Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2011 May 31

= May 31 =

"... the lonely apricot betimes"
I'm haunted by a memory of hearing Eric Idle speak a lot of semi-nonsense in iambic pentameter, pausing after the above phrase. Does it ring a bell with you? Assuming it's in MPFC, can you say which episode? (I thought it might be the wine shop scene in 'Dennis Moore' — "I've caught poetry" — but no.) —Tamfang (talk) 00:03, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

A bit of context bubbles up from the swamps of memory: the speech may be a series of rhetorical questions to which the answer is "Freedom! Freedom! Freedom." And maybe Terry Jones retorts, "It's only a bloody parking ticket." —Tamfang (talk) 00:15, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
 * It's the first skit in episode 1x03 "How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away". The whole episode is on YouTube, but I won't link to it since it must be a copyvio. Deor (talk) 01:02, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
 * I can stream it from Netflix, thanks! —Tamfang (talk) 04:44, 5 June 2011 (UTC)

or wakes the drowsy apricot betide? No wonder I never did find it. —Tamfang (talk) 05:04, 5 June 2011 (UTC)

Synchronicity: later in the same episode, Idle reads a bedtime story, using as a prop Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day?. Today is Scarry's birthday, according to Google. —Tamfang (talk) 05:09, 5 June 2011 (UTC)

What is the fantasy novel in which the currency is called "barrels"?
I read a book, maybe 10 years ago, in which water was scarce and so the currency was coins called "barrels" to signify that they were worth a barrel of water. What is the name of this book? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Fuggahugga (talk • contribs) 00:30, 31 May 2011 (UTC)


 * According to one commenter here, the World of Air in The Death Gate Cycle may have used "barls", short for barrels, for coinage. Clarityfiend (talk) 02:06, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Netflix
Why doesnt Netflix have certain movies and shows?Accdude92 (talk) 03:10, 31 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Just like anyone else, they have to negotiate with whoever owns each movie, to try to get a good deal. If they can't get a movie at a price where they can make a profit, they don't. StuRat (talk) 03:38, 31 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Netflix's DVD rental service has almost everything that's available on DVD or Bluray from a major publisher and quite a bit from smaller publishers. Many shows simply aren't available on DVD. And there are a few shows that came out once on DVD and are n olonger available.  Netflix sometimes has those, but, obviously, once the disk is damaged or lost they can't replace it.   Of course, if it's not on DVD, Netflix can't force publishers to print DVDs!
 * Their streaming service is missing a lot, but like StuRat says, they need to negotiate with whoever owns the movies, and many publishers are very wary of online distribution. I'm not sure why, but probably they're worried about committing to one service then realizing they could have made more profit on another service.  Not to mention their stupid paranoia about piracy. APL (talk) 07:43, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
 * One of the issues regarding streaming media, especially older shows and movies, is that the revenue sharing isn't properly negotiated for old media, i.e. stuff that predates streaming as a concept. There's a sort of "standard" contract for movies and TVs, such that certain percentages of sales and revenues are divied up among all of the players involved, so that the actors get x% of each movie ticket sold, each DVD sold, each commercial shown during a TV viewing, each action figure sold, etc. etc. The directors, producers, studio, distributors, etc. also get their own stakes.  This is all negotiated well ahead of time, and is usually part of the standard contracts for all involved.  The issue is that streaming media is so new, that no one knows what to do with that money that's coming in from streaming media.  Since the studio that made, say, Smokey and the Bandit didn't forsee streaming media, it didn't negotiate how to divvy up the profits from streaming media among people involved with that film.  So that has to be dealt with.  This is exactly what the TV Writers strike a few years ago dealt with, see 2007%E2%80%932008_Writers_Guild_of_America_strike, and is still an ongoing issue in the film and television world.  New films and TV shows have stuff like profits from streaming media built right into the standard negotiations, which is why streaming tends to be heavier represented among the really new stuff (not to mention that the newer stuff sells better.  Is anyone really looking to stream old episodes of B. J. and the Bear?)  -- Jayron  32  20:25, 31 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Netflix has lots of old streaming video. For example, I just finished watching the original Twilight Zone series.  As long as the old agreements were for ratios, not fixed amounts, I don't see why the same logic wouldn't apply directly to streaming.  That is, everybody gets the same slice of the streaming pie as they got from other sources of revenue.  Although, if the original agreement had one split for video-tape rentals and another for "other sources of revenue", the question might come up as to which best applies to streaming.  That is, can streaming video be just considered to be an updated form of video-tape rental, or is it a completely new thing ? StuRat (talk) 17:52, 1 June 2011 (UTC)


 * If we ignore sites like NetFlix for now and go to things like TV channel catch up sites, why would their streaming service automatically be considered more like video rentals then broadcast? And if you have a streaming based service where you pay a monthly fee and can watch whatever you want (as opposed to a video on demand/PPV service where you pay for everything you want with no monthly fee), is this really more similar to video rental then traditional broadcast rights? Note that the video rental agreement was viewed as unsatisfactory by many in the WGA anyway (and I think other unions), this is discussed in the article. Nil Einne (talk) 14:07, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

Movie Music
In the Pelican Brief, what is the name of the operatic music heard when Darby goes to the Memorial service? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.95.61.18 (talk) 11:40, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Here is a soundtrack list. 216.93.212.245 (talk) 22:01, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

tv. show? movie?
hi all, I would guess around several years ago, i saw part of something on t.v. where this bartender or someone went outside with a bunch of other guys to fight, and two of his buddies are asked to help him by their girlfriends so they go outside... and the bartender or whatever has already beat up the other guys but thinks that his two buddies helped him... even though they did nothing... the bartender or whatever goes inside and one of his buddies punches himself then the other buddy in the face so it looks like they were in the fight... anyone know what this is? 69.154.180.133 (talk) 17:26, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Its How I Met Your Mother, episode called The Fight-- Jac 16888 Talk 17:29, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Boss fights
1. What is the  tallest  boss ever created not including final boss. 2. What is the tallest 16 bit boss ever not including final boss. 3. the tallest 8-bit boss  ever created. 4. What is the a tallest final boss. 5. what is the tallest superboss. 6 what is the tallest boss including final boss. 7. what is the tallest optional boss fight thats not a superboss. 8. the tallest mini boss. --109.76.35.231 (talk) 19:50, 31 May 2011 (UTC)


 * The tallest mini boss? Is that like being the world's tallest midget?  -- Jayron  32  20:14, 31 May 2011 (UTC)


 * (For reference of other editors) He's refering to Boss (video gaming). That question *might* have been answerable in 1994, but there's too many video games and too many ways to measure "tallest."  Do you mean "tallest according to height in pixels," "tallest compared to the player, or "tallest in feet/meters according to the game's story?" Ian.thomson (talk) 20:22, 31 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Absolutely, but I can't help mention the game Shadow of the Colossus which famously features only epic boss battles against massive bosses. APL (talk) 20:42, 31 May 2011 (UTC)


 * In AdventureQuest, there's a boss so tall that only his shoes fit on the screen. If you wish, I can find the name of the boss for you. StuRat (talk) 17:31, 1 June 2011 (UTC)

I was meaning tall in meters   but   wouldn't   some of final fantasy  boss fights rank up there as being the tallest and  some RE  boss fights too but those are the only big boss fights I can  think of. --109.76.2.18 (talk) 22:08, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
 * In Shadow of the Colossus, the final boss is 60m tall. Which is pretty big for a little guy to fight with only a sword, and no particular magical powers.
 * I keep mentioning this game because the whole point of the game is how huge the bosses are, and figuring out how to fight them. (It usually involves climbing around on them.)
 * On the other hand, there have been a few Fantastic Four games, I'm sure Galactus has featured in a few of them. He's a devourer of worlds and is often drawn big enough to stand next to the Earth.
 * While we're on the subject of destroyers of worlds, we have to mention all those Star Wars games that feature the Death Star as the final boss. The Death Star was over a 100km tall.
 * Wouldn't surprise me if there were games about even bigger things. APL (talk) 01:42, 2 June 2011 (UTC)
 * The last boss in God of War 2 was a titan wasn't it? That would be hugely tall.  Scratch that, it was Zeus.  Googlemeister (talk) 13:30, 2 June 2011 (UTC)