General questions about movies, TV and more

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I remember seeing a film as a girl and remember only one scene where a woman is at a party and is hiding or sneaking around, and by accident gets her dress shredded by standing above the shredder. Does anyone know what film I'm talking about?

Twotall

I am after the title of a narrated animated/live action film about people living underground in the woods(probably in Germany) during World War 2 to hide from the Nazis. There is a little girl in the film whose family gets taken to a concentration camp and she is left all alone.

Twotall

Chosen answer: It might be "Sarah" a.k.a. "Sarah and the Squirrel", 1982 by Yoram Gross.

I remember watching a cartoon quite some time back now. I remember that it was about a dentists, or something similar, and I remember there being a lot of children in it. It stuck in my mind because it reminded me an awful lot of Dr. Katz, although aimed at a younger audience. Does anyone have any idea what this show is? I seem to remember it was quite short lived. The only solid thing I can remember about the show itself was that there was a receptionist who I think was married to the dentist/doctor (and it's not Home Movies).

Gary O'Reilly

Chosen answer: I think you are referring to 'Bob and Margaret' which was an animated British show about a dentist and his chiropodist wife which ran from 1998-2001.

wizard_of_gore

This is a question regarding all films. I know that in a lot of films the image is reversed for some reason for particular shots and that you can usually tell this because, for example, something on the left side of someone's face will be on their right side, etc. But I don't understand why?

Craig Bryant

Chosen answer: The most likely explanation is because when it comes to editing it may look better when flipped, or because it was not possible to shoot a shot from the opposite angle at the time of filming. Also if shots are edited together from different sequences, the director may need to match the direction of movement, so has to flip one set of shots in order to maintain obvious continuity (at the cost of smaller things).

Scrappy

I want to find out the name of a sci-fi movie I saw when I was kid in 1974. Aliens from a planet soon to be doomed due to an expanding sun appeared on Earth through some transporter-like device and sought our help. The movie sticks in my mind because, in spite of our efforts, we could not help and the planet was destroyed.

Adam Feller

Chosen answer: Sounds like "This Island Earth (1955)".

How exactly does film crediting work? I know of several examples where a "major" actor/actress is in the film, but is not credited. (Whoopie Goldberg in Star Trek Generations, for example). How can someone be "introduced" if they've been major players in earlier films? (Julia Roberts in Ocean's 11 & 12).

StevenJ

Chosen answer: The Julia Roberts thing in Ocean's 11 & 12 was a joke by the writers. Credits usually work on the theory that the first person listed is the most important role in the film, and the 'good guy' is listed first. (Example, Robert De Niro is credited before Al Pacino in 'Heat' - both top class actors but De Niro is the good guy. Same with Face/Off with Nicholas Cage and John Travolta). Some actors/actresses don't want their names listed in the credits, usually because they don't want the film/TV show to sell on their name alone. One more interesting fact - in Se7en, Kevin Spacey's name isn't listed on the opening credits, or any of the posters/promotional material surrounding the film, but in the ending credits he recieves top billing. He agreed not to have his name in the opening credits/promotional stuff as he wanted his appearance as the bad guy to be a suprise to people (thus they don't know who the bad guy is) - but he did this on the understanding he'd recieve top billing in the end credits. Ultimately all unusual credits (cameos, etc.) are generally decided on a case by case basis.

Sam Johnson

There was this cartoon (I think?) series in the 80's (maybe late) in the US that had one girl and two boys searching for lands of gold. The only other thing I remember is that one of the boys had a vase/pot that had broken lines on it that glowed for some reason. Any ideas?

shortdanzr

Chosen answer: Sounds like "The Mysterious Cities of Gold". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122356/.

Grumpy Scot

I saw a movie about 20 years ago on TV, I remember thinking it was an old movie at the time. All I remember is that a girl goes to Heaven looking for her father (she has not died) and Heaven is full of children waiting to be born. At the end she is walking down the road with her father.

panda

Chosen answer: The movie was "The Blue Bird" which was made in 1940 staring Shirley Temple.

Boobra

I remember a cartoon a while ago, I think involving Bugs Bunny, where he had a magic wand and was being chased by someone (I'm almost sure NOT Elmer Fudd), ending up in an opera. The climax was the chaser singing on stage while Bugs (or whoever) kept using the magic wand and changing the singer's costume. Any ideas what this cartoon was called?

Jon Sandys

Chosen answer: It was not a bugs Bunny cartoon. It was a Tex Avery cartoon. Tex Avery's Musical Maestro (1951) Here is the write up: http://comics.ign.com/articles/649/649921p1.html.

Rlvlk

I remember a TV show from UK television, probably broadcast late 80s/early 90s. It had a mannequin/dummy thing that was a decorative feature in a shopping centre. Inside the face of the mannequin (which I think wore a bowler hat and suit) was some kind of crystal or other shiny thing. There was a clock on the bike the mannequin rode and whenever the crystal was inserted in its face it would pedal wildly and send these kids to a parallel dimension which was very 1980s psychadaelia and was like a TV news show. I keep thinking this show was called 'Finders Keepers' but apparently not. Any other ideas?

Answer: It is Finders Keepers but it was Australian. If you're searching UK Finders Keepers you'll get a kids' game show hosted by Neil Buchanan.

I am trying to remember a movie I saw at least 10 years ago, probably 15 or more. The only thing I can remember about it was that a kid had to race this car around town. While he was doing it I think he had a device to switch red lights to green and I think he went through a car wash and had the outer layer of paint washed off to get away from the cops. At the end I think he ramped through the goal post at the football field, then they buried the car in the end zone. Any ideas?

Answer: I believe this was a 1989 film called "Catch Me If You Can".

Tailkinker

I am trying to find the name of a show that was on the WB a few years back. It was a cartoon about some kid that was an alien and he had a magic glove that was passed down by his father. If anyone else put the glove on, it would mangle their hand. He rode a motorcycle where the wheels would turn sideways and he could go over water. Does anyone know what this is? Thank you.

Answer: The show is called Invasion America. It was made by Dreamworks, and Spielberg was the executive producer. This show was awesome. The main character was David Carter or David Oosha and the glove is called the exotar.

I know there have been lots of theatrical movies with direct to video sequels, but are there any direct to video movies that have theatrically released sequels?

Answer: I don't believe there ever has been a sequel after the first film has been made straight to video. Generally the studio that releases a film will test the film and see if there is any potential. Some have spawned sequels, but none in the theatre. The closest film was possibly Toy Story. Like many of Disney's films the sequel was set to go straight to video but the studio felt it was so strong that it was given a theatrical run, which proved extremely successful.

Lummie

What was the first cartoon to use the "hallway-chase" sequence? I refer to such cartoons as Scooby Doo or the Halloween episode of the Simpsons with Death, where a monster chases a group of people from door to door, back and forth at high speed, and we are looking down the length of the hall.

Answer: The older episodes of scooby-doo started the trend because in every episode they had to have a chase and it was an easy way to get one out of a backround and a bunch of walk cycles. It is actually called a "scooby-doo chase".

Answer: That routine goes back to the 1930's screwball comedies. The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello have all done it.

Can anyone tell me the name of a sitcom that was on BBC1 about 16/17 years ago, it was about a family who lived on a farm and there were 2 daughters in their 40's and one was really frumpy and the other was slim and pretty/tarty. There was a different episode each week and there was only one series.

pierpp

Chosen answer: I think you mean Sitting Pretty. The pretty one had to go and live on the farm with her sister after her husband died and left her peniless.

I've noticed this in almost every cartoon I've seen, but recently I've noticed it in a lot of films too. whenever a character/actor is reading a book, they're always turning the pages the wrong way (as if they're reading the book backwards). This would go against the actors (and animators) basic reactions to reading a book, so why does it appear so often? Is it a sort of in-joke like the Wilhelm scream?

Gary O'Reilly

Chosen answer: It is most likely because the film has been flipped, showing a "mirror image".

Phixius

This applies to many, many action/spy movies. Silenced pistols in movies are pretty much silent, but I have read that this is not the case in real life and although a silencer does quieten a gunshot, it's still not exactly silent. My question is, does a real life silenced pistol still have a similar sound to movie silenced pistols (that sort of high pitched "ping" or "pew" sound), only louder, or is it an entirely different noise?

Gary O'Reilly

Chosen answer: It depends. You CANNOT silence a revolver. A silencer on an average pistol will only make the shot about half as loud as normal. It will not make the pistol go "pfft" like in the movies. However, there are some specifically designed weapons, such as the MP5 SD3 (as seen in Navy Seals), the S&W 9mm "Hush Puppy", the British Welrod and the Chinese Type 64, that are almost completely silent, the only noise being the muted clack of the bolt.

Grumpy Scot

Are there any new Star Trek movies or TV series in the works, or is the franchise officially dead?

raywest

Chosen answer: There are a number of rumors right now. No series mentioned, as of yet, but there us definitely work on a new movie. They don't expect it soon, but they do appear to be in the early, brainstorming stages. See here for more.

Garlonuss

I know that at the Oscars, Best Picture and Best Director usually go hand-in-hand. What was the first film to win one without winning the other?

Cubs Fan

Chosen answer: At the very first Academy Awards (1927/28) "Wings" won Outstanding Picture and the Directing awards went to "Two Arabian Nights" and "7th Heaven" (one for "best direction" one for "best comedy direction"). In fact it wasn't until the 3rd year that "All Quiet on the Western Front" won both. So far the awards have gone to different pictures 19 times.

Myridon

Please can someone help me find the title of a childrens' movie where it starts in the beginning with a boy who rides on a toy in a big present that lands in his room, and it becomes animated after that. There is a scene where there are two princesses that do alphabet and there is another scene where slime tries to make him go to sleep. I don't remember much more. Please help?

Answer: I think the movie you're looking for is "The Phantom Tollbooth" (1970). At least it fits your description with the change from live action to animation, the two princesses and the boy who rides his toy car through a magic tollbooth.For more information check out: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0064806.

Andreas[DK]

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