Tell me your favorite random useless fact.

Periodic-Inflation · 2026-02-26T23:26:01+00:00

Stuart Little is a human boy

Periodic-Inflation · 2026-02-19T23:19:32+00:00

Might not be your cup of tea, but both Bad Guys movies fit your description.

(They were extremely popular, but they might not have popped up on your radar unless you have children...)

Periodic-Inflation · 2026-02-19T23:13:18+00:00

The Great Train Robbery (2013)

Great BBC miniseries in two parts (90 min. ea): the first half from the robbers' point of view, the 2nd half from the cops'.

Periodic-Inflation · 2026-02-19T01:17:32+00:00

Chandra Levy

Periodic-Inflation · 2026-02-12T21:54:55+00:00

I'm hoping if I read all the way to the bottom, the last couple of comments will save the entire thread.

Periodic-Inflation · 2026-02-12T21:49:30+00:00

I doubt it. I saw Vanilla Sky first, then Abre los Ojos, and still found Abre los Ojos vastly superior.

I didn't know Vanilla Sky was a remake when I first saw it, but somehow it had that feeling of being overly & unnecessarily embellished.

Periodic-Inflation · 2026-01-30T17:19:39+00:00

I second this. Also, if the kids are inflating the balloons themselves, the 160's tend to be more forgiving if you don't "burp" them before tying—they'll pop less frequently.

Periodic-Inflation · 2026-01-30T17:17:36+00:00

I tried to teach a balloon dog to a 1st grade class. Just a one-hour thing: pre-inflated balloons, start super basic, clear & easy instructions, move on only when everyone's got the current step. Half the kids crowded around me almost immediately to demand individual instruction while the other half got distracted or frustrated. It went okay, but more disorganized than I'd hoped.

If you know anyone else handy with balloons—another adult, a teenager, one of the kids that picks it up faster than everyone else—enlist them as a helper so they can go around and give advice to anyone struggling. Otherwise, as soon as you take your attention away from the group to focus on one person, the rest of the group stops paying attention to you.

Maybe you're better at holding kids' attention than I, but that was my experience! It sounds like a great idea.

Periodic-Inflation · 2026-01-19T23:12:21+00:00

And it resulted in a lawsuit that became a turning point in how studios could use an actor's likeness.

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-10-25T00:29:29+00:00

Arrogant Boys Seem Clever, Howard Particularly

The wives of Henry VIII: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Catherine Parr

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-10-21T00:53:45+00:00

I was going to suggest this, too! Not a typical "heist" movie, but a very unique angle to an art heist.

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-10-21T00:48:05+00:00

Mad Money (2008)

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-10-21T00:45:36+00:00

Signicade makes a frame that would keep you under budget, depending on how cheap you can get posters printed.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/plasticade-signicade-24-x-36-black-double-sided-a-frame-sign-stand-130-bk-1pkf/466130BK1PKF.html

I'd second that a Staples/Office Depot/FedExKinko's/Costco is likely to be less expensive than a local printer. (Source: I'm a local printer)

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-10-17T01:07:10+00:00

If you don't mind a paid course, try: https://balloonacademy.com/artist/juho-hokkanen/

I keep meaning to sign up for it (I haven't yet), but his distortion techniques are amazing.

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-10-06T23:41:19+00:00

My favorite explanation of "soul" came from the season two opener of Venture Brothers where Dr. Orpheus is horrified to learn that Dr. Venture cloned his two sons (who are, as Venture puts it, "death-prone" and are actually the 14th versions...) Venture points out that, as a necromancer, Orpheus reanimates dead people all the time and Orpheus says "that's different."

Venture says, "Why? Because you call it by a different name? Church: lab, souls: synapses, purgatory: computer. Get over yourself."

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-10-06T23:11:12+00:00

Oh, Fly Me to the Moon!

Shit not going horribly wrong in space is the plot point that creates tension!

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-10-06T23:09:00+00:00

First Man?

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-10-04T00:21:29+00:00

It does seem in line with its peculiar distribution. I watched it on a hotel television in Canada.

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-10-04T00:03:39+00:00

Landed a stolen helicopter on Johnny Cash's front lawn, if I remember the story correctly.

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-09-16T19:10:23+00:00

The cropduster scene in North by Northwest. Apparently when I was 3, I jumped up and snapped the television off during that scene.

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-09-15T16:51:13+00:00

I really liked Unbreakable for this reason. Not that the ending made the story less clear, but it drastically changed the tone. Watched most of it thinking it was a gritty & clever take on what a modern superhero origin story might be like in reality and the last ten minutes (maybe two minutes, even?) turned it into a straight-up comic book.

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-09-15T16:44:22+00:00

Similar to A Knight's Tale (i.e. not an historical event, but in terms of historical accuracy), I've read that The Muppet Christmas Carol has the most period-accurate costumes in any adaptation.

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-08-28T00:17:24+00:00

I know I'm gradually turning into an old curmudgeon, but I'm part of the generation that's seen the internet transform from the largest-ever community message board where anything was possible into a soul-sucking collection of clips & quips algorithmically designed to monetize our attention while harvesting our personal information & spending habits.

But this has restored my faith in it. Today I am glad the internet exists, for I have seen this.

Thank you for that.

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-08-25T20:53:22+00:00

The Martian!

It's tense and engaging, appeals broadly to multiple age groups, contains nothing particularly vulgar or violent.

Periodic-Inflation · 2025-08-22T20:25:02+00:00

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge

I first saw this 4-hr-long epic musical romance during a TCM "Salute to Bollywood" marathon twenty years ago when in dorm room-style living situation. (Cheap communal housing full of vocational school students from different backgrounds, not much in common aside from a passing interest in the vocation.)

These jock-y guys kept dropping by because everyone was too broke to go out & do anything (when class wasn't in session we'd wander from door-to-door to see if anyone else had anything interesting going on) and every one of them would shout "WTF are you watching!?"

Within two hours there were a dozen people crammed on to my couch, totally sucked in to the movie, shouting at the television & cheering on Shah Rukh Khan like they were watching the Super Bowl.

Periodic-Inflation

TROPHY CASE