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?
General questions about movies, TV and more
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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".
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.
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.
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?
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?
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.
Are there any new Star Trek movies or TV series in the works, or is the franchise officially dead?
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?
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.
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.
I remember a cartoon show about a cat that every time he said a number from 1 to 9 a phantom ghost appeared to make him suffer. What was the name of that cartoon?
Answer: Fraidy Cat: http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/25964-Choo-Choo_Fraidy.html.
Does anyone ever remember remember seeing or hearing about a TV movie that was shown live? I remember, 5-7 years ago, that my mom told me she was watching a movie shown in this way. I think I remember it being black and white. Sound familiar to anyone?
Answer: "Fail Safe" was broadcast live on CBS April 9, 2000, and it is in black and white. It is a story set during the cold war, where a so-called fail-safe warning system malfunctions, and a bomber squadron goes off to bomb Moscow while everyone else is trying desperately to stop them before the time runs out. It stars such people as George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Don Cheadle, Richard Dreyfuss, Sam Elliott, just to mention a few.
What was the first TV show to sell a DVD box sets of each series?
Answer: It was "The X-Files" season 1.
Does anyone know what movie this is? At the very beginning the screen is red with numerous wind-up chattering teeth on the bottom of the screen. All I can remember is a child going into a dumpster area and meeting a friendly creature. I think it was a made for TV movie, possibly on the Family Channel circa 1990.
Answer: It is the movie "Munchie". IMDB it.
There was a children's television programme that was on British TV in the late 1980s/early 1990s. The characters were all puppets and included a large talking cauldron which had a dark green face, a strange silver/red monster that lived in the cauldron and had a very posh voice, a creature that looked a bit like Alf with bat wings, and a venus flytrap that I think was called Colin. Can anyone tell me what it was called?
There's a horror movie that features a climactic scene where a killer is in a barn with a little girl - the killer has a scythe. This would be late 60's early 70's. The killer may be wearing some kind of creepy bag over his head - maybe a scarecrow mask of some kind. Any idea what it is?
Answer: Could it be 'Dark night of the scarecrow'?
There was a children's program that featured a teenage detective who drove a convertible Volkswagen bug. He had a gorilla side-kick. They received their assignments in the form of ordinary objects that had a voice recording that gave the details - the object would then self-destruct. This was filmed, but not live-action like some of the Sid & Marty Croft shows.
Answer: You may be thinking of a show called "The Ghost Busters" that debuted in 1975.
I remember watching a TV programme when I was at primary school. It will have been around the early 1990's. All I can remember from it was that it featured somebody at a keyboard typing in the word "qwertyuiop" and I remember that something happened after they typed it in. Please, please can somebody help me by telling me the title of the programme or what actually happened when they typed in "qwertyuiop"?
Chosen answer: I think you are referring to Storyworld, an ITV schools programme in which Tony Robinson ("Baldric" from the Blackadder series) used the magic word qwertyuiop to bring stories to life.
On that "It'll be alright on the night show" they showed a clip of two people dressed in older clothes (victorian or otherwise) climbing a grassy hill talking. Then on the path below this huge silver car drove buy (and the audience burst into laughter.) Nobody has any idea what this was off do they? It looked like TV show quality.
Chosen answer: I think the clip in question is from the series "Moll Flanders" starring Alex Kingston and new James Bond Daniel Craig.
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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.