Welcome back to Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I will be posting weekly and info that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…



1: According to Francis Ford Coppola, the term “Don Corleone” is actually incorrect Italian parlance. In Italian, addressing someone as “Don” would be like addressing them as “Uncle” in English, so the correct parlance would be “Don Michael” or “Don Vito”. Coppola says that Mario Puzo, who couldn’t speak Italian, simply made up the idea of using “Don” with a person’s last name, and it has now become a pop culture staple.



2: Kevin Spacey was considered for a role in “Skyfall“, but declined due to scheduling conflicts. It is believed that director Sam Mendes originally offered the role of the villain to Spacey, the part in the film played by Javier Bardem. Spacey worked with Mendes previously on “American Beauty“. Interestingly, in this movie Kevin Spacey’s character complains to his wife that by attending his daughter’s cheer-leading dance he is “missing the James Bond marathon on TNT.”



3: Although a prominent character in “Toy Story 3“, an early version of Lotso can be seen in the original “Toy Story” during the staff meeting. Woody asks if the toys “up on the shelf can hear” him, and we see a shot of a big, pinkish bear. John Lasseter wanted to use Lotso in the original Toy Story, but PIXAR had troubles getting the fur right.



4: There are six people to have won an Academy Award for Best Director, though are mainly known as actors. They are: Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Richard Attenborough, Kevin Costner and Robert Redford.



5: Christian Bale dropped an amazing 63 pounds for his role as the emaciated insomniac Trevor Reznik in the film “The Machinist” with only a single vitamin consultation with a nutritionist to guide him. For the most part, he only ate salads and apples, chewed gum, smoked cigarettes, and drank nonfat lattes.



6: According to Stanley Kubrick’s wife Christiane, the director would screen every movie he could get a hold of. One of his favorites was “The Jerk“. He considered making “Eyes Wide Shut” a dark sex comedy with Steve Martin in the lead. He even met with Martin to discuss the project.



7: Judi Dench’s 1999 Oscar was awarded for an eight-minute performance in only four scenes as Queen Elizabeth I in “Shakespeare in Love“. It is the second shortest performance ever to win a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, the only shorter one being Beatrice Straight’s six-minute performance in “Network“.



8: The banner at the top of the early and original ‘Facebook.com’ included a stylized portrait of a young Al Pacino. It was designed by Andrew McCollum, a friend of Mark Zuckerberg (the creator of Facebook). The banner used on the website in the film “The Social Network” uses a portrait of actor Jesse Eisenberg (who plays Zuckerberg in the movie).



9: In “True Romance” there is a head criminal character named ‘Blue Lou Boyle’. He never appears onscreen but was originally a speaking part (with Robert DeNiro as the definite favorite), but many cuts were made to Quentin Tarantino’s script, including a scene featuring him. Instead, he’s briefly mentioned as Vincent Coccotti’s (Christopher Walken) superior.



10: (Courtesy of Fogs’ Movie Reviews)

Due to John Carpenter’s “Halloween“, shoestring budget, the prop department had to use the cheapest mask that they could find in the costume store: a “Star Trek” William Shatner mask. They later spray-painted the face white, teased out the hair, and reshaped the eye holes. Shatner admitted that for years he had no idea his likeness was used for this film. It was only during an interview that someone mentioned his mask was being used. He has since stated that he is honored by this gesture.

So there you have it. 10 esoteric Tidbits to masticate on. Some you may know. Some you may not. If you have any thoughts, stick your donations in the comment box.

See you next Tuesday…

(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)