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08 May 2004
Sometimes it would be really handy to have a search facility for finding the titles of films where you can't remember any of the words in the title, the director, or any of the actors. For example, this morning Mr. Bsag and I were trying to remember a great French film we saw a couple of years ago. Our search terms would have gone something like this:
What was that French film with the welder who runs away from his wife and family and becomes a painter in Venice?
We did eventually find the title—Lundi Matin, in case you are interested—via a rather verbose Google search.
2
Try IMDB.com, the Internet Movie Database, that is where I go, put in a few clues and away you go. Also has TV show info ', too.
by Zimm @ 09/05/2004 7:05 am • Permalink •
3
Keith: I have heard of such a service via mobile phone: you can call a number, then hold your phone up to the tune that is playing, and it will text you back with the title and artist. I haven't tried it, so I can't tell you how well it works. I'm blessed/cursed with a good 'name that tune in 2' ability, so I don't often need something like that.
Rob: Lo-tech can be good, but can you look up weird details like that in the guide to find a film? Even if you have no idea of actors or title?
Zimm: I know about the IMDB (see the link in my entry), but I haven't had much success with searching on those kinds of details before. In fact, my search in this case came up with nothing.
4
You can usually leave a query at IMDB, and expect an answer from one of the movie monomaniacs that hang out there within 24 hours or so. As I did trying to locate a satire on Hollywood with a script by Ben Hecht about a movie mogul accidentally commissioning a film script from a 9 year old boy. The answer came back almost immediately. It was one half of a film called "Actors & Sin", not that that helped me actually see this film again, but it did stop the question from gnawing at the back of my mind!
by ThoughtBadger @ 09/05/2004 9:05 pm • Permalink •
5
Shazam is the mobile phone tune recognising thing. I've tried it with a few things, and it seems to be pretty accurate. It got Stereolab's How to Play your Internal Organs Overnight which impressed me.
6
You can't find it by plot summary text because there is no plot summary text for the film on the database...shame..usually works though...
by Zimm @ 10/05/2004 10:05 am • Permalink •
7
ThoughtBadger: I didn't know that you could get answers from real people at IMDB—that's useful to know.
David: Yes, that's the one. I couldn't remember the name.
Zimm: And there was a very negative review. I really liked it. True, it isn't Hollywood-paced, but that's a good thing in my book.
8
Yes bsag, there is a message board associated with IMDB, where people discuss important things like who was the most stylish cigarette smoker on film. There is a section there called "I need to know" where most of your queries about half remembered films can be answered.
by ThoughtBadger @ 12/05/2004 5:05 pm • Permalink •
1
I would like to see a site where you could find the name of the tune going round in your head. Maybe not as unlikely as it sounds, I seem to recall a story in the Guardian a few years ago where you could hum a tune, record it and submit it as a wav file, and some software would try to find a match to the tune. On the other hand it may just have been the April 1st edition.----- Sorry for the lo-tech suggestion. I find the Time Out film guide is an invaluable resource for these sorts of things.
by Rob @ 08/05/2004 10:06 pm • Permalink •