Guess the allusion

Kongeslask · #1

This is a version of a game from another forum. The first player thinks out a new title for an existing film that alludes to the plot or theme(s) of the film, and the others try to guess which film it refers to. Whoever guesses correctly gets to post a new title, and so on.

A couple of examples of what I have in mind:

Society of the friends of the fistfight

Spoiler: click to toggle

Fight Club

A mama's boy and his motel

Spoiler: click to toggle

Psycho

Without further ado, a fairly simple one:

Conquistadors go rafting

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #2

Clearly, that's Aguirre, Wrath of God!

Kongeslask · #3

Indeed.

iCheckMovies · #4

I have a feeling Local Hero and burneyfan will be good at this game!

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #5

OK, forgive me for starting with this, but I can't resist:

Goldi Locks Up a Friendship

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #6

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi on Aug 18 2011, 05:35:09 PM wrote:

OK, forgive me for starting with this, but I can't resist:

Goldi Locks Up a Friendship

I'll post alternative titles in half an hour.

burneyfan · #7

Oh dear God...it begins again...where is rkzk? I'm obsessing already.

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #8

burneyfan on Aug 18 2011, 06:14:23 PM wrote:Oh dear God...it begins again...where is rkzk? I'm obsessing already.

It's not that bad! I'll post giveaway alternative titles in fifteen minutes.

burneyfan · #9

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi on Aug 18 2011, 06:19:47 PM wrote:
burneyfan on Aug 18 2011, 06:14:23 PM wrote:Oh dear God...it begins again...where is rkzk? I'm obsessing already.
It's not that bad! I'll post giveaway alternative titles in fifteen minutes.

Yeah, rest assured I'll be back in 15, if I haven't already thought of it, because...criminy. I'm fairly restrained about liquor, food, spending money...but these are librarian crack, it seems.

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #10

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi on Aug 18 2011, 06:05:50 PM wrote:
Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi on Aug 18 2011, 05:35:09 PM wrote:

OK, forgive me for starting with this, but I can't resist:

Goldi Locks Up a Friendship
I'll post alternative titles in half an hour.

OK, here are two alternative titles -- all three for the same film:

A Cartographer in Uncharted Territory

Tiger in the Taiga

burneyfan · #11

I'm sure I just figured it out with a little searching, but I haven't seen this film (one of the few in its director's filmography that I haven't). The searching felt like cheating; I'll leave it to someone who's seen it.

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #12

burneyfan on Aug 18 2011, 06:47:57 PM wrote:I'm sure I just figured it out with a little searching, but I haven't seen this film (one of the few in its director's filmography that I haven't). The searching felt like cheating; I'll leave it to someone who's seen it.

You must see this film -- at least twice! It's a masterpiece as far as I'm concerned!

burneyfan · #13

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi on Aug 18 2011, 06:50:50 PM wrote: You must see this film -- at least twice! It's a masterpiece as far as I'm concerned!

I wouldn't be surprised a bit -- I'm a great admirer of most of the director's other works. Just one that hasn't crossed my path to date -- I've been looking forward to it, though. I'll move it up my list.

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #14

burneyfan on Aug 18 2011, 07:05:20 PM wrote:
Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi on Aug 18 2011, 06:50:50 PM wrote: You must see this film -- at least twice! It's a masterpiece as far as I'm concerned!
I wouldn't be surprised a bit -- I'm a great admirer of most of the director's other works. Just one that hasn't crossed my path to date -- I've been looking forward to it, though. I'll move it up my list.

It's nothing like the rest of his films. I'd never know it was his film if his name weren't on it, and I've seen almost all of his other films.

burneyfan · #15

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi on Aug 18 2011, 08:03:44 PM wrote:
burneyfan on Aug 18 2011, 07:05:20 PM wrote:
Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi on Aug 18 2011, 06:50:50 PM wrote: You must see this film -- at least twice! It's a masterpiece as far as I'm concerned!
I wouldn't be surprised a bit -- I'm a great admirer of most of the director's other works. Just one that hasn't crossed my path to date -- I've been looking forward to it, though. I'll move it up my list.
It's nothing like the rest of his films. I'd never know it was his film if his name weren't on it, and I've seen almost all of his other films.

Knowing what I do of it, I didn't expect it would look like most films associated with him, but I thought it might have the same attention to small details, thoughtful planning, environment echoing the story...that sort of thing. It's #3 in my queue now (= I'll get it early next week at the latest).

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #16

burneyfan on Aug 18 2011, 08:39:21 PM wrote:
Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi on Aug 18 2011, 08:03:44 PM wrote:
burneyfan on Aug 18 2011, 07:05:20 PM wrote:I wouldn't be surprised a bit -- I'm a great admirer of most of the director's other works. Just one that hasn't crossed my path to date -- I've been looking forward to it, though. I'll move it up my list.
It's nothing like the rest of his films. I'd never know it was his film if his name weren't on it, and I've seen almost all of his other films.

Knowing what I do of it, I didn't expect it would look like most films associated with him, but I thought it might have the same attention to small details, thoughtful planning, environment echoing the story...that sort of thing. It's #3 in my queue now (= I'll get it early next week at the latest).

For what it's worth, the first time I saw it, I thought it was very, very good, but a little uneven, slightly ill-structured. It wasn't until I thought about the film for a while, saw it again, and then thought about it some more, that the movie really fell into place for me, and now it is one of my very favorite films. That's why I am quite ambivalent about sites like this one that implicitly encourage all of us to rush from one movie to the next, reacting quickly to the surface of things before jumping back into the cinematic blur.

EDIT: Oh, and it's also one of the most visually beautiful films I've ever seen, yet some of the prints look sort of washed out (this is the film that, more than any other, I wish Criterion would take on). I hope you watch a good print on a good screen to take in the color of the vistas.

iCheckMovies · #17

I haven't seen it either, but from the way you guys are talking about it, it sounds like it must be Kurosawa's Dersu Uzala.

Does this mean I have to come up with something now? I'm terrible at that sort of thing...

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #18

Knaldskalle on Aug 18 2011, 10:49:51 PM wrote:I haven't seen it either, but from the way you guys are talking about it, it sounds like it must be Kurosawa's Dersu Uzala.

Does this mean I have to come up with something now? I'm terrible at that sort of thing...

Correct, and yes, that's what it means. Failure to comply with the rules of this fun game carries a severe punishment.

burneyfan · #19

Knaldskalle on Aug 18 2011, 10:49:51 PM wrote:I haven't seen it either, but from the way you guys are talking about it, it sounds like it must be Kurosawa's Dersu Uzala.

Does this mean I have to come up with something now? I'm terrible at that sort of thing...

Hooray! Aw, come on...you'd have the added fun of torturing me at work today!

iCheckMovies · #20

Okay, so here's an attempt:

Gotham undressed.

burneyfan · #21

Knaldskalle on Aug 19 2011, 03:09:29 PM wrote:Okay, so here's an attempt:

Gotham undressed.

Let the obsessing commence!

burneyfan · #22

The Naked City? (Hoping it's not a Batman soft-core...although that might be more fun than Schumacher Batmans!)

iCheckMovies · #23

Correct! Too easy?

burneyfan · #24

Knaldskalle on Aug 20 2011, 02:50:54 AM wrote:Correct! Too easy?

Hooray! I didn't think it was too easy...I thought it was good, and clever!

I think I'm up, so here's my alternate title -- I think it's pretty easy:

When Houses Kill: or, There Ain't No Returnin' Them Shoes

3eyes · #25

Got it.

(that seems to be the standard ploy when one doesn't want to be "it.")

OK, The Wizard of Oz.

Next: A hot dog for the Queen.

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #26

Assuming The Wizard of Oz is correct then, I am fairly stumped by "A hot dog for the Queen." I'll think it over...

burneyfan · #27

3eyes on Aug 20 2011, 01:15:56 PM wrote:Got it.

(that seems to be the standard ploy when one doesn't want to be "it.")

OK, The Wizard of Oz.

Next: A hot dog for the Queen.

Absolutely right!

Thanks for coming up with one, too...I'm thinking about flaming canines now, ha ha.

3eyes · #28

Well OK. Or: He always arrives with a bang.

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #29

I'm ashamed to make this guess, but I'm going to say Rocky Horror Picture Show??? Frankenfurter is the main Queen, and he always arrives ... Never mind.

burneyfan · #30

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi on Aug 22 2011, 12:45:02 AM wrote:I'm ashamed to make this guess, but I'm going to say Rocky Horror Picture Show??? Frankfurter is the main Queen, and he always arrives ... Never mind.

Ha ha...that's better than what I've got, so far (but don't count me out yet!). I keep thinking of royal lapdogs ablaze, or Julie Andrews or Helen Mirren (or Divine) having to eat Oscar Mayer (the only film where I remembered something like this was a corn dog, though, not a hot dog). Seeing the new hint, I think you may be right, but I'm still thinking in case you're not!

3eyes · #31

No. Am I going to have to watch it again so I can think up more clues? I suppose you're all too young to get this:

Kate Smith, where are you?

(It is not an obscure movie.)

George Bailey · #32

You guys are crazy.

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #33

I don't know, but as soon as I think of Kate Smith, I hear "GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!" etc. Does George M. Cohan offer the Queen of England a hot dog in Yankee Doodle Dandy?

burneyfan · #34

That was all I could think of, too (God Bless America, not YDD) -- well, and that she was a large woman, which leads my mind to Mae West...but that's such an indirect segue that it has to be wrong. Something Irving Berlin-y? I've seen Yankee Doodle Dandy several times, but not recently...I don't remember a queen in it.

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #35

OK, I've rustled up some sort of guess: A Yank in the RAF?? He's a hot dog flyer who enlists to fight for the queen. As a flyer/bombardier, he always arrives with a bang, and yet he's not fighting for his own county ("God Bless America" is absent).

??

burneyfan · #36

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi on Aug 22 2011, 09:23:39 PM wrote:OK, I've rustled up some sort of guess: A Yank in the RAF?? He's a hot dog flyer who enlists to fight for the queen. As a flyer/bombardier, he always arrives with a bang, and yet he's not fighting for his own county ("God Bless America" is absent).

??

Good one! I'll cross my fingers for you. (I've heard of that film, but not seen it!)

Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi · #37

burneyfan on Aug 22 2011, 09:29:09 PM wrote:
Local Hero -- aka MestnyiGeroi on Aug 22 2011, 09:23:39 PM wrote:OK, I've rustled up some sort of guess: A Yank in the RAF?? He's a hot dog flyer who enlists to fight for the queen. As a flyer/bombardier, he always arrives with a bang, and yet he's not fighting for his own county ("God Bless America" is absent).

??
Good one! I'll cross my fingers for you. (I've heard of that film, but not seen it!)

I've actually not seen it myself, either (I'm sure I eventually will), but like you I've certainly heard of it many times and would say it's by no means obscure among movie lovers.

3eyes · #38

Oh dear.

Student driver.

burneyfan · #39

I have to think more about this, but I have a wild, longshot guess in the meantime. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang? I was six the last time I saw that film, so I don't remember much, but I think there's a queen, and dogs, and obviously a "bang," and the car...although I can't make the Kate Smith connection work.

Or...oh wait...isn't hotdogging a surfing term, too? Hmmm...no, I can't make it work...YET.

3eyes · #40

the reference to Kate Smith is not meant to imply that it's an old movie (not by my standards, anyway).
It is a noir, of sorts.