# Cool/interesting little touches you notice in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174 "2010-07-10T00:52:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/21 "2010-07-11T04:43:45Z")
Speaking of the movie from which I derive my user name, Jackie Trehorn’s thugs switch outfits from scene to scene. In **Raising Arizona** , H.I.'s job is with Hudsucker. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/22 "2010-07-11T06:32:06Z")
> [@Khan](#): > > In **Fargo** , there’s a scene where Marge’s husband is eating “Old Dutch” potato chips, which is a regional brand in at least Minnesota and North Dakota. I didn’t realize that when I first saw the movie because I grew up in Fargo and hadn’t been anywhere else long enough to know what the local brands were. It was a real nice touch that almost made up for the bad accents. :p\ I didn’t think twice about the Old Dutch brand chips (if I noticed it), because they’re also ubiquitous in Western Canada. 🙂 All-dressed are the best! ETA: They did a pretty good job of showing life in a cold place in that movie, but in my opinion, one big mis-step was when they had the William Macy character cleaning his windows of his car before starting it up. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/23 "2010-07-11T06:47:43Z")
Saw _Invictus_ last night. Couldn’t help being distracted by the really cool clothes that Morgan Freeman’s Mandela wore. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/24 "2010-07-11T06:59:11Z")
In the first \*Iron Man \*movie, when Tony Stark is riding with the military convoy, he makes a reference to the female driver of the vehicle, asking if it was appropriate to refer to her as a lady, or if he should just call her a Soldier. She corrects him, saying that she’s actually an Airman (Soldiers are in the Army, Airmen are in the Air Force). Indeed, if you look closely at the Funvee when you first see it, it has “Security Forces” printed on the back (Security Forces are the Air Force’s version of MPs. They do find themselves doing traditionally Army type missions such as convoy escorts from time to time) But the ace in this hand? The airmen in the vehicle are wearing ABUs (the Air Force grey digicamo, which uses a “Digital Tigerstripe” camo pattern), but with body armor and helmets patterned with the ACU pattern (the random block digital camo used by the Army, in a slightly different color scheme). I thought that was a super-nice touch, since that’s pretty much exactly what we do in the Air Force. (We don’t need nearly as much of the body armor as the Army does, so it’s presumably easier production-and-procurement wise for both services to use the same stuff. Don’t ask me why we didn’t use the same logic when we started phasing out the BDUs) In _Aliens_, there’s a scene where one of the characters is about to crawl down a long narrow pipeline to gain access to a communications array to send a signal to the ship in orbit. He has to do this because otherwise he will likely be spotted and killed by the unfriendly dudes the movie is named for. As he climbs into the pipe, the other nearby characters hand him various things to help him, such as a portable computer and a flashlight. Then one of the Marines hands the guy a pistol, while two other characters are talking in the foreground. He examines the weapon for about half a second and hands it back to the Marine without comment.😃 Something about the way he did that, with a “What the hell do you expect me to do with this?” look on his face, cracked me up when I saw it. In _Breakfast At Tiffany’s_, there is a scene where Audrey Hepburn and the guy in the movie (I forget his name, as I wasn’t nearly as interested in him as I was in Audrey Hepburn) are talking out in front of their building, when the guy’s sugar-momma pulls up in a cab and strikes up a conversation with him. Audrey’s character kinda stands there awkwardly for a moment (distinctly not a part of the conversation), then climbs into the cab and they drive off. The thing is, by the time she does this, she is very much not the focus of the scene. Something about the way they just quietly had her leave the scene once she wasn’t part of it by taking the cab the other character arrived in seemed clever to me. Also, in the same movie, it’s mentioned that she’s not as English as she sounds, but that she has been trained to mask her Okie accent with an English accent at all times to make her more marketable as an actress. After she finishes singing the movie’s theme song midway through the movie and notices that she has an audience (the might-as-well-be-nameless guy), she says “Hello” with what for Audrey Hepburn must have been a noble attempt at an Okie accent. It’s the only line she has that’s not in her normal accent because in the rest of the movie she’s holding the fake accent. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/25 "2010-07-11T07:52:37Z")
George Peppard (the might-as-well-be-nameless-guy) ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/26 "2010-07-11T08:31:37Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > George Peppard (the might-as-well-be-nameless-guy) Holy crap, you’re right! I didn’t recognize him without the cigar and the plan. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/27 "2010-07-11T11:51:33Z")
In Ocean’s 11, Brad Pitt’s character, Rusty, is eating in almost every scene he is in; except the heist. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/28 "2010-07-11T12:35:48Z")
It was also a nice touch to notice that Nicholas Cage says “pop” instead of “soda” in \*The Weatherman \* as I believe a real Chicagoan would. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/29 "2010-07-11T13:29:03Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I didn’t think twice about the Old Dutch brand chips (if I noticed it), because they’re also ubiquitous in Western Canada. 🙂 All-dressed are the best! > > ETA: They did a pretty good job of showing life in a cold place in that movie, but in my opinion, one big mis-step was when they had the William Macy character cleaning his windows of his car before starting it up. I live in a warm place. Can you explain the misstep to me? ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/30 "2010-07-11T13:58:17Z")
The end of The Bourne Identity, when he finds Marie, his red bag is hanging in the background, being used as a hanging flowerpot. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/31 "2010-07-11T14:03:40Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Nice catch! I wouldn’t have picked up on that. How many times do you watch a movie before noticing something like that? Or how closely do you have to watch? I watched both movies only once. I saw them back to back, so once I noticed Jesse do the hair brush in the first movie, it was easy to see him go for it again in the second. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/32 "2010-07-11T14:04:06Z")
In the Spielberg movie _Munich_, set in 1972, whenever we see the main gang at home they’re usually eating, sitting all around the dinner table in the tastefully decorated tiny kitchen, and always it’s a greasy roast dinner. This is a very authentically 70s meal, it brings back a lot of memories of my growing up in that decade. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/33 "2010-07-11T14:18:58Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I live in a warm place. Can you explain the misstep to me? You start you car and have it running when you scrape your windows. Then your car is a little warmer by the time you are done. I used to start mine and then go inside and do something long enough to let the defrost work. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/34 "2010-07-11T14:28:47Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > You start you car and have it running when you scrape your windows. Then your car is a little warmer by the time you are done. > > I used to start mine and then go inside and do something long enough to let the defrost work. Ah, gotcha. I do that, though usually only on the second day we have ice. The first day’s always a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![auRa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@auRa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auRa)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/35 "2010-07-11T14:31:26Z")
> [@Poysyn](#): > > You start you car and have it running when you scrape your windows. Then your car is a little warmer by the time you are done. Which, in turn, means that when you get in and start driving, your windows won’t get fogged up as much and you’ll be able to see where you’re going. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/36 "2010-07-11T15:00:50Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Am I the only person who thinks it’s ironic that Samuel L. Jackson plays the calm, cool, collected character in this movie? YOU TELL ME WHERE MY SUIT IS, WOMAN! Speaking of which, “Superman” has a neat little touch I missed, but the director mentions on the commentary: Lois first watches our hero fly away from her balcony and then opens her front door for Clark, _ **all with no cutaway:** _ it’s supposed to be as if Christopher Reeve swoops off stage left in cape and tights to promptly walk in stage right complete with suit and tie, which maybe doesn’t register if you’re suspending disbelief already but is supposed to look doubly impossible if you’re watching for a quick ‘break’ in the film. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/37 "2010-07-11T15:20:14Z")
> [@Khan](#): > > In **Fargo** , there’s a scene where Marge’s husband is eating “Old Dutch” potato chips, which is a regional brand in at least Minnesota and North Dakota. I didn’t realize that when I first saw the movie because I grew up in Fargo and hadn’t been anywhere else long enough to know what the local brands were. It was a real nice touch that almost made up for the bad accents. 😛 When Mrs. Lundegaard is watching TV before the kidnappers break in, she is drinking coffee from a Red Wing “Pepe” mug, made in Red Wing, Minnesota, in 1962 or 1963. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/38 "2010-07-11T15:33:11Z")
> [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](#): > > In Forrest Gump, when they first meet Lt. Dan, and he says, “You must be my FNGs”. I wonder how many people outside the military knew what an FNG is. > > Fucking New Guy. FNG is used all the time in the corporate world. It’s not just a military term. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/39 "2010-07-11T16:00:24Z")
> [@Jules\_Andre](#): > > In **Troy** , Brad Pitt’s Achilles is the world’s greatest warrior. At one point he says to another character that Hector (Eric Bana) was the best warrior he had ever fought against. It’s one thing to say that, but the director does an incredible job of subtly _showing_ it. Throughout the movie, Achilles uses one particular move over and over again, and it quickly becomes a signature maneuver. He will fake to his left, side step right, jump, and stab down at his foe’s neck or shoulder. (This is most prominently shown at the beginning in the one on one battle against the Thessalonian champion) This move is an automatic kill against everyone Achilles uses it against. > > …except Hector. Hector is only person in the entire film who blocks that move (and he does it twice). He was the only person with enough skill to stand against Achilles’ best shot. Troy was no masterpiece (so Pitt couldn’t pull off the accent), but it was far better than most people realized. That fight scene still stands among the very best I’ve ever seen. The thing I noticed in the movie **Troy** was that as Achilles was dying, he pulled all of the arrows out of his body except for the one in his foot. I imagined that this could be the source of the famous myth of his invulnerability, that all of the other blows failed to injure him except for the one in his heel. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/40 "2010-07-11T16:30:31Z")
**Raguleader** , I caught that scene you refer to in Aliens when I saw it in a military theater in Bamberg, Germany. It’s Vasquez who hands Bishop the pistol, who looks at it exactly as you describe, before handing it to Ripley. Most of the theater cracked up over that, and Hudson’s “Oh, man! And I was short! Four more weeks and I was out!” received a deeply sympathetic groan from the entire theater. I stopped by my niece’s place for a visit yesterday, and she had the movie “Eight Below” on for the kids. The Italian snow-tractor-thingy they took to make it on the final leg of their journey was named “Mare Biscotti.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174.md?page=3)