Different movies and TV programs with the same names

Cafe Society
1

I am not talking about remakes here, but completely different shows that had the same names but were not even related. The thing that brought it to mind was M. Night’s The Happening. Years ago, there was an Anthony Quinn movie with the same title. A “happening” in the '60s was a major party. And in this film, somehow a kidnapping of a mobster turned into such an event. As I remember, the *Supreme’s *hit “The Happening” was played at the end of the film, as near as I could tell, it really had nothing to do with the movie.

Also in the early '80s, there was a television program called ER starring Elliot Gould. It was a comedy not unlike Night Court taking place in an Emergency Room. Other than the name and taking place in an emergency room, there was no similarity.

Does anyone know of any others.

2

I distinctly remember two movies named *Crash * coming out recently (relatively speaking); one of them an Oscar-winning sobfest about racial prejudice in L.A., and the other a David Cronenberg film about car crash sexual fetishists.

No similarity… except, of course, for the fact that George Clooney was in both.

3

It’s best not to confuse Crash with Crash. They both have sex and car crashes, but they’re very different. OTOH, I’ve never actually seen Crash, so I can’t comment on it.

NB: none of these should be confused with the first episode of the BBCs excellent series Life on Mars, which was also called Crash.

4

Saturday Night Live was originally called Saturday Night, so as not to be confused with Howard Cosell’s Saturday Night Live.

5

A 1995 film by Noah Baumbach and a piece of shit starring Will Ferrell.

6

There were two films named The Aviator.

The more recent Scorcese directed one with Leonardo DiCaprio which was fairly decent and one from the 80’s with Christopher Reeve which was not.

7

Carrie, the 1952 adaptation of Theodore Dreiser’s novel Sister Carrie, and Carrie, the 1976 adaptation of the Stephen King novel.

8

Nitpick: It was E/R

9

Don’t confuse The Guardian (2006 Kevin Costner movie about Coast Guard training) with The Guardian (1990 William Friedkin movie about a druid nanny and her killer tree).

10

And don’t confuse either with The Guardian, a surprisingly realistic lawyer drama starring Simon Baker as a disgraced attorney who, after a drug conviction, has to do a lot of pro-bono work as part of his plea agreement.

11

Bob Sagets “The Aristrocrats” and Disney’s “The Aristrocats” are the prime example.

12

Monkey Business (the Marx Brothers) Monkey Business (Cary Grant). Both are comedies, but they are much different.

Go West was used as a title by two comedy giants – Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers – and was also a 2005 drama about the breakup of Yugoslavia.

13

There was Mr Nice Guy, starring Jackie Chan. It was unrelated to an earlier movie, Mr Nice Guy, starring Jan Smithers.

14

Heaven Can Wait, the 1943 Don Ameche movie, and* Heaven Can Wait*, the 1978 Warren Beatty film that was a remake of 1941’s Here Comes Mr. Jordan.

15

There are plenty of examples of movie titles that are common phrases or expressions being used over and over
IMDB lists three movies called Come and Get It

Two different Some Like it Hot

Eight different Dog Days (besides Dog Day Afternoon)

Three different Walking on Air
…and so on. Just go to iMDB and plug in a phrase and see how many titles show up.

By the way, the movie Here Comes Mr. Jordan (later remade, as Sigmagirl notes, as Heaven Can Wait, was based on a play called …Heaven Can Wait.

16

Before today’s Lost, there was a short-lived reality series of the same name. Premiered just before 9/11, and The Amazing Race ate its lunch.

17

Mr. & Mrs. Smith
A 1941 Hitchcock movie (not typical of him) about a couple who finds out that their marriage isn’t legal and must decide whether or not to make it legal.

Also a 2005 movie featuring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie where Mr. & Mrs. Smith are both secret agents and don’t know it. Fun, if violent, and not super plausible.

18

It should be noted that after Cosell’s disastrous attempt at a variety show was cancelled, ABC graciously told NBC they could go ahead and officially call their program “Saturday Night Live.”

19

The Good Shepherd - a 2004 film staring Christian Slater as a priest who has to investigate an alleged case of abuse and murder in the Catholic church.

The Good Shepherd - a 2006 snooze fest that was something to do with spying and stuff like that, I don’t know for sure as I found it hard to pay attention for any length of time. Matt Damon was in it being wooden and Angelina Jolie was in it being shrill and annoying.

Resists the obvious jokes

20

It was remade more recently as Down to Earth , a Chris Rock vehicle. It rivals Les Liaisons Dangerouses and The Front Page as the movie remade under the most different titles.