 1978, it was originally planned for Dan Aykroyd to be cast as Amsterdam Vallon and John Belushi as Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting. The project fell apart after Belushi died. A cast reshuffle had Mel Gibson as Amsterdam Vallon and Robert DeNiro or Willem Dafoe as The Butcher. Eventually, Leonardo DiCaprio was cast as Amsterdam Vallon and Daniel Day-Lewis was cast as The Butcher.

So there you have it. 10 esoteric Tidbits to masticate on. Some you may know. Some you may not. If you have any thoughts, stick your donations in the comment box.
See you next Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

TUESDAY’S TRIVIA TIDBITS

Welcome back to Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I will be posting weekly and info that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…

1: “Drive” and “Taxi Driver” actor Albert Brooks’ real name is, in fact, Albert Einstein. He changed his surname “Einstein” because there was already an extremely well-known theoretical physicist by that name.

2: According to David Fincher, Robert Downey Jr. was so exhausted while making “Zodiac” because the film was shot digitally (leaving them with fewer resets and fewer breaks) that he decided to leave jars of his urine around the set as a form of protest.

3: In “Trainspotting” there are several references to The Beatles: – The scene where the store detectives chase Renton down the street is reminiscent of the scene in “A Hard Day’s Night” where The Beatles are pursued by fans. – While watching the train, the four friends arrange themselves in the same manner as The Beatles did on the back of the album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band“. – The scene where the four friends cross the road and enter the hotel is reminiscent of the cover of the album “Abbey Road“. – The scene where Renton wakes up on the couch in the morning at Diane’s home and says hello to someone passing through the hallway while covered with a blanket to his chin, is reminiscent of a scene in “Help!” where Ringo is found in a trunk of a car covered up with a blanket, and upon being found, says hello. – The “Mother Superior’s” written in the dealer house is a reference to the Beatles song Happiness is a Warm Gun, a song about heroin, which has the line “mother superior jump the gun“.

4: Dino De Laurentiis, who had produced “Manhunter“, passed on “The Silence of the Lambs” because Manhunter had flopped. He gave the rights away to Orion Pictures for free.

5: The part of J.D. (played by Brad Pitt) in “Thelma & Louise” was originally intended for William Baldwin but he jumped ship when he landed the lead in “Backdraft“. Christian Slater was also considered and, then struggling actor, George Clooney auditioned five times for Ridley Scott before Pitt took over.

6: Following the success of the movie “Forrest Gump“, the writer of the novel, Winston Groom wrote a sequel called “Gump & Co.“, which referenced the movie as if it had been released in Forrest’s world. Forrest also meets Tom Hanks in the novel.

7: After “The Wild One” in 1953, Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin almost starred together again 19 years later in John Boorman’s “Deliverance“. They were cast together in the film until Lee Marvin told director Boorman that he thought he and Brando were too old for their roles. Boorman agreed and cast Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds instead.

8: When Paul Thomas Anderson approached George C. Scott about playing the role of Earl Partridge (Jason Robards’ character) in “Magnolia“, Scott threw the script across the room, saying “This is the worst fucking thing I’ve ever read. The language is terrible.“

9: The inspiration for the character of Freddy in “A Nightmare On Elm St” came from several sources in Wes Craven’s childhood. Fred Krueger was a schoolmate of Craven with whom he had shared a paper route, and who had bullied him for several years. In “The Last House on the Left“, Craven also used this experience as inspiration, calling the villain Krug. Freddy’s appearance (especially the dirty clothes and hat) was inspired by a hobo who Craven saw staring at him through his window one day when he was ten.

10: In “The Big Lebowski“, the Dude’s line, “The Dude abides” is a reference to Ecclesiastes 1:4, “One generation passes away, and another generation comes: but the earth abides forever.” It is a reference to how the Dude, much like the Earth, can weather change and chaos around him, but still remain the same.

So there you have it. 10 esoteric Tidbits to masticate on. Some you may know. Some you may not. If you have any thoughts, stick your donations in the comment box.
See you next Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

For Your Consideration

As some, or most, of you will be aware, the 2013 Lammy Awards are now underway. Amongst all of us bloggers this is a coveted prize that brings warmth the heart of the victor. If only, to be reminded that other bloggers appreciate the effort that you’ve put in. Don’t worry too much, though. I’m not about to go on the campaign trail and bombard you with my gleaming smile, firm handshake or even a photographic opportunity when kissing your baby. That being said, I’d still like to win one of these awards but I’m going to be straight up about it.
What I would like to do, at this time, is thank all of you who have submitted my blog and got me to the nomination stage. I’m over the moon and can’t thank you all enough. It is at this time that I will now submit my “For Your Consideration” poster (which I’ve been dying to do) for the four main category’s that I would be greatful in getting a nomination for.

The poster speaks for itself, I think, and that’s as far as my campaigning will go. However, you will still be able to see the poster in my sidebar throughout the nomination stage as a gentle reminder. Anyway, I’ve said enough already. A big thank you to Chris from Filmhipster for the excellent poster that he designed for me and thanks to all that have submitted me so far and for any further consideration you might have.

Always grateful,

Mark

TUESDAY’S TRIVIA TIDBITS

Welcome back to Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I will be posting weekly and info that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…

1: Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown” originally had a voiceover narration, which was written in the script but he eliminated it, and filmed the movie so that the audience discovered the clues at the same time Jake Gittes did.

2: During filming one of the night scenes in “The Blues Brothers“, John Belushi disappeared and could not be located. Dan Aykroyd looked around and saw a single house with its lights on. He went to the house and was prepared to identify himself, the movie and that they were looking for John Belushi. But before he could, the homeowner looked at him, smiled and said, “You’re here for John Belushi, aren’t you?” The homeowner then told them Belushi had entered their house, asked if he could have a glass of milk and a sandwich and then crashed on their couch. Situations like this prompted Aykroyd to affectionately dub Belushi “America’s Guest“.

3: Jennifer Lawrence is the youngest actress to be nominated for two Best Actress Academy Awards and the 2nd youngest recipient of the award upon winning for “Silver Linings Playbook” aged 22; the youngest recipient is Marlee Matlin, who won for “Children of a Lesser God” aged 21.

4: There’s a scene in David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” where Adam Kesher (played by Justin Theroux) smashes a producers’ car windshield with a golf club. This is a reference to the famous 1994 incident where Jack Nicholson did the same. Nicholson’s nickname is “Mulholland Man“.

5: Matthew Modine turned down the Tom Cruise role, Maverick, in “Top Gun” because he objected to the film’s Cold War politics. Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, Matthew Broderick, Sean Penn, Michael J. Fox, Scott Baio and Tom Hanks also turned it down. Rob Lowe, Eric Stoltz, Robert Downey Jr and Charlie Sheen were considered for it. Sheen would later go on to spoof the role in the 1991 comedy “Hot Shots“.

6: Screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie’s inspiration for the character of Keyser Soze in “The Usual Suspects” was a real-life murderer by the name of John List, who murdered his family and then disappeared for 17 years.

7: Before Dustin Hoffman auditioned for his role as Ratzo Rizzo in “Midnight Cowboy“, he knew that his all-American image could easily cost him the job. To prove he could do it, he asked the auditioning film executive to meet him on a street corner in Manhattan, and in the meantime, dressed himself in filthy rags. The executive arrived at the appointed corner and waited, barely noticing the “beggar” less than ten feet away who was accosting people for spare change. At last, the beggar walked up to him and revealed his true identity.

8: Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar was approached several times to direct “The Paperboy” before Lee Daniels. He seriously considered making it his first English-speaking feature but finally declined. Allegedly, he participated in early versions of the script.

9: John Turturro role of Bernie Bernbaum in the Coen’s “Miller’s Crossing” is a performance that’s actually based on the film’s cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld.

10: According to an interview with “Predator” director John McTiernan, the “hole in the jungle” appearance of the Predator was played by Jean-Claude Van Damme in a “blue screen” (actually red) suit. Van Damme quit after two days, unhappy with being cast as an uncredited special effect, but can be seen as the Predator in “If It Bleeds We Can Kill It: The Making of ‘Predator’“. The alien was scrapped, redesigned and was eventually played by Kevin Peter Hall who was over 7 feet tall.

So there you have it. 10 esoteric Tidbits to masticate on. Some you may know. Some you may not. If you have any thoughts, stick your donations in the comment box.
See you next Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)

TUESDAY’S TRIVIA TIDBITS.

Welcome back to Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I will be posting weekly and info that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…

1: As with most of Stephen King’s stories, “Stand By Me” contains connections to other books he has written. Ace Merrill (Kiefer Sutherland’s character) later re-appeared in the book “Needful Things“, although he does not appear in the film. The dog Chopper is compared to “Cujo“.
Characters are familiar with Shawshank Prison, from “The Shawshank Redemption“. Teddy Duchamp (Corey Feldman’s character) was actually first mentioned in King’s first book, “Carrie“, in which Carrie destroys a gas station he once worked at.

2: Al Pacino turned down the role of Ron Kovic’s (Tom Cruise) father in Oliver Stone’s “Born on the Fourth of July“. Some years earlier another version of the film was proposed with Pacino as Kovic with William Friedkin directing.

3: Production on the film “Barry Lyndon” was moved from Ireland to England after Stanley Kubrick received word that his name was on an IRA hit list for directing a film featuring English soldiers in Ireland.

4: Before Anthony Hopkins was cast as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs“, the considerations were: John Hurt, Christopher Lloyd, Patrick Stewart, Louis Gossett Jr., Robert Duvall, Jack Nicholson, and Robert DeNiro. Jeremy Irons actually turned down the offer.

5: John Singleton’s Best Director Oscar nomination for “Boyz N The Hood” at the age of 24 makes him the youngest director to ever receive such an accolade, beating Orson Welles by a good 2 years.

6: Ellen Burstyn received a permanent spinal injury while filming “The Exorcist“. In the sequence where she is thrown away from her possessed daughter, a harness jerked her hard away from the bed. She fell on her coccyx and screamed in pain.

7: Robert Mitchum turned down the role that eventually went to Tony Curtis in “The Defiant Ones“. Mitchum, a real-life veteran of a Southern chain gang, didn’t believe the premise that a black man and a white man would be chained together and said that such a thing would never happen in the South. Over the years this reason was corrupted to the point where many people now believe Mitchum turned down the role because he didn’t want to be chained to a black man, an absolute falsehood. Curtis repeated the inaccurate story in his autobiography, but later recanted after Mitchum’s real reason was explained to him.

8: Clint Eastwood wore the same poncho through all three “Man with No Name” movies- “A Fistful of Dollars“, “For a Few Dollars More” and “The Good, the Bad & the Ugly” without a replacement or ever getting it cleaned.

9: The original cut of “The Town” that Ben Affleck screened for producers was 4 hours long. After realizing that the film would never appeal to wide audiences, he cut the film down to 2 hours and 50 minutes in three days. After screening that version, the studio and producers loved it but knew that it was still too long. Affleck eventually had to cut beloved footage and personal favorite scenes to make the film work. The film then went through more change at a studio standpoint when they wanted the film at no more than 2hours and 10 minutes. Eventually, Affleck cut the film down to 2 hours and 8 minutes, ultimately trimming action sequences, character development and dialog. Affleck, while happy with the theatrical cut, stated that an Extended Cut will be featured on the DVD and BluRay with deleted scenes on top of that. He also stated that, while the theatrical cut of “The Town” is a close adaptation of ‘Prince of Thieves‘ (the novel which it is based on), the extended cut is a mirror of the novel, staying more true to the book.

10: “American Beauty” has many references to the Vladimir Nabokov novel “Lolita“. “Lester Burnham” (Kevin Spacey’s character) is an anagram for “Humbert learns”. Prof. Humbert was the main character from the novel and film adaptations.

So there you have it. 10 esoteric Tidbits to masticate on. Some you may know. Some you may not. If you have any thoughts, stick your donations in the comment box.
See you next Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)