We’ve discussed this before. From all I’ve read, he didn’t hate the films initially, but only came to when he was pestered by rabid fans who had no appreciation at all for the dozens of other films he had done during his career.
The period and system of British rule of India is commonly called “the Raj.”
Stephen Colbert has reported rumors that Raj Patel, an Indian author currently living in Britain, has been identified by Share International as the reincarnation of the Maitreya Buddha.
(I need to watch Dirty Dozen again - my memory must be failing)
Stephen Colbert is deaf in his right ear due to a childhood tumor.
The stage name of rapper and actor Mos Def is short for “most definitely”, but his role in the recent remake of The Italian Job led at least one Doper to believe it stood for “alMost Deaf”
The cars featured in both productions of The Italian Job were Mini Coopers. In the 60’s original, they were made by Austin, in the recent remake, by BMW.
The American Austin Bantam, a late 1930’s small car, was the inspiration for both Donald Duck’s personal vehicle and the Jeep.
The Jeep got its nickname from Eugene the Jeep, a character in E.C. Segar’s comic strip Thimble Theater. The most famous character from the strip was Popeye the Sailorman.
IIRC, he stuck with that for two weeks or a month or so, then gave up and headed out West.
I recall David Letterman having to wheedle “Let the Force be with you” out of Guinness on the show. Guinness didn’t want to say it, but Letterman kept on with “C’mon, let’s hear it.” He finally said it, the audience went wild, then Letterman said: “Oh, that wasn’t the one I was trying to get you to say.” 
The 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit featured many classic cartoon characters, and the absence of Popeye was noted by some critics. Popeye actually had a role planned for the film, but Disney could not get the rights from Paramount in time.
The voice of Olive Oyl, Popeye’s girlfriend, was provided by Mae Questel, who also voiced the character Betty Boop. Questel reprised the voice of Betty Boop in the 1988 movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
English actor Bob Hoskins, who portrayed an American detective in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, worked extensively with a dialect coach to disguise his strong Cockney accent. (For that movie, I mean - he’s done other roles in his native dialect.)
Harry Angstrom, an ambitious former high school basketball star, was the protagonist of five John Updike novels, beginning with Rabbit, Run.
John Updike – who generally disliked science fiction – wrote somewhat approvingly of Alfred Bester’s “Adam and No Eve” in his book Of the Farm. He did not credit Bester for it, though, but rather just described the story.
[del]The Angstrom (Å) is an ‘unofficial’ metric unit - while accepted, it’s not officially recognized or formally defined. It’s equal to one tenth of a nanometre.
Other commonly used and recognized metric units not properly defined under SI include the minute, hour, litre and kilowatt hour.[/del]
Adam Clayton Powell was one of the most prominent black members of the U.S. House of Representatives during the late 20th century, representing Harlem. He was denied seating in the House once and sued, eventually winning a decision in the U.S. Supreme Court. His catchphrase was “Keep the faith, baby.” The Federal Building in Harlem is named after him.
The largely African-American neighborhood of Harlem, like many locations in what is now New York, was named after a place in the Netherlands- specifically, after Haarlem, the capital of North Holland.
New York City started off as a Dutch colony, and used to be called New Amsterdam. It was conquered by the British in 1664 during one of the Anglo-Dutch wars and renamed, not for the British city but rather to suck up to James II of England, Duke of York and Albany and Lord High Admiral of the Fleet at the time.
One of the few remaining structures from New Amsterdam surviving in modern metro NYC is the Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House in the Flatbush (from the Dutch- Vlacke Bos, or ‘wooded field’) area of Brooklyn; it’s age is disputed as it has been added onto and remodeled many times over the centuries, but some of the masonry of the house is believed to date to the late 17th century.
Barbra Streisand may or may not* have swapped “Mad” magazines with Bobby Fischer at Erasmus Hall High School on Flatbush Avenue.
*So it is reported in “the Complete Chess Addict” but Barbara (as she was then known) was a year older and at least a year ahead in class
Searching for Bobby Fischer starred Joe Mantegna as the father of young chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin; Mantegna’s most famous movie role may be Corleone family successor and enemy Joey Zasa (a flamboyant gangster based in part on John Gotti) in Godfather III.
Mantegna’s most famous TV role, on the other hand, is voicing “Fat Tony” on The Simpsons
