Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2010 August 3

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August 3

unknown science fiction / action movie

it just keeps bugging me not remembering the title.

does anyone remeber this american film, the hero was an alien disguised as human, his real form was still humanoid in form but skin color is blue, his face almost like ultraman, and he wields 2 swords attached to his elbow? to add, the main antagonist is also an alien similar in appearance, but wields 2 katara(s). they had a one-on-one battle in the climax.

please help. thank you. --R.A. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.1.67.147 (talk) 02:43, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

Sounds alot like the live action Guyver movie —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.167.165.2 (talk) 05:23, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

thank you for the answer. =)

Has there ever been an elite long distance runner who was also an elite sprinter?

I've read that the proportion of fast twitch to slow twitch muscle fibres has some bearing on how successful you will be at either sprinting and distance running. What I want to know is if there has been a person who was elite (world champion? Olympic champion?) at both types of running. Thanks

173.33.12.81 (talk) 04:21, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

Depends on how you define "long-distance", but events like the decathalon require running at a variety of distances, from 100 m up to 1500 m. --Jayron32 04:31, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

Free Riders-FoxNews

This last Saturday on FoxNews, they showed an old Special Report about "Free Riders" I believe, there was clips of Jeremy McGrath, and Brian Deegan I think. There was also an interview with Travis Pastrana when he was 14 years old, and in that interview it showed footage of him in a wheel chair after the accident that caused his pelvis to dislocate from his spine.

Is there any footage of this Special Report anywhere? I can't seem to find it on Youtube. Thanks. Moptopstyle1 (talk) 04:58, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

I just searched the FoxNews website, I didn't find any videos of it there.. Moptopstyle1  (talk) 05:07, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

An old sci/fi movie

Dear Wikipedians:

I remember watching a sci/fi movie back in the late 80's or early 90's (I can't remember the exact year). Near the end of the movie I remember the protagonist trying to rein in uncontrollable horses to try to drive his buggy away from a large, multi-floor wooden building that looks like a hotel, the building is burning down and there is panic among the people and horses and buggies surrounding the building, the setting looks like the late 1800s and early 1900s.

And then the protagonist must have time-traveled (the other possibility being a computer simulation of the late 1800s to early 1900s) to the 1980s or 1990s (the year in which the movie was made presumably), as he is seen driving a convertible across the same site where the burnt down building is, only now it is replaced with a modern white 20 story building that looks like one of those luxury Hilton hotels, complete with swimming pool and large palm trees, the sky is blue and everything looks really beautiful. The protagonist looks happy and drives away from the hotel. The movie ends there.

I am having real problem recalling the name of this movie. I tried to Google, to no avail. I need some help here.

Thanks.

70.31.158.114 (talk) 20:37, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

The years match up with Back to the Future Part III pretty well, but it's been a while since I've seen it. Recury (talk) 19:42, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks 70.31.158.114 (talk) 19:52, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Definitely not Back to the Future III. That film has no fire, no Hilton, no palm surrounded pool, and the DeLorean wasn't a convertible. Astronaut (talk) 20:09, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Sci/fi movies that depicts virtual reality/simulated reality in a positive light

Dear Wikipedians:

I have watched the Matrix, 13th floor, Existenz, but I feel that they are all portraying VR technologies in a negative light. I am wondering if there are any sci/fi movies made that depict VR technologies in a positive light?

Thanks,

70.31.158.114 (talk) 20:42, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

What do you mean by a "negative" light? What's negative about it? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:28, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

Move fictional portrayals of VR have some sort of "If you die in VR you die in real life." stipulation. In my mind that's pretty negative. I don't have a good answer. Lawnmower man? There have been a number of movies where augmented reality is used by the heroes to good effect, (Iron Man's suit design scene comes to mind.) But I can't think of one where VR's portrayal has been all good. APL (talk) 21:39, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

The holodeck can have hazardous effects, but is mostly portrayed as benign. ---Sluzzelin talk 21:45, 3 August 2010 (UTC)

If Snow Crash and Neuromancer finally get made into movies, they will count — bad things happen in the matrix sometimes, but the matrix is certainly a net positive in both of those amazing books. Comet Tuttle (talk) 16:21, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Thanks all for your input. Yeah I think holodeck comes closest to a positive depiction of VR technology in a movie picture context. I will make sure I read both Snow Crash and Neuromancer sometime in the near future. Actually I have heard a lot about Neuromancer. 70.31.158.114 (talk) 19:53, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Resolved