Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2007 January 4

= January 4 =

Whose Line Is It Anyway
I'm watching a rerun of the above show, and Greg Proops did an impression I didn't recognize. He put on a funny loose hat, pinched up his expression a bit, and said "Damn, damn, damn. Liza, you're magnificent." Any ideas? Black Carrot 02:14, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Based on your description, it seems like a reference to Henry Higgins, a character in Pygmalion (play) and My Fair Lady (both an play and a movie). The line is, I think, from the movie, in which the character is played by Rex Harrison. Carom 02:36, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I think that's right, although the character he was talking to was Eliza (not Liza) Doolittle. Higgins (Rex Harrison) had taken a wager with his friend Col Pickering that he could not train an unkempt cockney girl like Eliza (Audrey Hepburn) to speak and act like a lady.  He lost the bet, magnificently, hence the "damn, damn, damn".  JackofOz 02:55, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Hmmm...I remember the quote in a different context (I seem to remember that, in the movie, it comes in the scene after the embassy ball, where, incidentally, I believe Higgins wins his bet). Carom 05:47, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Good call. I looked up the script, and I can find both "Damn, damn, damn, damn" and "Eliza, you're magnificent", although in entirely different parts of the play. That's probably what he was going for. Thanks. Black Carrot 02:55, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Flamenco dance music
I'm trying to find a piece of percussion from, or that was used in, a movie. It's just the heel stomps, and maybe clapping, of a flamenco dance. Or at least that makes up a big part of it. Any ideas? I think it may have been used in one of the nihilistic organised crime black comedies like Snatch or Reservoir Dogs. Anchoress 02:53, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Might you be referring to the snow samurai-sword fight scene in Kill Bill? They play the intro to Santa Esmeralda's "Don't Let me be Misunderstood" there. The rest of the song sucks, though. Sashafklein 04:05, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
 * No, but you've got the right idea. The version I'm interested in is completely unaccompanied (just claps and taps, no instrumental). Thanks, though. I kinda agree with you, BTW. I like other versions of the song, but the drum machine is tiresome. Anchoress 04:29, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Searching for this movie on Lions
Hi I was wondering if anybody out there might be able to help me out with this.

I saw this movie when I was a kid and it goes something likes this. ..Its picturised Africa and there is a famine out there. The animals, especailly the lions, go wild and hunt human beings. There's this forest officer who lives there and then plans an escape building sort of a cage for the family when the lions enter the house through the chimney. Can somebody help me out with the name and where possibly could I buy it from? Thanks in advance. Hoping to see some postings. 203.163.80.226 03:58, 4 January 2007 (UTC) Sammy


 * You're probably talking about the movie The Ghost and the Darkness. I haven't seen it for a while, so I don't know what you're talking about when the lions go down the chimney, but according to the true story the movie was based from, the villagers did make thorn fences to try and protect themselves, but failed.--JDitto 05:03, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Bwana Devil is another possibility, although I don't recall the chimeny incident in either of these movies. Carom 05:09, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Do you remember approximately when you saw this movie (i.e., what year)? That might help somewhat. Carom 05:49, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Robert De Niro
In which movie hes got a beard and is playing a police officer?

Im asking this,because Im pretty sure hes article got a mistake,its saying that hes daughter is named Drena,over Drina,a famous Serbian river. It is strange since I remember sawing this movie where he showed how much he hates Serbs,making a very nasty and unnecessary remark,so if anyone can remember that movie,it would be nice. Hes playing a police officer,but I can not remember much more about it.

Thank you very much

212.200.200.230 11:48, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * A few things:
 * Robert De Niro played a plumber in Brazil, but that does not mean you can call him to fix your toilet. Likewise, the fact that he played a Serb-hating policeman does not mean that he really feels that way about them.
 * Drena is his stepdaughter, so presumably the name was not his idea.
 * The films I remember in which he had a beard are The Mission, Heat and Wag the Dog (our article about that film notes, by the way, that "Serb state television went so far as to broadcast Wag The Dog in the midst of NATO attacks on Serbia.")
 * Skarioffszky 11:59, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Sharioffszky also forgot to mention that in Cape Fear, De Niro played a psychopathic killer, oh, and better yet, in Angel Heart, De Niro played the part of the Devil Himself! I'd watch for this actor, seems to me like a scary guy! Loomis 14:45, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Robert de Niro is an actor, you shouldn't mix up characters he's playing with personal statements. As a footnote, he seems to have some scary friends, too. In an interview given about Analyze this!, I remember that he said that his mafia friends thought that the movie was unexpectedly accurate... @_@ 惑乱 分からん 14:54, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

It's possible the movie you are referring to is 15 Minutes, but I don't believe De Niro had beard in that particular role. Carom 14:56, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

In this movie hes driving through some destroyed part of town and he all of a sudden he say:"It looks like Serb army passed here"....To say something like that,you have to have IQ less ten 90. Because no one can force him to say something like that,its not like hes just some rookie actor,he Robert De Niro! So either hes an idiot,or hes just man that full of hate suffering from Serbophobia.

But anyway,thank you Carom,its 15 Minutes, he dont have a beard I must have mixed it,but its that movie.Thank you all very much.

212.200.203.150 16:03, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure that you've entirely grasped the concept of acting. The man is playing a fictional character and delivering lines from a script.  He doesn't necessarily personally believe what the script requires him to say.  Perhaps you are thinking that Robert De Niro only agreed to play the role because he agrees with the sentiments expressed by the character.  If so, I think this is unlikely.  Actors play unsavoury or controversial characters all the time. --Richardrj talkemail 16:12, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Glenn Miller (?) tune
In the Simpsons episode "The Old Man and the Key", Grampa plays a piece of music that, according to the Wikipedia article, is by Glenn Miller. Has anyone seen the episode and knows the title of the tune? --AdamSommerton 16:26, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
 * In The Mood? yandman  16:33, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
 * That's it – thank you! --AdamSommerton 19:10, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Monkey Band
I'm searching information about a phenonemon you saw regurarly some 10-15 years ago: pluche monkey bands in glass boxes. After inserting a coin these monkeys would play a song for a while and then stop again. They were seen at public places like hotel lobbies and bowlings. Does anybody know how these were called? From when till when were they made? Anything else interesting? TIA. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 85.146.18.94 (talk) 18:32, 4 January 2007 (UTC).


 * I think they are just called monkey automata. They were very popular in the nineteenth century.--Shantavira 18:41, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

What is the formal title?
"Love & Kisses" or "Love and Kisses"?

I was going to merge those articles and didn't know what title choose. I read I should choose "and" unless the sign (&) is part of a formal name.

—Nethac DIU, would never stop to talk here— 18:59, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Name this show
The show originally aired on the WB. It was a comedy about a man who went semi-crazy after splitting from his wife, so he started talking to his stuffed rabbit. --The Dark Side 19:05, 4 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Nevermind I found it. --The Dark Side 19:13, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

For anyone else's edification, it's Unhappily Ever After. - Zepheus &lt;ツィフィアス&gt; 19:22, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Media piece
Hello, I am doing a project on Hemingway's short story Soldier's Home, which is about a soldier in WWI who after returning from war is incapable of adjusting to life and has difficulty connecting to people including his family. I am looking for a media piece such as a movie, song, painting or etc. that relates to this or has the similar story to it. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks --( Aytakin ) | Talk 19:42, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Sounds like post traumatic stress disorder (although this includes combat and non-combat causes), which was called shell shock in WW1. See Post_traumatic_stress_disorder and Shell_shock for a few ideas. StuRat 22:12, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * There's quite possibly a documentary out there somewhere about the life of Spike Milligan, a noted suffered of shell-shock. Grutness...wha?  23:45, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Coming Home, The War at Home, Three Comrades, Regeneration (indeed, much of the work of Siegfried Sassoon) are all relevent. Rockpock  e  t  23:52, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * One not listed at Shell_shock is Ian Hart's performance in The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (I think I'll amend that...) Grutness...wha?  00:03, 5 January 2007 (UTC)\


 * Thanks all, but no video rental store in Toronto, Canada has those movies! Any more ideas?--( Aytakin ) | Talk 03:34, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I have a hard time believing you can't find any of those movies in Toronto, especially Coming Home. After all, it starred Hanoi Jane, and Canada was a favorite hide-out for Americans who didn't have the political connections or money to avoid serving in Vietnam, as the future President Bush did. StuRat 06:41, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


 * You could try reading the books suggested. Rockpock  e  t  04:01, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


 * What? NO video store in Toronto has Coming Home? It was probably one of the top 25 movies of the entire 70s, I'd be seriously shocked if nobody had it. Try the library. And arty video rental places should have the hill/mountain movie. Anchoress 06:36, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


 * In fact the Toronto Public Library system catalog shows 8 video copies of The Englishman Who... and 2 copies of Coming Home (do not confuse with another video with the same title). It doesn't have either one on DVD, though; perhaps Aytakin was only looking for DVDs. --Anonymous, January 5, 18:30 (UTC).


 * Thanks guys, great help! --( Aytakin ) | Talk 12:05, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

TV QUESTION
Can anyone please tell me who were the two presenters in the first series of "Just the Two of Us" on BBC TV. TERRY FAHEY Slowboyo 20:30, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't watch the show, but I believe the presenters were Vernon Kay an Tess Daly. Carom 20:42, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Confirmed: Wolfgangus 00:26, 6 January 2007 (UTC)