We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
April 15, 2022 9:41 AM Subscribe
Don't.
posted by Etrigan at 9:46 AM on April 15, 2022 [8 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 9:46 AM on April 15, 2022 [8 favorites]
Electronics wiz and gadget-master Darren “Mother” Roskow (Dan Aykroyd) is an insufferable conspiracy theorist with no social life.
Now, there's a stretch.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:49 AM on April 15, 2022 [11 favorites]
Now, there's a stretch.
posted by kirkaracha at 9:49 AM on April 15, 2022 [11 favorites]
I loved this movie when it came out. I still have the moment in my head when Redford, stuck outside a locked door, listens to his earpiece, repeating "uh huh, okay" for a long stretch of what appears to be complicated instructions, and then simply kicks the door in.
It was perfect popcorn fare: funny, fun, and not too serious. And yes, it took Aykroyd's worst impulses and used them to great effect.
posted by heyitsgogi at 9:53 AM on April 15, 2022 [28 favorites]
It was perfect popcorn fare: funny, fun, and not too serious. And yes, it took Aykroyd's worst impulses and used them to great effect.
posted by heyitsgogi at 9:53 AM on April 15, 2022 [28 favorites]
I love this movie, but I only have it on VHS and my last VCR died over a decade ago, so I've just been replaying the best lines in my head.
posted by mkb at 9:54 AM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by mkb at 9:54 AM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
One of the classic trilogy of 20th century hacker movies along with Wargames and Hackers. And what a ridiculous amount of acting talent for one movie!
posted by lefty lucky cat at 9:55 AM on April 15, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by lefty lucky cat at 9:55 AM on April 15, 2022 [12 favorites]
Searching for Playtronics
A quixotic attempt to re-create my favorite scene from Sneakers.
Sneakers on Fanfare
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:56 AM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
A quixotic attempt to re-create my favorite scene from Sneakers.
Sneakers on Fanfare
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:56 AM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
It's amazing to me that Leverage basically tried to do this every week and mostly succeeded.
posted by rikschell at 9:59 AM on April 15, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 9:59 AM on April 15, 2022 [9 favorites]
T1O2O2 M3A1N1Y10 S1E1C4R1E1T1S1
posted by kirkaracha at 10:02 AM on April 15, 2022 [16 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 10:02 AM on April 15, 2022 [16 favorites]
"Don't forget to go real slow!"
posted by kirkaracha at 10:03 AM on April 15, 2022
posted by kirkaracha at 10:03 AM on April 15, 2022
Thanks, Etrigan and ActingTheGoat, for the Fanfare link. We should do a re-watch party on chat or discord or something.
posted by theora55 at 10:04 AM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 10:04 AM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
Periodically my partner and I will break a silence by saying "Be a beacon?"
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:05 AM on April 15, 2022 [13 favorites]
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 10:05 AM on April 15, 2022 [13 favorites]
Sneakers is a Christmas movie.
Okay it's not. But I once attended a holiday-season movie-watching party which, after starting in the obvious place (Die Hard), then moved on to something else Christmas-themed that had so much unexpected late-'80s racism that we turned it off and were all bummed out. I don't know whose idea it was to watch Sneakers after that, though I'd like to say it was mine, but it instantly lifted the mood in the room and I've thought of it as a Christmas movie ever since; it has zero holiday content but the right vibe. (Exciting, but also like spending time with old friends.) It also stands up to annual viewing.
posted by babelfish at 10:14 AM on April 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
Okay it's not. But I once attended a holiday-season movie-watching party which, after starting in the obvious place (Die Hard), then moved on to something else Christmas-themed that had so much unexpected late-'80s racism that we turned it off and were all bummed out. I don't know whose idea it was to watch Sneakers after that, though I'd like to say it was mine, but it instantly lifted the mood in the room and I've thought of it as a Christmas movie ever since; it has zero holiday content but the right vibe. (Exciting, but also like spending time with old friends.) It also stands up to annual viewing.
posted by babelfish at 10:14 AM on April 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
I love whenever anyone asks Stephen Tobolowsky if he'd say "Passport." It still happens fairly frequently.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 10:14 AM on April 15, 2022 [16 favorites]
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 10:14 AM on April 15, 2022 [16 favorites]
The James Horner soundtrack 1) has sleighbells in the Opening Titles for Christmassy Vibes and 2) is very much the first draft of the soundtrack for A Beautiful Mind.
posted by BrashTech at 10:16 AM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by BrashTech at 10:16 AM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ah, I recently tried to describe the bit where Redford, in the trunk of a car, hears what he describes as a cocktail party, which turns out to be geese at the reservoir.
posted by rekrap at 10:16 AM on April 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by rekrap at 10:16 AM on April 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
This is honestly one of the best (most real) cinematic depictions of a Cyberpunk campaign brought to life. Solo? Crease. Techie? Carl. NetRunner? Whistler. Fixer? Martin. Nomad? Mother. Corporate? Cosmo. Job that seems simple snowballs into disaster? Check.
Amazing cast, and not just the top billed. Timothy Busfield, Stephen Tobolowsky, Donal Logue.
One of my all-time favorites. And now, I always close my eyes and listen to see if [redacted] really does sound like a cocktail party.
posted by ApathyGirl at 10:21 AM on April 15, 2022 [19 favorites]
Amazing cast, and not just the top billed. Timothy Busfield, Stephen Tobolowsky, Donal Logue.
One of my all-time favorites. And now, I always close my eyes and listen to see if [redacted] really does sound like a cocktail party.
posted by ApathyGirl at 10:21 AM on April 15, 2022 [19 favorites]
it has zero holiday content but the right vibe.
Definitely. The opening scene occurs during what appears to be a winter holiday break at school, judging from the snow and few people being around. The party celebrating the initial heist of the box has very strong "office holiday party" vibes (the script [pdf] describes it as "The offices are lit up as if for Christmas"). And of course the movie ends with a large (if involuntary) act of charitable giving...
posted by jedicus at 10:24 AM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
Definitely. The opening scene occurs during what appears to be a winter holiday break at school, judging from the snow and few people being around. The party celebrating the initial heist of the box has very strong "office holiday party" vibes (the script [pdf] describes it as "The offices are lit up as if for Christmas"). And of course the movie ends with a large (if involuntary) act of charitable giving...
posted by jedicus at 10:24 AM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
I love this movie. It is impossible, to this day, for me to drive over expansion lines in a concrete road without picturing the zoom out shot of the van on the bridge. It was either that noise, or the 'cocktail party' reference I made which baffles my wife and made me make her watch this.
I really liked the trust between the crew - when Whistler starts asking about bridges and what it sounds like, and they all realise he is on to something. And when Creech gets worked up and stops Liz from leaving the party - Looks up "what". Lots of little hints of it.
Just a great movie.
posted by Brockles at 10:37 AM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
I really liked the trust between the crew - when Whistler starts asking about bridges and what it sounds like, and they all realise he is on to something. And when Creech gets worked up and stops Liz from leaving the party - Looks up "what". Lots of little hints of it.
Just a great movie.
posted by Brockles at 10:37 AM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
I think about Sneakers every time I call my bank and do their voice ID check.
"My voice is my password, please verify me" with pleasure, thank you for reminding me of the best movie ever made.
posted by subdee at 10:40 AM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
"My voice is my password, please verify me" with pleasure, thank you for reminding me of the best movie ever made.
posted by subdee at 10:40 AM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
In high school I took a typing class and our teacher was clearly not into watching us take timed tests for 5 hours a week, so once a month we'd troop down to the video viewing room in the library for a couple of days to watch "typing-related" movies. Sneakers was one of them, also Wargames, Tron, and another that is slipping my mind. My school allowed us to take skill-based classes (including cooking and sport-specific PE) multiple times so I saw this two semesters in a row and loved it.
Mr. Tuttle, if you're out there, thanks for introducing me to this masterpiece. Also I'm really sorry for skipping class that one time and running into you on my way out of the building.
posted by Fuego at 10:50 AM on April 15, 2022 [19 favorites]
Mr. Tuttle, if you're out there, thanks for introducing me to this masterpiece. Also I'm really sorry for skipping class that one time and running into you on my way out of the building.
posted by Fuego at 10:50 AM on April 15, 2022 [19 favorites]
TYPING RELATED MOVIES?!?!
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:53 AM on April 15, 2022 [29 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:53 AM on April 15, 2022 [29 favorites]
I love this movie, but I only have it on VHS and my last VCR died over a decade ago .
Same, but laserdisc.
posted by hwyengr at 10:57 AM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Same, but laserdisc.
posted by hwyengr at 10:57 AM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
TYPING RELATED MOVIES?!?!
Yup. The absurdity of it still makes me laugh more than 25 years later.
posted by Fuego at 10:58 AM on April 15, 2022 [11 favorites]
Yup. The absurdity of it still makes me laugh more than 25 years later.
posted by Fuego at 10:58 AM on April 15, 2022 [11 favorites]
I love Sneakers so much. It's the best hacking movie. Incredibly prescient. Weird to me that Redford isn't more of a hacker icon, with Three Days of the Condor.
Seconding that the soundtrack is amazing. Including the accents -- the Marsalis lick + chord used to signal "mystery/thinking" is right up there in instant recognizability as the Field of Dreams "portentous/nostalgia" sound cue (also Horner), or the Inception thump.
I want the art from Cosmo's office. (I've emailed the set decorator with no luck.) I've thought about trying to capture it from screen and print it at whatever res doesn't look like ass so I can put them up and see who recognizes them, but I don't think there are any straight-on shots and I'm not that great at image processing.
It was always a little wistful re-watching and seeing Phoenix being so lovable as Carl. Now Poitier is gone too. (And both of the film's Joneses -- James Earl and the actor who played "Buddy Wallace.")
The "be a beacon" scene may be why the Snake Island Salute rang a bell.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:00 AM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
Seconding that the soundtrack is amazing. Including the accents -- the Marsalis lick + chord used to signal "mystery/thinking" is right up there in instant recognizability as the Field of Dreams "portentous/nostalgia" sound cue (also Horner), or the Inception thump.
I want the art from Cosmo's office. (I've emailed the set decorator with no luck.) I've thought about trying to capture it from screen and print it at whatever res doesn't look like ass so I can put them up and see who recognizes them, but I don't think there are any straight-on shots and I'm not that great at image processing.
It was always a little wistful re-watching and seeing Phoenix being so lovable as Carl. Now Poitier is gone too. (And both of the film's Joneses -- James Earl and the actor who played "Buddy Wallace.")
The "be a beacon" scene may be why the Snake Island Salute rang a bell.
posted by snuffleupagus at 11:00 AM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
I was late to this movie when I definitely shouldn't have been, but honestly, it's probably a bad title. At the very best I would have associated it with Cloak and Dagger, which was a movie I liked, but had seen before and besides I was over 21 now. It was on Netflix for years, but I see that its time there ended at some point.
But I love this movie to pieces. The cast, the pacing, the all-of-the-critic-terms...it's just a perfect slice of good-quality reality-based fiction and it provides a connection to my past self, the one I was back when I should have seen this when it was new. To find out that the "homomorphs" lecturer at the beginning is describing legit concepts (not sure about the stuff on the chalkboard) is icing on the cake.
-->Filming locations
posted by rhizome at 11:08 AM on April 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
But I love this movie to pieces. The cast, the pacing, the all-of-the-critic-terms...it's just a perfect slice of good-quality reality-based fiction and it provides a connection to my past self, the one I was back when I should have seen this when it was new. To find out that the "homomorphs" lecturer at the beginning is describing legit concepts (not sure about the stuff on the chalkboard) is icing on the cake.
-->Filming locations
posted by rhizome at 11:08 AM on April 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
I haven't watched this movie in ages. Thanks for the reminder!
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:31 AM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:31 AM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I’ve always said I’m sad there can’t be a sequel.
But now I want the prequel of when Crease met “Mah-ten.”
posted by MrGuilt at 11:41 AM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
But now I want the prequel of when Crease met “Mah-ten.”
posted by MrGuilt at 11:41 AM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
One of my favorite things about this movie is when Martin says he's going to bring Liz to the math lecture, and everyone else in the team turns to look at him, except Whistler, who turns to listen to him. It's such a small but finely observed detail, and just speaks to how well the movie really gets the details right.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 11:55 AM on April 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 11:55 AM on April 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
"The offices are lit up as if for Christmas”
Last time we watched the movie with friends, we scoured it for possible hints it was set during the holidays. Other than the lights in the office, we couldn’t find anything to add to the hypothesis. Even the newspaper doesn’t have a legible date.
posted by zamboni at 12:09 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Last time we watched the movie with friends, we scoured it for possible hints it was set during the holidays. Other than the lights in the office, we couldn’t find anything to add to the hypothesis. Even the newspaper doesn’t have a legible date.
posted by zamboni at 12:09 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
They probably were government. Just, not ours.
posted by xedrik at 12:13 PM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by xedrik at 12:13 PM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
Bah, WarGames was early 80's, don't compare to Sneakers or Hackers. Besides nobody compares to Ally Sheedy (purrrrrrr). Sigh, 90's movies are to late for this 80's hacker.
posted by zengargoyle at 12:15 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by zengargoyle at 12:15 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Fans of this movie:
Did you ever...
- own a bird whistle?
- have a subscription to 2600 magazine?
- use SETEC ASTRONOMY as a password?
- do you remember the number to dial & hang up which made a payphone call back to itself and just stand there on the corner ringing until someone picked it up?
posted by bartleby at 12:19 PM on April 15, 2022 [8 favorites]
Did you ever...
- own a bird whistle?
- have a subscription to 2600 magazine?
- use SETEC ASTRONOMY as a password?
- do you remember the number to dial & hang up which made a payphone call back to itself and just stand there on the corner ringing until someone picked it up?
posted by bartleby at 12:19 PM on April 15, 2022 [8 favorites]
Theory: Robert Redford is playing The Same Guy in Three Days of the Condor, Sneakers, and Spy Game. In a 'you either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain' way.
posted by bartleby at 12:24 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by bartleby at 12:24 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
use SETEC ASTRONOMY as a password?
Of course not, that's way too easy to guess. You want something like CORRECT HORSE BATTERY STAPLE.
Or, uh, COOTYS RAT SEMEN.
posted by The Bellman at 12:29 PM on April 15, 2022 [8 favorites]
Of course not, that's way too easy to guess. You want something like CORRECT HORSE BATTERY STAPLE.
Or, uh, COOTYS RAT SEMEN.
posted by The Bellman at 12:29 PM on April 15, 2022 [8 favorites]
James Earl Jones is not dead.
posted by rikschell at 12:32 PM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by rikschell at 12:32 PM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
TYPING RELATED MOVIES?!?!
who could forget...
Mavis Beacon in Selectric Dreams.
Selectric Dreams II: Carriage Return
Selectric Dreams the Final Chapter: End
posted by bartleby at 12:36 PM on April 15, 2022 [11 favorites]
who could forget...
Mavis Beacon in Selectric Dreams.
Selectric Dreams II: Carriage Return
Selectric Dreams the Final Chapter: End
posted by bartleby at 12:36 PM on April 15, 2022 [11 favorites]
TYPING RELATED MOVIES?!?!
In fairness, the film does reference a typist (notionally) employed by Martin's company, though we never see them because Martin hasn't paid them since January.
posted by jedicus at 12:37 PM on April 15, 2022
In fairness, the film does reference a typist (notionally) employed by Martin's company, though we never see them because Martin hasn't paid them since January.
posted by jedicus at 12:37 PM on April 15, 2022
Mavis Beacon in Selectric Dreams.
Selectric Dreams II: Carriage Return
Selectric Dreams the Final Chapter: End
C'mon man... "Beacon 2: Selectric Boogaloo" was RIGHT THERE. I'm frankly ashamed of you.
posted by The Bellman at 12:40 PM on April 15, 2022 [27 favorites]
Selectric Dreams II: Carriage Return
Selectric Dreams the Final Chapter: End
C'mon man... "Beacon 2: Selectric Boogaloo" was RIGHT THERE. I'm frankly ashamed of you.
posted by The Bellman at 12:40 PM on April 15, 2022 [27 favorites]
I saw this in the theater and remember two things:
1) Beautiful people like Redford actually age (which to my 20yo brain was a revelation)
2) I hated the MacGuffin
But I haven't seen the movie since, and still remember a fair bit of it, so should give it a rewatch.
posted by maxwelton at 12:42 PM on April 15, 2022
1) Beautiful people like Redford actually age (which to my 20yo brain was a revelation)
2) I hated the MacGuffin
But I haven't seen the movie since, and still remember a fair bit of it, so should give it a rewatch.
posted by maxwelton at 12:42 PM on April 15, 2022
James Earl Jones is not dead.
You're right! I have no idea why I was so sure he was.
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:44 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
You're right! I have no idea why I was so sure he was.
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:44 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Boogaloo" was RIGHT THERE. I have been informed by Youths, who are unaware of the Breakin' franchise, that this now signifies Polo Brownshirt types.
posted by bartleby at 12:51 PM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by bartleby at 12:51 PM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
Such a well-crafted movie. Phil Alden Robinson is still making movies, but this was his high-water mark.
posted by zardoz at 1:00 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by zardoz at 1:00 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Selectric Dreams the Final Chapter: End
*ding* zzzzzzzzzzwrrrrp
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:00 PM on April 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
*ding* zzzzzzzzzzwrrrrp
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:00 PM on April 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
TYPING RELATED MOVIES?!?!
Yup. The absurdity of it still makes me laugh more than 25 years later.
I've noticed that there are a spate of early nineties movies and TV shows where directors figured with enough camera movement -- orbits, mostly -- and close-ups, they could render typing a dramatic and visually compelling activity.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:04 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yup. The absurdity of it still makes me laugh more than 25 years later.
I've noticed that there are a spate of early nineties movies and TV shows where directors figured with enough camera movement -- orbits, mostly -- and close-ups, they could render typing a dramatic and visually compelling activity.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:04 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Just to add to the praise, this is one of the best ensembles put on screen. Everyone just killing it. You don't strictly need Sidney Poitier in a supporting role but it is just incredible what he brings to every scene. Like Alien, every actor just breathes life into the characters far beyond what's on the page.
posted by slimepuppy at 1:09 PM on April 15, 2022 [16 favorites]
posted by slimepuppy at 1:09 PM on April 15, 2022 [16 favorites]
James Earl Jones is not dead.
You're right! I have no idea why I was so sure he was.
My hometown newspaper has a longtime theatre reviewer who has not really had many live shows to see in the past two years. With a lack of other content, he has been writing a semi-regular series of reminiscences about the famous folk he has interviewed over the years -- little anecdotes about tea with Maggie Smith or a pub crawl with Dennis Hopper or whatever.
His piece about JEJ was about interviewing him in 1980 backstage in The Playhouse Theatre in New York, where Jones was performing an Athol Fugard play. The interview ranged from Jones' 1960s era of getting death threats in the South for kissing a white woman onstage in a play to his frank admission that he was the voice of Darth Vader for the sizable paycheque (and reflected in his later fame as the voice of Simba in The Lion King).
The article was headlined:
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:24 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
You're right! I have no idea why I was so sure he was.
My hometown newspaper has a longtime theatre reviewer who has not really had many live shows to see in the past two years. With a lack of other content, he has been writing a semi-regular series of reminiscences about the famous folk he has interviewed over the years -- little anecdotes about tea with Maggie Smith or a pub crawl with Dennis Hopper or whatever.
His piece about JEJ was about interviewing him in 1980 backstage in The Playhouse Theatre in New York, where Jones was performing an Athol Fugard play. The interview ranged from Jones' 1960s era of getting death threats in the South for kissing a white woman onstage in a play to his frank admission that he was the voice of Darth Vader for the sizable paycheque (and reflected in his later fame as the voice of Simba in The Lion King).
The article was headlined:
James Earl Jones, a lord, a lion and a towering presenceI submit this is not the ideal framing of headline for a piece about a nonagenarian celebrity.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:24 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
swordfish gif
Don't forget the bit from one of the CSIs where they're hacking so hard that it takes two of them clacking on the keyboard to get it done
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:34 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Don't forget the bit from one of the CSIs where they're hacking so hard that it takes two of them clacking on the keyboard to get it done
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 1:34 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Selectric Dreams the Final Chapter: End
I'm sure you meant: Selectric Dreams the Final Chapter End Of Line.
posted by zengargoyle at 1:47 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'm sure you meant: Selectric Dreams the Final Chapter End Of Line.
posted by zengargoyle at 1:47 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
it takes two of them clacking on the keyboard to get it done
That feels somehow distantly related to the Shatner double fisted punch thing from STTOS.
posted by ensign_ricky at 1:48 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
That feels somehow distantly related to the Shatner double fisted punch thing from STTOS.
posted by ensign_ricky at 1:48 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Well, now you have made me buy a copy. I hope you all are happy.
(I love this movie but I haven't seen it in years.)
posted by antiwiggle at 1:50 PM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
(I love this movie but I haven't seen it in years.)
posted by antiwiggle at 1:50 PM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
Ghost in the Shell Fingers - YouTube
posted by zengargoyle at 1:52 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by zengargoyle at 1:52 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
That feels somehow distantly related to the Shatner double fisted punch thing from STTOS.
The reason you don't see that more often is that anyone who does this invariably winds up with theirshirt tunic torn open at the end of the fight, as well as a a bit of blood from the mouth (which they wipe off with the knuckle of a forefinger then briefly examine).
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:53 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
The reason you don't see that more often is that anyone who does this invariably winds up with their
posted by ricochet biscuit at 1:53 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
OK, deep breath. As you can tell, I love this movie. I mean I really, really love it. The cast blows me away every time I watch, and I love every performance and every character, no matter how silly and over the top. Mobster Gandhi? Hell YES!
I made the first comment in this thread, and I just realized (I swear!) I made the first comment in the thread ten years ago. . . And it was the exact same comment because I am really old and predictable, and I'm never not going to laugh at that line.
But I watched this movie recently with my family and it was gently pointed out to me that OH MAN does this movie ever fail the Bechdel Test -- I mean it goes out of its way to fail. There's a non-trivial argument to be made, looking just at the treatment of the few women who actually get screen time, that this is a movie that actually hates women. It's self-consciously about a boys' club, and the one female character with anything to say actually says so. But lamp shading it doesn't really fix the problem.
Anyway, just something to keep in mind on a rewatch, especially if you watch with someone for whom that's a relevant lens. Time isn't always entirely kind to the things we love.
posted by The Bellman at 1:56 PM on April 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
I made the first comment in this thread, and I just realized (I swear!) I made the first comment in the thread ten years ago. . . And it was the exact same comment because I am really old and predictable, and I'm never not going to laugh at that line.
But I watched this movie recently with my family and it was gently pointed out to me that OH MAN does this movie ever fail the Bechdel Test -- I mean it goes out of its way to fail. There's a non-trivial argument to be made, looking just at the treatment of the few women who actually get screen time, that this is a movie that actually hates women. It's self-consciously about a boys' club, and the one female character with anything to say actually says so. But lamp shading it doesn't really fix the problem.
Anyway, just something to keep in mind on a rewatch, especially if you watch with someone for whom that's a relevant lens. Time isn't always entirely kind to the things we love.
posted by The Bellman at 1:56 PM on April 15, 2022 [10 favorites]
I'm sure you meant:
D.I.D. I? I'll never Telex. It ISDN't in my nature. Maybe you think your finger's on the Tone/Pulse and you can teletype from a very long distance. But WATS to telefacsimile from the real thing?
posted by bartleby at 1:58 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
D.I.D. I? I'll never Telex. It ISDN't in my nature. Maybe you think your finger's on the Tone/Pulse and you can teletype from a very long distance. But WATS to telefacsimile from the real thing?
posted by bartleby at 1:58 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
I've tried the spill a drink on the keyboard.... doesn't work. Laptop went blue smoke poof.
At least Hackers had Angelina Jolie .
posted by zengargoyle at 2:02 PM on April 15, 2022
At least Hackers had Angelina Jolie .
posted by zengargoyle at 2:02 PM on April 15, 2022
GCU Sweet and Full of Grace: Don't forget the bit from one of the CSIs where they're hacking so hard that it takes two of them clacking on the keyboard to get it done
That's NCIS, not CSI:, and they're PROTECTING themselves from hacking, thank you very much.
posted by hanov3r at 2:24 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
That's NCIS, not CSI:, and they're PROTECTING themselves from hacking, thank you very much.
posted by hanov3r at 2:24 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Wait, I had my Same Guy setup wrong.
I was thinking of Legal Eagles, where
- Condor Redford went back to law school (after Dunaway turned cold and got a job at Network) and eventually encounters
- Debra Winger, who herself went to law school after divorcing the guy who failed at being both An Officer and a Gentleman and
- Darryl Hannah from Splash, who left behind both the mermaid life and Tom Hanks to become a Soho artist.
posted by bartleby at 2:26 PM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
I was thinking of Legal Eagles, where
- Condor Redford went back to law school (after Dunaway turned cold and got a job at Network) and eventually encounters
- Debra Winger, who herself went to law school after divorcing the guy who failed at being both An Officer and a Gentleman and
- Darryl Hannah from Splash, who left behind both the mermaid life and Tom Hanks to become a Soho artist.
posted by bartleby at 2:26 PM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
The Belllman, I assumed the 1st post being identical was intentional and laughed. And Mary McDonnell makes up for a lot.
posted by theora55 at 2:33 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 2:33 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
- own a bird whistle?
No
- have a subscription to 2600 magazine?
And before that, TAP.
- use SETEC ASTRONOMY as a password?
Nope, but DLG2209TVX and CPE1704TKS were in rotation
- do you remember the number to dial & hang up which made a payphone call back to itself and just stand there on the corner ringing until someone picked it up?
Yeah, and I remember hand-scanning central offices' utility numbers to find local loops, too. They were actually useful.
posted by mikelieman at 2:46 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
No
- have a subscription to 2600 magazine?
And before that, TAP.
- use SETEC ASTRONOMY as a password?
Nope, but DLG2209TVX and CPE1704TKS were in rotation
- do you remember the number to dial & hang up which made a payphone call back to itself and just stand there on the corner ringing until someone picked it up?
Yeah, and I remember hand-scanning central offices' utility numbers to find local loops, too. They were actually useful.
posted by mikelieman at 2:46 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Setec Investigations
good people if you ever need that sort of thing.
well, if the people I'm thinking of are still there, anyway.
There's also this other one in DC.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:54 PM on April 15, 2022
good people if you ever need that sort of thing.
well, if the people I'm thinking of are still there, anyway.
There's also this other one in DC.
posted by snuffleupagus at 2:54 PM on April 15, 2022
I absolutely adore Sneakers, enough so that no other use of the word pops into my head first. Someone can be talking about how much they love gym shoes, and I’ll hear “Tahiti is not in Europe” in my head as I nod along.
A lot of my favorite bits have been mentioned, but there’s one scene that really captures the film for me, and maybe makes it a little less cuddly, a little darker. When they have the box, and they become fully aware of its capabilities, they begin seeing what they can get into. With the box, it’s not even breaking in anymore, it’s just opening doors. Whistler, Mother, and Carl are purely enthralled with the possibilities, unable or unwilling to think further than what they can do, or just utterly uninterested in any consequences past their dreams having been suddenly realized.
The roles of the group are crystallized in this scene. Crease is demanding that they stop, but he is purely the voice of authority, and in this moment, that voice has no sway over the other three. It’s only when Whistler asks, in the quiet voice where one is testing the room, seeing how far people are willing to egg each other on, that Martin is forced to accept his role as the moral center of the group. Up until then, I think an argument can be made that Martin is still that college kid running from consequences, and here is where he understands, fully and completely, that this is not, and has not been a game, and that the time for seeing how far things can be pushed is over.
As lovable as they are on screen, Carl, Whistler, and Mother, alone in a room with that box? Various expressions of outsider hacker id? Maybe they don’t crash a plane, but I don’t doubt they’d push far enough, not thinking about consequences, that there would be deaths.
There are so many layers at work, and yet it’s also a light, enjoyable popcorn fest. More than any other movie, me trying to convince others to watch it is the closest I come to wearing a short sleeved shirt with a name tag, knocking on doors and asking if people have heard the good word (about a movie with Redford, Poitier, Kingsley, Jones, and Phoenix!)
posted by Ghidorah at 3:09 PM on April 15, 2022 [15 favorites]
A lot of my favorite bits have been mentioned, but there’s one scene that really captures the film for me, and maybe makes it a little less cuddly, a little darker. When they have the box, and they become fully aware of its capabilities, they begin seeing what they can get into. With the box, it’s not even breaking in anymore, it’s just opening doors. Whistler, Mother, and Carl are purely enthralled with the possibilities, unable or unwilling to think further than what they can do, or just utterly uninterested in any consequences past their dreams having been suddenly realized.
The roles of the group are crystallized in this scene. Crease is demanding that they stop, but he is purely the voice of authority, and in this moment, that voice has no sway over the other three. It’s only when Whistler asks, in the quiet voice where one is testing the room, seeing how far people are willing to egg each other on, that Martin is forced to accept his role as the moral center of the group. Up until then, I think an argument can be made that Martin is still that college kid running from consequences, and here is where he understands, fully and completely, that this is not, and has not been a game, and that the time for seeing how far things can be pushed is over.
As lovable as they are on screen, Carl, Whistler, and Mother, alone in a room with that box? Various expressions of outsider hacker id? Maybe they don’t crash a plane, but I don’t doubt they’d push far enough, not thinking about consequences, that there would be deaths.
There are so many layers at work, and yet it’s also a light, enjoyable popcorn fest. More than any other movie, me trying to convince others to watch it is the closest I come to wearing a short sleeved shirt with a name tag, knocking on doors and asking if people have heard the good word (about a movie with Redford, Poitier, Kingsley, Jones, and Phoenix!)
posted by Ghidorah at 3:09 PM on April 15, 2022 [15 favorites]
The Bellman: I think the thing that has aged worst about the movie is its cinematography. Almost the whole thing is shot in tight medium-close and shot-reverse shot - fair enough for a film that is mostly dialogue but it really gives the sense of either a) having been composed for TV or b) having shot all the actors separately and then just edited them together.
It's a bit offputting, but at the end of the day I don't think you can reasonably hold the film (or Blond Rhino Spaniel himself) responsible for not predicting changes in the naturalistic style of cinematography in the last 30 years.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 3:17 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
It's a bit offputting, but at the end of the day I don't think you can reasonably hold the film (or Blond Rhino Spaniel himself) responsible for not predicting changes in the naturalistic style of cinematography in the last 30 years.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 3:17 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
Around the time of the release, HBO (I think) had a behind the scenes promo. I recall Aykroyd giddily saying something like "Here I am, 1/8 of a ton of Canadian, getting to act opposite Sidney Poitier!"
And in other trivia:
"Q. In the movie "Sneakers," the girl gives a telephone number. I called it, and got a recording of two women named Mary and Deanna. They acknowledged the movie by mentioning "all you Sneakers fans." I did not receive a return phone call from them, however. Do you know what this is all about? My curiosity needs to know. --Michael Grigsby, Palmdale, Ca.
A. According to Louis Epstein, sysop (cq) of the Show Biz Forum on CompuServe, "Sneakers" director Phil Alden Robinson had the studio buy the number for people who like to call the numbers they hear in movies. Usually movie numbers begin with the phony "555" prefix, but Robinson thought this would be more fun. Sorry, but I can't tell you a thing about Mary and Deanna."
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 3:31 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
And in other trivia:
"Q. In the movie "Sneakers," the girl gives a telephone number. I called it, and got a recording of two women named Mary and Deanna. They acknowledged the movie by mentioning "all you Sneakers fans." I did not receive a return phone call from them, however. Do you know what this is all about? My curiosity needs to know. --Michael Grigsby, Palmdale, Ca.
A. According to Louis Epstein, sysop (cq) of the Show Biz Forum on CompuServe, "Sneakers" director Phil Alden Robinson had the studio buy the number for people who like to call the numbers they hear in movies. Usually movie numbers begin with the phony "555" prefix, but Robinson thought this would be more fun. Sorry, but I can't tell you a thing about Mary and Deanna."
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 3:31 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Do Androids Dream of Selectric Sheep?
posted by kirkaracha at 4:41 PM on April 15, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by kirkaracha at 4:41 PM on April 15, 2022 [6 favorites]
I think that Spy Game is another fun government thriller romp with Redford this time paired with Pitt.
Sneakers has a greater sense of whimsy and magic than Spy Game.
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 5:14 PM on April 15, 2022
Sneakers has a greater sense of whimsy and magic than Spy Game.
posted by NoThisIsPatrick at 5:14 PM on April 15, 2022
I was just thinking the other day of the scene where they're like, "Wait a minute—why does he have an answering machine on his desk if he has voicemail?" A classic "hidden in plain sight" move a la The Purloined Letter.
posted by Well I never at 5:21 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Well I never at 5:21 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Whistler: Fellas, Janek's little black box is on his desk between the pencil jar and the lamp.
Mother: Uh, Whistler, I hate to tell you this, but you're blind.
Whistler: Don't look. Listen. [Ding]
Mother: Whistler, we...
Bishop (interrupting): Run it back.
'I leave message here on service but you do not call...'
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:29 PM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
Mother: Uh, Whistler, I hate to tell you this, but you're blind.
Whistler: Don't look. Listen. [Ding]
Mother: Whistler, we...
Bishop (interrupting): Run it back.
'I leave message here on service but you do not call...'
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:29 PM on April 15, 2022 [5 favorites]
'I leave message here on service but you do not call...'
I can hear that so clearly in my head! It was repeated so many times, and with that accent.
posted by Well I never at 5:55 PM on April 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
I can hear that so clearly in my head! It was repeated so many times, and with that accent.
posted by Well I never at 5:55 PM on April 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
Yeah, the repetition, the accent, that line is in my head, just as much as the jumble of “my VOICE is MY passPORT?”
posted by Ghidorah at 6:37 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Ghidorah at 6:37 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
and the clacking of the keyboard in the background, which leads to the Scrabble scene because of the obscured keys on the window video.
The Russian 'cultural attache's' lines were also memorable. "My heart leaps like gazelle to see you two back together!" "Confusing time for people in my line of work" etc
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:49 PM on April 15, 2022
The Russian 'cultural attache's' lines were also memorable. "My heart leaps like gazelle to see you two back together!" "Confusing time for people in my line of work" etc
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:49 PM on April 15, 2022
I never noticed that the conductor was Donal Lougue. IIRC he doesn't even have any lines.
posted by zardoz at 6:59 PM on April 15, 2022
posted by zardoz at 6:59 PM on April 15, 2022
Also, I'm sad the POSIT/CONSEQUENCE/RESULT/BZZT format never became a meme (like galaxy brain, or chopper argument, or salad cat) . I think it probably would if the movie came out today.
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:00 PM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:00 PM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
I never noticed that the conductor was Donal Lougue. IIRC he doesn't even have any lines.
He plays Dr. Janek.
posted by Etrigan at 7:23 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
He plays Dr. Janek.
posted by Etrigan at 7:23 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
... in what I think was his first screen role.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:20 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:20 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
One of the little things I love about Sneakers is the hacking details are fairly realistic. Instead of some guff about firewalls and fast typing, sneakers mostly relies on social engineering and getting physical access to places - the aforementioned door kicking scene is absolutely perfect. (Even now, physical access to a network is usually a much easier way to compromise it than trying to attack it over the internet)
Even the macguffin black box is plausible. Computing encryption is based upon the idea that you run a message through an algorithm that is quick to encrypt, and relatively so to decrypt with the key, but without it is computationally too hard to brute force, i.e. trying every possible key would take thousands of years. As computing power increases, the key lengths need to increase too. e.g. the DES algorithm was conclusively proved vulnerable due to a short key length when the EFF built a relatively cheap machine in 1998 specifically to break DES via brute force, and did so against a sample in 56 hours.
Algorithms can also have flaws; there can be mathematical attacks that reduce the amount of keys that need to be tried, thus dramatically shortening the amount of time needed to find the correct key and decrypt the message. The film's idea of a dramatic breakthrough in speeding up factoring large numbers, the underlying basis for public key cryptography, would have broken modern encryption very badly. Quantum computing and shor's algorithm proved much current public key encryption will need to be replaced with post-quantum cryptography in the near future.
They did get Leonard Adleman (the A in the RSA algorithm used as part of the HTTPS connection to metafilter right now) to write the slides and words for the lecture in the film, which is just one of the things that added verisimilitude.
I think my favourite moment is when they finally use the black box, the different reactions to what they can do, and the slow dawning realisation of how dangerous a situation they've found themselves in - so, so well acted. Such a shame about the bechdel test problem, otherwise it'd be perfect.
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 11:30 PM on April 15, 2022 [11 favorites]
Even the macguffin black box is plausible. Computing encryption is based upon the idea that you run a message through an algorithm that is quick to encrypt, and relatively so to decrypt with the key, but without it is computationally too hard to brute force, i.e. trying every possible key would take thousands of years. As computing power increases, the key lengths need to increase too. e.g. the DES algorithm was conclusively proved vulnerable due to a short key length when the EFF built a relatively cheap machine in 1998 specifically to break DES via brute force, and did so against a sample in 56 hours.
Algorithms can also have flaws; there can be mathematical attacks that reduce the amount of keys that need to be tried, thus dramatically shortening the amount of time needed to find the correct key and decrypt the message. The film's idea of a dramatic breakthrough in speeding up factoring large numbers, the underlying basis for public key cryptography, would have broken modern encryption very badly. Quantum computing and shor's algorithm proved much current public key encryption will need to be replaced with post-quantum cryptography in the near future.
They did get Leonard Adleman (the A in the RSA algorithm used as part of the HTTPS connection to metafilter right now) to write the slides and words for the lecture in the film, which is just one of the things that added verisimilitude.
I think my favourite moment is when they finally use the black box, the different reactions to what they can do, and the slow dawning realisation of how dangerous a situation they've found themselves in - so, so well acted. Such a shame about the bechdel test problem, otherwise it'd be perfect.
posted by Absolutely No You-Know-What at 11:30 PM on April 15, 2022 [11 favorites]
OH MAN does this movie ever fail the Bechdel Test -- I mean it goes out of its way to fail. There's a non-trivial argument to be made, looking just at the treatment of the few women who actually get screen time, that this is a movie that actually hates women.
This was my disappointment. I hadn't seen it since the 90s but remembered it being a lot of fun and wondered if it might be a good one to enjoy with my kids. I knew it was almost entirely dudes, but thought, It's computers and heists. The protagonists probably aren't gonna have many chances to be shitty toward women.
But by the time I got to the second scene with Rhyzkov (talking to Redford), I was thinking, Yeah...my daughters are unlikely to be very excited about hanging out with these dudes.
posted by straight at 1:35 AM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
This was my disappointment. I hadn't seen it since the 90s but remembered it being a lot of fun and wondered if it might be a good one to enjoy with my kids. I knew it was almost entirely dudes, but thought, It's computers and heists. The protagonists probably aren't gonna have many chances to be shitty toward women.
But by the time I got to the second scene with Rhyzkov (talking to Redford), I was thinking, Yeah...my daughters are unlikely to be very excited about hanging out with these dudes.
posted by straight at 1:35 AM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yeah, my love for this film is endless. My favorite exchange remains “Organized Crime?” “Don’t kid yourself. It’s not that organized.”
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 4:58 AM on April 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 4:58 AM on April 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
Rewatching as I type. A couple thoughts:
- The theme music--quiet, playful jazz in the open--just fits well.
- There are so many stories and backstories I'd love to see. What's Crease do that got him kicked out of the FBI. The whole arc of Martin and Liz's relationship? Who do they know Greg? And on and on and on.
- It looks like they were looking at a TV series, which would be great, and perhaps an opportunity to fix the few issues folks have found (Bechdel Test, for instance). Part of me would want to see it set today. But another part of me would love for a period piece set in 1992, when we were in that period where computing was not ubiquitous, the Internet was not broadly known, and we were just coming out of the Cold War and figuring things out.
Fans of this movie:
Did you ever...
- own a bird whistle?
- have a subscription to 2600 magazine?
- use SETEC ASTRONOMY as a password?
- do you remember the number to dial & hang up which made a payphone call back to itself and just stand there on the corner ringing until someone picked it up?
I just mentally read all of these questions in Jonathan Frakes' voice.
posted by xedrik at 7:43 AM on April 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
Did you ever...
- own a bird whistle?
- have a subscription to 2600 magazine?
- use SETEC ASTRONOMY as a password?
- do you remember the number to dial & hang up which made a payphone call back to itself and just stand there on the corner ringing until someone picked it up?
I just mentally read all of these questions in Jonathan Frakes' voice.
posted by xedrik at 7:43 AM on April 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
The theme music--quiet, playful jazz in the open--just fits well.
I love how everything in Sneakers is just so gentle and the complete opposite of the Michael Bay atrocity that it could have been.
posted by ensign_ricky at 9:20 AM on April 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
I love how everything in Sneakers is just so gentle and the complete opposite of the Michael Bay atrocity that it could have been.
posted by ensign_ricky at 9:20 AM on April 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
Fans of this movie:
Did you ever...
- own a bird whistle?
- have a subscription to 2600 magazine?
- use SETEC ASTRONOMY as a password?
- do you remember the number to dial & hang up which made a payphone call back to itself and just stand there on the corner ringing until someone picked it up?
I just mentally read all of these questions in Jonathan Frakes' voice.
I went the opposite and see in my mind a clearly overcaffeinated Stephen Tobolowsky in his Ned Ryerson suit and hat on a late night 90s infomercial selling IT security products.
"Hi, I'm Stephen Tobolowsky. You may know me from my role as Werner Brandes in Sneakers. Today I want to talk to you about a new modem sanitizer called Bits-be-gone."
posted by ensign_ricky at 9:27 AM on April 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
Did you ever...
- own a bird whistle?
- have a subscription to 2600 magazine?
- use SETEC ASTRONOMY as a password?
- do you remember the number to dial & hang up which made a payphone call back to itself and just stand there on the corner ringing until someone picked it up?
I just mentally read all of these questions in Jonathan Frakes' voice.
I went the opposite and see in my mind a clearly overcaffeinated Stephen Tobolowsky in his Ned Ryerson suit and hat on a late night 90s infomercial selling IT security products.
"Hi, I'm Stephen Tobolowsky. You may know me from my role as Werner Brandes in Sneakers. Today I want to talk to you about a new modem sanitizer called Bits-be-gone."
posted by ensign_ricky at 9:27 AM on April 16, 2022 [3 favorites]
I want the art from Cosmo's office.
I've been searching for the airship artwork for years, with no luck.
posted by bensinc at 9:57 AM on April 16, 2022
I've been searching for the airship artwork for years, with no luck.
posted by bensinc at 9:57 AM on April 16, 2022
Maybe we can get the AI from the other thread to re-create it.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:01 AM on April 16, 2022
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:01 AM on April 16, 2022
I love how everything in Sneakers is just so gentle and the complete opposite of the Michael Bay atrocity that it could have been.
Even the end keeps that spirit. "You get the box, you can give geography lessons. Until then, this man goes to Tahiti."
posted by MrGuilt at 11:09 AM on April 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Even the end keeps that spirit. "You get the box, you can give geography lessons. Until then, this man goes to Tahiti."
posted by MrGuilt at 11:09 AM on April 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
No Film School: How 'Sneakers' Became a Cult Heist Hit -- Sneakers is a remarkable movie that almost never happened.
Article draws on this Working podcast interview with writer and director Phil Alden Robinson (also of Field of Dreams and Sum of All Fears).
Article draws on this Working podcast interview with writer and director Phil Alden Robinson (also of Field of Dreams and Sum of All Fears).
This week, host Isaac Butler cracks the code of the heist film genre with Phil Alden Robinson, director of the 1992 cult classic Sneakers. In the interview, Phil talks about Sneakers’ nine-year writing process, the film’s alternate endings, and how he landed a cast of cinema legends, including Robert Redford and Sidney Poitier, to portray his meticulously crafted characters.posted by snuffleupagus at 11:26 AM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Even the end keeps that spirit. "You get the box, you can give geography lessons. Until then, this man goes to Tahiti."
Perfect.
posted by ensign_ricky at 11:58 AM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Perfect.
posted by ensign_ricky at 11:58 AM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Also, can we agree it's weird the way Kingsley's accent wanders around? Most prominently when Cosmo says 'disaster'. (at 50s)
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:10 PM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by snuffleupagus at 12:10 PM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Fun fact: the computer Redford and Kingsley sit on at one point is a Cray Y-MP. About three years before the movie came out, it was one of the most powerful computers in the world. Now it's outclassed by the average commercially-available smartphone.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:04 PM on April 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 1:04 PM on April 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
Also, can we agree it's weird the way Kingsley's accent wanders around?
Weird affected "Wait, where are you from..." accents on techbros and VCs may well be the most prescient piece of the entire movie.
posted by Etrigan at 1:16 PM on April 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Weird affected "Wait, where are you from..." accents on techbros and VCs may well be the most prescient piece of the entire movie.
posted by Etrigan at 1:16 PM on April 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
I think I’ve spoken before of how I appreciate when guns are given actual weight as opposed to looking and feeling like plastic props (L.A. Confidential vs. The Matrix). In that vein, I love the Eddie Jones hallway scene with the shotgun. Every shot and sound foley give that weapon deadly weight, which you want in a scene where the hero is in peril. It helps that there is very little actual gunplay in the film, which make the few moments like this really count.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 1:16 PM on April 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 1:16 PM on April 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Bishop getting pistol whipped with a relatively small (and realistically concealable) handgun too.
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:45 PM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by snuffleupagus at 1:45 PM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
THANK YOU! I love this movie, always have, and it still holds up and it is awesome.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 2:47 PM on April 16, 2022
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 2:47 PM on April 16, 2022
And I meant to ask if any of you caught that 80s installment of the franchise starring Debbie Gibson, Selectric Youth?
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 3:13 PM on April 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 3:13 PM on April 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
We gonna hack down to
Selectric Avenue
posted by JohnFromGR at 5:10 PM on April 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
Selectric Avenue
posted by JohnFromGR at 5:10 PM on April 16, 2022 [8 favorites]
and then we'll oh goddammit its stuck again
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:55 PM on April 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by snuffleupagus at 5:55 PM on April 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
OUT IN THE STREETS!
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:18 PM on April 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 6:18 PM on April 16, 2022 [4 favorites]
Or the Sexxxlectric porn parodies, from the steamy erotica of Margin Release to the juvenile Page Break Gone Wild! infomericals.
On preview:
OUT IN THE PLAYGROUND!
IN THE DARK SIDE OF TOWN!
posted by bartleby at 6:24 PM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
On preview:
OUT IN THE PLAYGROUND!
IN THE DARK SIDE OF TOWN!
posted by bartleby at 6:24 PM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
IN THE YANGTZE TOWN MOMMY
OR THE HEARTLAND TIGER
why are you looking at me like that
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:26 PM on April 16, 2022
OR THE HEARTLAND TIGER
why are you looking at me like that
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:26 PM on April 16, 2022
a knife, a fork, a bottle and a cork
that's how you spell Token Ring Network*
(*tokin' ring, surely)
posted by bartleby at 6:38 PM on April 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
that's how you spell Token Ring Network*
(*tokin' ring, surely)
posted by bartleby at 6:38 PM on April 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
chain chain chain
trust chain of fools
for five long years
Dual_EC_DRBG was my gen...
but I found out
I'm just a link in your chain
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:04 PM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
trust chain of fools
for five long years
Dual_EC_DRBG was my gen...
but I found out
I'm just a link in your chain
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:04 PM on April 16, 2022 [1 favorite]
Cosmo : I cannot kill my friend.
Cosmo : Kill my friend.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:22 PM on April 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
[to his henchmen] Cosmo : Kill my friend.
posted by kirkaracha at 7:22 PM on April 16, 2022 [6 favorites]
Soup lines!
Free loaves of bread!
Net-worrrk Ac-tiv-ity
has Timed Out
for you and me!
Sometimes, you do what you can.
Ya just gotta duck
when the shit hits the LAN...
posted by bartleby at 7:22 PM on April 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Free loaves of bread!
Net-worrrk Ac-tiv-ity
has Timed Out
for you and me!
Sometimes, you do what you can.
Ya just gotta duck
when the shit hits the LAN...
posted by bartleby at 7:22 PM on April 16, 2022 [2 favorites]
Thinking about it, a problem with a Sneakers TV series is modern technology. Rather than an up to date Leverage type show, where people are doing impossible stuff on their phablets, I think I might prefer a Halt and Catch Fire era hacking show, crossed with Burn Notice.
A WarGames type thing, where they ride their tenspeeds up to the dumpsters behind the phone company, looking for technical manuals so they can call their boyfriend in Montreal for free, or setting up a Demon Dialer to guarantee that they're the 95th caller to the radio station to win concert tickets.
Somehow 'I bumped into a guy like a pickpocket, but instead the RFID scanner in my purse magically pwned his NFT wallet' seems less relatable?
It's hard to visually represent harvesting and analyzing someone's social media presence.
But if you watched someone get a plate of cookies from the nice neighbor lady, then go through the process of using an acoustic coupler modem to access the local power company and remove a decimal place from her bill?
Think of all the ancient insider secrets you could give away, since everything you're doing is totally obsolete.
But then I'm definitely An Old, and have no idea whether there's any taste for tech and tradecraft antiquarianism. "Wait, you used to be able to do that!?! Drivers licenses didn't require photos until the late 80's? How did they live?"
posted by bartleby at 8:05 PM on April 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
A WarGames type thing, where they ride their tenspeeds up to the dumpsters behind the phone company, looking for technical manuals so they can call their boyfriend in Montreal for free, or setting up a Demon Dialer to guarantee that they're the 95th caller to the radio station to win concert tickets.
Somehow 'I bumped into a guy like a pickpocket, but instead the RFID scanner in my purse magically pwned his NFT wallet' seems less relatable?
It's hard to visually represent harvesting and analyzing someone's social media presence.
But if you watched someone get a plate of cookies from the nice neighbor lady, then go through the process of using an acoustic coupler modem to access the local power company and remove a decimal place from her bill?
Think of all the ancient insider secrets you could give away, since everything you're doing is totally obsolete.
But then I'm definitely An Old, and have no idea whether there's any taste for tech and tradecraft antiquarianism. "Wait, you used to be able to do that!?! Drivers licenses didn't require photos until the late 80's? How did they live?"
posted by bartleby at 8:05 PM on April 16, 2022 [7 favorites]
I don't know if that particular era would be all that interesting to dramatize. Everything was clunky and possibilities were fairly limited. HACF kind of reflects that the really exciting stuff was happening in the commercial world (which was itself scrappy, especially on the video game side).
Although maybe you could do it Stranger Things style, with a cold war Falcon and the Snowman style setup but updated for late 80s into the 90s, that veers off into unknown territory. Or maybe try to dramatize the LOD v MOD feud and all that. Or revisit The Cuckoos Egg
or The Hacker Crackdown.
There's a story waiting to be told by the computer underground about how we got from the end of the BBS and Usenet era to Anonymous and afterwards by way of stuff like Hacktivismo, but a lot of those people have Serious Jobs now.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:12 PM on April 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
Although maybe you could do it Stranger Things style, with a cold war Falcon and the Snowman style setup but updated for late 80s into the 90s, that veers off into unknown territory. Or maybe try to dramatize the LOD v MOD feud and all that. Or revisit The Cuckoos Egg
or The Hacker Crackdown.
There's a story waiting to be told by the computer underground about how we got from the end of the BBS and Usenet era to Anonymous and afterwards by way of stuff like Hacktivismo, but a lot of those people have Serious Jobs now.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:12 PM on April 16, 2022 [5 favorites]
It's one of my favourite things about metafilter that so many of us love Sneakers so much. I own it on VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD. I have the soundtrack and the novelization. I've watched it countless times and forced friends and family to watch it many a time. I still haven't tracked down the session recordings of the soundtrack that were available on the internet some years ago so if anyone snagged those and can hook me up do let me know.
One day, I hope to have a friend I can re-enact the cray room and rooftop conversations between Marty and Cosmo with.
Posit. People think a bank might be financially shaky...
posted by signsofrain at 8:03 PM on April 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
One day, I hope to have a friend I can re-enact the cray room and rooftop conversations between Marty and Cosmo with.
Posit. People think a bank might be financially shaky...
posted by signsofrain at 8:03 PM on April 17, 2022 [7 favorites]
Strange to think this remains maybe the most recent thing Dan Ackroyd was good in.
posted by MarchHare at 3:42 AM on April 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by MarchHare at 3:42 AM on April 18, 2022 [2 favorites]
Strange to think this remains maybe the most recent thing Dan Ackroyd was good in.
I was going to get mad on his behalf for Grosse Pointe Blank and Tommy Boy, but I'll just agree that this is the most recent thing that he was subtly good in.
posted by Etrigan at 5:56 AM on April 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
I was going to get mad on his behalf for Grosse Pointe Blank and Tommy Boy, but I'll just agree that this is the most recent thing that he was subtly good in.
posted by Etrigan at 5:56 AM on April 18, 2022 [1 favorite]
Sneakers mostly relies on social engineering and getting physical access to places - the aforementioned door kicking scene is absolutely perfect.
The bit I love even more is immediately before that, where Carl is having the argument with the guy at the front desk about delivering cases of Drano while Martin pretends he belongs there and can't reach his access card because he's carrying a sheet cake and a bunch of balloons. Argument escalates, Martin shouts, "push the goddamn buzzer, will you?" and the guy promptly does. Access achieved.
I have loved this movie for a very long time, and the article about the genre interplay fascinates me. I remember when it came out and my roommate was trying to get me to go see it--she already had, and thought it'd be a good fit for me. I did not think so, because I immediately read it as an espionage movie and my mother and I have a long-standing tradition of avoiding espionage movies because we always get confused. Roommate sold me on it because it had anagrams in it and I was a great fan of anagrams. And she was absolutely right.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:02 AM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
The bit I love even more is immediately before that, where Carl is having the argument with the guy at the front desk about delivering cases of Drano while Martin pretends he belongs there and can't reach his access card because he's carrying a sheet cake and a bunch of balloons. Argument escalates, Martin shouts, "push the goddamn buzzer, will you?" and the guy promptly does. Access achieved.
I have loved this movie for a very long time, and the article about the genre interplay fascinates me. I remember when it came out and my roommate was trying to get me to go see it--she already had, and thought it'd be a good fit for me. I did not think so, because I immediately read it as an espionage movie and my mother and I have a long-standing tradition of avoiding espionage movies because we always get confused. Roommate sold me on it because it had anagrams in it and I was a great fan of anagrams. And she was absolutely right.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:02 AM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
I also just remembered another favorite moment, which was the main reason I rewatched the movie a couple months ago after Sidney Poitier died. Like everyone else, I love the "be a beacon" sequence, but my love is grounded in Strathairn's deadpan delivery of "Aaand, give him head whenever he wants," and Poitier's hand-over-mouth crack-up immediately after that moment. I will never love Poitier in a movie more than right at that moment.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:19 AM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:19 AM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]
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posted by The Bellman at 9:44 AM on April 15, 2022 [24 favorites]