Poll #1508635 Rate it:The Salton Sea (2002)
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 3

Have you seen this movie?

Trivia : Warner Brothers was not comfortable with the significant drug content and the Kennedy assassination sequence, and initially wanted an edited version of the film for a wide theatrical release. The scenes remained, but the film then was only given a limited theatrical release. -- derralf

It's time to scrutinize the details now. I think I like this direction I'm going in.

-Ben

Poll #1507843 Rate it: Pretty in Pink (1986)
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 14

Have you seen this movie?

Pretty in pink has been polled here six years ago during this community's heydays with over 90 votes.

Trivia : The original ending to this film depicted Duckie getting the girl. However, the test audiences said they would have preferred to see Blane win Andie's heart. Robert Downey Jr. was almost cast as Duckie when the ending had Andie getting together with Duckie. Per Molly Ringwald, this ending may have stuck if Downey won the role because he didn't give her the "brother vibe" Jon Cryer did. -- derralf

holy crap. i kinda got laid off from my job today, but then got my job back.

i was called into a conference room occupied by my boss, the CFO, and 2 people from the HR department. it was awkward.. they told me the board of directors cut my position due to financial issues.. we lost over a million dollars from a ban by the state this past year. its amazing how the faults of other departments can cause the innocent employees to lose their jobs, heh. gotta love irony. i wasnt really upset, i knew the job wasnt permanent and considered it a sign to move on. i was just worried since i have rent, car payments, insurance, and no savings.

i didnt lose my cool until they all started to tell me how much i was appreciated, and how i was loved by everyone (workers and residents alike), and they wanted to try and keep me around. the CFO did some number crunching, and said if i was interested they would change their contract with an outside security company that covers my job at night so that i could work evenings instead. it was a small loss in hours and pay, but at that point it was wayyyy better than nothing at all. the director of HR said she was willing to recommend me to her connections in other facilities if things didnt work out, and i had another contracted coworker offer to help me find a job with her company. ive never felt so appreciated for what i do. i feel like i dont do a lot anyway.. im just a receptionist, but youd be surprised how much we keep things in order in the workplace. its an extremely thankless job, but i got my tanks today. i cried a bit during the meeting after hearing that. it was a big relief to know they took notice, and were willing to go the extra mile to keep me.

so after some waiting, we got a call back from the security company and they agreed to let me work the evening shift. they were going to transplant their employee elsewhere, so no one lost their job. good news all around! this change in shift really worked to my benefit too.. now i have all day to go to school full time, and have more choices in classes because i dont have to go at night. plus, full time student status = i can keep my financial aid. evening at work is so quiet too, so i can sit in peace and do my homework. oh, and the best part about this change in shift? NO MORE WAKING UP AT 6AM TO GO TO WORK!

i told my boss that even if i got the evening shift, i was going to start applying to other jobs as well. she had no problem with that, my job certainly isnt long term since were closing in the next year or two.. but she told me to put her on my references list, because she hed nothing but good things to say about me.

not to jinx myself, but things are starting out pretty well this year. alex and i will be together for a year this month and i love him so. my job has gone from me not liking it, to almost losing it, and actually getting a better shift that went well with school as a result. my classes went so well last semester that i had an instructor pull me aside after my final to say i was a great student and have really found what i was meant to do in life. i cant wait for classes to begin later this month!

Poll #1507415 Rate it: Sixteen Candles (1984)
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 18

Have you seen this movie?

Trivia : In the VHS version, Anthony Michael Hall is credited as "The Geek". In the TV movie and film versions, he is credited as "Farmer Ted." Jim Carrey auditioned for the role of Ted "The Geek". -- derralf

Poll #1507407 Rate it: The Aviator (2004)
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 11

Have you seen this movie?

Trivia : Freckles were painstakingly painted onto Cate Blanchett's face, arms, and chest to make her resemble Katharine Hepburn. -- derralf

Poll #1506666 Weekend Comparison: Little Shops of Horror
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12

I have seen seen

Which one do you prefer?

Trivia - 1960: Although the film is legendary for having been shot in only two days, Jonathan Haze recalled in "The Little Shop of Horrors Book" that he was called back several weeks later for re-shoots.

Trivia - 1986: The bizarre equipment used by sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello has made numerous appearances in other Warner Bros. productions, notably as Jeremy Irons' gynecology tools in Dead Ringers (1988) and as the Joker's plastic surgeon's tools in Batman (1989). (Jack Nicholson (as the Joker in "Batman") and Bill Murray, in a twist, had both played the Arthur Denton patient in their respective films.)

Poll #1506466 Rate it: Prometheus Triumphant (2009)
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7

Have you seen this movie?

Trivia: The motion picture was shot over a period of two-and-a-half years, primarily in areas around the directors' home city of Pittsburgh, PA for the unbelievably small budget of $4000. Locations included the notorious Dixmont State Lunatic Asylum (since demolished), an abandoned steel mill, and a dilapidated (and structurally UNsound) condemned house. Shot on Digital Video between 2003 and 2005 (before 24p OR HD), the video footage was digitally altered in post-production to convey the look and feel of silent-era cinema. These changes included altering the frame rate to 16fps, altering the image to make it black and white, and adding artificial grain and film damage to the final footage.

Poll #1505967 Rate it: The Verdict (1982)
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12

Have you seen this movie?

Trivia: Robert Redford was originally involved with this film. After writer David Mamet delivered his draft, Redford was uncomfortable with the main character and hired another writer to do another draft, and so on until Redford decided he didn't want to do the film. He was uncomfortable because he did not want to play an alcoholic. Sidney Lumet was offered the project. He read all the drafts and identified the original Mamet version as the one to make. At that point, Paul Newman agreed to star.

Poll #1505670 Rate it: Oz (TV Series)
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 13

Have you seen this movie?

Trivia: The prison set was actually an old warehouse that Tom Fontana had revamped. Fontana was also able to move his production offices into the space. Fontana would renew the lease on the space one year at a time in case the show got cancelled. During production on the fourth season, Tom Fontana learned that the owner of the property signed off a 10-year lease to NY1, a local New York City news station. The fourth season finale was titled "Famous Last Words" and ends with a fiery explosion in the prison. This was so that the episode could also serve as the series finale in case Fontana was unable to find a new filming location for the show. Fortunately, Fontana found a similar looking warehouse in New Jersey he could use and the show was able to continue.

Happy New Year!

This week's questions were suggested by vysion_of_books.

1. What do you do when you can do no more?
2. What activity recharges your inner battery?
3. What was the last time you acted selflessly?
4. What was the last time you were given a gift?
5. What does a pet give you?


Copy and paste to your own journal, then reply to this post with a link to your answers.

If you'd like to suggest questions for a future Friday Five, then do so here: http://www.livejournal.com/community/thefridayfive/1466.html

Old sets that were used have been deleted, so please feel free to suggest some more! Remember that we rely on you, our members, to help keep the community going.

Wow so uh, it seems I stopped caring that I have an LJ. Actually, I think the problem is that I do nothing of any relevance or value to the world. That said, here's a photo from the last time I did something that made me feel fulfilled and good about humanity. New Orleans over Thanksgiving week was amazing. Thanksgiving was my grandmother's holiday, and when she died Thanksgiving became impossible for me to enjoy. She died in 2007 and I think she'd be really proud of how I spent my week considering she spent much of her life as a welfare director devoting herself to helping others. This photo is of our group with our crew chiefs, proud and exhausted after a week of sheet rocking a house in Gentilly for a woman whose husband had suffered a massive stroke post-Katrina and was basically incapacitated. She's been sleeping on a trailer floor since 2005. Thanks, American government, you really totally didn't fuck that up or anything.

In any case, tomorrow night we usher in a new decade... crazy. I've been looking at the New York Times' Lens Blog's "Documenting the Decade," a collection of user-submitted photos that they think accurately represents the events that unfolded in the past ten years. Nothing really struck me nearly as much as the overwhelming quantity of photos from the night Barack Obama got elected. That's seriously the only time I've ever been proud to be an American, and the photos brought me back to that pub in Norwich, England where at four in the morning we exploded into elated cries and happiness and I got hugged by my British friends and welcomed back, as an American, to the international stage. So what if I'm a little disillusioned right now... that's something I will never, ever forget.

Tomorrow I'll be posting my list of my favorite albums of the decade... a little less deep or thought provoking or whatever, but still awesome. Stay tuned.

Poll #1505300 Rate it: The Terror (1963)
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 6

Have you seen this movie?

Trivia: Having finished The Raven (1963), Roger Corman shot this film in only four days using the same set and the same two lead actors.