Movie Mom Q&A

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.

Q: Man dies, goes to heaven, has a guide who tells him he can eat anything and never gain weight etc. He falls in love, which is discouraged by his guide. I know the ending involves buses that take people to different parts of heaven and he jumps off his bus and jumps on the bus with the woman he loves.
Answer: Great film. It is “Defending Your Life” with Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep.
Q: I’d like to find the name of a movie from the 60s or 70s I believe. The entire movie took place on a subway. A street gang was terrorizing the occupants for the duration of the movie. In the end a soldier with a cast on his arm stood up to defend the group. No big actors as I recall, and it may have been a TV movie. Thanks
Answer: That is “The Incident,” the movie debut of Martin Sheen, with Beau Bridges as the solider.
Q: I have heard about a relatively new film (prob released within last year). I believe it has got a child ‘genius’ who predicts dates of death etc. Any ideas on the title?
Answer: That sounds like “Knowing” with Nicolas Cage.
Q: I really want to know the name of a film I am unsure who it had in it, all I can remember is that it was a film from the 80’s and it had one or two kids in it, they were looking for a map or a will in a creepy house and had help from an anamatronic butler who turned out to be their friend. It also had a David Bowie soundtrack at the end and the billboard they drove past said “Look” with eyes in the o’s. It was an awesome movie.
Answer: That is “Mr. Rice’s Secret.” Enjoy!
Q: I saw this movie in the 70’s but I think it was from the 50’s. I don’t know any of the actors and the only thing I can remember is that it’s about a family from “the old country” who moved here and brought with them a bull named Vindicator. At the end of the movie that bull was dead (from a snow storm) but his line lives on in all of the new calves born that spring. I think the movie is the same name as the bull but I’m not sure and I’m not sure I’ve spelled it right either. Would you happen to know what movie I’m talking about?
Answer: That is “The Rare Breed” with James Stewart and Maureen O’Hara.
Q: I saw this in the 50s. It was the story about a couple who fell in love, married and had a child. The child died which tore the couple apart. They finally healed their marriage. I know it is not much to go on but it was a very good movie and I would love to see it again. I believe this movie title had the word wishing well, pennies from heaven or fountain. I would appreciate any help you can give me.
ANSWER: That lovely movie is “Penny Seranade” with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne.
Q: Hi, I must find this movie from my childhood. An old vet and his teen-age son(?) hijack a tank from an army base. The one scene I remember best is when they are crossing a field and somehow one of the treads snaps. The old man gets out and pries it back on, but injures his ribs. Thank you for your help.
Answer: Sounds like “Tank” with James Garner. I hope that’s the one!
Q: A group of people on bus trip – bus breaks down – some try to repair bus- others walk to find shelter – start to talk about themselves. nice little movie.
Answer: What a coincidence — or maybe it is synchronicity! I was writing about that movie yesterday. It is a touching Canadian film called “Strangers in Good Company.”
Q: I’m looking for a this horror movie that was out within the last few years. its about something that causes all children under the age of 12 or so to fall into a coma like sleep. there is no cure. after years of being asleep the children all wake up. only it may not be them that inhabit their bodies now. I don’t know the name of the movie or whether or not it was any good.
Answer: That is a straight-to-video film called “The Plague.” It stars James Van Der Beek. (Thanks to Dustin Putman for help with this one.)
Q: I am looking for the name of a movie from either the late 60’s or early 70’s. I remember the end of the movie, a boy died under a Christmas tree, he had 2 wolves (or large dogs) that were howling when he died. He had gone swimming in the ocean and some sort of bomb went off in the water.
Answer: That is “The Christmas Tree” with William Holden — a real weepie!
Q: I remember watching this love story long ago. I think it has Rock Hudson in but not sure. The only thing I really remember is the man and women had an argument and he lived in a barn that was remodeled into a very nice home. Some where toward the end of the movie when the woman was there he opened the curtains to reveal this large window and it was snowing(this is the only part that really comes to memory since it was so beautiful). It was a black and white movie so I think it’s pretty old. I wanted to watch this movie again since it was when I was young and I just can’t get it out of my mind but the title seems to have ‘slipped’ my mind.
Answer: I believe you are thinking of “All That Heaven Allows” with Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman. They break up because of pressure from her children, who do not think that he is her social equal. Throughout the movie, he represents the natural world and at the end she comes to his home. I hope that’s it! It’s a great movie.
Q: I am looking for the name of a movie in which the wife learns she is dying and arranges to adopt a little girl to be a companion for her husband when she dies. The movie’s theme was a popular song at the time. The climax involves a scene on a rugged coast.
Answer: That movie is “Sentimental Journey,” starring Maureen O’Hara.
Q: The guy is a young entrepreneur, quite introverted and working in a very isolated area. he is put under pressure to find himself a life partner, by several sisters he has.
he has a passion for traveling, and he wants to get to see the world, by using some coupons on some products he buys a lot. One morning he finds a piano in the middle of the street, wich he takes and tries to play it. same day a girl approaches him, asking him to take her car to an auto repairing store or something.
Answer: That movie is “Punch-Drunk Love” with Adam Sandler.
Thanks to all who wrote with such interesting questions!