cult films

“four interlocking tales that take place in a fading hotel on new year’s eve.”

dirs.: allison anders, alexandre rockwell, robert rodriguez & quentin tarantino
comedy
1995 

this movie features the collaborative directorial efforts of four new filmmakers, each of whom directs a segment of this comedy.

facts:
- the film was originally to be titled “five rooms,” with richard linklater contributing a segment; however, he withdrew before production began.
- the original idea for the film came from alexandre rockwell.
- the role of ted was originally written with steve buscemi in mind.
- quentin tarantino’s “a band apart” production logo at the beginning of the film shows tim roth’s “mr. orange” unzipping his character from reservoir dogs and becoming the bell hop character for four rooms.
- the video game being played by betty and her friends is rambo iii for the sega genesis, however some scenes show her playing “rambo” for the nintendo entertainment system.
- ted can be seen with the two cherries from the missing ingredient at the beginning of the misbehavers.
- before “the misbehavers” turn to the “porno” channel, they are watching the short film bedhead, also written and directed by robert rodriguez.- just before ted answers a call from the man in “the misbehavers”, a package of red apple cigarettes is visible near the switchboard. this fictitious brand of cigarettes features in other quentin tarantino films.
- robert rodriguez and antonio banderas shot their segment one week after wrapping up the filming of desperado.
- in the fourth room the alfred hitchcock presents episode they call “the man from rio (or reno)” is actually called “man from the south” (ep. #5.15) 1/3/1960.
- in the final segment, “the man from hollywood”, which last 21 minutes, the word “fuck” or a variant of it is said 193 times.
- the “one minute” chester asks ted to sit on the stool and listen to his proposal actually lasts one minute and twenty eight seconds of screen time.
- the reason bruce willis is not credited is because he violated sag rules for acting in this film for no money. he appeared for fun and as a favor to quentin tarantino, and acting for free violated sag rules. sag agreed not to sue willis if his name was not included in the credits. but his hairstylist does appear.
- the film continues until the credits are halfway over.
- madonna won the 1995 razzie award for worst supporting actress for her part in “the missing ingredient”.

+: wiki 

(Source: cultfilms)

a collection of twentysomethings try to cope with relationships, loneliness, desire and their individual neuroses.

dir.: risa bramon garcia

comedy / drama
1999

cameo by elvis costello

soundtrack:
- “cruel to be kind” by nick lowe
- “in the flesh” by blondie
- “just what i needed” by the cars
- “our lips are sealed” by the go-go’s
- “i want candy” by bow wow wow
- “i don’t care” by the ramones
- “boogie wonderland” by girls against boys
- “ladies night” by kool & the gang
- “it’s different for girls” by joe jackson
- “nowhere girl” by b. movie
- “more than this” by roxy music
- “romeo and juliet” by dire straits
- “peace, love and understanding” by elvis costello
- “medley: rapture/maria/no exit” by blondie

amongst other shots of famous 80’s music

+: imdb

“if you only remember one thing I’ve said, remember this; james brown is the baddest motherfucker in show business.”

“a brain, a beauty, a jock, a rebel and a recluse. before the day was over, they broke the rules…”

dir.: john hughes
comedy / drama
1985

facts:
- the film’s title comes from the nickname invented by students and staff for detention at new trier high school, the school attended by the son of one of john hughes’ friends. thus, those who were sent to detention were designated members of “the breakfast club”. “the breakfast club” at that school probably took its name in turn from the title of american radio’s longest running network entertainment show, broadcast from chicago, 1933 to 1968.
- the library in which this movie takes place was actually constructed in the gymnasium of maine north high school specifically for the film. the school closed down in 1982, two years before filming began. the building had been used for park district purposes and the chicago blitz before the illinois state police bought it, turning it into a police station, which it still is to this day.
- claire’s entire ensemble was purchased specially for the character from a ralph lauren store, the only one in chicago at the time. hughes had rejected the original costume on the grounds that it wasn’t sophisticated enough. 
- john hughes insisted that the entire cast and crew eat their meals on location in the maine north high school cafeteria.
- john hughes wrote the screenplay to this movie in just two days (4 and 5 july 1982).
- shot entirely in sequence.
- the joke that bender tells but never finishes (while crawling through the ceiling) actually has no punchline. according to judd nelson, he ad-libbed the line. originally, he was supposed to tell a joke that would end when he came back into the library and said, “forgot my pencil”, but no one could come up with a joke for that punchline.
- the license plate on brian’s mothers’s car is emc 2. the license plate on andrew’s fathers’s car is ohiost.
- the scene in which all characters sit in a circle on the floor in the library and tell stories about why they were in detention was not scripted. john hughes told them all to ad-lib.
- judd nelson made up many of the terms used in the movie, including ‘neo-maxi zoomdweebie’.
- the theme song, “don’t you (forget about me)”, was written for the film by keith forsey. it was a number one hit for simple minds, and both billy idol and bryan ferryturned down offers to record it first (although in 2001, billy idol recorded don’t you (forget about me) as a bonus track for his greatest hits album). the song was also turned down by chrissie hynde of the pretenders who then suggested they offer it to the band fronted by her husband at the time, simple minds. 
- the david bowie quote at the beginning of the movie is pulled from his song ‘changes’. it can be found on the 1971 album, ‘hunky dory’.
- the song which judd nelson hums the guitar riff to at the beginning of the movie is the opening tune to “sunshine of your love” by cream.
- before john bender says: “oh, shit - what are we supposed to do if we have to take a piss? “, he begins to hum a song while playing an air guitar. the song was “sunshine of your love” by eric clapton.
- the switchblade used in the movie actually belonged to judd nelson. he explained that he had it for protection purposes.
- alison does not speak until 33 minutes into the film.
- what they ate for lunch: andy (andrew): a bag of chips, chocolate cookies, three sandwiches, milk, a banana and an apple. claire: sushi (rice, raw fish and seaweed). allison: a sandwich with pixie stix and cap’n crunch cereal. john: nothing. brian: soup, sandwich with peanut butter and jam and apple juice.

enid and rebecca are social outsiders who, after graduating from high school, play a mean prank on a middle-aged geek.

dir.: terry zwigoff
comedy / drama
2001

scarlett johansson as rebecca 
thora birch as enid
steve buscemi as seymour

facts:

- this was the first film to receive an oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay based on a graphic novel or comic book.
- when inside “zine-o-phobia”, visible is “pussey” a comic by daniel clowes, who wrote the graphic novel “ghost world” and co-wrote the screenplay. there is also visible “eightball” and “david boring”, also by daniel clowes. the unicorn painting shown in enid’s summer art class was also done by daniel clowes.
- the colorful mexican movie posters in seymour’s room are authentic, and are by artist ernesto cabral.
- the character of seymour is based in part on director terry zwigoff. like seymour, zwigoff is an avid collector of 1920’s jazz and blues records.
- the shirt that enid wears with the smile and tongue is a pbloco shirt.
- according to zwigoff, buscemi was so uncomfortable playing the role of seymour that whenever shooting was finished for the day, he would immediately change his clothes so he could look completely different.

+:imdb

a fashionable contemporary art gallerist in chelsea, new york falls for a brooding new music composer in this comic satire of the state of contemporary art.

dir.: jonathan parker & manfred baumann
comedy / drama / music
2009

adam goldberg as adrian jacobs, a young bohemian composer
marley shelton as madeleine gray, a trendy new york art gallery owner

jonathan parker, a musician in his youth, is also a collector of the san francisco school of abstract expressionism, using many of his experiences in both worlds as a basis for (untitled).

+: imdb

marion and jack try to rekindle their relationship with a visit to paris, home of marion’s parents — and several of her ex-boyfriends.

dir.: julie delpy
comedy / drama / romance
2007

adam goldberg as jack
julie delpy as marion

some facts:

- the characters of marion’s parents are played by delpy’s real life parents, albert delpy and marie pillet.
- marie pillet, julie’s mother, was actually one of the ‘343 salopes’ back in 1971. 
- because of his commitment to the film deja vu (2006), julie delpy was unsure if adam goldberg would be available to be in her film. she was forced to push back shooting to accommodate his schedule but he eventually arrived on set, twelve hours late. 
- the book that the american tourist show to jack is “the da vinci code” by dan brown. 
- while working on the movie, julie delpy claims she didn’t watch any romantic comedies for inspiration. she did, however, watch jaws (1975) several times. the arguments between jake and marion, she said, resembled a shark lurking in the water. 
- when asked why she edited the film herself julie delpy said that, because of budget constraints, it was a choice between either hiring an editor or an editing bay. since an editing bay was the more essential item, she took on the role of editor out of necessity.

+: imdb

this is not a love story. this is a story about love

dir.: marc webb
comedy / drama / romance
2009

joseph gordon-levitt as tom hansen
zooey deschanel as summer finn

some facts:

- the film’s blue-centric color scheme was done to bring out zooey deschanel’s eyes.
- stars zooey deschanel and joseph gordon-levitt have already worked together in the film manic (2001). 
- joseph gordon-levitt wears t-shirts for joy division’s “love will tear us apart” and “unknown pleasures”, and the clash’s “london calling” albums.
- one thing that both tom and summer have in common is their love for “bananafish.” this may be a reference to the band bananafish which gained national prominence for a brief period in the 80’s or it may refer to one of j.d. salinger’s “nine stories” (the first of the nine being “a perfect day for bananafish”). actress zooey deschanel who portrays summer is herself named after another story by j.d. salinger, “franny & zooey”.
- in the scene where tom first enters summer’s apartment, the camera focuses on a bowler hat with a green apple on top of it. this is a reference to the famous painting “the son of man” by rené magritte who is said earlier in the film to be one of summer’s favorite artists.
- the cover of morrissey’s debut album, ‘viva hate,’ can be seen in both tom and summer’s childhood rooms. 
- in summer’s apartment there’s a copy of cezanne’s famous “blue vase” which is an important part of cezanne’s influence to cubism.
- the film marks director marc webb’s first full length feature film. he has previously directed numerous music videos. 
- the smiths’ ‘louder than bombs’, the jesus & mary chain’s ‘psychocandy’ and public image ltd.’s ‘album’ can been seen in tom’s childhood room.
- the film is set in 2006-2007. (the narrator says at the end of the film that may 23 was a wednesday. the last time may 23 was a wednesday was 2007.) 
- around the time of the movie’s release, director marc webb shot a short video for the internet, which featured zooey deschanel as sid vicious and joseph gordon-levitt as nancy spungen, in reference to a conversation in this movie. 
- zooey deschanel chose her own song for the karaoke scene, the sugartown song. 
- the sounds from a game that tom’s friends are playing in two different scenes is from a version of “donkey kong” for the original game boy. 
- paul says “humjob” instead of “blowjob” to avoid an ‘r’ rating.
- the studio never intended to include the documentary about love in the film, even going so far as to tell the director to not bother filming it. the audience reaction during the first test screening convinced them otherwise. 
- ian reed kesler, who gets in a fight with tom at the bar, is credited as ‘douche’. 
* spoiler: the narrator states that tom meets summer on january 8th. since it is 500 days, tom lets go of summer (and meets autumn) on may 23rd of the next year.

+: imdb