Tag Archive: movies


A Common Name

We were on the phone recently for almost 45 minutes with our friend Dawn who has moved to Northern California. We’ve been friends with her for ‘way over 20 years, and about half that time she was married  to a man named Jim, Jim Thomas.

Later, I was scrolling through an online bulletin board, and one of the messages was from Jim about Dan Ackroyd.

This past weekend, I happened to see a documentary about comedians who died young, including John Belushi, and included shots of him with Dan Ackroyd in the Blues Brothers… And the name of the man who posted the bulletin board message is Jim Thomas. So — that’s like a pattern seeking triple whammy. Of course, Jim Thomas is a pretty common name, like Wendy Hughes, that lends itself to coincidences.

Not a Trivial Coincidence

(Submitted by reader Donald Chesebro)

I watch hundreds of movies a year, much more than the average person, and take notes during most of them as part of preparing for an annual trivia contest in my hometown.  Thus, whenever a character drives or otherwise encounters a motor vehicle, I will write down (for example) what type of vehicle it is and what its license number is, if it’s visible.

Yesterday lunchtime, for no particular reason but for the first time in the over 15 years since I’ve owned my 1993 teal Accord, I wondered why I’d never seen anyone with my model of car in a movie.  I probably see another teal 91-94 Accord on the streets of LA at least once a month, but I’ve never seen it in the thousands of films and TV episodes I’ve watched since I bought my car (used) in 1995.  I figured it had something to do with Hollywood having deals with Detroit, or the like.

This morning, less than a day after I wondered if I’d ever see my car in a movie, I started watching the 2011 remake of “Fright Night,” the first movie set in the U.S. that I watched since framing my question (the only film I watched in between was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 the night before).

Four minutes into the film, there’s a ’91-’94 teal Accord parked in the driveway of the character named Doris.

[EDITOR: Meanwhile my car’s bumper sticker is “My other car is a Nimbus 2000,” so I probably would have seen my second vehicle the first night and made it even crazier a coincidence!]

Justin Time!

(Submitted by friend of the blog, Brian Hart)

My wife and I were driving to Hollywood and she put on a random Podcast of Terry Gross’s Fresh Air for us to listen to for the drive.  It happened to be an interview with actor/musician Justin Timberlake.  We got out of the car and started to discuss the only movie of Timberlake’s that we had ever seen, Black Snake Moan.  Walking to our destination building, I a saw a glint on the ground and stooped to pick it up.  It was a home-made DVD of…Black Snake Moan (below)!

Odds Blood, that was quite a coincidence.

The Man in the Foreground

(Submitted by friend of the blog, Sherri Andrews)

I was sent this email this AM by my friend of 20+ years, Lee Harris. He is the eponymous ‘unusual man in background’. More unusual, to my mind, was that Jim Newman, fellow IIG member was the man in foreground!! Did I miss the part where he’s an actor? Anyway… what are the odds??  🙂

I See 3-D

(Submitted by reader Donald Chesebro)

This afternoon I was walking past a bus stop and saw a poster for the upcoming film “Step Up 3-D” and started wondering what other films eligible for a second sequel might be coming in 3-D.  The first thing that came to my mind was “Oh God! Book 3-D”.  A few minutes ago, I saw a note in the news that someone is planning to remake “Oh God!” starring Betty White.  No word on whether it’ll be in 3-D.