Thirty-five students from 20 U.S. colleges are eligible for the 39th Student Academy Awards, AMPAS said Wednesday. Academy members will view the finalists’ films at special screenings and vote to select the winners. Prizes include Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal awards, along with accompanying cash grants of $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000. U.S. winners will join international students winners for a week of industry and social activities June 9 in Los Angeles. The list of finalists follows. Narrative : Benny , Huay-Bing Law, University of Texas at Austin Contra, el Mar , Richard Parkin, University of California, Los Angeles Hatch , Christoph Kuschnig, Columbia University Mr. Bellpond , A. Todd Smith, Brigham Young University Nani , Justin Tipping, American Film Institute Narcocorrido , Ryan Prows, American Film Institute The Recorder Exam , Bora Kim, Columbia University Requited , Madeline Puzzo, Point Park University Under , Mark Raso, Columbia University Documentary : Dignity Harbor: A Home Away from Homeless , Michael Gualdoni, Lindenwood University Dying Green , Ellen Tripler, American University Hiro: A Story of Japanese Internment , Keiko Wright, New York University Lost Country , Heather Burky, Art Institute of Jacksonville Love Hacking , Jenni Nelson, Stanford University Pot Country , Mario Furloni, University of California, Berkeley Reporting on The Times: The New York Times and the Holocaust , Emily Harrold, New York University Smoke Songs , Briar March, Stanford University Why Am I Still Alive , Hanzhang Shen, School of Visual Arts Animation Chocolate Milk , Eliza Kinkz, University of California, Los Angeles Cowboy, Clone, Dust , Matthew Christensen, New York University Eyrie , David Wolter, California Institute of the Arts The Jockstrap Raiders , Mark Nelson, University of California, Los Angeles La Lune et le Coq , Raymond McCarthy Bergeron, Rochester Institute of Technology Lizard and the Ladder , Aaron Bristow, Utah Valley University My Little Friend , Eric Prah, Ringling College of Art and Design Reviving Redwood , Matt Sullivan, Ringling College of Art and Design Shinobi Blues , Yue Liu, School of Visual Arts Alternative Falconer , Micah Robert Barber, University of Texas at Austin In Between Shadows , Tianran Duan, University of Southern California Last Remarks , Umar Riaz, New York University Peace at Home , Avital Epstein, Florida State University The Reality Clock , Amanda Tasse, University of Southern California SiSiSiSiSiSiSiSiSiSiSi , Juan Camilo González, University of Southern California Terra Cotta Warrior , Bin Li, Rochester Institute of Technology Us , Alex Lora, City College of New York
Avengers fans, fear not! You’ll find no spoilers for this Friday’s big tentpole herein. Just know this: You’re going to want to stay through the end credits for the expected post-credits bonus scenes that Marvel Studios are known to slide into their films, because The Avengers reportedly contains not one, but two of ’em. Looks like Robert Downey Jr. wasn’t lying about filming the day after the premiere! (Wait, does that mean Joss led us all astray?) Oh, fine. If you can’t stand the not knowing, bang it here for details. [@ thefilmcynic , SuperheroHype ]
Not this again: “The eye behind such films as No Country for Old Men and The Assassination of Jesse James , [Roger] Deakins takes Bond into the digital age . Mendes promises his darker tone will bleed directly over to the physical look of the movie. ‘I’ve worked with Roger twice [on Jarhead and Revolutionary Road ], so I feel very comfortable in that relationship. There’s a shorthand. You look at each other and know what you’re thinking. He’s a true artist. Right from the start of directing, I realized the most important two relationships were with my leading actors and the director of photography. You’ll see in the teaser trailer that it has a very distinct look that does have elements of noir and British ’60s. It’s very English — a lot is set in England.'” [ Hollywood.com ]
So much of the “Looper” promotional material has focused on Bruce Willis I and Bruce Willis II, but a new still features a shotgun-wielding Emily Blunt. Plus, dogs hate the “Dexter” theme song, and Val Kilmer removes his sunglasses in today’s Dailies! » Walking and talking will save lives, says new campaign starring the reunited Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : MTV Movies Blog Discovery Date : 01/05/2012 00:37 Number of articles : 2
The Avengers is less a movie than a novelization of itself, an oversized, self-aware picture designed mostly for effect: That of reliving the experience of a movie you’ve seen before and just can’t get enough of. The picture is broken down into narrative chunks that ultimately don’t tell much of a story – what you get instead is a series of mini-climaxes held together by banter between characters. The idea, maybe, is that people already love Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk and Thor so much — like, so, so much — that all a filmmaker really needs to do is put them all into a big stock pot filled with elaborate set pieces and some knowing dialogue and he’s golden. And maybe, given the heightened-lowered expectations of movie audiences, that really is all he has to do: It’s possible to have looked forward to a movie all year, to enjoy watching it, and then to have completely forgotten about it the following week. The Avengers isn’t terrible. It has a welcoming, communal spirit, especially for a big-budget, early-summer picture. But its director, Joss Whedon — who also cowrote the script, with Zak Penn, based on the characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby — seems to have gotten lost in mythology on his way to the story. It’s odd that last year, the arrival (and popularity) of The Artist and Midnight in Paris elicited dozens of cranky essays — or at least Tweets — about how lame it was that these movies traded in “nostalgia,” a sentimental longing for an old-timey world of bowler hats and flapper dresses (or, at least, moviemaking with less green screen). But movies built around comic books never get the same treatment, even though they wouldn’t exist if not for a past kept in boxes under countless beds, a past that you get really mad at your mother for throwing out. We have to carry some of the past along with us. How else do you shape the future? But The Avengers isn’t so much a movie as a kind of G-8 summit for action figures who have finally been allowed out of their cellophane boxes. They do action stuff, then they talk a little, then they do more action stuff. It’s a movie that, for all its dazzle, has forgotten that the whole point of reading comic books is for story and character development. The Avengers certainly doesn’t lack for characters, most of which will be familiar even if you’ve never read a Marvel comic book in your life, provided you’ve been to the movies at least a couple of times in the past few years. As the picture opens, Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, the godfather of the military law-enforcement outfit known as S.H.I.E.L.D., is just about to put a shiny cube known as the Tesseract away for safe-keeping when out of the sky drops pissed-off alien Viking Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston, who has a fantastic anemic-schoolboy look). Loki possesses a mysterious staff that can steal the hearts of men, even superhuman ones, and he uses this dastardly magical doohickey to take a number of Nick Fury’s employees hostage, among them Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton, AKA Hawkeye, a bow-and-arrow guy. He also takes possession of the Tesseract, which has the power to destroy worlds and to remove that pesky ring-around-the-collar — seriously, this rock can do anything. Nick needs to get the rock back, and fast, so he summons the most awesome assemblage of superhuman superheroes ever, in the form of Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America (Chris Evans), Bruce Banner, AKA the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Natasha Romanoff, AKA Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). Later, Loki’s linebacker-sized half-brother Thor (the casually appealing Chris Hemsworth, a collegiate, big galoot of a guy) joins the fray, as Hawkeye does once he’s freed from Loki’s spell. It’s not giving too much away to tell you that these guys do recover the Tesseract, because luckily, someone has had the foresight to build a reversible thingie into the thingie — smart thinking! And maybe, when it comes right down to it, The Avengers doesn’t need much in the way of plotting to deliver base-level blockbuster satisfaction: It moves forward, set piece by set piece, in a way that can easily fool you into thinking it’s exciting, or at least not boring. In one sequence, Iron Man and Thor — his mighty hammer looking looking comically, wonderfully tiny in his gigantic hand — duke it out in a forest; Captain America swoops in to intervene, and the three engage in a vaulting, clanging, technically souped-up version of rock-paper-scissors, each trying to outdo the others with his own personal superhero superpowers — they don’t yet realize that their powers complement each other more than they clash. Later, Thor breaks up more shenanigans among the group with a rebuke: “You people are so petty! And so tiny.” He’s got that right. The Avengers suffers from the thing that mars so many movies peopled with outsize characters: Everyone is jostling for our attention, and naturally, some are going to grab more than others. Ruffalo is characteristically understated as Bruce Banner, which makes his transformation into, as Stark puts it, “an enormous green rage monster” quietly satisfying. Renner’s Hawkeye is a little lost — it can’t be easy, being the bow-and-arrow guy. Similarly, even though Johansson’s sultry Natasha gets a smashing opening — she vanquishes a bunch of thugs even as she’s tied to a chair, a magnificent feat of bondage combat — she’s quickly relegated to the superhero back burner. And Downey’s Stark, strutting around in his off-hours in a Black Sabbath T-shirt, is amusing until his self-important wisecracks begin to wear ruts in the movie. One thing The Avengers doesn’t have going for it — which is hardly the movie’s fault — is that it can never be the sneak attack Jon Favreau’s first Iron Man movie was. That picture stands as the best in a wayward series of Avengers movies that include Kenneth Branagh’s crazy-Wagnerian Thor and Joe Johnston’s well-intentioned but wobbly Captain America: The First Avenger . Of all the characters here, Chris Evans’s Captain America best acquits himself, partly because Evans never looks as if he’s trying too hard and partly, maybe, because his character’s suit — an old-fashioned padded red-white-and-blue number, with matching helmet mask — is so old-school that you never lose sight of the superhuman human being inside it. Maybe that’s also why Gwyneth Paltrow, who appears in only a few scenes as Tony Stark’s main squeeze Pepper Potts, is such a blessed vision: She pads around Tony Stark’s space-age Manhattan headquarters in her bare feet, dressed in a white shirt and cutoff shorts, a sexy vision of down-to-earth braininess — she also happens to be coordinating the technology that makes Stark and his Stark Enterprises such a success. But maybe you don’t really need a Pepper Potts when you’ve got a crashing, galloping extended climax in which a portion of New York City is destroyed by massive flying metal beasties before the Avengers can restore order. Whedon does a pretty valiant job of orchestrating set pieces like these. And yet — is that what we really want from Whedon? In my book, Whedon will always be a genius for creating and shaping Buffy the Vampire Slayer — a show that addressed not just the major traumas of teenagerhood but of this goddamned thing we call life — and shepherding it through seven remarkably sustained seasons. The Avengers is far less intimate than Buffy — a show whose proportions reached majestic heights — ever was. And Whedon’s 2005 feature directing debut Serenity , based on his ill-fated but marvelous television series Firefly , offers the kind of satisfying, bare-bones storytelling that’s lacking in The Avengers . (I also think it’s time for Whedon to retire the idea of the hole in the sky that suddenly breaks open, unleashing horrors upon an unsuspecting world, a device that also features in the smug, tricky, meta-horror movie Cabin in the Woods , which Whedon cowrote and produced. He never met a portal he didn’t like.) The Avengers is at its best when Whedon takes the time to shape small moments between the characters, as when tight-ass Agent Phil Coulson (played by the likeably noodgy Clark Gregg) goes all stammering and tongue-tied in the presence of Captain America, his childhood idol. Coulson’s awkward hero worship is a gentle metaphor for The Avengers ’ whole reason for existence — these are characters people love, for understandable reasons. But the movie’s scale and size does little to serve those characters, and there’s something self-congratulatory about Whedon’s whole approach, as if he were making a movie only for people who are already in on the in-joke. Comic-book aficionados who have always loved the Avengers may very well love The Avengers ; those who wouldn’t know a Tesseract from a Rubik’s Cube may feel differently. That’s the thing about other people’s nostalgia: It’s always a bitch. Follow Stephanie Zacharek on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
The annual pageant of youth, taste and class hardware bacchanal known as the MTV Movie Awards has announced its nominations for 2012, with this year’s most formidable blockbuster to date, The Hunger Games , doing battle against the most formidable blockbusters of last year’s calendar, including Bridesmaids, Breaking Dawn: Part I, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, The Help , and others. And Drive loyalists rejoice! Your favorite head-shattering action-drama of 2011 has been honored with three nominations as well. Read on for the full list of contenders who will go at it in a fully-product placement-optimized Gibson Amphitheater on June 3. MOVIE OF THE YEAR (voting stays live throughout the 2012 Movie Awards ceremony) Bridesmaids The Hunger Games Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 The Help The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE Emma Stone – Crazy, Stupid, Love. Emma Watson – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games Kristen Wiig – Bridesmaids Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo BEST MALE PERFORMANCE Channing Tatum – The Vow Daniel Radcliffe – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Joseph Gordon-Levitt – 50/50 Josh Hutcherson – The Hunger Games Ryan Gosling – Drive BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE** Elle Fanning – Super 8 Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids Liam Hemsworth – The Hunger Games Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Shailene Woodley – The Descendants BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE Jonah Hill – 21 Jump Street Kristen Wiig – Bridesmaids Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids Oliver Cooper – Project X Zach Galifianakis – The Hangover Part II BEST CAST* 21 Jump Street – Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Ice Cube, Dave Franco, Ellie Kemper, Brie Larson Bridesmaids – Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton The Help – Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain The Hunger Games – Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz BEST ON-SCREEN TRANSFORMATION* Collin Farrell – Horrible Bosses Elizabeth Banks – The Hunger Games Johnny Depp – 21 Jump Street Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo BEST FIGHT Channing Tatum & Jonah Hill vs. Kid Gang – 21 Jump Street Daniel Radcliffe vs. Ralph Fiennes – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Jennifer Lawrence & Josh Hutcherson vs. Alexander Ludwig – The Hunger Games Tom Cruise vs. Michael Nyqvist – Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol Tom Hardy vs. Joel Edgerton – Warrior BEST KISS Channing Tatum & Rachel McAdams – The Vow Jennifer Lawrence & Josh Hutcherson – The Hunger Games Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Rupert Grint & Emma Watson – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone – Crazy, Stupid, Love. BEST GUT-WRENCHING PERFORMANCE* 21 Jump Street – Jonah Hill & Rob Riggle (Schmidt shoots Coach Walters in the d#@k) Bridesmaids – Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper (Food poisoning turns the girls’ dress fitting into a disaster) Drive – Ryan Gosling (Elevator beat-down) The Help – Bryce Dallas Howard (Minny gives Hilly a pie she won’t forget) Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol – Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt scales to new heights) BEST ON-SCREEN DIRTBAG* Bryce Dallas Howard – The Help Collin Farrell – Horrible Bosses Jennifer Aniston – Horrible Bosses Jon Hamm – Bridesmaids Oliver Cooper – Project X BEST MUSIC* “The Devil is in the Details,” Chemical Brothers – Hanna (Interrogation scene) “Impossible,” Figurine – Like Crazy (Anna texts Jacob from across the pond) “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO – 21 Jump Street (House dance party) “Pursuit of Happiness,” Kid Cudi (Steve Aoki Remix) – Project X (The party erupts into chaos) “A Real Hero,” College w/Electric Youth – Drive (The Driver takes Irene and her son for a fun ride) *denotes new category **voted on by an Academy of Directors ###
Get excited: “After eight years, the Australian actor Paul Hogan, best known for his Crocodile Dundee movies, has resolved his dispute with the authorities there, who said he and his former manager, John Cornell, owed $156 million in unpaid taxes and penalties dating to the 1980s heyday of the film series. As the settlement was announced Mr. Hogan’s lawyer, Andrew Robinson, criticized the tax inquiry as a waste of taxpayers’ money, saying it may have cost more than $20 million. He also suggested that Mr. Hogan, who has largely been inactive in recent years, might soon be back with a new project. ‘Who knows, now that this monkey is off his back?’ Mr. Robinson said.” [ NYT ]
Universal’s going back to the well, this time bringing Star Trek / Transformers / Cowboys & Aliens writers Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci along to re-envision two horror properties of the not-so-distant past: “Kurtzman and Orci’s K/O Paper Products will develop and produce a modern reimagining of Universal library titles including The Mummy , alongside producer Sean Daniel and writer Jon Spaihts. The pair will also develop and produce Universal’s reimagined Van Helsing , with Tom Cruise attached to star in and produce the film.” Oh, I’m sure it’ll all work out just fine. Right, Ron ? [ Deadline ]
It’s not every day that a studio turns 100. As such, Universal is making the most of its centennial with a host of events including the recent Tribeca Film Festival shout out to the the company courtesy of Robert DeNiro and Judd Apatow . But today, April 30, is the big day itself, and to kick off the first day of its second century, the company released “100 fun facts” from its history. The list includes many factoids sure to show up on a crossword puzzle near you, such as the name of the mechanical shark in Steven Spielberg’s Jaws , what happened to the hole left by John Belushi when he smashed in a wall with his guitar in Animal House , and the store where the crew from American Pie bought that “warm apple pie” subsequently deflowered by Jason Biggs. There’s the skinny on what inspired Carl Laemmle to name his studio Universal a century ago. Fans and film enthusiasts can celebrate online today at the official Universal Centennial website . Meanwhile, read on for 100 facts about Universal: 1. Universal Film Manufacturing Company was officially incorporated in New York on April 30, 1912. Company legend says Carl Laemmle was inspired to name his company Universal after seeing “Universal Pipe Fittings” written on a passing delivery wagon. 2. The only physical damage made during the filming of National Lampoon’s Animal House was when John Belushi made a hole in the wall with a guitar. The actual Sigma Nu fraternity house (which subbed for the fictitious Delta House) never repaired it, and instead framed the hole in honor of the film. 3. The working title for E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial was “A Boy’s Life.” 4. In the movie All Quiet on the Western Front , the Greek writing on the blackboard in the schoolroom is the beginning of Homer’s Odyssey: “Tell me, oh Muse, of that ingenious hero who traveled far and wide.” 5. In 1969, a then 22-year old Steven Spielberg was assigned to direct the Universal Television series pilot, Night Gallery . It’s safe to say things went pretty well for Steven after that. 6. The word “dude” in The Big Lebowski is used approximately 161 times in the movie: 160 times spoken and once in text (in the credits for “Gutterballs,” the second dream sequence). The F-word or a variation of the F-word is used 292 times. The Dude says “man” 147 times in the movie — that’s nearly 1.5 times a minute. 7. The first feature filmed at Universal City was Damon and Pythias in 1914. 8. President Ronald Reagan starred in the 1951 Universal feature film, Bedtime for Bonzo . 9. Back to the Future ’s DeLorean time machine is actually a licensed, registered vehicle in the state of California. While the vanity license plate used in the film says “OUTATIME,” the DeLorean’s actual license plate reads 3CZV657. 10. The film A Beautiful Mind was shot in sequence in order to help Russell Crowe better develop his character’s emotional and physical arc. 11. American Graffiti ’s budget was exactly $777,777.77, and it was delivered on time – and on budget. 12. In the Alfred Hitchcock classic The Birds , Tippi Hedren was actually cut in the face by a bird during the shooting of one sequence. 13. Throughout his career, Rock Hudson appeared in 46 feature films with Universal including Pillow Talk , All That Heaven Allows and Magnificent Obsession . In 1953, he was elected Mayor of Universal City. 14. The infamous apple pie in the movie American Pie was purchased by the production from Costco. 15. In the movie The Breakfast Club , the students ate the following for lunch: Andrew: A bag of chips, chocolate cookies, three sandwiches, milk, a banana and an apple. Claire: Sushi. Allison: Sandwich with Pixie Stix and Captain Crunch cereal. Brian: Soup, sandwich with peanut butter and jam and apple juice. Bender: Nothing. 16. In Brokeback Mountain , the song Jack plays on his harmonica is “He Was a Friend of Mine,” the same song Willie Nelson sings during the closing credits. 17. The film Buck Privates took in $4 million at the U.S. Box Office (at a time when theater admission ranged between 10 and 25 cents). 18. A sneak preview of the film Buck Privates was held in late January 1941 for soldiers at Fort MacArthur, California. 19. The Munster’s House on Colonial Street was originally built for the 1946 production, So Goes My Love . 20. The title of the movie Do The Right Thing comes from a Malcolm X quote: “You’ve got to do the right thing.” 21. According to reports, during some of the Russian roulette scenes in the movie The Deer Hunter , a live round was put into the gun to heighten the actors’ tension per Robert De Niro’s suggestion. It was checked, however, to make sure the bullet was not in the chamber before the trigger was pulled. 22. In the first scene of the movie Double Indemnity , when Walter first kisses Phyllis, there is a wedding ring on Walter’s hand. Fred MacMurray was married and the ring was not noticed until post-production. 23. When Bela Lugosi, star of the monster classic, Dracula , died in 1956, he was buried wearing a black silk cape similar to the one he wore in the film. 24. At 29,500 sq. ft., Universal Studios’ Stage 12 is the 7th largest soundstage in the world. It was originally built for the 1929 musical Broadway . 25. Carl Laemmle Jr. offered James Whale a list of more than 30 film adaptations he could direct and out of them all, Whale picked Frankenstein . It was his transition from war movies to monster pics. 26. Today’s Universal City officially opened March 15, 1915, nearly three years after Universal film Manufacturing Company was created. The first mayor was Herbert Rawlinson. 27. Vans, the company behind the checkerboard shoes worn by Sean Penn (a.k.a. Jeff Spicoli) in the cult movie classic, Fast Times at Ridgemont High , became a national brand after the film’s release in 1982. 28. Actor Charlton Heston “parted” the Red Sea attraction on the Universal Studios Tour at the attraction’s grand opening in 1973. 29. Neither Michelle Rodriguez nor Jordana Brewster had drivers’ licenses or even learners’ permits before production of the film in Fast and the Furious . 30. Universal pioneered the Academy Award-winning Sensurround Sound System which made its first appearance in the 1974 movie, Earthquake . The Sensurround system caused low-frequency audio waves to be felt by the audience and created a visceral complement to the seismic tremors and destruction depicted on screen. 31. In the movie Field of Dreams , both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are among the thousands of extras in the Fenway Park scene. Over a decade later, when Phil Alden Robinson worked with Affleck on the production of The Sum of All Fears , Affleck said, “Nice working with you again.” 32. In the coliseum scenes in Gladiator , only the bottom two decks are actually filled with people. The other thousands of spectators are computer-animated. 33. Carole Lombard in My Man Godfrey was the first actress at Universal to receive a nomination for “Best Actress” at the Academy Awards. 34. William Powell from the 1936 film, My Man Godfrey was the first actor at Universal to receive a nomination for “Best Actor” at the Academy Awards. 35. The Universal sound technician, Jack Foley, developed the method of creating and recording many of the natural, everyday sound effects in a film. Today this method is named after him. 36. Universal’s first talking picture was Melody of Love . 37. The Universal Amphitheatre opened in 1972 with a staged concert version of Jesus Christ Superstar . The film version was released in 1973. 38. The legendary thriller and suspense director Alfred Hitchcock did not win any Academy Awards while working with Universal. 39. Thomas Edison presented Universal Studios with a plaque dedicating its first electric studio on October 27, 1915. 40. In the infamous shower scene in Psycho , the sound of the knife-stabbing actress Janet Leigh was made by plunging a knife into a melon. 41. The film Traffic in Souls is considered Universal’s first full-length feature film. 42. The legendary studio head Irving Thalberg got his start in show business as Carl Laemmle’s personal secretary in 1917. 43. ET: The Extra Terrestrial is Universal Pictures’ all-time highest grossing film. 44. With the over-budget production of Show Boat , Carl Laemmle was forced to sell Universal Studios to his creditors in 1936. 45. In 1995, Waterworld generated worldwide attention for being the most expensive film made to date. Unable to live up to expectations at the box office, the film eventually turned a profit due to strong home video sales and inspired one of the most popular theme park attractions of all time. 46. About 25% of the film Jaws was shot from water level so audiences could better relate to treading water. 47. In the film The Invisible Man , the director dressed Claude Rains in black velvet and filmed him against a black velvet background to create the effect that he wasn’t there. 48. Some of the props used in the 2005 version of King Kong were original props from the 1933 version. These props came from Peter Jackson’s personal collection and include the Skull Island spears and brightly painted shield, and some of the drums from the sacrifice scene. 49. In Jurassic Park , a guitar string was used to make the water ripple on the dash of the Ford Explorer by attaching it to the underside of the dash beneath the glass. 50. Universal entered the 3-D market with the film, It Came from Outer Space (1953). 51. Universal won its first Best Picture Academy Award for All Quiet on the Western Front in 1930. 52. Steven Spielberg nicknamed the mechanical shark in the movie Jaws , “Bruce.” 53. In the film The Incredible Shrinking Man , when Louise is on the phone asking for the operator, the music playing on the radio is the theme song to Written on the Wind , which was made at Universal the year prior. 54. The script Charlton Heston holds in the film Earthquake as he’s running lines with Genevieve Bujold is actually the script for “Earthquake” and on the page of the scene being shot. 55. It took two-and-a-half hours a day to apply Lon Chaney’s makeup in The Hunchback of Notre Dame . 56. Legendary Universal Chairman Lew R. Wasserman received an Academy Award in 1973 for his role as a humanitarian. 57. With the film Meet the Fockers , the MPAA would not allow use of the name ‘Focker’ unless the filmmakers could find an actual person with that last name. 58. The first American film to show a toilet flushing on screen was Psycho . 59. While Jurassic Park was in post-production, Steven Spielberg began working on Schindler’s List in Poland and worked via satellite, courtesy of technology provided by George Lucas. 60. In the film, Scarface , an M16 assault rifle with an M203 40mm grenade launcher attached to the barrel is Tony’s “little friend.” 61. The 1932 film Scarface was one of the first films to feature the Thompson submachine gun, known historically as the “tommy gun.” 62. In the film Pillow Talk , Tony Randall was supposed to fake a reaction to being decked in the face by one of the restaurant patrons. However, during filming, the actor overestimated and actually knocked out Randall. The shot was so well done— it was used in the film. 63. Alfred Hitchcock did not choose to conclude the film, The Birds , with the usual “THE END” title because he wanted to leave the audience with the feeling of unending terror and uncertainty. 64. Groucho Marx explained the title Duck Soup as follows: “Take two turkeys, one goose, four cabbages, but no duck, and mix them together. After one taste, you’ll duck soup the rest of your life.” 65. For Despicable Me , the film’s directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin provide most of the voices for Gru’s minions. 66. In The Nutty Professor starring Eddie Murphy, the family dinner scene was initially going to be cut out due to what was believed to be its lack of relevance. 67. When the Universal Studios Tour opened to the general public in 1964, the general admission price for one adult was $2.50. 68. The children who sang the song, “Every Sperm is Sacred” in the Monty Python film, The Meaning of Life , later said they had no idea what sperm was or what they were singing about. 69. In the film, My Little Chickadee , Cuthbert J. Twille (W.C. Fields) says to Flower Belle (Mae West), “Why don’t you come up and see me sometime?” — This is in reference to West’s famous line in the film She Done Him Wrong . 70. The following institutions have existed at one time on the Universal Studios lot—a school, zoo, and hospital. 71. The hair-washing scene in Out of Africa was shot very close to a live, territorial hippopotamus. Meryl Streep was extremely nervous during its filming. 72. The locusts in the 1999 film, The Mummy , were mostly computer-generated, however, some live grasshoppers were used. Hours before filming they were chilled in a refrigerator to make them more sluggish. 73. In Smokey and the Bandit , the Trans-Am featured in the bridge jump scene was fitted with a more powerful Chevrolet engine. 74. The average shot length in the film Vertigo is 6.7 seconds. 75. The permanent set in Stage 28 was created to be a replica of the landmark The Paris Opera House, for the classic film, The Phantom of the Opera . 76. When you hear the sound of the crowd cheering, “Spartacus! Spartacus!” in the movie Spartacus , it was actually a pre-taped recording from a 1959 football game at Michigan State University’s Spartan Stadium. 77. In Sullivan’s Travels , director Preston Sturges can be seen in the background on the set of ‘The Girls’ period movie. 78. The cake in the movie Sixteen Candles is made of cardboard. 79. The final speech by Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird was done in one take. 80. The diner in the movie The Sting is the same diner interior used in Back to the Future . 81. In 1928, famous cartoon character, Mickey Mouse, debuted at a Universal-owned theater. 82. Elizabeth Taylor made her feature film debut in Universal’s 1942 film, There’s One Born Every Minute . 83. Yes, at some point, some Universal executive, or team of executives, thought 1986’s Howard the Duck was a good idea. 84. The dog chase scene at the beginning of the film Beethoven was filmed on the Universal backlot. 85. The title of the film Streets of Fire starring Michael Paré and Diane Lane, was drawn from a Bruce Springsteen song, from his album Darkness on the Edge of Town. The song, unfortunately, does not appear in the film. 86. Robert Redford’s character in The Sting is named after blues legend John Lee Hooker. The character’s name is Johnny Hooker. 87. 1920’s Shipwrecked Among Cannibals was the first film to gross $1,000,000 for Universal. 88. Prominent Universal Director Edward Laemmle was the nephew of Universal Founder Carl Laemmle. He directed over 60 films (including shorts) for Universal. 89. In The 40-Year-Old Virgin , the films that are watched by the “employees” in the Smar-Tech store are all produced by Universal. 90. The Blues Brothers “Bluesmobile” is a 1974 Dodge Monaco. 91. Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein is only the second time Bela Lugosi would play “Dracula” in a feature film. (He played other vampires in the interim, but not Dracula.) 92. In 1973’s High Plains Drifter starring Clint Eastwood, one of the headstones in the graveyard bears the name Sergio Leone as a tribute. 93. On Golden Pond was Henry Fonda’s final film, and the only one he starred in with his daughter Jane. 94. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax is the third major motion picture produced by Universal from a book written by Theodore Geisel a.k.a. Dr. Seuss. 95. In 1992’s Scent of Woman , Al Pacino repeatedly shouts “Hoo-ah.” “Hoo-ah” comes from the military acronym “HUA” which stands for “Heard, Understood, Acknowledged.” 96. The car wash in Car Wash was named The Dee Luxe Car Wash. 97. 1971’s Play Misty for Me was set in Carmel, CA, where Clint Eastwood later lived and became mayor in 1986. 98. The Bride in The Bride of Frankenstein is the only one of Universal Studios’ Classic Monsters to have never killed anyone. 99. Throughout its hundred year legacy, Universal brought to audiences the first films of talents such as John Ford, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, Norman Jewison, Ben Stiller, Robert Zemeckis, John Hughes, Amy Heckerling, Spike Jonze, Zack Snyder and Judd Apatow. 100. More than 100 million people from around the world have taken the Universal Studios “studio tour.” While the tour officially began in 1964, Universal has been welcoming the public to our studio since 1915 and the silent era.
I know what you were thinking: “Whew! The Oscars are over! No more of this Uggie red-carpet business ! We can back to real celebrities and real celebrity issues — like what Jimmy Kimmel thinks about Kim Kardashian . Hard-hitting!” Alas, guess who went to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner over the weekend? Moreover, guess who just got a freaking book deal ? First off, there’s the Artist wonder dog hamming it up on the WHCD red carpet, presumably awaiting a glass of pinot grigio and maybe a crab cake or just holding poor Diane Sawyer up on her way to the metal detector. It’s hard to know without having been there, and when you consider that a retired Jack Russell terrier was invited and you weren’t, it’s easy to think you should have been there, and what are you doing with your life, paying off five figures’ worth of student loans while this dog has awards campaigns and international social-media notoriety in his name, and maybe you went into the wrong line of business, and really who wants to live longer than 14 or 15 years anyway on this godforsaken rock, especially one riven by war, pestilence and, well, this … More from the AP [via Huffington Post ]: Uggie, the Jack Russell terrier who appeared in the Oscar-winning The Artist , has a memoir coming. Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, announced Friday that Uggie: My Story will come out in October. His tale of tails will be transcribed by biographer and presumed dog whisperer Wendy Holden. Whatever. I’m totally willing to accept responsibility for this and apologize accordingly for the tsunami of existential woe about to wash over every struggling writer in America, on one condition: You’d better cut me in, Uggie. That is all. [Photo: Getty Images] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
