# Movies with similar names that should never, ever be confused. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2007, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938 "2007-07-16T04:42:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/61 "2007-07-20T13:44:05Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] And I have no idea about Working Girl. Wasn’t that a theatrical movie? An IMDB search just turns up a short-lived sitcom starring Sandra Bullock, long before she was famous. [/QUOTE] Am I being whooshed here? [Working Girl](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096463/), was a very famous mid-1980s movie starring Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford, and Sigourney Weaver, and directed by Mike Nichols. And it appears in an IMDB search before the Sandra Bullock sitcom, which was spun off from it. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/62 "2007-07-20T14:07:10Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] And it appears in an IMDB search before the Sandra Bullock sitcom, which was spun off from it. [/QUOTE] D’oh! That’ll teach me not to read the first line of a web page! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/63 "2007-07-20T16:30:30Z")
I’ve been known to confuse _Philadelphia_ with _The Philadelphia Story_, though I’ve never seen either, and so thankfully can’t confuse them _too_ much. I’ve also never seen _The Philadelphia Experiment_, but I don’t get confused about that one. ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/64 "2007-07-20T17:44:21Z")
There’s _Flash Gordon_ and then there’s _Flesh Gordon_ - :eek: AH Ahhhhh! ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/65 "2007-07-20T17:55:52Z")
[QUOTE=dwc1970] There’s [Jack Frost](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0141109/) the comedy, and then there’s [Jack Frost](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116671/), the scary version. [/QUOTE] Neither of which is the version that was done on MST3K. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/66 "2007-07-21T01:25:49Z")
[QUOTE=pravnik] I’ve told this story before, but it’s relevant, so here goes: My ex-girlfriend’s mom went to see _Leaving Las Vegas_ because she thought Nicholas Cage had made a sequel to his delightful romantic comedy, _Honeymoon in Vegas_. He hadn’t. [/QUOTE] Was the mom’s name Gena? I asked this last time you posted this, but got no answer. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/67 "2007-07-21T01:32:15Z")
Big Bear Trucking 1 and Big Bear Trucking 2. No comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/68 "2007-07-21T02:10:32Z")
And then there was 1968’s **Madigan** , a gritty police story starring Richard Widmark, and **Elvira Madigan** , a 1967 Swedish artsy-fartsy lush romantic movie which one critic, I believe it was in Time, called one of the most beautiful films ever made. (There is also a 1943 version of the Swedish movie.) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/69 "2007-07-21T04:03:35Z")
Rumour has it that _American Beauty_ did well at the box office, in part because many of the audience thought they were going to see _American Pie_. True story - I wanted to rent the video of [Double Jeopardy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0150377/) (hey, i’d seen the trailers, it looked an interesting premise.) I actually got a totally different movie which I don’t remember. Maybe [this one](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116129/maindetails) or [this one.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104132/plotsummary) Whichever one, so boring that I only remember it because of the name, and not a single detail of the plot. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/70 "2007-07-21T06:42:25Z")
Everytime I tell people one of my favorite movies is [**The man who came to dinner**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033874/), they think I’m talking about [**Guess who’s coming to dinner**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061735/). ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/71 "2007-07-21T07:15:10Z")
Schindler’s Fist… ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/72 "2007-07-21T14:54:18Z")
The Professional, starring Jean Reno and Natalie Portman, came out only a few months after The Specialist, an unbearably bad movie starring Sly Stallone. ---
**Author:** ![Cincoflex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Cincoflex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cincoflex)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/73 "2007-07-21T16:29:24Z")
\*\*Marathon Man \*\* and **The Running Man** –definitely not the same. Nor are **Salem’s Lot** and **The Lottery** ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/74 "2007-07-21T16:54:43Z")
One year I eagerly set up the video recorder to capture _Genesis II_, a science-fiction program from the seventies with this cool transcontinetal subway. Imagine my disappointment when I reviewed the recording to discover an informercial for _Genesis II_, the hair restoration product… ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/75 "2007-07-22T16:41:46Z")
[When Night is Falling](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114916/plotsummary) is the lesbian one. [Before Night Falls](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247196/) is the gay one. Either gay men go to bed slightly before lesbians do, or we really need to get more creative about how we title our movies. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/76 "2007-07-22T16:45:21Z")
Oh, and [Like Water for Chocolate](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103994/) and [Better than Chocolate](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168987/) = completely different. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/77 "2007-07-22T17:10:22Z")
_little_ Heat with Burt Reynolds, Heat with Al Pacino, and Heat by Andy Warhol. (Well you might like the first, by Warhol one is a _little_ent…and was listed in the tv guide as Andy’s and it turned out to be Burt :mad: ) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/78 "2007-07-22T17:42:41Z")
[QUOTE=matt\_mcl] [When Night is Falling](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114916/plotsummary) is the lesbian one. [Before Night Falls](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247196/) is the gay one. Either gay men go to bed slightly before lesbians do, or we really need to get more creative about how we title our movies. [/QUOTE] If _Before Night Falls_ doesn’t utilize a dog as a Christ-figure, it automatically is the superior movie. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/79 "2007-07-22T18:05:04Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] Am I being whooshed here? [Working Girl](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096463/), was a very famous mid-1980s movie starring Melanie Griffith, Harrison Ford, and Sigourney Weaver, and directed by Mike Nichols. [/QUOTE] And Melanie Griffith won an Oscar for her performance. My two examples are [Parenthood](http://imdb.com/title/tt0098067/) and [Father Hood](http://imdb.com/title/tt0106877/). I actually did get these confused one time. Really enjoyed the former, then later picked up the latter one time thinking it was the former. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2007, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938/80 "2007-07-22T23:37:13Z")
how about a trifecta American Beauty American Psycho American Pie who want to make sure you had the right right one when your mum comes over [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-similar-names-that-should-never-ever-be-confused/411938.md?page=5)