General questions about movies, TV and more

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I appreciate any help with this movie that anyone has. I don't remember the plot but here are some things that I remember. A woman starts killing men. One she kills by locking the door while he is in the shower and he drowns. Another she kills by making a pool ball explode after he hits it. I think at the end of the movie she ends up marrying the detective that is trying to catch her. I have searched many times and sites and can't find it, so I would be extremely grateful to anyone that can help. Thanks.

Answer: I think this might be "The Girl Most Likely to..." (1973) starring Stockard Channing as the killer and Ed Asner as the detective. Channing has plastic surgery and proceeds to kill the people who mistreated her when she was ugly. I believe she used an exploding 8-ball at one point.

Sierra1

Why are individual years of a TV show referred to as a series on the site? Is it a European expression? The reason I'm asking is because in America series refers to the whole show (the series Lost, the series finale) and each individual year is called a season (Season 1, the season finale). If it is a European expression, what is the entire run of the show called?

Guy

Chosen answer: That's the English expression, yes. We use "series" to refer to both the overall run of the show and, with the appropriate number or year added, to what the US would refer to as a "season". As complete conjecture, it may have come about because in the UK we don't really have a TV "season" as such - while some shows start in September, our shows are shorter, and as such start and stop randomly throughout the year, meaning the word "season" wouldn't really be appropriate.

Tailkinker

I am looking for the title of a movie I saw in the late 70s/early 80s. It was a swords and sorcery type of film. The only scene I have clear memory of is that one of the main characters is an archer. There is a bird that helps the main characters out and when a feather falls from the bird, it turns into a bundle of magic arrows for the archer. Anyone have any idea about this movie?

Guy

Chosen answer: Sounds like "The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire". It was a made-for-tv movie/pilot from 1981.

I once saw a movie about a man who seemed to be able to burn things by starting at them, or was at least able to do it once. I remember that he glared at a cat, I think because it was trying to hurt some birds, and then the cat was shown burning on the ground.

Answer: There was a movie called Firestarter based on a Steven King novel but this was a little girl that could that had pyrokenesis (starts fires with her mind). There was also a sequel.

Simpsonholic

This is a movie I saw on Lifetime, where a mentally retarded woman is pregnant. She had red hair, and there was one scene where she said "I could have this baby at any minute." I believe it had the word "Abnormal" somewhere in the title, but I'm not sure.

Answer: This sounds like Profoundly Normal, 2003, starring Kirstie Alley and Delroy Lindo. They are both mentally challenged, her more than him, and face legal obstacles when they decide to get married and have a baby. There was a scene like the one you describe, where Alley is yelling at Lindo (as her social worker looks on) because he wants to go play basketball, but she wants him to come to their prenatal class with her.

Aerinah

I saw a movie a while ago where a strict couple has children living with them. I remember one scene where a woman is telling a girl to get into a bathtub and scrub herself, but the girl doesn't want to because the water is too hot. There is also a boy who hides in the house, but can't talk because the man in the house cut out his tongue or something. Does anyone know the title?

I can't remember the name of this movie. It stars Roseanna Arquette, who is being cheated on by her husband, who is a British male with silver hair and he seems to have a sexual compulsion.

Answer: Could you be thinking of Diary of a Sex Addict (2001).

Boobra

I've seen a few TV shows make jokes about Jenny McCarthy not being famous, or a character (such as Hank Hill on King Of The Hill) not knowing who she is. What is the source of these jokes?

Answer: Jenny McCarthy started her career as a Playboy Bunny and 1994 Playmate of the Year, she followed this with hosting MTVs "Singled Out" and "The Jenny McCarthy Show" a sketch-comedy show that contained a great deal of adolescent crude or "toilet" humor. While she went on the write a number of books and is the 2007 Spokesperson for the "Talk About Curing Autism" campaign she has never really been able to shake the public perseption of her as a talentless bimbo made famous by an exploited sexual image.

OneHappyHusky

I saw a movie when I was a kid in the early to mid 70s.The story was about a couple who were having a pool or something built in their backyard.The people building it discovered an old box or suitcase that held an old miniature horse or other small toy animal that came to life and started to attack them.Can anyone help out with the name of it.

Answer: It's an episode from the TV series "Ghost Story" (aka "Circle of Fear") called "Dark Vengeance.

I think this may have been an episode from a sci fi/horror anthology show from the 1970's. A young girl has a doll house that is a replica of the house she is living in and a doll for each member of the family. The dolls were very strange looking. Kind of round and flat. Whatever she made the dolls do, the family member did the same. One night the house caught fire and she dropped a doll while getting out. I think it was either the doll for her grandfather or uncle. The person ended up burning to death.

Answer: I beleive the movie you are looking for is an episode of the old "Ghost Story" aka "Circle of Fear" series from 1972. The episode is called "House of Evil" and starred Jodie Foster. A plot summary from imdb.com follows:"A little girl who could control everyone in her house through her dollhouse and then become left to rescue everyone when the dollhouse as well as the real one starts to burn down.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0587874/DVD copies are available from www.skaryguyvideo.com/ - though I'm not sure how genuine the site is.

I'm looking for a boxing/fighting-type movie that I watched in the 90's. I think the main character trained by chasing after buses, and in the end he had a bare-knuckle fight in a ring with the bad guy. There may or may not have been some sort of underground fighting involved in the movie, but i can't be sure. Does anyone recognize this movie?

Answer: I think the movie you are referring to is "Gladiator". http://imdb.com/title/tt0104346/.

Multiple times on this site I have seen mistake corrections saying that the mistake is not valid because the two movies of the same series are not consistent (e.g. Harry Potter 2 and 3). Why are they not consistent- is it because they have different directors?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: More or less, yes. Different directors have had different visions for the films, and if a filmmaker intentionally makes changes in order to fit his ideas better, it's a bit harsh to class a difference as a "mistake", even a deliberate one.

Phixius

Say a movie is based on a book. If the book has a mistake in it, and the movie copies it, does it count as a movie mistake since the filmmakers were just using the idea from a book?

Blibbetyblip

Chosen answer: Yes. A mistake is a mistake regardless of the reason. It could, under those circumstances, possibly be considered under the "Deliberate Mistake" category, but it still counts as an error.

Tailkinker

Numerous times mistakes have been corrected saying it is a character mistake, not a movie mistake. This has always confused me. The words performed by the actor are scripted by writers and scenes are filmed under the direction of its director. Since it is written in the script and accepted by the director and producer, how is this still a character mistake and not a movie mistake?

SAZOO1975

Chosen answer: In real life, people make mistakes. Just because someone in a movie says or does something wrong, it doesn't make it a mistake because it does happen in real life. A regular character in a movie stating that there are 268 bones in an adult human body could just be a way to show that character doesn't know what he/she is talking about and not really a mistake. A doctor making that same statement would be a mistake because the doctor SHOULD know better since it is his/her job.

Rlvlk

What film is about a blond guy who isn't allowed to see his kids, so he goes home and shoots a couple of people with an Uzi? Then points a gun at a man behind a restaurant counter, because he's a couple of minutes late for the breakfast menu? I think it was made in the 90's and the main character might be played by Michael Madsen, but I'm not sure. I only saw a bit of it so that might not be a main point in the film.

Answer: This is the movie "Falling Down" starring Michael Douglas.

Damian Torres

I am looking for an animated movie or TV show, that would have been from the 1980's I believe. I recall a skeleton that talks, jewels, and a hero-type character. They are at a cave-like place at night. I believe the skeleton was an obstacle that they had to get through, maybe asking password questions. I watched a lot of Carebears, My Little Pony, and Rainbow Brite. Can anyone help me figure this out?

Answer: It's kind of a vague description, but it sounds a bit like a scene from the Last Unicorn. There is a talking skeleton who they have to talk with to find the way to the Red Bull's lair. Though you could be thinking of another movie entirely.

Garlonuss

Does anybody know the name of a horror type movie that was set on an island with a bunch of Nazi robot type soldiers. If I remember correctly, the "Nazi" guys were underwater and would come to life and kill unsuspecting people if commanded by a scientist, who lived on the island. One thing that I remember about the movie, is when one character was being chased he ran through a swampy area filled with sea urchins or some type of spikey creature.

Answer: The movie is called "Shock Waves": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076704/.

Hi I was wondering if anyone could help me with a film I saw a while back on TV. It was on late night but I have no clue what channel or actors it involved. The plot centered around a poor inner-city school that was struggling with funding. I remember a scene where a class has to go to a local diner to have class because of poor facilities. But the main part of the plot centers around when a student pulls a school resource officers gun and causes a police standoff. Some other students are with him. I don't know how it ended because it was at a hotel during a tournament. Due to the style I would guess it to be from either the 80's or 90's but I could be wrong. Any clue what film this is?

Answer: The film is called "Light It Up". It stars Forest Whitaker, Usher Raymond (R & B singer) and Rosario Dawson.

There was, a few years ago, a cartoon on Cartoon Network about a black teenager who I think was called Virgil, and he and some people were exposed to some sort of chemical or radiation. After, the main character had magnetic powers and could float on a trash can lid. Does anyone know what this was called?

Answer: Static Shock. The powers were electric, though, not magnetic.

Phixius

A movie from the 80's or early 90's about 3 male friends and one friend reveals he is very ill and dying. There is a scene where the friends do not know the one guy is sick until his wig falls off and they wonder why he is bald and has a wig on. He also makes a goodbye video and they watch it after he dies.

Answer: That would be "Breaking the Rules," released in 1992 and starring Jason Bateman, C. Thomas Howell, and Jonathan Silverman.

Chanteuse66

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