HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: cjb3701@ritvax.isc.rit.edu (Chris Bigenwald)
Subject: Re: Laser and tape questions
Reply-To: cjb3701@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 03:46:35 GMT

In article <98940010@hpopd.pwd.hp.com>, dug@hpopd.pwd.hp.com (Dug Smith) writes:
>>What is the difference between movies here and in the UK... I keep hearing
>>about how they reedit them. HUh, why? 
> 
>Over here in Blighty, we have a different refresh rate than you guys, so if 
>they don't edit the films, they play faster.  Could this be what you mean?
>
>>Anyways, anybody want to help me get a copy of aliens from UK. 
>
>I don't think you really want a copy from the UK, as it would be PAL, and you
>need NTSC (Never The Same Colour).  You can get it converted, but that involves
>making a copy (and losing a lot of quality), and that's illegal :-)

Sorry, but I don't think that your info is accurate.  Yes, people in the U.S.
don't want a tape made in the U.K. if it is in PAL format (the U.S. uses
NTSC).  NTSC refreshes half of the screen 60 times per second.

However, this has nothing to do with EDITING films or videotape.  It is
strictly a TRANSFER process and a PAL copy should be almost identical to a
NTSC copy in terms of what you see.  The only difference, besides needing a
different VCR to watch them on may be a few dropped frames (were talking
differences of much less than a second here).  The films are not actually
edited and don't play "faster"....

- Chris
----------------------------------------------
Chris J. Bigenwald
Rochester Institute of Technology
Computer Science graduate student & windsurfer
cjb3701@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
----------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
From: boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com (The Man from Another Place)
Subject: Re: Directors cuts in general
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 09:43:25 GMT

In article <1992Aug12.151206.3066@cbnewsj.cb.att.com>, ecl@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) writes...

} In article <1992Aug11.151017.4120@engage.pko.dec.com> boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com (The Man from Another Place) writes:

}} [...] for example, the shower scene in PSYCHO, with a lot of quick cuts
}} from Vera Miles screaming and thrashing around to the knife plunging
}} down and back again is an example of an editor doing a great job [...]

} Dear Mr. Man from Another Place:
}	In our place it was Janet Leigh, not Vera Miles.

Heh, I *said* it was a great job by the editor! :-)

Or...mea culpa. I kept thinking the name Vera Miles, because she was Hitch's
"favorite" actress.

-- 

	"She's my radiation baby.
	 She's my teenage fallout girl."

--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, "The Mill", Maynard, MA)

    boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com
From: mmaxwell@ucsd.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: ALIENS 3
Date: 13 Aug 1992 21:55:41 GMT
Organization: UC San Diego
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: irpsws80.ucsd.edu
Keywords: Gibson, bugs

In article <1992Aug13.204104.20164@u.washington.edu>
daynem@byron.u.washington.edu (Dayne Miller) writes:
>Does ANYONE out there know how I can get my hands on a copy of William
>Gibson's original screenplay for ALIENS 3??!!!
>
>ANY help on this would be much appreciated. Please e-mail any responses!
>
>     Dayne Miller
>       daynem@u.washington.edu
>
>
>"You point that toy at me and I will, quite literally, rip your spine from
> your body."              
>                             -VAMPIRE$, by John Steakley     
>
A lengthy synopsis of this was posted to alt.cyberpunk a couple of
months ago (but i didn't save it.)  It looked pretty interesting, for 
full-on aliens swarming over the sprawl (well a space station, actually)
and munching on humans.  It took some pretty drastic liberties with
the process of alien procreation and killed off some characters wholesale
(though i won't say who.)  Try asking on alt.cyberpunk if you feel brave.
-------------------
Matt Maxwell
mmaxwell@ucsd.edu

"He took personality tests
 and stapled them to his lower lip" -- Stan Ridgway

Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
From: gre253@mis.csiro.au (Steven Green)
Subject: Re: Naming Alien 4
Organization: CSIRO ITS
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 02:41:14 GMT

How about:

"Bill and Ted's Alien Adventure" 

Totally bogus dude !!

-- 
* Steve Green     *  "Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit outa my hat!"    *
* Comms Group     *  "That trick never works"                            *
* ITS Branch      *  "Nothin' up my sleeve - PRESTO"                     *
* CSIRO Australia *  "No doubt about it - I gotta get another hat"       *
From: robrod@csa.bu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Alien 2,3
Date: 19 Aug 92 23:44:16 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Computer Science Department, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
Originator: robrod@csa


What I really hated about Aliens is that after the military got
completely overmatched by the aliens, comes Ripley, turning into
superwoman, and singlehandedly walks with no problems to the nest of the
aliens and creates havoc, kicks their ass, and returns unchallenged to
the ship.

In Alien^3 I hated that all the characters we cared about died right
from the start (including the doctor) and that the only thing we were
given to hope for was for Ripley to finally die.  Besides the mysterious
eggs on the Sulaco, but that is an old subject.

I disfavor a sequel bringing the aliens to Earth.  I think it would give
it a "Zombie" kind of look:  "The evil creatures get the innocent people
in masses and turns them into one of them (or eat them)."

I think Alien 4 should try to reconsile the mistakes made in its two
predecessors.  It should specially avoid the
one-hero-who-at-the-end-gets-pissed-off-and-kills-all-the-evil-ones
cliche.  My vote is to make it into a kind of conflict between the
company, who would be trying to get the aliens from the mothership, and
some descent people who know better.  However, the aliens get
infiltrated into both camps and everything gets complicated.

But please, no more nuke'em dead at the end.

Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
From: serge@dgbt.doc.ca (Serge Ah Hee)
Subject: Re: To all Dune Fans, a question
Organization: The Communications Research Centre
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 15:10:09 GMT

In article <1992Aug20.073457.289@doc.bmd.trw.com> auerbach@doc.bmd.trw.com writes:
>In article <1992Aug19.144857.4773@dgbt.doc.ca>, serge@dgbt.doc.ca (Serge Ah Hee) writes:
>> The other night , I saw a part of the movie Dune on our local TV channel, and decided 
>> to read the book. Before leaving for Dune, Paul makes a reference to his sister
>> who died at the hands of the Harkonnens (sp?). Does anybody have more details 
>> about it?.     
>
>Paul?  The book mentions that the sister of Gurney Halleck was killed by the
>Harkonnens, but not a sister of Paul.  Halleck also received the scar on his
>jaw from the Harkonnens.  It was interesting that the movie went to the effort
>to replicate the scar, but doesn't explain its source.
>
>K

Oops... yeah you're right, I guess my eyes are doing weird things to me.
It was quite late when I read that chapter...


-- 
Serge Ah-Hee                  "Most troubles come from the fact that people 
serge@dgbt.doc.ca		take for granted of what they have, and 
				only care for what they want."
My opinions are mine only.
From: daynem@byron.u.washington.edu (Dayne Miller)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: Natives Down the River (was re: ALIEN^3 Eggs on Sulaco)
Date: 20 Aug 92 19:07:09 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Aug20.190709.13522
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

Just a quick comment about the relationship between Weyland-Yutani and the
Colonial Marines:

     I figure that the structure of politics at the time of the Alien
flicks would closely correspond to that of colonial England, specifically
the way that it treated India. The British East India Company was a private
organization (though they did have a charter from the Crown). They were free
to administer India pretty much however they damn well pleased. The British
Army was available if there was un uprising, or other similar problems, but
for the most part the Company was on its own. The BEIC certainly had a lot
of influence with the Army, but the Army remained for the most part under
the jurisdiction of the Crown.
     I see Weyland-Yutani as being quite similar. Although they have a large
degree of autonomy, and even some direct influence with whatever earthly 
government (U.S., U.N., whatever) controls the Colonial Marines, they are
by no means immune to prosecution and regulation by that government if they
exceed certain guidelines (like smuggling a hostile e.t. through quarantine).

     Just my opinion...

     Dayne Miller
       daynem@u.washington.edu
From: t9014201@phillip.edu.au
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: Natives Down the River
Date: 15 Aug 92 15:52:49 GMT
Organization: RMIT (Bundoora Campus)

OK, my turn...

Why Alien 3 didnt work....

Technology.
The first 2 movies made a good contrast between humans surrounded by their high 
tech gadjets and the simple animal aliens.
I can see that the writer of A3 deliberately cut out those tech elements and it
probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but I went into the movie hoping
for Smart-guns, Spaceships, "Mother", Power-loaders, Movement trackers and so
forth, and all I got was a Lead Refinery.
  Actually, I liked the little contrast between the high tech Computer Map used
in Aliens and the light shining thru the simple paper map in A3.  But that is
just one small thing.

Characters.
Alien had its crew of eccentric Crew Members. 
Aliens had its wacky band of Marines.
Alien 3 had....  whinging Poms, who kept on making long boring speeches.

Letdown.
Aliens was a BIG movie.  lotsa effects, lotsa noise, lotsa ideas.
Then Alien 3 comes along, and it seems to offer not merely less than Aliens, 
but less than Alien.  It felt very "Superman 4".
Alien (1) had more elements in it to keep your interest....  The Mysterious 
Alien SpaceShip, the life on board the Nostromo, the life cycle of the Alien
, Ash, High Tech Medicine.  Aliens offered all this and more.
Alien 3 offered...  Life in a Lead Refinery.

Depression.
All the characters we we grow to attached to in Aliens are killed off right
away.  The new characters listen to Ripley, instead of waiting for the Company
so they die.  RIPLEY killed them.  RIPLEY dies.  The alien wins.  If there is
any other aliens in the universe (probably), then the Company wins.
A major theme of the movie is Ripley wanting to commit suicide.  This is NOT a
theme to use to cheer up an audience.


So...  I cant understand why they made the film this way.
The money heads in Hollywood must have seen that the crowds LOVED Aliens
and surely they understood WHY.  So why did they produce a film that offered
none of the thrills of the earlier films?
--
* Clouds...  Love...  Stars... Colours... *
                                     Greg McPherson * T9014201@phillip.edu.au
From: wixer!cactus.org!wixer!pro-smof.cts.com!rfletcher@cactus.org (Robert Fletcher)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: THE CLOWN IN "IT"
Date: 18 Aug 1992 01:29:14 -0500
Organization: The SMOF-BBS: Science Fiction Online Since 1985 [512-467-7317]
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

  Same guy who played the alien in "Rocky Horror Show." He was also in the
movie "Little Orphan Annie." Just one thing tho, I do not know the guys
name.
----
ProLine:  rfletcher@pro-smof
Internet: rfletcher@pro-smof.cts.com
UUCP:     crash!pro-smof!rfletcher
ARPA:     crash!pro-smof!rfletcher@nosc.mil

Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
From: pclink@cheops.qld.tne.oz.au (Rick)
Subject: Re: Got IT! ALIENI (4)
Organization: Telecom Australia, TNE Computer Support Services
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 00:11:49 GMT

mst@vexpert.dbai.tuwien.ac.at (Markus Stumptner) writes:

>On a less serious note, of course, if you include Terminators, you
>absolutely have to bring the Predators into it, too.  Plus a Nexus 6
>hit team that tries to hide the fact that Tyrell was Dyson's successor
>in Terminator research at Cyberdyne.

And let's not forget Doc Brown and Marty McFly...

Rick.
From: ccoprdj@prism.gatech.EDU (Jorge Diaz)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: What's wrong with Alien^3?
Date: 23 Aug 92 07:27:58 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

In article <1992Aug23.063736.11391@ryn.mro4.dec.com> boyajian@ruby.enet.dec.com (The Man from Another Place) writes:

>} First, what are the odds that the Alien would just sit there and take
>} a beating?  It can still run, you know.  Probably faster than Ripley.
>} It can climb walls.  It can disappear (not literally, but it's damn good
>} at hiding).  I don't think Ripley would get a single hit on it.

>That's irrelevant. The point isn't whether she'd succeed at it, the point
>is that she'd *try*.

She did try.  She went down there, pipe in hand and all, just like you
described, ready to whack that thing on the head.  She thought she was,
and she ended up hitting a pipe instead.  The lice grossed her out, she
dropped the pipe, backed into the thing.

Then what?  We don't know.  Maybe she picked up the pipe just like you
described, and the thing ran away.  Or maybe she tried to hit it with
her bare hands, she knows it won't harm her.  I doubt she ran away.
But I think it's pretty safe to assume that if she did try anything, it
didn't succeed (and it shouldn't have succeeded).

>}} This would've been the logical end to Ripley's story. If they'd done it
>}} this way, I don't think it could've salvaged the film as a whole, but
>}} it would've resulted in a better film than what we got.

>} Hardly.

>Hardly?

Yes, hardly.  What you described would hardly have "been the logical end
to Ripley's story" because it would have made no sense had it ended that
way.


-- 
Jorge Diaz                       | Sign in a restaurant:
Georgia Institute of Technology  | 
Office of Information Technology |   "We reserve the right to serve refuse to
ccoprdj@prism.gatech.edu         |        anyone."
From: gownder@husc9.harvard.edu (Joseph Gownder)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: Natives Down the River (was re: ALIEN^3 Eggs on Sulaco)
Date: 14 Aug 92 00:53:48 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc3.1992Aug13.205349.14710
Organization: Harvard University Science Center


I, too, thought Alien^3 was far better than most reviewers gave it
credit for being.  The visual effects were stunning, S. Weaver was
excellent, and, perhaps best of all, Charles Dutton made the whole
millenarian-Christian-monk bit work as well.  I only wish that
this whole "eggs on the Sulaco" issue had been better explained so
that people would focus more on the imagery and literary value
of the the movie.

Aliens, however, remains my favorite of the three; it had the right
mixture of characterization, action, and imagery to make for an
exciting yet stimulating film.

- J. P.
gownder@husc9.harvard.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
From: gre253@mis.csiro.au (Steven Green)
Subject: Re: Natives Down the River (was re: ALIEN^3 Eggs on Sulaco)
Organization: CSIRO ITS
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 06:35:26 GMT

... lots of STUFF deleted ...

>
>	The Alien is misused once more. It can survive a dunk into molten
> metal, but (after a cooling period) it can't take cold water? Bull. All
>the stuff its taken should make that minor contraction period trivial.
>And you say this thing doesn't ignore ALIENS? Bull again. Those things hated
>the flamethrowers, and molten lead is a HELL of a lot worse than flame
>throwers. At that temperature, any organic bonds would be shattered to nothing.


A flamethrower is just a tad hotter than molten lead! And as for 'any organic
bonds would be shattered into nothing' - hey this thing is a silicon-based
lifeform ( remember Ash's commentary from the first Alien movie ).

Have a read of Dayne Miller's theory of Alien physiology - very interesting.


>
>
>	But you won't care about any of these, because you probably LIKE
>gloom and doom movies; if that's your "thing", obviously you'll like ALIEN^3
>best of ALL of the Alien movies for the simple reason that the "good guys"
>lose and the Company and Alien win.
>
>
>                                 Sea Wasp
>                                   /^\
>                                   ;;;


-- 
* Steve Green     *  "Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit outa my hat!"    *
* Comms Group     *  "That trick never works"                            *
* ITS Branch      *  "Nothin' up my sleeve - PRESTO"                     *
* CSIRO Australia *  "No doubt about it - I gotta get another hat"       *
From: seawasp@vm2.cis.pitt.edu (Sea Wasp)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: Natives Down the River (was re: ALIEN^3 Eggs on Sulaco)
Date: 18 Aug 92 01:30:12 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh
Originator: seawasp@pmax1.cis.pitt.edu

In article <1992Aug17.204626.18655@maths.tcd.ie> pmoloney@maths.tcd.ie (Paul Moloney) writes:
>seawasp@vm2.cis.pitt.edu (Sea Wasp) writes:
>>	If YOU like that, fine, but I prefer to believe that when one creates
>>a fictional universe one can come up with something at least a little BETTER
>>than the one you LIVE in.

>I take it you didn't like "1984" then?

	One of the elite few to make it into my "bounce" category.

 Or a host of other movies and 
>other works of art that make you think?

	It is not POSSIBLE for anything to MAKE you think.

	However, it IS quite possible to provoke interesting thought processes
without being entirely depressing.
	
>Life's not nice, y'know. If you want a security blanket, stay at home
>and hide under the covers.

	That's the point. LIFE has some un-nice points. If you're CREATING an
entire universe, why make things as badly constructed as real life?


                                 Sea Wasp
                                   /^\
                                   ;;;
From: mst@vexpert.dbai.tuwien.ac.at (Markus Stumptner)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: Aliens the Special Edition
Date: 19 Aug 92 08:51:40 GMT
Organization: DB and ES Subdivision, TU Vienna

From article <1992Aug18.234212.21024@sura.net>, by wbarnes@sura.net (Bill Barnes):
> IMHO, one of the cool things about the Alien movies is the fact you really
> don't know jackshit about them

I agree, but I do think that Cameron *wanted* to nail the Aliens down,
that is the impression I had when seeing the film, and I still have it
when I watch it again.  And many people obviously like it that way,
but I definitely don't, it's what I despise most about it (together
with the cardboard characters, but that's a different story :-) .
So Aliens is not cool in exactly that respect.

Assuming that the Aliens vary in their organizations and ways of
procreation is not a bad idea (I think it will make it easier the next
time I watch it), but it requires an effort of will to support it in
the face of ALIENS, which tries to give an impression of being the
Definitive Look at the Way the Aliens Work.
-- 
Markus Stumptner                                mst@vexpert.dbai.tuwien.ac.at
University of Technology Vienna                 vexpert!mst@relay.eu.net
Paniglg. 16, A-1040 Vienna, Austria             ...mcsun!vexpert!mst
From: mst@vexpert.dbai.tuwien.ac.at (Markus Stumptner)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: ALIENS 3
Date: 14 Aug 92 09:05:10 GMT
Organization: DB and ES Subdivision, TU Vienna

From article <16elotINNk9s@network.ucsd.edu>, by mmaxwell@ucsd.edu:
> and munching on humans.  It took some pretty drastic liberties with
> the process of alien procreation and killed off some characters wholesale
> (though i won't say who.) 

Well, these fully apply to the final Alien 3 as well.  (The first one
also applies to Aliens.)
-- 
Markus Stumptner                                mst@vexpert.dbai.tuwien.ac.at
University of Technology Vienna                 vexpert!mst@relay.eu.net
Paniglg. 16, A-1040 Vienna, Austria             ...mcsun!vexpert!mst
From: makelley@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Skinny Puppy )
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: THE CLOWN IN "IT"
Date: 15 Aug 92 07:39:31 GMT
Organization: University of California, San Diego

In article <1992Aug14.163116.1@cubldr.colorado.edu> streuer_d@cubldr.colorado.edu writes:
>Please, all you experts out there ... who played the clown 'Pennywise'
>in Steven King's movie "IT"?  
>
>I watched the credits, but never did see it.  It was suggested King played
>the part himself - but the voice wasn't right and I don't believe he
>could act that good.
>
>Thanks.

 Tim Curry played the clown. (He was also in Legend, Oscar, ????)




		makelley@ucsd.edu

Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies
From: jfe@alchemy.tn.cornell.edu (Brian Chung)
Subject: Re: Star Trek VI - What anachronisms!
Followup-To: rec.arts.startrek.misc 
Organization: Alchemy International
Distribution: rec
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 18:26:27 GMT

In article <Bt8nMx.24I@brunel.ac.uk> Robert.Turner@brunel.ac.uk (Robert Turner) writes:
>davest@sequent.com (David C. Stewart) writes:=
>%	* The walls in Kirk's cabin and in the "Officer's Mess" (where the
>%	  dinner with Klingons is held) are covered with paintings.
>%	  Kirk seems to like pictures of ships and the like, while the
>%	  mess has what look like portraits.  This is the first time I
>%	  can recall there being this kind of decoration on the walls
>%	  of the Enterprise.
>
>Well, can't remember when (can't remember even in TOS or TNG, but seem
>to remember TOS), I saw a set of pictures on a 'Ready Room' wall which
>depicted ships called 'Enterprise' over the years. Seem to remember Kirk
>giving a lecture. But may have been someone else.
>
>Anyway, there is precident for this, at least.
>
>Rob
>
 	I believe you are talking about the scene in ST:TMP in which
Capt. Decker is giving Alia a tour of the Enterprise.  There are pictures
of all the Enterprises in the Rec Deck, and Decker explains them to Alia.
There are also models of all the Enterprises in the Captain's Ready Room
in Enterprise-D.

	Now, to answer the real question, yes, that was the first time
we've seen portraits as decoration.  But then again, that was the first
time we saw the banquet hall in the Enterprise.  Since banquet hall is
usually used for diplomatic functions and state dinners, it's not too much
an anachronism to have portraits and pictures on the wall.  Can you imagine
having a formal dinner surrounded by the pictures of Lincoln, JFK, Surak,
etc.?  Follow-up to rec.arts.startrek.misc.

>
>-- 
> _________________________________________________________________________
>/                            |                                            \
>|   Rob Turner, PC Support   |     email : Robert.Turner@brunel.ac.uk     |
>|   Brunel University        |                                            |
>|   London, England          |      What IS this thing called love ?      |
>\____________________________|____________________________________________/


-- 
T. H. Brian Chung                      | IRC nick: Idaho
Internet: jfe@alchemy.tn.cornell.edu   | You can find me sitting at my desk
Bitnet: jfe@cornella                   | drinking Earl Grey tea.
DECnet: lns62::thc                     | 
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.movies