# Insider References in Movies...latest edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538 "2012-09-03T13:46:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/41 "2012-09-08T02:34:08Z")
In the spaghetti western My Name is Nobody, the outlaw gang was called the wild bunch. In one scene, the main character is in an Indian cemetery. He looks at the name on a tombstone and says, “Sam Peckinpah. That’s a beautiful name in Navajo.” ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/42 "2012-09-08T03:09:02Z")
Not a movie, but the TV show Leverage has lots of fun insider references, particularly when it comes to their aliases. For example, in one where Timothy Hutton is forced to improvise and get an alias while getting on a plane, he’s given several different names to choose from, all of whom are actors who played “the Doctor” in Doctor Who, while his partner, Sophie, is given just one, “Sarah Jane Smith”(which all fans of Doctor Who will note). IIRC, Hutton settles on “Tom Baker”. Similarly, whenever Hardision and Parker pretend to be government agents they always have names like “agent Elmore and agent Leonard.” Also, if you watch the great 70s horror movie The Howling, lots of the characters are named after famous horror directors and actors from a different generation. The same is true of the movie Final Destination where you have characters with names like “Max Schreck” and “Billy Hitchcock.” ---
**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:** [September 8, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/43 "2012-09-08T13:52:56Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Not a movie, but the TV show Leverage has lots of fun insider references, particularly when it comes to their aliases. Did you see the one where Timothy Hutton’s character came fancy-dressed as literary Detective [Ellery Queen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellery_Queen_%28TV_series%29)? ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/44 "2012-09-09T01:02:58Z")
At the end of the opening scene of _Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom_, when Ford and Capshaw leap out of the window, they end their fall by clinging onto the awning of the bar below. The name of the bar: Club Obi-Wan. ---
**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:** [September 9, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/45 "2012-09-09T01:07:55Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Also, if you watch the great 70s horror movie The Howling, lots of the characters are named after famous horror directors and actors from a different generation. > > The same is true of the movie Final Destination where you have characters with names like “Max Schreck” and “Billy Hitchcock.” This was also true of the zombie movie “[Night of the Creeps](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Creeps)” with characters named Chris Romero and Sgt Raimi. (I fondly remember that movie for this exchange: Detective Cameron: I got good news and bad news, girls. The good news is your dates are here. Sorority Sister: What’s the bad news? Detective Cameron: They’re dead.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/46 "2012-09-09T01:18:56Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Also, if you watch the great 70s horror movie The Howling, lots of the characters are named after famous horror directors and actors from a different generation. > > The same is true of the movie Final Destination where you have characters with names like “Max Schreck” and “Billy Hitchcock.” Christopher Walken’s character in _Batman Returns_ was named Max Schreck as an inside joke. The original Schreck, the actor, was known for playing the vampire Nosferatu. In an early _Burn Notice_ episode, Mike and Sam masqueraded as a couple of detectives named Cagney and Lacey. Sharon Gless, who played Chris Cagney, also stars on Burn Notice as Mike’s mother, Maddy. ---
**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:** [September 9, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/47 "2012-09-09T04:38:49Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > In an early _Burn Notice_ episode, Mike and Sam masqueraded as a couple of detectives named Cagney and Lacey. Actually that was Sam and Fi. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/48 "2012-09-09T06:14:45Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Christopher Walken’s character in _Batman Returns_ was named Max Schreck as an inside joke. The original Schreck, the actor, was known for playing the vampire Nosferatu. _Itself_ an inside joke, as _Schreck_ is German for “horror.” ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/49 "2012-09-09T19:05:42Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Did you see the one where Timothy Hutton’s character came fancy-dressed as literary Detective [Ellery Queen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellery_Queen_%28TV_series%29)? Yeah, that was a fun episode. It’s hardly the deepest show ever, but it’s alway fun. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/50 "2012-09-09T19:54:36Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Actually that was Sam and Fi. It was a few seasons ago. I misremembered. I shoulda looked it up. Thanks for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![Questioning\_Zion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/58956e/32.png) [@Questioning\_Zion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Questioning_Zion)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/51 "2012-09-09T21:12:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > There are plenty of references to THX 1138 in Lucas’ stuff, and things related to his stuff. The two examples cited have plenty of company. For example, when you’re waiting in line at Disney’s \*Star Tours[/.i], you hear an announcement that vehicle witbh identification plate number THX 1138 left its lights on. One of the Stormtroopers’ uniforms purloined by Han and Luke belonged to a 'trooper whose call sign was “THX 1138” in the novel, but was shortened for the film as “TK 421”. ---
**Author:** ![Questioning\_Zion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/58956e/32.png) [@Questioning\_Zion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Questioning_Zion)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/52 "2012-09-09T21:37:37Z")
In the " A-Team " 's second episode the Team meets a client on the back-lot of a film studio. Face, played by actor Dirk Benedict, encounters an actor dressed as a Cylon, one of the baddies from Battlestar Galactica, in which Benedict played “Starbuck”. Face takes a double-take as he looks at the cyborg and says, “Haven’t we met before…nah…” and as quickly dismisses the exchange as Deja Vu. Likewise, in an early episode of " Stargate, SG-1 ", reference is made to “MacGyvering” a makeshift solution to a problem as Richard Dean Anderson gives an “annoyed” reaction shot. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/53 "2012-09-10T01:46:37Z")
I’ve just seen _Premium Rush_, and the use of the name “Forrest J. Ackerman” is pretty arbitrary. It’s like the screenwriter said to a friend, “Hey, I need a pretentious name for the villain to be constantly using as an alias.” The friend said, “What do you mean by pretentious?” The screenwriter said, “You know, like a name with a middle initial of J. That sounds pretentious.” The friend (who was a science fiction fan) said, “What, like Forrest J. Ackerman?” The screenwriter said, “Yeah, that sounds good.” ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/54 "2012-09-10T05:17:31Z")
Not a movie…but there’s that episode of _The Wire_ where the Dominic West (British actor playing an American) character tries to imitate a British accent, and does a terrible job. I thought this was clever, but I was also glad they didn’t push this too far – it was just a scene or two. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/55 "2012-09-10T12:24:02Z")
> [@Questioning\_Zion](#): > > One of the Stormtroopers’ uniforms purloined by Han and Luke belonged to a 'trooper whose call sign was “THX 1138” in the novel, but was shortened for the film as “TK 421”. And the piece of audio gear that Buck tries to push on a customer in Boogie Nights was the TK421. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538/56 "2012-09-10T13:50:17Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > This was also true of the zombie movie “[Night of the Creeps](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Creeps)” with characters named Chris Romero and Sgt Raimi. (I fondly remember that movie for this exchange: > Detective Cameron: I got good news and bad news, girls. The good news is your dates are here. > Sorority Sister: What’s the bad news? > Detective Cameron: They’re dead.) Along those same lines, I saw a movie years ago called **Death Machine** that had characters named “John Carpenter”, “Sam Raimi”, “Weyland”, “Yutani”, and “Scott Ridley”. There’s also a “Jack Dante” that might be a reference to director Joe Dante. In the final credits there’s a “Special Thanks To” section, followed by, “No Thanks To: They know who they are…”. I suspect that might be related to the character names somehow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insider-references-in-movies-latest-edition/633538.md?page=2)