Communion released November 10, 1989

Communion is a 1989 drama/thriller film based on the book by Whitley Strieber with the same name, starring Christopher Walken and Frances Sternhagen. It tells a story of a family that experiences the extraterrestrial phenomenon while on vacation at a remote vacation home in the wilderness. According to Strieber, the story is a real-life account of his own encounter with “visitors”, with Walken playing the role of the author.

Trivia:

Cameo: [Whitley Strieber and son] in the museum sequence near the end.

While serving as executive producer, author Whitley Strieber, whose experiences serve as the basis of the film, expressed concerns about Christopher Walken’s abilities in portraying him. When Strieber finally told Walken that he might be portraying him as a little too crazy, Walken replied, “If the shoe fits.”

Whitley has a picture of “The Great Wave of Kanagawa” by Hokusai on his wall, with an added cartoon character, facing the tsunami with an exclamation mark above his head, drawn in for comic effect.

Anne Strieber is referring to Joseph Campbell’s four-volume compendium of World Mythology with her “Masks of God” observation.

Whitley Strieber’s Alien Contact books are usually cataloged as “Psychical Research” or “Paranormal”. However, the cassette audio-book of Communion, read by ‘Roddy McDowell’ and produced by a Hertfordshire company called “Redback”, simply has the word “FICTION” on the back of the inlay. This could have been a compromise to preserve the credibility of a start-up company and increase publicity for Strieber at the same time.

Marooned released November 10, 1969

Marooned is a 1969 American science-fiction film directed by John Sturges and starring Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, James Franciscus, and Gene Hackman.

The film was released less than four months after the Apollo 11 moon landing and was tied to the public fascination with the event. It won an Academy Award for Visual Effects.

It was based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Martin Caidin; however, while the original novel was based on the single-pilot Mercury program, the film depicted a space station program resembling Skylab (the space station seen in the film was based on an early proposal of the OWS based on several sketches during the Apollo Applications Program). Caidin rewrote the novel, incorporating appropriate material from the original version and updating it to follow the film.

Caidin acted as technical adviser.

Plot Summary
After spending several months in an orbiting lab, three astronauts prepare to return to earth only to find their rockets wont fire. After initially thinking they might have to abandon them in orbit, NASA decides to launch a daring rescue. Their plans are complicated by a Hurricane headed towards the launch site and a shrinking air supply in the astronauts capsule.

 

 

 

Taglines

–Three marooned astronauts. Only 55 minutes left to rescue them. While the whole world watches and waits…

–The Saga of Ironman One

Directed by
  John Sturges

Writers
  Martin Caidin - Novel
  Mayo Simon  – Writer

Producers
  Frank Capra Jr. … associate producer
  M.J. Frankovich … producer

Cast
  Gregory Peck … Charles Keith
  Richard Crenna … Jim Pruett
  David Janssen … Ted Dougherty
  James Franciscus … Clayton Stone
  Gene Hackman … Buzz Lloyd
  Lee Grant … Celia Pruett
  Nancy Kovack … Teresa Stone
  Mariette Hartley … Betty Lloyd
  Scott Brady … Public Affairs Officer
  Craig Huebing … Flight Director
  Frank Marth … Air Force System Director
  John Carter … Flight Surgeon

Special Effects Department
  Chuck Gaspar … special effects coordinator (uncredited)

Visual Effects Department
  Lawrence W. Butler … special visual effects
  Donald C. Glouner … special visual effects
  Robie Robinson … special visual effects

 

Gregory Peck and Gene Hackman

Trivia
Based on a novel by Martin Caidin, who would later write “Cyborg”, the basis for the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man.

Was the impetus behind the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project where American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts docked in space.

Frank Capra began work on the film. Inspired by his work on the Martin-Marietta Corp.-commissioned faux documentary, “Rendezvous in Space” for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, Capra (a chemical engineer by education) worked to make the picture for Columbia, but finally abandoned the project in preproduction in May 1966 when he couldn’t bring the budget down to the $3-million required by Columbia worldwide production chief M.J. Frankovich. The eventual budget for the finished film (directed by John Sturges) was $8 million. Capra never made another film.

There is no musical score for this film. Instead, each spacecraft has its own ambient soundtrack when it is shown in space. The Apollo shots feature a low hum; the XRV, a hollow ringing; the Nimbus Weather Satellite, a rapid series of beeps ascending in pitch; and the Russian Voshkhod, a constant pitch series of beeps. The only exceptions to this is are a very slight, muted bit of music played under the Apollo ambient soundtrack during Pruett’s final EVA, and a single tone (with some ambient effects that could be called music) during the opening credits.

Average Shot Length (ASL) = 8 seconds

The Film Ventures International re-edit of this film (retitled “Space Travelers”) was featured on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. This was also the only film featured on the show to have won an Academy Award.

The film’s release (prior to the launch of Apollo 13) about a space disaster led to a real-life crisis aboard Skylab 3 (c. July -September 1973) where a thruster leak developed on board the Apollo CSM. The depiction of a rescue vehicle (the lifting body in the film) was the basis of the Skylab Rescue space vehicle, based on a Block II Apollo Command Module (CSM #119) which was modified by North American Rockwell. Memos dating back to December 1970 (from NASA facilities at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, TX and Kennedy Space Center) confirm that a rescue spacecraft will be the next in line if the main Apollo CSM fails during flight. By November 1971, the modified CSM was phased in with evaluation and testing (prior to the final moon mission, Apollo 17, which launched in December 1972). The real-life thruster leak aboard Skylab 3 was neutralized and fixed where the rescue launch vehicle (piloted by NASA astronauts Vance Brand and Don Lind) was pulled from flight duty; the vehicle was on standby for Skylab 4 and the Apollo-Soyuz mission. Brand would fly on the Apollo-Soyuz mission and Lind on STS-51B in 1985. Since the final Apollo flight in 1975 (with Apollo-Soyuz), the modified command module, CSM #119, has been on display @ the Kennedy Space Center’s Visitors Complex. NASA engineers have studied the modified Skylab Rescue CSM for the Orion Spacecraft (part of Project Constellation), which will replace the Space Shuttle after its final flight in 2010.

In the film, the astronauts are seen using what appears to be the early concept of the Manned Maneuvering Unit – during the real-life Skylab missions, the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (the AMU) was tested inside the space station and never tested in the vacuum of space. The first use of the MMU was during STS-41-B (the fourth flight of the Challenger) on February 7, 1984.

The space station using a spent Saturn S-IVB stage was based on early proposals during the Apollo Applications Program; at the time of filming, what came to fruition as Skylab was still under development. The only differences between the orbital workshop depicted in the film (which has a rocket motor attached) and the real Skylab was the incorporation of the Apollo Telescope Mount and two docking ports on the docking module, not to mention the absence of a rocket motor. The real Skylab was launched as a ‘dry’ workshop using a surplus Saturn V #SA-513 (originally earmarked for the canceled Apollo 18 mission). The three-man crew in the film spend 5 months living in space; the longest duration in the real Skylab was 84 days during the final mission, Skylab 4.

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Lou Ferrigno Birthday November 9

 

Lou Ferrigno & The Incredible Hulk

 

Louis “Lou” Jude Ferrigno (born November 9, 1951) is an American bodybuilder and actor. Ferrigno has appeared in such television series and movies as The Incredible Hulk (playing David Banner’s bulky alter ego, the Hulk), the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron, European-produced fantasy-adventures including Sinbad of the Seven Seas and Hercules, and most recently in the 2009 comedy I Love You, Man. He is best known for playing the Hulk, but more recently had a recurring role, as himself, in the sitcom The King of Queens.

After graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1969, Ferrigno won his first major titles, IFBB Mr. America and IFBB Mr. Universe, four years later. In 1974, he came in second on his first attempt at the Mr. Olympia competition. He then came third the following year, and his attempt to beat Arnold Schwarzenegger was the subject of the 1975 documentary Pumping Iron. Following this, Ferrigno left the competition circuit for many years, a period that included a stint as a defensive lineman for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League.

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Ferrigno competed in the first World’s Strongest Man contest in 1977, where he finished fourth in a field of eight competitors. While competing, Ferrigno regularly went to see a physician who checked up on whether he was doing damage to his body.

First Season 1978

Ferrigno signed up with Universal Studios in 1977 for the title role opposite Bill Bixby as the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk. Richard Kiel was hired for the series first, and scenes were filmed. It was quickly determined he was not muscular enough, and Ferrigno was signed. One quick shot of Kiel remains in the pilot movie. Although he did not share a line with Bixby on the set (except for one episode, “King of the Beach”), the two were friends. Ferrigno continued playing the Hulk role until 1981, although the last two episodes were not broadcast until May 1982. Later, he and Bixby co-starred in three The Incredible Hulk TV movies. There were major talks of another movie, The Rebirth of The Incredible Hulk, but due to Bixby’s death, the project never went beyond the earliest stages of development. Ferrigno continued to keep in touch with Bixby until his death on November 21, 1993. Ferrigno attended Bixby’s funeral in California.

During competition, the 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Ferrigno’s contest weight was 285 lb (130 kg) in 1975, and 316 lb (143 kg) in 1992; he was one of the tallest

Second Season DVD

professional bodybuilders at that time.

In the early 1990s, Ferrigno returned to bodybuilding, competing for the 1992 and 1993 Mr. Olympia titles. Finishing 12th and 10th, respectively, he then turned to the Masters Olympia, coming second in 1994 to Robby Robinson. After this, he retired from competition.

He made a cameo in the 2003 film Hulk as a security guard and was in one deleted scene. He has also done guest appearances and advertisements.

Complete Third Season

He again appeared as a security guard in 2008’s feature film The Incredible Hulk as well as voicing the Hulk. Furthermore, Ferrigno has been the favorite choice to play the voice of the Hulk in several animated adaptations as well as in the most recent film after being publicly offered at the 2008 New York Comic Con by The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier.

Carla Ferrigno told Reuters that her husband had been helping Michael Jackson train in advance of his 2009-2010 concerts at the time of his death. Jackson and Ferrigno have worked together in the past.

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Child’s Play released November 9, 1988

Child’s Play is a 1988 American horror film, written by Don Mancini and directed by Tom Holland. It was released on November 9, 1988. The film met with moderate success upon its release, and has since developed a cult following among fans of the horror genre. The film is the first in the Child’s Play film series, which was originally a whodunit film in contrast to the latter sequels. This was the only film in the series released by MGM/UA, as the rights to the series were sold to Universal beginning with the sequel.

Taglines

You’ll wish it was only make-believe.

Andy Barclay has a new playmate who’s in no mood to play.

This doll is killer.

Cast
  Catherine Hicks … Karen Barclay
  Chris Sarandon … Mike Norris
  Alex Vincent … Andy Barclay
  Brad Dourif … Charles Lee Ray/Chucky
  Dinah Manoff … Maggie Peterson
  Tommy Swerdlow … Jack Santos
  Jack Colvin … Dr. Ardmore
  Neil Giuntoli … Eddie Caputo

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Make Up Department
  Michael Hancock … makeup artist
  Marina Pedraza … hair stylist

Special Effects Department
  Howard Berger … shop supervisor: chucky construction crew
  Richard O. Helmer … special effects supervisor
  Rick Lalonde … lab technician: chucky construction crew
  Ron Pipes … hair: chucky construction crew
  Zandra Platzek … hair: chucky construction crew
  James D. Schwalm … special effects
  Carl Sorensen … lab technician: chucky construction crew
  Christopher Swift … lab technician: chucky construction crew
  Kevin Yagher … designer and executor: “Chucky” doll
  Mark C. Yagher … shop assistant: chucky construction crew
  James Kagel … lead sculptor

Child's Play Chucky Doll

Visual Effects Department
  Peter Donen … visual effects supervisor
  Joseph Yanuzzi … visual effects editor

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The Embalmer released November 8, 1965

The Embalmer or Il mostro di Venezia is a 1965 Italian horror film directed by Dino Tavella. 

Plot outline
A crazed killer is on the loose in the catacombs of Venice, Italy. He stalks beautiful women, drags them to his underground lair, kills them, then stuffs them and adds them to his “collection.”

Taglines

•    Fiendish and petrifying

•    A demented soul!

Directed by
  Dino Tavella

Writers
  Dino Tavella  - Screenplay and dialogue
  Antonio Walter  - Story

Producers
  Walter Manley … producer
  Christian Marvel … producer

 

 

Cast  
  Maureen Lidgard Brown
  Gin Mart … Andrea
  Luciano Gasper
  Anita Todesco

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The Horror of Frankenstein released November 8, 1970

The Horror of Frankenstein is a 1970 British horror film by Hammer Film Productions that is both a semi-parody and remake of the 1957 film The Curse of Frankenstein. It was produced and directed by Jimmy Sangster, starring Ralph Bates, Kate O’Mara, Veronica Carlson and David Prowse as the monster. The original music score was composed by Malcolm Williamson.

Baron Victor von Frankenstein, a cold, arrogant and womanizing genius, is angry when his father forbids him to continue his anatomy experiments. He then sabotages his father’s shotgun, killing him as a consequence. Inheriting the family fortune, he uses the money to enter medical school in Vienna, but is forced to return home when he impregnates the daughter of the Dean. There, he sets up his laboratory, starting a series of experiments involving the revival of the dead, eventually building a composite body from human parts, which he then brings to life.

Kate O'Mara

Cast
  Ralph Bates … Victor Frankenstein
  Kate O’Mara … Alys
  Veronica Carlson … Elizabeth Heiss
  Dennis Price … The Graverobber
  Jon Finch … Lt. Henry Becker
  Bernard Archard … Prof. Heiss

 

Make Up Department
  Tom Smith … makeup supervisor
  Pearl Tipaldi … hair styles supervisor

Veronica Carlson

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Scars of Dracula released November 8, 1970

Scars of Dracula is a 1970 British horror film directed by Roy Ward Baker for Hammer Studios.

It stars Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, alongside Dennis Waterman, Jenny Hanley, Patrick Troughton, and Michael Gwynn. Although disparaged by some critics, the film does restore a few elements of Bram Stoker’s original character: The Count is introduced as an “icily charming host”; he has command over nature; and he is seen scaling the walls of his castle. It also gives Lee more to do and say than any other Hammer Dracula film except its first, 1958’s Horror of Dracula.

Trivia:

• Jenny Hanley was dubbed by Nikki Van der Zyl.
• Dennis Waterman was Hammer’s choice; Roy Ward Baker has said in interviews he thought Waterman was badly miscast.
• The last feature of Toke Townley
• Last Hammer horror of Michael Ripper.
• Scars of Dracula is the first Dracula film to attempt to capture the scene in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel where the Count actually crawls out and climbs along a wall in a bat-like manner, the only difference being that in the Stoker novel, Dracula climbs down, while in Scars of Dracula he climbs up.
• This is the second Hammer Dracula film to feature a servant to the count named “Klove” (the first was Dracula: Prince of Darkness, though the role was played by a different actor in each film.

Cast  
  Christopher Lee … Dracula
  Dennis Waterman … Simon Carlson
  Jenny Hanley … Sarah Framsen
  Christopher Matthews … Paul Carlson
  Patrick Troughton … Klove
  Michael Gwynn … The Priest
  Michael Ripper … Landlord
  Wendy Hamilton … Julie
  Anouska Hempel … Tania
  Delia Lindsay … Alice, burgomaster’s daughter

Jenny Hanley

 

Make Up Department
  Heather Nurse … assistant makeup artist
  Wally Schneiderman … makeup supervisor
  Pearl Tipaldi … hairdresser

   Roger Dicken … special effects

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The Boogeyman released Nov. 7, 1980

The Boogeyman is a 1980 horror film directed by Ulli Lommel. 

Some critics have said that director Lommel was inspired by John Carpenter’s Halloween when he made The Boogeyman, most notably because of the similarities in the musical score and the fact that the killer in both films is a silent man with his face obscured as to make him effectively featureless. In fact, the protagonist characters in Halloween specifically refer to that film’s killer as being, in effect, a physical embodiment of the “boogeyman” legend.

The film also uses several apparent pieces of folklore and superstition regarding mirrors – as well as the belief that it is bad luck to break a mirror, the film also discusses the belief that breaking a mirror releases everything the mirror has ever ’seen’ and that placing the pieces of a broken mirror into a bag and burying it will counteract the bad luck from breaking the mirror. Additionally. there is the belief that a mirror in a room where someone has died will show the dead person looking back over the shoulder of anyone looking into the mirror.

The Boogeyman was placed on the UK’s DPP list in 1984, but was later re-released on the Vipco label in 1992 in a cut form. In 2000 it was released uncut.

Suzanna Love

Cast
  Suzanna Love … Lacey
  Ron James … Jake
  John Carradine … Dr. Warren
  Nicholas Love … Willy
  Raymond Boyden … Kevin
  Felicite Morgan … Aunt Helen
  Bill Rayburn … Uncle Ernest
  Llewelyn Thomas … Father Reilly
  Jay Wright … Young Willy
  Natasha Schiano … Young Lacey
  Gillian Gordon … Lacey and Willy’s Mother

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Target Earth released Nov. 7, 1954

 

Target Earth is a 1954 science fiction film. It was directed by Sherman A. Rose and stars Richard Denning, Kathleen Crowley, Virginia Grey, and Whit Bissell. The film focuses on a deserted Chicago cityscape and a small group of people who have been overlooked during a mass evacuation due to an invasion of robot like beings from the planet Venus. The movie was based on the 1953 short story “Deadly City” by Paul W. Fairman.

Trivia:

Only one robot costume was constructed for this film and it was used for all robot scenes. This is why you never see more than one member of the “robot army” in a shot.

Although the production crew had no permits, the scenes showing the deserted city were filmed in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday mornings when the streets would be vacant.

The killer, (played by Robert Roark) got his part because his father, a doctor in LA would invest in the film if his son was given a part. After this part he went on to play in many movies and became a producer.

Kathleen Crowley

Virginia Grey

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Rebecca Romijn Birthday November 6

 

 

Rebecca Romijn

 

Rebecca Alie Romijn (pronounced ro-MAIN; born November 6, 1972) is an American actress (2000-present) and former model (1991-2001). She is best known for her role as Mystique in the X-Men films, and for her role as Alexis Meade on the hit show Ugly Betty.

Rebecca Romijn as Mystique in X-Men

Rebecca Romijn

Among other jobs, Romijn started her modeling career in 1992. She modeled for the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated, Victoria’s Secret, bebe, Miller Litebeer, and for Anna Molinari Runway, along with the famous Super-Models such as Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, and Christy Turlington. She also was the host of MTV’s House of Style from 1998 to 2000. Rebecca is a fixture on annual lists of the world’s most beautiful women by publications such as Maxim (2003–2007), AskMen.com (2001–2003, 2005–2006) and FHM (2000–2005). She also appeared as a guest in the animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast in an episode titled “Chinatown.”

In 2000’s X-Men, Romijn had her first major movie role as Mystique; she returned to the role in 2003’s sequel X2: X-Men United, and again for X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). In these movies her costume consisted of blue makeup and some strategically placed prosthetics on her otherwise nude body. In X2: X-Men United she shows up in a bar in one scene in her “normal” look, and also in X-Men: The Last Stand, she appears as a dark-haired “de-powered” Mystique. She had her first leading role in Brian De Palma’s Femme Fatale (2002). She also has starred in movies such as Rollerball, The Punisher and Godsend. She played the leading role in Pepper Dennis, a short-lived TV series on The WB. This series showcased Romijn’s talents for comedy, singing, modeling, drama, and adventure.

 

In January 2007, Romijn made her first appearance on the ABC series Ugly Betty as a full time regular. She plays Alexis Meade, a male-to-female transsexual and the sibling of lead character Daniel Meade. In April 2008, however, it was reported that Romijn would only be appearing as a recurring character in season 3 due to a change in direction by the writing staff. In November 2007, Romijn made a guest appearance on the ABC series Carpoolers, where she played the ex-wife of the character Laird, played by her real-life husband Jerry O’Connell.

Romijn currently stars in the ABC series Eastwick,  reuniting her with her former Pepper Dennis co-star, Lindsay Price.

Trivia:

Attended the University of California in Santa Cruz but dropped out in 1991 to pursue her modeling career.

One of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People (1999).

One of People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People (1997).

Is left-handed.

GQ’s Woman Of The Year. [1997]

Has starred in four movies based on Marvel comic book characters: X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), The Punisher (2004) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).

Ranked #60 on VH1’s 100 Hottest Hotties

She is of entirely Dutch heritage. Her maternal grandmother is first cousins with Dorothy Letterman, David Letterman’s mother.

Ranked #82 in Stuff magazine’s “102 Sexiest Women In The World” (2002).

Born on the same day as actress Thandie Newton.

She and her ex-husband John Stamos, have both guest-starred on the TV show “Friends” (1994), though not in the same episode.

Announced her engagement to actor Jerry O’Connell in September 2005.

When she was young, her parents didn’t have money, so she had to shop at Value Village.

Still shops at thrift stores.

Named #80 on the Maxim magazine “Hot 100 of 2005″ list.

Ranked as #99 in FHM’s “100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005″ special supplement. (2005)

Ranked #30 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list.

Measurements in 1998: 35B – 24 – 35.

Sister-in-law of Charlie O’Connell.

Married her boyfriend of 2 1/2 years, Jerry O’Connell, in a surprise backyard ceremony. The couple exchanged vows in front of 100 family and friends that thought that they had been invited to a barbecue.

Appeared as “Adrienne Barker”, Dennis Finch’s girlfriend (and later wife) on several episodes of “Just Shoot Me!” (1997) in 1999 and early 2000. During one scene for that show, Adrienne voices her contempt at Finch’s obsession with science fiction movies, and he retorts that she’d do anything for a part in one of those movies. Subsequently, in July of 2000, she did have a part in such a movie, appearing as “Mystique” in X-Men (2000).

Ranked #58 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list.

Fan of Dolly Parton.

On December 28, 2008, Rebecca and Jerry welcomed fraternal twin daughters, Dolly Rebecca Rose and Charlie Tamara Tulip.

Along with Ian McKellan playing Magneto in the first three live-action X-Men films, James Franco as Harry Osborn in the first three live-action Spider-Man, and Gene Hackman’s non-consecutive turns as Luthor in three Superman films, one of the few people to play a comic book criminal in three live-action films.

The film Femme Fatale (2002), which she starred in, opened on her 30th birthday in North America. November 6, 2002.

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