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Q&A With the Movie Mom

Posted on December 19, 2010 at 8:00 am

Thanks for the great questions!#1 late 80’s early 90’s. Takes place in CA during WWII. Japanese submarine sailor gets washed on shore and gets cared for by a little boy.#2 late 80’s early 90’s. Little boy has a few ghost friends. I remember something to do with a bus. Also they sing Frankie Valli’s “Walk Like a Man” with the boy.Answer: The first is I’ll Remember April and the second is Heart and Souls with Robert Downey, Jr.My son checked out a movie at a local library about 6 months ago. It was about 3 dads helping their sons build the ultimate pine car derby from a block of pine wood. It becomes an all out competition between the dads and very funny entertaining because I did the same thing with my son. Can’t recall the name of the movie. I would like to purchase it.Answer: Our son raced in the Pinewood Derby, too! The movie is Down and Derby from 2005.Hi Nell, I’m trying to find the name of an 80s or 90s film i watched it when i was like 8 in the movie I think it was set in the future and I remember there being like a game show or something like that that people could watch and they would send a person down this chute (I think the people got this as punishment for crimes) and they would get out at the end of the chute in some sort of maze with levels wear they would have to work there way through with out being killed by other people and things I always thought it was something like blade slider that they called this death game in the movie but not to sure?? thanks for any help, bradAnswer: Sounds like The Running Man with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Years ago on TV I watched an old movie with the setting in the ’20s or ’30s. I don’t recall any of the actors or the title, but the opening scene was in a large city around Christmas time with an old open air limousine giving tours of the residential Christmas lights. One of these residence was owned by a wealthy man that went vacationing every December, and left his home empty. A hobo was aware of this practice, and found a way to gain entry to this house, and lived there while the family was on vacation. The hobo would wear the owners clothes and give away items from the house to the poor people of the community. A grown daughter of the owner came home early and found out what the hobo was doing, and was so moved by his kindness that she talked her father into starting that practice as a family tradition…or at least as I remember it…. Would you be able to identify that movie, or where I might find out more about it?Answer: That’s “It Happened on 5th Avenue” with Victor Moore, Don DeFore, and Gale Storm. Hello, I’ve always wanted to find the name of a movie I watched when I was a girl-late 60’s-early 70’s about a young boy who’s parents died. He goes to live with his uncle who has a shark in an indoor pool. The uncle is trying to kill the boy for his inheritance and the boy and a little girl who he befriends try to kill the uncle first with poisoned mushrooms. Any ideas on this movie’s name? Thank you!Answer: Believe it or not, it is called “Let’s Kill Uncle” (sometimes known as “Let’s Kill Uncle Before Uncle Kills Us”). Thanks for writing!I want to find the title of this one movie in which a career minded single woman finds herself married with children upon waking up after an accident. Please help, thanks.Answer: That is Me Myself I with Rachel Griffiths. Enjoy!I would like to know how to find a movie about a high school wrestling team. It is a comedy about a group of misfits who practice in the boiler room and their coach knows nothing about the sport. I would guess it was released in the early 80’s. I think the name of it is “Take Down.” Any ideas? Thanks!Answer: It is called “Take Down,” and stars Edward Hermann and Lorenzo Lamas. It’s not available on DVD but VHS copies show up on EBay. I am looking for a family Christmas movie I saw many years ago. It’s about a young boy with not long to live. His parents tell him he can have anything he wants for Christmas. He asks for a wolf so his family breaks into a zoo and takes two wolf cubs and they become very close to the dying boy. Answer: That movie is “The Christmas Tree” with William Holden. Looking for the title of this movie (saw it years ago, so will be as accurate as I can):*1920s or early 1930s*Black and White*About an elderly couple that is split up to go with their adult children because they can’t take care of each other any more – wife to son / husband to daughter (I think)…on different coasts…or at least miles apart*Adult kids end up being selfish, terrible people*Somehow the elderly couple escape their kids and meet up in New York and have one last dinner and dance at the Rainbow Room where they celebrated their wedding as well.*Last scene they are saying good bye at the train (kids have found them), never to see each other again*Total heart breaker…really good…I think it was a promoted as a “Christmas Movie”Really hoping you can help with this one.Answer: That lovely movie is Make Way for Tomorrow. Thanks for asking!Hi, I’m trying to find an old movie about a girl, maybe 10-12 yrs. old, whose parents find out she has, I believe, 7 days or 7 weeks to live. I think her dream was to become a ballet dancer so her parents take her to the NYC Ballet. If I remember correctly the girl has long red hair, or I may be making that up. There’s a scene where they take a train ride after the ballet, later the girl dies. I hope you can help. Thank you in advance.Answer: I believe you are thinking of “Six Weeks” with Mary Tyler Moore as the mother of a young girl who is dying — and who goes to the ballet and appears in the Nutcracker. I am trying to remember a name of a movie that I watched as a kid…I can remember the whole movie but not the name. It was based on a true story in the 50’s I believe. It was about a young girl that ran away from home because she was abused by her father. She saw an ad where they were looking for a girl to jump horses in a carnival. The horse would run up a ramp and she would have to jump on its back and them the horse would jump into a pool of water. The horse got spooked on one of the jumps and she hit the water with her eyes open leaving her blind.That should jog a memory if you have seen it.Answer: Yes! That’s Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken with Gabrielle Anwar. It is based on the true story of Sonora Webster Carver. Please help. I’ve been searching for this movie for 30 years. 1940ish film noir. It’s about a woman who kills her lover and his wife while they are sleeping. They have a child about 6 that witnesses the murder. The child has an Indian Chief doll that she calls “Cupid” and she tells the cops that “Cupid” killed her parents. The woman spends the remainder of the movie trying to kill the child. At the end, the woman has on a hat with a long feather that casts a shadow against the wall, the little girls screams “Cupid” as the shadow looks like her Indian doll, and the woman is caught. Excellent movie. Help me!Answer: That thriller is, appropriately enough, called “Shadow on the Wall.” It stars Ann Southern and Zachary Scott, with Gigi Perreau as the little girl. Enjoy!Looking for title of film I saw in 2000, no known actors, about a couple driving through the US desert. They get lost and end up in a town inhabited by dead wild west heroes and villains. Think they have to do a good deed to get to heaven. Good film, need to know the title. Cheers, JohnAnswer: I believe you are thinking of a 1999 made-for-television movie called “Purgatory,” with Sam Shepard, Eric Roberts, and Randy Quaid as Wild West characters who have to redeem themselves to get to heaven. Hope that’s it!I saw it when I was about 7 years old (22 now) If I recall correctly it was an 80’s British fantasy film, but it may have been late 70’s early 90’s. Live action. I believe it began in what was then, modern day England. There was a small boy who was unhappy with his home life. He lived with relatives or something. one night while walking about he stumbles upon an old corked wine bottle and opens it up. Out of the bottle comes a gigantic white head with a long beard that speaks to the boy about how his father is a king of some kind in another land. The boy grabs the floating heads beard and is whisked away to this enchanted land where he meets his father and another boy of his age. Then something bad happens… I recall the boys decked out in armor, hiding in a hole or something. That’s it. If you can help me you will have answered a question that has been beating me senseless for the last 15 years. What is the name of that film?Answer: That’s “The Land of Faraway.” It is sometimes called “Mio in the Land of Faraway.” Enjoy!I am trying to locate the name of a movie from the late 70’s or early 80’s. This movie took place (at least in part) in Venice, Italy. I remember a young couple who needed to ride the Gondolas as the bells were ringing and they needed to kiss while going under a certain bridge whilst a certain bell was ringing in order to establish true love or everlasting love or some such. No idea of actors or title or plot or anything. Only Venice, gondolas, bells and a kiss. I would be so happy if you could figure this out for me.Answer: That sweet movie is “A Little Romance” with Diane Lane. Enjoy!Hi Nell, I’m sorry to bother you but I’m trying to find the name and the movie itself if possible, it’s a Snow White and Seven Dwarf’s movie, but its not the cartoon, in this one its an older film and Snow White is taken in by the Dwarfs while young and raised by them, and the first time the Queen visits her, she sews her into a shirt so tight it smothers her until the dwarfs get home and cut her out of it, I’ve looked everywhere and all I ever get is the Disney movie, which disappoints me as I know there has to be other such movies even beside the one I’m hunting for, makes it very hard to locate. If you could help, I’d really appreciate it. Thank you, BonnieAnswer: Not a bother! I enjoy movie questions. You are thinking of a 1987 film starring Diana Rigg.Please help me with the title of this movie. The movies is about a single parent (mother) whose child (boy)is very gifted with an extremely high I.Q.. A psychiatrist (female) at a local university discovers that the child is very intelligent and she attempts to have the child taken away from the mother as she feels the child deserves a better home.Answer: That movie is “Little Man Tate,” starring and directed by Jodie Foster.I am trying to find an old American movie, probably from the 1960’s or 1950’s about a kid who lives in an isolated cabin in a forest with his parents, and his friendship with adeer’s cub. His brothers and sisters all died at childhood and his mother detached herself from her living child. In the end of the movie the father shoots the deer. Black and white movie.Answer: That lovely classic film is “The Yearling,” based on the beloved book by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. It stars Jane Wyman and Gregory Peck and won an Oscar for cinematography.I hope that you can help me with this movie I am trying to find. The movie is a 1930’s 1940’s black and white film, it is about a man who is hired to impersonate a missing family member who is quite eccentric named Skylar to save the family inheritance.Answer: I love that movie! It’s “Miss Tatlock’s Millions” with John Lund. I am trying to recall a movie that came out in the late 50s or early 60s about a man who feared being buried alive. It was kind of hokey and I think it had Vincent Price in it.What can you tell me about it? Can you remind me how it ends?Answer: Vincent Price appeared in “The Oblong Box,” where characters are buried alive, but I think you are remembering “Premature Burial” with Ray Milland. Both are directed by Roger Corman. I hope that’s it!I’m trying to figure out a movie I saw a long time ago. All I can remember is it was in a different century, like the 1800s or something, and this young girl was in love withlike her music instructor or something and they passed letter to each other. Her father finds out and fires him. Then I think he goes out one night and the maids or whatevertake her to see the guy. Maybe they get caught, I don’t remember. I know this isn’t much to tell, but I hope you can help me out cause it’s driving me crazy!!Answer: That sounds like “Valmont” with Fairuza Balk and Henry Thomas. I hope that’s it! If not, try ‘”Dangerous Liaisons,” based on the same book, which has a similar scene.I am trying to find the name of a movie with a yellow lab and a little boy that get stuck in a storm and stranded with just their boat as shelter? The boy wears a red jacket I believe.Answer: I believe you are thinking of “Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog,” starring Jesse Bradford. Excellent movie.I am looking for a film that is kind of older and the man starring in it has a half scared face i believe from burns when he was younger, he lives in a big house alone and plays a piano. The towns people think he is evil or bad or something already but when a little girl continues to come to his house for piano lessons i believe, one day she injures herself and he saves her and surprisingly takes her to the town himself to save her and the towns people think and believe he is the one that hurt her on purpose and i believe the kill him but i am not for sure but i was wondering if you could help me remember the name of this movieAnswer: That sounds like Rigoletto: A Musical Fantasy Ringing of Truth and Filled With Mystery and Love, a 1993 video that was part of the excellent Feature Films for Families series.

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Movie Mom Q & A

Posted on August 16, 2010 at 3:52 pm

Thanks for the great questions!An American romantic film in which a female high school principal falls for a Mexican handyman working at the school. In a whirlwind romance she goes to Mexico with him where(I think) she gets married on impulse. Back at the school she goes through a period of self doubt but, in the end, true love prevails. Any clues?? Many thanks for your help. That is “Crazy from the Heart” with Reuben Blades and Christine Lahti.I am trying to find the name of an old black&white comedy movie that has a genie in it i can’t remember a lot about it. I think the movie started off with 3 or 4 men trying to start a small band playing music in the streets for money. They eventually enlisted in to the military services to get some money, there was a genie lamp that was thrown out in the rubbish that one of the men owned and was eventually melted down and was turned into a button which was stiched on to a military uniform. That’s “Alf’s Button.” There’s also a sequel, “Alf’s Button Afloat.” There was a family movie from the early 80’s where the daughter had some medical condition (heart or lungs??) so the family, consisting of the parents and the 2 children (boy and girl) moved into the wilderness mountains and encountered and battled wilderness hazards like raccoons and bears. It was a great movie I would love to watch with my niece. My friend and fellow critic Dustin Putman reminds me that is “The Adventures of the Wilderness Family.” I believe it was a 1980’s movie. A couple that lives under high tension wires has new neighbors move in. The new neighbors are “swingers”. This is a COMEDY movie. The “straight” neighbor ends up putting the “swingers” airplane (or fancy car) in the swamp. I am thinking it may have been one of the Saturday Night Live people that starred in the movie. Just can’t remember any of the stars at all. Been driving us crazy for 3 days! You have a good memory! That’s “Neighbors” with Dan Ackroyd.I don’t have much info at all. so this will be tricky. I remember seeing it somewhere in the late 70’s early 80’s maybe and I thought the name of the movie had the word NOVEMBER in it. It was a love story. It was on the late, late movie. I know this is a tough one. I am pretty sure you are thinking of the bittersweet Sandy Dennis love story called “Sweet November” (remade with Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron), about a woman who takes a lover for just one month and then moves on to another one the following month. Looking for the name of an old movie, maybe even a black and white. Starred a famous man and women about some sort of love affair, maybe forbidden, but in the end he comes to her and she is on the couch, hiding the fact that she can no longer walk. That’s a classic! “An Affair to Remember” with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr. There are also earlier and later versions (“Love Affair” with Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, and “Love Affair” again with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening), but the one with Cary Grant is the best known.Help! I saw a movie (not “Forever Young”) but it was about two brothers running from the police, sometime in the 40’s or 50’s, one guy had kidney disease, they were frozen and defrosted some 40 years later. one of the guys was getting married and he looks up his wife. it is so much like “Forever Young” but it is not. I cant remember any of the actors. Any clue? I love that movie! It’s “Late for Dinner” with Peter Berg and Marcia Gay Harden. They are actually brothers-in-law. Enjoy!No idea of who was in it. I think it was an 80’s B SciFi movie. The “scientists” developed a computer/recorder that could “tape” thoughts. The key to identify it was that one of the characters made a loop of the tape to experience repeated sexual experiences and died. That is “Brainstorm” with Natalie Wood (her last film) and Christopher Walken.The film is based in the US is in black and white. It is in the 1930’s and a group of men have a still to make illegal whisky. There is a raid by agents and an agent gets killed by one of the group. I am not sure but I think the lead was James Stewart. He is arrested, sent to prison and more or less spends the rest of his life there but during his later years he comes up with a new design for a light-weight rifle. The rifle gets produced, he eventually gets out of prison and they all live happily ever after. Corny but a good film and I can’t remember the name of it. You have a good memory! That movie is “Carbine Williams” with Jimmy Stewart, based on a true story.I saw this movie and only remember bits and pieces and I am trying to find the title. I can’t remember any big star names. The male lead might be the most famous. I’d guess it was made 2000-2005, or maybe a few years on either side.The best part of the movie was the main male character hitting on some attractive blonde (who I have never seen elsewhere – maybe an Australian actress) on an airplane near the beginning of the movie. The blonde replies something to the effect that “I am out of your league. I am so far out of your league that when someone in your league turns on a light bulb, my league doesn’t see it for 3 days.” Something like that. Of course, they two get together by the end of the movie.The movie is like a cross between Indiana Jones, American Treasure and League of Extraordinary Gentleman. The male lead is some kind of expert in arcane something. He has been chosen by some secret society to help find something and somehow save the world from the evil doers before they find it. The blonde is there to protect him, although he doesn’t know it at the start. You are thinking of “The Librarian: Quest for the Spear.” She says, “I am out of your league, I’m so out of your league, that if your league exploded, I wouldn’t hear about it for three days. So let us go on in a companionable silence shall we?”What is the name of the movie with a teenage girl that sees a white owl all of the time, and then her baby sibling gets taken and she has to go to this foreign land to get him back, and there are clocks everywhere like she’s running out of time? That is “Labyrinth” (1986) with Jennifer Connelly. Great film!What’s the name of that movie, that was made in the 80’s where this little boy mixed up peanut butter and cobwebs and put it in his hair and the next day his hair was really long? That’s “The Peanut Butter Solution,” made in 1985.Old b/w movie about a pair of candle sticks and the saying “life is to give and not to take.” “Les Miserables”A guy comes out of his house and starts to sing about being in love and the whole time he is singing he is jumping up and down like a rabbit all over town. He never stops jumping, even meeting people in the town, shaking their hand and still singing about being in love. Jumping non-stop for over 3 minutes. It has always stuck with me. But I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the movie. The actor may be Donald O’Connor, but I’m not sure. Please help. That’s Bobby Van in the unforgettable “Take Me to Broadway” number from “Small Town Girl.” Enjoy!I saw this movie several years ago on either HBO, Showtime, etc. It was about a single mother who was overly obsessed with her teenage son but she ends up sneaking around with her neighbor who was a little person. I think it has “neighbor” somewhere in the title. Thanks for any help you can give. That is one of the stories in “Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her” with Kathy Baker. Great film.I watched a Japanese animation movie 10 years ago. I’m trying to find it now, unfortunately I can’t remember the title. It was a children’s movie (for maybe a 5 to 10 year old?). If I remember correctly, there was no speech. The soundtrack consisted of only classical music. The main character was a boy who played a flute and lived in a sort of magical world. It reminds me of “Fantasia.” If you could help me find it, I would be very grateful! My fellow critic and friend Mark Jenkins says he thinks you are remembering a Chinese film called “The Cowboy’s Flute.” I am trying to find the name of a movie where a father takes his family from their home to the Amazon to start a new life. He creates a incredible home, garden and ice machine which gets destroyed by natives. That’s “The Mosquito Coast” with Harrison Ford.What was the name of the movie starring Kirk Douglas that involved a trapped miner named “Leo?” That is “Ace in the Hole” (sometimes known as “The Big Carnival”). Terrific film directed by Billy Wilder.

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Movie Mom Q&A

Posted on June 5, 2010 at 8:00 am

Thanks to everyone for these great questions!I am trying to remember the name of this movie but for the life of me I can’t. The basics are the boy was kidnapped on the way to school and at first they blamed the handyman because they found bloody underwear in his tool box but it wasn’t him. The cop would never give up and I believe it was a couple years later and he found him. I can see the last couple minutes of the movie. He is driving home with him and there ends up being a huge police escort and the mom is on the way home from the store and there is a crowd in front of her apartment building, when she realizes what is going on she drops her groceries and starts to run.I love that movie. “Without a Trace” with Kate Nelligan and Judd Hirsch.I once saw a trailer for a film a few years ago, I’m not sure how many years ago exactly, possibly 5, but I could be wrong. After seeing the trailer I remember that the film looked interesting and that I wanted to see it. It must have flown under my radar when it was released however, and by then I had forgotten what it was called. Here is what I remember from the trailer:The story was about a guy who rents an apartment, one above an old store-front I think. After moving in, he discovers that the building is haunted by the ghost of the girl who used to live there. At first the ghost girl tries to haunt him and scare him out of the apartment, but when the two get to know each other, romance develops between them. Together they try to solve the mystery of how she was murdered. I believe the film was a romantic comedy with a light-hearted take on the afterlife. That’s all I can remember, I know it’s not much to go on, and I can’t even guarantee that any of what I’ve said is correct.Perhaps I am going crazy and have imagined this entire film, if so, someone should pitch it to a studio in better words than I can put together. I think it would be a really interesting film. Kind of like a light-hearted version of Patrick Swayze’s Ghost only with a romance between the ghost and the psychic instead.I hope you can help me, thank you very much regardless!You’re not crazy! It’s “Just Like Heaven” with Reese Witherspoon. Hiya, I’ve seen a Russian movie on an Ethihad flight this January. It was about the – fictive – Russian soccer national team and was pretty funny, though it had a quite absurd humor. Main characters were the team’s coach and his personal assistant. The coach’s cleaning woman locks herself in one scene up in his office and whilst she was “freed”, a locker almost stroke the coach’s assistant to death. There was also a very superstitious team assistant who always spit in the best player’s shoes. The film seemed quite modern, probably 2000 and onwards. I’d be so glad if you could help me to identify this movie! Thanks, ChristopherHi, Chris! That movie is “Igra” (“The Game”) by Aleksandr Rogozhkin (2008)I only saw part one of this two part made for TV movie but the story so far is. Set in early 20th century in Arab desert. English woman/girl rides into desert gets taken by desert people who sell her to kings harem. In the mean time English soldier with desert blood goes looking for her and finds she is in kings harem and only way to get in is to become a Enoch. He gets a fake job done and enters into the kings harem. Meanwhile she is picked out by king for a night and she is made ready by the other ladies all decked out in jewels and outfits and makeup etc but the last shot is of her being carried in a chair up high in a demure nightie and hair down and looking all virginal. As the shot pans by her you see him in the guard of honor? as a Enoch. so ends part one. hope you can help as I would love to find the movie and see the second part. Thanks.I believe you are thinking of a 1986 two-part miniseries called “Harem.” It stars Nancy Travis. I hope that is it!The plot: Mother struggling to support young daughter; over the years the mother becomes very successful in the restaurant business; enter a sleazy love interest who also is romantically involved with the grown, selfish daughter. I know it is NOT “Imitation of Life.” Any thoughts?That’s “Mildred Pierce” with Joan Crawford’s Oscar-winning performance. The movie is about time travelers who travel back in time to witness disasters. They are found out by a man and his daughter who attempt to stop the disaster from happening, or at least limit the number of people who die in the disaster. Don’t remember who was in it. Thanks.That is “Grand Tour: Disaster in Time” with Jeff Daniels.Can you please tell me the name of the Rom-Com….I just remember its plot…there was a doctor (I think dentist) who is supposed to have some lucky charm…so every girl with whom he sleeps gets the man of her life…he also had a friend who was a plastic surgeon…I have seen that movie but today when i was telling my friend about it i was am not able to recall it…Thanks.That movie is “Good Luck Chuck” with Dane Cook and Jessica Alba.OK so there’s this movie i believe its from the 80’s. It’s about a young couple who get stranded on an island and I think that there were Indians on that island but can’t remember. Years go by and they never get rescued and they have a child. Time flies by again and the boy (I think it was a boy) is about 4 yrs old and eats some kind of poisonous type of fruit and dies on their small boat they were building to leave the island. In the end they both (parents) eat the fruits too and they all die. I thought it was called “Blue Moon” but can’t seem to find it. Please help.That is “The Blue Lagoon” with Brooke Shields.I’m trying to find out the movie title where popular detectives are being killed off. Kojak (Telly Savalas) is killed with a poison lollipop. McCloud and his horse are covered in cement. Columbo (Peter Falk) is in it too. Thanks.I believe you are thinking of “Murder Can Hurt You,” a parody of all of the television detectives of the 1970’s. I am looking for a movie that came on tv years ago. the movies was about some scientists shrunk themselves and then took a journey inside the human body. I hope that you can find it what is the title and what year.That movie is “Fantastic Voyage” (1966).This was a movie about 4 children who lose their mother and they try to hide it from the system hoping to keep their family together. The oldest daughter has an attraction to a well-to-do bachelor. He eventually gets sick and the 2nd daughter treats him with natural medicine by putting him in the bath-tub and smothering him with steaming onions. Then the older daughter marries this bachelor who is way older then her. I saw this movie in the late 60’s I believe.That is “Where the Lilies Bloom,” based on the classic YA novel.About a year ago, movie, on TV. A guy had a couple million dollars in a European bank. Another man, a look-alike, plotted to go to the bank in person and have the money transferred to his account. To get the information he needed to be a credible impostor, he hired a beautiful woman to hustle man one and find out as much personal ID information as she could.They fell in love, yet she followed through begrudgingly. Man one, deeply in love, was demolished at finding of her involvement, and they separated sadly. Of her own love for him, she ended up killing the impostor she was hired for. In the final scene, a most-moving scene, they met in an open city square and tenuously approached, and were reunited.I believe you are thinking of “Deception” with Hugh Jackman and Ewan MacGregor.I’m trying to get the name of an old black and white movie of Barbara Stanwyck. I thought it was called ” A Man of Her Own” Anyway she is a young woman, pregnant , unmarried, on a train. She goes into the bathroom and meets another young pregnant woman who is married and also pregnant, who is traveling to meet her in-laws for the first time. This woman takes off her ring to wash her hands. Barbara asks if she can try it on.There is a train wreck. A lot of people are killed. Barbara wakes up in an mansion,of the married woman’s husband’s family and they mistake her for their new daughter-in-law.She tries to tell them the truth…I hope you can help me find this good old movie. Thanks, CherylYou almost had it right! It’s “No Man of Her Own.” I love that movie. But avoid the awful remake called “Mrs. Winterbourne” with Shirley MacLaine and Rikki Lake!What is the name of the movie about a young boy whose father is in the Navy. He and his mother move, I think to New Mexico. Boy meets tom boy girl. Getting to know each other they dare to touch a dead bloated cow. Girl goes first runs up and touches the cow and runs back. Boy runs up and trips and runs head first into the stomach of this bloated cow. Would appreciate any help. Thank you.That’s “Red Sky at Morning” with Richard Thomas — great movie and great book.My sister told me about a film set in France – she thinks it only has one name. It is about a cleaning lady who paints beautiful pictures at home. Her employer unexpectedly visits her and sees the paintings and is surprised when she tells him she is the artist.That is “Seraphine.” It is based on a true story.Two men kidnap a little girl and then they come to care for her. There is a song in the movie, “When Sarah Smiles.”The movie is “Savannah Smiles” and the song is “When Savannah Smiles.” I remember watching a movie with my dad when i was younger. It was an old comedy about a sportswriter that wrote a book about fishing and camping etc. He did not really know how to do any of these things and when he was forced to go on a trip with a girl..he had to read his own book to try and learn how to fish etc. I remember him trying to cast the line at “10” and release at “2.” What is the name of this movie?I love that movie! “Man’s Favorite Sport?” with Rock Hudson and Paula Prentiss. Hi, I’m looking for a movie. I don’t remember the name but it was about a school with arrogant and disrespectful students like they discriminate others.The black side and the white side.Then there come a teacher who wants to help them but she lost her husband because of that but help these students. I don’t remember the name but I think it was a true story called written or it had something about written in it. Please help me, thanks.That is “Freedom Writers” with Hillary Swank.When I was a kid, I saw a movie about a teenage white boy and a teenage black girl who were both going to expensive private schools. I believe he went to an all boys school and she went to an all girls school but the schools were close together. She was from another country which was having a lot of political problems at the time and her father was like the president, I think. They sent her to Australia for education and safety. Anyway, the two fell in love and lost their virginity to each other. They were both kind of outcasts from their peers. It ended with her having to go back to her country where it showed a mob of irate people attacking the car she was in. The boy, who had been sending her letters, never heard from her again. The movie was made in the 80’s but set in or around the 50’s. Do you know the name of it? Thank you for your time.That is Flirting, a great film, with Thandie Newton, Noah Taylor, and an early appearance by Nicole Kidman as the girl’s schoolmate.

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Movie Mom Q&A

Posted on March 31, 2010 at 8:00 am

Q: Movie begins in black and white in a small, conservative town with an “Ozzie & Harriet”-type family and a drug store/soda fountain owner who receives a beautiful book about contemporary painting which begins to show color. He begins to paint and grows to love it. The town is incensed by his contemporary work except for the “Harriett” wife who is drawn to it. He paints her in the nude and they fall in love. Little by little, as people become aware of beauty (beginning with high school kids) things turn into color. Everything turns out beautifully in the end.
Answer: That movie is “Pleasantville” with Reese Witherspoon and Tobey Maguire. Enjoy!
Q: I saw a movie about some boys who went up into an alien ship where there was a male and female alien that knew everything about earth based on TV shows. I remember the aliens were ugly with long skinny mouths with lips on the end. They quoted TV shows and the male sang a song that sounded like a Little Richard song, “All around the world, rock n roll is what they play”. In the end, apparently they were kids taking the family spaceship for a joy ride when big daddy alien showed up. I think it was an 80’s flick.
Answer: That’s “Explorers” with Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix.
Q: The main characters’ wife and child were killed in the beginning and he was injured and the assailants were looking for him. He ended up in an apartment building where he stayed while recovering. He bought and old car and armor plated it his self. He got to know three neighbors in the apartment building, a pretty girl; a young man who had several body piercings (I think he was gay); and a heavy set young man who I think sang opera. The three of them were quite close and tried to get to know him. When they invited him over for spaghetti dinner and a killer (I believe he was Russian) his assailants hired showed up. He burned the man with the spaghetti water. Later more showed up and they tortured the young man with the piercings by ripping them through his flesh to find out were the man they were hunting was. What is the name of this movie and who played the main character?
Answer: That’s “The Punisher” with Thomas Jane.
Q: I am looking for the name of a movie, recent in the last couple of years about, I think, a journalist or maybe a photographer that is kidnapped while covering a war or something and his wife goes to try and rescue him. I think I would recognize the actors especially the wife but for the life of me I do not know the name of the movie. I remember seeing the previews and thinking that I would like to see but never did and now I have no idea what the name of the movie is or who starred in it. Can you help me based on such little information? Thank you.
Answer: That is “Harrison’s Flowers” with Andie McDowell. Thanks for writing!
Q: I watched a movie earlier this week and it was a Farrah Fawcett movie about a German woman who married a Jew in the late 60’s. Her Jewish husband told her that there are Nazis that are in politics and were criminal that were not punished for their crimes. This woman (played by Farrah Fawcett) exposes these men fearlessly and traveled to Brazil to do it.
Answer: That is “Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story.”
Q: I’m trying to find the name of a movie from the 80’s about a young man in NYC who has a long bizarre weekend with all kinds of awful things happening to him. I recall he was chased by a mob at one point. On Monday morning he is back in his “real” world leaving him and the audience exhausted. I want to say the title had the word “time” in it too. Can you help? Thanks!
Answer: You are thinking of “After Hours” with Griffin Dunne.
Q: There is a movie with scenes from “Alice in Wonderland” but it is for adults. I think the word “Dream” is in the title.
Answer: I believe you are thinking of a movie called “Dreamchild.”
Q: The movie was a suspense/horror film about a group of people (probably around 10) who are sent to a deserted town/island to work for what i think was some sort of “secret” government job. The first scene i remember is everyone walking around this town with its fake people, cars, stores, and streets. They got to this one shop, i believe it was a toy store. There seemed to be an on going thing with clocks or time. They entered the shop and someone triggered one of those traps where one thing leads to another (the ball dropping on a tiny seesaw, lunching something in the air, to hit a balloon that pops..and so forth) I think a radio went off and that started it all. Anyway, after all the popping, rolling and falling… a tub of liquid nitrogen falls on one of the girls and she basically breaks to pieces in front of the rest of the group.
The next scene I remember is they are in a building where they all stay. They were in a lunchroom setting and again with time… the clock stuck that magical number and everyone passed out. When everyone woke up…someone was dead.
The movie goes on like that until there are 2 ppl left. In the end it’s a women and a man. She figures out it’s him and they chase each other with guns and end up outside (factory/city setting) to I think holding pools for water? Anyway she shoots him while they are in the water. And that’s really all I can remember. I have been trying to find this movie for a long time! Please help me! Thanks!
Answer: That movie is “Mindhunters” with Val Kilmer.
Q: The plot is: The main character left matches, key and some other things that are not valuable. In fact, he traveled by time machine before he died. Someone was after his life so he left those things in helping him to escape from the killer.
Answer: That movie is “Paycheck” with Ben Affleck.
Q: I remember an old movie 40s – 60s, in which a little boy is confessing to a priest that he thinks he killed his best friend (a little girl). The movie unfolds in the “so tell me what happened” style and had something to do with the little boy’s perception that God was mad at them for daring to visit each other’s Church. (One was Catholic and the other was Jewish?) The movie has a happy ending as it turns out the friend is not really dead.
Answer: One of my favorites and the dearest little film. It is called “Hand in Hand” and it is a lovely British film which unfortunately has never been released on DVD or video. I hope some day it will be available.
Q: Can you help me find the name of an old movie? I’m sure it was in B&W and very, very old, maybe late 30’s – early 40’s? A lighthearted comedy drama? It was about a spinster who ran a shoe repair shop for her drunken father. She’s jealous of her younger sisters finding happiness in marriage, she doesn’t want to end up an old spinster. She ends up marrying her fathers weak-willed and shy assistant and she wears the pants. One scene has the father staggering home drunk and he falls through an open trap door on the pavement.
Answer: I love that movie! It’s the wonderful 1954 David Lean film “Hobson’s Choice” with Charles Laughton and John Mills. There is a beautiful Criterion DVD edition.

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For Your Netflix Queue Q&As

Movie Mom Q&A

Posted on December 27, 2009 at 10:00 am

Thanks for all the great questions!
Question: Several years ago there was a movie about a man who got notes from an old desk a woman wrote who owned the desk in another time period They continued to communicate this way and fell in love.
Answer: That is “The Love Letter” with Campbell Scott.
Question: Could you tell me what movie the person screaming “Stellaaaa!!!!” is from? Thanks for any help.
Answer: That is Marlon Brando in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Question: My 66-year-old dad has been talking about a movie he grew up watching! All he can remember is a mother and daughter that were too poor to buy a Christmas tree and on Christmas eve money started to fall from the ceiling. Apparently a squirrel knocked over a jar of stashed cash and they ended up having a great Christmas. He says he would love to see it again to bring back good memories. He thinks it was made in the 30’s or 40’s. could you please help me so I can give him a great gift this year.
Answer: I believe he is thinking of a movie called “A Christmas Wish” (sometimes also called “The Great Rupert”) with Jimmy Durante.
Question: My friend wants to find this movie and here’s what she remembers:
original is in black and white, musical about one woman who gets married 4 times. The first 2 husbands die (accidents) and leave her wealthy. She marries a non-rich guy – tap dancer clown. He gets famous and dies getting trampled. She goes to a psychiatrist and tells him her story, then ends up marrying him and having kids. There is one final death scare with this guy but he doesn’t die and they all lived happily ever after. What do you think – any ideas? She doesn’t remember any of the actor’s names although she did say they were famous..thanks in advance

Answer: That hilariously entertaining film is “What a Way to Go,” with Shirley MacLaine as a woman who marries poor men who become rich — including Dick Van Dyke, Paul Newman, Gene Kelly, and Robert Mitchum. Enjoy!
Question: years ago I watched a movie, I believe it was on Lifetime. Tyne Daly was a controlling mother of sons. One of her sons married a young woman who would not be controlled. Tyne Daly had her killed. I thought the name of the movie was “The Good Mother.” However, when I look up that title – all I find the one with Diane Keaton. I definitely don’t want that one. Any idea? Thanks for your help.
Answer: The film you are thinking of is “The Perfect Mother” with Tyne Daly and Ione Skye.
Question: This movie was about a couple that was divorced or divorcing. They had a young daughter. In the first scene the father is in a toy store and buys a small toy horse for the daughter’s birthday. Near the end of the movie, the daughter nearly drowns in a lake or the ocean. They find the horse washing up on the beach.
Answer: That is “The Marrying Kind” with Judy Holliday and Aldo Ray.
Question: I am looking for a movie that I thought starred Charlton Heston, but all my research of his movies has not led me to an answer. The man (Charlton Heston??) was a major or colonel or something like that at a military school for boys. I can’t remember if he was the head of the academy or a teacher or what. He was very stern and hard-hearted as I recall, but his heart was melted by the cutest little blond headed boy. The man also had a love interest. I can’t remember who she was either, but she would get mad at him for the way he treated the boys at times. It reminds me of the modern day movie of Major Payne which is more of a comedy than the movie I’m talking about, but there are similarities. Can you name that movie for me? It’s driving me nuts. Thank you.
Answer: It is Charlton Heston! That is “The Private War of Major Benson.”
Question: This movie was about a powerful cop in the Spanish Gov’t. His wife or governess becomes a traitor and meets with the rebels in the mountains.
There is a good fairy or some other worldly power in a stump or ruin in the woods that she thinks can save her. Quite violent and not more than ten years old.

Answer: That movie is “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
Question: I think this was an animated movie about a young witch who ran away and her cat stopped talking to her and started talking to someone else. I remember when the witch flew into a train and slept there on the hay.
Answer: Sounds like “Kiki’s Delivery Service.”
Question: Hi, i remember seeing an old film when i was quite young, but can’t remember the name or the actors. All I can remember is that at the end an old man is in the attic with his grandchildren and he is telling them a story (but its about him and his wife) which is the film – in the film a young girl goes to a dance, and while she was dancing her long johns fall down around her ankles. I think her partner was either a doctor or a teacher. If anyone could help i would really appreciate it.
Answer: That darling film is “Margie” with Jeanne Crain, released in 1946.
Question: I am looking for a movie in which a mom and her daughters are staying in a department store because their house burned down. The time of the movie was around Christmas. Also, in the end, I believe they help catch a jewelry thief.
Answer: That movie is “The Greatest Store in the World” with Dervla Kirwan as Mum.
Question: can you name the film about native American Indians fighting the Japanese with the Americans. It has Nicolas Cage in it. Thanks.
Answer: That is “Windtalkers.”
Question: Can you tell me the name of this movie? There are four black guys who are like a crew. It’s the raspy-voiced actor from “Life” and “You Got Served” and in this movie he gets killed by a pimp named Twinkie who he finds out is his father.
Answer: You are thinking of “Blue Hill Avenue” and the actor is Michael Taliferro.
Question: This one has been driving me crazy for years. I remember an old animated film from my childhood (1980’s) about two toys, a father and son, whose hands are connected. I believe they start out in a toy store but end up going on an long adventure. They cannot move themselves very well. I think there was a group of evil rats which the father and son were trying to evade, and I believe there was a frog that helped them. I remember the frog tripping over the root of a tree at one point and I think he had a fascination with trinkets from the human world, perhaps a ring of some sort. And something about a train, or train tracks. I recall this cartoon being similar to the Secret of Nimh animation style and at about the same time period. Can you help? I have searched numerous animated film databases and I cannot find anything.
Answer: You may be thinking of “The Mouse and His Child.”
Question: I saw an old western when I was a kid (early 60’s) about a cowboy who had his gun hand smashed with a rifle butt. He went on to practice his quick draw with the other hand, left I believe, and became even faster and eventually track down his attackers. Any idea what the name of this movie is?
Answer: I believe you are thinking of “One-Eyed Jacks” with Marlon Brando. It was released in 1961.
Question: I remember a movie about a bunch of women in a concentration camp and they are picked to play in an orchestra. I believe they play Madame butterfly. It just went over how they were treated and their experiences in the camp. Can you please, please help me with the name of this movie?
Answer: That is “Paradise Road” with Glenn Close.
Question: I saw this movie many times in HBO when I was in US during 1998 to 1999 about a mother and her two sons. One of the son is a writer facing writer-block and so he shifts to his mother house for a couple of days. In the house he finds some good material written by her mother stored in one of the boxes. In the past he always felt that his mother loved his brother more than him and so this time he found the reason that after his birth his mom had to sacrifice here carrier of writing and that somehow resulted in her behavior towards her. It was a nice and soft movie about a mother and son.
Answer: Hi, Sanjay! That movie is “Mother” with Albert Brooks and Debbie Reynolds.
Question: I’m looking for the name of a black & white movie that I saw years ago. It’s about a man back from the war, scarred on his face and crippled I think. He moves to a house away from people and falls in love with a homely woman who works there. To each other they dont see scars the scar and he sees her as beautiful. Can you help me?
Answer: That is one of my favorites! “The Enchanted Cottage” with Robert Young and Dorothy Mcguire.

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