What is the difference between subtitles and closed-captions? Over here in England we don't bother with c-c's, but I've noticed that a lot of my R1 discs have subtitles in some languages and c-c's in others. Also, on some discs the 'subtitle' button will display the c-c's but on others it won't. In those cases how do I display the c-c's?
Answered general questions about movies, TV and more
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Which film features a young girl pulling a young boy inside from the wind and kissing him, and which older film is this directly imitating?
Answer: There is a scene in E.T. where a young boy pulls a girl in and kisses her. The movie being imitated is 'The Quiet Man' with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara.
What is the job of the "best boy" that is sometimes listed in movie credits?
Answer: The best boy is traditionally the assistant to the Gaffer (head electrician), although now it is a common term for the second in command of any department, so you may see 'best boy rigging' or similar. It's not even mandatory to be a boy either, female best boys include Julie Fife and Kristina Gore Trevail (who was billed as Best Girl).
Looking at the broadcast dates of various US TV shows, it seems that they're normally aired once a week, but occasionally have a gap of up to several weeks mid-season. Why is this?
Chosen answer: Because some shows only have new episodes during "sweeps" weeks or months, they have air dates that are sometimes months apart for consecutive episodes. During December/January and again in March/April, many networks air repeats of their current hit shows. Then, in February and May, they air new episodes of these same shows. This ensures that the most people possible will be watching in February and May so that networks can set their advertising rates. The more viewers a particular show has, the more the network can charge for commercials to run during that show. That's why "sweeps" stunts (weddings, murders, major plot shifts, etc.) usually only occur during February and May, so more people will be watching.
Can anyone give me a website that has a list of all of James Bond's different gadgets he's ever had?
Answer: This is really good: http://www.shanklinsailingclub.btinternet.co.uk/ali/gadgets.htm.
Around ten years ago there was a made-for-television movie shown in the U.S. The movie was shown mostly like "news reports" about a meteor heading to Earth (which I believe was actually supposed to be some kind of alien spaceship). There was something of a controversy about the movie, and the network constantly showed reminders that it was a movie, not a real news broadcast. I can't remember the network it was on, though it was definitely a broadcast network, as opposed to cable. And it is not "The 4400" (which is a much more recent cable program), nor "War of the Worlds".
Answer: It was called Without Warning.
A long time ago, maybe six years or so, I saw a little bit of a movie that has stuck in my mind. I think it might be The Spiral Staircase, but I've read summaries of that and it doesn't mention the scene I saw. In the scene, there was this huge spiraling staircase and this man and older woman, maybe two women, were running up it. The staircase was collapsing as they were running and the man ended up trying to save the older woman, even though I think the older woman might have been bad. Does anyone know?
Answer: This sounds like "The Haunting" to me (the good one from the '60's, not that junk from '99). In the scene I think you're referring to, the character Eleanor has climbed up this huge rickety staircase, in her sleep I think. Everyone else in the house (3 other people, two men, one woman) gathers around the bottom, trying to figure out how to get her down. Finally, one of the men - a doctor - climbs the staircase to rescue her. It starts collapsing and they both nearly fall. Hope this helps!
Can someone explain why special effects (namely digital ones) are so expensive in many movies? It seems many films have monstrous budgets due to their large number of special effects.
Chosen answer: Digital special effects are expensive for a number of reasons; to get good believeable CG (computer graphics) they need to use a very good, fast, computer and a fair amount of software - each computer could cost about $10k or more. Multiply that by the 40-50 odd computers that a SFX company may have and that's a LOT of money, so the SFX company needs to make that investment back, plus there are the 50 odd staff needed to actually use the computers, and they tend to be highly trained in a particular area or program, and so they tend to charge a fair amount of money per hour. Plus you would probably find that big movie studios pay the SFX companies incentives to work on their next big budget film as opposed to a smaller film.
What was the title of a movie where the lead character picks up a rather nervous looking man with a duffel bag? During the conversation that follows, the nervous guy says that he's invented his million dollar idea. It's six minute abs. The lead character replies that it sounds great, but what happens to his market if someone invents five minute abs. At which point the nervous guy gets completely thrown off track. I think in the next scene they pull over and the nervous guy gets out of the car because there's a cop nearby but leaves his duffel bag.
I've always wondered this, but in the credits of a movie they have the director of photography's name with A.S.C. next to it. And I'm not sure but I think the editor has A.C.E. next to it. What do these mean?
Answer: The A.S.C. is the American Society of Cinematographers. A.C.E. stands for American Cinema Editors. Both of these are organisations dealing with the respective professions - education, quality and so on.
I am trying to find the name of a Nicholas Cage movie. It was a film related to boxing and Cage was a body guard protecting a woman. That's all I can remember, it was a great movie but forgot to notice the title after it played on TV.
Answer: The movie is "Snake Eyes". Cage is a corrupt cop that must solve a murder at a boxing match, and protect a woman that knows everything.
I remember watching an old TV show, time period I think similar to 'Who's the Boss' and 'Three's company', but i can't remember the name. About a family, the dad built a robot daughter. She had dark hair, they had a real son too, the neighbour's daughter (red hair, I think) had a crush on him. Episodes include the robot girl going in the swimming pool and breaking, and the boy making a black and white film for class.
Answer: The show was called 'Small Wonder'. Check out the IMDb page for more info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088610/.
I remember a television sitcom as a kid (I'm now 30), about a family. The dad is a doctor and I do not remember the actor. The mom is a lawyer played by Patty Duke. They had two teenage kids. Anthony Edwards played the son and Helen Hunt played the daughter. Grandma lived with them. Anyone else remember this sitcom?
Chosen answer: Yes, the series was called "It Takes Two", and also starred Richard Crenna. It aired from 1982-1983. More information can be found at http://imdb.com/title/tt0083431/.
I remember a cartoon when I was younger, around the same time as watching Battle of the planets. I'm sure it was 3 people (2 men and a woman) in a space ship or something that was at the bottom of a huge hole. I think they used to change into things, the woman used to change into a large black cat I think. Anyone else remember this?
Chosen answer: This was called "Space Sentinels". The two men were called Hercules (he had super strength) and Mercury (he had super speed). I forget the name of the woman but she could change into any animal. They got their orders in each episode from a huge face on a computer screen which may or may not have been their ship's computer. I am amazed that I have finally found someone else who remembers this show as everyone I have asked pleads ignorance.
This applies to all of the Star Wars films: I know that Denis Lawson is Ewan McGregor's uncle, but which side is Lawson related to, McGregor's father or mother?
Chosen answer: Denis Lawson is the younger brother of Ewan McGregor's mum.
There was a cartoon programme years ago, and I really want to know the title. All I know about is the main character is a fat lady in a pink dress, who is in the woods mostly. I remember her saying "Coo-ee, Arthur." alot, and I'm sure she had a pet dog.
Chosen answer: The show was the excellent 'Willo The Wisp' voiced by Kenneth Williams. The fat lady was Mavis the fairy, Arthur was a caterpiller and the dog was the Moog. Check out http://www.willothewisp.co.uk/ for more.
When I was a little kid in Ukraine, late 80's, I saw a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger in which he was a detective or a police officer. Anyway, the only scene I remember was at the very end when he was executed at a kindergarten playground, or just a back alley. In the movie there was also kids, but this wasn't Kindergarten cop, because he doesn't die at the end of it. Does anyone know this movie? Or at least any movie where Schwarzenegger is killed at the end, excluding Terminator.
Chosen answer: The only movie that Arnie dies in (except the Terminator movies) is End of Days, but he died in a church, protecting the heroine. It must be another actor.
There was a show on PBS that was on when I was a kid and I don't remember the name. It was about kids who ran a TV show and I think they may have sang songs on it. What is the name of that show?
Chosen answer: The show is called Kidsongs, the premise being that some kids are given the opportunity to run a show of their own. Kidsongs really started as a set of home videos and then had a brief run on the Disney Channel in 1992. It later ran on PBS for about eight years, with some changes to the format during that time, until 2002. There are some episodes available on DVD at Amazon.com, including 'A Day at Old MacDonald's Farm' and 'Play Along Fun'.
Maybe an older member will be able to help me out. Circa 1975, there was a original Ghostbusters cartoon that aired. It was not the one we all know today with 4 guys and Slimer. In this one, there were two ghostbusters, and they had a gorilla that would help them. Does anyone know where I could get a copy of it on VHS or DVD? I have tried looking, but the only place that seems to have even heard of it is imdb.com.
Chosen answer: In 1975, there was a live action TV series, 'GhostBusters', starring Forrest Tucker (Jake Kong), Larry Storch (Eddie Spenser) (both of F-Troop btw) and Tracy the Gorilla. In 1986, Filmation's animated 'GhostBusters' starred the two sons of Jake Kong and Eddie Spenser, with Tracey the Gorilla, Jessica (a TV reporter), Futura (a girl from the future), and Belfry the Bat. There are animated episodes available only on VHS at Amazon.com, and they are: 1. Prime Evil & The All Ghoul Band; 2. Heroes Haunts & Hilarity; 3. Revenge of Prime Evil; 4. Second Chance; 5. Ghosts Coast to Coast; 6. Ghoul in Every Port; 7. Outlaw Inlaws; 8. Ghost of a Chance; 9. Spirits Spooks & Specters.
Can you give some examples of other films with deliberate 'additions' to them? For example the 'ghost' in Three Men and a baby. Do the film makers put these in to encourage people to buy or watch the film or are they genuine mistakes?
Chosen answer: The ghost in Three Men wasn't actually a deliberate addition, more rumour than an addition. An example of a supposed addition was a munchkin that had supposedly commited suicide on the Wizard of Oz set and was captured on screen. Many of these high profiled additions are not usually put into films. Most who claim they have stumbled upon something of great interest will generally make something out of what is usually nothing there (like the Virgin Mary in the cheese sandwich). Much like how many people claim to hear and see things in many Disney films. Filmmakers sometimes put little fun additions in their films like visual items or using lines from previous films. However its not their main priority, as I said most of these additions are just coincidence. For more rumours or supposed additions www.snopes.com is a great site for urban legends.
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Chosen answer: Closed-captioning is for the hearing-impaired, and thus displays things like sound effects (ie *doorbell ringing*) and musical notes on either side of the dialogue to represent singing, whereas subtitling is usually just a translation of the dialogue. As for displaying the c-c's, it probably depends on the DVD in question, though some TVs and DVD players have built in c-c settings which can be turned on to access the captioning.
Xofer