# 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:** 3
**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, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/41 "2010-07-11T18:26:52Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > 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. I always noticed that, and never questioned it. I mean, he’s Superman; the laws of physics are his bitch. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/42 "2010-07-11T18:31:41Z")
In **Minority Report** , the names of the three pre-congnitives who “pre-solve” the “pre-crimes” are Agatha, Arthur and Dashiell - obviously named after famous detective fiction authors. ---
**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, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/43 "2010-07-11T23:42:05Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > …Agatha, Arthur and Dashiell… In _The Incredibles_, the superfast boy is called Dashiell, for “Dash”; that much is obvious. But his shy sister who can turn invisible, is Violet, as in “Shrinking…”. ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/44 "2010-07-12T01:23:15Z")
Just finished watching Forrest Gump for the dozenth+ time. I had never noticed that the feather that begins(?)/ends the movie falls out of the well-worn Curious George book at end of movie. Forrest opens book up reminiscently after taking it out of son’s backpack (while waiting for the morning school-bus). Nice touch there. I had assumed that feather just happened to be at their feet coincidentally as a good visual for movie’s ending. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/45 "2010-07-12T01:31:46Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > 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. We also first meet his mother, who in Homer’s version is a sea-goddess, as she’s wading in the Ocean collecting shells. ---
**Author:** ![Jules\_Andre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jules_andre/32/9334_2.png) [@Jules\_Andre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jules_Andre)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/46 "2010-07-12T04:17:54Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > 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. > [@Simplicio](#): > > We also first meet his mother, who in Homer’s version is a sea-goddess, as she’s wading in the Ocean collecting shells. That’s part of the beauty of that movie. The makers created the movie as a more “real world” interpretation of the original source. There are lots of interesting “translations” in the movie, like the Trojans’ rolling the giant flaming… things… down into the Greek camp representing the firestorm in the Iliad (if I remember correctly). ---
**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 12, 2010, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/47 "2010-07-12T05:58:37Z")
> [@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. Eggzackly. It would have been a very nice little touch to have gotten that detail right, especially since Hollywood does cold weather in films so very badly. > [@Ionizer](#): > > Just finished watching Forrest Gump for the dozenth+ time. I had never noticed that the feather that begins(?)/ends the movie falls out of the well-worn Curious George book at end of movie. Forrest opens book up reminiscently after taking it out of son’s backpack (while waiting for the morning school-bus). Nice touch there. I had assumed that feather just happened to be at their feet coincidentally as a good visual for movie’s ending. You know, I just picked up on that the last time I watched the movie, and I think I only twigged because they were showing it back-to-back, so I had just watched the end of the movie and watched a bit of the start right after. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/48 "2010-07-12T12:21:44Z")
One of my favorite obscure TV movies, _Judge Dee and the Monastery Murders_ – at the end, Dee confronts the murderer, quietly and alone. Being civilized Chinese, the murderer offers Dee a cup of tea. Dee holds up his hand, refusing. The murderer says, sorrowfully, “Dee, what must you think?”(obviously reassuring Dee that the tea isn’t poisoned), and presses it on him. Dee accepts, then carefully sniffs the tea as they continue talking, then sets it aside without drinking. A cute little sideshow that is done without any talking except the one line, and says a lot about both characters. My favorite “touch” is in **Lawrence of Arabia** at that point in his screenwriting and playwriting career, Robert Bolt was into extended symbolism (look at all the references to water, boats, etc. in both the stage and screen versions of _A Man for All Seasons_) In _Lawrence_, he worked with Lawrence’s pistol, which keeps showing up. As Lawrence is being conducted across the desert to Faisal, his guide admires the gun, so Lawrence makes him a present of it. When Sharif Ali kills his guide, Ali takes the gun. Later, as they cross the Nefud Desert and a the killing takes place that threatens to shatter the coalition, Lawrence takes the gun from Ali’s belt and executes the murderer with it, then tosses it away, after which men fight over it. ---
**Author:** ![DivineComedienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c67d28/32.png) [@DivineComedienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DivineComedienne)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/49 "2010-07-12T13:53:26Z")
I remember reading an article about “The Sixth Sense” after I had seen the movie. It discussed the use of the color red to indicate when something frightening was going to occur, or for when a spirit was going to appear. I didn’t notice this the first time, but now when I watch the movie, all I can see is the color red all over the place (red doorknobs, red blankets, red tents, red dresses, red sweaters…) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/50 "2010-07-12T14:01:25Z")
Back to the Future has a now classic one: Doc and Marty meet for the first time at the Twin Pines Mall. When Marty goes back into the past, he knocks down one of the pines. When he goes back to the future, it’s the Lone Pine Mall ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/51 "2010-07-12T14:08:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Back to the Future has a now classic one The BTTF series has several of these – when Marty comes back at the end of BTTF3, the sign clearly says that he’s at “Eastwood Gulch”, and Marty had taken the name “Clint Eastwood” in that movie, and apparently died there. Also, his trick with the pot-bellied stove “armored vest” was used in a movie that Biff was shown watching in BTTF2, which Marty obviously took it from. The movie starred – Clint Eastwood. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/52 "2010-07-12T14:08:10Z")
In the movie “Ice Station Zebra,” there is a scene between two spies played by Ernest Borgnine and Patrick McGoohan. As they are chatting, you can see the very well-defined shadows that are cast on the walls behind them, and I didn’t notice any other shadows like that in the movie. Possibly a symbolic touch to indicate their shadowy pasts? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/53 "2010-07-12T14:13:22Z")
In [The Incredible Hulk](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800080/), when we see Edward Norton as Bruce Banner in his run-down apartment in Brazil, his TV is showing a rerun of _The Courtship of Eddie’s Father_. Starring Bill Bixby. (Who played Banner on TV.) Also, Lou Ferrigno shows up as a security guard. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/54 "2010-07-12T14:18:21Z")
In _Children of Men_ this one stood out like a sore thumb but somehow I missed it the first time. While on the run the main characters are to meet up a guy named Sid. As a meeting place they choose an abandoned elementary school. It only hit me the scond time around. :smack:Of course it’s abandoned! There’s no more kids around. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/55 "2010-07-12T15:03:00Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > In [The Incredible Hulk](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800080/), when we see Edward Norton as Bruce Banner in his run-down apartment in Brazil, his TV is showing a rerun of _The Courtship of Eddie’s Father_. Starring Bill Bixby. (Who played Banner on TV.) > > Also, Lou Ferrigno shows up as a security guard. Lou Ferrigno **and** Stan Lee. In the second Fantastic Four movie Stan Lee was thrown out of the wedding just the was he was in the comic book wedding. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/56 "2010-07-12T15:22:05Z")
Don’t know if this counts, but when _To Kill A Mockingbird_ was recently shown on TCM there was something in the scene where Atticus has to shoot the rabid dog. He raises the rifle, then realizes that his glasses are interfering with his ability to aim properly so he pushes them up onto his forehead. They immediately slide down and he pushes them back up, only to have them drop down again. He starts to push them up, then realizes that they aren’t going to stay there anyway and just tosses them over his shoulder. I’ve gone through the same up-and-down routine trying to read fine print and come close to tossing them over my shoulder a time or two myself. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/57 "2010-07-12T16:00:37Z")
Alan Rudolph’s [The Moderns](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095649/) is full of cool details, especially for those interested in Paris in the 20’s. If a movie has good art direction, a witty script, fine music & quirky performances, I’ll forgive a bit of incoherence. In fact, I’ll forgive a lot. There’s the cab ride, in which the “scenery” outside the back window is one of Robert Delaunay’s Eiffel Tower paintings–perhaps [this one](http://www.inter-coproprietes.com/jeditoo/france/IleDeFrance/Paris/7eme/picts/Tour%20Eiffel/tableaux/robert_delaunay_Tour%20Eiffel.jpg)? Many scenes take place in the Cafe [Selavy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rrose_S%C3%A9lavy). One evening, as the camera pans slowly across the Bohemian inhabitants, you get a quick flash of 1980’s style Bohemians, sitting at the bar. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/58 "2010-07-12T16:08:05Z")
> [@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. I knew that, but I’d read The Beach, where the term was explained in detail. (Yes, the book that the Leo DiCaprio movie was based on. Good book. Crap movie.) ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/59 "2010-07-12T17:09:36Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > 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. That is a good beat there. Bishop is an android. He has no sense of self-preservation and probably has a safeguard programmed into him that wouldn’t allow him to even use the gun. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174/60 "2010-07-12T18:32:40Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > In Ocean’s 11, Brad Pitt’s character, Rusty, is eating in almost every scene he is in; except the heist. And in the last scene you can see Rusty having problems with heartburn. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-interesting-little-touches-you-notice-in-movies/546174.md?page=4)