What else (other than Star Wars) has Lucas retconned?

In 2004, Lucas released his Director's Cut of THX 1138. There are no changes as big as making Greedo shooting at Han, but the there were still some controversial changes. Here a quote from The O.C. Wikia George Lucas article, Controversy section.

Changes Lucas personally made to THX 1138 for its 2004 DVD release further re-enforced criticism from fans who felt that he was spoiling the integrity of his original films.

As an example, a significant change he made with THX that he didn't do to Star Wars was reordering some scenes. You could see a exhaustive list of changes here and here. Here is the whole Postscript section of the first link (Emphasis mine):

Although the story stays pretty much the same the movie has been extensively changed. I'm sure George Lucas would claim that he couldn't accomplish his original vision back in 1970 due to the technology of the time and budget, so changes and additions could be seen as reasonable. The thing is though, George Lucas doesn't mention on the DVD that there has been any changes made at all, in the interviews, commentary, packaging, anywhere, the only mention is that the movie has been restored, this all seems very strange indeed...


As you can see George Lucas and ILM have done a wonderful job (except for the ones I have mentioned) in updating and widening the scope of THX's world for the masses to enjoy. This is a testament to the original movie that it can still be viewed today without looking too 70s. Some people may not like the changes, preferring instead the original, however, in my opinion they are both excellent. The George Lucas Director's Cut should have been released with the restored original theatrical cut rather than the way it has been released.

The Simpsons - Episode Identification

What was that episode where we hear Bart's thoughts as a man about Homer in voice over while the camera starts taking a close up of Bart as a kid, just before the voice is interrupted by Homer, asking Bart the kid what he is thinking about.

The scene makes fun of many movies with that sort of clichéd scene.

Will The Hobbit be released to video with the High Frame Rate?

Any 1080p50 capable TV will be able to play a 1080p50 HDMI signal from a 1080p50 Blu Ray disc.

So there is no technical reason not to release a high frame rate Hobbit.

"Speeding the film up" is not a relevant technique for digital formats. It is exactly how films used to be transmitted for TV but that was all about aliasing. If the TV station played the film at 24 fps then the 50 field per second cameras would introduce stobing effects, so speeding the projector's motor up and locking it to the field rate made sense.

In the digital domain one has to resample the frames. For 24fps to 25fps a common standard is 3:2 pulldown: "Converting a slower frame rate to a faster one requires duplicating frames or fields. People have been transferring film to video for a long time. For NTSC the film is slowed down to 23.98, and then every other film frame is held for one extra field. (see diagram) This is called 3:2 pulldown. Some of the original film frames now begin on the second field of the video frame. This looks fine while being played, and can easily be removed for conversion to 25 frame PAL or 24 fps for DVD compression. However, if this material is edited without attention to keeping a steady 3:2:3:2:3:2 cadence, a clean frame rate conversion becomes nearly impossible."
http://digitalcinemasociety.org/downloads/FrameRateConversionSimplified-N.pdf

This same approach would be used to resample 48 to 50.

The audio is not normally sampled at the same rate as the video and is typically at 48kHz even when the video is at another rate. The audio and the video are separately multiplexed into the MPEG transport stream and kept in sync using timestamps. Therefore there is no need to resample the audio when resampling the video.

What happened to the Mighty Orbots cartoon series?

According to Wikipedia, the 13-episode series was never released on DVD. It ended early

due to a lawsuit between the show's creators and toymaker Tonka, who
accused them of basing the cartoon on their GoBots franchise (which
was adapted from Bandai's Machine Robo line). The robot depicted in
the show was virtually identical to the robot in the anime for
Bandai's Godmars toy, although the colors were changed.

This may have affected its release.

According to a rather informative review here, poor ratings were its downfall, though its release in other markets on VHS developed a small cult following. T M S Entertainment, Inc./M G M/U A Entertainment Company is the copyright holder according to US Copyright office. If you have access to a VCR, there are a couple of libraries in the US that apparently have it in their collections (set of 13 tapes). You might be able to get your local library to do an inter-library loan for you.

In Primer, did they really need to do the time travelling themselves?

As they begin their exploitation of the stock market, both characters are afraid of bringing about any possible "paradox" situation. They sequester themselves in a hotel room. They do not communicate with anyone until they go "back" (second time through the same day), except to check the stock market. Only when the forgotten cell phone rings when they are not "back" do they allow themselves to play with that dynamic.

Therefore, any concept of sending a machine back in time to make the stock transaction for them would have been contrary to their (initial) conception of how to use this technology as safely as possible. Such a plan would force them to confront the Grandfather Paradox and related issues, which they did not have to do if they simply go back in time themselves (as long as they strictly follow their intended sequestration discipline).

In short, with the information they have at the beginning of the film, there is no proof that using a machine to do it for them would even work - maybe the machine makes them a bunch of money in a parallel universe, not in their own. The way in which both characters eventually seek to answer this question for themselves, lose trust in each other, and then turn on each other, makes the second half of the film so interesting (and confusing)!

Besides, there is the additional burden of designing a machine to extract itself from the time capsule mechanically after the correct delay, so that it does not "loop" forward and backward through time, only to be removed at the time the capsule is powered off.

What does the missing symbol on Quaid's arm symbolize?

Everything indicates that he is not dreaming, except for the symbol, but if it's all a dream Quaid´s should never would have dreamt about Melina before he goes to RECALL and that entire first scene doesn´t make sense.

Now assuming that is all real there is no explanation for the symbol. So in my opinion it has the ending wrong.

There is no reference that the symbol is permanent. it could be as simple as an ink stamp and can be erased easily, so imho everything is real or as you say the first scene would make absolutely no sense.

Where is Lost Girl supposed to be based?

I do not remember the in-story locale of Lost Girl ever being mentioned in the show, it is filmed in Toronto however, and in many scenes notable landmarks (such as the CN tower) can be seen which are never mentioned in and do not play any part in the story.

In addition, various colloquialisms differentiate the show from many American written shows (such as not referring to the police station that Dyson and Tamsin are officers at as 'precincts'.

Do any of the characters ever make mention to where they're located, are the events in Lost Girl based in any real world city?

the big bang theory - Do Sheldon's equations reflect real math/physics research?

As a mere viewer of The Big Bang Theory, I can't answer this question with certainty, but as a physicist, I can offer a couple observations:

• The equations that appear on the whiteboards in TBBT are from widely varied fields of physics and chemistry. They cover a much wider scope than a typical scientist would actually be working on. Of course, Sheldon is not your typical scientist, and I suppose he could be doing some sort of highly cross-disciplinary research incorporating many different subfields of physics, but still, all the various equations don't seem to have much of a logical connection. Anyway, given that Sheldon considers pretty much anything other than string theory to be beneath him, I can't really see him getting involved in that kind of project on a regular basis.


• Many of the equations I recognize as well-established physics, the kind of thing one learns as a beginning graduate student. This doesn't necessarily mean anything by itself, because all research is based on well-established physics, but if the equations on the boards were meant to reflect actual current research projects, I would expect to be going "huh, what's that?" and looking things up a lot more often than I do. The BBT blog discusses some reasons why it's generally not practical to incorporate actual current research into the show.


• There's one particular scene that may be relevant to this: Leslie is over at the guys' apartment (sleeping with Leonard I think), and overnight she fixes an error in Sheldon's math on the whiteboard which he had been struggling with for some time. The thing is, the particular calculation Sheldon was doing (deriving the QCD beta function from renormalization of gluon-exchange diagrams, IIRC) is something that was first worked out back in the 1970s and has been standard physics ever since. It should have been utterly trivial for Sheldon, as an accomplished string theorist (and genius) to do this properly, so I just have hard time believing that he'd been struggling with it. Even if he were, it would not have been hard for him to just look up the proper method and locate the error that way (perhaps his pride prevented him from doing that, but then again a big part of becoming a successful physicist is being able to look things up).

So in summary, I'd say almost certainly no, the equations do not in general reflect current progress in research (though the latest couple blog entries on the show's blog suggest that they're trying this). But they are at a much higher level than most other instances of math in movies and TV, and they are actual scientific equations, so you have to give the show credit for that.

Why stay in Los Angeles?

I always thought it was shocking at the end of American History X that Derek didn't leave Los Angeles and possibly take his family with him. I was under the impression that, after he got out of prison, the black gangs would be trying to get revenge on him for killing two of their members.

To make things worse, he beats up Cameron the night he gets out, and everybody in the white supremacist camp knows about it - one of them (his friend) even tries to shoot him as he's leaving the party. He even mentions a couple times that he thinks he's in mortal danger.

How is he able to walk around in broad daylight without seeming overly concerned for his own safety or that of Danny?

doctor who - What are the chanting lyrics in "Song of Freedom"

At the end of season four of Doctor Who, when Tennant's Doctor is towing the earth back to its proper place, the track playing is "Song of Freedom".

In this track, there are some chanting voices. Does anyone know what they are chanting, in what language? Do the lyrics have any hidden meaning? Or maybe they are only chanting noises, and not necessarily actual words.

Anyone know?

P.S. I wasn't sure if this fit better on Movies & TV or Sci-fi & Fantasy. It's not specifically about the sci-fi plots or technology or species or anything of the show (as far as I can tell), so I opted to put it here. If an admin thinks it'd be better on SciFi&Fant, please move it.

production - Disclaimer of a movie: Can it really save the producers?

First of all, let me say this: do not take this answer as legal advice. I'm not a lawyer.

Let's analyze it a little bit. If you make a movie with that disclaimer and someone sues you, what's likely going to happen in court?

Now, it's true that things (especially legal things) change from country to country, and they change a great deal sometimes, but I think it's safe to assume that your lawyer could use this to help your case in court.
If the president in your movie is corrupted, you're not necessarily saying that the real one is too. You just want to preserve your freedom of creation, by saying "in my movie/story the president is corrupted", that's all. A movie should not be constrained by real world issues up to that point. Sure, there are some limits but those usually coincide with balance and common sense. Some TV series use this disclaimer, such as Cold Case or Law & Order. Unfortunately this is not what is always going to happen, and this is why if you're considering writing a book or making a movie, you should always make sure that the characters are unique enough, not only as characters per se, but also different from real life people that might consider themselves defamed by your work.

And if your movie is about a John Smith that robs a bank in New York, and you don't use the disclaimer, it's very likely every single John Smith will sue you for that. Using the disclaimer will improve your chances of avoiding lawsuits from every John Smith in the city.

But, there's a but.

However, if the two entities (real person and character) share too many things that might have them associated, then the director/creator might face legal consequences.

Creating a character and changing the name might not be enough, as there are many things that could help people associate two people that share other details: social background, ethnicity, particular episodes, appearance, job, etc. If someone knows the person you took inspiration from and, basing on details in the book, they can identify that person in that character you can end up being in trouble.

This is why the disclaimer is useful but doesn't make anyone invincible. And it should be clear that the disclaimer doesn't deny people from suing you. It can definitely happen, but it can be useful both before lawsuits (people won't care, after all, you said all characters are fictional), and during lawsuits. Yes, it should be used because it helps, but only meaning that it might help you in case of lawsuits, not that people will be 100% prevented from suing you.

You can read a bit more about it in its relevant Wikipedia page. To reiterate, the page states that it

is done to reduce the possibility of legal action for libel from any person who believes that he or she has been libeled via their portrayal in the work (whether portrayed under their real name or a different name)

however, very important (emphasis mine)

The wording of this disclaimer differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and from country to country, as does its legal effectiveness.

As a lawsuit filed against Dick Wolf shows, we can see that such a disclaimer won't protect you and won't deny people from suing you if they deem it necessary.

men in black 2 - What happened to Scrad?

In Men in Black II, Johnny Knoxville's character Scrad, the two-headed alien henchman for Seelena leads a bunch of aline thugs to Jeebs' basement where Agent K has just been deneuralized.

In the ensuing fight he disappears, never to be seen again in the film which is strange considering he played a significant role in the story.

What happened? Victim of the cutting room?

reference - Is "Elf" meant to be set in the same universe as the Rankin/Bass "Rudolph" Christmas special?

So, this article mentions this:

"We looked at movies like 'Big' and 'Being There,'" the Favreau says.
"(Those were) movies with similar concepts that were played very real
and very emotional -- and they were good movies, not just funny
movies."

To that end, the director (who is most famous for writing and starring
in "Swingers") tried to give the movie an old-fashioned sensibility,
hoping to capture the spirit of Christmas classics past, in part by
using in-camera techniques instead of special effects to make
Ferrell's co-stars like Bob Newhart seem elfin in size and also by
paying tongue-in-cheek homage to perennial holiday favorites like
"Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman" with his own
stop-motion-animation sequences.

But that isn't really a quote, per se. However, in this interview we find

"...so my pitch was to do it for a price instead of making it this big
CGI extravaganza we would sort of use the old fashion methods, make
the sets small, make it feel like a nostalgic, old Christmas movie,
make it feel like an old Christmas special, actually. Like the Rudolph
the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the Rankin/Bass one. That was part of it. We
justified it creatively by making the world that Buddy (Will Ferrell)
came from was sort of this '60s TV special Christmas world."

I think it's safe to say that Favreau was trying to capture that nostalgic feel.

Why doesn't Borden know which knot he tied?

It's possible that one of the twins deliberately tied the Langford double knot, knowing Julia won't be able to break free from it in time, in order to sabotage Angier's act and eliminate the business competition - so that the only great magicians remaining in town would be the Borden brothers.

This ruthlessness in business, this willingness to sacrifice both human and animal life for the sake of fame and profit, is paralleled both in the story of Edison's men destroying the fruits of Tesla's hard work, and thus eliminating the competition, and in Angier's own story of destroying himself by drowning, over and over in agony, for the sake of putting on a sensational show. If these men were willing to sacrifice the lives of beautiful birds, their fingers, the happiness of their romantic partners, their own happiness, and even their own lives to sabotage each other's acts and prove the more successful in this business of creating illusions, why wouldn't at least one of the Bordens have it in him to sacrifice the life of an innocent and beautiful woman and the happiness of his business rival in order to nip his competition's success in the bud and come out on top.

Maybe this Borden was a plant from the start, wishing to work with Angier in order to ruin him, just as Olivia was a plant sent to work with Borden in order to ruin him. Maybe he tied the wrong intentionally, after having tested it on his own and determined that it is not possible for anyone to wiggle out of it in time, and maybe he convinced Julia beforehand to be daring and not to protest when he ties it. We can't discount this possibility. This whole movie is about the ruthlessness of business, about how vicious people can become towards one another and how cruel even towards their own selves when they value business success, fame and profit more than life itself.

Zoom actor in while background out? How is this effect called and made?

It's called Dolly Zoom (but there are a couple of alternate names for it)

From MediaCollege:

A dolly zoom is a cinematic technique in which the camera moves closer or further from the subject while simultaneously adjusting the zoom angle to keep the subject the same size in the frame.

The effect is that the subject appears stationary while the background size changes (this is called perspective distortion).

Invention of the dolly zoom is credited to cameraman Irmin Roberts.

The technique was made famous by Alfred Hitchcock (Vertigo being the best-known example), and was used by Steven Spielberg in Jaws and ET.

From Wikipedia:

The dolly zoom is commonly used by filmmakers to represent the sensation of vertigo, a "falling-away-from-oneself feeling" or a feeling of unreality, or to suggest that a character is undergoing a realization that causes him or her to reassess everything he or she had previously believed.

After Hitchcock popularized the effect the technique was used by many other filmmakers, and eventually became regarded as a gimmick or cliché.

This was especially true after director Steven Spielberg repopularized the effect in his highly regarded film Jaws, in a memorable shot of a dolly zoom into Police Chief Brody's (Roy Scheider) stunned reaction at the climax of a shark attack on a beach (after a suspenseful build-up).

Examples on YouTube:

Alien Director's cut - What does Ash drink in the movie?

Here is a nice interview with a large portion of the original filmmakers, in which they discuss how Ash is drinking milk.

From what I can ascertain, the androids in this film series can indeed drink fluids - but in this case it seems to be a precursor for a later gag in which Ash sweats a white fluid in an approximation of an 'android orgasm'.

From an interview with Ridley Scott:

Interviewer: Just before assaulting Ripley, the robot starts to sweat....

Ridley Scott: This is one of the humorous touches in the film. At the end of the previous scene, you've seen it drink milk, or some liquid with which it feeds its circuits. The drop that appears on its forehead is an alarm signal, a way of warning the audience that something is going wrong
.... and I always thought that it was interesting that er, do humanoids have sexual urges, what would be nice is that this is the closest he gets to sexual relationhsips (smirk)

(Shepperton Studios 1978 documentary (The Making of Alien ) )

video game adaptation - What went wrong with Super Mario Bros?

Behind the scenes there were lots of problems.

---

Mario’s Film Folly: The True Story Behind Hollywood’s Biggest Gaming Blunder

Directors Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel’s vision for the film was much darker than the Nintendo game series.

Rocky Morton:

• Nintendo let us do whatever we wanted. They just put a crushing deadline on the project. The movie had to be made by a certain date, otherwise there were all these financial penalties, which added a lot of extra stress to the project.

[....]

As the production rushed toward principal photography, the directors and producers struggled to agree on a script to match the movie’s new direction. More rewrites were issued.

[...]

Not everyone shared Morton and Jankel’s vision for the film. The studio was expecting a lighthearted kids film, and most of the cast and crew had signed on with similar expectations.

The tensions between these two visions began to tear apart the production. The studio felt that the movie was too dark, pressuring Morton and Jankel to lighten the tone. Lightmotive brought in the writer from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure to write yet another version of the script.

[...]

By this point, at least nine writers had worked on the film, and rewrites would continue long after the cameras started rolling. The script ballooned into a rainbow of confusion as the production crew was continually handed new color-coded daily edits.

[...]

According to a 1992 Chicago Tribune article, the crew began calling the directors derogatory names behind their back. One of their favorites was “Rocky and Annabel, the Flying Squirrel Show.”

[...]

Everyone had different ways of dealing with the frustrating production schedule. John Leguizamo [...] started drinking. [He...] started doing shots of scotch with Hoskins between scenes.

During a scene in which Leguizamo was driving a van, the actor was reportedly drunk and braked too hard, causing the sliding door to smash shut on Hoskins’ hand. During certain sequences of the film, Hoskins can briefly be seen wearing a pink cast.

[...]

Over budget, behind schedule, and managing a cast and crew that was either drunk, working off-script, or completely belligerent, Super Mario Bros. had run completely off rails.

[...]

After principle photography ended, the film’s producers tried to cut Morton and Jankel out of the picture.

[...]

Click the link to read the full article. It has much more details.

---

Bob Hoskins (Mario) regrets doing the film:

The worst thing I ever did? Super Mario Brothers. It was a fuckin' nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. After so many weeks their own agent told them to get off the set! Fuckin' nightmare. Fuckin' idiots.

From John Leguizamo's (Luigi) autobiography Pimps, Hos, Playas, And the Rest of my Hollywood Friends:

But [the directors] kept trying to insert new material. They shot scenes with strippers and with other sexually-explicit content, which all got edited out anyway.

Why did Vincent Vega diss Butch?

Ok, so the general feeling about this is that Vincent was in a bad mood and was just having a pop for no real reason. Some way or another he was aware of Butch's deal with MW and decided to mouth off about it to release some of his anger and frustration.

But I believe there is an important reason for QT adding this little exchange in, mightily important in fact.

Butch has taken his cash off MW and is prepared to throw the fight. Throughout the whole chat with MW he shows no emotion, just a cool, laid back attitude. He has nothing against MW and just wants to do his job and collect his cash.

However, after the slur from Vincent, look at his reaction again. His face drops, he is shaken, his pride hurt to the core. He then watches intently as Vincent is welcomed by MW with a big double hug. Vincent is obviously MW's main man. Butch continues to throw glances and is obviously still hurt and deep in thought. There is no doubt in my mind that in that moment he makes the decision not to throw the fight. He has now associated all his hurt and anger from Vincent's insult with MW. Maybe he's thinking about all that talk of pride that MW has just spouted, how it means nothing, how he should ignore it, yet all the while he has probably been laughing about him with Vincent.

Now he's angry, angry with both of them, hurt and his pride already dented before the fight has even begun. No, now he will not throw the fight. He'll prove Vincent wrong and make fools out of both him and MW.

This 10 second piece of the movie is possibly the most important of all, as it sets in motion a dramatic sequence of events that leads to life changing consequences for all three characters.

What is the Significance of the train wreck in Hugo?

The train wreck is part of Hugo's dream. He has recently shown the drawing the automaton created to Méliès, who, in a state of sudden emotion, ejected Hugo from his home.

Hugo has felt that there is a part of his father's life which he can only access through repairing and understanding the origin of the automaton, and this rejection has left him reeling. This hurts all the more because even though Méliès is gruff with him, he has accepted Hugo as an apprentice, and is the closest thing Hugo has to a father figure.

He dreams of a train wreck, happening as he's attempting to retrieve the key from the track - the key that might give him a connection with his father, or perhaps more importantly access to a new father. The train wreck symbolizes that everything he's worked to resolve the mystery is crashing down, and in fact it is the key that makes him human. Without it he feels he has no place in society, and no right to happiness, as he's seen so many other orphans suffer at the hands of the stationmaster.

The reason it is that specific crash is that it originally occurred at that station, and so Hugo would have been familiar with the story, and probably have seen pictures of it. There doesn't seem to be anything particularly relevant about that accident and the film or Hugo, just that it occurred at the station the film is set in.

A movie about a boy growing up in a TV studio

I am looking for a movie about a boy/child that grows up thinking he is in the real world, but actually he is living between walls of a tv-studio.
The world saw him grow up and stuff. I think later on he finds out that this is not the real world. I think this happened when he was sailing on his boat and bumped against a wall.

What movie is it?

In "A Late Quartet", when did they decide to play together again?

In the movie, A Late Quartet, after the group completely falls apart (and a brief interlude where Peter tells Juliette that the quartet must be kept together), we are suddenly shown the final concert. Is this concert supposedly unrehearsed and hastily put together? How did the four of them (especially Robert) get their acts back together?

Where are Frodo, Gandalf and the others going at the end and why?

Frodo leaves Middle-earth for the Undying Lands with Gandalf, Bilbo, Elrond, Celeborn, and Galadriel.

This is considered a mystical land, home to the Valar, a race of 'angelic' elves also known as the 'masters of spirits'.

From the LotR wiki:

In TA 3021 (Third Age), Círdan the Shipwright accompanied Elrond, Galadriel, and Gandalf, the Keepers of the Rings, on a voyage to the Undying Lands, where they intended to remain. They were also joined by Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, Hobbits who were among the very few mortal beings to be allowed passage to the Undying Lands.
Eventually, Samwise Gamgee, another Hobbit of the Shire, and the Dwarf Gimli along with his good friend Legolas, are also said to have made the journey.

Now, as to why they made the journey, there seems to only be speculation, although the most common agreement is that Tolkien chose to have his beloved characters travel there, seemingly to remain, in order for them to live forever.

EDIT: It has been pointed out that, as mortals, eternal life would not be an option for the hobbits, so perhaps we should consider it more of a happy retirement.

Another, more thorough, answer could be the following, from Yahoo:

His [Frodo's] journey to Mordor had scarred him, physically and emotionally. He would never fully heal. Arwen gave him her seat on the last ship (the only thing of note she ever did in the whole danged book) so that he could find rest. All of the ring bearers left middle earth; Gandalf, Galadriel, Elrond, Bilbo, Frodo, and even Sam after his children were grown and rosie passed away.

Why was Anton Chigurh being arrested at the beginning of the film?

It ties into Chigurh's ultimate flaw as the "ultimate badass", he is arrogant. He only puts himself directly into situations, in which he firmly believes he has control over.

Note that in every scene, he quite literally dominates the pace, tone and direction of the conversation. This is also true in his actions, whom does he terrorize? A young naive sheriff (whose back is turned), an old gas station attendant, two simpletons, and his competitor. But only twice is Chigurh shown to be surprised by the outcome: his near death experiences. This occurs twice in the film, first with the hotel shootout and second with his car crash. It's interesting to observe that we also are granted a glimpse at his process. After his near death experiences, we can see Chigurh attend to himself medically. I believe that this is him reflecting on his mistakes; however, it is his final experience that ultimately breaks him (literally) as character. He soon learns that he could never prepare himself against the random chaos of fate, and that literally, anything could happen.

It's also interesting, when he bandages himself up, it is usually through rudimentary and often primitive methods.

Is there any definitive evidence that Teddy was or was not crazy?

In the initial story, the suspense novel, it was wholly intended that Daniels is crazy. I think it was Scorseze's creative input that made the film what it was. In the film, both possibilities are equally possible. Again, this is not the original intent of the story, but an artistic change in the film.

He's crazy:
(Dr. Cawley explains that patients were submerged in water until unconscious OR DROWNED)
This is an attempt of Cawley's to jar Laeddis' memory of his wife's crime

(The "real" Rachel Solando)
This is a further projection as a part of his paranoid insanity

(Dead Chuck off of the cliff)
Yet another projection

("is it better to live as a monster or die a good man?"
Andrew Laeddis, now sane, telling his doctor that he is allowing himself to be neutralized to forget the horror of his actions.

There are many more, but here are just a few scenarios that are circumstantial to the interpretation.

He's not crazy:
(Dr. Cawley explains that patients were submerged in water until unconscious OR DROWNED)
This is an attempt of Cawley's to seed a portion of this false reality that they are going to impress upon Daniels

(The "real" Rachel Solando)
This can be a real discovery which is why she mentions aspects of the case that aren't later addressed, like his cigarettes, she also is very logical. It is important to realize that though the procedures she claims that the doctors are trying to perform aren't suggested to have succeeded, so they really aren't too far fetched. She also mentions factual aspects of the case not later addressed, like the ice pick shown at the end of the film.

(Dead Chuck off of the cliff)
Another aspect of the forced insanity, Chuck Aul was always Dr. Sheehan and placing a fake dead body and removing the character is an attempt to make Daniels think he's hallucinating.

("is it better to live as a monster or die a good man?"
This is Teddy Daniels' surrender to the tact of the hospital, admitting defeat. But it is also a stab at Dr. Sheehan saying, "yeah, you guys are going to kill me, but you have to live with yourself as a monster." He is then ushered toward the lighthouse that is supposedly empty.

There are many more two-sided hints, it really spices up the film to seek them out for yourself. But there are also undeniable clues that show that the original intent is his insanity. Clues like his projection of Laeddis being fantastic and overly-dramatic, he has two different colored eyes and his face is divided by a scar, this is a physical picture of the divided nature of his psyche. Also, the anagrams in the names are too concrete to be coincidence.

So what we have is the struggle between a writer who intended a story about an insane man in denial, and a director who intends to force an unsolvable, parallel mystery.

Next time you watch the film, consider these two realities:

1. Andrew Laeddis killed his wife because she drowned their three children, he then was sent to a mental health facility. Taking advantage of an impending storm, the head psychologist, Dr. Cawley, and Laeddis' main primary, Dr. Sheehan decide to stage a roll play outlining Laeddis' false reality to prove to him that there is no fact in his suspicions. Laeddis pretends to relapse into insanity to escape living with the regret of his real past.




2. Federal marshal Edward Daniels' pursuit of the man responsible for his wife's death has led him to stumble upon a government-funded hospital who are secretly experimenting upon their patients to build controllable soldiers (not necessarily successfully). His investigation has caught the attention of the hospital who have staged a fake prisoner-escape to get him on the island where they can make it seem as if he's gone crazy. This is a tactic they have used in the past on prying eyes like Dr. Rachel Solondo. Dr. Cowley, with the help of a fellow doctor in disguise as a federal marshal, then successfully quiet the snooping marshal and take them to their lab in a lighthouse.

(In neither case is the escape real or is Chuck a real marshal)

Why was the body needed in Lucky Number Slevin?

The body belongs to the actual Nick Fisher, who is being killed by Goodcat in the beginning of the movie. He is being chosen because Slevin and Goodcat need someone who has a large monetary debt with both gangster bosses (The Rabbi and The Boss).

This way when Slevin takes Nick Fisher's place in his apartment, he will get mistaken for Fisher and be able to get close to the two unsuspecting bosses. This enables him to fulfill his plan to kill those two men who killed his father.

The body of Nick Fisher however is needed by Slevin to fake his own death and dissapear after his plan has succeeded. Before they blow up The Fairy's apartment, they put the body there so the police will later find out that Nick Fisher died in the incident and probably will close the file, leaving no questions open and no links to Slevin.

effects - Is there a visually optimal area to view a 3-D movie at the theatre?

Major S, I would suggest that the focal point in any given shot is not determined by the editor, but by the director of photography and the director. In many instances the DP works in conjunction with the gaffer to light the scene so that the focal point (be it a character or object) is highlighted in accordance to the director's wishes.

This set-up carries through to 3D filming whereby specific elements in the frame can be enhanced or reduced in value in order to make the focal point 'pop'.

This is not carried out by the editor, but is a post-production process handled by the post houses, color timers, compositors et al.

As for an optimum position in the theater, in theory you are supposed to get a great 3D experience from any position in the house (except maybe in the first few rows, but then I know folks who love those seats...), but from personal experience it is always 'middle/middle' for the best in picture and especially sound which, at the end of the day, is 50% of the viewing experience any way.

For the record, any director I have ever known sits at the back of the auditorium during screenings and judges everyone else's reactions. By that point they are usually sick of watching their own film ;)

botany - Which plants live for more than one year and less than two years?

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Are the comedic elements in the film Jack Reacher evident in the novels on which it was based?

The movie has altered the plot of One Shot in many significant ways. The setting, for example, is a large city not a medium sized town, which makes it more cinematic but less coherent or credible (though this is a common trade-off in movies). The plot is simpler with fewer characters.

The overall tone is not too far from the books, but the opportunity for cinematic additions has been taken. The slapstick scene is pure cinema invention (I'm not even sure you can do slapstick like that in prose writing).

Some of the humorous dialogue, though, is true to Reacher's character in the book. I recall some inventive insults in the bar scene, for example, which are the sort of things he does say in the books as a result of his unshakeable confidence in dealing with people he has to fight. He really doesn't mind getting physical as he know he will win, so insulting his adversaries and goading them is a typical strategy.

Overall the movie captures the spirit of the books reasonably well, but the slapstick scene sticks out as an anomaly.

Red's parole hearings in The Shawshank Redemption

In The Shawshank Redemption (1994) Red has three parole hearings. For the first two, in 1947 (YouTube link) and in 1957, he tells the parole board what he thinks they want to hear, and is unsuccessful. In his third in 1967 (YouTube link) he takes a different approach, saying, quoting from the IMDB quotes page:

1967 Parole Hearings Man: Ellis Boyd Redding, your files say you've served 40 years of a life sentence. Do you feel you've been rehabilitated?

Red: Rehabilitated? Well, now let me see. You know, I don't have any idea what that means.

1967 Parole Hearings Man: Well, it means that you're ready to rejoin society...

Red: I know what you think it means, sonny. To me it's just a made up word. A politician's word, so young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and a tie, and have a job. What do you really want to know? Am I sorry for what I did?

1967 Parole Hearings Man: Well, are you?

Red: There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man is all that's left. I got to live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit.

Red is then granted parole. Why, after this disparaging and weary speech? Was it because he was being so bluntly honest? Was intimidation a factor?

identify this movie - Sci-fi film: American teen science project brings people and dinosaurs into present

I'm hoping someone can help me identify the following film that I would have seen in the early 90's or late 80's. It is a film in the era of Weird Science, Flight of the Navigator and Explorers.

All I really remember is that some American teens build a science project which seems to be able to control time or manipulate time. Different characters from different time periods are brought into their own.

One scene I remember which I think is towards the end of the film involves the teens going into their school or university to where this device is located. When they get to the main hall the area has been transformed into a Jurassic jungle environment complete with dinosaurs.

One other very random clip I remember is a scene whereby a bunch of Hells Angels style bikers arrive or are summoned by this device ( I'm hoping this isn't bleed-through from another film...)

Any ideas?

Keys to Monika's apartment

In one of the episodes of Friends, everybody gets locked out of Monika's apartment (the episode with the long winded discussion over the differentiation between "got the keys!" and "got the keys?").

Furthermore, when Rachel moves out there is a scene where Rachel gives Monika her key to the apartment back.

How come in the last episode it shows that all six friends each had their own key to the apartment?

What is the significance of the three Beggars?

I have read so many analyses of this movie, and I am not sure there is a single answer to any question anyone can ask about it. People who hate it and are repulsed by it are still moved by it, because it is so emotional and there is no way to understand it or put it into a safe context.

Here's a sampling of the meaning of the three beggars from different reviewers:

• Grief, pain, and suffering


• the beggars in Russian folklore who, like Christ, offer wisdom and compassion through suffering


• the Three Kings, heralding death in Antichrist the way they herald birth in the Christ story


• the id, ego and superego (subconscious states of the mind from Freud)


• These animals represent, then, the woman's tacit philosophical acceptance of her "evil" sisterhood: so-called "pagan witches" who danced and prayed by moonlight in the forests; who controlled familiars (animals), and who -- their powers joined -- could make the sleet fall.


• Roger Ebert has a saying: “If you have to ask what something symbolizes, it doesn’t.”

Lars von Trier has done many interviews about the film, which was written in the depths of depression and served as his means to survival, forcing him to get out of bed to write ten pages each day. In one interview he says:

"Truthfully, I can only say I was driven to make the film, that these
images came to me and I did not question them. My only defence is:
'Forgive me, for I know not what I do.'" This precipitates a bout of
giggling. "I am really the wrong person to ask what the film means or
why it is as it is," he says finally, "It is a bit like asking the
chicken about the chicken soup."

When asked about where the fox in particular came from, he says:

"From my shamanic journeys," he replies, without batting an eyelid.
"All these animals come from a practice I did 10 years ago. It's a
Brazilian technique where you enter a trance through this very
powerful drumbeat. There are no drugs involved so it is very safe but
very powerful. It's not really that difficult to enter the parallel
world."

The beggars, like everything in the film, may be symbols, but they are symbols of things deep within the psyche of a man who is not analyzing them, merely reporting them and sharing them in his art.

physiology - Can I estimate leaf temperature from air temperature? What other information would be required?

Physiological measurements such as respiration rate and assimilation rate depend on temperature.

Most papers report tissue temperature (e.g. leaf temperature for leaf measurements), although some report air temperature.

My goal is to compare measurements in the literature. I use leaf temperature at time of measurement to adjust the rates to a common temperature. Currently, I assume that if leaf temperature is not available, it is the same as air temperature. (This is often assumed in papers where the leaf temperature was not measured).

Is there a way to estimate the difference between air temperature and leaf temperature? I can get fairly good estimates of other physiological traits (e.g. leaf thickness, albedo, stomatal conductance) as well as climate data (e.g. humidity, soil moisture content).

My model is:

$T_{leaf} = T_a + X + epsilon$

And I currently assume X = 0 in my calculations

Is there a better way to estimate X?

Under what conditions would X < 0? X > 0?

soundtrack - Are these songs made for the movies or are they bought by the producers?

I have heard several songs by different artists or bands which are used in their albums as well as in the movies. So sometimes I don't understand whether these songs are made for the films or they are bought by the producers legally after the artists made it for their albums? Do the producers sometimes sponsor the song on the album?

Example 1: "Love Story" by Taylor Swift used in Letters to Juliet movie.

Example 2: "New Divide" by Linkin Park in the end of one of the Transformers movies. (I cant remember exactly which part the song is used in).

So how does the whole procedure work?

dialogue - What does Barney say and mean?

It's in season 8 episode 3 of How I Met Your Mother at 8:22min. I found it on youtube too.

"Barney!!!" "Icksnay on the ealray amenay!" "Mr and Mrs Erikson?"
"Youuu son of a... itchbay!"

The itch-Bay was easy.
And to me the previos is: Nicks on the real name!
But what does that mean? A referrence to the NY nicks?
I don't get it.

What is the significance of Dukakis in Donnie Darko?

In the Donnie Darko Book, Richard Kelly talks about the dinner scene where the family is discussing politics. The parents are clearly Republicans but when the argument escalates and Donnie and his sister starts cussing at each other, the dad has no real problem with it and even finds it funny, even with their 9 y.o. daughter at the table.

The reason for that, according to Kelly, is that they have raised a liberal household and thus allowing their kids to be liberal with their politics.

Dukakis in this context is just a figure of their own household politics.

Kelly was raised in a conservative household and since most of Hollywood is liberal he did not want to "take sides" or push an ideology through his film.

Are there any spiders in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey?

From inside Radagast's house you see shadows of spider attack, you see the legs of a spider break into the house before Radagast's magic seems to scare them off.

He emerges from the house and you clearly see giant spiders running away from the house.

So, contrary to the previous answers, I would say "yes" but it is brief and you don't see them fully.

biochemistry - Are quaternary protein monomers unique to a particular protein complex?

If I understand the question correctly, you're thinking something along the lines of modular tertiary domains, but in a quaternary sense?

For a reversible interaction, heterotrimeric G proteins spring to mind. Once activated by a G protein coupled receptor (GPCR), the alpha subunit and the beta-gamma complex dissociate from the receptor and from each other. They can both go on to affect signaling by binding to various effector proteins, depending on the particular pathway in which they are involved, and their activities can be mediated by other proteins (e.g. the alpha subunit GTPase regulated by GAP proteins).

I spoke to my Protein Engineering professor, and she also directed me to a few examples, although I'm not sure they're quite what you're looking for in the strictest sense.

• Cyclin-dependent kinases, as @Armatus mentioned, bind to all sorts of different cyclins. (I get the sense that subunits found in multiple protein complexes will probably be more common in signal cascades. I don't have any real data on that, but it makes sense that a signal protein could interact with two or more protein complexes and even have slightly different functions in each.)


• Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is an example of a protein with different quaternary structures between species. According to my professor, it occurs as a homodimer in mammals, but as a tetramer with some slightly different residues in budding yeast. I can't say whether the sequence changes are what affect the oligomerization, although my prof also mentioned "oligomerization domains" that could mediate protein-protein interactions.


• She also directed me toward a slightly more interesting example (in my opinion), though, again, it's also more along the lines of oligomerization. Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) undergo something called "dynamic subunit exchange" and can take on a wide variety of oligomeric architectures. Binding is transient, but it's still kind of neat. There's a review here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0968000411001903. Figure 3 shows different oligomeric architectures from the one monomer.

It seems that pretty much any protein that interacts with two or more separate protein complexes could be considered an answer. Neither I nor my professor have managed to come up with an example of an irreversible assembly of common subunits, but she is of the opinion that, in all the different possible protein structures, there is probably at least one example of everything, no matter how outlandish it seems.

Was the margin really paid by Barings? But Why?

I have only limited knowledge of Stock Trading, and I have recently watched Rogue Trader. It's the story of Nick Leeson, an investment trader who single-handedly bankrupted Barings Bank in the 90s.

The plot is that Nick Leeson trades futures on SIMEX. He should only trade for customers, however, he starts trading for the bank itself, pretending to do trades for an anonymous customer.

For future contracts, it's customary to pay a margin, depending on the volatility of the future traded. This margin is usually paid by the customer trading the future.

However, in the movie the margin payments are done by Barings. The whole movie plot depends on this, as it is what ultimately bankrupts Barings. I'd not give it a second thought, because it's Hollywood, and we should be used to plot holes. However, as the movie reflects an actual event, and Barings actually did collapse, I'm not sure what is going on.

Was the margin really paid by Barings? Why? Did this change in legislation after (or as a result of) Barings, and nowadays margin is paid by the customer himself?

molecular biology - How Do Adherent Cells In Culture Attach To A Plastic Dish?

I doubt that hemidesmosomes are much involved in 3T3 adhesion, just because they are characteristic of epithelial cells and fibroblasts are mesenchymal.

You're on the right track, though. It's going to be the same basic processes as adhesion to the extracellular matrix. The major factors will probably be integrins and focal adhesion assemblies.

You're also raising an important point for in vitro work, which is that adhesion to plastic is a very imperfect substitute for ECM, and this probably has implications for the behavior of the cells. If you're interested in ECM-dependent processes like migration, adhesion, and invasion, consider coating your plates with collagen or Matrigel.

spherical geometry - Finding the northernmost latitude in a great circle that passes through two points on the sphere

I think it is a little more straightforward if you work in Cartesian coordinates.

Take an earth of radius one, for simplicity.

Then we can take the longitudes as $pm l$ without loss of generality. Then
the halfway point between the two points, projected to the surface of the earth, will have the highest latitude (equivalently the highest $z$ component).

The two points are $(cos phi cos l, cos phi sin l, sin phi)$ and
$(cos phi cos l, -cos phi sin l, sin phi)$, and the mid point is
$(cos phi cos l, 0, sin phi)$. To project to the surface, we divide by
the norm, to get a $z$ component (on our unit earth) of
$sin delta = {sin phi over sqrt{ (cos phi cos l)^2 + sin^2 phi}} = { tan phi over sqrt{cos^2l+tan^2 phi} }$.

To obtain the $arctan$, we first need $cos delta$, which we get from
$cos delta = sqrt{1 -sin^2 delta} = { cos l over sqrt{ cos^2l+tan^2 phi} } $, and hence
$tan delta = {tan phi over cos l}$, which is the desired result.

How educated is Bruce Wayne/Batman?

Creators Kane and Finger started the Batman series, and only addressed his background after about 6 months (from Batman - The Complete History: The Life and Times of the Dark Knight by Les Daniels:

Later editions expanded the mythology. According to the DC Comics wiki, in the Earth-One series:

As Bruce became a teenager, he dedicated himself towards learning
everything he could about police procedure. He decided to track down
the city’s most famous private detective, Harvey Harris. Donning a
bright red, yellow and green costume to conceal his identity, Bruce
tracked Harris down, only to find a criminal waiting to ambush him.
Bruce used a large advertising display piece to waylay the thug,
saving Harvey's life. Harvey was so impressed with the teen's verve
that he agreed to take him under his wing. Thinking the masked teenage
boy looked as colorful as a robin redbreast in his costume, Harvey
decided to call him Robin.

As Robin, Bruce spent several weeks training under Harvey's tutelage.
Harris instructed him on the finer points of criminal detection, and
trained him in gymnastics, and hand-to-hand combat. Working together,
the two became inseparable and in the span of just a few years, they
managed to deal a marked blow against the criminal underworld.

When it was time for Bruce to enter college, he parted company with
Harvey and threw himself into his studies. He specialized not only in
criminology, but in the sciences as well. After four intense years, he
was nearly ready to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a
law-enforcement agent.

Upon graduation however, Bruce began to re-evaluate his future. He
recognized the fact that law enforcement agencies were often the
victims of an endless bureaucracy that hampered them from meting out
true justice. He could not in good conscious follow such an
ineffective path.

But in the later series:

He spent his youth traveling the world, training himself to
intellectual and physical perfection and learning a variety of
crime-fighting skills, including chemistry, criminology, forensics,
martial arts, gymnastics, disguise, and escape artistry.

At age 14, Bruce Wayne began his global sojourn, attending courses at
Cambridge, the Sorbonne, and other European universities. However, he
never stayed long and would often drop out after one semester. Beyond
academia, Wayne successfully acquired various "practical" skills.
While abroad, he studied and received training in multiple martial
arts under various instructors and in different countries, man-hunting
under Frenchman Henri Ducard, stealth and reconnaissance under the
Japanese ninja Kirigi and other certified shinobi, hunting under the
African Bushman (the Ghost Tribes of the Ten-Eyed Brotherhood, among
others), traditional healing disciplines under Nepalese monks and even
ventriloquism under skilled practitioners. His knowledge of so many
varied disciplines has made Wayne an unconventional and unpredictable
individual. At age 20, he attempted to join the FBI, but after
learning about its regulations and conduct, Wayne deducted that he
would never be able to completely oppose crime while working within
the legal system.

What did Charlie's aunt do?

First of all, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what is implied, that his aunt abused him sexually. That is implied in the way Charlie gets the flashback of her rubbing his leg when Sam does the same to him. The situation is the same as it is motivated by the same feelings and not just out of mere friendship. This is only a slight hint, so it may be a bit confusing up until then. But it is later reinforced when Charlie is in the hospital and the doctor says:

Doctor: You said some things about her in your sleep.
Charlie: I don't care.
Doctor: If you want to get better, you have to.

And later it becomes pretty clear that there was something wrong with his aunt when he writes:

There were some very bad days and some unexpected beautiful days. The worst day was the time my doctor told my mom and dad what Aunt Helen did to me.

Now to the question why he still told Sam that his aunt was his favourite person. I think when he said that, he still believed that this is the very truth. Up until his actual suicide attempt after Sam shook up his memories, Charlie seemed to supress what his aunt did to him and was rather confused about his feelings for her. He only knew that he was a little boy and feeled a very strong emotional connection to his aunt, even if he doesn't completely know where this connection came from exactly or to which level it goes. I think at this point his aunt really still was his "favourite person".

It isn't until those strange memories about his aunt become clearer that he starts to realize the whole extent of his relationship to her and that this actually wasn't a good thing. And only then his love for her starts to change into maybe even wishing her dead. Though, I think even then he still is to a large degree confused about what to feel. He probably doesn't only feel guilty about her death (as she was about to fetch him his present when she died), but also about what he did (ingoring that he was only a victim to her) and also for maybe partly wishing her dead, knowing that it was wrong what she did but also not able to stop his feelings for her from one second to the other even though they're stained now. So he feels guilty for pretty much everything, what she did, what he did, that she died, that he maybe somehow wished her dead, that he should have wished her dead but couldn't and still can't, ... And this confusion and guilt is likely also the reason for his suicide attempt afterall. To say the least, his feelings are difficult at this moment.

As to his best friend killing himself, that isn't alluded to much and doesn't seem related to the matter of his aunt at all. It is another aspect of his troubled past, and maybe also an aspect to stress his own difficult mental state and the possible future he might have been looking toward.

office space - Are the fictitious names “Initech” and “Initrode” a play on words?

In the comedy "Officespace", the protagonist works for a company called "Initech". At the end of the film, his co-workers take jobs at a competing company called "Initrode".

It seems that these names are meant to sound silly, but can someone here tell me if these fictitious names may also be some sort of word-play?

science fiction - Seeking a 1960s Sci-Fi movie about a female humanoid robot

I've only a vague recollection of this science fiction movie, probably released between 1965 and 1972, which features two humanoid alien men on Earth, hunting for a female alien, who has disguised herself as human.

The aliens wear special eye-glasses or sunglasses, which, when worn, can distinguish aliens from normal humans. The film ends with the death of one or both of the alien men, and in the final shot the camera pans through a pair of the special glasses, which have fallen to the ground when one of the aliens was killed, and as we look through them they reveal the identity of the woman who was being hunted.

So fas as I can recall, I think the woman turned out to be an alien robot; but I don't remember why this was significant.

I've searched through lists of SF movies of the Sixties and Seventies, but without finding any title that rings a bell.

Does the ageing theme in Skyfall contradict the rebooting of the Bond franchise?

I think you are somehow right while otherwise not. It is true that in the first two Craig-movies we see a fresh and new Bond, who is eager to get into the action and is maybe also driven by a bit of a juvenile arrogance (and passionate vengeance in Quantum of Solace). And yet in Skyfall we see a mature Bond who might still not be really grown up emotionally but who maybe has found the routine in his job (and is even a bit fed up with it), and we don't have to forget that it really is an exhausting job that might let you get old quite fast (and "00s have a very short life expectancy" anyway). And in the end he already had to make a carreer before becoming a 00, but I think it was rather the 90s when Silva worked for M in Hong Kong (though not with Bond, they didn't really know each other before).

So yes, he indeed shows some signs of aging and boredom (for lack of a better term), yet this doesn't necessarily mean retirement but merely maturity and getting used to his job. It thus prepares the ground not for the 3rd, but the 2nd act of his carreer, as the last scene of the movie emphasizes, when he is more ready to go on than ever before, actually strengthened by his past experiences (which also suggests that maybe M, being kind of a mother figure for James, actually had to die to further his development). The beginning of his carreer might be gone by the third movie, but this certainly doesn't mean that the end is immediately near. The ageing theme of the movie doesn't contradict the rebooting, but just extends it by a more dynamic development of its main character, more so than all the previous movies of the whole franchise did. We're thus not going to see an old Bond in the future movies, but a grownup one.

---

This also fits together with Skyfall's ambivalence of on the one hand continuing the modern rebooted line of the first two Craig-movies, while still going more into traditional Bond directions. It introduces classical characters, like Q and Moneypenny, while at the same time adapting them to the modernized line of the reboot.

In the same way MI6 is constantly depicted as (or accused of) getting old and useless now the cold war is over and Bond and M being relics of the past. But it are those old strengths that are needed to win against Silva who comes, like Bond, from the "shadows" of the past and is, with his madness, his desolate island he just "took over" and his whole attitude, more of a good old Bond-supervillain than anyone before him in the reboot. And indeed this is even emphasized by M in her speech before the court, when she says that

Our enemies [...] do not exist on a map, they're not nations, they're individuals.

And those individuals come from the good old times, like Silva and Bond. And this whole theme of reinvention of past virtues is both emphaszed by Bond travelling back to his own past in order to fight Silva on his own territory (and what could be older and more conservative than an old mansion in the Highlands) and this with the goold old DB5, an obvious nod to the old movies.

So at the bottom of the line you are right in that there is an obvious theme of aging of Bond (as a character but also his movie-franchise), while it is on the other hand emphasized that this old-fashionedness is what makes him different and thus a chance to use at his advantage and that both Bond and his movies should, while keeping at pace with modern developments, still not hesitate to remember their traditions. And what could emphasize this more than the overly nostalgic ending scene, which is both new in light of the reboot, but more old-fashioned than ever before when seen in light of the whole franchise.

dna - How do cockroaches resist the effects of ionizing radiation?

Off the top of head as a medical professional I can imagine the following mechanisms (everything is just speculative reasoning):

1. Insects don't have blood. Instead, they have hemolymph whose primary role is not oxygen transport (they have an additional tracheal system for this purpose), but rather that of nutrients. Thus they don't need (and don't have) an intense proliferation of blood cell precusors -- these (bone marrow, spleen) are the most susceptible to radiation in a human and animal body.




2. Insects have a rather primitive immune system that is mostly humoral^[a] and much less cellular^[b] compared to the immune system of animals and humans. This eliminates the next common weak place in the body: lymphatic nodes, thymus, again spleen and bone marrow etc.




3. Insects have generally a much primitive and in many cases also rather decentralized nervous system: the ganglia are organized in a sort of a cord and even though the capital ganglia are usually larger, these dominance is not as prominent as in case of CNS and PNS in animals and humans. Therefore this system is much more tolerant to losses.

1.-3. Therefore, the only sensitive part of insects is the intestinal epithelium which gets renewed on a regular basis (similar to that of humans, also a known target of radiation), but...

1. Insects (and generally the arthropodes) are known to have exoskeleton. This potentially serves as a good "armor" for vulnerable intestine cells, filtering out the most heavy particles (like alpha- and in some respect also the beta-particles).
   EDIT: This seems not to be real protection, see the discussion in comments.

Therefore it is not a surprise that insects generally show much higher resistance against radiation.

EDIT:
As it was correctly added in the comments, there are also gamets, that are most sensitive to radiation (because they bear only the half of the normal genetic information and cannot repair mutations). Even though the lesions in gamets do not lead to immediate death, the potential sterility can easily cause the extinction.

However, cockroaches (and insects generally) are known to be r-animals, meaning that they favor the quantity (r) over quality (K) of their off-spring. This strategy is optimal when dealing with radiation-induced changes in gametes: the high number of offsprings compensates for the genetic imperfections in gametes.

---

^[a] -- meaning that is has secreted peptides in their hemolymph that protect them
^[b] -- there are phagocytes, somewhat similar to tissue magrophages in humans, but the rest of the cell chains in immune response in vertrebrates, like T- and B-cells, are completely missing. Those are responsible for the mediation and amplification of the immune response in vertebrates and are the cells that are most susceptible to radiation damage.

terminology - What is the technique called when series of events in a film are played in reverse order?

Reverse chronology is a method of story-telling whereby the plot is
revealed in reverse order.

In a story employing this technique, the first scene shown is actually
the conclusion to the plot. Once that scene ends, the penultimate
scene is shown, and so on, so that the final scene the viewer sees is
the first chronologically.

Many stories employ flashback, showing prior events, but whereas the
scene order of most conventional films is A-B-C-etc, a film in reverse
chronology goes Z-Y-X-etc.

identify this tv show - "Rock TV" animated/live action series from the early to mid 80s

Riffling through my memory on another question, I was reminded of a series that aired in the States on broadcast (NBC, I think, though it may have been syndicated), probably Saturday mornings. I seem to remember it being called "Rock TV" or "Wolfgang Rock TV". However, I can find nothing on Wikipedia or IMDB about such a series.

It had an animated portion where the characters went to "The Flip Side" with the help of a DJ. Interspersed between the animated portion, they would play current music videos (the era of the videos was 1983-84 and featured Madonna and The Police, etc.).

Could anyone tell me the exact name of this series?

breaking bad - Why is the connection between Hank and Marie and the colour purple?

The following has already been brought up in a comment, though from a user who already vanished, and might just be a little addition to the other interesting answers, but it definitely deserves its own answer.

There is actually this excellent article about analysing the clothing colors of many of the major characters in Breaking Bad, which also presents a very neat color timeline for each character.

And in particular about Marie (who pretty much sticks out with her prevalence of purple) it has to say

What makes Marie noteworthy isn’t that she wears all purple, all the time. Rather, it’s the very rare occasions when she’s not wearing purple that practically scream at the viewer. For instance, she wears black when her kleptomania flares up. She wears black again when she’s in protective custody of the DEA after the threat on Hank’s life at the end of Season 4. And then finally, she turns yellow just before Hank makes his massive discovery at the end of the first half of Season 5.

(The last fact is also relevant when seen in connection to this related answer about the remote controlled car, which also presents many thoughts about the usage of color in the show, especially about yellow being a signal of danger.)

universe - Was the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation originally gamma rays?

The cosmic microwave background is a result of an almost perfect blackbody emitter. That means the spectrum covers a broad wavelength range with a peak that is given by Wien's law:
$$lambda_{peak} = frac{2.9times 10^{-3}}{T},$$
where the wavelength is in metres and temperature in Kelvin.

The microwave background is formed at the epoch of (re)combination, when protons and electrons combine to form hydrogen atoms and the Uinverse effectively becomes transparent to the radiation field within it. This occurs at approximately 3000 K. So at that time, the cosmic microwave background had a peak wavelength of 970 nm, which in the near infrared part of the spectrum.

The epoch of (re)combination occurred at a redshift of approximately $z=1100$. What this means is that since then, the wavelength of the photons has been stretched by a factor of $1+z = 1101$, so that $lambda_{peak} simeq 1$ mm, and this corresponds to a temperature of $T=2.7$ K. I.e It is near infrared photons emitted at the epoch of recombination that have their wavelengths stretched by the expansion of the universe, and are seen today as microwaves.

However, prior to the epoch of recombination, the Universe would still have been full of radiation, and as we go back in time towards the big bang, that radiation field becomes hotter and hotter, and the peak wavelengths get shorter and shorter.

If we look at models for the thermal history of the Universe, then at about 1 second after the big bang, the Universe would have been at about $10^{10}$ K and the radiation field would have been in equilibrium with the matter at this temperature. The formula above then gives $lambda_{peak}=2.9times10^{-13}$ m, which is definitely in the gamma-ray regime. But let me emphasize that these photons are emitted then absorbed many times and we do not see them now.

The "particles" that you are talking about are photons of light.

identify this movie - Owner of a diner tries to sell it via a write-in

Trying to find the name of a movie I saw on TV a while back. Story was about the owner of a rural Diner/restaurant or maybe roadside stop who gave away the diner via a write in contest. The winner was young girl - scene had her as young girl with her newborn baby on her back hitch hiking into the town to take possession. I think the owner was an older woman who originally tried to sell the diner and could not, other locals found out she was trying to sell and got angry, then the owner got them to stop being angry by asking them to help out by going through all the write ins to select the best ones.

A Hallmark style movie, but I did not recognize it in the list of Hallmark movies.

Identify this Indian movie about someone reporting his well being stolen

There is Marathi movie with same story. The movie is 'Jau Tithe Khau', starring Makarand Anaspure and Deepali Sayyad...

Mukund (Makarand Anaspure) is hard working and intelligent young man, who is unable to find a job. He faces a lot of issues in his day to day life for the things which he has to depend on. Every public officer he meets like at electricity board, pension office etc. ask him for bribe to carry out the work. Enraged by this behavior and the corrupt political system he decides to fight against the system. He is helped by his girlfriend Lekha (Deepali Syed) and few friends. Based upon this help he applies for a government scheme in which the person is entitled for loan approval on getting a well dug. By bribing all the officers in the loop, he manages to get the loan approved without even digging the well.
At the climax he files a case in the police station and court about his well getting stolen. At first he is held as madman, as a well, a solid structure can't be stolen. But then Mukund presents the proofs on the paper about the well being dug. The court has to accept the proof and declare that the well was indeed stolen. Mukund wins the Lawsuit.
However Mukund rejects the decision by himself and explain the people the real situation and warns them about the current state of corruption in the country. The film ends on the note that 'Today a well is proven to be stolen, Don't let the country to be proved stolen" as addressed by Mukund to the people.

Jau Tithe Khau was remade in Hindi as Well Done Abba.

jonathan creek - How does the chainsaw trick at the end of "The Clue of the Savant's Thumb" work?

At the end of The Clue of the Savant's Thumb Jonathan Creek, using a specially constructed chainsaw, appears to cut straight through Joey Ross (Sheridan Smith) at the waist, while she in fact remains completely unharmed.

Is this an actual magic trick? If so how does this trick work?

christopher nolan - Why was non-linear narrative structure used in Memento?

The effect of the order of sequences in the film is meant to display Leonard's inability to remember, showing what seems to be a mixed series of events out of order. It is also performed this way because it is a way for the viewer to sympathize and get involved with the story, trying to figure out what is going on as much as the main character is.

It is only when Leonard realizes the truth about Teddy does the movie's B&W and Color scenes (Essentially, the 2 different timelines) converge which is also when the viewer returns to what was the beginning and share in Leonard's realization

supernova - Fusion of elements inside heavy stars

You are correct to say that all the heavier elements in the universe were formed in stars.

Stars like the sun fuse hydrogen into helium. When they get older they can fuse the helium into carbon (it actually takes 3 helium to make one carbon). Larger stars can fuse carbon into oxygen, and neon and elements in the first half of the periodic table.

When the star runs out of fuel, the outer layers are gently ejected in what is called a planetary nebula (though it has directly to do with actual planets). The ejected gas is enriched with the heavier elements that the star has fused. The heavier elements in the planetary nebula mix with the hydrogen and helium gas in outer space and can later go on to be found in new stars. Most of the carbon and oxygen and nitrogen on earth was formed by this process.

Very large stars will fuse all the way up to iron, and then collapse in a supernova. This releases a very large amount of energy, some of which is used to form elements heavier than iron. All the heavier elements (copper gold, uranium for example) are formed in supernovae.

The supernovae explosion distributes these elements back into space, mixed in with the debris from the star, as time goes on, and stars are born and die, the gas in space gets enriched with more and more heavier elements

So the heavier elements are formed in the cores of stars, and are stored there until the star dies, when some of the star's atoms are released into space. The heavier elements are not "radiated out" of the star, until the star dies. Some stars die in a supernova explosian, but most have a more peaceful death in a planetary nebula.

identify this tv show - Sliders episode: City surrounded by huge wave

I'm afraid i cant be very helpful here but when i was much younger i watched an episode of a tv series which i remember being Sliders but cant seem to find any episode of that show with this description.

The part i remember is the end of an episode where there is a preview of the next episode. The preview involved the protagonists (cant remember anything about them) finding themselves in a city where the surround horizon contained a wave larger than all of the buildings in the city which was closing in upon them. I remember the city being empty apart from just them.

I know this isn't much to go on, I remembered this for some reason the other day and was hoping to watch the full episode but browsing the descriptions for the episodes of sliders (which i was sure it was) i couldn't find anything of that description.

Rookie Anderson's initial evaluation of Dredd

I grew up reading 2000AD and Judge Dredd, and the snippet I just procured from an IMDb user on the Dredd page below does a good job of summing up my own theories:

If you know the story-line in the comics, what Anderson is sensing behind his need for control is his sense of doubt about the judicial system. In the comic this sense of doubt leads him to quit and head off into the Cursed Earth. That story-line about him questioning the Judge system was going to form part of the next sequel. Giving Anderson the pass even though she failed his usual high standards shows that he's considering that there might be limitations to his usual methods... (writer) Garland has said he intends to adhere to Dredd's origins as they are laid out in the comic.

I would add that Dredd is known mostly for claiming to be 'the law'. However, it is evident from the end of the film that his stance has softened slightly - he is willing to pass Anderson despite her automatic fails during the mission. This is a step towards Joe Dredd questioning the very system he upholds and this is a theme that resonates throughout the comic books. Dredd faces an eternal struggle to enforce the law he was bred to uphold, while at the same time doubting the motives of the very law-makers he serves. It is this internal struggle that Anderson detects. A chink in the armor?

Did Bond sleep with Eve?

For two reasons, I believe Bond did not sleep with Eve Moneypenny.

First, the Bond series usually makes it clear when James has sex with a woman. There are very few love scenes that are ambiguous -- but the scene with Eve is ambiguous.

Second, Skyfall introduces Moneypenny, but I don't think Skyfall changes the nature of her relationship with Bond -- and in all the preceding Bond movies that feature Bond and Moneypenny, their banter suggests he wants sex but she insists on commitment first. Moneypenny often mentions things like engagement rings, while Bond makes loads of sexual references. Also, their flirting consistently strikes me as having a hopeful tone suggestive of the tension of a relationship yet to be consummated -- not the more knowing tone suggestive of a prior, brief sexual relationship:

Dr. No (1962)

• Moneypenny: 007 is here sir.
  [Slaps Bond's hand away from the papers on her desk]


• Bond: Moneypenny! What gives?


• Moneypenny: Me, given an ounce of encouragement. You've never taken me to dinner looking like this. You've never taken me to dinner...


• Bond: I would, you know. Only "M" would have me court-martialed for... illegal use of government property.


• Moneypenny: Flattery will get you nowhere - but don't stop trying.

Goldfinger (1964)

• Bond: What do you know about gold, Moneypenny?


• Moneypenny: Oh, the only gold I know about is the kind you wear... you know, on the third finger of your left hand?


• Bond: Well, one of these days we really must look into that.


• Moneypenny: How about tonight? You'll come over for dinner...
  [playfully tosses Bond's hat onto the hat rack] and I'll cook you a wonderful angel cake.


• Bond: Well, nothing would give me greater pleasure, but I'm afraid I have a... business appointment.


• Moneypenny: [laughing] That's the flimsiest excuse you've ever given me. Oh, well, some girls have all the luck. Who is she, James?


• M: [over intercom] "She" is me, Miss Moneypenny. And kindly omit the customary byplay with 007. He's dining with me and I don't want him to be late.


• Moneypenny: [to Bond] Then there's hope for me yet.


• Bond: [gives Moneypenny a playful peck on the cheek] Moneypenny, won't you ever believe me?

You Only Live Twice (1967)

• M: [buzzing intercom] Miss Moneypenny, give 007 the password we've agreed with Japanese S.I.S.


• MoneyPenny: Yes sir. [to Bond] We tried to think of something that you wouldn't forget.


• Bond: Yes?


• MoneyPenny: "I, love, you". Repeat it please, to make sure you get it


• Bond: Don't worry, I get it.

Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

• Bond: What can I bring you back from Holland?


• Moneypenny: A diamond? In a ring?


• Bond: Would you settle for a tulip?


• Moneypenny: [Bond leaves; she sighs longingly] Mm, yes.

GoldenEye (1995)

• Bond: What would I ever do without you?


• Moneypenny: As far as I can remember, James, you've never had me.


• Bond: Hope springs eternal.


• Moneypenny: You know, this sort of behaviour could qualify as sexual harassment.


• Bond: Really? What's the penalty for that?


• Moneypenny: Someday, you'll have to make good on your innuendos.


• Bond: After you, Moneypenny.


• Moneypenny: No, I insist. You first.

Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)

• Bond: I doubt if she'll remember me.


• M: Remind her. Then pump her for information.


• Moneypenny: You'll just have to decide how much pumping is needed, James.


• Bond: If only that were true of you and I, Moneypenny.

The World Is Not Enough (1999)

• Moneypenny: James! Have you brought me a souvenir from your trip? Chocolates? An engagement ring?


• Bond: I thought you might enjoy one of these. [gives Ms. Moneypenny a cigar tube]


• Moneypenny: How romantic. I know exactly where to put that. [throws the cigar tube in the garbage]


• Bond: Oh Moneypenny, the story of our relationship: close, but no cigar.

star wars - Why was Prowse chosen to play Darth Vader?

All they needed was a tall actor.

Since his face would not be seen, behind Vader's mask, and his character's voice would be dubbed by another actor, all that was required was height.

Several actors were perfectly qualified for the part. Dave Prowse was well known in the British film industry, because of his role in Stanley Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange', which was entirely filmed in England, and from his role as the Green Cross Code man in tv and cinema road safety adverts, filmed on behalf of the Central Office of Information, a public body.

He had played a lot of stunt work in films and on tv, including science fiction, having had a role in 'Doctor Who', in 1972, as the Minotaur in the serial 'The Time Monster', a role in which he also wore a face mask and had no dialogue.

Also in contention was the 7 foot tall Richard Keil, who, also in 1977, was cast in the Bond film 'The Spy Who Loved Me', which was made in studios in England and on location in Egypt. Keil played 'Jaws', the enormously tall professional assassin, a role that he later repeated in a second Bond film, 'Moonraker', in 1979. Again, it was a part without any dialogue.

One might bear in mind also Peter Mayhew, who was cast in 'Star Wars' as Chewbacca, who also had the requisit characteristics of height and an ability to act despite being entirely concealled within a costume and mask.

So the casting of Dave Prowse as Darth Vader was not entirely a forgone conclusion. There were other tall actors suitable for the part, who were working in England in 1977.

What did actually happen during Locke's first visit in the cabin?

For me, it's clear that it was indeed MiB. We see the mysterious man in there when Ben and Locke make their first visit, along with a short shot of "the eye". The next time we see the cabin, we see Christian Shepard in there along with "the eye", this is in S4E1 when Hurley runs into the moving cabin. We know from S6E13 that MiB was taking the form of Christian Shepard, and since we also see "the eye", that makes the link with Ben and Locke's visit. Of course, near the end of Season 4 when Locke goes in alone, it's Christian Shepard in there with Claire, who later talked about MiB impersonating her father, making the connection of MiB with the cabin even stronger. In S5 MiB makes Ben admit that he never met Jacob, and that he was "as confused as Locke" about what happened in the cabin. Finally, Ilana and her team go there and she concludes that Jacob "hasn't been there in a long time", the ash circle (which we know keeps the MiB out from S6) has been broken, and "somebody else has been using it".

I would say all the clues are there that we only ever saw MiB in the cabin, although apparently Jacob did use it at some point, with the ash circle in tact to keep MiB away.

It's worth noting that the primary thing MiB uses to get Ben to kill Jacob (and it's easy to forget this because later the focus is on Alex) is Ben's jealousy over his sense that the island, i.e. Jacob, prefers Locke to him. I think that MiB gave his "help me" message only to Locke as an early step in making Ben jealous of Locke, eventually leading Ben to murder Locke, only to have MiB take Locke's form - making Ben even more jealous thinking the island has even resurrected the "chosen" Locke. Then, "Locke" demands to see Jacob and is immediately taken there, while Ben was denied, leading Ben to kill Jacob.

spectroscopy - How to determine atomic number density of an element in a star based on equivalent width measurements

The measurement of a chemical abundance is not a question of using a simple equation.

The simplest it gets is using a "curve of growth", which relates equivalent width to abundance and assumes you already know the temperature of the star and its surface gravity.

For the Li 6708A line, the relevant tables, that can be interpolated, are found in Soderblom et al. (1993). http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1993AJ....106.1059SS . These are LTE curves of growth based on Atlas atmospheric models.

As an aside, the equivalent width of this line in the Sun is 3 mA. The formula you quote looks like some sort of linear approximation, but this resonance line rapidly enters the saturated (non-linear) portion of the curve of growth for equivalent widths of 50 mA or more. As the equation is couched in terms of ratios, then the units you use are entirely up to you.

Why does Bourne get headaches?

In her book Robert Ludlum: A Critical Companion, Gina MacDonald draws from The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association to discuss author Ludlum’s development of the causes and symptoms of Webb/Bourne’s ailments (p 134-135).

Bourne is the deadly alter ego that Webb assumed to survive the jungle
warfare in Vietnam and Cambodia as a member of the Medusa Brigade; in
times of stress this alter ego surfaces and the gentle Webb recedes.
Unfortunately, Webb will never rid himself of the results of his
initial trauma unless he can destroy the cause of retraumatization,
specifically, the Jackal. The series explores Bourne’s progression:
amnesia and a divided personality resulting from debilitating
psychological responses to trauma, then retraumatization, treatment,
and gradual progress toward normality, followed by retraumatization,
and a final working out of conflict that may result in a reintegrated,
whole personality…

Ludlum, drawing on the expertise of relatives in the medical
profession, provides plentiful details about causes, symptoms, and
retraumatization…

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) [is] a constellation of
characteristic symptoms that develop following a psychologically
traumatic event… the immediate systematic responses include heart
palpitations or tachycardia, cardiac uneasiness or pain, headaches,
giddiness, dimness of vision, and general neurological upselt
(exaggerated respiration, dilation of arteries, increased generation
of adrenalin). The long-term effects include deep anxiety, depression,
hysteria, dissociative reaction, depersonalization, neurasthenia,
intense psychological distress when exposed to events resembling the
initial trauma event,…intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, and nightmares.
There may be a feeling of detachment or estrangement from others,
difficulty sleeping, persistent irritability or anger, hypervigilance,
exaggerated startle response, guilt, episodes of terror or panic,
difficulties making decisions, and a feeling that one’s personality
has changed. These are all effects that Webb/Bourne experiences at one
time or another in the series.

So, the short answer is PTSD.