Quirky touches by directors

The Denouncer

I was watching Hellboy 2 The Golden Army and noticed the name of the movie 'See You Next Wednesday' was a homage to the porn movie in John Landis' An American Werewolf in London. Also Spielberg movies used to have shooting stars in every movie he made (up to Temple of Doom anyway .. spot the Obi Wan reference). Or Lucas' obsession with THX 1138 thanks to his first movie.
Can you name or list other things you spotted in movies particular to one director or another which made you go "Ah yeah that's in all his movies!" or "Ah that's a nod to his first movie" or whatever.

cabrwab

In fight club there is a nod to brad pitts movie seven years in tibet, in the scene where the ed norton is putting helena whats her face on a bus! The theatre in the background is showing seven years in tibe

You've def mentioned the most obvious nods! Apparently pixar are the king of nods in movies, were the likes of wall-e appears in cars at some point running around a pit lane, nemo appears as a toy in monsters inc, even though the movies are years apart.
The other pixar nod i loved was the gag in toy story2 that short sighted buyers didn't buy enough toys to meet demand!

Ill keep thinking!

Vic Vinegar

An obvious one that springs to mind is doves in John Woo films (I think they are in all of them so far, they are even in the game "Stranglehold" - a game he directed kinda)

Oscholar

A little off-topic I guess but a quirky touch nonetheless: In the Evil Dead, there's a torn poster of The Hills Have Eyes on the wall. This was in response to Wes Craven, who put a torn poster of Jaws in The Hills Have Eyes, suggesting his film was more terrifying than Jaws. So Sam Raimi put a torn poster of Craven's film in the Evil Dead, suggesting that it was more frightening than The Hills Have Eyes.

Plus the use of Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi in his films and the 1973 yellow Oldsmobile Delta 88 that appears in all of his films, except The Quick And The Dead.

The Denouncer

Oscholar wrote: »

A little off-topic I guess but a quirky touch nonetheless: In the Evil Dead, there's a torn poster of The Hills Have Eyes on the wall. This was in response to Wes Craven, who put a torn poster of Jaws in The Hills Have Eyes, suggesting his film was more terrifying than Jaws. So Sam Raimi put a torn poster of Craven's film in the Evil Dead, suggesting that it was more frightening than The Hills Have Eyes.

Plus the use of Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi in his films and the 1973 yellow Oldsmobile Delta 88 that appears in all of his films, except The Quick And The Dead.

That's great stuff, fully on-topic! You reminded me that one of the buildings in Blade Runner is the actually the Millennium Falcon adorned with lights, and one of the cars in Back to the Future 2 is a spinner car from Blade Runner..

irishash

Oscholar wrote: »

Plus the use of Bruce Campbell and Ted Raimi in his films and the 1973 yellow Oldsmobile Delta 88 that appears in all of his films, except The Quick And The Dead.

Actually (while pushing my glasses firmly to my face in the most geeky fashion possible) the Oldsmobile does make an apperance in "the quick and the dead"

It is in a scene with a horse drawn wagon, which had the chassis of the car built into it - Raimi sees it as a real good luck charm of his and had the wagon specially made to make sure the car was in the film, at least to some degree.

Shacklebolt

Anybody noticed that all characters in Tarantinos films smoke the non-existent Red Apple cigarette brand?

Pigman II

The Denouncer wrote: »

I was watching Hellboy 2 The Golden Army and noticed the name of the movie 'See You Next Wednesday' was a homage to the porn movie in John Landis' An American Werewolf in London. Also Spielberg movies used to have shooting stars in every movie he made (up to Temple of Doom anyway .. spot the Obi Wan reference). Or Lucas' obsession with THX 1138 thanks to his first movie.
Can you name or list other things you spotted in movies particular to one director or another which made you go "Ah yeah that's in all his movies!" or "Ah that's a nod to his first movie" or whatever.

Lucas alyways tries to get Sunsets into his movies.

Scorcese having his main character talking to himself in a mirror.

PT Anderson placing unsettling score into a long shot before ending with a violent accident.

indough

Shacklebolt wrote: »

Anybody noticed that all characters in Tarantinos films smoke the non-existent Red Apple cigarette brand?

yeah he likes to either invent brands or use ones which were once popular aren't available anymore

Shacklebolt

Tarantino likes to always include a trunk-shot in his films as well.

robby^5

Michael Mann has a lot of blue in his films, seriously they'll always be a scene where there's a big neon blue club, blue lighting or certain scenes shot with a blue tint, he loves that colour.

I suppose an obvious one would be Tarantino's love of black and white suits, I wonder how he'll try and fit one into Inglorious Bastards

ryoishin

Hitchcock appearing in alot of his films.

faceman

Shacklebolt wrote: »

Tarantino likes to always include a trunk-shot in his films as well.

The trunk shots in Pulp fiction are a nod to Repo Man.

bluto63

Tarantino always trying to sneak his foot fetish into his movies

kraggy

Paul Thomas Anderson always uses Camel Lights in his movies.

Also, the presence of the number 82 in Magnolia (apartment number, in audience in What kids know etc etc) after the Exodus 8:2 passage.

BlitzKrieg

The Denouncer wrote: »

I was watching Hellboy 2 The Golden Army and noticed the name of the movie 'See You Next Wednesday' was a homage to the porn movie in John Landis' An American Werewolf in London.

Actually:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/See_You_Next_Wednesday

Also Spielberg movies used to have shooting stars in every movie he made (up to Temple of Doom anyway .. spot the Obi Wan reference).

A theme with Spielberg rather then then a quirky touch is almost all his films have the *broken family units* in them, with the exception of Jaws, Spielberg films consist of single parents, parents that are seperated or divorced, rogues and thieves playing father roles (Indiana Jones temple of Doom, Empire of the Sun) artificial families, fathers who are distant or absent etc etc.

Shacklebolt

Hitchcocks obsession with blonde women.

Chardee MacDennis

bluto63 wrote: »

Tarantino always trying to sneak his foot fetish into his movies

he's all about the mexican standoffs as well...