My Geeky Trivia

By Geeky Gem

Movie Pick by Caelrona

This week on out festive trivia we have Caelrona’s pick of movie and she went with a movie that I like the cartoon version of so here it is.

Anthony Hopkins recorded all the narration for the movie in one day.

The scene where The Grinch is directing his dog, Max, before stealing Christmas, is Jim Carrey doing a parody of director Ron Howard.

Everything in the film revolves around a swirl, the same as in the original drawings of the book. This includes the clouds. If you look closely at in several scenes, several times the initials “C.H.”, “J.C.,” and “R.H.” briefly form as the clouds move. This stands for actor Clint Howard (Whobris), actor Jim Carrey (The Grinch), and director Ron Howard.

The sound stage for the Whoville set measured around 30,000 square feet.

The prosthetic make-up Jim Carrey wore took 3 hours to apply. Carrey felt so horribly confined and uncomfortable in the latex skin he needed counseling from a Navy SEAL who taught him torture-resistance techniques.

The photo of The Grinch in the Whoville newspaper has The Grinch in the same pose as an infamous alleged photo taken of the “Yeti” or “Sasquatch.”

Jim Carrey’s yellow contact lenses proved to be so uncomfortable that he was unable to wear them at times during filming. This required that some shots of his eyes be colored in post-production.

The Navy cap the Grinch wears when pretending to be a director with Max reads “WSS Whoville WVN-70.”

Jim Carrey said that when he first saw Ron Howard in full Grinch outfit, he was angered, mistaking the director for a stunt double who looked nothing like him.

Eddie Murphy and Jack Nicholson were considered to play The Grinch.

There we go with Caelrona’s pick, join me next week for my pick.

SUMMER KNIGHTS: THE 5 BEST KNIGHTLY ACTORS

By @hmsbeefnuts

Batman is the Dark Knight, and as such, we here at All Geek To Me thought that perhaps, for our Summer Knights event, we could extend our remit beyond the realms of Gotham City, and geek out a bit about other Knightly characters. A blog about the best fictional knights is upcoming, but today, I thought I would write a little something about my favourite actors, who have been Knighted by the Queen, for their services to the country, by being awesome and better at acting than other people. I’m going to limit myself to five choices, for reasons of space and laziness. So lets bend the knee, and be ready to receive the sword of awesomeness on each shoulder, as we look at The 5 Best Actor Knights. Are they expected to come to our aid in times of great need though? Probably not…

SIR IAN McKELLAN

 

Gandalf! Magneto! That guy from The Da Vinci Code!! Sir Ian is a Shakespearian acting legend, and Gay Icon, turned go to actor for any geeky property worth it’s salt. Always put in a fantastic performance, often with a little wink and sparkle in his eye. If I had to choose a role of his, it would of course be Gandalf. I was obsessed with Lord of The Rings and he was the perfect embodiment of Gandalf. I can not wait for The Hobbit to begin this Christmas. We all love you Sir Ian, you are a legend.

SIR ANTHONY HOPKINS

 

Sir Tony. Welsh of course, and as a proud Welshman, how could I not include one of my nations finest acting exports in this list (remember kiddies, Batman in Welsh too, suck it). Brilliant in everything, but in recent times I have much enjoyed his performances in The Wolf Man and Thor. He is however, most famously Hannibal Lecter, and what a chilling performance he gave in Silence of the Lambs. My favourite Hopkins role is his freaky, off kilter father role in The Wolf Man remake. I love that film, and everything about it.

SIR CHRISTOPHER LEE

 

Oh Sir Christopher, legend of the screen. The nicest man to ever play evil on screen. I have loved is performances in films since before I could appreciate films, or knew what acting was. He embodied the role of Dracula, was the best Saruman anyone could be, and kicked everyone’s arse as Count Dooku. A Hammer film legend, along with Peter Cushin, Sir Chris is one of the greatest living British actors. Plus he reads Lord of The Rings once a year, so he’s a fellow geek too.

SIR MICHAEL CAINE

 

Perhaps my favourite actor on this list Sir Michael is brilliant in everything, even JAWS: The Revenge. Zulu is perhaps his most famous role, and the tale of a small British force coming up against a huge army of Zulu Warriors has been a favourite of mine since I was little, especially since these British Soldiers were mainly Welsh, Men of Harlech!!!! Anyway, Caine’s best role in my opinion is as Alfred in Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy. He is amazing as the loyal retainer, father figure and best friend of Bruce Wayne. He brings so much to a role that could easily be throw away. In The Dark Knight Rises he brings an emotional punch to the gut in 2 scenes in particular. I love Alfred, I want one, and I want Sir Michael Caine to be him forever.

SIR PATRICK STEWART

I don’t like Star Trek, so for me, Pat isn’t Jean Luc Picard, but Professor X, and that’s good enough for me. Another actor from the Shakespearian school, Sir Patrick is a bald headed eagle of acting awesomeness. Also able to poke fun at himself, his turns in Extras and American Dad are brilliant, and the guy likes to play video games, so not only a great actor, but a great geek too.

Re-make – Jason and the Argonauts

By @hmsbeefnuts

Hello, once again you find me pondering a film that probably should never ever be remade, but that I have decided it might be fun to recast in my head. Unlike Ghostbusters or JAWS, I would not wholeheartedly mind a remake of Jason and the Argonauts, as long as it was nothing like the awful Clash, and Wrath of the Titans. May I also suggest that although obviously Ray Harryhausen’s amazing stop motion work wouldn’t be featured, perhaps he could be part of the design team, and show the young whipper-snappers how monsters should really look and act. I think that the structure of the original movie is pretty perfect, however, perhaps we can shake up the crew of the Argo a bit, dip back into the original myth and feature a few more of the Argonauts.

I’m also going to split this into Immortals and Mortals, and The Gods get to go first…

IMMORTALS

 

ZEUS – Anthony Hopkins

You can’t really argue with Hopkins. He brings gravitas to every role. He was great as Odin in Thor, and I think it only correct that he gets to play another King of the Gods. Zeus is a little unstable, Hopkins does crazy well. Match made on Olympus?

 

POSIEDON – Brendan Gleeson

Ah Brendan Gleeson. One of my favourite older actors. Has done similar work before in Troy, but lets give him the chance to sink his teeth, or trident, into the murky depths of the wine dark sea. The God of the Ocean needs a fine beard, Gleeson fits the bill.

 

HERA – Helen Mirren

A very beautiful older lady, and a fine actress, who else could play the wife of Zeus, and Jason’s guardian angel? British actors/actresses are made to play ancient people and gods in films like this, and after playing a few Queens, why not Queen of the Gods?

 

HERMES – Kevin McKidd

Hermes is a younger God, in fact, the messenger of the Gods. I imagine this would be a smaller role, but important. I like Kevin Mckidd in everything, especially Rome. He also has previous God experience from Percy Jackson. He may see this as a demotion, play Hermes, but I would like a great actor in the role, and also, a bit of a Rome reunion with a few of our mortals would be fun to see on screen.

MORTALS

 

JASON – Christian Bale

Bale is great, in everything, but he hasn’t done a role quite like this before. One of my favourite actors, this could be his Gladiator, but with monsters and Gods. He has the right heroic look, and who s anyone to question the choice of Batman?

 

HERCULES – Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

There is only one man who could conceivably play Hercules, The Rock. He would have to tone down his accent, but his personality could remain. Hercules is going to be a little in awe of himself, The Rock is the most awesome guy on the planet, plus he has the build for it. Forget the Scorpion King, The Rock is a more accomplished actor now.

 

MEDEA – Eva Green

The foreign temptress that falls for our hero Jason. The daughter of the King of Colchis needs to be exotic, beautiful and very very sexy. Eva Green ticks all these boxes, and is a fine actress to boot. Plus it gives me an opportunity to post a picture of her, which is never a bad thing.

 

ATALANTA – Gina Carano

In myth, Atalanta had a tough life. Her father wanted a son, and when she was born, her father left her to die in the wilderness. She was raised by a she-bear and became a fierce fighter and hunter. She pledged her virginity to the Goddess Artemis, and when two centaurs tried to rape her, she killed them. A fierce warrior, and one of the few female characters needs to hold her own against the boys club or the Argo. Carano is not only very beautiful, but is legit hard as nails. A simple choice.

 

ARGUS – Sean Bean

The builder of The Argo, Argus is Greece’s greatest shipwright. So I’ve picked one of my favourite actors for the role. Bean is great in stuff like this, and I hear he doesn’t like roles that go on for ever, so if necessary, he can bow out early, but it’s a smaller role anyway, Beano would be perfect.

 

CASTOR – James Purefoy

Along with his brother Pollux, I see Castor bringing a little comic relief. Fighting brothers striving to out do each other. Purefoy is one of my favourite actors, brilliant in Rome and Solomon Kane, and the second member of our Rome reunion, Purefoy picks himself.

 

POLLUX – Ray Stevenson

I love Ray Stevenson, he is brilliant. One of the best things in Rome, Stevenson is a force of nature, with a childish grin and a sense of fun. He can bring some comic relief, but when the shit hits the fan, he can bring the brute force.

 

ACASTUS – Michael Fassbender

Pelias’ son and the bad seed among the Argonauts. Fassbender has that look in his eye, dangerous, vengeful. Undoubtedly a brilliant actor, Fassbender would be great as the jealous rival to Bale’s Jason, and I want to see Batman and Magneto beat the shit out of each other.

 

PHINEAS – Ian Mckellen

The man who was cursed by Zeus to be blind after his arrogance, and tormented by Harpies. Ian Mckellen is just brilliant isn’t he? OK, it is a tiny role, but a memorable one, and who better to offer Jason advice than Gandalf himself?

 

KING AEETES – Liam Neeson

A villain with a point of view, Liam Neeson can bring something a little extra to the role of the king who guards The Golden Fleece. He is the third acts villain, but how would you like it if a bunch of Greeks rocked up and stole your God given gift? Majorly pissed off. Liam can bring his particular set of skills to the King of Colchis.

 

PELIAS – Brian Cox

The Man who conquered Jason’s Father’s kingdom and who now rules it. Also the man who sends Jason on the Quest for the Golden Fleece, thinking he has no chance of succeeding, and would die in the attempt. Brian Cox does evil extremely well. Previous similar roles in Troy and X-Men 2, prove Cox is a great choice as bad guy.