News

2009-02-10 22:23 For Philips Eyes Only

For Your Eyes Only appears to be a marketing coup for Philips - just about every bit of electronic equipment in the film is Philips branded from cassette recorders to computers. Computer-wise there are a couple of Philips office computers: the P5003 and the P330. I've also managed to identify the minicomputer in Phase IV that has been on the help page for ages - it's a GEC 4080.

2009-02-07 23:20 Short Circuit

Short Circuit provides us with an Apple Mac and a TRS-80, as well as a couple of mysteries (a HELP[shortcirc1, big chunky PC thing], and a HELP[shortcirc2, colourful keyboard]).

2009-02-06 23:55 Amstrad's Eternal Sunshine

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind has lots of nice shots of an Amstrad PPC640 portable PC - an improbable tool for an impossible job!

2009-02-04 22:50 Big Question

Big has a brief glimpse of an Atari 600/800 XL, as well as a couple of mystery PC clones including this HELP[big, Unisys]. Can you identify it?

2009-02-04 09:30 Hackers

I've finally had a chance to add Hackers to the database and, yes, it's an Apple-fest. On show we have Starring-the-Computer's first Apple IIGS, a Messagepad, and a couple of Powerbooks: a 540c and a 2300c.

2009-01-31 00:29 Single White Outbound

I've just added Single White Female to the database. It has the normal array of Apples (in this case Mac IIs) but, more interestingly, it also has the Outbound portable Mac clone.

2009-01-24 23:40 What's that Thing?

The Thing features an Apple II in a minor role at the beginning of the film, and a more major role for a HELP[thething, mystery computer]. Can you identify it?

2009-01-21 00:23 Un Commodore: Gris

The French/Swiss/Polish film Trois Couleurs: Rouge has the most fleeting of glimpses of a Commodore 64.

2009-01-17 11:16 I've Lost my Apple!

The second season of Lost has lots of nice shots of an Apple II, playing a pretty crucial role in the plot. I've also added a couple of minor IBM AN/FSQ-7 appearances: one from Lost and one from the Woody Allen film Sleeper.

2009-01-12 23:04 The Life Aquatic

Following on the The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic is the second Wes Anderson film to feature 1980s home computers, in this case the Tandy TRS-80 model 4.

2008-12-31 10:40 Pennsylvania 6-5160

An episode of ALF has a PC lying around in the background and, more interestingly, a Commodore SX64 actually in use on Air Force One no less.

2008-12-31 09:39 Destination Moon

Sci-fi classic Destination Moon has the briefest of glimpses of a Differential Analyzer at work.

2008-12-30 15:43 Dos Amigas

Screwball Hotel has a small but important role for a Commodore A2000, and Stepfather III has a A500 playing a largish part in proceedings. There... I've watched these awful movies so you don't have to!

2008-12-27 15:34 Big Fat Update 4

I've been saving these up, and it's Christmas... Eve of Destruction, Beverly Hills Cop 3, Independence Day, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, That's So Raven, Return to the Batcave, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Soap, Invasion of the Bee Girls, Virus, Damnation Alley, and The Towering Inferno all feature panels from the IBM AN/FSQ-7 (as well as the odd Burroughs B205 tape drive.

2008-12-08 23:27 Back to the Mac

Back to the Future Part II has an Apple Mac in the window of an antiques shop in 2015. Never mind a Mac - the iMac will be an antique in 2015!

2008-12-06 10:31 Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes

Another foreign language film for Starring-the-Computer: the French film Le Gendarme et les gendarmettes features a French computer - the Bull Questar M.