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Tommy Carcetti

(44,566 posts)
Wed Apr 15, 2026, 09:21 PM Wednesday

Guess what movie I am thinking of based on my super vague 3 point assessment of it

1. Decently talented cast
2. Absolutely atrocious screenwriting and character development
3. Phenomenal cinematography

Winner gets 10 bucks or a Toyota

85 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Guess what movie I am thinking of based on my super vague 3 point assessment of it (Original Post) Tommy Carcetti Wednesday OP
Lawrence of Arabia nocoincidences Wednesday #1
Nope but thanks for playing. Nt Tommy Carcetti Wednesday #3
Heaven's Gate displacedvermoter Wednesday #2
Nope. Nt Tommy Carcetti Wednesday #4
Fun facts about that movie jmowreader Thursday #80
I went to a Sex Museum in Amsterdam many years ago displacedvermoter Friday #81
Let me address the brothel situation in Wallace jmowreader Friday #83
History is cool! displacedvermoter Friday #84
Moulin Rouge? Dave Bowman Wednesday #5
Nope. Tommy Carcetti Wednesday #7
Ishtar? jls4561 Wednesday #6
Nope. Tommy Carcetti Wednesday #8
Forrest Gump. 3catwoman3 Wednesday #9
Not a terrible guess, but nope. Nt Tommy Carcetti Wednesday #10
Sahara? dgauss Wednesday #11
Nope. Tommy Carcetti Wednesday #12
Yeah, number 3 was probably a stretch anyways. dgauss Wednesday #16
It's too vague. You need to add another clue. red dog 1 Wednesday #13
It's got a rather memorable Earworm in its soundtrack Tommy Carcetti Wednesday #14
Well, if it is "Dances with Wolves" (good cast, great cinematography, beautiful film score by hlthe2b Wednesday #15
Nope Tommy Carcetti Wednesday #21
The Big Country oasis Wednesday #17
Nope Tommy Carcetti Wednesday #20
How the West Was Won. Norrrm Wednesday #18
Nope Tommy Carcetti Wednesday #23
Gravity Solly Mack Wednesday #19
Nope Tommy Carcetti Wednesday #22
Days of Heaven n/t pamela Wednesday #24
Nope Tommy Carcetti Thursday #41
Couldn't POSSIBLY be "2001: A Space Odyssey," lastlib Wednesday #25
It is....not. Tommy Carcetti Thursday #42
Invasion USA-1985 - Chuck Norris Midnight Writer Wednesday #26
I said it had atrocious screenwriting. :) Tommy Carcetti Thursday #43
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome Tikki Wednesday #27
"Top Gun" Tikki Thursday #33
Nope Tommy Carcetti Thursday #44
Nope again Tommy Carcetti Thursday #45
The Ten Commandments hedda_foil Wednesday #28
That was gonna be my guess too dweller Thursday #31
Nice try but no Tommy Carcetti Thursday #46
The Black Dahlia? dgauss Wednesday #29
Nope Tommy Carcetti Thursday #48
Out of Africa? applegrove Wednesday #30
Nope Tommy Carcetti Thursday #49
Ok, last guess here. I'm thinkimg Scifi epics are a good bet. dgauss Thursday #32
I hate to tell you, because you put a lot of effort in that guess, but...no Tommy Carcetti Thursday #50
Avatar nt Shipwack Thursday #34
Another good guess but no Tommy Carcetti Thursday #51
Dune, The Greatest Showman, La La Land, Tron Legacy, Suicide Squad Doodley Thursday #35
All swings, but all misses Tommy Carcetti Thursday #52
Porky's Orrex Thursday #36
Nope, you cheeky bastard Tommy Carcetti Thursday #53
lol Orrex Thursday #57
Debbie does Dallas. Dave Bowman Thursday #37
Ha ha, no. Tommy Carcetti Thursday #54
Titanic MIButterfly Thursday #38
I was thinking Titanic, too. betsuni Thursday #39
CONGRATULATIONS BETSUNI YOU ARE OUR MISS CONGENIALITY!!! Tommy Carcetti Thursday #56
We Wholeheartedly Agree ProfessorGAC Thursday #68
I mean, it *is* beautifully shot. Tommy Carcetti Thursday #72
We Don't Have That Kind If Patience ProfessorGAC Thursday #73
You walked out of Titanic! Doodley Thursday #74
We Did ProfessorGAC Thursday #75
Oh come on! It is one of the most spectacular movies of all time. Doodley Thursday #78
Not To Us ProfessorGAC Thursday #79
You walked out at 40 minutes, and think the movie is too long, and it is Romeo and Juliet on a boat? Doodley Friday #85
When old Rose throws the jewel into the ocean I turn into Indiana Jones: THAT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM! betsuni Thursday #71
CONGRATULATIONS MIBUTTERFLY YOU ARE OUR BIG WINNER!!! Tommy Carcetti Thursday #55
Yahoo! MIButterfly Thursday #59
Oklahoma StoolPigeon Thursday #40
Nope Tommy Carcetti Thursday #47
Marty Supreme Doodley Thursday #58
No but that one is on my list to watch. Nt Tommy Carcetti Thursday #62
So it could have been a significant number of these films? displacedvermoter Thursday #60
True Tommy Carcetti Thursday #63
Fair enough. displacedvermoter Thursday #64
That was Fun! marked50 Thursday #61
We'll play again in six months. Tommy Carcetti Thursday #67
I'll be ready to jump on it. Harker Thursday #69
I walked out of the Titanic cause the guy behind me was drunk miyazaki Thursday #77
Ghostbusters II ? boonecreek Thursday #65
I actually liked Ghostbusters II more than the original. Tommy Carcetti Thursday #66
Project Hail Mary NNadir Thursday #70
Dances with Wolves (Plays with camera) JT45242 Thursday #76
Star Wars prequels and sequels. Iggo Friday #82

jmowreader

(53,284 posts)
80. Fun facts about that movie
Thu Apr 16, 2026, 09:24 PM
Thursday

Some of the movie was shot in Wallace, Idaho. A lot of small towns that have movies shot in them will brag about this. Wallace has completely disowned the movie. There's no "Heaven's Gate Museum" up there, but there sure is a brothel museum.

John Hurt, who has an important role in Heaven's Gate, got so tired of Cimino's screwing around he flew to London, starred in The Elephant Man and flew back to finish Heaven's Gate without anyone noticing.

When he finally showed his 5 hour 25 minute workprint to United Artists' executives he told them the workprint was about 15 minutes longer than the release print would be. They told him it was at least two hours longer than the release print would be.

displacedvermoter

(4,766 posts)
81. I went to a Sex Museum in Amsterdam many years ago
Fri Apr 17, 2026, 08:49 AM
Friday

I bet the brothel museum in Idaho would be cooler.

jmowreader

(53,284 posts)
83. Let me address the brothel situation in Wallace
Fri Apr 17, 2026, 06:34 PM
Friday

Wallace is an old-time mining community. The four biggest mines in the Silver Valley are the Lucky Friday, the Galena, the Sunshine and the Bunker Hill. Of the four, only the Bunker Hill Mine, which is in Kellogg, is not close enough to Wallace that you'd live in Wallace if you worked there. Lucky Friday is east of Wallace in Mullan, and the other two are west of Wallace. Before the Hunt Brothers tried cornering the silver market, Wallace was a busy place. (Wallace is also the reason the Idaho High School Activities Association banned high school sports recruiting in the public schools...the mine companies would scout other schools' athletic teams for quality players, and if they found one they'd make their family an offer they can't refuse - we'll buy your house at fair market value, sell you one in Wallace at a good price and give the father a job that pays twice what the one you now have (not out of line - Idaho mines have paid really well for a long time) if you enroll your children in the Wallace school system. Now it's only the religious schools that can do that.)

Where mining goes prostitution is soon to follow. The city tried to get rid of it a lot of times, only to see the houses turned into "rooms." You know, supposedly hotels but you couldn't stay there long. There were five of these businesses before Reagan became president, and one of the things he did that few talk about was send the US Marshals to Wallace to raid the houses.

The one that's now a museum was the Oasis Rooms. Apparently this was the house you wanted to work at because the proprietor paid really well (most houses did a 50-50 split between the woman and the proprietor; the Oasis gave 60 percent to the woman) and protected them against bad actors. When the Marshals kicked in the door, the women working there fled out the back door without any of their stuff. You go in there and, except for the perishables in the grocery sacks they abandoned, everything is just as it was the morning of the raid. All their clothes are where they were, their dressing tables are still laid out, anything you'd need if you were in that line of work is ready for you to get right back to it. In St. Maries we used to joke that their sports teams were so hard to beat because all the sex they got at the houses bulked the players up.

Tommy Carcetti

(44,566 posts)
14. It's got a rather memorable Earworm in its soundtrack
Wed Apr 15, 2026, 10:07 PM
Wednesday

One that is pretty much synonymous in its identity with the movie.

Yes, that’s still vague but at least it’s one more clue.

hlthe2b

(114,204 posts)
15. Well, if it is "Dances with Wolves" (good cast, great cinematography, beautiful film score by
Wed Apr 15, 2026, 10:13 PM
Wednesday

John Barry), but I guess some might criticize the screenwriting and character development.

It is a favorite film for me for all the positive features, but that might be the film you reference.

BTW, if it is a old movie, you should give the time period of release.

Tommy Carcetti

(44,566 posts)
21. Nope
Wed Apr 15, 2026, 10:37 PM
Wednesday

Although I actually did like Dances with Wolves myself.

I guess some people now might criticize it for being a little too White Savior complex, but still an overall good movie.

Anyways the movie I’m describing the lead actors are still alive and not eligible for Social Security yet.

hedda_foil

(16,997 posts)
28. The Ten Commandments
Wed Apr 15, 2026, 11:33 PM
Wednesday

I watched about half an hour of it this year and was gobsmacked by how utterly terrible the bogusly biblical dialog was and how little the perfectly decent cast could do with it in terms of character development. But the cinematography was fantastic.

dgauss

(1,560 posts)
32. Ok, last guess here. I'm thinkimg Scifi epics are a good bet.
Thu Apr 16, 2026, 12:16 AM
Thursday

Likely to hit all three criteria.

Jupiter Rising,

Tommy Carcetti

(44,566 posts)
56. CONGRATULATIONS BETSUNI YOU ARE OUR MISS CONGENIALITY!!!
Thu Apr 16, 2026, 06:06 AM
Thursday

A nice pat on the head is yours.

ProfessorGAC

(76,981 posts)
68. We Wholeheartedly Agree
Thu Apr 16, 2026, 10:22 AM
Thursday

That movie is dreadful!
My wife & I walked out of the theater because we couldn't stop laughing at the treacly script, the egregious overacting, etc.
We knew we were making other patrons mad, so we just left.
We gave it another shot when it came on HBO.
We were right the first time.

Tommy Carcetti

(44,566 posts)
72. I mean, it *is* beautifully shot.
Thu Apr 16, 2026, 12:57 PM
Thursday

When you see Rose getting lowered into the lifeboat while looking up at Jack as flares go off in the background, or when you see Rose looking at the Statue of Liberty after being rescued, it's just aesthetically great to look at.

But good lord, they must have blown all their budget on special effects and camera work because the dialogue is just so forced and wooden, and not even DiCaprio, Winslet, Bates or multiple other skilled actors can save it (unlike, say, Forrest Gump where I think skilled acting did manage to effectively save an otherwise underwhelming script.)

And Billy Zane's Cal has to be one of the most preposterously one-dimensional characters in modern cinema. He might as well have just had a moustache to twirl throughout the movie.

But because it's always on HBO, my wife and I have actually found a good use for the movie. When we go to channel guide and see that it's on HBO, we play this game where we try to pinpoint exactly where in the story the movie is based on how far the guide says is left in the movie. If we're good, we'll get it down to the exact scene.

ProfessorGAC

(76,981 posts)
73. We Don't Have That Kind If Patience
Thu Apr 16, 2026, 01:19 PM
Thursday

I feel the movie has no redeeming qualities, despite it's massive box office success.

ProfessorGAC

(76,981 posts)
75. We Did
Thu Apr 16, 2026, 02:33 PM
Thursday

About 40 minutes in. We knew that others near us were getting annoyed by our derisive laughter, which became increasingly uncontrollable.
To this day, I can't believe what a piece of garbage that was.

Doodley

(11,992 posts)
85. You walked out at 40 minutes, and think the movie is too long, and it is Romeo and Juliet on a boat?
Fri Apr 17, 2026, 08:03 PM
Friday

betsuni

(29,157 posts)
71. When old Rose throws the jewel into the ocean I turn into Indiana Jones: THAT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!
Thu Apr 16, 2026, 12:18 PM
Thursday

Last edited Thu Apr 16, 2026, 01:02 PM - Edit history (1)

MIButterfly

(2,893 posts)
59. Yahoo!
Thu Apr 16, 2026, 07:35 AM
Thursday

I was thinking maybe Titanic but the "memorable earworm in the soundtrack" really sealed the deal!

What fun! Thank you, Tommy Carcetti!

displacedvermoter

(4,766 posts)
60. So it could have been a significant number of these films?
Thu Apr 16, 2026, 08:23 AM
Thursday

I believe everyone deserves a participation prize.

miyazaki

(2,663 posts)
77. I walked out of the Titanic cause the guy behind me was drunk
Thu Apr 16, 2026, 06:06 PM
Thursday

and wouldn't shut up. I got a free pass to come back.

As for the cinematography, it's fake and doesn't count in my book. Though it can look pretty cool.

Tommy Carcetti

(44,566 posts)
66. I actually liked Ghostbusters II more than the original.
Thu Apr 16, 2026, 09:56 AM
Thursday

Does that make me a bad person?

Maybe.

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