Answered general questions about movies, TV and more

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?

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

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 ★

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?

What was the first TV show to sell a DVD box sets of each series?

Many years ago I saw a cartoon where an old animal was telling the story of what happened to mankind. He told of a world war and the last scene is one soldier left in each side's trench. The first soldier shoots the second, but the second shoots the first before dying, thereby ending the human race. I think the last shot was one of the soldiers sinking into the mud of the trench. What is the title or production company of the cartoon?

I'm trying to find out the name of a television show that I watched in the early to mid-1980's. The only details I remember are that there was group of teenagers that worked on a newspaper and they would often get transported to a different time or area where a "bad guy" was always trying to get to them. Anybody have an idea?

I remember watching a couple of tv shows at school in the early 90's. The first was about a bird, I think it was a Kite, and a bloke was after it because he collected bird eggs etc, and a couple of young kids were trying to stop him. In one episode they found loads of eggs and stuffed birds in the back of his shop I think. The second was about some sort of alien, and I think he came out of the sea or lived by the sea or something. There was a computer involved somehow, again with a couple of young kids.

Kayleigh Green

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 ★

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"?

David Hutchinson

I saw an indie movie about ten years ago which featured two young boys, one of whom I think was called Francis, and it dealt with their fears about nuclear war. A central theme was that after the bomb went off, people turned into pigs. I thought the movie was called Francis, but I can't seem to find anything that matches this description. Does anyone remember this movie?

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?

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?

Can't remember what this movie was called. It's basically a horror. All I remember is it's some sort of funhouse or carnival type setting. A guy wearing a mask is chasing a girl through a wooded area. In his hand is what looks like the head of a ventriloquist dummy. As he's running after her he keeps yelling, "meet my friend", at which point the dummy head opens its mouth and screams. This happens a couple of times. Finally, the girl climbs over a fence and the "bad guy" follows her up, throwing the head at her and again yells, "meet my friend". The dummy head lands, rolls over, looks at her, and screams again. One other scene from the same movie is where this same masked guy goes into some room (where he lives?) and there are all the dummies around, sitting in chairs and such.

I am trying to find the name of a movie I saw along time ago. It's an old horror flick where a young kid gets lost in the woods and finds a large hole in the ground with monsters in it, and he ends up leading people into this hole to feed the monsters. The only victim I could remember was a handicapped kid in a wheelchair.

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?

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

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

raywest ★

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 ★

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?