1884
  • “Like Sputnik, the head was large and quite pointy in parts.”
1885

The Iron Giant?

1886

Was Iron Giant a theatrical bomb? I hope not.

1887

Correct, @Ginger_Yellow, it’s The Iron Giant.

Rockwell was the name of the Norman Rockwell-esque Maine village where part of the story is set. There are a few shots where a character is looking around, and the titular Giant’s head suddenly rotates, revealing lighthouse lamp-like eyes, glaring down in a manner only slightly friendlier than the Eye of Sauron.

  • A friend takes the role of a mom

Friends cast member Jennifer Aniston played the main character’s mom.

  • Disaster Seen As Catastrophe Looms

The attention grabbing headline.

DSCL

Yup.

  • A walk in the woods

There are a few of these. Some are adventurous, some are pastoral, some are frightening.

  • Literal junk food

The Iron Giant eats metal scrap for food.

  • The director of this movie has directed a few movies. Some were blockbusters, some were bombs, some were wildly critically acclaimed, some were critically meh ed.

Blockbuster: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Bomb: this one :(
Critical Hit!: Ratatouille
Meh: Tomorrowland

  • “Like Sputnik, the head was large and quite pointy in parts.”

The movie opens on Sputnik beeping and twirling above the free air of the United States of America, and this dude’s head bears a resemblance.

Yeah, I’m afraid so. Warner Bros. Feature Animation was an attempt to revive the animation powerhouse of the WB pedigree in the theaters, nodding at the success of their television efforts (Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Batman: The Animated Series, and so on) and harkening back to the Looney Tunes glory days. Space Jam did well, but Quest for Camelot, Osmosis Jones, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and The Iron Giant did not. And so Warner Bros. Feature Animation was sent to live on a farm upstate. The idea of WB doing cartoon movies was eventually resurrected as Warner Animation Group. They have done much better with efforts like The Lego Movie.

I felt lucky to catch it in the theaters. It had been talked up on Aint-it-cool-news, which was the paper of record at the time, and it was released in the UK when I was studying there (but mostly watching American movies that had been released over here in the US the previous year).

Well done, Ginger_Yellow! You’re up next!

1888

So, on that one, it was only really the “literal junk food” clue that I recognised. Ironically, when that clue came up I had been thinking “Did they eat garbage?” about various other boy and his non-human friend movies like Mac and Me and Batteries Not Included, before the Sputnik clue made a light go off in my brain, though I don’t remember the opening shot. I guess I knew the walk in the woods might fit, too. No idea who the director was (I would probably have said Bird if forced to guess, but only because I don’t know any other animation directors), no idea about Rockwell, no particular sense of the film’s reception. Didn’t remember the headline, though I thought it fit.

1889

l do believe it is your turn, @Ginger_Yellow!

1890

I believe that Buckaroo is correct!

1891

Sorry, somebody else please take over.

1892

@Djscman, do you want to post the next one?

1893

No worries, Ginger_Yellow.

  • A lot of walking
  • blanking out
  • king of the humans
  • sisters of mercy
  • reunions
1894

Hmm, Lord of the Rings Return of the King?

1895
1896

Last Temptation of Christ?

1897

Those are some great guesses, but I think the Clerks 2 clip is closest (even though if Bella posted it for the LotR walkin’ takedown).

1898

I have another guess, which is about as far from my first one as is possible, but I’ll wait for the next clue.

1899

The Book of Eli?

1900

No, not our Gary Whitta’s Book of Eli.

1901
  • circle chats
1902

OK, I’m going to change my second guess to The Lobster. Would have been Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

1903

Stand by Me?