Movie: Touch of Evil (1958)

“An automobile is blown up as it crosses the Mexican border into the United States. Mike Vargas, a high ranking Mexican narcotics official on honeymoon with his bride Susie is drawn into the investigation because a Mexican national has been accused of the crime. The figurative and physical presence of Hank Quinlan as the 330 pound sheriff looms all over. Quinlan is a fanatic where “justice” is concerned, even if obtaining it involves planting evidence. Quinlan’s reputation for law and order enables him to bend the law without question until Vargas confronts him. From that point on, it’s a battle of wits between the two that, with an accelerating pace, rushes to a climax. Written by filmfactsman”

• Director: Orson Welles
• Release Date: 8 June 1958 (France)
• Run Time: 95 min | Germany:111 min (1998 alternate version) | USA:108 min (1975 alternate vesion) | USA:112 min (director’s cut) | Spain:106 min (DVD edition)
• Country: USA
• Genre: Crime , Film-Noir , Thriller
• MPAA: Rated PG-13 for some violence and drug content. (1988 restoration)

Tagline: The Overwhelming Drama of a Strange Vengeance

Trivia: Orson Welles wanted the credits to appear at the end of the film so as not to distract the audience from the long (and famous) initial tracking shot. He finally got his wish with the 1998 alternate version, dubbed ‘the directors’s cut’.

Goofs: Crew or equipment visible: Crew and equipment reflected in the side of Vargas’s car as he prepares to take his wife to the american motel.

Movie: Star Trek (2009)

“”

• Director: J.J. Abrams
• Release Date: 8 May 2009 (USA)
• Run Time: 127 min
• Country: USA
• Genre: Action , Adventure , Sci-Fi
• MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content.

Tagline: The future begins.

Trivia: J.J. Abrams’ “good luck charm” Greg Grunberg had to turn down a role in this film due to other commitments. However, Grunberg was worked into the movie during post-production, voicing James Kirk’s step-father.

Goofs: Continuity: In the high altitude parachute jump, the display on Chekov’s screen showing the order of jumpers (Olsen, Kirk, Sulu) does not match actual order (Kirk, Olsen, Sulu) until the first shoots deploy.

Movie: Sin City (2005)

“”Sin City” is four stories inter-weaved telling tales of corruption in Basin City. The first story (The Customer is always right) is short, and is based on the depression of women that they need to pay a man to feel loved when they commit suicide. The next story is Part 1 of “That Yellow Bastard” about a cop who needs to save a young girl from being raped. The third story (The Hard Goodbye) features a man taking revenge on a heartless killer who murdered his one-night stand. The fourth story (The Big, Fat Kill) stars a man who must dispatch a cop’s body, but it will be a tough ride to do it. Following that are two conclusions to Sin City, the ending of “That Yellow Bastard” which is set 8 years later, and a short story that ends Sin City. Written by Jesse Hefford”

• Release Date: 1 April 2005 (USA)
• Run Time: 124 min | USA:147 min (director's cut)
• Country: USA
• Genre: Action , Crime , Thriller
• MPAA: Rated R for sustained strong stylized violence, nudity and sexual content including dialogue.

Tagline: Hell of a way to end a partnership.

Trivia: With the exception of “The Customer is Always Right,” at some point during each segment the narrator says the name of the story as part of the dialog.

Goofs: Continuity: After Dwight is pulled from the tar, the residue on his face changes pattern in numerous scenes for the rest of the movie.

Movie: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

“Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed on a lark by the spineless governor of his state. He is reunited with the state’s senior senator–presidential hopeful and childhood hero, Senator Joseph Paine. In Washington, however, Smith discovers many of the shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of a national boys’ camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss, Jim Taylor. Taylor first tries to corrupt Smith and then later attempts to destroy Smith through a scandal. Written by James Yu {jamestyu@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu}”

• Director: Frank Capra
• Release Date: 19 October 1939 (USA)
• Run Time: 129 min
• Country: USA
• Genre: Drama

Tagline: Capra at his greatest!

Trivia: In 1942, when a ban on American films was imposed in German-occupied France, the title theaters chose Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) for their last movie before the ban went into effect. One Paris theater reportedly screened the film nonstop for thirty days prior to the ban.

Goofs: Revealing mistakes: When Smith arrives in Washington on the train, he’s seen walking towards the exit with a porter behind him carrying his bags. The next shot shows the same porter coming into the station carrying someone else’s bags.

Movie: The Sting (1973)

“When a mutual friend is killed by a mob boss, two con men, one experienced and one young try to get even by pulling off the big con on the mob boss. The story unfolds with several twists and last minute alterations. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}”

• Director: George Roy Hill
• Release Date: 10 January 1974 (Argentina)
• Run Time: 129 min
• Country: USA
• Genre: Comedy , Crime , Drama

Tagline: Recapture "the STING Experience". REMEMBER HOW GOOD THE FEEL WAS THE FIRST TIME (re-release)

Trivia: Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley had refused for two years to allow any filming in the city if it was depicted negatively, but allowed the producers of this film to shoot there for three days.

Goofs: Continuity: After Synder smashes his gun through the phone booth and hits Hooker on the side of the face, Hooker’s hat falls off to the right and Hooker’s traps the hat between his head and the inside wall of the booth. In the next shot, Hooker is wearing his hat as if it never fell off.

Movie: Back to the Future (1985)

“Marty McFly, a typical American teenager of the Eighties, is accidentally sent back to 1955 in a plutonium-powered DeLorean “time machine” invented by slightly mad scientist. During his often hysterical, always amazing trip back in time, Marty must make certain his teenage parents-to-be meet and fall in love – so he can get back to the future. Written by Robert Lynch {docrlynch@yahoo.com}”

• Director: Robert Zemeckis
• Release Date: 3 July 1985 (USA)
• Run Time: 117 min
• Country: USA
• Genre: Action , Adventure , Comedy , Sci-Fi

Tagline: He's the only kid ever to get into trouble before he was born. [UK]

Trivia: Voted number 7 in channel 4’s (UK) “Greatest Family Films”

Goofs: Continuity: In 1955, when Biff loses control of his car and crashes sideways into the manure truck, the position of the car in conjunction with the truck changes from one shot to the next. When the car hits the truck, only the back seat area is in a position to be dumped on, but when the camera angle changes, the entire car is now in a position to have manure dumped on it.

Movie: Ladri di biciclette (1948)

“A poor young father in postwar-ravaged Rome who finally finds work putting up Rita Hayworth posters around town, only have his precious bicycle stolen the first day on the job. In a light moment as the father and his young son chase after the thief, the boy attempts to relieve himself against a wall, and his father lets him know they don’t have time for that. In another scene, the father tracks the thief into the kitchen of a brothel. Written by alfiehitchie”

• Director: Vittorio De Sica
• Release Date: 13 December 1949 (USA)
• Run Time: 93 min | Spain:80 min (DVD edition)
• Country: Italy
• Genre: Crime , Drama

Trivia: There’s a scene later in the movie where Bruno is nearly run over twice while crossing the street. This was absolutely unrehearsed – it was filmed on location and the two cars happened to pass by at that time.

Movie: The Great Escape (1963)

“Based on a true story, a group of allied escape artist type prisoners of war are all put in an ‘escape proof’ camp. Their leader decides to try to take out several hundred all at once. The first half of the film is played for comedy as the prisoners mostly outwit their jailers to dig the escape tunnel. The second half is high adventure as they use boats and trains and planes to get out of occupied Europe. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}”

• Director: John Sturges
• Release Date: 4 July 1963 (USA)
• Run Time: 172 min
• Country: USA
• Genre: Action , Adventure , Drama , History , Thriller , War

Tagline: put a fence in front of these men…and they'll climb it…

Trivia: During idle periods while ‘The Great Escape’ was in production, all cast and crew members – from stars ‘Steve McQueen’ and James Garner to production assistants and obscure food service workers – were asked to take thin, five-inch strings of black rubber and knot them around other thin strings of black rubber of enormous length. The finished results of all this knotting were the coils and fences of barbed wire seen throughout the film.

Goofs: Continuity: On their first day in camp, Hilts throws his baseball to the wire to check the Germans’ lines of sight. When he is finally stopped and the commandant comes over and Hilts is explaining what he was doing, the position of his hands change in differently angled shots.

Movie: Full Metal Jacket (1987)

“A two-segment look at the effect of the military mindset and war itself on Vietnam era Marines. The first half follows a group of recruits in basic training under the command of the punishing Sgt. Hartman. The second half shows one of those recruits, Joker, covering the war as a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, focusing on the Tet offensive. Written by Scott Renshaw {as.idc@forsythe.stanford.edu}”

• Director: Stanley Kubrick
• Release Date: 26 June 1987 (USA)
• Run Time: 116 min
• Country: UK , USA
• Genre: Action , Drama , War

Tagline: An Epic Story of the Vietnam War [Australia Theatrical]

Trivia: The cast ate actual Vietnam War era military rations in the scene when the patrol is seen eating.

Goofs: Continuity: In the scene were Pvt. Pyle is on the range, the bandage on his right wrist is in and out of the scene.

Movie: Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

“Epic tale of a group of Jewish gangsters in New York, from childhood, through their glory years during prohibition, and their meeting again 35 years later. Written by Andrew Welsh {andreww@bnr.ca}”

• Director: Sergio Leone
• Release Date: 1 June 1984 (USA)
• Run Time: 229 min | USA:139 min (re-cut)
• Country: Italy , USA
• Genre: Crime , Drama
• MPAA: Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, language and some drug use. (edited version)

Tagline: Crime, passion and lust for power – Sergio Leone's explosive saga of gangland America. [Australia Theatrical]

Trivia: In the original script, the character of Deborah Gelly was 15 years old, but Elizabeth McGovern was 20 years old when the movie began to be filmed, 21 years old when it ended to be filmed and 22 years old when it premiered.

Goofs: Anachronisms: In November, 1968, when Noodles visits the locker in the station and pulls out a wad of US Currency, the top bill is signed by W. Michael Blumenthal, President Carter’s Secretary of the Treasury from January 23, 1977, to August 4, 1979.