Poorly describe movies and guess what they are

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Discussion Overview

The thread explores the concept of poorly describing movies and guessing their titles based on these descriptions. Participants share their own vague summaries of films, inviting others to identify them. The discussion includes a variety of genres and themes, ranging from classic films to contemporary favorites.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants describe movies with vague phrases, such as "Skinhead goes to prison" for American History X.
  • Others propose descriptions like "Jogger gets hit by car" and ask for guesses on the movie title.
  • Descriptions include elements like "Asian kid becomes friends with old white man" and "Kid wishes to be an adult," leading to guesses of Grand Torino and Big.
  • One participant describes a movie with "Little girl in red coat walking in black and white background," prompting guesses of Schindler's List.
  • Another participant describes a surreal landscape where a girl kills someone and teams up with strangers, which is identified as Wizard of Oz.
  • Descriptions of various movies include themes of war, crime, and personal struggles, such as "guy goes to bootcamp then to Vietnam" and "big fricken shark eats people," leading to guesses of Full Metal Jacket and Jaws.
  • Some participants engage in playful banter about the accuracy of the descriptions, such as correcting the type of ball in "Man is stranded on uninhabited island with his best friend, a football."
  • Common themes are identified, such as revenge and violence in films, with references to Quentin Tarantino's works.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the accuracy of the descriptions or the identification of movies, as multiple guesses and interpretations are presented. Disagreements arise regarding the correctness of certain movie titles based on the descriptions provided.

Contextual Notes

Some descriptions may rely on subjective interpretations of the films, and the vagueness of the summaries can lead to multiple plausible guesses. The discussion reflects a playful engagement with film knowledge rather than a definitive analysis.

Who May Find This Useful

Film enthusiasts, trivia lovers, and those interested in exploring creative ways to describe and guess movies may find this discussion engaging.

  • #211
mege said:
Oh, oh... that's For Richer or Poorer ;)

Not the film I was thinking of, but I suppose your wink symbol means that you were not actually serious. Perhaps you are suggesting that my clue is too obvious?

Since making that post I have had a crisis that the film I was thinking of has already been mentioned, but I can't find it. I don't know if anyone else has tried it, but hunting back through this thread for specific references is not actually that easy! Anyway, I have a vague memory of a particular scene using a certain piece of music having been already mentioned, but that might actually be on a completely different thread!
 
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  • #212
Ken Natton said:
Not the film I was thinking of, but I suppose your wink symbol means that you were not actually serious. Perhaps you are suggesting that my clue is too obvious?

Since making that post I have had a crisis that the film I was thinking of has already been mentioned, but I can't find it. I don't know if anyone else has tried it, but hunting back through this thread for specific references is not actually that easy! Anyway, I have a vague memory of a particular scene using a certain piece of music having been already mentioned, but that might actually be on a completely different thread!

Oh, I didn't think you were actually presenting a clue so I was being a little obtuse.
 
  • #213
mege said:
Oh, I didn't think you were actually presenting a clue so I was being a little obtuse.

Yes, my apologies. The first paragraph in my post #207 was just the continuation of my, I confess somewhat facetious exchange with Mr Snyder. The second paragraph...

Ken Natton said:
The Pennsylvanian countryside. Big city culture clashes with a simpler, more ancient lifestyle. And a secret, spontaneous dance to a sixties classic.

...was intended to be a clue to another big Hollywood film of the not too distant past.
 
  • #214
Ken Natton said:
The Pennsylvanian countryside. Big city culture clashes with a simpler, more ancient lifestyle. And a secret, spontaneous dance to a sixties classic.
...Don't know much about biology, but I do know that I love you...

Witness.
 
  • #215
DaveC426913 said:
...Don't know much about biology, but I do know that I love you...

Witness.

And I love you too DaveC for getting that. Yes that is exactly what I had in mind. I'm sure I remember somewhere discussion of the piece of music 'Raising the Barn' which was written for that film - perhaps it was on the thread about film music.

I don't suppose you have any thoughts on any of my other outstanding clues Dave C?

Ken Natton said:
The corniest final scene ever? Ah, but everyone cried. He was spotless in white.
(That corny final scene has been often referenced, including by The Simpsons.)


A classic courtroom drama. But the verdict is not the end of it. Everyone in the cinema jumped.
(The classic courtroom drama was written by the same guy that wrote the film from which Sharon Stone’s most infamous scene comes.)


That's no way to cook game! Will he pay the ultimate price for his sexuality?
(As is the one with dubious culinary methods which scene has begat a whole new term for the troublesome type of woman thus portayed.)
 
  • #216
Ken Natton said:
All right, another round of films that maybe no-one will get. These are all Hollywood films that were the centre of water cooler chat when they were released. But not a CGI graphic, not a special effect or a moment of 'action' between them.

It's always the children who suffer. He is thrown into the parenting deep end. She wins the case but finally puts the boy's interests first.

The corniest final scene ever? Ah, but everyone cried. He was spotless in white.

A classic courtroom drama. But the verdict is not the end of it. Everyone in the cinema jumped.

That's no way to cook game! Will he pay the ultimate price for his sexuality?

Alll the women gave a sardonic smile. All the men shifted uncomfortably. In a cafe, in public, she proved her point.

Ken Natton said:
And I love you too DaveC for getting that. Yes that is exactly what I had in mind. I'm sure I remember somewhere discussion of the piece of music 'Raising the Barn' which was written for that film - perhaps it was on the thread about film music.

I don't suppose you have any thoughts on any of my other outstanding clues Dave C?

Most of these were gotten, were they not?

Kramer vs. Kramer
Field of Dreams
?
Eating Raoul? The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover?
When Harry Met Sally
 
  • #217
DaveC426913 said:
Most of these were gotten, were they not?

Kramer vs Kramer and When Harry Met Sally were correct. But Field of Dreams was not what I was thinking of and neither was The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover which film I recall no previous mention of on this thread and I am surprised but pleased to know had any impact at all in the US, since it was a satire on Britain under Mrs Thatcher. I did say that all five of those films I gave clues to were Hollywood films. The Cook… is a British film. The films I am thinking of that have not been guessed were all quite as prominent as Witness, Kramer vs Kramer and When Harry Met Sally.

The give away clues would be,

Richard Gere

Glenn Close and Jeff Bridges

Michael Douglas and Glenn Close
 
  • #218
They seem so obvious now.

The corniest final scene ever? Ah, but everyone cried. He was spotless in white.
An officer and a Gentleman

A classic courtroom drama. But the verdict is not the end of it. Everyone in the cinema jumped.
Jagged Edge

That's no way to cook game! Will he pay the ultimate price for his sexuality?
Fatal attraction

---

Old friends become bitter enemies. Will the former slave triumph over his enemy's machinations?

A young lady who cannot get into the habit finds love during turbulent times.
 
  • #219
Jimmy said:
A young lady who cannot get into the habit finds love during turbulent times.

The Sound of Music?
 
  • #220
Jimmy said:
The corniest final scene ever? Ah, but everyone cried. He was spotless in white.
An officer and a Gentleman

A classic courtroom drama. But the verdict is not the end of it. Everyone in the cinema jumped.
Jagged Edge

That's no way to cook game! Will he pay the ultimate price for his sexuality?
Fatal attraction

Ah ha!. Many thanks Jimmy, you are of course 3 for 3.

Unfortunately, I cannot return the compmlement. I think zoobyshoe is probably dead right with The Sound of Music, but I can't identify the other one from your clue.
 
  • #221
zoobyshoe said:
The Sound of Music?
Yes!

Ken Natton said:
Ah ha!. Many thanks Jimmy, you are of course 3 for 3.
Well, I feel a bit dumb not being able to figure them out earlier. :smile: They were easy once the actors were named.

Unfortunately, I cannot return the compmlement. I think zoobyshoe is probably dead right with The Sound of Music, but I can't identify the other one from your clue.
Yes, it was poorly described.

The star later played a simian-hating astronaut in a late 60s Sci-Fi classic.
 
  • #222
Jimmy said:
Yes, it was poorly described.
That's the general idea!

Jimmy said:
The star later played a simian-hating astronaut in a late 60s Sci-Fi classic.

But, (after, I confess a little Wiki research) I believe I have it. Are we talking a certian chariot racing epic? I think we might be talking about Ben-Hur, staring Charlton Heston who later played Taylor in Planet of the Apes.
 
  • #223
Ken Natton said:
But, (after, I confess a little Wiki research) I believe I have it. Are we talking a certian chariot racing epic? I think we might be talking about Ben-Hur, staring Charlton Heston who later played Taylor in Planet of the Apes.
Exactly right! I was tempted to use the race as a clue but that seemed too easy.

A couple more:

Shady soldiers redeem themselves behind enemy lines.

A dashing pirate who was mostly dead all day.
 
  • #224
jimmy said:
shady soldiers redeem themselves behind enemy lines.
lotr.
 
  • #225
Jimmy said:
Shady soldiers redeem themselves behind enemy lines.

A dashing pirate who was mostly dead all day.

Three Kings

No idea on the second, however.
 
  • #226
Star-crossed lovers in Manhattan.
 
  • #227
Anabasis in Manhattan.
 
  • #228
Jimmy said:
A dashing pirate who was mostly dead all day.

"I do not sink zat means what you sink it means"

Princess Bride
 
  • #229
MATLABdude said:
-shady soldiers redeem themselves behind enemy lines.

Three Kings

No idea on the second, however.
That was a very good guess, but not what I had in mind. It fits just as well though.

The film in question was set during WWII.

DaveC426913 said:
"I do not sink zat means what you sink it means"

Princess Bride
Yes!
 
  • #230
Jimmy Snyder said:
Star-crossed lovers in Manhattan.

Moonstruck?
 
  • #231
DaveC426913 said:
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover?

I saw that years ago! It was... !
 
  • #232
Jimmy said:
Moonstruck?
It might be a good fit, I can't say. I never saw it. It's not what I had in mind though. Who were the original star-crossed lovers?
 
  • #233
Jimmy Snyder said:
It might be a good fit, I can't say. I never saw it. It's not what I had in mind though. Who were the original star-crossed lovers?
To be honest, it's been years since I've seen it so I may be way off base. I'll have to think about it some more.

Edit: I keep thinking Romeo and Juliet, but that doesn't exactly fit given the Manhattan reference.
 
  • #234
Jimmy said:
Shady soldiers redeem themselves behind enemy lines.
Well, it's sure not Kelly's Heroes... :biggrin:
 
  • #235
Jimmy said:
To be honest, it's been years since I've seen it so I may be way off base. I'll have to think about it some more.

Edit: I keep thinking Romeo and Juliet, but that doesn't exactly fit given the Manhattan reference.
The poor side of Manhattan.
 
  • #236
Jimmy Snyder said:
It might be a good fit, I can't say. I never saw it.

Moonstruck is awesome. Very funny. Nick Cage is great. Cher is absolutely radiant.

"Do you love im?"
"Aw mom, I love I am awful."
"Oh God. That's too bad."

The list of http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093565/quotes" from Moonstruck is as long as my arm (hand included!)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #237
DaveC426913 said:
Well, it's sure not Kelly's Heroes... :biggrin:
Very similar though. :) It was released three years before Kelly's heroes. Donald Sutherland and Telly Savalas were in both.

DaveC426913 said:
Moonstruck is awesome. Very funny. Nick Cage is great. Cher is absolutely radiant.

"Do you love im?"
"Aw mom, I love I am awful."
"Oh God. That's too bad."

I remember that is was very good. I just added to my Netflix queue. :)
 
Last edited:
  • #238
Jimmy said:
Very similar though. :) It was released three years before Kelly's heroes. Donald Sutherland and Telly Savalas were in both.

Ah yes. Along with ten other equally filthy guys... :wink:
 
  • #239
Jimmy Snyder said:
The poor side of Manhattan.
West Side Story?
 
  • #240
Jimmy said:
West Side Story?
That's what I had in mind.
 

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