TRIVIAL PURSUITS--Director Joe Dante likes to pack...

TRIVIAL PURSUITS--Director Joe Dante likes to pack his movies (“The Howling,” “Gremlins”) with fond nods to other film makers, and he’s up to more of the same with “Explorers,” the $24-million science fiction-fantasy now filming at Paramount. This time, he said, some references will be more obscure. Example: A school bus emblazoned with the name Davanna County School System is a homage to “Not of This Earth,” Roger Corman’s 1957 film about an advance scout from the planet Davanna.

Less tricky to figure: The high school is named Charles M. Jones High, for animator Chuck Jones.

There also are lots of references to George Pal and his 1953 film “War of the Worlds.” They won’t be hard to spot, since the film, set for release next summer, is incorporating clips from the classic.