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Michael: I don't know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations. They're more important than sex.
Sam Weber: Ah, come on. Nothing's more important than sex.
Michael: Oh yeah? Ever gone a week without a rationalization?

I'll bet it's a corrupt town called Texas City, CA that is kidnapping truckers.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075783/

I would say the actual average American is a cross between that guy you always see interviewed after a tornado, a Fox News viewer, and a character from the movie Idiocracy.

Alec Guinness starred in a movie about this in 1951.

As seen in "The Man in the White Suit" (Alec Guinness, 1951), this invention will never get to market. The clothing industry will kill it because no one will have a need to buy new clothes.

It was done in 1951.
What's that you say, it was only a story? Perhaps it was and perhaps it predicted the outcome (not good for the inventor).

There was a great movie about this subject made in the 50's called "The Man in the White Suit", with Alec Guinness. In the movie, a scientist invents a fabric that repels dirt and doesn't wear out. After initially being heralded as a hero, all the vested interests (pun unintended) in the world's textile and clothing industries think it will mean the end for them, and they want him dead. The movie might take on renewed relevance...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_in_the_White_Suit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044876/

Ealing comedy (think Lavender Hill Mob, Lady Killers, Passport to Pimlico) from 1951. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044876/

Feed Me!

Who immediate thought of this when they saw the headline?

full metal gates

Some kind of Microsoft-themed manga?

Botanicalls was developed to provide a new way for plants and people to communicate in order to develop better, longer-lasting relationships between them.

Why must evil corporations go out of their way to violate the privacy of others? I would never do such a thing. Now excuse me, for I have some other things to do today, such as this and this. Oh, and I have a date tonight and I want to get to know her. I even picked the movie!

Alas, neither is Charles Rocket.

similar to robocop?

maybe universal soldier? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105698/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307197/ (american title: Murder on a Sunday Morning) is a documentary made by a french filmmaker on the US judciary system. He picked a murder trial almost at random and filmed it from the start. This should have been an easy trial, the guy was arrested 100m away from the murder, was recognized by the victim husband and signed a detailed confession, until the judge understood that the guy could not be guilty and the police poorly made up the evidences to charge a randomly picked death row candidate.

It used to be that if you wanted to hear music you had to;

A. Learn to play or know someone who does

B. Wait for someone who was able to play to come by.

Since we live in a capitalist system the way to get them to come was to pay them. Been that way since forever really.

Up until about 1950 or so being a Musician was a respectable profession. You could make enough to live on. And you didn't have to go on tour, the speakeasy or night club paid you well enough.

Then along came Record Companies.

Now if you know a Musician, he or she is treated kind of like a Junkie without the fun of the Heroin. They have to have second "REAL" jobs. Artists are in the same boat. People had real paintings on their walls and you could make a real living at it. Oh and Actors too, don't forget them. And Stagehand, Ushers, ticket takers, bouncers, barkeeps, cigarette girls, hatcheck girls, etc etc etc....

Record Companies threw all these people out of work but thats ok, because they could hear music on phonographs and radios, watch TV and Movies in the theater and the productions values were much better but the plots kept going down hill. You get the picture. If not watch a movie called That Thing You Do! (1996) Pay attention and you will understand what I am getting at.

Fast Forward, but before the Computers and CDs, then DVDs. Most of the people who threw those people out of work back in the 50's realized in the 70's that they were next. Nobodies could make their own music and publish in on cassettes. DIRECTLY TO THE PUBLIC!!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warning:_Parental_Advisory

Hello RIAA/MPAA

Well they claim that downloaders are putting people out of work, but how come the Chemical Brothers shows are always sellouts and the never get airplay? Celine Dion and Barbara Streisand tickets sell for $200 a pop. Bands don't make money from records anymore, they make if from shows. Like they used to. The ones I know (I'm from Seattle) like it that way. Give it some time, well do in the MPAA too. Seriously Hollywood blows chunks.

If you RTFA you would know that the times can be anywhere from seconds to minutes, but that if you rapidly cool them with an inverted air duster, you can keep the info retained in the chips for 10 minutes or so. I you use some liquid nitrogen, even longer. Requires that you "cut" power to the computer. So I guess that means for a laptop, pulling the battery first, then pulling the plug, spraying the chips with liquid cool, then plopping them into another machine and booting to an evil OS that will read the contents of the memory.

As the ratio of air marshals to planes approaches 1, the chance of Jodi Foster losing her child and going crazy increases asymptotically.

Problem not solved. If something happens and the crew all get simultaneously ill, they can't open the door to get Robert Hays.

Natalie Wood would be happy.

"What makes us omniscient? Have we a record of omniscience? We are the strongest nation in the world today. I do not believe that we should ever apply that economic, political, and military power unilaterally. If we had followed that rule in Vietnam, we wouldn't have been there. None of our allies supported us. Not Japan, not Germany, not Britain or France. If we can't persuade nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, we'd better reexamine our reasoning."
--Robert S. McNamara, The Fog of War

About Jesus, Buddah and more, I recommend watching the intelligent movie The man from Earth.

Take four red capsules. In 10 minutes, take two more. Help is on the way. Can you hear me? Stay calm. Everything will be all right. The door seems to be jammed. Please check the lock on your side. Everything will be all right; we are here to help you. Stay calm. We are not going to harm you. Everything will be all right.

Argh!

You are correct. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098382/quotes

I give myself one geek demerit for picking the wrong movie.

was expecting it to be somewhat bad, but it was horrible!

Norda: How old are you?
Snails: Twenty-three. Yeah, I know I'm a little young for you, but what if I get my hands on an aging potion, huh? I'll sacrifice a couple of years for you.
Norda: I'm two hundred and thirty-four.

What does that have to do with the dolphins with lasers on their heads?

Calling me a dolt isn't going to strengthen your frail argument that Lucas is trying to dupe his audience into giving him more money. Lucas would not continue working on Star Wars if people hated the films. Do you see a Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB epic trilogy? How about a prequel trilogy devoted to the original trilogy?

Lucas' trilogies are signs of his success, not signs of his lack thereof.

You think he's a halfway decent director? K well you must SHOW ME your Oscars pal, or STFU. KTHX.

That's right, and the idea isn't even new. It was used back in '79 as the premise of the TV show Salvage 1. The ship, known as The Vulture, was built by a junk-yard operator to salvage junk left on the moon by Apollo.

.. or even better yet, evolving.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074121/

-- Andyvan

I wonder what will happen if it lands somewhere in the Kalahari

Or better yet, it falls from the sky and they start worshiping it..... http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080801/

Layne

Ahh, but the work has been done for you!

Did you mean nostalgia rather than deja vu? You can tell them apart based on the location of the rash on your body - if the rash is on your torso it's deja vu, if the rash is in your groin it's nostalgia.

At any rate, ABBA never died. They live on in Australia thanks to the efforts of Bjorn Again, Muriel's Wedding and a lack of alternatives.

if my microwave gives me any shit, I'll demote it to tampon dispenser

Well, if you've seen Idiocracy then they may be right, but it's just the other way around : Human intelligence will reach the level of toasters.

You know, I watched the comedy Idiocracy a long time ago and Initially thought that it was not possible. As time goes on, I think it was more of a omen than comedy. They have one good point in that movie. the Stupid have lots of children, the smart tend to have very few or no children. This rapidly depletes the Gene Pool of the smarter people. Creating a society of idiots.

Honestly it feels like that is where we are heading. I know historically we have always been there, but it just seems worse because we live it today.

The number of children born with genetic defects (not major, bot minor that will propagate further in the populace over time) is higher than children born without them. Sure a lot of that is environment as well, but that goes back to my original point, the poor are usually not the smart and they are forced to live in older homes with lead paint and asbestos in industrial areas with higher air pollution. The smart typically can find a way to make enough money to afford the non lead home away from the oil refineries and steel mills. This is not racist it's a economic fact that affects the life of the smart and not smart. Yes I know LOTS of not smart that have college education and are CEO's CFO's and upper managers but those are the anomaly today. Big business used to make sure the men at the top got there by being the best of the best instead of buddies or frat brothers or being known.

Natural selection and evolution is going bad in the human race because of the past 50 years of making sure everything is "safe" and building for the lowest common denominator instead of what should be done. Watch, in 500 years we will be a planet with a very high concentration of morons, watering the fields with electrolyte enhanced sports drink and watching the getting kicked in the groin show.

Popcorn!

While yelling, "Oh noes teh chinese teh sencors!" is excellent mod material on /., a more thought provoking discussion might involve the themes that horror movies embody.

It probably isn't nightmares that the Chinese government is against but some element of society that horror critiques.

Mary Shelly's Frankenstein critiques the notion of the outsider, conformity, beauty and justice for example. Distopian film has been a powerful tool in contextualizing societies problems since Metropolis (1927).

Can anyone with a study of horror themes beyond the obvious ( catharsis towards human frailty and the proximity of sexuality to violence) give us an indication of the social consciousness being repressed here?

from Stand By Me:

Vince Desjardins: I'll tell you how they're gonna find him. Ten years from now, some hunter's gonna go in the woods to take a leak, wind up pissing on his bones.
Charlie Hogan: I bet you a thousand bucks, they'll find him before then.
Eyeball: Bet you two thousands dollars, they don't.
Charlie Hogan: Well, asshole...
Billy Tessio: Hey, what's the big deal? Who cares?
Ace: Will you two just shut the fuck up? If either of you assholes had two-thousand dollars, I'd kill you both.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100014/

Plot Keywords: Female Masturbation / Female Frontal Nudity / Sex / Infidelity / Lesbianism

Their movie industry will be totally lost for plot lines...

http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=chinese+ghost+stories

No, we need Kurt Russell. Put him in his Snake Plissken outfit and give him a sub-machine gun and they will come as quietly as he will let them.

Nah, I'll take Todd from Soldier. When asked about what he'd do with the heavily armed guards protecting the fascists, he'd say "I'll kill them all".

Numb3rs

Kevin Bacon is the nexus of the Universe, so I'm only going to post the closest IMDB listing to al-Walid bin Talal, that for King Fahd getting special thanks for Malcolm X,

http://imdb.com/name/nm1145255/

Y'all take it from here. I too busy computing my Elvis Number.

With the exception of the already mentioned Clone Wars shorts that were produced recently, I remember Droids and Ewoks from 1985. They were craptsatic but none the less considered Star Wars animated series.