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33 Movie Facts to Boost Your Film Buff Street Cred

Mockumentaries have consequences

33 Movie Facts to Boost Your Film Buff Street Cred

June 21, 2024

Best in Show inspired NBC to broadcast the actual National Dog Show on Thanksgiving every year.

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33

Mockumentaries N Man Bites Dog This Belgian mockumentary about a serial killer won the International Critics' Prize at Cannes. It also has the coolest poster ever, which had to be softened overseas by replacing the pacifier with a set of dentures. (No babies die in the movie.) CRACKED.COM — Source

32

Mockumentaries Alternative 3 This British mockumentary about a secret mission to colonize Mars and the Moon featured somewhat known actors, but people still fell for it. The reason: it came out in June 1977, when it was originally supposed to air on April Fool's Day. CRACKED.COM — Source

31

Mockumentaries Bob Roberts In this prescient 1992 political mockumentary, Tim Robbins plays a narcissistic musician as he runs for senator, singing against lazy people, and even creating a Wall Street Rap. The movie has an insane all-star cast (including Jack Black in his film debut). CRACKED.COM — Source

30

Mockumentaries Zelig Eleven years before Forrest Gump, Woody Allen inserted himself into early 20th century footage for this mockumentary about an enigmatic man who blends with whoever he's around. Allen and his cinematographer used real old-timey cameras, and scratched film negatives in order to age them. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

Mockumentaries The Terrible Truth This preachy 1951 short film proclaims weed is a gateway drug to heroin. It even ends by saying, Some say that the Reds are promoting drug traffic in the United States to undermine national morale. Right, The Terrible Truth, we're sure some say that. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

Mockumentaries - - 2 taka Best in Show ChristopherGuest's comedy mockumentary about a dog show had real-life consequences. NBC Sports' Jon Miller found the entire concept and setting hilarious, and started broadcasting the National Dog Show every Thanksgiving since 2002. CRACKED.COM — Source

27

Mockumentaries C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America The film shows historical events from an alternate timeline where the Confederacy won the Civil War, like JFK being shot for trying to abolish slavery. It also features racist products from that alternate universe - which are actually real. CRACKED.COM — Source

26

Mockumentaries Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Sacha Baron Cohen retired Borat in 2007- then Donald Trump's presidency happened. Cohen considered the insanity of electing and supporting Trump only graspable with the help of Borat. CRACKED.COM — Source

25

Mockumentaries This is Spinal Tap The gold standard for the genre, Rob Reiner's rockumentary got great reviews and became highly influential, but it was a commercial failure. It made less than $5 million in the box office-next to nothing compared to other 1984 comedies. CRACKED.COM — Source

24

Mockumentaries Incident at Loch Ness Werner Herzog wants to shoot a meditative study on Nessie, while his producer Zak Penn wants to make a blockbuster. The three-layered sandwich leads to an actual encounter with the creature, but hidden DVD Easter eggs show it was all a ruse by Penn. CRACKED.COM — Source

23

Mockumentaries The Nona Tapes Alice in Chains did their own mockumentary to promote their third album. Columbia Records was pissed, and took their revenge by selling the short against the band's wishes when it became a cult hit. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

Mockumentaries ROSSON EPORTUME ZYKLUS TB Tour de Pharmacy The 1982 Tour de France is the setting for a bunch of drug-fueled cycling shenanigans, partly inspired by Lance Armstrong's notorious fall from grace. In fact, Andy Samberg and his crew did not think they could get the actual Armstrong, but he agreed. CRACKED.COM — Source

21

Mockumentaries Forgotten Silver Peter Jackson introduces us to the lost movies of one Colin McKenzie, who apparently came up with the tracking shot, the close-up, sound and color film, and even martial arts fights in cinema. CRACKED.COM — Source

20

Mockumentaries All You Need is Cash Before Spinal Tap, there was The Rutles. This mockumentary followingthe British band boasts cameos by Mick Jagger, Paul Simon, and George Harrison. Plus, it fused sMonty Python and Saturday Night Live, featuring Eric Idle and Michael Palin along with Gilda Radner, John Belushi, and Dan Aykroyd. CRACKED.COM — Source

19

Mockumentaries Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping This mockumentary by The Lonely Island follows music genius (and absolute idiot) Conner4Real. But we never get Conner's last name, right? We do! Conner's mom (played by the always awesome Joan Cusack) is called Tilly Friel. Get it? Friel, 4Real? CRACKED.COM — Source

18

Mockumentaries An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn Real director Alan Smithee wants his name out of his awful movie, but the industry pseudonym is Alan Smithee, so he snatches the movie to burn it. In real life, the film was so bad that the pseudonym was actually retired by the Directors Guild of America. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

Mockumentaries Ghostwatch The creepy-ass mockumentary got too intense for its Halloween audience, and ended up causing PTSD cases in children. An 18-year-old with learning difficulties got obsessed with the show and committed suicide five days later, believing knocking pipes to be linked to ghosts. CRACKED COM — Source

16

Mockumentaries Punishment Park In Nixon's fascistic America, left-wing groups are marched 53 miles through the California desert while being chased by the National Guard. Mockumentary expert Peter Watkins allowed for full improvisation, so a scene features real bullets and real panic. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

Mockumentaries Borat The Pamela Anderson kidnapping scene was shot twice, because the first time the fans did nothing. The second time they got so rowdy that Anderson ended up losing a tiny piece of jaw bone during the scuffle. The scene also annoyed Kid Rock, who after seeing it asked Anderson for a divorce. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

Mockumentaries What We Do in the Shadows Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi's 2014 cult mockumentary is actually a sequel. The work that started it all was What We Do in the Shadows: Interviews with Some Vampires, from 2005. The 25-minute film also features Clement and Waititi, and yes, it can be found on YouTube. CRACKED.COM — Source

13

Benicio Del Toro's character in The Usual Suspects was originally a bland nobody. Metro Goldege adidas POR Mayer TRADE MAXX He'd be the first to die, so the writers didn't give him any kind of personality. Since what he said wouldn't matter anyway, Del Toro talked in a near-incomprehensible way just for the hell of it. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

In the final scene with Luke and Leia in The Last Jedi, Mark Hamill came up with the forehead kiss himself. It felt like church on set that day, said Rian Johnson. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

It was Al Pacino's idea to make Michael Corleone quiet and reserved at the start. The producers of The Godfather thought Michael should be a brash gangster, and even Francis Ford Coppola told Pacino I just thought you could do this thing, and now ... you're not cutting it for me, kid. They only kept Pacino around after they saw his performance in the restaurant shooting scene. CRACKED.COM — Source

10

Hunt and Hall were going to sit down and talk about their relationship in Mission: Impossible 2. To John Woo, a scene where they sit in a room and talk was too boring, so he changed it to a call in the middle of a car chase. The filmed scene is funny, sexy, and romantic to him. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

When Lisbeth meets Bjurman for the first time in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, she wasn't supposed to sound any different. She just had a cold, and David Fincher was worried her voice would sound too weird, but he loved how it turned out because she sounded real and fragile in that moment. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

Yondu was supposed to get saved in Guardians of the Galaxy 2. James Gunn wanted to keep him alive mainly so Michael Rooker could come back in the next sequel, but Yondu surviving felt wrong, and Gunn's ultimate commitment is to the story, so he killed off Yondu. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

The transmission in Alien: Covenant was originally a prayer. But Ridley Scott it was too corny and used a John Denver song instead. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Deadpool breaking Cerebro wasn't in the Deadpool 2 script -- it was an accident, and they used that take. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

Dustin Hoffman slamming the car in Midnight Cowboy wasn't scripted. They tried and failed to get the scene right 15 times and, just when the actors' timing started to work, a cab nearly ran them over. So Hoffman shouted I'm walkin' here! and slammed the car. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Benedict Cumberbatch had the idea to make Doctor Strange's cloak wipe his tears. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

Daniel Craig just happened to hit a sandbank on the beach in Casino Royale. In the script, Bond would float off - Craig tried to do that, but hit a sandbank, so he got up and walked out of the water. Which gave us his iconic shot in blue shorts. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

The dinner scene in Logan was supposed to be pretty different. The actors involved improvised most of what ended up on-screen. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

When Viggo Mortensen screamed and fell to his knees in The Two Towers, he was in real pain. It wasn't his way of playing Aragorn's anguish at the (presumed) death of two hobbits - i it it's just because, when he hit the helmet on-screen, he broke both of his toes and probably couldn't keep standing anymore. CRACKED.COM — Source

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