Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2009 August 26

= August 26 =

What is the meaning of The Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel?
Our article mentions that it was inspired by JFK's assassination, but doesn't go into much detail. What is the neon light/neon god? Is that a reference to a TV set as people watched the newscasts? What does "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls/And tenement halls" mean? Etc. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 02:53, 26 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Paul Simon has said in many different ways in many different interviews that it all boils down to a 21-year-old guy who feels that nobody is listening to him. It is not uncommon for a person about that age to think he or she has all the answers and nobody will listen.  So, viewing the lyrics from that point of view, they are pretty much self-explanatory and not all that creative. --  k a i n a w &trade; 03:03, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

I always assumed "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls/And tenement halls" meant graffiti.##hotclaws 19:40, 26 August 2009 (UTC)..


 * Well, I kind of already figured that it was graffiti. But what did the graffiti say?  What about it makes it prophetic? "These are the words of the prophets") Where I come from (Chicago, IL), graffiti is usually made by gangs and hoodlums.  Or racist slurs.  Of course, I grew up in the 70s.  Maybe the graffiti was different back in the 60s?  A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 23:00, 26 August 2009 (UTC)


 * I don't see why not. Viewing it from the point of view that I mentioned (a teen/young adult who thinks he knows everything), it is apparent that he is stating that the teens (who are stereotypically responsible for graffiti) are prophets with all the answers as opposed to juveniles involved in criminal activities. --  k a i n a w &trade; 20:39, 26 August 2009 (UTC)


 * I guess I might be looking for a deeper meaning that isn't there. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 23:02, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * There might have been a better class of graffiti when Simon was a teen. It's also possible he's just being funny or taking poetic license - like Lex Luthor when he claimed he could take the contents on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe. I always assumed "The Sound(s) of Silence" (both titles have been used) had to do with big-city anonymity. The song was a big hit, and fell in with other songs about disaffected youth. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots 23:49, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Example of high class graffiti: "Das groesste Gefaengnis der Welt" (The biggest prison in the world) on the Berlin Wall, circa 1970's. 195.35.160.133 (talk) 10:38, 2 September 2009 (UTC) Martin.
 * Paul Simon has a history of funnily ascribing deeper meaning to graffiti. The linked song is about "the old familiar suggestion", a "beautifully illustrated" "single worded poem comprising four letters" (quotations from the recording on Old Friends). AlmostReadytoFly (talk) 08:39, 27 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Since no one has mentioned it yet, I would think it's fairly obvious that Simon is making a comparison to the biblical "writing on the wall" from the book of Daniel, which is about prophecy and portents of doom and stuff like that there. Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots 08:46, 27 August 2009 (UTC)
 * What about "Hear my words that I might teach you/Take my arms that I might reach you"? Is that a Biblical reference? A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 02:37, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

available movies vhs or dvd - because your mine, the exile, sword of monte cristo
Any available movies with Paula Corday aka Rita Corday —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.255.29.63 (talk) 05:54, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Mr. Lucky (uncredited, $17.99), The Body Snatcher ($50.99 as part of a Val Lewton collection), West of the Pecos ($9.99), and The Black Castle ($26.99 as part of the Boris Karloff collection), according to Turner Classic Movies, where you can buy them. Clarityfiend (talk) 06:38, 26 August 2009 (UTC)


 * "Because your mine"? Because your mine what? I expect you mean "because you're mine". 78.147.147.139 (talk) 20:13, 26 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Or even "Because You're Mine". --  JackofOz (talk) 20:19, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Or even Because You're Mine. Algebraist 23:43, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Because You're Mine, which appears to be available on VHS. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:59, 27 August 2009 (UTC)
 * The Sword of Monte Cristo is out in Region 2 DVD. The Exile is in, well, exile. Clarityfiend (talk) 21:31, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

Help in identifying three old movies

 * 1) A group of people carry mysterious rings. These rings glow green when they contain/trapped a soul within them. I think the protagonist put a ring to a dead girl in the end which caused her to be revive.
 * 2) There's a world filled with humans and mutants. The humans were called "dreamers" which live through dreams plugged into a slot at the back of their heads. The protagonist killed her mother (I think) in the dreamworld and was kicked out of the human settlement. Eventually she found a man who kills mutants. She also found someone who turns out to be her father (I think). This guy plucks eyes from his victim. The hapless person is then grinded into a bloody pulp that the mutants drink. This guy was grinded as well near the end.
 * 3) There's a parasite that transfers from humans to humans. I reminds me of an octopus but I'm not sure if that's how it looks. Anyways it transfered from a guy to a stripper.

The movies were probably made between the late 70's to early 90's since I was very young when I saw them.--121.54.2.188 (talk) 07:45, 26 August 2009 (UTC)


 * The third one sounds like The Hidden. ---Sluzzelin talk  10:02, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * The broad theme is similar to that of Robert A. Heinlein's novel The Puppet Masters on which several films/shows have been actually or allegedly based. These include:
 * The Brain Eaters, a 1958 film directed by Bruno VeSota, which bore a number of similarities to Heinlein's novel. Heinlein sued the producers for plagiarism. The case was settled out of court.
 * "Operation: Annihilate!", the last episode of the first season of Star Trek: The Original Series in 1967.
 * The 1994 film The Puppet Masters starring Donald Sutherland, whose screenplay was adapted, with some plot and character changes, from the novel. Although the film followed the story rather closely (except for references to Venus or Titan) it was not successful with either the critics or the public. (Sutherland also starred in the remade Invasion of the Body Snatchers, another tale of aliens taking over humans.)
 * The 1998 film The Faculty, directed by Robert Rodriguez from a Kevin Williamson screenplay, which is about a fictional high school at which the faculty and staff become taken over by alien parasites. In the film one of the characters mumbles that Jack Finney's novel The Body Snatchers is "a blatant rip off" of Heinlein's novel. In turn, the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers is based on that novel, and had a 1978 remake.   —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.81.230.195 (talk) 12:04, 27 August 2009 (UTC)
 * True, but in which of these examples does the parasite take over a stripper?
 * Dunno - I haven't seen any of them, so maybe none, but I though if one of them was the one the OP saw, the details might jog his/her memory. 87.81.230.195 (talk) 20:46, 29 August 2009 (UTC)


 * First one sounds like Soultaker (film) APL (talk) 14:27, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I concur, I immediately thought of Soultaker as seen on MST3K. Mike R (talk) 08:08, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

2 songs I need to identify
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jzC41PhXfI, they are here, All i know that they were produced in 2001 - 2002. All help so much thanked, I could hug you!!!

PS, Im not looking for the song that appears when I switch the cassettes. just the 1st song you hear and the last one. THANKS! 85.220.102.31 (talk) 12:37, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Don't know, but if you (or anyone else reading this, for that matter) has access to Shazam, you could try that. --Richardrj talkemail 12:47, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

The second one is heavily based on Rapture by Blondie Britmax (talk) 14:10, 26 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Shazam tells me the first one is Galaxy Bounce by Chemical Brothers and the second one is DJ Spinnin by Punk Chic. Shazam is f***ing awesome!  A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 23:38, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I COULD HUG YOU!!! =D, tyvm , finally! I love these songz soo much, Especially the dj spinnin 1, it's one of the best songs ive ever heard! 85.220.102.31 (talk) 07:13, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

Presidential reference in The Simpsons Movie
In the Itchy and Scratchy scene at the start of The Simpsons Movie, President Itchy is shown sitting in the Oval Office with his son playing on the floor. Presumably this is a reference to an actual photograph or footage of a president, or a scene in a film. Could someone enlighten me? --AdamSommerton (talk) 17:48, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I believe it is JFK. I haven't seen the Simpsons film, but there are numerous iconic pictures of President Kennedy with his children playing on the floor, under the desk etc. as he works or simply sits. Fribbler (talk) 17:52, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * For example, this one. -- KathrynLybarger (talk) 17:55, 26 August 2009 (UTC)