New year shenanigans

[Scurra]

The wall seems fine to me (I got three sets fairly quickly, and then couldn't believe how long it took to figure out why the remaining four were a set! It should be "ATTILA" btw.)
The movies all seem OK, although I didn't get the western either (but the answer letter was fairly obvious by that point.)

[LAT]

Which wall? There are two of them.

[Scurra]

Not when I got to the thread there weren't.

[LAT]

Oh, I didn't realise they had disappeared.

[Scurra]

For that western movie, for an alternative, how about:
1992 Tarantino thriller about jewel thieves watching deer drinking from a water feature
(Having said that, I'd probably have got it if you'd included Peckinpah in the clue. I tend to think that the actors are less well-known!)

[LAT]

We got the western one fine. (N got the film and I worked out the change). I've no idea what your suggestion is! But then I am much more likely to know a film from the actors than the director.

Sorry Bunnylump that probably doesn't help you!

[LAT]

Aaah, I've looked up what you mean Scurra. I think the word feature confused me, got me thinking of fountains/ponds. But I've never seen the film so didn't know anything about the plot.
N agrees that the director name might help some younger than him!

[SparkOut]

Directors and actors don't generally give me a clue but for the limited ones I recognise, the actors are much more helpful than directors.

[Bunnylump]

For that western movie, for an alternative, how about:
1992 Tarantino thriller about jewel thieves watching deer drinking from a water feature
(Having said that, I'd probably have got it if you'd included Peckinpah in the clue. I tend to think that the actors are less well-known!)

Yes, quite like that. Thank you.

The removed wall (which I was thinking of re doing but haven't (yet) was

ALBUM
BANANA
BULLY
DESPERATE
DREARY
EVIL
GLAD
HARSH
RED
REHEARSED
RIB
STEELY
STERN
TENSE
UNBUTTERED
WINKER




LAT's doing quite nicely on this one but is stuck on the last set.

[Bunnylump]

Aaah, I've looked up what you mean Scurra. I think the word feature confused me, got me thinking of fountains/ponds. But I've never seen the film so didn't know anything about the plot.
N agrees that the director name might help some younger than him!

I'll be honest, I wouldn't have had a clue about the original one! But I am generally rubbish at anything to do with films.

[Scurra]

This is why you have to be very careful about puzzles that are supposed to be written for people without access to reference sources but which you want them to be able to complete, which makes it different to, say, a pub quiz. Although I think that film list is probably fine in that it covers a good spread of titles that folk would likely know (although it really wants at least a couple that are post-2000 releases - perhaps it needs a Marvel movie in there somewhere; IRON BAN maybe?!)

[LAT]

I have to confess that I wouldn't know a Marvel film title if it came up and bit me but that's probably just me! But after all, this set of puzzles is for Bunnylump's family and friends so it's for her to decide what they are likely to know, not us!

[Bunnylump]

I don't imagine my friends would know what a Marvel film was if it smacked them in the face! But I take your point about the lack of recent films. I think I was getting my inspiration from a list of top 100 films of all time or something. I thought that that way, at least everyone would have probably have heard of the title, even if they hadn't seen them.

[LAT]

I agree that I have heard of all the films, even the ones I didn't think of. But I think I have seen barely half of them.

[SparkOut]

I haven't seen any film with Charlton Heston, but I have heard of him and two very famous "religious epic" films of his. That is way more useful than being given the director.
Although Spielberg is maybe more useful than Roy Scheider, although... although...
I got "most" of the film titles from the clues as given, I think the overall pitch is just right. I have only actually seen a small limited number of the actual films, but there's enough "general knowledge" about them to be fair.

[Scurra]

My suspicion is that it's harder to clue an "ensemble" film using just the names of a couple of the actors because it assumes that the particular chosen actors are the ones that someone will happen to know! It's so much easier when it's a 'star' name...

[Bunnylump]

I haven't seen any film with Charlton Heston, but I have heard of him and two very famous "religious epic" films of his. That is way more useful than being given the director.
Although Spielberg is maybe more useful than Roy Scheider, although... although...
I got "most" of the film titles from the clues as given, I think the overall pitch is just right. I have only actually seen a small limited number of the actual films, but there's enough "general knowledge" about them to be fair.

Thank you, that's reassuring!

My suspicion is that it's harder to clue an "ensemble" film using just the names of a couple of the actors because it assumes that the particular chosen actors are the ones that someone will happen to know! It's so much easier when it's a 'star' name...

I think that one you mentioned particularly was a good example of me not knowing the film (other than having heard of the title) and not knowing the names of the "stars" either. But I have to say that a director would largely still leave me mystified apart from the REALLY obvious ones.

[Scurra]

Oh sure; I wouldn't suggest a director unless you are completely sure that it will be meaningful (as with the Frank Capra one although I'm not quite sure why you put "produced" there); the only reason I commented about Peckinpah is that if you know his name at all, it would be for that film (or Straw Dogs perhaps.) Same with Tarantino I would guess - there are only one or two likely titles of his that would qualify as 'general knowledge' rather than 'film studies'.

[Bunnylump]

Gosh, all this reminds me I haven't seen a film (at the cinema) for years! Really must go. Anyone got any recommendations?

[Scurra]

Well, I enjoyed Last Night in Soho a lot. It's a clever idea, looks absolutely gorgeous and the performances are terrific. It goes a bit over the top in the last section, but you pretty much know what's coming by that point and it just about gets away with it. But I'm not sure if that's still in cinemas.