Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2015 October 10

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October 10

Identify plot with a twist at the end ?

It's from a TV show many decades ago, and I thought it might be a Twilight Zone, but I haven't been able to find it. The plot is as follows:

A husband and wife living in poverty are given a "magic button" and told that if they press it, they will get a million dollars, but that somebody will be killed. Worried that it might be somebody they care about, they are assured that "it will be somebody you don't even know". After much agonizing, they finally press it. The man shows up, gives them the million, and reclaims the magic button. They ask what he plans to do with the button, and he responds "I'm going to give it to some poor people who don't even know you".

Now, there's a Twilight Zone where a man and wife get 4 wishes from a genie, one of which is for a million dollars, but that's the closest I found. Does this plot sound familiar to anyone ? StuRat (talk) 05:25, 10 October 2015 (UTC)

• "Button, Button"? ---Sluzzelin talk 07:41, 10 October 2015 (UTC)

• Yes, that's it ! I've seen all episodes of the original Twilight Zone series many times, but apparently I am less familiar with this follow-up series. StuRat (talk) 14:45, 10 October 2015 (UTC)

An intriguing plot with some similarities to The Monkey's Paw in which a family find an old paw which is said to grant three wishes. The wife wishes for £200 but nothing happens. The next day, the teenaged son's boss arrives and says that he has been killed in an industrial accident and gives them £200 as compensation. After days of agonising, the wife wishes that the son were alive again, but when the mutilated and decaying corpse arrives and starts hammering on the door, she has to wish him dead, thus using their third wish. Alansplodge (talk) 14:40, 11 October 2015 (UTC)

The husband has to wish him back into the grave just as the wife is about to eagerly open the door. Important point. Deor (talk) 21:16, 11 October 2015 (UTC)

Quite right, my memory was at fault. In fact looking at the synopsis, it seems that the husband made all three wishes, but the wish to make the son alive again was at the wife's insistence. Alansplodge (talk) 08:19, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

The "wishes that go wrong" trope has been heavily used. I've always thought that's just because the criteria of the wishes are under-specified. For example, how about specifying that the son be brought back to life in the same condition he was in an hour before the accident, and that the accident not occur at any time in the future, and that the son lives to be 100 in the same condition, other than normal aging  ? StuRat (talk) 16:43, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

And they all lived happily ever after... Alansplodge (talk) 07:56, 13 October 2015 (UTC)

CG short to identify

Several years ago - I'll say early 2000s - I saw a short film featuring characters that loosely resembled the California Raisins, though they were supposed to be something else (coffee beans or whatever). It was a short clip, only a few minutes long, and extremely violent. The protagonist shoots, stabs, etc. a whole bunch of similar creatures, who are also heavily armed. It centers onto a kind of discotheque and the protagonist graphically kills everyone there. At the end, it's revealed that all the mayhem was started because the protagonist couldn't sleep because of all the loud music. Despite being pretty graphic, it was played as humorous - a kind of black humour slapstick. I got the impression it was done by an indie group, but was pretty well done technically. I think it was CG at a time when that wasn't the kind of thing just anyone could throw together. Any idea what I'm talking about? 99.235.223.170 (talk) 15:29, 10 October 2015 (UTC)

Title of an old film

Greetings Ref Desk friends. It's been a long time since I posted a question, but I saw about ten minutes of a film a couple of days ago and I'm curious about what it might be. It was in color, and based on the cars and style it was most likely set in the 1960's - 1970's. It looked as though it was actually produced and released during this time period, not a modern film. Here's what I saw: A somewhat well dressed man wearing glasses is with a woman in a white dress, with a white flower headband or hat. They are having a conversation in and around a parked car, and they seem to be going through suitcases of clothing, it is possible they had changed clothes just before I started watching. I got the impression they had perhaps just committed a crime or were running from someone, but I could be wrong. The man asks the woman about the whereabouts of her husband and children, she replies something as "they are gone, I am no good". The man dumps a suitcase and bag of clothing into a thrift goodwill collection bin, they leave in the car. He is driving, and she is sitting next to him in the car, at which time he starts to place his hand on her legs. The next scene they arrive at what appears to be a church or something similar, the man has a conversation with another man, and I think the woman goes on an underground guided tour of some catacombs, in which religious symbolism appears. That's all I got. The language was English and I couldn't get a idea if it was a dramatic, action or horror film. My Google searches have been in vain. Does this film sound familiar to anyone? Thanks! 10draftsdeep (talk) 16:45, 10 October 2015 (UTC)

It's been a while since I saw it, but maybe the The Thomas Crown Affair. There's a scene where Faye Dunaway's character is on a stakeout in a cemetery, which may be the "catacombs" scene you remember. That's the best I have right now. --Jayron32 01:36, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

Thank you very much for the response, Jayron32. That classic film does have a similar overall look and feel of the one of which I am searching, but I don't think that is it. I pride myself in being rather savvy in entertainment research (hence my track record of only the rare question here), but I'm completely befuddled on locating this one. I've tried IMDb and various other sites to no avail, but the search continues. If it helps to spark anyone's memory further, the man had gray hair, glasses and a mustache, and the woman had blond hair. They were driving in an urban environment. The underground catacombs scene was preceded by a number of people walking about on the grounds of a church or museum in sunny weather. The catacombs scene included a crowd of people walking on a guided tour. The first display they gaze appeared rather macabre, perhaps consisting of mannequins resembling corpses. Thanks 10draftsdeep (talk) 16:07, 12 October 2015 (UTC)

If the movie was on TV where you are, it might be useful to check listings of TV channels, for example using newspaper back issues that you might find at a public library. --174.88.134.156 (talk) 23:14, 12 October 2015 (UTC)