X-Message-Number: 18196
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 08:26:31 -0600 (CST)
From: "S.J. Van Sickle" <>
Subject: Re: that rather annoying movie

> Message #18190
> Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 20:05:09 -0500 (EST)
> From: Charles Platt <>
> Subject: that rather annoying movie

> 2. Many people will believe that you can, in fact, dream during a long
> period of cryopreservation. This will result in a lot of wasted time for
> those of us who have to explain cryonics to the general public. Moreover,
> people will be reluctant to believe us when we say, "It's impossible."

I agree that people will easily get this interpretation, but in the scene
at the L.E. office, they clearly state that the Lucid Dreaming option
starts on *revival*.  Easy to miss, though.  

Kind of like the folks who have put a statement of preferences in their
file about uploading and such, except that is hardly a normal part of what
Alcor does, and we certainly don't advertise or charge for it, or even
have it formalized in any way.

> 1. Does anyone understand the title? What does Monet have to do with
> anything in the film?

Paul McCartny had an extra song lying around by that title.  They played
it over the closing credits.

> 2. Why does Tom Cruise stop shaving half way through?

Got me...

> 3. How does the initial sequence relate to anything? Supposedly at this
> point he has not entered his Lucid Dreaming cycle. So why is this initial
> dream relevant? Why does he drive a Ferrari in the dream? Because Ferrari
> paid for product placement?

The big question is, if it is a normal, everyday dream (nightmare) from
before the Lucid Dreaming starts, why does the alarm have Penelope Cruz's
voice on it, whom he has not even met yet?

I'm willing to grant them a normal dream sequence just to set the tone of
the movie.  And yes, Ferrari probably did buy a placement, but even if
not, what better way to establish at the start of the movie that he is a
rich bastard?

> 4. Is the resemblance of the older male cryonicist Fred Chamberlain purely
> coincidental?

I thought he looked more like Bob Ettinger, but now I'm not so sure.

> 5. Is the resemblance of the red-haired female cryonicist in the New York
> headquarters to Linda Chamberlain purely coincidental?

Now that was about a dead ringer, minus 10 or 20 years.

I don't know if Alcor or CI did any consulting, but there certainly is a
lot of the literature and interview clips around.  My guess is not a
complete coincidence.

steve van sickle

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