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31 Bits of Trivia About Famous Films to Make You a Regular Siskel and/or Ebert

The first step to media literacy is reading this list

31 Bits of Trivia About Famous Films to Make You a Regular Siskel and/or Ebert

May 28, 2024

Some people think reciting the plot of a movie counts as commentary or criticism. You don’t want to be that guy. Learn a thing or two instead — starting with this list.

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31

CRACKED.COM Directly Bird of Prey A second musical sequence was cut. While it was fully choreographed and shot, it was cut for length. — Source

30

John Wick The original title was Scorn. It was changed because Keanu Reeves kept referring to the script as John Wick whenever he brought it up. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

CRACKED.COM Waterworld The movie's production boosted Hawaii's economy. In spite of the movie being a bomb, Hawaii benefitted from it, bringing in more than $35 million in 1994. — Source

28

Training Day Samuel L. Jackson and Matt Damon were the original leads. As soon as production got Denzel Washington on board as Alonzo instead, replacements were made. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

Toy Story

Toy Story Billy Crystal turned down Buzz Lightyear. Crystal said it was the only regret I have... of something I passed on. When Pixar approached him for Monsters Inc., he jumped at the chance. LASER LIGHTYEAR brask CRACKED.COM — Source

26

CRACKED.COM Titanic J. Dawson was really on the Titanic. While Jack Dawson is a fictional character, there was coincidentally a J. Dawson on board when the Titanic sank. Dawson's gravesite has since become a tourist trap for the movie's fans. — Source

25

Godzilla

Godzilla Godzilla's original roar was created with tar and a bass. Composer Akira Ifukube coated a leather glove with pine-tar resin, then rubbed it against the strings of a double bass. Instant fright. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

The Simpsons Movie Russ Cargill was originally supposed to be Hank Scorpio. Producers claim that idea was only taken seriously for about a week, but still hired Hank Scorpio's voice actor, Albert Brooks, to voice Cargill. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Evil Dead Real ammo was used. Since the groundling filmmakers didn't have the money or know-how to get blanks, the shotgun blasts were done with actual ammunition. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

2 Seabiscuit Over 50 horses were used for the movie. In order to prevent running the horses to exhaustion, dozens were needed to get multiple takes. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

Moonstruck The original title was The Bride and the Wolf. Producer Norman Jewison loved the script but thought the title sounded like a horror film, so it was changed. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Bill Hader

Scott Pilgrim VS. The World Bill Hader did all the voiceovers. From the narration to the K.O.!, Hader was the omnipresent voice. CRACKED.COM — Source

19

CRACKED.COM Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings The stars didn't know about the post-credits scene until the day it was shot. To keep things under wraps, Simu Liu and Awkwafina were kept in the dark until the last day of shooting. — Source

18

Julie & Julia It's the first major motion picture based on a blog The movie took elements from Julia Child's book, My Life in France, and Julie Powell's blog about her embracing Child's method of cooking. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Gattaca

Gattaca NASA voted it as the most plausible sci-fi movie. In 2011, NASA picked the movie as the best and most likely to happen science fiction film. Which is quite chiilling. CRACKED.COM — Source

16

Gravity The movie took over four years to make. Due to the animation and the need to develop new technology for special effects, the movie took a long time to be shot and edited. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

Leonardo DiCaprio

SPALD The Basketball Diaries Leonardo DiCaprio refused to work with Mark Wahlberg. Leonardo said, 'No way, I'm not making a movie with Marky Mark,''' remarked Wahlberg. Ultimately, the two buried the hatchet and made it work. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Horror Movies

Scary Movies Based on Anneliese Michel's death The Exorcism of Emily Rose Jennifer Carpenter, who played the title role, did all of the hideous horrible contortions for real. Oh, also, her radio would go off every night and play Pearl Jam's Alive on repeat- specifically the I'm still alive bit. CRACKED.COM — Source

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13

Scary Movies Based on Texarkana Moonlight Murders The Town That Dreaded Sundown The film ends with the killer attending a showing of the film you're watching. Because they seemingly want to tempt fate, the real Texarkana shows the movie every year as part of a Halloween festival. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

Scary Movies Based on Ed Gein and Elmer Wayne Henley The Texas Chain Saw Massacre The farmhouse in the film has been turned into an actual restaurant where you can eat. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

The Wave

Scary Movies Based on Actual disasters in Norway The Wave In the film, a fjord falls and causes a 300- foot tsunami. At one point, the main character must dive into a submerged hotel, so the actor actually learned how to hold his breath for three minutes. CRACKED.COM

10

The Strangers

Scary Movies Based on A real-life event from writer/director Bryan Bertino's childhood The Strangers As a kid, strangers knocked on Bertino's door asking for some random person when he was home alone with his sister. He'd later find out this was a ploy used to break into houses that didn't answer. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Scary Movies Based on Co-writer Daria Nicolodi's grandmother Suspiria Apparently, when Nicolodi's grandmother was young, she attended a boarding school-and quickly left after finding black magic being practiced there. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Scary Movies Based on Two separate Australian murders, neither of which happened at the actual Wolfe Creek Wolf Creek The movie went the extra step and even filmed at the location of another actual murder. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

Scary Movies Based on Barbora Škrlová Orphan Škrlová, a 34-year-old woman with the same disorder Esther has in the film, pretended to be a 13-year-old boy. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Scary Movies Based on The Gainesville Ripper Scream Scream has five sequels and a TV series, and until 2018's Halloween, was the highest-grossing slasher flick of all time. Not bad for a script written over a weekend. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

Psycho

Scary Movies Psycho To cut costs, the film used the crew from Hitchcock's TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Slashing costs was also why he chose to film in black and white. Based on Ed Gein CRACKED.COM — Source

4

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Scary Movies Based on A weird series of sleeping deaths involving Asian men in the early '80s A Nightmare on Elm Street Freddy Krueger's name is actually a nod to writer/director Wes Craven's childhood bully, Fred Krueger. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Scary Movies Based on A real group of alleged teen sex-criminals called The Spur Posse The Rage: Carrie 2 The film originally began as its own script titled The Curse. Then producers realized how close it was to Carrie and decided to cash in on the name. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

Scary Movies Based on Jeffrey Dahmer My Friend Dahmer This film about Dahmer's high school years and friends, actually has one friend, Mike Kukral, in a cameo at the dance that he attended in real life, which sounds like the most surreal reunion imaginable. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

Scary Movies Based on Henry Lee Lucas Henry: Portrait of a Killer Michael I'm Yondu from Guardians Rooker, playing the title role, stayed in character to the point that his wife waited until after filming to tell him that she was pregnant. CRACKED.COM — Source

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