Movies & Film

Their names and jobs don't roll through the opening credits, but here's how the crew and services "below the line" affect a movie budget's bottom line.

By Bambi Turner

When Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood clashed with a director, it changed the way movies could be made. But how?

By Bambi Turner

It's Memorial Day weekend, and you're bound for the movies, determined to see the latest blockbuster. How do studios decide the ever-important movie premiere dates in their eternal quest for blockbuster box office bucks?

By Bambi Turner

They're the A-list actors, the directors, the ones with their names in lights ... and they don't come cheaply. How do the big names affect the budget of a multimillion-dollar movie?

By Bambi Turner

Making sense of the guesswork that goes into accurately predicting a movie's Sunday sales before the numbers have come in requires simple math, not clairvoyance.

By Bambi Turner

Rumors have surrounded the shocking horse scene in "The Godfather" for years -- did author Mario Puzo make it up, or worse, was it based on a true incident? And where does Frank Sinatra fit in? Read on for the scoop.

By Alison Cooper

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is one of the most successful movies of all time. Could that explain why we never (literally) heard from Snow White again?

By Alison Cooper

Lucille Ball claimed to have heard music -- and then Morse code -- from the fillings in her teeth. Was she crazy or did her dental fillings actually help her (or someone else) spy during World War II?

By Alison Cooper

Conspiracy theorists have been debunking the moon landing ever since Neil Armstrong took that first small step. But how (and why) does Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining" fit in to this pervasive urban legend?

By Alison Cooper

Remember when you got the lyrics to the "Star Trek" theme stuck in your head? Oh, right. There are no lyrics to the "Star Trek" theme -- or are there?

By Alison Cooper

Movies are full of urban myths, and one of the longest-running surrounds one of the shortest films -- a 50-second snippet of a train that sent viewers screaming for their lives. So have historians debunked this cinematic tale?

By Alison Cooper

You know what they say -- deaths come in threes, especially celebrity deaths. But come on ... is there really any truth to this myth?

By Alison Cooper

"The Blair Witch Project" fooled movie goers right from the start. But how were we tricked into believing this film was a documentary instead just another thriller?

By Alison Cooper

If you were shocked when Marisa Tomei won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1993 for her role in "My Cousin Vinny" you're not alone. Many people think she wasn't the real winner and it's one of the biggest hoaxes in Oscar history.

By Alison Cooper

It's obvious today that making a movie near a nuclear test site is a terrible idea. But in 1956, Howard Hughes filmed "The Conqueror," starring John Wayne, less than 150 miles from one. Bad move? You be the judge.

By Alison Cooper

Hollywood's not always known for its historical accuracy, but every once in a while, art and accuracy coexist — and the results can be incredibly moving.

By Jane McGrath

Computer animation is commonplace now, so much so that you may think human animators are a thing of the past. But rest assured, there are artists behind every cartoon pixel.

By Bernadette Johnson

Admit it: You think of "Jaws" when you go to the beach and "The Blair Witch Project" when you wander a little too far into the woods. These horror films didn't just change behavior; they revamped the genre.

By Ed Grabianowski

Perception is everything in Hollywood, which is why the industry keeps such tight control over box office numbers. But what do those numbers really mean, and what's the point of inflating them?

By Melissa Phipps

The cost of permits to shoot in most public places can wreak serious havoc on independent filmmakers' budgets. That's why they often resort to guerilla tactics for their movies. How do they get away with it?

By Alia Hoyt

Movies shown in 3-D can be polarizing — no pun intended. Some movie buffs embrace the third dimension, while others find it hard to watch. How does the RealD system optimize the experience?

By Nathan Chandler

If you loved the glowing lightsabers in the original "Star Wars" trilogy, you can thank rotoscoping. Who invented this technology, and is it still useful?

By Bernadette Johnson

Film doesn't last forever – particularly if it was used before 1950. What causes it to break down, and how do restorers put it back together?

By Chris Opfer

The film industry was revolutionized in the 1920s (hello, sound!), but the changes were not without growing pains. What were the wins and losses that taught us how to make great movies?

By Oisin Curran

When it comes to hiding profits, there's no business like show business. Learn how Hollywood accounting practices ensure that, when it comes to certain films, no one makes much money except the studios themselves.

By Melissa Phipps