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Montgomery 
"F**k!"
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 Posted - 10/20/2006 : 16:09:51
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quote:
Originally posted by M0rkeleb
Well, not exactly in keeping with the topic, but as a mathematician, I was amused to note two glaring mathematical errors in Cube (which I should state I loved anyway). Both concern the supposed math 'genius' Leaven.
1. It takes Leaven about 3 seconds each to realize numbers like 584 and 635 are not prime. Any math genius worth his/her salt should recognize these as non-prime instantly (any number with last digit even or 5 is not prime - unless it is 2 or 5). OK, this is just a timing issue, so it's not really serious. But:
2. Later in the film, it's revealed that it's not important which numbers are prime, but rather which ones are powers of primes. Leaven posits that this new wrinkle makes it way too hard to find such numbers, that the difficulty is "astronomical" and no one could do it (which is why the idiot savant character is necessary).
But this is just false, because there just aren't many powers of primes less than 1000 that aren't themselves primes. For squares, you only need to go up to 31^2 (32^2=1024), and any math genius worth his/her salt knows the squares up to at least 31^2=961 by heart. Cubes of primes are even better, since you only need to go up to 10^3=1000 - this gives you 2^3, 3^3, 5^3, and 7^3. Fourth powers only include 2^4, 3^4, 5^4. Powers of 3 go up to 3^6=729, and powers of 2 go up to 2^9=512. Again, I say any math genius show know all these numbers by thought and be able to identify them pretty quickly (simply because there aren't very many of them).
Further, throughout this film, she's been determining whether arbitrary 3-digit numbers are prime or not, which is usually much harder than what I've talked about above. Take, for example, 667. To see this is not prime, I'd start by seeing it is not even or divisible by 5 (immediate), then check 3 and 11 (takes a little time, but there are shortcuts). Then 7. Then 13, 17, and 19. These last few would be a bit time-consuming, since there are no shortcuts and you actually have to try dividing. Finally, 23 works - 667=23*29. This process takes much more time and thought than figuring out if a 3-digit number is a prime power that isn't a prime.
Wow! MOrkeleb. I think your I.Q. could beat up my I.Q. and take its lunch money for sure.
EM :) |
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MM0rkeleb 
"Better than HBO."
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GHcool 
"Forever a curious character."
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Posted - 10/20/2006 : 20:31:14
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| One pet peeve of mine is Bible movies that don't get the Bible right or grossly emebellish the Bible. Isn't the Greatest Story Ever Told great enough that it doesn't have to be Hollywoodized? |
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Downtown
"Welcome back, Billy Buck"
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Posted - 10/20/2006 : 21:03:43
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quote:
Originally posted by GHcool
One pet peeve of mine is Bible movies that don't get the Bible right or grossly emebellish the Bible. Isn't the Greatest Story Ever Told great enough that it doesn't have to be Hollywoodized?
Some of it wasn't "embellished." In fact, quite the opposite. Sometimes it was highly sanitized. When Moses came down the mountain and found the Israelites worshiping idols, then lost his temper and smashed the stone tablets, do you know what happened next? Look it up. It differs from the Hollywood version quite a bit. |
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GHcool
"Forever a curious character."
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Posted - 10/20/2006 : 21:52:08
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quote:
Originally posted by Downtown
quote:
Originally posted by GHcool
One pet peeve of mine is Bible movies that don't get the Bible right or grossly emebellish the Bible. Isn't the Greatest Story Ever Told great enough that it doesn't have to be Hollywoodized?
Some of it wasn't "embellished." In fact, quite the opposite. Sometimes it was highly sanitized. When Moses came down the mountain and found the Israelites worshiping idols, then lost his temper and smashed the stone tablets, do you know what happened next? Look it up. It differs from the Hollywood version quite a bit.
Biblical historical fiction literature tends to be as bad, if not worse, than Hollywood. Someone recommended a book to me called The Red Tent about the rape of Dinah which I thought was such a crock that I tossed it aside and picked up my copy of the Pentateuch that I got on my bar mitzvah and read the original. |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 10/21/2006 : 09:20:21
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quote:
Originally posted by Downtown
quote:
Originally posted by GHcool
One pet peeve of mine is Bible movies that don't get the Bible right or grossly emebellish the Bible. Isn't the Greatest Story Ever Told great enough that it doesn't have to be Hollywoodized?
Some of it wasn't "embellished." In fact, quite the opposite. Sometimes it was highly sanitized. When Moses came down the mountain and found the Israelites worshiping idols, then lost his temper and smashed the stone tablets, do you know what happened next? Look it up. It differs from the Hollywood version quite a bit.
Of course it does.
But you know, with the Old Testament, different translations differ from each other and the original, so why should Hollywood be any different?
(I was shocked to hear that Christians have a different numbering of the 10 Commandments than Jews do.)
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Conan The Westy
"Father, Faithful Friend, Fwiffer"
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Posted - 10/21/2006 : 09:28:12
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quote:
Originally posted by GHcool
Biblical historical fiction literature tends to be as bad, if not worse, than Hollywood. Someone recommended a book to me called The Red Tent about the rape of Dinah which I thought was such a crock that I tossed it aside and picked up my copy of the Pentateuch that I got on my bar mitzvah and read the original.
Never call your daughter Tamar!!!
Unfortunate Tamar 1: Genesis 38
Unfortunate Tamar 2: 2 Samuel 13 |
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silly 
"That rabbit's DYNAMITE."
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Posted - 10/21/2006 : 13:34:58
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My favorite is Life of Brian.
"Blessed are the cheesemakers." |
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duh
"catpurrs"
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Posted - 10/21/2006 : 16:03:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Conan The Scottie
Never call your daughter Tamar!!!
Unfortunate Tamar 1: Genesis 38
Unfortunate Tamar 2: 2 Samuel 13
I think the story of Absolom and his sister Tamar would make a very interesting movie, if the writers didn't vary too much from the Biblical account.
I find the story of Absolom to be particularly interesting because as a child in Sunday School, he was presented to us as a very bad person. As an adult, I see him as a young man who was desperate for his remote father's attention. |
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GHcool
"Forever a curious character."
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Posted - 10/21/2006 : 18:14:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Conan The Scottie
quote:
Originally posted by GHcool
Biblical historical fiction literature tends to be as bad, if not worse, than Hollywood. Someone recommended a book to me called The Red Tent about the rape of Dinah which I thought was such a crock that I tossed it aside and picked up my copy of the Pentateuch that I got on my bar mitzvah and read the original.
Never call your daughter Tamar!!!
Unfortunate Tamar 1: Genesis 38
Unfortunate Tamar 2: 2 Samuel 13
I wouldn't call the Genesis Tamar unfortunate. She was a hero. She got stuck in a bad situation and kept on truckin'. If not for her determination, the tribe of Judah would have been extinct. |
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Airbolt
"teil mann, teil maschine"
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Posted - 11/01/2006 : 01:02:59
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U571 - It was the Royal Navy that captured an enigma machine and certainly NOT Bon Jovi!
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AAAARGH! - Hollywood Historical Inaccuracies
