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This is exactly why I miss IMDB's "I need to know" board. You could post a partially correct memory snippet from decades ago and someone would chime in with the

This is exactly why I miss IMDB's "I need to know" board. You could post a partially correct memory snippet from decades ago and someone would chime in with the answer. I had memories of movies I'd watched on TV as a young child. I had no name or context, but simply little moments stuck in my brain, and someone was able to resolve those to a title. The closing of the IMDB message boards was a terrible loss IMO. You could visit an obscure actors message board, and you might run into someone who knew them. You could discuss a movie's intricacies with someone, and share theories, etc, on the specific board for that movie. It was a goldmine for movie fans, and I still miss it.

jacquesm 5y ago
I've had the same with some music and even from pretty vague descriptions about tempo and content some people were able to find a couple of pieces that I thought I'd never hear again.
jorvi 5y ago
I wish there was something like that for books. I remember reading a book in my youth about a kid that lived in a shielded city with an AI controlling it with the assignment to keep everyone ‘happy’ (= docile). He/she breaks protocol and gets ejected through a trash chute. Meets an old man. Crossed a wasteland and finds old ruins, learns something and then blows up the shielding of the city to make it free again. In the Dutch translation either the old man or the main character was called ‘gull’ or ‘sea gull’. I’ve posted on a few subreddits and forums with people pretty much ignoring, and I have scoured Google without much results neither.
- kingcharles 5y ago
  Here's the one for books: https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthatbook/ https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthatbook/
- quercusa 5y ago
  Try https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/story-identification https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/story-ident... - they solve this kind of thing all the time.
- abbeyj 5y ago
  Maybe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_the_Fall_of_Night https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_the_Fall_of_Night or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_and_the_Stars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_and_the_Stars ? Also sounds similar to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run but doesn't quite match.
  - blyry 5y ago
    Logan's run was the first thing I thought of as well. Maybe a dutch adaptation of the movie that took some liberties?
  - jorvi 5y ago
    The last two sound familiar. Further research is required. At any rate, I thank you!
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- tjalfi 5y ago
  Goodreads has the What's the Name of That Book?[0] group for identifying books based on a description. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/185-what-s-the-name-of-that-book https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/185-what-s-the-name-of-...
abbeyj 5y ago
You might want to try https://www.reddit.com/r/tipofmytongue/ https://www.reddit.com/r/tipofmytongue/
- m-p-3 5y ago
  There's also the NFSW version /r/tipofmyp** (I'll let you guess the last word)
  - m-p-3 5y ago
    And I also found out /r/tipofmyjoystick for games.
- ASalazarMX 5y ago
  Many answers are low quality. Some participants will just Google and post their answers, something you've likely done before asking. Now r/WhatIsThisThing, that actually feels like crowdsourcing.
rightbyte 5y ago
Ye it is impressive how good those type of forums work. Pointing out a movie from details. I wrote in a similair local forum about a movie I was not allowed to watch as a kid, where people at a plane disappeared and their fake teeth was still there (only thing I remember) and someone could immediately point me to the correct kinda crappy Stephen King movie ...
- WalterBright 5y ago
  The Langoliers
WalterBright 5y ago
Haha, I have a memory of a movie I saw in the 1960s where there's a dream sequence with the guy in a stylized prison cell with pink mist and giant keys dangling in the air. I've never been able to figure out what this was.

jacquesm 5y ago

I've had the same with some music and even from pretty vague descriptions about tempo and content some people were able to find a couple of pieces that I thought I'd never hear again.

jorvi 5y ago

I wish there was something like that for books. I remember reading a book in my youth about a kid that lived in a shielded city with an AI controlling it with the assignment to keep everyone ‘happy’ (= docile). He/she breaks protocol and gets ejected through a trash chute. Meets an old man. Crossed a wasteland and finds old ruins, learns something and then blows up the shielding of the city to make it free again. In the Dutch translation either the old man or the main character was called ‘gull’ or ‘sea gull’. I’ve posted on a few subreddits and forums with people pretty much ignoring, and I have scoured Google without much results neither.

kingcharles 5y ago
Here's the one for books: https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthatbook/ https://www.reddit.com/r/whatsthatbook/
quercusa 5y ago
Try https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/story-identification https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/story-ident... - they solve this kind of thing all the time.
abbeyj 5y ago
Maybe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_the_Fall_of_Night https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_the_Fall_of_Night or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_and_the_Stars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_and_the_Stars ? Also sounds similar to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run but doesn't quite match.
- blyry 5y ago
  Logan's run was the first thing I thought of as well. Maybe a dutch adaptation of the movie that took some liberties?
- jorvi 5y ago
  The last two sound familiar. Further research is required. At any rate, I thank you!
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
tjalfi 5y ago
Goodreads has the What's the Name of That Book?[0] group for identifying books based on a description. [0] https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/185-what-s-the-name-of-that-book https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/185-what-s-the-name-of-...

abbeyj 5y ago

You might want to try https://www.reddit.com/r/tipofmytongue/ https://www.reddit.com/r/tipofmytongue/

m-p-3 5y ago
There's also the NFSW version /r/tipofmyp** (I'll let you guess the last word)
- m-p-3 5y ago
  And I also found out /r/tipofmyjoystick for games.
ASalazarMX 5y ago
Many answers are low quality. Some participants will just Google and post their answers, something you've likely done before asking. Now r/WhatIsThisThing, that actually feels like crowdsourcing.

rightbyte 5y ago

Ye it is impressive how good those type of forums work. Pointing out a movie from details. I wrote in a similair local forum about a movie I was not allowed to watch as a kid, where people at a plane disappeared and their fake teeth was still there (only thing I remember) and someone could immediately point me to the correct kinda crappy Stephen King movie ...

WalterBright 5y ago
The Langoliers

WalterBright 5y ago

Haha, I have a memory of a movie I saw in the 1960s where there's a dream sequence with the guy in a stylized prison cell with pink mist and giant keys dangling in the air. I've never been able to figure out what this was.