How is it possible that Gary Fitzgerald was nominated for both Leading and Supporting Actor Oscars for Going My Way?
Tailkinker
31st Jan 2008
General questions
28th Jan 2008
General questions
I read that Cinderella was made into a movie 58 times. Does anyone know if this is a record? Or has something else been made more times?
Answer: The main problem with things along these lines are what actually counts. The Internet Movie Database listed 41 films and TV productions directly called "Cinderella", but there are many other productions that are based, to varying degrees, on the storyline, so it becomes rather questionable as to where you draw the line as what can be considered "Cinderella" and what's just too far away from the original storyline to be considered as a proper version of the tale. The most likely rival to the top slot, and it certainly cannot be disputed that Cinderella must be a good candidate for the position, would be Dracula, who has appeared in something like 200 films over the years. As with Cinderella, how many of those can be considered legitimate adaptations of the original story would be a matter of some debate.
25th Jan 2008
General questions
Being an Australian, I'm unsure about American phone numbers. In American movies/TV shows, I always notice that people's phone numbers are '555' followed by four digits, but if every American's phone number was that, then it would only allow for 10 000 phone numbers. Please fill me in.
Chosen answer: The main reason for this is that a range of numbers within the American '555' area code have been intentionally left unassigned for fictional use, with the aim of avoiding the inadvertant use of a real phone number; there have been cases of members of the public receiving numerous calls when film or TV companies have not used a 555-prefix. Other countries have similar setups - for example, Ofcom, the regulating body of the phone network in the UK has set aside a large number of numbers within various area codes specifically for use in fiction. You may well find that a similar policy exists in Australia as well.
17th Jan 2008
General questions
Im trying to figure out the title to a movie I saw in the late 90's. A woman is sent on a mission in space and she is only person going. She gets sucked into a worm hole and ends up at a planet with a beach-like setting and she sees a ghost of her father as an alien form. Can anyone help me out? I would greatly appreciate it.
Answer: This would be the 1997 film Contact, starring Jodie Foster.
2nd Oct 2007
General questions
Why are individual years of a TV show referred to as a series on the site? Is it a European expression? The reason I'm asking is because in America series refers to the whole show (the series Lost, the series finale) and each individual year is called a season (Season 1, the season finale). If it is a European expression, what is the entire run of the show called?
Chosen answer: That's the English expression, yes. We use "series" to refer to both the overall run of the show and, with the appropriate number or year added, to what the US would refer to as a "season". As complete conjecture, it may have come about because in the UK we don't really have a TV "season" as such - while some shows start in September, our shows are shorter, and as such start and stop randomly throughout the year, meaning the word "season" wouldn't really be appropriate.
24th Aug 2007
General questions
Say a movie is based on a book. If the book has a mistake in it, and the movie copies it, does it count as a movie mistake since the filmmakers were just using the idea from a book?
Chosen answer: Yes. A mistake is a mistake regardless of the reason. It could, under those circumstances, possibly be considered under the "Deliberate Mistake" category, but it still counts as an error.
28th Mar 2007
General questions
Aside from Family Guy, has there been any TV show that has ever been cancelled than brought back? Either by popular demand or any other reason.
Chosen answer: Sliders was cancelled after its first season, then, after much protest from the show's fandom, was brought back and ran another four seasons.
18th Mar 2007
General questions
I remember a magic show that was set in a warehouse hosted by a man in a mask. After each trick he'd show how he did it, one of his tricks included him getting into a wooden box and it was blown up by an explosive. Does anyone know the name of this show?
Answer: This was called "Breaking the Magicians' Code", with the subtitle of "Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed". It was hosted by Mitch Pileggi from The X-Files, with an initially unknown character known simply as "The Masked Magician" doing the tricks and revealing the secrets behind them. The show created a great deal of controversy among the magical fraternity for revealing many long-guarded trade secrets. At the end of the final show, the Masked Magician was revealed as a magician named Val Valentino, who was immediately blacklisted by every magic organisation in America, leading to the effective destruction of his career in the US.
11th Mar 2007
General questions
I was wondering if anyone could give me a Scarlett Johannson fan mail address (Snail mail, please)? Thanks for any help.
Answer: Scarlett is represented by the William Morris Agency, who can be written to at the address One William Morris Place, Beverly Hills, CA 90212, USA. This is probably the best avenue for sending fan mail.
11th Mar 2007
General questions
I saw a movie in the mid to late 70's(i think). It was a psycho - thriller of a guy in a coma. I believe the title of the movie was Patrick, but i'm not sure. Can you verify my attempt of long term memory?
Answer: Yep, looks like your memory's on form. 1978 film of that title deals with a comatose patient, the titular Patrick, using telekinetic abilities to harrass and kill those around him in order to claim an attractive nurse as his own.
11th Mar 2007
General questions
Me and my mum have been racking our brains to remember the title of a film we saw a few years back. We think it starred Ben Affleck. A guy who has a family has been away and is travelling back to them, I think his plane becomes delayed or something and 'Ben Affleck' gives his plane ticket to him so he can get home sooner. But the plane crashes, and the man dies. So 'Ben Affleck' finds himself feeling guilty for what happened to the guy and he becomes involved in the dead guys life. And plans to tell the wife of the guy what happened but ends up falling in love with the wife. Does anyone recognise this brief plot?
Answer: This is the 2000 film Bounce, starring Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow.
11th Mar 2007
General questions
In the answer to another question, someone (with screen name Tailkinker) wrote, "filmmakers aren't going to inflict actual harm on human beings during the making of their films (intentionally, anyway - James Cameron notwithstanding)". What's this about? I know who James Cameron is, but is he renowned for injuring his actors or something? Thanks.
Answer: Cool, a question about an answer to another question. Like it. While intended humorously, Cameron has achieved a degree of notoriety for putting his actors through hell in the course of making a film. This is principally due to making "The Abyss" (also known on-set by various nicknames, including "The Abuse" or "Son of A Byss"), where actors and crew alike were expected to spend a considerable period of time underwater, to the extent that they sometimes needed to decompress at the end of the day's shoot. Ever since, Cameron has had a reputation as being a hard taskmaster while making films.
11th Mar 2007
General questions
Is there some kind of horror film where a baby crawls along a ceiling and its head turns all the way around? It seems to have been parodied by Family Guy and The Simpsons. What is the film called?
Answer: The baby crawling on the ceiling is a reference to Renton's hallucinations while going cold-turkey in Trainspotting.
5th Jan 2006
General questions
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".
7th Nov 2005
General questions
Just before Christmas in 2004, on one of the British terrestrial channels was a programme about dragons. I think it was called 'Flight of the Dragons', but it wasn't the animation. It was about 2 hours long, and wasn't a movie. It was written as a spoof documentary about the discovery of a dragon's skeleton, and about dragons' evolution and lifestyle. It was really interesting, and had amazing computer-generated graphics, and I would like to know if anyone else has seen it, and whether it has (or will) come out on DVD.
Answer: Yes, I saw it; very good show, I enjoyed it immensely. It was called "The Last Dragon" in the UK - it was shown in the US under the title "Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real". It has been released on DVD in both countries under the appropriate title.
15th Mar 2005
General questions
I've always wondered this, but in the credits of a movie they have the director of photography's name with A.S.C. next to it. And I'm not sure but I think the editor has A.C.E. next to it. What do these mean?
Answer: The A.S.C. is the American Society of Cinematographers. A.C.E. stands for American Cinema Editors. Both of these are organisations dealing with the respective professions - education, quality and so on.
17th Jan 2005
General questions
Why is it so significant that a film in the ending credits mention that animals were neither harmed or killed during production?
Chosen answer: Because people tend to care about that sort of thing. While it can be safely assumed that filmmakers aren't going to inflict actual harm on human beings during the making of their films (intentionally, anyway - James Cameron notwithstanding), it's something more of an open question as to whether the same hesitation would apply in the case of an animal. As such, the relevant organisations tend to monitor the film production process for evidence of such cruelty - the notice at the end of the film simply certifies that those organisations are satisfied that nothing along those lines occurred. As such, any animal-lovers who might be watching the film won't feel the need to phone up and complain.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Chosen answer: The initial nominations process involves each member of the Academy nominating those within their own field for the various awards appropriate to what they do. From these, the shortlists are drawn up for the second round of voting. In the case of Barry Fitzgerald, opinion was apparently divided as to whether his role qualifies as a lead role or a supporting role. Ultimately, he received a sufficiently high number of nominations from his fellow actors and actresses that he ended up on the shortlist for both categories. Since then, the rules have been changed to prevent it from happening again.
Tailkinker ★