This has been annoying the hell out of me for years. I'm thinking of an early 1960s (?) black and white American movie that features numerous cameos by A-List Hollywood actors who are so heavily made-up (with wigs and latex facial prosthetics) that they are all thoroughly unrecognizable. At the end of the film, as a complete surprise, there is a sequence of each of these otherwise unremarkable cameo characters removing their makeup for a big reveal. For example, a plain, middle-aged woman who only appeared for a few seconds onscreen grandly removes her latex face to reveal none other than Burt Lancaster. I believe Robert Mitchum and Tony Curtis were also among the reveals. What is this film?
Charles Austin Miller
6th Aug 2019
General questions
13th Nov 2018
General questions
There was a movie I rented a few years back. I don't remember exactly how long ago, but I know we got the film from RedBox. It was a space movie where this crew went to like a comet or something and landed on the surface. Some creature began messing with their minds I think and was living in the water beneath them. It pulled one of the crew below and ate him/her. I don't remember much else but at the end of the film there was one crew member left who was in the ship as it was sinking and the creature getting inside with them. I don't remember what happened after that. I'm wanting to know what the movie was called so I could find it again.
Chosen answer: You're describing the 2013 independent science-fantasy film "Europa Report," featuring Sharlto Copley (but mostly a cast of unknowns). Story of a manned space mission to one of Jupiter's moons, Europa, which theoretically contains vast oceans beneath its icy surface. The astronauts start seeing flashes of bio-luminescent light beneath the ice and realise that there is life on Europa; then, as you mentioned, everything goes disastrously sideways. This film was released to streaming services about two months before it was released in theatres in 2013. On a budget of less than $10 Million, the movie grossed a whopping $125 Million, with generally favorable reviews.
26th Nov 2018
General questions
I just remembered seeing a trailer for a movie years ago that I was curious about but never got to see. I just can't remember the name of the movie or even who was in it now. I think it was either a late 90's film or an early 2000's film. And possibly Patrick Swayze was in it? I can't remember for sure. I may be getting it mixed up with Ghost. Anyways, I remember in trailer that this guy was able to see numbers on people's foreheads. And these numbers indicated when that person was going to die and who was next. Like the lower the number, the sooner they were going to die. I don't really remember much else about the trailer. Does anybody know what movie this was?
Answer: You may be thinking of the 1996 horror-comedy "The Frighteners," directed by Peter Jackson and starring Michael J. Fox, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace, Jake Busey, and a host of others. Michael J. Fox plays a shady psychic medium (performing fake exorcisms for money) who starts seeing glowing numbers on people's foreheads shortly before they die under mysterious circumstances. Turns out it's the malevolent ghost of a mass-murderer (played by Jake Busey) who is still trying to get the "highest score" of victims, marking them with sequential numbers before he kills them. Michael J. Fox must engage in supernatural battle with Busey to stop the carnage. "The Frighteners" was a technically superior film that didn't do so well at the boxoffice but went on to become a cult classic.
Answer: There's an episode of "Medium", s06e09 "The Future so Bright", where Allison sees numbers on people's forehead that tells how long they have to live and all the dead people have "0" on their foreheads. It might not be what you're thinking, but maybe you can look into if "Medium" got the idea from the movie you're thinking of.
Answer: There is a 2012 short titled "Numbers" directed by Robert Hloz that premiered at Cannes Film Festival in which a young man sees numbers floating above people's heads and then meets a girl with the same ability (it's not in English and might not be what you're thinking of so I won't give away any spoilers). There is also a 2007 film, starring Nathan Fillion, called "White Noise: The Light" (sequel to "White Noise") where the main character has premonitions of when people are going to die and tries to save them. But he doesn't see numbers on their heads, as far as I know.
Unfortunately, "The Frighteners" is the only movie with that plot.
17th Sep 2018
General questions
In a lot of crime dramas, why is it when someone isn't aware that they committed a crime are they let go but in others they are arrested. Eg: In an episode of Law and Order: SVU, a teenage boy ends up raping his girlfriend's little sister but, he doesn't remember doing it because he was sleep walking so he was let go. In another crime drama, if somebody receives stolen property but was never aware that it was stolen, that person gets arrested.
Answer: It's called "drama" for a reason. Screenwriters seldom immerse themselves in legal fact, but almost always use legal consultants to just "fact check" their fictional work. As any attorney can tell you, it's virtually impossible to consolidate all of the intricacies of criminal or civil law into a one-hour television episode or a two-hour feature film. Even jury selection can last days or weeks, as the legal counsels attempt to explain "the law" and court procedure to jury candidates. So, anything you see in theatrical depictions of "the law" is often arbitrary and cherry-picked and sensational and has very little to do with the actual practice of law.
Answer: In general, there must be "mens rea" (guilty mind) or intent in order to be convicted of a crime. The defendant/accused had to be aware that a crime was being committed and there was no legal defense/ justification/ or excuse for committing the crime. There are usually exceptions to these general rules of law, such as "strict liability" offenses (merely committing the act makes the person guilty). Although a law cannot be vague, criminal statutes often must be interpreted (and one court's interpretation can be overturned by a higher court). The laws are not always clear-cut, legislators cannot necessarily foresee unusual acts that may or may not fall under a particular law or defense to committing a crime, juries are not always willing to convict defendants who appear to be guilty (think "OJ Simpson"), and so on. The legal drama shows often use very unusual situations and/or newly-decided cases to create a similar (perhaps bizarre) case that will have a dramatic or shocking outcome.
18th Aug 2018
General questions
I have noticed a few movies where the shot looks as if a circular camera was used. An example is the kitchen at the very beginning in Scream. How and why are these shot?
Answer: It's all about using empty space to create anticipation. The lens used in the opening shots of "Scream" is a high-content cinematic lens used for extremely wide shots, capturing a huge horizontal image without much vertical distortion and giving the effect of spaciousness. In "Scream," this effect helps to emphasize the fact that Drew Barrymore is all alone in this very spacious house (almost always with Drew right in the middle of the shot) as the stalker keeps calling her on the phone. She suspects that the guy on the phone is watching her, so she is glancing frantically around the house; and the audience, too, is glancing around these big, roomy shots, expecting a jump-scare.
Answer: Fisheye lens?
7th Aug 2018
General questions
Why didn't Arnold hit the predator with the stone he picked at the end? its looked like he was confused and was not expecting what he was seeing.
Answer: Arnold was not certain that the Predator was mortally injured, and he was going to crush its skull just to be sure. However, before he can deliver the blow, he sees the Predator coughing up a quantity of green blood; he then knows the thing is dying, so he pauses. Arnold is then startled by the Predator mimicking human speech and activating the strange device on its wrist. Almost too late, Arnold realises he has only seconds to escape.
Answer: He wanted to finish him off but realised he was pinned under the log, trapped and obviously dying.
13th Jul 2017
General questions
When did purely percussive movie and television soundtracks become popular? What landmark movie or TV soundtrack set this percussive precedent?
Answer: Probably in the late 1990s or around the turn of the century and it was probably gradual as these things go. Sometimes its easier to use a specific song to set a specific mood (this started probably more so in the 1980s) as opposed to creating a new one but that being said, its generally up to a composer and the style of the film in question as to whether they use a percussion style soundtrack or a more traditional sounding one and there are relatively recent films that sound like they could be old school.
The earliest percussive soundtrack that I recall debuted in James Cameron's first "Terminator" film. While it did have a mournful and melodic synthesized musical theme, the soundtrack was punctuated in several places with industrial banging and thumping (typically when the Terminator was onscreen). This percussive presence was amplified and expanded in the second Terminator film; and, by "Salvation," almost the entire soundtrack was industrial noise. But I'm not sure that Terminator alone ushered in the percussive soundtrack.
3rd Jul 2018
General questions
I saw a movie many years ago, at the end the girl was leaving the guy, and repeated "I divorce thee" three times while turning around. Do you know the movie?
Answer: That's a tough one, without more specific detail. The Triple Talaq ("I divorce thee, I divorce thee, I divorce thee!") is actually an old Islamic tradition for legal divorce that is still practiced by Muslims in India to this day. Such a scene might appear in a number of films dealing with Muslim and/or Indian characters. Do you recall whether or not the film was a comedy or a drama, set in the Western world or in an Eastern country?
The movie was set in America, best I remember it was an older man and younger woman. She was in a park or on a mountainside at the end of the movie, turned three times in a circle with outstretched arms and repeated "I divorce thee" three times.
23rd Jul 2018
General questions
I've been quoting a movie for years now. When I stop to think about it... I can't remember what movie the quote is even from! So I'm trying to find out of anybody can name the film that this quote is from. But someone is in a public bathroom of some sorts, possibly a truck stop and is hiding in one of the stalls. I think they may have been on the phone, but I'm not sure. An old man comes in and does his business then gets up and whips and you just hear him speaking through the wall. "Corn? Why is it always corn? I didn't even eat corn!" I've quoted that line as a joke many times now over the years but I can not remember what movie, TV show, or possibly YouTube video that was from. Google search doesn't help me it seems.
Answer: You're probably thinking of Mike Myers as "Fat Bastard" in the 2002 comedy "Austin Powers in Goldmember." We see the silhouette of Fat Bastard against the paper wall of a geisha house, peering into the toilet and exclaiming, "Oy, I dinna have any corn!"
I looked up the quote. And while it is similar, I don't think that's exactly the one I'm thinking of. I remember the movie saying the quote that I remember being almost word for word how I mentioned it. I almost want to say it was in a Jackass movie or similar. I just can't remember for sure.
This is the Mike Myers "Fat Bastard" scene. Look familiar? https://youtu.be/f71VqFgwPy4.
Answer: There is a scene in Senseless (1998) where Darryl (played by Marlon Wayans) is listening in on the two girls in the bathroom and Tonya (I think) says the line "Corn? I don't remember eating no corn." Although, it's obvious that the corn-in-poop joke is common toilet humor, so I'm sure a dozen other movies have had the joke and similar lines.
23rd Apr 2018
General questions
What movie is this? An evil guy wakes up with bandages on his face. he takes them off and looks out the window and destroys a passing passenger plane with his mind.
Answer: Sounds like you're describing elements of a 1978 paranormal thriller called "The Medusa Touch," starring Richard Burton. Most of the movie is told in flashbacks because, from the very beginning, the evil character named John Morlar is in a hospital intensive care unit, his head completely wrapped in bandages (having suffered severe cranial injuries), and the bandages are never removed during the film. As the flashbacks unfold, we learn that John Morlar had incredible telekinetic mental powers all throughout his life and he is responsible for several unexplained tragedies; in one flashback, he does indeed gaze out a window (or terrace) and causes a 747 passenger jet disaster. What you probably recall is a scene with Morlar in bandages followed by the flashback of him causing the passenger jet disaster.
9th Apr 2018
General questions
There was a movie with Jim Carrey in it although he was not the lead. The only scene I remember is that he walks home and knocks on the door, his dad and sister are surprised to see him because they were told he was dead. His sister believes that he's actually a zombie and wants to know what it's like to be one.
Answer: That's the 1984 comedy "Finders Keepers," in which a con-man pretends to be a soldier who is escorting another soldier's body home in a coffin (but the coffin actually contains several million dollars). The con-man claims that the deceased soldier's name is "Lane Biddlecoff," so word quickly spreads that Biddlecoff is dead. However, the real Lane Biddlecoff (played by Jim Carrey) is an immature goofball who was never a soldier, and he is still very much alive. The scene you're describing features Lane Biddlecoff, his uncle and his bubble-headed cousin (not his father and sister), as the cousin repeatedly asks Lane what it's like to be dead and come back to life.
That's it.
9th Apr 2018
General questions
There was a movie that had Keanu Reeves in it. In the movie, he plays a teenager who discovers that he accidentally gave his girlfriend to a pimp and intends on making her into a prostitute. When Keanu finally manages to rescue her, he takes her home and tells her and her dad what he thinks of her, breaks up with her and then walks home.
Answer: That's the 1988 film, "The Night Before," a comedy that is mostly told in flashbacks as Keanu Reeves tries to remember how he lost his dad's car and sold his date to a pimp on prom night.
That's the one.
23rd Jun 2017
General questions
I have a memory of one great movie I really liked when I was a kid (during the 90s). Unfortunately, I have never again bumped into it, so till this day I have now idea what film was it. I don't remember much of it; I would say it was filmed during the 70s or 80s, but don't know for sure. I think it was kind of those rockabilly movies, there were some cars and some dancing involved. The main character is a young man, I even think he is an outsider and gets in conflict with some popular clique. I remember that one girl gets her hair on fire (no idea how). Anyway, what I do remember are bloopers after the end. It was the first time I saw bloopers and I'm guessing that is why I liked the movie so much. The scene I particularly remember from bloopers is when the main character is sitting on the car hood holding pack of cigarettes. He takes one cigarette and throws it in the air, toward his mouth, and is supposed to catch it with his lips. But he fails. And fails again. And again. Finally, he manages to do that, so he takes a lighter from the pockets and tries to light it, but it doesn't work. He smiles and says something like: "It's hard to be cool." So, if anyone has an idea what movie is that, I would really appreciate the information. Thank you! P.S. It is not Footloose, Crybaby, Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit.
Answer: The movie you are describing is a 1994 made-for-TV rockabilly film called "Roadracers" by Robert Rodriguez (it was only his second film, following his 1992 film "El Mariachi"). "Roadracers" originally aired on the Showtime cable network. It was a 1950's retro action/drama full of cliches such as hot-rod racing, rockabilly music, dirty dancing, and trouble with authority figures (very much like the plots of Grease and Crybaby). During a drag race, the lead character ("Dude") flicks a lit cigarette into the hair of his rival's girlfriend, setting her hair aflame.
6th Nov 2016
General questions
What usually happens with movie/TV show scenes that involve food (i.e., a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner)? Is fake food used, real food, etc.?
Answer: Having worked in food photography and videography, I can tell you that the majority of the food you see in film is completely inedible. Items such as roast turkey and cakes, while real enough to carve and slice on camera, are usually airbrushed with paint for a "perfect" appearance; meats and fruits, in particular, are often sprayed with commercial furniture polish to achieve a high gloss. Static side dishes adorning the table are often wax or plastic. The only edible foods are small prepared portions seen in closeups of actors actually eating.
26th Sep 2016
General questions
There was a movie that took place at a military academy. The only scene I saw was of a cadet standing in the office of a military instructor with a high ranking officer standing right beside the cadet. From what I could make out, the high ranking officer gave the cadet full authority to handle a situation that had plagued the academy. When the officer leaves, the cadet then tells the instructor that him and some students are to graduate with full honors as well as given some graduation rings or some other item. The second thing the cadet wanted was for the instructor to quietly resign from his post. At first the instructor refuses but, the cadet tells him to look out his office window. When the instructor does, he sees another cadet holding some envelopes in his hand. The cadet then says that in the other cadets hand are some letters that, if the instructor fails to comply to the requests, will be mailed out to newspapers and other media exposing what happened at the academy. The instructor is left with no choice but to agree. This is not the movie Taps.
Answer: You are describing the end of the 1983 film "The Lords of Discipline, " based on the book by Pat Conroy. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lords_of_Discipline_ (film).
8th Mar 2016
General questions
I am looking for a movie from late 80s or 90s. America. There is a girl and two brothers (maybe step-brothers). The girl is in relationship with one of the brothers. Girl lives in big house (kinda wealthy). She cheats on her boyfriend with her boyfriend's brother. I can remember some scenes: girl is dancing sensually in bar; one of the brothers goes in jail and when the girl visits him, she says "I want you inside me right now"; hotel scene at the end where the boyfriend finds out that the girl is cheating on him with his brother - there is also shooting in this scene. There are very many sex scenes in this movie. In the storyline there was some issue with the girl's family and at the end it's revealed that the girl had a plan and she played a game, and the brothers were somehow part of it. I hope somebody recognizes the movie and knows the name. Thanks.
Answer: That's "Feeling Minnesota" (1996), with Cameron Diaz, Keanu Reeves, and Vincent D'Onofrio. Diaz plays a beautiful ex-stripper who is reluctantly marrying one brother in order to pay off a mob debt, but she instantly falls in love with the other brother and runs off with him for a whirlwind affair, with the angry brother and mobsters in pursuit. The film becomes a sort of love-triangle/double-cross/crime-caper. Yes, a bundle of money is heisted, Diaz is shot and assumed dead, D'Onofrio and others are killed; but it turns out Diaz was running a double-cross, and she ends up reunited with Reeves. One of her most memorable lines in the movie was, "You wanna be inside me again, Jjaks?" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeling_Minnesota.
12th Feb 2016
General questions
Looking for 90's or early 2000s movie with two brothers home for a wedding or maybe a funeral. The good brother's fiance ends up cheating with the criminal brother at a hotel.
Answer: "Feeling Minnesota" (1996) with Cameron Diaz, Keanu Reeves and Vincent D'Onofrio. A beautiful ex-stripper is reluctantly marrying one brother, but she's in love with the other brother, and she runs off with him on her wedding day. http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0116289/.
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Answer: "The List of Adrian Messenger" (1963). Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum, and Tony Curtis, along with Kirk Douglas and Frank Sinatra, remove their heavy makeup during the epilogue to reveal who they are. Although Lancaster and Sinatra didn't actual portray the characters they claimed to have been.
Bishop73
Thank you. The name of this movie has been on the tip of my tongue for many years.
Charles Austin Miller
Love this movie as a kid. It's rarely shown on TV anymore, but it is (or was) available for free on YouTube.
raywest ★
Lancaster, Curtis, Sinatra, and Mitchum did indeed portray those characters in heavy make-up. However, their voices (except for Mitchum) were dubbed over by other actors, Otherwise, the audience would have recognized their actual voices, spoiling the surprise reveal at the end.
raywest ★
Incidentally, director John Huston (who also made a cameo appearance in the film) tried to convince Elizabeth Taylor to play a disguised part in this movie; but, when Taylor learned that her lovely face would be completely hidden under heavy latex, she turned down the role.
Charles Austin Miller