Help me find a movie? But might be impossible.

[MMock]

Years ago my mother told me about a movie that I'd like to find. All I remember is the guy in it was somewhat confused. He was trying to find a town called James, Vermont (in the USA). There was no such thing but at the end of the movie they show a street corner of two street signs one is James the other is Vermont. I thought this would be easy to google. And I guess it is, but sifting through the undending matches wouldn't be fun. Any idea how to narrow my search? I would place the movie perhaps in the 1970's, give or take a decade, but that might be when she watched it and not necessarily when it was made. But it would've been filmed before the '80's. Thanks.

[TysonLPrice]

I tried ChatGPT with no luck.

[OptionBase1]

Sounds more like an episode of The Twilight Zone, Amazing Stories, The Outer Limits, or other shows along those lines.

[dilettante]

I run into these sorts of difficult searches all the time.

Most recently I was trying to find an old children's story where a character kept referring to "brains" as "pins." I never came close to finding a clue what story this is, much less why anyone might confuse the two things or even the words.

[Niya]

I run into these sorts of difficult searches all the time.

I have one that's been nagging me for the past 15 plus years. When I was a teenager, we rented Aladdin: The Return of Jafar on VHS. Now at the end of that movie, it goes straight into another movie that was previously recorded on that VHS cassette tape. It was an old-school Sci-Fi file set aboard a ship in space. All I could remember from it was that there was a beautiful woman that was taunting the protagonist throughout the film. I also remember the protagonist was the only survivor by the end and he left in a small escape ship, perhaps a shuttle. The women then magically appear there with him and I remember her laughing at him in a taunting manner. The woman may have been some kind of ghost, hologram or android.

I've been trying to find that movie for years now. Tried everything I could think of. I even spoke to ChatGPT 3.5 for 2 whole hours trying to find it. Failure.

But you know what, I never tried with GPT-4. I think I'll go do that now.

[EDIT]

GPT-4 isn't helping either. I just don't remember enough details about this movie for it to help me.

[OptionBase1]

I have one that's been nagging me for the past 15 plus years.

Solaris?

[Niya]

As for OP's movie, GPT-4 came up with this:-

I apologize for the confusion earlier, but I've found some information on films that were either set in or filmed in Vermont:

"Way Down East" (1920): Directed by D.W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish, this silent romantic melodrama was one of the earliest films to use Vermont as a filming location. The plot involved a young girl, Anna Moore, who was tricked into a sham marriage by a wealthy womanizer and then left alone when she becomes pregnant​1​.

"Dr. Cook's Garden" (1971): This made-for-television movie was filmed in Woodstock, Vermont. It starred Bing Crosby and tells the story of a small-town physician, Dr. Cook, who keeps his garden healthy by removing all the sickly and imperfect plants. When a young protégé returns to his hometown, he becomes suspicious of Dr. Cook when he notices certain groups of undesirable people in the town have a disproportionately high mortality rate​1​.

"Ghost Story" (1981): Based on a novel written by Peter Straub, this horror movie was partially filmed in Woodstock, Vermont. It featured an all-star cast that included Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman, Craig Wasson, Patricia Neal, and Alice Krige. The plot involves four elderly friends who share a terrifying experience from their youth involving a young woman's death, a secret they keep until the truth eventually comes to light​1​.

"Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936): While this film wasn't filmed in Vermont, the main character, Longfellow Deeds, is from a fictitious town in Vermont named Mandrake Falls. This American comedy-drama romance film is directed by Frank Capra and stars Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur​2​.

It's possible the movie he is looking for is there. GPT-4 also informed me that there are more movies based on the criteria I gave it. Here is the conversation:-
https://chat.openai.com/share/d6af29...b-d6b908a4d6d8

[Niya]

Solaris?

Nah. The ending of Solaris is different from what I remember about this movie. Here's my description of the ending to GPT-4:-

The only thing I remember clearly was the ending. It was a guy escaping in a small ship. He was a alone for a while and he clearly thought he was alone but just before the movie ends, a woman appears and talks to him seductively while laughing and giggling. He seemed annoyed at her presence. I also seem to remember this same woman appearing throughout the movie though I can't recall in exactly what capacity.

This is not how Solaris ends.

[MMock]

Too bad about Solaris, I was hoping you'd find your movie, and thank you for the suggestions of mine. The one of those it could possibly be is Dr. Cook's Garden, I will check that out. The movie my mother described to me sounded somewhat dark/disturbing so most likely not a rom-com! Also, could've been filmed anywhere and in the movie the guy just thinks it's Vermont but it's two street names most likely somewhere else. I know I gave you squat to go on, that why I said might be impossible...
P.S. Not that it matters much, I am a she not a he, I remember someone called me "dude" on this forum once and I corrected them to "dudette"! :-)
I usually use the generic pronoun "he" but sometimes when I'm typing I use "s/he", so whatever, doesn't matter.

[Niya]

P.S. Not that it matters much, I am a she not a he, I remember someone called me "dude" on this forum once and I corrected them to "dudette"! :-)
I usually use the generic pronoun "he" but sometimes when I'm typing I use "s/he", so whatever, doesn't matter.

This remind me of reason I chose this handle. I've used some variation of "Niya" as a handle from the very early days of online gaming for it's sexually ambiguous nature. Being a girl online back in the days of the early internet was a free pass for all kinds of things. I never explicitly told anyone I was a girl but many assumed I was based on the handle and I very rarely corrected anyone on this wrong assumption. By the time I got here, I had already gotten used to using it all over the place.

[OptionBase1]

It was an old-school Sci-Fi file set aboard a ship in space.

How old is old-school?

[Niya]

How old is old-school?

Based on the graphics and image quality, I'd say it was made between 1970 and 1990. It had that cheesy old-school feel to it. It pre-dated the era of CGI.

[dilettante]

Cheesy sets and effects, as in "Outland" or are we talking "Doctor Who" levels (painted carboard boxes and garbage cans with toilet plungers duct taped to them)?

[Niya]

More like Outland. What little I remember of the film seems to be a serious attempt, only limited by the technology of the day, so nothing super cheesy like Doctor Who. I also have remember it feeling a little low budget, even for it's time.

[dilettante]

It wasn't that weird thing made using sets, miniatures, and stock footage left over from the original Battlestar Galactica series, was it?

[Niya]

It wasn't that weird thing made using sets, miniatures, and stock footage left over from the original Battlestar Galactica series, was it?

You know this almost feels like it could have been it. I'll have to check to the ending though.

Also, I hadn't considered whether it was something from an old anthology series. I always assumed it was a movie.

[dilettante]

I think "Space Mutiny" (1988) was a movie, made in part from stuff that got "inherited" from the first BSG series.

[Niya]

I just found Space Mutiny on YouTube. I scrolled through it quickly to get a sense of it. It certainly does match thematically with my vague memory. The same kind of cheesy acting, 1980s special effects and set pieces, it's a close match but this isn't it. The ending isn't the one I remember.

However, this one is so similar that I almost want to believe I misremember the movie I'm talking about. If I didn't remember the ending so clearly, I might have thought that this was it.

[sapator]

Since we opened a discussion.
I asked again but never got an answer.
It was a movie 1980's - 1990's with con men. I remember a guy was conning people with his friends but at the end their friends con him and left him to the dogs.
It's not the one with Tom Cruise , it's not the sting and certainly not the one with Nick Cage.
...

[Niya]

Since we opened a discussion.
I asked again but never got an answer.
It was a movie 1980's - 1990's with con men. I remember a guy was conning people with his friends but at the end their friends con him and left him to the dogs.
It's not the one with Tom Cruise , it's not the sting and certainly not the one with Nick Cage.
...

ChatGPT 3.5 suggested House of Games (1987) based on that description. Only it describes the main character as a woman and not a man so that may not be it.

[sapator]

Unfortunately that is not it.
Btw, C.U. on the cyberspace!