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| gromit |
 Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 6:43 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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I'm not sure why the guy would have bought a ticket from nobody at an empty theater.
But the idea is the same ... |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 8:32 am |
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Serling was a good writer; I'd guess he made it work somehow in the story. Tis indeed ironic, the network being leery of anything fantastic. The episode also reminded me of another story (can't remember if I read it, or saw it in a film, but will try to tease it out with a search engine) where someone finds themselves in a town populated by mannikins and it turns out to be next to a nuke test site. (and that's been borrowed in films as diverse as "Kalifornia" and "Indiana J. and the Crystal Cash Cow" )
The mirror scene is disturbingly good, yes, and establishes the mirror motif that keeps reappearing in the series. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 11:19 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Well, sure you can easily add a scene in which he pops his head into the empty ticket booth and takes a ticket and then stuffs it into his pocket when there's no ticket takers.
But there are plenty of shortcuts in the TV scripts.
One of my favorites being the 4 guys who rob gold bars and then go to a cave to freeze themselves, planning to revive themselves as rich unwanted men in 100 years.
And -- hold up there ...
The one guy has devised a cryogenic machine?
And he makes use of it by robbing a bank and using himself as a guinea pig headed to the future?
Uh, if you have such an impressive talent/invention there should be lots of ways of making money, rather than bank robbing and leaving behind everyone you've ever known except your fellow robbers. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 1:51 pm |
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gromit wrote: I'm not sure why the guy would have bought a ticket from nobody at an empty theater.
But the idea is the same ...
Oh I get it. He's freaked out. He wants everything to be normal again. Plus the impression is continually given that there are people around, just not in sight (like when he goes to the diner and the food is cooking and he sees a corner of the cook's apron, but when he goes back to the kitchen after no one responds he finds the apron is just hanging on a hook and no one is around). So he does what he normally would do: he pays for the ticket and takes his stub. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 3:19 pm |
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whiskeypriest wrote: Watched Coriolanus. Liked it a good deal, being a fan of both Shakespeare and Ralph Fiennes in full forehead vein throbbing mode, which he is in for most of the movie - which was actually a bit much, even for me. Redgrave was pretty great.
It also has a surprisingly good performance by Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 4:59 pm |
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Syd wrote: whiskeypriest wrote: Watched Coriolanus. Liked it a good deal, being a fan of both Shakespeare and Ralph Fiennes in full forehead vein throbbing mode, which he is in for most of the movie - which was actually a bit much, even for me. Redgrave was pretty great.
It also has a surprisingly good performance by Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius.
To me that's the most interesting thing about the whole rather affected film. I think a lot of the "modern" touches, the CNN stuff, is precious. But for the very first time on film I've actually enjoyed a Gerard Butler performance. He still remains one of my least favorite actors, but this performance is the exception that proves the rule. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 6:46 pm |
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billyweeds wrote: Syd wrote: whiskeypriest wrote: Watched Coriolanus. Liked it a good deal, being a fan of both Shakespeare and Ralph Fiennes in full forehead vein throbbing mode, which he is in for most of the movie - which was actually a bit much, even for me. Redgrave was pretty great.
It also has a surprisingly good performance by Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius.
To me that's the most interesting thing about the whole rather affected film. I think a lot of the "modern" touches, the CNN stuff, is precious. But for the very first time on film I've actually enjoyed a Gerard Butler performance. He still remains one of my least favorite actors, but this performance is the exception that proves the rule. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 9:30 pm |
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billyweeds wrote: Syd wrote: whiskeypriest wrote: Watched Coriolanus. Liked it a good deal, being a fan of both Shakespeare and Ralph Fiennes in full forehead vein throbbing mode, which he is in for most of the movie - which was actually a bit much, even for me. Redgrave was pretty great.
It also has a surprisingly good performance by Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius.
To me that's the most interesting thing about the whole rather affected film. I think a lot of the "modern" touches, the CNN stuff, is precious. But for the very first time on film I've actually enjoyed a Gerard Butler performance. He still remains one of my least favorite actors, but this performance is the exception that proves the rule. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 10:51 pm |
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With Byrd at the South Pole is the film documenting Richard Byrd's first expedition to Antarctica (1928-30) and the first flight by anyone over the South Pole. On this expedition, 42 people and an unnumbered number of sled dogs (and Byrd's pet dog Igloo) spent at least 18 months in the Antarctic. All the humans survived, apparently all in good health
One poignant story is that of Sky, a former lead dog who is now old and lame. When the expedition to lay the emergency cairns goes out (leaving emergency supplies and fuel in case the Floyd Bennett couldn't make it there and back in one flight), Sky tries to accompany them and is sent back. When the expedition is too far out to return, an escaped Sky rejoins them, but eventually can't keep up, and to keep him from starving or freezing, he's put to sleep.
On the other hand, at least five puppies are born during the expedition, so they may have come back with more dogs than they started with.
There's a lot of remarkable footage here, including whales surfacing in a lead three hundred yards from Little America, apparently in curiosity more than coming up for air. There's a reason that bay is called the Bay of Whales.
The film is silent except for an introduction by Byrd read from cue cards (He makes Calvin Coolidge look like a master elocutionist.), and the flight itself and it's aftermath is narrated. Byrd's earlier North Pole attempt is disputed, so he made sure this one was well-documented. It looks to me like there are enough landmarks to establish his position.
The expedition had three radio towers, and got messages during their isolation, including one member getting updates on the progress of his infant son.
This film got the third Oscar for Cinematography because what else are you going to do?
If you've ever seen Endurance or Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure, this makes a fitting companion piece. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 11:55 am |
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Quote: It looks to me like there are enough landmarks to establish his position.
Landmarks??
I'm a sucker for dog stories. I remember reading about the contrasts between the polar exploration methods of Amundsen and Scott....one of them was that Amundsen was a big dog man, considered them more reliable than any other means, either animal or machine, and did a remarkable job bringing most all of them back alive and healthy. Scott, OTOH, had brought ponies that had all kinds of problems and also some kind of motorized sled that basically sucked (and had never really been properly tested in Antarctic conditions) and was abandoned early on. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 1:38 pm |
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The ponies and the motorized sled/car sounds like Shackleton.
A big problem was just getting the ponies there in decent health as they aren't really fond of a sea journey and rocking ship. And since they were from Siberia, they had to travel through the tropics which didn't help them much. Then offloading them from the ship I think Shack lost another one or two. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri May 03, 2013 2:05 pm |
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bartist wrote: Quote: It looks to me like there are enough landmarks to establish his position.
Landmarks??
I'm a sucker for dog stories. I remember reading about the contrasts between the polar exploration methods of Amundsen and Scott....one of them was that Amundsen was a big dog man, considered them more reliable than any other means, either animal or machine, and did a remarkable job bringing most all of them back alive and healthy. Scott, OTOH, had brought ponies that had all kinds of problems and also some kind of motorized sled that basically sucked (and had never really been properly tested in Antarctic conditions) and was abandoned early on.
There are mountains that stick through the ice here and there, easier seen from a plane. Byrd's plane ascended to the polar plateau over a glacier in the Queen Maud Mountains, and they had to throw some food out to lighten the plane. The food was in case they got stuck on the Plateau; the entire trip took less than a day, and the only stop was on the return to gas up from one of the caches left behind. It occurs to me that the other emergency caches and that back of food are still there. For that matter, so are Little America I and II. I think.
Edit: To clarify, there were five Little Americas: one from each of Byrd's expeditions. III and V (the last during the IGY) were carried off to sea, IV still exists and I think I and iI are there because they were farther inland. I don't think Byrd was actually at Little America for the last two expeditions. The big station now, McMurdo, is on Ross Island at the other end of the ice shelf, hence unlikely to take a sea voyage. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 12:49 am |
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| I Was Born But... I guess silent Japanese social satire starring children may just not be my thing. It does improve toward the end, but not enough to recommend. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 11:49 am |
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gromit wrote: The ponies and the motorized sled/car sounds like Shackleton.
A big problem was just getting the ponies there in decent health as they aren't really fond of a sea journey and rocking ship. And since they were from Siberia, they had to travel through the tropics which didn't help them much. Then offloading them from the ship I think Shack lost another one or two.
Yeah, Shack was the 3rd Officer on Scott's "Discovery" expedition, and so probably was enrolled in the pony/motorsled school at that time. The Brits generally seemed to have a hard time saying, "Y'know, Norwegians might know a thing or two about exploring really cold places, perhaps we could learn from them..."
I'm half-Norwegian and directly descended from a scientist who was well-known for his explorations of the Canadian Arctic islands and a couple trips to the pole. So there might be a familial tendency to view some of the Brits, esp. RF Scott, as starry-eyed schoolboys lacking in common sense. (I'm not including the remarkable Mr. Shackleton in that category....) |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat May 04, 2013 12:43 pm |
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| I think it was Shack who made a smart decision to use animal fur instead of traditional English woolens and cottons, basing it on the Canadian Eskimos (as they were then known). |
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