1968’s The Odd Couple is one of my favourite comedies. Not many theatre productions translate to the screen, of course, but Neil Simon’s does, and then some. You can’t really beat Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, and the dialogue is … Continue reading The Gwendolyn and Cecily Day Thread (September 30, 2020)
Here’s a thread for those of us who will be following the first debate between President Trump and former Vice-President Joe Biden. It will run from 9:00 to 10:30 p.m. Eastern. Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace is hosting. The … Continue reading The First Presidential Debate Live Thread
Are you tired of feeling alone? Unwanted? Disrespected? By joining the Dark Order, you’ll find a new strength in numbers … they will be your friend and biggest supporter. They’re totally not a cult. You too can be as cool … Continue reading Join the Dark Order, Night Thread (September 28, 2020)
Hey everyone, let’s welcome the weekend with everyone’s favourite image-based guessing game! Post a Safe For Work (or hidden behind spoilers) GIF Identify the source ??? Profit! This is a welcoming space for all so please do not post sexualised … Continue reading Identify This GIF!
Woo! Yeah! Have a crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy night, everyone! Continue reading The 45 Minutes of Paul Stanley Stage Banter Night Thread (September 24, 2020)
Science fiction authors have been writing about the possibilities of worlds integrated with intelligent machines since the earliest days of the genre – including EM Forsters ‘The Machine Stops’ in 1909 and HG Well’s concept of a “World Brain” in … Continue reading Here’s Looking At You, KITT: Seven Sci-Fi Supercomputers
SUMMARY OF ODD MAN HYPOTHESIS: Good news, everyone! A wild hair inserting itself in an orifice neither earhole nor piehole. I’m excited. Are you excited? This has consumed more of my recent hours than I would like to admit. Nothing … Continue reading The Avocado Recycles Its Trash (September 23, 2020)
Hey! It turns out today was the 30th anniversary of the American theatrical release of Goodfellas. I can only imagine the visceral excitement of watching this in the cinema for the very first time. Anyway, let us then dedicate tonight’s … Continue reading The Jimmy Two-Times Night Thread (September 21, 2020)
“I’m a smart computer.” The supercomputer at the heart of 2018’s Maniac is a whole bundle of visual tropes plucked from both history and fiction. Created by Cary Fukunaga and Patrick Somerville, it’s fitting that the name of the show … Continue reading Supercomputers Week: GRTA (September 20 Night Thread)
Duncan Jones’ 2009 directorial debut Moon is a snug little film starring several Sam Rockwells. From the spacesuit design to the interiors of the ships, every detail seems to have been lifted from an earlier work; that doesn’t make it … Continue reading Supercomputers Week: GERTY (September 19 Night Thread)
Rick Bognar was a Canadian wrestler from Calgary, Alberta, who competed in Japan in the early Nineties as Big Titan. He is however most famous as being the Fake Razor Ramon in the World Wrestling Federation. The real Razor Ramon, … Continue reading The Fake Razor Ramon Day Thread (September 19, 2020)
The digital age brought us supercomputers that were helpful, rather than murderous – with their proliferation into everyday society, electronic machines just weren’t that scary any longer. With David Hasselhof and the smooth, glimmering veneer of the 1980’s, came Knight … Continue reading Supercomputers Week: KARR (September 18 Night Thread)
It’s Identify This GIF! And this week’s prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. It’s very simple, really: Post a SFW (or spoilered) GIF Identify the source ??? Profit! This is an open space where no one should feel uncomfortable, so please … Continue reading Identify This GIF!
“Unable to compute.” If HAL is the father of sci-fi artificial intelligences, then Mother is, well, the mother. Only featured in three very short scenes in Alien, Ridley Scott’s 1979 masterpiece, the design of this supercomputer has been long lasting … Continue reading Supercomputers Week: Mother (September 17 Night Thread)
Colossus: The Forbin Project is a 1970 science fiction thriller in which a highly advanced artificial intelligence is given the oversight of the United States nuclear deterrent. Between the publication of Dennis Feltham Jones’ source novel in 1966 and the … Continue reading Supercomputers Week: COLOSSUS (September 16 Night Thread)
The Borg are one of my favourite science-fiction antagonists, and also a perfect example of diminishing returns. Their first appearance in the second season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Q Who?” is a show highlight. Their ship, a … Continue reading The Borg Day Thread (September 16, 2020)
“Will I dream?” 2001: A Space Odyssey is over fifty years old and is still the unavoidable standard for so much of science-fiction visual design that it is still being heavily referenced in every medium today. There are overwhelmingly good … Continue reading Supercomputers Week: SAL 9000 (September 15 Night Thread)
As a companion to my thread from July, here is Londo Mollari’s frequent nemesis and Narn ambassador to Babylon 5, G’Kar. The Narn were a race occupied and enslaved by the Centauri, who only gained their freedom after a hundred … Continue reading The G’Kar Day Thread (September 15, 2020)
In the first years of the 1950s, a team of scientists led by Nicholas Metropolis, constructed the MANIAC – Mathematical Analyser Numerical Integrator and Computer. It was gigantic and weighed almost a thousand pounds. It’s programmers included several notable women … Continue reading Supercomputers Week: The Old Man (September 14 Night Thread)
It’s Friday and that means it’s time to do that thing you do. And here’s what to do: Post a SFW (Or spoilered) GIF Identify the source ??? Profit! This is a light-hearted game so please do not post sexualised … Continue reading Identify This GIF!
The Dune trailer has been released today! Go crazy talking about it here. Continue reading Dune Trailer Reaction Thread
