It feels like forever. We've been waiting for this movie for so long. And it's finally here! In celebration of the glorious return of Professor X and his band of mutants, let's find something we never knew (or perhaps already knew, since nothing escapes the internet in this era) about the movie series.

(1) Shortly after accepting the role of Magneto, Ian McKellen was offered the role of Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, which originally he had to decline. He spoke to Bryan Singer about his interest in making Lord of the Rings, and Singer agreed to rearrange the film's shooting schedule so that McKellen would finish his scenes by the end of 1999, freeing him up to travel to New Zealand in January 2000, where Lord of the Rings had been in production since October 1999. Later in 2003, Ian McKellen will reprise his role as Magneto in X-Men 2, and in the same year he appeared as Gandalf for the third time in LOTR: The Return of the King. This year, he will repeat it again when he appears as Magneto and Gandalf in the same year (he actually had a cameo last year in The Wolverine, but I excluded it since it was only a cameo).

(2) In the original X-Men film (2000), many of the X-Men from the comics who don't have major roles in the film appeared as minor characters in the school. Among them were: Jubilee, the Asian-American girl wearing a yellow jacket, hoop earrings with sunglasses above her forehead; Shadowcat, also known as Kitty Pryde; Colossus; Iceman, aka Bobby Drake, and Pyro. Kitty, Iceman and Pyro have major roles in the sequels.

(3) The mansion used for the school in X-Men 2 also appears as Lex Luthor's home in Smallville (2001).

(4) Bryan Singer dropped out of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) to direct Superman Returns (2006). Brett Ratner, who was considered for directing Superman Returns, replaced him to direct this film.

(5) The Wolverine (2013) was the first time Wolverine will be in a movie without X-Men attached to the title.

(6) Taylor Lautner was considered to play Hank McCoy (aka Beast) in X-Men: First Class (2011) but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Nicholas Hoult. Amber Heard was rumored to play Mystique before Jennifer Lawrence was cast. Thank God!

(7) Hugh Jackman accepted the opportunity to cameo as Logan/Wolverine in X-Men: First Class (2011) when he learned he would be the only character in the film to use the word 'fuck'. He improvised the line, "Go fuck yourself," after using 7 other takes to say, "Fuck off". The reaction from McAvoy and Fassbender to the different line was authentic.

(8) With the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past, Hugh Jackman had portrayed Logan / Wolverine in a total of 7 movies, more than other actors who also portrayed comic book heroes.

(9) Anna Paquin filmed scenes as Rogue and, though heavily featured in the trailers and advertising, her scenes were cut from the final film for pacing reasons. Bryan Singer later announced they her sequence will appear on the DVD. What??? No Rogue??? But she was the original cast! Boo!

(10) The four main female X-Men in the principal cast of Days of Future Past (Halle Berry, Jennifer Lawrence, Ellen Page, and Anna Paquin) are all Academy Award nominees. The six principle male cast members (Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Peter Dinklage) are all Golden Globe nominees (Jackman, Fassbender and McKellen are also Academy Award nominees).

Trivia of the Week: You're a Monster

Godzilla opens this week. I don't quite understand the reason behind the need to make another Godzilla movie, since the 1998 version was dreadful enough. But perhaps that's exactly why they make another one: so people can forget the 1998 version. What if this version is even more dreadful? It's quite unlikely but never say never. Anyhow, let's round up some trivia for a few famous big-size monsters in movie history.


(1) The original plans for the 1998 version of Godzilla called for two sequels to be produced. These plans were scrapped due to the poor reception of this film. Thank God!

(2) At the 1998 Golden Raspberry Awards, Godzilla was nominated for five Razzies, including Worst Picture, Worst Director and Worst Screenplay. It took home two overall for Maria Pitillo as Worst Supporting Actress and for the film as Worst Remake or Sequel.


(3) Juliette Binoche, who once turned down starring in Jurassic Park (1993), was fully convinced to star in the 2014 version of Godzilla, after she received a beautiful letter from director Gareth Edwards.

(4) And speaking of Jurassic Park,  did you know both the film and the book generated so much interest in dinosaurs that the study of paleontology has had a record increase in students, and interest in general has skyrocketed, and has been at an all-time high ever since.

(5) The word "Kaiju" from the Pacific Rim (2013) is a Japanese word that literally translates to 'strange beast.' It is usually used to refer to giant monsters from Japanese science fiction films, such as Godzilla (1954). So Kaiju is Godzilla, and Godzilla is Kaiju. Confused yet?

(6) There is a mockbuster (a film created with the apparent intention of piggy-backing on the publicity of a major film with a similar title or theme and is often made with a low budget) called Atlantic Rim in 2013, a direct-to-DVD movie that was released three days prior to the cinema release of Pacific Rim.

(7) Another famous monster movie in recent years was King Kong (2005). Peter Jackson originally wanted to make this film immediately after The Frighteners (1996). When Universal saw that Godzilla (1998) and Mighty Joe Young (1998) would be released the same year, they pulled the plug on the project and Jackson moved on to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), using the ghost effects he developed for King Kong. After the tremendous success of the trilogy, Jackson was finally able to make the film.

(8) In the 1976 version of King Kong, Oscar winner Jessica Lange portrayed Dwan. Anotther acting giant Meryl Streep auditioned for the role but was turned down by producer Dino De Laurentiis as being 'ugly'. He did this in Italian not knowing that Meryl Streep understood Italian.

(9) There was a short-lived one season British show called Prehistoric Park (2006). The program was narrated by David Jason and presented by Nigel Marven. The fictional component was the theme that Nigel went back to various geological time periods through a space-time portal, and brought back live specimens of extinct animals back to the present day, where they were exhibited in a wildlife park named Prehistoric Park, which was a big area between high steep mountains and ocean, with varied environments.

Trivia of the Week: Game of Thrones

To celebrate the return of the beloved Game of Thrones (now in its 4th season), we will dedicate this week's trivia to this brutally stunning TV show, where being a hero means you're in danger of being killed off and being a villain can be a cool thing (No, really. I like the evil Queen Cersei so much more than the self-righteous Daenerys Targaryen, and the supposedly heroic Jon Snow is so boring I'd rather watch the scheming Tyrion Lannister).

(1) The series takes its name from the first novel in the book series - "A Game of Thrones" - which is actually known as "A Song of Ice and Fire." George R.R. Martin's story credit acknowledges the entire series under this title, rather than the title of individual volumes. There are currently five books in the novel series, with two more are planned.

(2) For the most part, Season 2 was based on the second novel in the series "A Clash of Kings". However, some of the plot points from later in the season, such as Catelyn releasing Jaime Lannister, and Robb breaking his betrothal to House Frey; were actually taken from the early chapters of the third novel "A Storm of Swords". The writers have also said that, given the length of the third book, they were not likely to finish it in the ten episodes given to each season, so it will likely spill over into the fourth season. It is also likely that the fourth and fifth novels ("A Feast for Crows" and "A Dance with Dragons") may both be used as source material for a fourth and fifth season, as none of the same characters appear in both novels, which are meant to take place simultaneously.

(3)  While most of the show is largely faithful to the books, composite characters do appear. The most prominent is the prostitute Ros, who is a composite of several named (Alayaya, Chataya, Kyra) and unnamed characters from the book series. Another composite character is the Spice King, who appears in Season Two.

(4) Features nine actors from the Harry Potter film series: Bronson Webb (Will) played unnamed Slytherin student in the third film; Natalia Tena (Osha) played Nymphadora Tonks; David Bradley (Lord Walder Frey) played Argus Filch; Julian Glover (Grand Maester Pycelle) voiced Aragog; Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark) played Mrs. Granger in the seventh film; Ciarán Hinds (Mance Rayder) played Aberforth Dumbledore; Ralph Ineson (Dagmer Cleftjaw) played Amycus Carrow; Edward Tudor-Pole (Protestor at King's Landing) played Mr. Borgin and Ian Whyte (Gregor Clegane) played Madame Maxime in full-body shots. Cast member Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon) is also the father of Frank Dillane, who played the young Voldemort/Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). Potter cast members Jamie Campbell Bower (young Gellert Grindelwald) and Simon Fisher-Becker (Fat Friar) were originally set to play Waymar Royce and the High Septon before being replaced by Rob Ostlere and David Verrey, respectively.

(5) Emmy Awards: First season received 13 nominations and won 2 (including one for Supporting Actor won be Peter Dinklage), second seasons received 12 nominations and won 6 (all technical categories), third season (arguably its best to-date) was nominated for 17 but only won 2 (technical categories).

(6) The series's title sequence was created by production studio Elastic for HBO. Creative director Angus Wall and his collaborators received the 2011 Emmy Award for Main Title Design for their work on the sequence. It depicts a three-dimensional map of the series's fictional world, projected onto the inside of a sphere, which is centrally lit by a small sun contained within an armilla. As the camera swoops across the map and focuses on the locations in which the episode's events take place, complicated clockwork mechanisms let buildings and other structures emerge from the map and unfold. Meanwhile, accompanied by the title music, the names of the principal cast and creative staff are displayed. The sequence concludes after about one and a half minutes with the title card and brief opening credits indicating the episode's writer(s) and director.

(7) In the year 2012, over 160 baby girls in the U.S. were legally named "Khaleesi", after the character in the show, although it is not the character's name (Daenerys) but a title. This is really weird, and I would never name a baby Khaleesi, just so you know.

(8) The character Joffrey Lannister is modeled after the Roman Emperor Caligula. Jack Gleeson, who portrayed the character received a letter from author George R.R. Martin after the the show aired, stating "Congratulations, everyone hates you!". Hee! That's considered an achievement too, if you're playing an evil character.

Trivia of the Week: Mr. Spidey

In anticipation of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 which opens this week, let's do a round of trivia on this movie and its stars, and also other Spider-Man movies.

(1) Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone met and became an item while filming the The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). They are one of the most oh-so-cute couple in Hollywood at this moment.

(2) Shailene Woodley was cast as Mary-Jane Watson in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and even filmed scenes. But her role was cut from the film because the filmmakers felt there were too many characters and wanted to streamline the series, and have Gwen Stacy be the only love interest for the rest of the series. Had her scenes not cut, Shailene Woodley would have one YA movie series and one super-hero movie released in 2014, much like Jennifer Lawrence.

(3) At 142 minutes, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 would be the longest spider-man film to date.

(4) Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper are the first Oscar winners to portray Spider-Man villains.

(5)  Before Andrew Garfield was announced for the lead part in The Amazing Spider-Man series, Taylor Lautner, Josh Hutcherson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Logan Lerman, Robert Pattinson, Jamie Bell, Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Angarano, Michael Cera, Alden Ehrenreich, Zac Efron, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Xavier Samuel, Jim Sturgess, Liam Aiken and Anton Yelchin were also considered to play the lead role... which basically means every up-and-coming young actor was being considered at one point or another.

(6) Nicholas Hammond, who played Friedrich in my most favorite movie of all time The Sound of Music (1965), played Spider-Man / Peter Parker in the TV series The Amazing Spider-Man from 1977 to 1979. He later had a cameo role as a participant at the World Unity Festival in Spider-Man (2002).

(7) Spider-Man (2002) held the record for biggest opening day ever with $39.4 million. This record was broken by its sequel Spider-Man 2 (2004), and then was again broken by Spider-Man 3 (2007) with $59.8 million, though it made the least box office gross of the three. However, according to Box Office Mojo, Spider-Man 3 is currently only sitting at no. 14, with 13 other films had since broken its record.

(8) Leonardo DiCaprio was considered for the role of Peter Parker in the Sam Raimi's Spider-Man series, but his best buddy Tobey Maguire eventually won the role.

(9) In Spider-Man 3, Kirsten Dunst, a natural blonde, plays redhead Mary Jane, while Bryce Dallas Howard, a natural redhead, plays blonde Gwen Stacy

(10) Sam Raimi is the first director to helm all three installments in a superhero franchise. At the time Bryan Singer only made two X-Men movies and Tim Burton did two Batman movies. Christopher Nolan is second with his Dark Knight trilogy. Now Bryan Singer is third, with three X-men movies.

Trivia of the Week: Biblical Films

With the celebration of Easter and the damnation of Darren Aronofsky's Noah in Malaysia, let's look at some itty-bitty things about biblical films. Throughout movie history, biblical epics were frequently at the center of attention, attracting both praises and critics, acclaims and controversies from fanatic alike. Here's some interesting trivia you might never knew about biblical epics:

(1) The most frequently filmed story from The Good Book is undoubtedly the story of Jesus, with different movies focusing on different stages of his life. I suspect you might already expect this as well: the second most frequently filmed Bible story is Moses and the ten commandments.

(2) According to Box Office Mojo, the five most successful biblical films in terms of box office (adjusted for inflation) are The Ten Commandments (1956), Ben-Hur (1959), The Robe (1953), The Passion of the Christ (2004), The Prince of Egypt (1998). 1950s obviously was the golden era of biblical films.

(3) Malaysia did not ban The Passion of the Christ (2004) as is commonly believed. The Malaysian government allowed Christians to the film. Tickets were allowed to be sold only by Christian churches. However, The Prince of Egypt (1998) was indeed banned in Malaysia.

(4) Christian Bale and Michael Fassbender were offered the role of Noah in Darren Aronofsky's Noah (2014), but they declined due to scheduling conflicts. Christian Bale will appear as Moses later this year in Exodus: Gods and Kings.

(5) The Nativity Story (2006) was the first feature film ever to premiere at the Vatican. Prior to that, the only Hollywood film to make the Vatican approved film list in the category of religion is Ben-Hur (1959).

(6) Val Kilmer playes Moses twice: The Prince of Egypt (1998) and The Ten Commandments: The Musical (2006).

(7) Sir Ben Kingsley appeared in / narrated 5 bible movies: Joseph in Egypt (1995), Moses (1995), Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014), The Ten Commandments (2007) and Noah (2012). That gotta be a record or something, right?

(8) Cecil B. DeMille first made The Ten Commandments in 1923, and remade it 33 years later in 1956. He also directed another biblical film in 1949, Samson and Delilah.

(9) In The Prince of Egypt (1998), some changes were made to the story to make it work as an animated feature. Here are some differences between the movie and the Biblical account of the Exodus.

• Moses was "adopted" by Pharaoh's daughter, not his wife.
• Moses murdered the Egyptian slave master and even tried to hide his body. He did not kill him by accident.
• Aaron supported Moses from the beginning and even helped perform some of the miracles of God. Aaron did not doubt Moses.
• It was Aaron who turned his staff into a snake and turned the water of the Nile to blood, not Moses.

(10) Throughout Academy Award's history, a total of 17 biblical films received a total of 65 nominations, and eventually won 17. Out of the 17 wins, 11 were by Ben-Hur (1959) alone.

Trivia of the Week: What Happened on April 14th

Today marks the beginning of my journey into an unglamorous number of 34, and perhaps we start the week by looking at some interesting little things happened on 14 April, most of them will surely makes me feel even older that I already am.

(1) The 52nd Academy Awards actually happened on my birthday: April 14th, 1980. Best Picture won by a movie called Kramer vs. Kramer which I did watch many years later. The same movie earned acting giants Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep their first golden man. Also winning that year was an actress I have a lot of respect for: Sally Field. She earned her first Best Actress prize for Norma Rae, a movie unfortunately I have never watched before.

(2) Besides 1980, the Oscars only had its ceremony on April 14th in one other year: 1969. In that year, the musical Oliver! won Best Picture. This musical is the last of a string of musicals that won Best Picture in the 50s and 60s, and we would have to wait for another 34 years when Chicago won in 2003. Also happened in the same ceremony: A rare tie in major category, where Barbra Streisand and Katherine Hepburn shared the Best Actress prize.

(3) In 1865, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was shot in Ford's Theatre by John Wilkes Booth. He died the next day. President Lincoln was the subject of numerous films and TV series, but majority of them focused on his life story and the assassination itself usually played just a small part in the film. In recent years, the two examples I can immediately think of are National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (2007) and Lincoln (2012). There was a movie in 2010, The Conspirator, where the assassination was the main plot, but I didn't watch the film.

(4) In 1894, the first ever commercial motion picture house opened in New York City using ten Kinetoscopes, a device for peep-show viewing of films.

(5) In 1912, The British passenger liner RMS Titanic hits an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 23:40 (sinks morning of April 15th). This event of course was the center of lots of movies and TV shows, but the most famous one undoubtedly would be the 1997 James Cameron version. The movie was so popular back then, I still have problem listening to My Heart Will Go On without rolling my eyes even 17 years later.

(6) In 1939, The Grapes of Wrath, by American author John Steinbeck was first published by the Viking Press. The book later became a movie of the same name. This movie, together with another 40s drama depicting the life of a family, How Green Was My Valley, would be my two favorite films from that era.

(7) Some actors and actresses born on April 14th: Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond), Adrien Brody (The Pianist), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Robert Carlyle (Once Upon a Time), Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Julie Christie (Doctor Zhivago)