Hacker Cinema
Clue
1985 · Film · 94 min
Directed by Jonathan Lynn
Clue finds six colorful dinner guests gathered at the mansion of their host, Mr. Boddy -- who turns up dead after his secret is exposed: He was blackmailing all of them. With the killer among them, the guests and Boddy's chatty butler must suss out the culprit before the body count rises.
6 positive11 neutralfrom 17 commenters
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19 comments on Hacker News
Can confirm via my own anecdotal data and experiences, for whatever they're worth. Elder Millennial for context.
* Up until NCLB, classes were focused more on theory than rote memorization with some notable exceptions. However, the further along I got in schooling/as NCLB approached, the more work shifted towards objective measures of knowledge rather than demonstrable understanding of theories, processes, and problem solving. By the time I was integrated into High School, most classes were graded by objective measures rather than theory - English and Social Studies were graded identically to Math and Science. The focus wasn't on the content of Shakespeare or Dante's Inferno, nor on the geopolitics of The Opium Wars or the history of European Empires; it was dates, people, how the verse was written, marking syllables, etc.
* I got lucky that my gifted status meant I spent time at a local university in grade and middle school at a special campus part of the week. That school taught me some of my most valuable lessons that continue to pay dividends in practical life: how to think critically (a semester learning game strategies with a final exam deducing whodunnit in the movie 'Clue'), appreciating the similarities and unique differences in biological life (basically a deep-dive on animals, insects, and biology half a decade before HS Biology covered the same stuff at a shallower depth), understanding the underlying physics of planetary forces (plate tectonics, volcanism, fault lines, meteorology, etc), music and art appreciation regardless of ability to understand the underlying speech (lots of VHS musicals, arts and crafts, and self-expression), and ample time understanding how computers worked - including building my first programs and coding my first website. None of my "non-gifted" classmates received remotely similar quality of education, focusing instead on rote memorization instead of abstract problem solving.
* The day NCLB was signed, I remember my World History teacher flipping his desk in the classroom. "You lot better pay attention because you're the last class who will ever get this good an education ever again." He spent the remainder of the semester trying to teach World History through his preferred lens of underlying causes, political movements, outcomes, and next-order effects rather than dates and places, with ample essay questions on exams to force you to think critically on what you learned and make arguments for/against something he posited. Subsequent classes were exclusively date-person-place tests for the sake of standardized testing and measurable outcomes.
So when I see people defaulting to AI in a world where measurable outcomes are the only things that matter (grades, KPIs, 'number-go-up'), I can't entirely fault them. I've spent enough time in this system to know my way of thinking is entirely contrary to the incentives at play, and a threat to those who benefit from it. Were I more flexible in my ethics or thinking, I'd do the same to benefit myself.
Except I continue to see growing fatigue of folks who have to deal with this slop on a regular basis. Employers have already pivoted away from AI in interviews and job postings, at least in my IT purview, because the output doesn't justify the lost opportunities of hiring quality talent with critical thinking skills to solve unique problems; they're tired of "BuT cOpIlOt SaId" in meetings as justification for any given thing, and even more exasperated that leadership seems to trust the chatbot when it's wrong more than any employee who is right.
Do I think that attitude will win out in the long run? Not really, no, because the underlying incentives make reliance on AI in lieu of personal/critical thought a better prospect than trying to forge your own identity and path forward. At least for the foreseeable future, those who blindly trust the bot will be rewarded even when they're wrong, while those of us who use it as an untrustworthy peer (or not at all) will be punished for not surrendering ourselves to its output.
Clue actually did this in the theaters: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clue_(film)
Though it's just an ending.
Someone should do this again, only more subtly. The internet would figure it out in a bit, but it'd be fun watching people argue about what actually happened in the movie before they figured it out. Half surprised someone hasn't had this idea to generate buzz.
Clue (1985) had several different endings sent to different theaters, which as a comedy was a pretty funny and novel idea. The VHS release contained all of them at the end with title cards to explain why.
If this doc is screening in theaters I'd imagining different reels/files are sent to different theaters, or maybe more than one so they can rotate them.
As others have said DVDs are more than capable of this. A VLC plugin could work, and Netflix has some type of tech for their choose-your-own-adventure episode of Black Mirror for streaming.
Reminds of a joke in the movie "Clue." The suspicious-looking widow is asked why her husband disappeared, and she says dismissively, "Well, that was his job. He was a magician."
Fumbling, they say, "but he never reappeared!" And she says...
"Well, he wasn't a very good magician."
If you’ve ever wondered why you like both Yes Minister and Clue (the 1985 movie), it’s because they both come from the pen of Jonathan Lynn.
Who can’t hear an echo of Sir Humphrey in this exchange?:
Colonel Mustard: "No" meaning "yes?" Look, I want a straight answer, is there someone else, or isn't there, yes, or no?
Wadsworth: No.
Colonel Mustard: No there is, or no there isn't?
Wadsworth: Yes.
Lets see... the most recent comedy movies I've seen...
Knives Out (2019) was probably the one I enjoyed the most.
JoJo Rabbit was trying too hard IMO, but I still smiled/laughed throughout it. WW2 is kinda overdone at this point (though serious films like Downfall are worth revisiting)
Free Guy was fine? Apparently "The Suicide Squad" also counts as a comedy. I guess Deadpool and Deadpool 2 were also fine. Maybe other people are tired of comicbook / superhero movies, but really I'm personally only tired of the "Marvel Formula" (and Deadpool / The Suicide Squad strays pretty heavily from the formula). Going back a bit further is "Jumanji"...
There's a lot of flicks / comedy films out there. Nothing is quite as good as Airplane but I'd say Knives Out is on-par, maybe even better than Clue (1985).
I don't really like the "Despicable Me" series, but my nieces really wanted to watch "Minions: Rise of Gru" and I actually enjoyed that one. (My nieces love this series, so I can say that I've watched all of it and its mostly trash. But Rise of Gru actually got me to laugh)
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I'm no critic. I enjoy just a basic flick now and then. Honestly, I'd rewatch "Knives Out" more than any Adam Sandler movie from the 90s or even Austin Powers. 90s era comedy just didn't mesh well with me, despite me growing up at that time. I do have a soft spot for the dry 80s stuff with Leslie Nielsen, and I guess I really liked Jackie Chan's action/comedies through the 90s and 00s.
I dunno, if I think "90s comedy I enjoyed", I think of Men in Black or Aladdin? Nothing in the list that this author wrote.
Xenomorph cop. It's a Dirty Harry style movie except the lead is a xenomorph. The other characters are only vaguely aware that he's a xenomorph.
Or how about the movie Clue with the three endings except an infinite sequence of "or maybe it happened this way" sequences. I mean how else are we going to get a sequence where Darth Vader and Tim Curry reenact the "No I am your father" scene while Martin Mull dies in the background due to a heart attack.
This is backwards.
And whatever this is, does not make sense to me.
1. You can just go to the show's subreddit and browse, or browse with filters such as top, hot, etc. And you can filter the time period.
2. You can use Google. This works great for me. Just type "the wire reddit" or "site:reddit.com the wire", and the first result will be the subreddit page, but if you scroll down, you will start to see threads from other subs as well. This way you can access more discussions outside of the dedicated subreddit.
____
In a more general note, you can find all sorts of different stuff by using Google to browse reddit this way.
I have watched quite a few really good movies by searching "your top 5 movies reddit", "your favorite movies reddit", or "best movies reddit". I just go through the past viral threads and find highly upvoted responses, or responses with some of movies I liked and some that I haven't watched.
I have discovered Clue, Primer, Hot Fuzz, Tropic Thunder, The Big Short, etc. this way.
It's fun we often pause older movies (80's "Clue" was the last one) so we can explain period stereotypes and prejudices to our 8yo daughter.
Saw the movie clue a couple months ago. It shocked me how bad WHO reputation was back then. 1985.
Professor Plum works for the WHO. —-
Miss Scarlet : I hardly think it will enhance your reputation at the U.N. Professor Plum, if it's revealed that you have been implicated not only in adultery with one of your patients, but in her death and the deaths of five other people.
Professor Plum : You don't know what kind of people they have at the U.N., I might go up in their estimation.
“Is the FBI in the habit of cleaning up after multiple murders?!!”
“Of course. Why do you think it’s run by a man called Hoover?”
This was a joke in the ‘80s Clue movie; albeit probably funnier to the English writer and the English actor saying the lines, as Hoover as a generecized trademark for vacuum cleaner is more popular there.
From the 1985 movie clue, Professor Plum works for the WHO. —-
Miss Scarlet :
I hardly think it will enhance your reputation at the U.N. Professor Plum, if it's revealed that you have been implicated not only in adultery with one of your patients, but in her death and the deaths of five other people.
Professor Plum : You don't know what kind of people they have at the U.N., I might go up in their estimation.
I wouldn't say we know but I have suspected since day one for many stupidly obvious reasons. I don't think Michael Baden adds anything one way or the other. He's just exposure-trolling.
I remember predicting his death when he went to prison for the second time. I wasn't even surprised. The list of people who would have wanted Epstein dead is so long it's hard to even speculate on whodunit. It's like the movie Clue where every single guest has a motive. The assumption of many is that it was our government at some level but it also could have been anyone with the ability to bribe a bunch of people to get certain things to happen in that jail... and that's a long list. NYC's jails (and that one in particular from what I hear) are known to be corrupt.
My personal suspicion is that Epstein was merely a front man running a blackmail / racketeering / financial fraud operation for a larger organized crime and/or intelligence network, and that this network had him killed to ensure that he wouldn't "roll" on higher ups.
> show slightly different versions of the show to different viewers
The 1985 movie Clue was released with three different endings[1]. And if you really wanted to see them all, you had to go to the movie at least three times in different theaters.
[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clue_(film)
Giving the keys to the show to the fans is definitely a double edged sword. I would not want some randos voting on how to end a show (it would always be a character named showy mcshowface killing everyone)
But this seems more like "we made A and B endings, and you can pick which one you watch!". If you've ever seen the movie Clue, I would imagine it's like that with all their alternate endings.
It depends. RPGs have a lot more character development than action games. Something like Mass Effect would be pretty straightforward to adopt into a movie (biggest question: Man or Woman Shepard?). If you're trying to adapt Space Invaders then yeah, the scriptwriter has their work cut out for them.
Could be worse, you could be adopting classic boardgames. The Battleship movie was gloriously dumb. Monopoly would come across as a critique of capitalism. Actually, the Clue movie was a lot of fun.
With the coming Rampage movie, I'm again excited for silly movies based on games. Clue is one of my all time favorite movies. :)
That said, your point is fair. Most book to movies, I though, typically strip out a lot, but don't fundamentally change the story. Do they?
Of course, as this article points out, the story for this game wasn't nearly as good as my rosy glasses give it credit for.
I'm a game designer and a hobbyist writer, and I traditionally have had a terrible time of putting stories into my designs...but yeah, there's some really fun interactive narrative / rpg games out there and I don't think the author has bothered to give them a try (he's only focused on the recent 'walking sim' genre in the article).
Phoenix Wright, Danganronpa, Persona 4 and 5, Life is Strange... all really great, and that's just what I've played in the last year. I've already got Nier Automata on deck for whenever I finish Persona 5.
I also tried playing Steins;Gate this year, one of the more influential graphic novel games, but I'm having a harder time getting into that one (I already saw a good chunk of the anime, so the game feels like a major downgrade visually).
The multiple path/ending thing is something books and films have never done terribly well. Clue is the most effective and successful movie that has attempted multiple endings, and even that could only provide 3 ~5 minute endings to an otherwise static (but really fun) movie.
Meanwhile quite a bit changed in my playthrough of Life is Strange based on my choices (although still not quite as much as I would have liked, certain plot points couldn't be altered), and I got 3 different endings in Persona 4 Golden, with each of the endings leaving some of the mysteries left unanswered (I haven't gotten the 'true' ending yet).
What makes the rankings better than you get from Netflix? I'm impressed that it managed to suggest Clue to me, but I haven't seen the rest, so can't really say if I would like them. (More, if it just suggests movies I've already seen and liked... hard to say it did a good job, or that I'm just predictable in cliques of movies. :) )