Collection of Insane and Fun Facts
The term “Napoleon Dynamite Problem” is used to describe the phenomenon where “quirky” films such as Napoleon Dynamite, Lost in Translation and I Heart Huckabees prove difficult for researchers to create algorithms able to predict whether or not a viewer will like a certain film.
The software to create the black hole in the movie ‘Interstellar’ is a full implementation of Einstein’s equations in 40,000 lines of C++, and rendered thousands of 23-megapixel IMAX frames on a 32,000-core render farm at about 20 core-hours per frame.
There is a group of about 400 ultra powerful and wealthy individuals that see movies on release day in their own home theaters. It costs $100k to join and $4k/month membership. It is called the Bel Air Circuit.
The actor who played Luca Brasi in the Godfather was actually a member of the Colombo crime family sent to monitor the set. Coppola kept the cameras rolling as the actor nervously practiced his lines for the scene, scared that he was going to mess up the big Hollywood movie. He later edited that footage into the film so in-universe the actor’s character was nervously practicing what he was going to say to the intimidating mafioso Don Corleone.
Michael Jackson once spent $150,000 to put a curse on Steven Spielberg because he didn’t give him the role of Peter Pan in the movie Hook.
In Interstellar the depiction of a black hole required completely new CGI rendering software and was so accurate that it provided enough scientifical insight to publish three scientific papers.
The dog from Wizard of Oz was paid $125 per week which was more than some of the other actors in the film.
The green falling code in The Matrix is just loads of sushi recipes.
Oliver Stone’s original story for Platoon was called Break, based on his own experiences in the Vietnam War and set to music from The Doors. He sent the script to Jim Morrison hoping he would play the lead. Morrison never responded but he did have the script with him when he died in Paris.
The film The China Syndrome, a movie about a nuclear meltdown caused by a faulty sensor reading and a stuck-open pressure release valve, aired only 12 days before the 3 Mile Island Meltdown, caused by a faulty sensor reading and a stuck open pressure release valve.