When did Warner Bros. stop making Looney Tunes shorts, and why did they stop making them?
Neil Jones
8th Jun 2020
General questions
18th Apr 2016
General questions
There's a film that's very similar to 2005's The Pacifier and I cannot remember what it was called. The premise was nearly the same as The Pacifier, but the kids were a bit older and one of them was asthmatic - there was a scene in it where somebody threw his inhaler away either off a bridge or next to a river and the asthmatic kid broke down into tears. I think it may be newer than The Pacifier.
Chosen answer: I think it might be "The Spy Next Door (2010) " with Jackie Chan and Billy Ray Cyrus. CIA superspy Bob Ho is retiring from the business and plans to settle down with his girlfriend Gillian and her three children. His final espionage assignment - a last-ditch attempt to take down his longtime nemesis, Russian terrorist Poldark - is seriously hampered when one of Gillian's children mistakenly downloads a top-secret file on Bob's computer. Bob must now juggle his new role as stepfather to three wayward children with dodging the bullets of Russian mobsters.
Answer: Found it, the film in question was The Sitter (from 2011) and I misremembered the details: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1366344/, but thanks to Arris for your response, I saw that one as well :).
13th Jul 2017
General questions
When did purely percussive movie and television soundtracks become popular? What landmark movie or TV soundtrack set this percussive precedent?
Answer: Probably in the late 1990s or around the turn of the century and it was probably gradual as these things go. Sometimes its easier to use a specific song to set a specific mood (this started probably more so in the 1980s) as opposed to creating a new one but that being said, its generally up to a composer and the style of the film in question as to whether they use a percussion style soundtrack or a more traditional sounding one and there are relatively recent films that sound like they could be old school.
The earliest percussive soundtrack that I recall debuted in James Cameron's first "Terminator" film. While it did have a mournful and melodic synthesized musical theme, the soundtrack was punctuated in several places with industrial banging and thumping (typically when the Terminator was onscreen). This percussive presence was amplified and expanded in the second Terminator film; and, by "Salvation," almost the entire soundtrack was industrial noise. But I'm not sure that Terminator alone ushered in the percussive soundtrack.
26th Dec 2013
General questions
Looking for the title of a 2013 low budget horror/slasher movie about a preteen boy whose older brother is a serial killer. The boy is a horror movie fan and I think the setting may be the 1980's. It sounded interesting and got a decent review.Thanks!
Chosen answer: Most likely "Found" from 2012: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2149360/.
20th Mar 2014
General questions
There was a movie about a man who woke up to discover that the roles of grown-ups and children have been reversed. All of the adults are treated like children and have to go to school while all of the children behave like adults and even have adult jobs. When he went to tell some cops that his car had been stolen, he is shocked to discover that the cops he is talking to are a couple of kids. He eventually believes that he's in some sort of parallel dimension and tries to escape by jumping through a mirror, but ends up in the hospital. I saw this movie either some time in the late 80's or early 90's.
Answer: The only film I can find that matches this description is Opposite Day from 2009 - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1090674/ - and as far as I can see it's an original movie, not a remake or reboot of something earlier.
This not the movie. I saw this movie sometime in the mid '80s and the protagonist was a middle-aged man with sandy colored hair.
30th May 2011
General questions
I am looking for the name of an old film, the only thing I know is an scene in which a clown tries really hard to make a little kid laugh but it doesn't matter how hard he tries the kid doesn't laugh, at then end the clown gives up and began crying at that same moment the kid begins laughing because he has never seen a clown crying., My father has talked about this movie since I was a kid but he does not remember the title or anything else, and through the years I have been looking for it, but I have never been able to find it. He claims that the main character was Jerry Lewis, but I an not sure about that, so if anyone can help me it will be great, I really want to give him that movie as a present. Thanks.
Answer: This sounds like it's the 1972 Movie, The Day the Clown Cried. Never been released in any form at all due to contract issues. The only other thing Jerry Lewis has done that was clown related was 3 Ring Circus, from 1954. Can't say whether that's what you're after though. Good luck.
17th Mar 2007
General questions
My parents have American Beauty on video but I can't watch it because it's an 18. However, my friends mum has it also on video but hers is a 15. Does anyone know why this is?
Answer: According to the BBFC this film (assuming you mean the 1999 film with Kevin Spacey) has always had an 18 rating both for cinematic and home video/DVD release. The trailer is rated 12. Therefore it is anybody's guess as to how your friend's mother's video is rated 15 unless it is an entirely different American Beauty.
18th Mar 2007
General questions
Where can a person submit suggestions for movies/tv shows to be released on DVD? Does such a data bank exist for those who decide which movies will or will not be released on DVD? Who decides what movies or tv shows from the past will or will not be made available to the public?
Answer: These should be directed at the production company. These companies decide what to release based on three main qualifying factors, usually in order of priority: 1) Will it sell? 2) Do we have the rights to sell it? 3) Is the print in decent condition and if not is it worth doing any work on it in lieu of factors 1 and 2? Many film and closed TV company programme libraries have changed ownership over the years, some with no clues as to who owns the material.
1st Jun 2005
General questions
There was this film about a child who wanted to be a spy/detective. There was a scene where the boy was hiding under a bed, and there was a girl with blonde hair dancing around in the room, with ballet shoes on. I think the plot was something like four kids were hiding out/staying in an empty flat/apartment, and were spying on some people. There was also something about diamonds in a teddy bear. Does anyone know the title for this film?
Chosen answer: "A Kid Called Danger" - http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0210786/.
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Answer: They stopped production initially in 1969, then started again in the 1980s, and have continued off and on ever since. Some appeared in film (Who Framed Roger Rabbit for example features a few Looney Tunes characters). Warner Brothers shut the animation studio down in the 1960s (much like MGM shut their animation studios in the 1950s which signalled the end of the original batch of Tom and Jerry cartoons) and it'll be because, much like MGM, they noticed the "old" shorts bought in the same amount of money would have done, so much like repeats on TV if it pulls in the money, why make more?
Neil Jones