Easter eggs, just as in the traditional sense, are things that are hidden in the movies or TV shows and usually go unnoticed unless you are carefully watching. To surprise the audience, to show a sign of respect to something that influenced them, or just to enjoy their inside jokes during and after filming, filmmakers often love to deliberately include things that might not necessarily belong in the movie. Nonetheless, they are fun to spot and offer the audience a source of amusement. We’ve collected a list of some such interesting Easter eggs from various movies and TV shows that we are sure you would enjoy reading about.

1 The real Frank Abagnale Jr. appears in Catch Me If You Can as a French police officer who arrests DiCaprio’s character, Abagnale.

Steven Spielberg based the movie on the real Abagnale’s semi-autobiographical book Catch Me If You Can. After he was caught, Abagnale served in French, Swedish, and US prisons. In the movie, there is a scene after which Tom Hanks’ character Carl convinces Frank to surrender, and then Frank is taken into custody by the French police. The policeman who arrests DiCaprio (Frank in the movie) is the real Frank Abagnale himself.(source)

2 Right before every murder scene in The Departed, there is a clear X somewhere in the frame.

Similar to Howard Hawk’s Scarface (1932), Scorsese used ‘X’ mark in the movie. This can be seen in various scenes; the crossbeams supporting an airport walkway can be seen while Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Costigan is calling Mark Wahlberg’s character Sgt. Dignam; when Martin Sheen’s character Queenan is thrown off a building, windows with taped in the shape of ‘X’ appears; in the elevator behind Costigan’s head just before he is shot; and also the red ‘X’ marks on the floor of the hallway of Sullivan’s apartment as he returns to his apartment at the end of the movie.(1, 2)

3 In Kill Bill: Volume 1, when Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman) is on the dance floor of House of Blue Leaves, a low-angle shot through the glass just barely picks up the tread pattern in her sneakers. The tread’s message: “F*CK U”.

Quentin Tarantino is known for his bloody and artistic depiction of violence and action in his movies. There is also always a satirical and film noir tone to the storylines. Kill Bill: Volume 1 is one such movie that gave him unparalleled recognition in that genre. The movie also has some interesting Easter eggs such as the tread pattern of The Bride’s shoes or that Tarantino used the soundtracks from other movies that he collected.(source)

4 Surrealist Salvador Dali’s famous photograph In Voluptas Mors, which consists of seven nude women arranged in the shape of a human skull, appears on the movie poster of The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

Entitled In Voluptas Mors or Voluptuous Death, the photograph was made by Salvador Dali in 1951 along with Magnum photographer Philippe Halsman. The photograph was also demonstrated on the moth’s head in the poster of The Silence of the Lambs movie, which is quite symbolic considering the movie’s subject and disturbing theme.(source)

5 In the movie Predator 2 (1990), there is a scene which shows the trophy cabinet aboard in the Mother Ship movie containing Xenomorph Warrior’s skull from Aliens (1986) along with human skulls. It was an inside joke and a nod to the Alien Vs. Predator comic book story.

Predator 2 had the first cinematic crossover between Alien and Predator franchises because of the Xenomorph Warrior’s skull. It was included upon the advice of special effects artists John Rosengrant and Shane Mahan. They worked on both Aliens and Predator 2 and proposed the idea. The skull prop was done by Kevin Hudson and as with many other props from the movie, it was also reported stolen to the Los Angeles Police Department.(source)