Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 December 5

= December 5 =

Gas crisis futuristic movie
Can someone else me name this movie? It was perhaps late 70s-early 80s. The world is entirely without gasoline. I just remember this scene of the lead actor manually pumping gas out of underground fuel tanks at an abandoned racetrack. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 01:36, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I haven't seen them, but it's probably one of the Mad Max movies. Recury (talk) 03:56, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I have seen them and it does sound like something that would happen in them but I can't recall the scene. Dismas |(talk) 05:45, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I know it is definitely *not* a Mad Max movie. I'd remember Mel Gibson. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 06:06, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I also remember the hero drove a sporty red "furturistic" race car with white stripes. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 06:13, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * The Last Chase? Lee Majors. Saw it. Unimpressed. --Moni3 (talk) 13:19, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I wouldn't dismiss Mad Max so quickly. Mel Gibson wasn't famous then, so those who saw him in it back then (myself included) just remembered him an as unknown actor.  Tina Turner, on the other hand, was famous when the third Mad Max movie came out, so I did remember her. StuRat (talk) 13:32, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I second "The Last Chase". It was an MST3k episode if I recall correctly.  Terrible movie. But it did contain a scene like the one described. 15:17, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

YES! The Last Chase is it! Thanks! It got MST3K'd? WOW, I have to find that episode! --70.167.58.6 (talk) 17:54, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * It appears that it was on the season of MST3k before they were on cable. Episode K-20.  These are tough to find, but internet bootlegs are out there if you look hard enough. APL (talk) 19:54, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * MST3k <-- For the convenience of all/85.194.44.18 (talk) 14:15, 6 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Yep. I made the same mistake of paying to watch this. I do like the IMDB comment: "Six-Million Dollar Man goes cross country hunted by the guy who broke his glasses in the Twilight Zone". --—— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk  -  14:54, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

70s sci-fi movie about deaf inventor
Okay here's another one I can't place. Must have been late 70s. A deaf (muscian?) invents an artificial intelligence home. The AI later gets jealous of its inventor's success. Not much to go on. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 06:11, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * It doesn't quite fit your description, but Electric Dreams (1984) is one guess. Though the inventor is a hearing architect, not a deaf musician (if I recall correctly), there is music involved. The computer hears its "master"'s neighbour practicing her cello and spontaneously accompanies her on a synthesizer. Believing it is the architect serenading her, the cellist falls in love with him. The computer grows increasingly jealous and unwilling to compose love songs for its rival (unlike Cyrano de Bergerac and Christian), and it wants the cellist for itself. ---Sluzzelin talk  08:41, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh, I know Electric Dreams. (LOVE Electric Dreams!) When is it ever coming to DVD?  No, this was easily 5 years before that. I want to say Robbie Benson was in it, but nothing on IMDB rings a bell. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 17:53, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Demon Seed (1977) fits the period a bit better, but the protagonist doesn't seem to be a deaf musician either, though there's an A.I.-house feeling electronic jealousy ... I guess I didn't see your film, and wasn't able to find anything with deafness. ---Sluzzelin talk  21:28, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Demon Sees is a bit of a classic. My movie isn't a horror movie. Maybe it was made for TV? This is going to drive me nuts. I remember the AI was housed in an array of rainbow neon tubes inside a dimly lit rec room, or relaxtion room. So i think the general plot is the teen was deaf, he was a genius, invented some chip that could make him hear, he wrote or loved music, his natural genius led to the invention of the A.I., he met a girl, AI got jealous and took away his ability to hear by overloading the implant?  Maybe? --69.149.213.144 (talk) 04:45, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

Phantom of the Paradise? Julian Kaufman, 16-12-08

Watchmen Trailer Song
What is the song in the trailer for Watchmen. It sounds like smashing pumpkins. Neon6419 (talk) 12:40, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * If only there was some kind of internet searching machine, or "engine" or something - . -- LarryMac  | Talk  13:11, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Or some sort of music identifications service. Like Shazam. --—— Gadget850 (Ed)  talk  -  14:50, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

The name of the song is "The Beginning is The End is The Beginning" by The Smashing Pumpkins (yes "beginning" is in the title twice) 67.194.159.149 (talk) 16:23, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Karma Chameleon
Will they now have to change the lyrics of Karma Chameleon? I would hope not because it is such a classic song. DriedOut (talk) 16:23, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Why would they have to? -- LarryMac  | Talk  16:52, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I don't understand why the lyrics would be changed. In fact, name any pop song that has changed its lyrics. --70.167.58.6 (talk) 18:07, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm assuming this is supposed to be a joke about the line "Im a man without conviction" and the fact that Boy George was just convicted. Chances are good the lyrics will remain the same. --Onorem♠Dil 18:12, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * If they didn't change the lyrics over the "I'm the man" part of the line, the "without conviction" seems a moot point... (snicker snicker) --Jayron32. talk . contribs 18:17, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * All that aside, we seem to be ignoring the fact that the line is "man without conviction" and not "man without a conviction" or "...convictions". Dismas |(talk) 19:07, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Copyright Infringement lawsuit
I just read that guitarist Joe Satriani has sued the British band Coldplay, claiming that the band has plagiarized his song "If I Could Fly" with their song "Viva La Vida".I must admit, upon hearing them both there are some similarities. But my question is in regards to any case of this nature...how is a verdict determined? Is there a set hard rule or criteria whereby one song is compared to the other and chord structure, notes, etc are analyzed, and if so, is it based on a percentage of matching notes or chords, etc? I know many songs can sound similar, but what is the criteria or deciding factor in a case like this? cheers, 10draftsdeep (talk) 16:33, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * There was a similar lawsuit against George Harrison regarding his song My Sweet Lord. From one of the references, it looks like the judge based his decision on the use of various "motifs" in the song, how they were used and repeated.  -- LarryMac  | Talk  16:49, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * The legal term is Cryptomnesia, which refers to the notion that you may THINK you have an original thought, but it turns out that you actually got the thought from someone else, and forgot that you did. Legally, one does not have to prove that the second artist intentionally copied the first, merely that it is likely that he had heard the first song, and may have unintentionally copied it.  In the Harrison case, the song supposedly copied, He's So Fine, was a popular enough song that Harrison could not claim to have never heard it.  Its a sketchy part of the law, as you will often see cases decided both ways seemingly arbitrarily... --Jayron32. talk . contribs  17:02, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * There are many such lawsuits, not only in music, but also in movies and books. Some French guy who made a book about a clownfish sued the Finding Nemo producers because their clownfish looked strikingly similar to his clownfish.  Some lady sued JK Rowling because she had a book with the word "muggle" in it.  There are very trivial ones, such as John Fogerty being sued for sounding too much like Credence Clearwater Revival. --  k a i n a w &trade; 20:02, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * You might enjoy the relevant articles Musical plagiarism, List of plagiarism controversies and Legal disputes over Harry Potter. Julia Rossi (talk) 22:07, 7 December 2008 (UTC)


 * In all fairness, John Fogerty was NOT sued for sounding like CCR. He was sued because his old record company believed that "Old Man Down the Road" sounded too much like "Run Through the Jungle". 216.239.234.196 (talk) 21:12, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

THE THREE STOOGES - Termites of 1938
During the luncheon scene of this comedy short, there is lovely piece of chamber music that plays in the background. What is the name of this muscial piece?208.242.14.179 (talk) 16:53, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Here;s the film for anyone who cares to view it: . The scene is about 6:30 into the film.  I can't place the music myself... --Jayron32. talk . contribs  17:11, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I doubt it's a piece that has a particular name or is attributable to anyone other than whoever wrote the sound track (there was no music credit). I don't think it's chamber music as such. We see a flute player, but the music we hear is not from a chamber ensemble in the movie, but from a string orchestra in the studio.  It seems to be part of the background music to the whole movie, and for this scene the composer wrote suitably elegant, refined, genteel music appropriate for a formal dinner.  It has shades of the sort of music played by salon trios for diners in posh restaurants in those days; it is slightly reminiscent of Elgar's lighter music, but that may be because he sometimes wrote in a "salon" style.  --  JackofOz (talk) 22:21, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

... opening Christmas Day
I've seen advertisements for a number of movies recently (in the US) which announce that the movie will be opening Christmas day. This struck me as odd, as I never considered going to a movie on Christmas - it's always been a "stay at home with the family" type day. Why would theaters open a movie on Christmas? Is Christmas a big day for movies? Is there some factor I'm not considering? -- 128.104.112.113 (talk) 17:48, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Jewish friends told me that they always go to movies on December 25 because nothing else is open. --Moni3 (talk) 17:52, 5 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Besides the Jews, there are also many other denominations that don't celebrate Christmas. And then there's the simple fact that, some people want to go out that night.  Think of it, you have a bunch of teenagers who are "too cool" to be hanging out with their parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles, etc. and would rather go to a movie with their friends who are also "too cool".  Dismas |(talk) 19:04, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * "Family" holidays are regularly the biggest box office days. My personal reasoning is that after a day (or two) with family, everyone wants to go somewhere where you can sit for a couple hours and not talk to each other. --  k a i n a w &trade; 19:58, 5 December 2008 (UTC)


 * And for that matter, you could always go to a movie with your family. --Anonymous, 05:52 UTC, December 6, 2008.


 * Films that play in January open around Christmas week to qualify for Academy Awards. People who have the week off have nothing to do, so they go to movie theaters. Also, types of films are calculated for certain times, based on studies. Thus, The Spirit and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button are targeted at 12/25 while Four Christmases has already opened. Pepso2 (talk) 23:24, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Also, many people buy their children tickets to the movies that they really want to see that come outon christmas, and then they go together.

Name of stop-motion animated short on Mojo?
I hope someone will be able to tell me the name of a stop-motion "animated short" (my description) that I've seen on, I believe, the MojoHD network. It seems that it was about 15 minutes long was played to fill the time between one program ending and another beginning at the top of the hour.

Here's what I can peice together from memory: The sequence included a "man" made of stone who lived in a world covered with water. He walked around on stilts through the water. He then encountered a larger group of other "people" who, I think, were antagonistic and also walked around on stilts through this water world. There was a musical score, but no dialog.

Does this ring a bell for anyone? If I remember any more details, I'll add to my post. My Google-fu is pretty good, but I haven't been able to pin it down. Thanks! --Zerozal (talk) 18:20, 5 December 2008 (UTC)