Q&A With the Movie Mom

Thanks to all who wrote!Q: Nell, i am really hoping you can help me with the name of this movie, unfortunately i don’t have a lot of info to give you, all i can remember is that it was set in the 50’s-60’s in a small American town where a lady either inherits or owns a cafe and decides to sell it but because of the location and lack of prospective buyers she advertises in city paper but it is the way she advertises that is unique. Instead of asking for a price for the property she asks anyone who is interested in having the property to send a letter explaining why they would want to own this shop, along with the letter they are to pay a fee of say $1 or $5 (i can’t exactly remember), the owner then reads all the letters and chooses who she thinks is best suited to take over – not only does she makes some money but the new owner only pays a small amount. I remember thinking what a fantastic idea but unfortunately my memory has failed me on the name! I do remember seeing it in the 90’s on TV so possibly was only made for TV. My lovely children think i am going batty. Can you help! Thanks heaps A: That lovely movie is “The Spitfire Grill.” Tell your children that you were right! Thanks for writing.Q: It stars Robin Williams. He has children in the film. I think they are going into a painting, lots of color. I think he has to save his child. A: I believe you are thinking of “What Dreams May Come.”Q: It is an older movie – a comedy about a couple that buys a house in the country (white picket fence) they have a niece that lives with them. An uncle comes to visit that they think is wealthy but it ends up that he has no money at all. There is a road that goes through their property and I think they want to close it but cannot. They do not have a deed to the house that proves they own up to the road – A dog finds the deed in a boot that was buried in a ditch. A: That is one of my favorites! “George Washington Slept Here” with Jack BennyQ: What was the name of the movie that had two brothers terrorizing a family in the family’s home? I believe the brothers had an English accent. A: That sounds like “Funny Games.” There is an English language version remake by writer/director Michael Haneke of his own 1997 Austrian film.Q: Recently I saw a very beautiful movie of John Cusack when in the most memorable scene he is carrying a big stereo out and a song begins to play. He wants the girl to forgive him. What is the movie? A: Thanks for asking! That wonderful movie is “Say Anything.” Q: I remember seeing a film many years ago a couple of times. I remember a scene early on in the film where the father and son are sitting watching trains and having a great conversation. Then later the father gets an automobile and ends up dying in a wreck. The boy suddenly finds himself alone as his mother gets caught up in her grief and people from the minister to neighbors are down right rude to the boy. Anyway long story short the film is about the boy finding himself lost and all alone with no one to turn to as his father was his best friend. Eventually the boy runs away and goes to the place where he and his father would watch the trains which is where his mother finds him and they begin their road of healing and coming to terms with life without the father. I hope you can help me on this one as most of the time I have a pretty good memory about old films but this one escapes me. A: That is “All the Way Home,” based on the classic James Agee book “A Death in the Family.” It stars Robert Preston and Jean Simmons.Q: I was wondering if you would be able to help me find a movie I saw on the Family Channel a while ago. The movie is about a girl high school student who cuts her hair and dresses up as a boy to find information for an article she’s writing for her school newspaper. She transfers to a new school and ends up falling in love with the school’s outcast somewhat-bad-boy. That’s pretty much all i can remember, but it would be great if you knew what i was talking about! A: That’s “Just One of the Guys” (1985).Q: I can’t recall the name of this movie. All I remember is that some teens trash this town and the judge sentences them to community service over the summer. The lead male is a rich kid and he ends up falling in love with the local diner owners daughter. It seems like she is really sick. I also remember that lovers write their name on a certain wall in the diner. There is also a scene where he takes her to his home and they have this amazing green house. Sound familiar? A: That movie is “Here on Earth” with Chris Klein, Josh Hartnett, and Leelee Sobieski. Q: OK I’m trying to get the name of this movie….it’s about some girls who visit a foreign country. a think 2 of them get arrested. When they get visits from family they have to yell over several people because they speak across a river. There is also a similar movie to this that involves a group of guys..they get arrested for trying to buy pot in a foreign country..it came out first..if you know the name of both that would be great. A: That’s “Brokedown Palace” with Claire Danes and the one with the guys is “Midnight Express.” Q: I’m looking for the title of a movie that was about some college roommates that invite people over for dinner. They ask the visitor a bunch of questions regarding social issues and if they don’t like their answers they kill them and bury them in the backyard. A: That is “The Last Supper” with Cameron Diaz and Ron Eldard.Q: Apparently I’m getting old…(37) and have been feeling nostalgic lately and have been watching a ton of movies from my Childhood that I remember from HBO’s Early days. I found many of them I remember via IMDB’s Search – but this one I cannot track down there or via google. Of course I don’t remember much other than it was about a girl who was obsessed with Michelangelo. Somehow she finds a statue and thinks it’s one of his, and I can’t remember if it truly was. I remember something about a marking on the bottom of the statue or something. I’m guessing time frame of 79-81 or so. She had a friend as I recall, (or maybe little brother) that helped her in her quest. Any clues as to what this movie might be? Thanks so much! A: Great movie! You are thinking of “From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler,” based on the best-selling book by E.L. Konigsburg. A brother and sister run away from home and hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and it is there they see the statue that may be by Michelangelo. There are two movie versions, one with Lauren Bacall and one with Ingrid Bergman, so I am not sure which one you saw. They’re both good, so watch them both!Q: I’ve been trying to find a movie I saw when I was a kid. I remember it haunted me as a child. It’s a love story about a woman who is dead, and comes back as a child and literally grows up spending time with her soul mate. Each time he sees her she’s a little older. He becomes very involved and falls madly in love. Then they get to the part where she dies. I think in the ocean. You’re supposed to believe that everything is alright now because she found her man. Black and white- perhaps set in England.A: That’s “Portrait of Jennie,” based on the book by Robert Nathan.Q: I am looking for a movie I saw in high school…The premise of the movie is that there is a woman who is a hawk/falcon by day and a woman at night- and a man who is a man by day and a wolf by night. They are in love. However, they are cursed with a cruel twist of fate that only allows them to “SEE” each other during the twinkling hours of dawn and twilight. They can not touch, speak or be near one another. They can only communicate in notes left for one another. A: That movie is “Ladyhawke” with Michelle Pfeiffer and Rutger Hauer.Q: It was about a young couple who were married and the wife was having trouble getting her husband to help out around the house. Her Mother gave her a Dog Training Book. To follow the rewards system and use it on her husband to get things done. But she’s never to tell him about the book. he did find. its a cute fun movie would like to see it again. Thank u I hope u can help me. A: It is a cute one! That’s “If a Man Answers” with Sandra Dee and Bobby Darrin.Q: I’m looking for the name of a movie that I saw and from which I can can remember very little.I think that Rosario Dawson has a small role in it but I am not sure at all. Anyway, the one scene that I remember is a little boy talking to an African American woman who is in jail. The woman is on the second floor of the jail and can only see the little boy through a mirror. I’m pretty sure it’s set in NY. A: That movie is “House of D” with Erykah Badu. Q: Can you ID the movie which had a runaway robot who falls in love with a young woman? I am thinking the 80’s, and maybe Ally Sheedy, but I am totally blanking. Very funny, cute movie. Thanks for your help. A: The Ally Sheedy movie about the robot is “Short Circuit.” Number 5 is alive!