Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Movies I Have Seen - August 2025 (1 movie)

 


26 Movies


Rescue Dawn. 2006, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 7, 2025. Soundtrack: "



Anachronisms: 
In the supply scene, before setting out for the mission, the U.S. passport Dieter shows is not only the wrong color (blue rather than green), but is also the smaller size in use today rather than the larger size in use at the time.

A Pelican case is visible during the first briefing. Pelican cases were not introduced until 1976.

When flying the Skyraider, Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale) is wearing a SPH-4 Helicopter pilot helmet that is missing it's visor assembly. In addition to missing a major portion of the helmet, this helmet was not in use during the time period of the film (it wasn't seen until the 1970s), and was not used by the pilots of fixed wing aircraft.

At the beginning (set in 1966), the pilots are making fun of a survival film. However, the survival film was made in 1967 according to the documentary "Little Dieter Needs to Fly".

In the supply scene, the supply sailors are wearing modern blue utility shirts that were not in use until the 1990s.

In the supply room scene, the sailors are shown with name tapes, and "U.S. NAVY" tapes on their dungaree uniform shirts. The US Navy did not use these until 1992. During the Viet Nam Era, Sailors either stenciled or hand printed their last name above their left breast pocket.

Dengler has a navy blue passport; U.S. passports of the time were green. Near the end, a nurse removes clear tape from the IV in his hand; clear medical tape was not in use at the time.

The aircraft carrier presented in the opening sequence is supposedly the USS Ranger, however Dengler's plane takes off from an entirely different vessel.

The blue truck taking Dengler from the village in the beginning is clearly a contemporary model, not a 1960-era model.

When Dieter is captured by the Pathet Lao, the leader is wearing woodland camouflage pattern Battle Dress Uniform pants, which were not issued until 1981.

The SKS rifles carried by the Pathet Lao have had their bayonets removed, something not seen in a wartime rifle. However, many SKSs imported to the United States had the bayonets removed in order to make them legal for sale in California.

The rescue helicopter that lands at the base is a UH-1N, a variant that did not see service until 1970.

The protagonist's funny and "inspiring" words at the close of the film sound like a Zen or Confucian quote picked up in captivity but, a) they were spoken first by an American (Alice Roosevelt Longworth, the daughter of Theodore Roosevelt), and, b) Alice didn't say those words until 1974, 8 years after Dengler was rescued.


The Abyss. 1989, Starring 


Super Seal Rover is credited as Big Geek and Mini Rover Mk II is credited as Little Geek


Hollywood Suite, August 6, 2025. Soundtrack: "



End Of Days, Inc. 2015 (Canadian), Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 5, 2025. Soundtrack: Composers - Maria Molinari and Rohan Staton. 


Looper. 2012, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 7, 2025. Soundtrack: "



Anachronism: 

Joe tells Sara in no uncertain terms that Abe's gang or his loop or both would arrive in 15 minutes, so she had just that much time to take Cid and run far away. Then, Kid Blue captures old Joe and takes him to Abe where all that fight and killings takes place, then old Joe escapes, then young Joe kills Kid Blue after all that shooting, then young Joe takes the van and silver and reaches Sara's farm, all this must have taken some hours. That 15-minute deadline, however, meant nothing for Sara, and she was still packing things after all these hours are gone by and leaves just in the nick of time when both Joes arrive.


The Contractor. 2022, Starring 


Rusty's Dogs: Ms. Wednesday Weld, Fluffy Hornstein, and Gus Fahey. Someone named Fahey is Chris Pine's personal assistant. The "Thank You" section at the end of the credits include the Hornstein family. Perhaps they used family dogs from Fahey and Hornstein. The other name appears to be a pun on the celebrity Tuesday Weld. 

Crave, August 10, 2025. Soundtrack: "



Earthquake. 1974, Starring 


Matthau himself invented the name "Matuschanskayasky" as well as the fiction that it was his birth name.

Hollywood Suite, August 10, 2025, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "


C'est si bon


A Walk Among The Tombstones. 2014, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 11, 2015. Soundtrack: "



Anachronisms: 

(at around 56 mins) While set in 1999, when Scudder clears moisture off a windows in the old house you can see a modern time (built after 2010) white car parked below the train bridge.

Matt keeps calling TJ "P. Diddy." But Sean Combs wouldn't use that name until 2001. The movie is set pre-Y2K.

(at around 6 mins) The year jumps from 1991 to 1999. As soon as the year changes to 1999 Scudder is sitting in the diner reading the Daily News. However, the back page of the newspaper is a story about a Seton Hall Pirates basketball game from 1991 (the front page looks to be era correct as there is a story about Y2K). 


The Night Of The Generals. 1967 (Anglo-French), Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 12, 2025, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "



Anachronisms: 

The German Army is shown destroying large quarters of Warsaw in 1942. Such destruction on a large scale did not happen until at least the Spring of 1943 (destruction of the Ghetto).

It is extremely unlikely that a French Police Inspector would have been able to travel to Communist Poland in the 1960s and interview a former law enforcement official. This period of time was during heightened tension between the east and the west and it is doubtful the Polish government and immigration authorities would ever have allowed this meeting to take place.

At about 15 minutes into the movie, when General Tanz arrives at the Old Town quarter of Warsaw, there is a poster for the French film "Tintin et le mystere de la toison d'or", designed by Roslaw Szaybo in 1964.

The Soviet armored vehicle ZIL-152 on the Warsaw streets in 1942. The production of ZIL-152 began in 1950.

Modern Polish street name plates are clearly visible in the film's 1942 Warsaw (eg. "Nowomiejska" street).

In 1942, Lance Corporal Hartmann is stated to be a decorated combat solider with an excellent record, yet two years later in Paris 1944 he is shown to be holding exactly the same rank, that of Lance Corporal. In the German Army, promotion from Lance Corporal to Senior Lance Corporal was essentially automatic, usually happening after no more than one to two years of active service. Thus, it doesn't make sense that Hartmann is in Paris two years later without ever having been promoted. 

General von Seidlitz-Gabler displays an odd array of award ribbons, identifying him as a veteran of World War I (he has several medals and orders of the old German kingdoms) as well as the ribbon for the First World War Iron Cross. He is however missing all of the awards which a General still on active duty during World War II would have, such as the 1939 Iron Cross ribbon, the Wehrmacht service medal (which his subordinate General Kahlenberge has) as well as any World War II campaign ribbons (which General Tanz displays). Oddly enough, von Seidlitz-Gabler appears to be wearing two ribbons of the War Merit Cross which was a ribbon for combat support operations.

General Kahlenberge wears both the First World War Iron Cross ribbon with a "Spange" (a small pin denoting those who had earned the Iron Cross again in World War II) as well as the more modern 1939 button ribbon for the Iron Cross. He would not be able to wear both since those officers who had earned the Iron Cross in World War I wore only the Spange if award the medal again and did not display both the World War I and II medals at the same time.

A modern Polish newspaper, the "Zycie Warszawy" (Polish: "Warsaw Everyday"), is clearly visible in the hands of a man who saw the German general on the stairs in the beginning of the movie. "Zycie Warszawy" was not published during the Nazi occupation.

About 47 minutes in, the scene in the Volkswagen factory office sweeps across a promotional photo of a red 1967 Volkswagen 1600 on a horse racing track.

The Polish army contributed approximately two hundred troops to play German soldiers, and they also provided their own weapons, tanks, and vehicles. Not all of them were period-correct, however.


Hysteria. 2011 (British), Starring 


and Tobias Menzies as Mr. Squyers. 

Hollywood Suite, August 12, 2025, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "



Anachronisms: 

The newspaper photograph of Doctor Granville is taken with flash powder in a flash pan. The story takes place in 1880 and flash powder was not invented until 1885.

The film suggests that the Granville Electric was the first mechanical vibrator. While it pioneered the use of electricity in the vibrator, hand-cranked models existed before the Granville.

The character Charlotte Dalrymple is shown riding a safety bicycle. The film is set in 1880, but safety bicycles weren't invented until 1885.

While in court, Charlotte states she was handing out suffragette leaflets in Leicester Square but the suffragette party of the WSPU did not form until 1903, and they were not nicknamed suffragettes until 1906.


Night Of The Living Dead. 1968, Starring 


  • Duane Jones as Ben. The casting was potentially controversial in 1968 when it was rare for a black man to be cast as the hero of an American film primarily composed of white actors, but Romero said that Jones performed the best in his audition.[14] Jones went on to appear in other films, including Ganja & Hess (1973) and Beat Street (1984),[15] but worried that people only recognized him as Ben.[16]
  • Judith O'Dea as Barbra. A 23-year-old commercial and stage actress, O'Dea previously worked for Hardman and Eastman in Pittsburgh. O'Dea was in Hollywood seeking entry to the movie business when contacted about the role.[17] O'Dea expressed surprise at the film's cultural impact and the renown it brought her.[18]
  • Russell Streiner as Johnny, Barbara's brother. Streiner was Romero's business partner at The Latent Image and one of the producers of the film.[19] In the film's credits, he is only listed as a producer and not as a cast member. He had no previous film acting experience,[20] but would later go on to have a small body of work as an actor and producer, notably as a producer of the 1990 remake, where he also had a cameo as Sheriff McClelland.[19][21]
  • Karl Hardman as Harry Cooper. Hardman was president of Hardman Associates, and like Streiner, one of the film's producers. Cooper's wife was played by Hardman's real-life business and romantic partner Marilyn Eastman.[22][23] Hardman also did uncredited work as a sound effects and music editing for the film, adding electronic effects to the stock music used in film and creating a novel electronic soundtrack for some of the film's sequences.[citation needed]
  • Marilyn Eastman as Helen Cooper.[24] Vice president of Hardman Associates, Marilyn Eastman played the doomed mother Helen Cooper and the unnamed, bug-eating zombie. She later appeared in Santa Claws (1996), directed by John Russo.[23][25]
  • Kyra Schon as Karen Cooper. Hardman's daughter in real life,[26] 9-year-old Schon also portrayed the mangled corpse on the house's upstairs floor that Ben drags away.[27]
  • Keith Wayne as Tom. "Keith Wayne" was Ronald Keith Hartman's stage name.[27] After this lone acting role, Wayne went on to work as a singer, dancer, musician, and night-club owner.[28][27] Wayne became a successful chiropractor in North Carolina.[28] Wayne explained the change in careers during a 1992 interview, "I am not that person anymore. [...] I got to a point in my life where I wanted to have some control. I didn't want to wake up at 40 or 50 and not be in control."[29] In 1995, he took his own life at age 50.[30][31]
  • Judith Ridley as Judy. The 19-year-old receptionist from Hardman Associates auditioned for Barbra without any acting experience and was given the less-demanding role of Judy.[32] Ridley starred in Romero's unsuccessful second feature There's Always Vanilla (1971).[33]
  • Bill Hinzman, who played the first ghoul encountered by Barbra and Johnny in the cemetery, went on to work on a number of horror films including The Majorettes (1986) and Flesheater (1988).[34][35]
  • George Kosana as Sheriff McClelland. Kosana also served as the film's production manager.[36]
  • Bill "Chilly Billy" Cardille as himself.[37] Cardille was well known in Pittsburgh as a TV presenter who hosted a horror film anthology series, Chiller Theatre.[38] His daughter Lori would go on to star in Romero's Day of the Dead (1985).

and Carol Wayne as Nude Ghoul (uncredited). 

Hollywood Suite, August 13, 2025. Soundtrack: "



Trivia: 

When the zombies are eating the bodies in the burnt-out truck, they were actually eating roast ham covered in chocolate sauce. The filmmakers joked that it was so nausea-inducing that it was almost a waste of time putting the makeup on the zombies as they ended up looking pale and sick anyway.

Actor/co-producer Karl Hardman (Harry Cooper, the father in the basement), also served as makeup artist, electronic sound effects engineer, and took the still photos used for the closing credits.


Stan & Ollie. 2018, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 14, 2025, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "



Trivia: Spoofed in: 


Anachronisms: 

The Savoy Hotel in London flies a "Maple Leaf" Canadian flag, which was adopted in 1965.

When Oliver Hardy (in England) chats with his wife (in America) on the telephone, they use normal voices. In 1953, transatlantic sound quality was so poor that both of them would have had to shout.

In 1953, phone calls from the U.K. to the U.S. were astronomically expensive and involved multiple international operators. Even the very wealthy communicated across the Atlantic by telegram.

When Stan inserts money into a UK phone box, it makes beep-beep-beep of an STD phone. In the 1950s, it would have been a Push Button A phone, which did not beep.

The film never mentions that Ollie made The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) with John Wayne before reuniting with Stan to make Utopia (1951), their final film. 

The American flag shown at the Savoy in 1953 is a 50-star flag, adopted in 1960. Several people at the Dublin welcome are waving 50-star flags.

Stan Laurel's wife, Ida Kitaeva, says St. Petersburg is a nice place to visit. St. Petersburg was called Leningrad in the 1950s. Kitaeva was born in Chita, Russia in 1899, and grew up in Saint Petersburg, which was renamed Petrograd in 1914, then Leningrad in 1924. It was renamed Saint Petersburg in 1991.

When Stan leaves the phone booth, a deep blue Standard Ten drives by. This car was introduced in 1954, but the film is set in 1953.

In the opening, set in 1936, Laurel & Hardy walk through the studio on their way to the soundstage. One poster on a building advertises a The Little Rascals short. Before the shorts were syndicated for television in 1955, they were called Our Gang.

A rock band plays at the beauty contest before before Stan and Ollie take the stage. Rock and roll didn't hit Britain until at least 1955.

Hardy buys a Sporting Times newspaper in 1953. The paper ceased publication in 1932.

In the 1930s County Hospital scene, Stan brings Ollie some white hard boiled eggs. The reproduced 1953 scene on the English stage tour uses brown eggs. Brown hens eggs were rarely seen in the UK before the late 1960s.

When Stan is on the phone with his wife, her Western Electric phone has a clear plastic dial, introduced in 1964. In 1953, the dial would have been black metal.

In one of the last scenes, Stan and Ollie reconcile after an argument and Ollie's subsequent heart attack. Stan offers an apology and Ollie says, "Je ne regrette rien, and you shouldn't regret rien either." Édith Piaf wrote "Je Ne Regrette Rien" in 1956, and recorded it in 1960. 


The Seven Year Itch. 1955, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 14, 2025, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "



The Last Showgirl. 2024, Starring 



Crave, August 14, 2025. Soundtrack: "



Monty Python's Life of Brian (also known as Life of Brian). 1979 (British), Starring 


  • Graham Chapman as Brian Cohen (of Nazareth), Biggus Dickus, second wise man
  • Sue Jones-Davies as Judith Iscariot
  • John Cleese as Reg, High priest, Centurion of the Yard, Deadly Dirk, Arthur, first wise man
  • Terry Gilliam as Another person further forward (at Mount – "Do you hear that? 'Blessed are the Greek'!"), Revolutionary, Blood and Thunder prophet, Geoffrey, Gaoler, Audience Member, Frank, Crucifee
  • Eric Idle as Mr Cheeky, Stan/Loretta, Harry the Haggler, Culprit woman who casts first stone, Warris, Intensely dull youth, Otto, Gaoler's assistant, Mr Frisbee III
  • Terry Jones as Mandy Cohen (Brian's mother), Colin, Simon the Holy Man, Bob Hoskins, Saintly passer-by, Alarmed Crucifixion Assistant
  • Michael Palin as Mr Big-Nose, Francis, Mrs A, Culprit woman who casts second stone, Ex-leper, Announcer, Ben, Pontius Pilate, Boring Prophet, Eddie, Shoe Follower, Nisus Wettus, 3rd wise man
  • Terence Bayler as Mr Gregory, second Centurion, Dennis
  • Carol Cleveland as Mrs Gregory, Woman #1, Elsie
  • Charles McKeown as False Prophet, Blind Man, Giggling Guard, Stig, Man #1
  • Kenneth Colley as Jesus
  • Neil Innes as A Weedy Samaritan
  • John Young as Matthias
  • Gwen Taylor as Mrs Big-Nose, Woman with ill donkey, Female heckler
  • Chris Langham as Alfonso, Giggling Guard
  • Andrew MacLachlan as Another Official Stoners Helper, Giggling Guard
  • Bernard McKenna as Parvus, Official Stoners Helper, Giggling Guard, Sergeant
  • George Harrison as Mr Papadopoulos
  • Charles Knode as Passer-by (uncredited)

Several characters remained unnamed during the film but do have names that are used in the soundtrack album track listing and elsewhere. There is no mention in the film that Eric Idle's ever-cheerful joker is called "Mr Cheeky", or that the Roman guard played by Michael Palin is named "Nisus Wettus".

Spike Milligan appears as a prophet, ignored because his acolytes are chasing after Brian. By coincidence Milligan was visiting his old World War II battlefields in Tunisia where the film was being made. The Pythons were alerted to this and he was included in the scene being filmed that morning. He left in the afternoon before he could be included in any of the close-up or publicity shots for the film. 


Amazon Prime, August 15, 2025, with Dr. Connie Luther, Dr. Paul Johnston and Dr. Mirjam Knapik. Soundtrack: "



Quote: 

  • Brian's mother: He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy! Now, piss off! 

Anachronisms: 

In the stoning scene early in the movie, the man is condemned for speaking God's name "Jehovah." In fact, Jehovah was not used until the English translations of the 16th century. "Jehovah" Is a hybrid form derived by combining the Latin letters JHVH (for the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, YHWH,) with the vowels of Adonai (or Lord.)

The letter U first appeared around the 14th century. At the time of Jesus, ROMANES EUNT DOMUS would be written ROMANES EVNT DOMVS.

When a nude Brian speaks with his followers and his mother storms into the room, a Star of David is on the wall. The Star of David became a symbol of Judaism in the Middle Ages.


Cat Ballou. 1965, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 18, 2025, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "



Anachronisms: 

At the beginning of the train robbery sequence, a then-modern signal box is visible beside the tracks.

(At 22.08) Tea is poured from a plastic pitcher.

Modern air breaks are visible on the train; note the rubber tube by the coupling mechanisms.

When Kid Shelleen sobers up and is practicing shooting, he shoots a stick in the air, and for a couple of frames an airplane can be seen in the bottom of the frame. It occurs about 74 minutes 30 seconds into the movie.

Although the movie is set in 1894, Kid Shelleen mistakenly sings "Happy Birthday to You" when he sees the candles on Frankie Ballou's coffin. The tune was published as a kindergarten song "Good Morning to All" in 1893 upon being introduced in a Louisville school, but the lyrics did not become associated with the melody until well after 1900, and the song is unlikely to have spread to the West very quickly.


Torn Curtain. 1966, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 18, 2025, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "



A Walk On The Moon. 1999, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 20, 2025. Soundtrack: "



Anachronisms: 

When we first meet the Blouse Man in his bus, he is listening to the Grateful Dead playing the song 'Ripple' on the radio. The movie takes place in summer of 1969, but the song was written in 1970.

We hear "Uncle John's Band" (Grateful Dead) which wasn't performed until December 1969.


The Spirit Of St. Louis. 1957, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 20, 2025, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "



Anachronisms: 

From 1925 to 1934, there was an electric sign on the Eiffel Tower that said "Citroen". In the scene of the night landing, when he flew over Paris, the sign would have easily been visible.

On his flight from NYC, Lindbergh obtained his last land fix at St. Johns, Newfoundland, before the Atlantic Ocean. In the overhead shot of the town, 1950's cars are clearly visible.

When "Mirror Girl" is on the train back to Philadelphia from New York, the entire scene is framed against several of the train's windows with a beautiful view of The Pulaski Skyway, a northern New Jersey landmark, whose construction began in 1930 - three years after Lindbergh's flight.

During his solo flight across the North Atlantic (1927), Lindbergh (James Stewart) opens his lunch box which contains various things to eat. Amongst this array of foods are sandwiches which are clearly made from sliced bread, which didn't become available until the following year (1928).

It is winter 1926 and Lindbergh parachutes from his DeHavilland mailplane to safety in the icy snowstorm. He and his mailbags board a passenger train. On the train a man is seen reading what appears to be an early Life Magazine. Life Magazine didn't start printing until 1936 almost a decade after the famous flight. However what can be made of the font style on the cover is similar to The New Yorker Magazine fonts which 'had' been publishing since early 1925.

When Lindbergh is in the New York City office of the President of Columbia Aircraft Co.to inquire about the purchase of a Bellanca, the view out the window shows the western portion of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which was not built until 1936, making the skyline that of a more modern day San Francisco, not N.Y.C.

Arthur Space- who plays designer Donald Hall- was 54 when the movie was filmed. The real Donald Hall was 28 at the time the Spirit of St. Louis was designed.


Sinners. 2025, Starring 


  • Michael B. Jordan as the Smokestack Twins:
    • Elijah "Smoke" Moore
    • Elias "Stack" Moore
  • Hailee Steinfeld as Mary, Stack's ex-girlfriend
  • Miles Caton as Samuel "Sammie" Moore, Smoke and Stack's 17-year-old cousin, a sharecropper and aspiring blues musician.[13]
  • Jack O'Connell as Remmick, an Irish vampire
  • Wunmi Mosaku as Annie, Smoke's estranged wife and a Hoodoo practitioner
  • Jayme Lawson as Pearline, a married singer with whom Sammie becomes smitten
  • Omar Miller as Cornbread, a sharecropper and bouncer
  • Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim, an old town harmonica player and musical legend
  • Peter Dreimanis as Bert, a local KKK member and Joan's husband
  • Lola Kirke as Joan, a KKK member and Bert's wife
  • Li Jun Li as Grace Chow, Bo's wife and a shopkeeper
  • Saul Williams as Jedidiah Moore, a pastor, Sammie's father, and the twins’ uncle
  • Yao as Bo Chow, Grace's husband and a shopkeeper
  • David Maldonado as Hogwood, the local KKK leader and Bert's uncle
  • Helena Hu as Lisa Chow, Bo and Grace's daughter
  • Andrene Ward-Hammond as Ruthie, Sammie's mother
  • Nathaniel Arcand as Chayton, a Choctaw vampire hunter
  • Emonie Ellison as Therise, Cornbread's pregnant wife


Crave, August 23, 2025. Soundtrack: "



Anachronisms: 

The background music, "Juke," by Little Walter, was from 1952, and "Wang Dang Doodle," by Howlin' Wolf, was from 1961. Neither work was typical of 1932.

Stack is stated to have inherited his father's guitar before he came to Chicago seven years before the story takes place. The guitar is a Dobros Cyclops, which came onto the market in 1932, the same year the film is set.

The lighter that Smoke uses to light the cigarette that he gets from Hogwood is of a modern design that didn't exist in 1932.

While a version of the Molotov cocktail was employed unsuccessfully in the 1920s, the contemporary Molotov that Grace uses in the climax would not be widespread/in documented use until the Spanish Civil War in 1936, a couple years after (most of) the film's events in 1932.

Remmick and his minions perform a rendition of the modern version of "Wild Mountain Thyme" by Francis McPeake, which was not recorded until 1957.

During the closing credits, a performance by Sammie and his band at Pearline's Chicago Blues Bar that occurred on October 16, 1992, features a Roland XP-80 synthesizer keyboard. The Roland XP-80 was not introduced until 1996. The XP series itself was not even introduced until 1994.

Near the beginning Sammie says, "have a good one" to the sharecroppers. That expression didn't exist in 1932.

Michael B. Jordan's character is seen wearing modern-style grillz. These were not present or fashionable in 1932-1933, when the film is set. While gold dental work existed at the time for medical reasons, ornamental grillz only became popular in the 1980s hip-hop scene and beyond.


Ziegfeld Girl. 1941, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 23, 2025, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "



Anachronism: 

Though the movie takes place in the 1920s, some of the clothing is clearly from the early 1940s.


The Third Man. 1949, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 23, 2025, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "



Mississippi Masala. 1991, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 24, 2025, with Dr. Connie Luther. Soundtrack: "



The Deer Hunter. 1978, Starring 


  • Robert De Niro as Staff Sergeant Mikhail Vronsky ("Mike"). After Roy Scheider withdrew from the cast two weeks before the start of filming due to creative differences, producer Michael Deeley pursued De Niro, who was paid one-million dollars for the role,[8] in search of star power to sell a film with a "gruesome-sounding storyline and a barely known director".[9] De Niro later said, "I liked the script, and [Cimino] had done a lot of prep. I was impressed."[10] He prepared by socializing with steelworkers in local bars and by visiting their homes.[11] De Niro claimed that this was his most physically exhausting film, and that the sequence in which Mike visits Steven in the hospital was the most emotional scene of his career.[12]
  • Christopher Walken as Corporal Nikanor Chevotarevich ("Nick"). His performance won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
  • John Savage as Corporal Steven Pushkov.
  • John Cazale as Stanley ("Stan"/"Stosh"). All scenes involving Cazale, who had terminal cancer, were filmed first. Because of his illness, the studio wanted to dismiss him, but Streep, with whom he was in a romantic relationship, and Cimino threatened to withdraw from the project if Cazale was released.[13][14] He was almost uninsurable, and according to Streep, De Niro paid for his insurance because he wanted Cazale in the film. This was Cazale's last film, as he died shortly after filming wrapped. He never saw the finished film.[13][15]
  • Meryl Streep as Linda. In the screenplay, Streep's role was negligible, but Cimino explained the role to her and suggested that she write her own lines.[16]
  • George Dzundza as John Welsh.
  • Pierre Segui [fr] as Julien Grinda.
  • Shirley Stoler as Steven's mother.
  • Chuck Aspegren[17][18] as Peter Axelrod ("Axel"). Aspegren was not an actor; he was the foreman at an East Chicago steel factory that was visited by De Niro and Cimino during pre-production. They were so impressed with him that they offered him the role. He was the second person to be cast in the film, after De Niro.[11]
  • Rutanya Alda as Angela Ludhjduravic-Pushkov.
  • Paul D'Amato as Sergeant.
  • Amy Wright as Bridesmaid.
  • Joe Grifasi as Bandleader.
  • John F. Buchmelter III as a bar patron. Buchmelter was a steel worker whom Cimino wanted to lend the film a sense of authenticity.
  • Somsak Sengvilai as the Viet Cong referee. Casting local actors to play the stone-faced referee during the famous Russian-roulette scene proved troublesome, as many refused to authentically slap De Niro and Walken. When Sengvilai was cast, he was noted as holding a particular disdain toward Americans, and the slaps that he delivered in the scene were genuine.

Although Deeley was pleased with the revised script, he was still concerned with being able to sell the film. He later wrote, "We still had to get millions out of a major studio, as well as convince our markets around the world that they should buy it before it was finished. I needed someone with the caliber of Robert De Niro."[19] Deeley felt that De Niro was "the right age, apparently tough as hell, and immensely talented".[9]

De Niro, who knew many actors in New York, brought Streep and Cazale to the attention of Cimino and Deeley.[20] De Niro also accompanied Cimino to scout locations for the steel-mill sequence, and rehearsed with the actors to use the workshops as a bonding process.[21]

Each of the six principal male characters carried a photo in his back pocket depicting them all together as children to enhance the sense of camaraderie among them. Cimino instructed the props department to fashion complete photo IDs for each of them, including driver licenses and medical cards, to enhance each actor's sense of his character.


Hollywood Suite. August 25. 2025. Soundtrack: "



Anachronisms: 

Walken enters a bar after recovering the hospital, and the song Midnight Train to Georgia is playing in the background. The song was released in august of 1973, America signed a truce on January of 1973, and thus the war would have been over by then. When Nick enters the red-light district bar in Saigon, "Midnight Train To Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips starts playing on the loudspeakers. However, this recording was not released until August 1973, at least four years after this event could have occurred

The hairstyles the men wear in the first scenes in the film, which are set in 1967, are anachronistic for their location, occupation, and socio-political orientation. While male hippies and rock musicians famously had long hair in 1967, it was unheard of for patriotic steelworkers in Pennsylvania to wear their hair that long. Hair for that set of people is perfect for 1975, when the last scenes are set, or 1977-78, when the movie was filmed, but not for 1967.

When returning to the bar after the hunting trip, they are singing "Drop Kick Me Jesus (Through The Goalposts Of Life)" a Bobby Bare song released in 1976 after the Vietnam War had ended.

The cans of Rolling Rock beer, Iron City beer (in the 1960s Pennsylvania bar), Pepsi and Mountain Dew (at the wedding reception), and Miller beer (in Vietnam) are all 1970s vintage. The bottles of Rolling Rock do, however, roughly represent the correct 1960s design.

When the group breaks out the food during the hunting trip circa 1968, the food packaging is clearly of late 1970s vintage, with bar codes.


Phone Booth. 2002, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 26, 2025. Soundtrack: "



Monster's Ball. 2001, Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 27, 2025. Soundtrack: "



Anachronism: 

(at around 1h 24 mins) While the movie is supposedly set in the early '90s, a late '90s / early '00s Cadillac Escalade can be seen passing through the foreground as Leticia enters the pawn shop.


The Stone Angel. 2007 (Canadian), Starring 



Hollywood Suite, August 28, 2025. Soundtrack: "



Anachronisms: 

The first incident with the freight train is set about 1950 yet it has no caboose. The caboose was not replaced by an electronic monitor on the last freight car until the eighties. It's also more than likely that in that era in western Canada a freight would have been hauled by steam rather than diesel.

During the first flashback scene when the children are running away from the funeral home a black hatchback with rear windshield wiper is seen in an alley off to the right of the screen.















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