I'm trying to remember a movie from the late 90s / early 00s, most likely made for TV. I'm almost positive it starred, or heavily featured, one of the male cast members from Friends, but I can't remember which one. That character dies in the film, and there's some kind of afterlife with ghosts still being on earth doing stuff, I think they're linked to specific places for some reason, and/or they're all trying to help the guy who dies so they can get their wings. I'm reasonably sure the film either opens on, or ends on (or both) a car crash in which the Friends guy gets into a car crash, shown from the interior of the car, where they're in a business suit. I've been through the IMDB pages of each of the male Friends cast members and I can not find this film. Does it sound familiar to anyone out there?
Gary O'Reilly
10th Aug 2018
General questions
30th Sep 2014
General questions
Looking for the name of a film that was being played on UK television in the early 00s. The only scene I can properly remember is towards the start; there's a drug lab (or a diamond smuggling organisation) that has loads of either topless or completely naked women carrying out the operation. One of the bad guys explains that it's so they can't hide any of the product to steal. They're all fitted with explosive collars in case they try to run away. I think the movie was sci-fi and I vaguely remember spaceships appearing at some point, maybe the drug lab was on a spaceship.
5th Oct 2010
General questions
I have a very vague memory of what I think is an episode from a British TV show. One of the main characters is transporting a criminal of some sort, via car, to somewhere else. The criminal (I think) is a nice man, I think he's a con-man, and he's friendly to the main character. After a while the criminal guy finds out the main character is having some kind of relationship or other social problem, and helps them out. I'm pretty sure this happens on a motorway service station. The episode ends with the criminal guy escaping but leaving behind a note saying he's sorry that he had to. I also remember something about the criminal guy conning someone out of the proper amount of change after buying something from a shop. I'm positive this is a British TV show, and I'm almost positive it was a comedy. All I know is that it's not "The Detectives".
Chosen answer: This sounds like an episode of "The Bill" from 1999 called "On the Road". DC Duncan Lennox and DC Liz Rawton travel to Salisbury to transport a conman back to London. From what I remember all the events you mention took place in the episode: Lennox having a problem, a scam involving an amount of change and at the end he leaves a note apologising for absconding.
13th May 2010
The Simpsons (1989)
Treehouse of Horror XVII - S18-E4
Question: In the radio studio, when Orson Welles is going on about the invasion, he says something like "and now some music by." and it cuts to the first 1-2 seconds of a song being sung by someone in the studio. What is that song?
Chosen answer: That song is the 1933 song "Young and Healthy" by Harry Warren. It was sung originally by Bing Crosby. Goto: www.harrywarren.org/songs/0632.htm.
10th Dec 2009
General questions
I'm trying to remember a cartoon I had a tape of when I was younger. It involved a live action cat and dog, where the dog chased the cat around while the cats (and possibly the dogs) thoughts were voice acted, and then the cat would hide somewhere and fantasise about beating the dog in various situations. The show would then switch to animation with the cat taking the role of various pop culture icons, such as batman or captain kirk and fighting a version of the dog in the cartoon. Then the show would go back to live action and the dog would be chased away somehow.
Chosen answer: It was a Saturday morning show that Hal Sutherland produced in 1975 titled "The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty. It was a parody of the 1947 Danny Kaye movie "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty;" Walter Mitty was a character created by James Thurber.
13th Apr 2009
Courage the Cowardly Dog (1999)
Question: There is an episode where a travelling stage and it's owner get people to perform on the stage to an invisible audience (which cheers and applauds). The people then end up loving the stage and eventually get turned into puppets with strings coming out of the happy/sad faces at the top of the stage. Since most/all of the episodes of Courage are based on, or parodies of, famous tales, myths, stories and films, where is this one from? It sounds very familiar but I can't quite place it.
Chosen answer: The episode you are referring to is the finale to Season 1, "The Great Fusilli. The episode description is nearly identical to your description. However, I have not been able to find any source of this being a parody. Perhaps this episode was just an original?
10th Apr 2009
The Dark Knight (2008)
Question: This part bugs me every time I watch the film. After Batman has crashed the tanker and the Joker is walking down the street, Batman charges at him with the bike. The Joker refuses to move, and Batman then yells and crashes his bike in an almost comically stupid way. I understand that there's supposed to be some form of turmoil in Batman's mind over whether or not he should just mow the Joker down, and at the end he decides not to, but it just seems so blunt and amusingly done. Is there more to it? Was it even meant to be a spot of comic relief?
Chosen answer: Comic relief? Naah, it looks odd because it's staged. Batman's putting himself into a vulnerable position to let Gordon get the drop on the Joker. Bruce, as a wanted vigilante, obviously can't make a citizen's arrest and he's not going to risk leaving the Joker tied up somewhere until the police get there. So he crashes the bike intentionally, leaving himself vulnerable. He knows that he'll get the Joker's attention that way, which will give Gordon a chance to get close enough to grab him.
30th May 2008
General questions
I remember an incredibly corny sci-fi show that aired in the late 90s / early 00s. I remember that it involved aliens trying to do various nefarious things on Earth by controlling a few large corporations, and there was a "good" alien who teamed up with a woman, and lived in a houseboat (at least, I remember a houseboat). The main thing that sticks in my head from this show is that the bad aliens had a robot that worked for them, who was a complete ripoff of the liquid metal robot from Terminator 2.
Chosen answer: Codename: Eternity.
2nd May 2008
Babylon 5 (1994)
The Face of the Enemy - S4-E17
Question: What is the song playing in the bar, after Sheridan has been drugged and is fighting off the attackers (when the scene goes into slow motion)?
Chosen answer: It was a piece composed expressly for the episode by Christopher Franke, who simply called it "Bar Background Music."
21st Jan 2008
The Venture Bros. (2003)
Question: In the first episode of the second series, there is a mix of "Everybody's Free" by Rozalla. I have 4 mixes of this track, and it's not one of those. What is the name of this mix? Was it made especially for the show?
Chosen answer: It is a remix by Aquagen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquagen http://venturebrosrave.ytmnd.com/ Go Team Venture!
1st May 2007
The Young Ones (1982)
Question: What is it exactly that Rik reads from the paper? The thing that Neil repeats that brings the little devil to them? I'm assuming it's a poorly pronounced version of something that was in the papers at that time, but I can't think of anything that fits it.
Chosen answer: This is the dialog: RICK: "Hey, get this! 'Under the new ruling, all a student needs for an increased grant is a numklpkgulftoomsch from the local authority!" NEIL: "What was that?" RICK: "A numklpkgulftoomsch. Don't you ever read The Guardian, Neil?" NEIL: "What's a ftoomsch?" Ftoomsch was the little devil's name and the joke was that he'd said no one would ever say his name in regular conversation so he'd have no chance of stealing a soul.
9th Apr 2007
The Young Ones (1982)
Question: What is it exactly that Rik reads from the paper? The thing that Neil repeats that brings the little devil to them? I'm assuming it's a poorly pronounced version of something that was in the papers at that time, but I can't think of anything that fits it.
Chosen answer: It wasn't referring to anything real, just that the government's bureaucratic naming, The Guardian's mangled spelling or Rick's bad pronounciation resulted in the unlikely word "Footumch" being spoken.
25th Feb 2007
General questions
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).
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.
27th Aug 2006
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Question: How exactly did Peter Jackson get the rights to this series? He is obviously a talented director but, and this is no offence intended, his previous credits are basically limited to relatively small-time comedy horror movies. To go from that to producing the first live action movie adaptations of what is perhaps the most famous book series in the world seems a bit odd, especially given how little Hollywood likes to take risks nowadays.
Chosen answer: Presumably you are referring to "Bad Taste" and "Braindead" as Jackson's low-budget horror films. Bear in mind though, that Jackson had directed "Heavenly Creatures", a highly-acclaimed drama, and "The Frighteners" starring Michael J. Fox, which despite being quite a low-budget horror film showcased high-quality visual effects from Jackson's Weta Digital company. Also, it may have been Jackson's ability to work on a small budget that won him the gig: the LOTR films had often been considered too expensive to make. Plus this isn't unprecendented - when the Wachowski Brothers presented their idea for The Matrix the studio didn't want to give them a massive budget straight away. They made "Bound" first for a relative pittance, and that was enough to convince the studio they had the talent necessary for a huge movie.
3rd Aug 2006
Death Becomes Her (1992)
Question: In the scene where Goldie Hawn nearly gets her head run over by the car, how do they get that effect? It just looks far too dangerous to be an actual stunt, but it looks too real to be a bluescreen / split screen effect either.
Chosen answer: It is a composite shot, with the actor's head added to the scene. They just did a particularly good job on the scene.
11th May 2006
The Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Question: In the extras DVD of the deluxe boxset, there are a few videos of Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman performing the opera (and from what I can tell the video looks from around the time or the original stage show). But it looks to be very much done for the camera (rather than just a recording of the show being performed live). Was the whole opera done in this way, using the original cast? And was it released? I can't find any reference to it at all on IMDB. If it has been released, where can I find it?
Chosen answer: In 1986-1987, before the show actually premiered, a few songs featuring Sarah Brightman were released to promote it, including the signature theme, featuring both her and Steve Harley (and not, as is often assumed, Michael Crawford). Although the song is from the stage musical, the lyrics used were not the definitive ones and the accompanying video was specially recorded for promotion purposes and was not from the actual show.
11th May 2006
Quantum Leap (1989)
Question: Is it ever stated how the people act once Sam leaps out of them? Presumably the person leaps back into their place, but wouldn't they be confused initially and then just go back to acting the same way?
Answer: In "Double Identity", Sam leaps from Frankie to Don Geno when the blackout hits and we see how Frankie responds to returning. He appears to have no memory of the time he was displaced and thinks it is the moments just after when he left the day before.
2nd Feb 2006
Equilibrium (2002)
Question: The speeches that "Father" gives are emotional, in that they are intended to instill emotion in the listener. I understand that Father and presumably quite a few others of the head council are not taking the Prozium, but is there a reason they are still giving these rousing speeches to the masses that are supposedly devoid of emotion? Am I just missing some of the story?
Chosen answer: As I see it, the point of the speeches is not to evoke emotions in the listeners, but rather to show what emotions such as anger and jealousy lead to in the course of human history. So they use historic "evidence" to justify their actions (such as killing sense offenders) and to show what emotions can lead to.
29th Dec 2005
General questions
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?
29th Dec 2005
General questions
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.
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Answer: Sounds like it might be Heart and Souls, a 1993 comedy with Robert Downey Jnr. No Friends cast members but the plot is similar to your description.