So You're Saying To Hold Out Hope?

(CavemanCircus.com)

Did You Know - Grease, The Movie Edition

33 Facts About "Grease" That Might Just Blow Your Mind

"We'll always be together. Wha oooh, yeah!"

9. Lucille Ball's daughter Lucie Arnaz was originally up for the role of Rizzo, but was later dropped from consideration after her mom told producers this: “I used to own that studio; my daughter’s not doing a screen test!”

28. Believe it or not, the word "grease" is never said in the film, only "greased."

Complete list (BuzzFeed.com)

Easy Choice, The A Team Van, Form & Function

(Facebook.com)

That's Actually Interesting

4. Steven Spielberg has been thanked more often at the Oscars than God.

(BuzzFeed.com)

Did You Know - The Matrix Movie

That Trippy Green Code in ‘The Matrix’ Is Just a Bunch of Sushi Recipes 

Mystery solved!

The first few minutes of The Matrix (1999) are ominous and disorienting: a torrent of lime-green characters trickle down and then jam the frame. From afar, it looks like utterly indecipherable code; If you peer closely, however you'll be able to discern that it's a jumble of Japanese characters: hiragana, katakana, and kanji.

The Wachowskis, who directed the movie, have opened every subsequent film within the Matrix franchise with this sequence. You could even consider the green techno-rain the series' defining imagistic attribute.

For those of us who've found it impossible to get a handle on what, exactly, is gushing onto the screen, though, I've got news: As it turns out, we've been played.

The man behind the code is Simon Whiteley, who worked as a production designer on the film. In an interview with CNet last Thursday, Whiteley revealed that the source of that mystifying code was none other than a batch of his Japanese wife's cookbooks—and the sushi recipes he found within them.

"I like to tell everybody that The Matrix's code is made out of Japanese sushi recipes," Whiteley, who's also lent his design talents to Babe (1995) and The Lego Movie (2014), told the publication. "Without that code, there is no Matrix."

(Vice.com)

Intial D Forever Immortalized It

Why The Humble Toyota Corolla Became A King Of Drift Racing

The AE86 generation of Corolla is perhaps most famous for starring in the drifting anime Initial D. That fiction has its roots in reality. The AE86 a great choice for drifting, if you can find one today that hasn’t been abused to death.

That’s something you can’t do with modern ones, as the Corolla lineup has gone exclusively front-wheel drive—and boring. But the Corolla’s legacy to the sport is important and thriving even today, and for that reason it deserves more respect than it probably gets.

(Jalopnik.com)

A Rare Chance To Own Something For A Car Guy & Movie Buff

Steve McQueen's Le Mans racing helmet and suit to be auctioned

(AutoBlog.com)

A Bond Of Show & Go

007 Best James Bond Cars

BMW 750iL

People hate on James Bond driving German cars, but for those of a certain age, Pierce Brosnan and his BMW's are iconic (A certain editor, perhaps the one who put this little gallery together, may even own one). Of the Bond Bimmers, the 750iL from Tomorrow Never Dies is our choice as the best of bunch.

The 750iL always seemed like a more realistic spy car. Not only does it do a better job of actually blending into a crowd (something a DB5 or Lotus Esprit can never do), this enormous luxury sedan could be absolutely jam-packed with more gadgets and weapons than anything that came before or since. May we also note that this particular 7 Series is even cooler today than it was back then before it's Bangle-butted successor.

 

Toyota 2000GT Roadster

 

One of the best, most iconic cars to ever come out of Japan. Featured in You Only Live Twice, the 2000GT is driven first by Akiko Wakabayashi's Aki before Bond has a go later on. It features an on-board video phone oh-so-conveniently located behind the seats. 

 

Here's the thing about the You Only Live Twice 2000GT, though: it's one of a kind. Toyota never made a 2000GT Roadster, it was a coupe. However, 6-foot-2 Sean Connery couldn't fit in the thing. Toyota first tried a targa-style top, but it was determined that his head poking out of the top looked goofy. Instead, a full roadster was the solution. There isn't actually a functional soft top under that tonneau.

Complete list (AutoBlog.com)

A Living Screen Legend That Is Street Legal

An Authentic Eleanor Mustang Revisits The Set Of Los Angeles

More pictures (Petrolicious.com)

A Method To The Madness

In responding to why he starred in Jaws: The Revenge, Michael Caine said “I have never seen the film, but by all accounts it was terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.”

(BroBible.com)

Cars In Movies Are The New Race On Sunday, Sell On Monday

Why the Ferrari Enzo Ferrari debuted in Charlie’s Angels | The Car Stays in the Picture

All of which begs the automotive question we love to ask at The Car Stays in the Picture: How the hell did something like this ever happen?

"It was a combination between us having a very strong connection in Hollywood, and knowing the dealer, Giacomo Mattioli of Ferrari of Beverly Hills, that has always been quite prominent, used by a lot of movie directors," says Marco Mattiacci, the vice president of the Ferrari and Maserati brands in North America at the time. "But one of the things we were doing then was trying to find placements for Maserati. And we had to leverage that appeal of Ferrari."

The Enzo was thus something of a Trojan Prancing Horse, with the re-launch of Maserati USA hiding inside – a carrot leading not a stick, but a trident, or maybe some slightly less familiar vegetable, like broccoli rabe.

"In that movie, there was the Enzo. But there is also a 2002 Maserati Spyder. That was more of the key product placement. We had to place the Maserati," Mattiacci emphasizes. "So at that point, it was for me to go to the importer and convince Maranello to bring this car on set, because the only chance we had to position the Maserati was to give this premiere of the Ferrari Enzo."

Intrigue and deal making aside, how was this executed – a multi-stop tour for a top-secret production prototype that originated in Italy, jetted to California, and then returned to Europe in time for a reveal in France? Ferrari supercars are among the most desirable scoop in all of autodom, rivaled in the entertainment industry only by the insatiably misogynistic demand for catty gossip from the set of a female-driven hit franchise. Placing the two together on a public beach must have created a paparazzi feeding frenzy akin to a sharknado touching down in a tilapia farm.

"We had to guarantee the importer confidentiality so no photos could be shot of the car. The car was still was one of the demos, or pre-production cars. So we took all the kind of precautions to not have the car viewable," Mattiacci says, modestly. "We brought the car there during the night, the crew did an amazing job."

(AutoBlog.com)  

Save The Date: Top Gun 2

CONFIRMED: We Have A Release Date And Director For ‘Top Gun’ Sequel 

“Top Gun 2,” which is actually titled “Top Gun: Maverick” has a release date of the summer of 2019 and they have a director picked out as well. 

[Paramount] also revealed that Joseph Kosinski will be the director of the high-flying sequel. Kosinski directed “Tron: Legacy” and worked with Cruise in the 2013 sci-fi drama “Oblivion.”

(BroBible.com)

The Hype Machine Is Working Overtime On This One

Tom Cruise Reveals The Title For ‘Top Gun’ Sequel 

The sequel to “Top Gun” will not be “Top Gun 2.” Instead, Tom Cruise’s character is definitely the focus as the title for the sequel to the fighter jet epic will be “Top Gun: Maverick.” Cruise announced the title of the second “Top Gun” movie in an interview with Access Hollywood. 

(BroBible.com)

Good One, Hot Wheels

Hot Wheels releases Wonder Woman's invisible jet, sort of

To obtain your own invisible jet, you'll have to purchase $20 worth of Hot Wheels cars at Walmart. That's before taxes, too. Then mail your proofs of purchase to Mattel, along with a check or money order for $3.50 to cover shipping and handling. Then in a few weeks, you'll have your own, perfectly invisible "jet." For seriously die-hard fans of Wonder Woman with a good sense of humor, this is a pretty neat piece of memorabilia. 

(AutoBlog.com)
 

This Is A Cool Light

(CavemanCircus.com)

Hollywood, The Greast Money Scam Of Them All

For each new film, a movie is set up as its own corporation, the entire point of which is to lose money. This is so actors, writers, and other individuals who are promised a share of the profits actually earn nothing since the movie, as a corporation, technically lost money. (article)

This happened to the guy who wrote Forrest Gump (the novel). He was promised a share of the profits of the film, but got nothing other than his $350,000 licensing fee because the film (which grossed $700 million on a budget of $55 million) “lost money”.

Years later, supposedly, he was approached by Paramount Pictures to license his sequel to his novel, but he declined, snarkily saying “I don’t understand why you’d want to make a sequel to a movie that didn’t make any money.

(CavemanCircus.com)

You Don't Mess With The Best

The epic Jordan-led summer pickup games on the set of 'Space Jam'

Michael Jordan was fresh off the sting of what would turn out to be the last playoff series loss of his career, to the Orlando Magic in the second round. Movie or no movie, he was determined to return to his place atop the NBA. So he ordered the construction of a tented hardwood basketball court on the Warner Bros. studio lot and laced up his Concords. Word got out, and an array of NBA players came through.

Besides the movie co-stars such as Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson, there were the likes of Grant Hill, Rod Strickland, Glen Rice, Dennis Rodman, Juwan Howard, Steve Smith and Cedric Ceballos. Shaquille O'Neal came by. Magic Johnson, less than a year shy of his return to the NBA, made an appearance. Reggie Miller showed up for what turned into a clear-out-and-let-em-go-at-it game, with the trash talk flying.

"It was like an NBA all-star game every day," said Tracy Murray, who was coming off the third season of his 11-year pro career that summer.

Except it had regular-season intensity. So many players showed up that losing meant a two- or three-game wait to get back on the court. Veteran center Olden Polynice came by and made the mistake of thinking, "It's the summertime, they're going to be bulls----ing."

"Come to find out, they weren't bulls----ing," Polynice said.

Murray credits the cutthroat competition with priming him for a breakout season -- he made 116 more 3-pointers and his scoring average jumped by 11 points, setting him up for a nice free-agent contract that provided the bulk of the $22 million he made in his career.

For Jordan, it was the launchpad to the Bulls' record-setting 72-10 season, capped by a championship.

(ESPN.com)

It's A Damn Good Question

(CavemanCircus.com)

I Walked In & Immediately Recognized It From The Movie Scene

Go On Location: Famous Film & TV Restaurants in L.A.

"Training Day" - Pacific Dining Car

One of L.A.’s oldest operating eateries, the Pacific Dining Car was founded in 1921 by Fred and Grace Cook. Inspired by a restaurant they’d visited in New York, the couple created a replica train dining car to house their small steakhouse, which moved to its current location at 6th and Witmer in 1923. Though Fred and Grace have since passed away, the restaurant is still owned and operated by their family to this day. Open 24 hours a day, the Pacific Dining Car was an early favorite of the Hollywood set, with Mae West, Louella Parsons and Mickey Cohen counted as regulars. In more recent years, Nicolas Cage, Johnny Depp and novelist James Ellroy have been known to drop in.
The richly-colored interior has been immortalized numerous times on screen, most famously in the 2001 crime drama, "Training Day." In the restaurant’s Pacific Northwest Room, Denzel Washington meets with the Three Wise Men and recommends the Baseball Steak. In the 1974 noir classic "Chinatown," the exterior briefly masks as the Pig ‘n Whistle in a series of photographs that J.J. Gittes (Jack Nicholson) looks through. The steakhouse also popped up in 2008’s "Street Kings" and 2011’s "Rampart."

Complete list (DiscoverLosAngeles.com)

Did You Know - Tin Cup Edition

7 Awesome, Hilarious Facts You Never Knew About Tin Cup

1. Chip Beck at the 1993 Masters was the inspiration for the movie.

During the final round of the 1993 Masters, Beck trailed Bernhard Langer by three with four holes to play, yet he laid up on the par-5 15th at Augusta National. The conservative approach didn't pay off (Langer won by four), but it gave Ron Shelton the idea he needed for his movie. Shelton, who directed and co-wrote Tin Cup, talked to John Norville, who co-wrote the film with him, after he saw Beck's lay up on 15.

"When Chip Beck laid up, we immediately called each other and said, That's the key to our guy: He won't lay up!" Shelton said.

3. The punch shot that Costner hit from the bar that knocked the pelican off a post was based off something McCord actually did.

"We were in Pensacola, and me and a few other players were trapped in our condo during a rainout," McCord said. "We had nothing to do but gamble. That's what we golfers do. And I see this pelican land on a post. So I said, ‘Hey guys, give me 10 shots and I bet I can knock that pelican off his perch from my bedroom.' So I got up to move the lamp and open the sliding glass doors. I put the ball down, and they're all hiding behind the couch because I'm going to fire off a 4-iron in this condo. I cut it right through the door and it sails right over the pelican's head and he flies off. Best shot I've ever hit."

Complete list (Golf.com)