General questions about movies, TV and more

This page is for general questions - if you've got a question about a specific title, please check the title-specific questions page first. Members get e-mailed when any of their questions are answered.

It's been about 8 years since I've seen the movie but all I remember is that in the beginning a girl comes down the stairs and tries to talk to her mother who is having a party around a piano and singing songs. As the girl stands there she urinates for a very long time. I remember it was about exorcism, but not "The Exorcist". I appreciate any help as I have searched and failed to find out what this is. Thank you.

Answer: This is the opening of Scary Movie 2, which parodies the movie The Exorcist, alongside many other films.

Hamster

I'm trying to figure out the name of a movie and, and only have a few parts of it it work with. It is set during WWII I believe and is about two people in love, when the male character is sent off to war, the female character has to resort to prostitution to survive. I believe it ends with her death. I know this is really general and it probably could be a dozen different movies, but I also think that it is black and white, if that helps. Thanks.

Answer: That sound a lot like "Waterloo Bridge", see www.imdb.com/title/tt0033238/synopsis.

Ioreth

Can anyone make a recommendation for a PG or PG-13 movie that has a plot dealing with learning styles? Good Will Hunting would be on the right track, but it is R rated. I want to use this with middle school students.

Answer: Emperors Club and Dead Poet's Society, if not A Beautiful Mind.

I watched part of a movie years ago. I don't remember the name of the movie. Please help! All I remember is. there is a guy on a computer (let's name this guy Bob) looking at famous historical photographs, and he notices in the background of each picture, there is the same guy (let's call this guy John). John is super ugly. I think later on in the movie Bob is trying to track down John.

Answer: I'm not sure if you're remembering correctly, but this sounds suspiciously like 12 Monkeys, where Bruce Willis' character is in the background of a lot of pictures.

GalahadFairlight

There's a movie in which a character claims to have invented to device prior to the Clapper; I believe he called it the Snapper. Does anyone know what movie this is?

Answer: In "Night at the Museum", Ben Stiller's character claims to have invented the Snapper.

Ingabritzen

I am looking for the name and main actor in a movie where a man is a scientist that studies gorillas. He stays with them for a few years and to save their life, he kills some people. He then goes to jail and doesn't speak. A young man comes to talk to him in jail and try to figure him out. His daughter is mad at him for what he has turned in to. I think the main actor is Sean Connery. I have searched the internet for hours and I can't find it?

Answer: "Instinct" from 1999, starring Anthony Hopkins. http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0128278/.

Twotall

Is there any reason why a lot of new movie previews (at least where I live, in the USA) have a black bar across the top of the screen during the entire preview, which displays the movie title and the date it opens in theaters? Two of the movies I have seen previews like this for are Twilight and Lakeview Terrace, in case that helps.

Answer: Probably so the information (dates, times, locations, etc.) can be added and changed for a specific geographical area.

raywest

A movie question. I thought that when a movie goes straight to DVD/video/Blue Ray instead of being shown in theaters first, it's because critics gave it very bad reviews. However, there are some movies that continue to have several sequels coming out on DVD, such as the Beethoven dog movies and the Bring It On movies. Why do movie companies continue to produce them when the previous two or three sequels didn't make it to the theaters?

Answer: Because it costs a lot less money to send it direct to video than to release it into theatres. There are high distribution costs associated with a theatrical release. A great many movies make more money on their DVD release than on their theatrical run. In the end, it's all about profit.

wizard_of_gore

I remember some TV christmas special about a reindeer who is out of shape and falls for a sexy reindeer called Vixen. I think the reindeer was out of shape and had to earn a place in santas sled. Help?

Hamster

Chosen answer: "Hooves of Fire (1999) (TV)" - www.imdb.com/title/tt0219086/.

Hamster

I'm trying to remember a (space?) movie with 'Houston/NASA type' terminals where someone is covertly helping the hero (stopping the baddy?) and then is discovered and asked to step away from the terminal at gunpoint.

Answer: You may be thinking about Armageddon, a movie about a giant asteroid the size of Texas that will destroy the planet. I know the scene you are talking about; The nuclear bomb has been set to detonate on the surface, and one of the technicians (At the NASA terminal) types in the codes to override the countdown and shut it off. The Army (I think) officials discover that the Uplink has been overridden, and trace it to his terminal, where he is asked to cease and desist, and give the Officer his terminal.

I am looking for the title of a made for TV movie (Lifetime) which Tina Yothers was in. I remember that she was tried out for a cheerleading squad and did not make it but she told her parents that she did. She actually was like the assistant or something. But then her parents came to her school to see her cheer and the whole squad locks one of the mean cheerleaders in a closet so that she can cheer for that game. Does this sound familiar? I remember a small scene when the squad was taking a group picture and they all had on white uniforms and the mean cheerleader shows up in her red uniform so that she could stand out in the picture.

Answer: The movie is "Laker Girls" from 1990.

wizard_of_gore

In this movie a princess is going somewhere, traveling alone, and she meets up with three men, two of them dwarves. They end up raping her and then one of them kills her with a club. They end up in a room with with a guy (either her father, or someone that knew her) and this guy finds out that they raped and killed her and he kills them. As I remember, he throws the dwarves against the wall. Please let me know if you know the title of this movie? I saw it back in the 80's.

Answer: This sounds like "The Virgin Spring," directed by Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman.

raywest

I am looking for the title of a movie, probably from the 60's or maybe early 70's. All I can remember is that during the film (maybe the beginning) there was a scene where several children had a huge gun battle with toy guns firing plastic bullets. Can anyone please offer any information?

Answer: "The Happening" 1967.

I remember seeing a movie and it had a girl in it and I believe that she had split personality. But everyone in her building thought that she had twin, though they never saw them together. I believe that the evil personality (twin) was killing people. If someone has any clue about what I am talking about please answer. Oh, and if I am not mistaken, it starred the brunette girl from "White Chicks."

Answer: It's called "Lethal Eviction" - www.imdb.com/title/tt0416918/.

Hamster

This movie is set in the eighties, probably made in the nineties. The two main characters are girls who reunite after some time. They keep quoting and referring to the Bronte sisters. One of the girls fall for a guy who wears a Smiths t-shirt. The setting is gloomy and in the UK. The copy I saw had "demo copy not for resell" scrolling on it. I have never seen this movie for rent or sale.

Answer: I'm not sure it's the correct movie but could it be "Career Girls" from 1997?

Angela Brown

I'm looking for the name of a Christmas special. It was a Claymation I saw in the 90s, but it may be older than that. It had something to do with a meeting with fairies in the woods, and there's a guy there that takes them flying around. Sorry so vague; any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer: It's possible you may be thinking of "The Adventures of Mark Twain". It wasn't a Christmas special, but it was claymation, it did involve a meeting with "fairies", and it does has Twain flying kids around in a balloon. YouTube has some clips of it. Hope that helps!

CCARNI

Trying to figure out what I saw on TV the other day. I get to see what my neighbors are watching since our cable seems to keep getting mixed up with theirs. Anyway, there was a blond lady, about upper 30's, who somehow gets trapped in a house near a lake. She's dressed like she's on an Australian safari or something, then out of nowhere there's also a man in the house. Well, they both see they're dopplegangers (but this movie is not Doppleganger). The woman's doppleganger chases her into the closet and she runs out of the house. The man comments on how when you see your doppleganger it means you're going to die. The house starts to shake and everything cleans itself up and goes back to normal. And that's all I saw because the neighbors changed the channel to porno. Can anyone tell me what I was watching?

Answer: It sounds like "The Abandoned".

I'm trying to recall the name of a TV show I watched when I was little. I think it was a kid's show; I seem to remember funny skits or cartoons and in between was a little song with the lines "Bibbity bobbity, that makes good sense, good old nonsense!" and "Pennies are pence to me." Does anyone else remember this?

Jeff Swanson

Chosen answer: The Tomfoolery Show.

I'm looking for a color movie I saw a small portion of on television in the '90's. It was reminiscent of "The Parent Trap" in that two look-alike girls, possibly twins, traded places. One was richer than the other. In the scene I saw the poor girl is at an outdoor cookout with the rich girl's family and tries sloppy joes for the first time. She exclaims that they're really good, and the mother, thinking the girl is her own daughter, says "Of course, they're your favorite." The girl replies "Oh yeah, I forgot!" A little later I remember seeing the same girl in her look-alike's room throwing one stuffed animal at a bunch of others stacked on the bed. Can anyone please tell me what movie I'm thinking of?

Answer: I beleive that you are reffering to the movie "It takes two" starring Kirstie Alley, Mary-Kate & Asley Olsen, and Steve Guttenberg. It is Kirstie who says "Of course they're your favorite" But she is not the child's mother, she is the director of the foster home the child is in. They are in the camp owned by the rich girl father.

Does anyone know the name of this 1980's (I believe) movie? There's this mad scientist guy who's trying to clone his late wife. He has a handsome, young lab assistant. When the assistant's girlfriend falls into a coma after an accident, the scientist offers to clone her. The assistant declines, saying the clone wouldn't be the woman who fell in love with him. The girlfriend later recovers. The scientist realizes he's living in the past, gives up his experiments, and marries a much younger woman.

Answer: Creator (1985).

Grumpy Scot

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.