More fun-and-games for my end-of-the-month 'Film List' - this time, a selection of memorable (or not?) advertising slogans. Can you spot which films they were plugging?
I'll post the answers next week.
1) "If he's crazy, what does that make you?"
2) "They're young, they're in love, and they kill people."
3) "The strangest story ever conceived by man."
4) "One man's struggle to take it easy."
5) "Nothing on Earth could come between them."
6) "Some called him a hero. Others called him a heel."
7) "It knows what scares you."
8) "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water..."
9) "Only one man can make the difference."
10) "Mighty miracle show of 1,000 delights!"
11) "The most dangerous combination since nitro and glycerine."
12) "Never give a saga an even break!"
13) "I don't smile for pictures."
14) "A new breed of hero."
15) "The story of a man who was too proud to run."
16) "The next war will not be fought - it will be played."
17) "He loved the American Dream - with a vengeance."
18) "Bombed out in space with a spaced-out bomb!"
19) "He chopped down the family tree."
20) "If you don't remember the '60s, don't worry - neither can they."
And here's a reminder of what they sound like. It's not "The Voice", Don LaFontaine, who created this style, and these clichés, but died a few years ago. It's Hal Douglas, still going strong, and continuing Don's legacy.
Answers now posted here.
11 comments:
Last time you did this I think I got just about all of them, this time I think I got just about none of them.
It's a tricky test, isn't it?
But you will kick yourself over some of them.
Okay, on a quick first read: pure guesswork...
2) Either Bonnie & Clyde or... Natural-Born Killers maybe?
3) Terry Gilliam's Baron Munchausen
4) The Big Lebowski
7) Psycho
8) Oh, that IS Jaws, right? or did they wait for Jaws 2? (The "back" throws me.)
11) Just on form alone, I'd guess it to be an action comedy, with a title like [Name 1] and [Name 2]. Um... Thunderbolt and Lightfoot? (Probably not Harry & Tonto.)
12) Has the feel of a Mel Brooks line. History of the World maybe?
14) Dirty Harry?
15) High Noon or -- maybe too literal -- Running Man
16) War Games
18) I want to say Dr. Strangelove, but the "in space" doesn't fit.
You're right -- as you said to Hopfrog, I will probably kick myself at missing a lot of these.
I couldn't wait, I had to google them. Let me say, I am NOT kicking myself. Those were tough. Some popular flicks, but taglines are tricky. #14.. are you kidding me? You threw that in there! That was fun though, degree of difficulty is much higher with taglines instead of quotes.
JES did better than I did (actually I was kicking myself when I realized I overlooked the 'back' of back in the water, well played).
Oh and let me give a quick plug for #19 when you reveal it. Saw this just this past year and would highly recommend it. Movie was well ahead of its time and its fascinating to see how it was crafted in the way that the times required. Vague I know. Suffice to say its an older flick and I always like to give a plug for a good older flick that deserves to keep being viewed. After watching Shutter Island recently I couldn't help but think what a shame it is that so many people that watch it today will have no idea they are watching a remake (imho) of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
There are a few tag lines that are so good, so memorable, that they do become identified with the films in perpetuity. I was originally tempted to try to confine myself to those... but I couldn't think of enough. And many of them - "In space, no-one can hear you scream." - were going to be too easy.
I thought 2, 4, 7, and 17 (and 14!) were in this category here; even if they're not all such great movies, the tag lines stick with you.
Haven't seen Shutter Island yet, HF. Not sure if the Dr Caligari link will make me more inclined to or not: it piques my curiosity, but further lowers my expectations.
Your reasoning is impeccable, JES; but, alas, the answers it leads you to are mostly not quite right.
War Games was a wilful piece of misdirection on my part. Sorry. Of course it fits - but not correct.
Yes, that's me all over again: impeccable reasoning, goofy conclusions.
I haven't gone to Hopfrog's obsessive-compulsive extreme (yet -- I like to drag my complexes out over time), and looked them up. I'm hoping you'll publish the answers under separate (perhaps password-protected) cover and save me the trouble. Just inventing those guesses probably took even more time than Googling them; it'd be a little unfair to ask that I do the latter, too!
Man, this is pretty hard!
I think I got 4, 7, 14 and 17. And I could take a guess at a few of the others. But you'd have to be some kind of genius film nerd to score more than 50% on this.
Well, I'm glad someone recognised No. 14!
Patience, please everyone - answers coming in a few days. (Hmm, maybe I should just ask Hopfrog to do that post for me?)
You got 14! I think that movie was in theaters for about 2 weeks and then never shown again in any format anywhere. Impressive score Gary, but.... I noticed you said you "think" you got those correct. I'm pretty sure JES thought the same thing as well. When I said JES did better than I did, it wasn't saying much. I got 1 and then had to deduct that point right after I kicked myself.
Heck, I was reading JES's guesses and going "oh thats right!" after most of them. Its pretty funny how so many taglines will fit so perfectly with other movies.
I've already exhausted myself on this one, you'll have to break it to everyone yourself Froog!
Oh, very well....
Wait till the weekend.
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