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November 5, 2021
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November 5, 2021
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I myself haven't seen any of these films.

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When I first posted about clocks and guns several people mentioned Carpenter's The Fog. My fear was that my questions would be too easy!

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Dude. Read 'Illusions' by Richard Bachman, "Argue for your limitations and you're bound to get them." Bachman also wrote 'Jonathan Livingstone Seagull' a tome that saved my generation (no doubt including Foster Wallace) from self harm (for a while).

Soundtrack by Neil Diamond. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDbToBxhZUo

When the seagull doesn't die... better than Star Wars.

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Dude, it's my job.

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I didn't like actually read these the first time at all.

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(weeping face of frustration)

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Is the “gun” in ‘Session 9’ the interview tapes?

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Or when the character finds the equipment that will be used for the lobotomy’s later.

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Okay, Brandan. I'll accept that. The gun in Session 9 is the lobotomy pick. Please let Dennis know where to send your awards. Congratulations!

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*Insert the closing shot from ‘The Breakfast Club’ where Bender does the air fist bump here*

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You need to get some sleep! Go to bed now.

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I mean it’s currently 4 pm in my time zone and I’m at university but sure, I could get some sleep.

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The tapes are the clock because they count us down to chaos.

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Are the two guns in ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ the jewelry he keeps (the ring)and the letters he writes and receives?

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Later addition to my earlier comment but I just thought that Gweneth Paltrow’s character may also be a “gun” due to Ripley’s jealousy of her and how she eventually cottons on to him.

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I’m guessing the clock in ‘The Fog’ is the fog itself

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founding

Okay: I think the clock in The Fog is the night itself, specifically the night of the centennial celebration. The gun in Session 9 is the lobotomy tool, called an orbitoclast. Maybe the clock in Harold & Maude is the overdose of sleeping pills she takes? And the two guns in Mr. Ripley are an oar, and rope?

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You got the gun in Session 9, but according to the comment sequence it looks like Brandon beat you.

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founding

Bummer. 5am me was a little foggy, pun intended. Congratulations to Brandon!

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Brandan. My bad.

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You are forgiven this time.

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Thanks, Jake!

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founding

Sorry about the misspelling. I thought it might be two “a”s, but the comments section does weird things on my phone. Happy Friday!

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Answers:

1. The number of people who need to die for the town curse.

2. That lobotomy instrument?

3. I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never actually seen this film. Shame on me. I’m familiar with the plot, so I’d guess it could be Maude’s old age? I guess we’re expecting her die before Harold?

4. Hmm. Doesn’t he take a ring or something that belonged to Dickie. And the possibility that Tom will be exposed as a fraud could be the other gun? This one never really goes off since Tom gets away with everything.

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Congratulations Josh! I'll accept your answer for The Fog. Six people must die to resolve the story. Please let Dennis know where to send the swag and awards.

And you really ought to watch Harold & Maude.

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Thank you! Wow this feels good. Yes, Harold and Maude is going to the top of the queue.

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Samson and Delilah will love their present....

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The clock in Harold and Maude is Maude planning to kill herself on her 80th birthday.

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You've already won one. See below. But you're correct, here.

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For ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’, I’ll take a stab at Dickie’s rings and the character of Meredith, whose presence precipitates several actions throughout the story.

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Congratulations Kurt. Dickie's rings and Meredith are the big guns that disappear and reappear to bring on the chaos. Please let Dennis know where to send your prizes

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Amazing! Thanks, Chuck :-) I watched the film for the first time recently, and only paid attention to Meredith as a gun because Cate Blanchett was too good an actor to just turn up for 5 minutes and then disappear.

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Good instinct!

And you live in Australia! This is going to cost me a fortune!

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I’m so sorry! Am genuinely happy to pay postage.

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I haven't seen most of these and the ones I have was many years ago 😞 Instead I read the plot synopsis's on Wikipedia and from that here's my stab in the dark

1. Is the clock in the fog the radio station/light house that is warning the town inhabitants of the fogs progress?

No its probably not. 😖

I didn't want to just google the clocks or guns tho, as to me that would be cheating.

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On a brighter note I have been looking for clocks and guns in recent movies & books I've read. 😊 In Cape fear (the remake) I'm thinking the gun is the handcuffs as they show up a few times.

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4. Is Freddie Miles a gun? He is the catalyst for a lot in Dickie and Tom's relationship which leads to very bad consequences.

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I realise that's only half an answer but it's all I've got at the moment 😖

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Yes, Freddie is a gun, but... footnotes! He's a small gun, and I wanted Meredith, who's a big gun.

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Damn. I read that footnote too!! And then obviously just forgot it. Oh the shame.

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Here. Watch this and you'll feel better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDbToBxhZUo

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1) The lifting of the fog. Can they survive until it does?

3) Her age. We know she won't live forever.

Not seen the other two!

Just entering for fun. It would be very cheeky and unfair on others if I won a prize again!

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Tom, you are a gentleman. But your two answers are incorrect. The birthday is the clock, "In one week I'll be eighty years old..." Close, but no cigar.

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Oh dear! Perhaps a re-watch is due for me then.....

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Here goes! Only saw two of these films:

1. The clock in The Fog is Adrienne Barbeau’s DJ character’s broadcasts.

4. The clock in Harold & Maude is Maude’s birthday.

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Lana, you win! Yes, at the beginning of the story Maude announces her birthday and that hers should be a long enough life at that point. Then we forget. Then she dies as she indicated. Please let Dennis know your address for me to send your prizes.

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Aaaaaand... Sent! Thank you so much! (And thank you to Dennis, too!) This made my entire freakin' week! My mom was a huge Ruth Gordon fan, having snookered me in with Clyde the Orangutan as the gateway drug as a kid. Thanks to her and the VHS section of my local public library, Mom later introduced me to "Where's Poppa?", "Rosemary's Baby," and "Harold & Maude" during my teen years. Who knew all that Ruth Gordon-ing would come in handy someday?

Thank you again so much! This (and the pooping dog) totally made me smile.

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Congrats, Lana! Glad a Gordon fan won! “Lord Love a Duck” is one of my favorite booby-trapped films! Hope you’ve seen or plan to see that one!

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Thanks so much, Rob! I'd never seen that one before. That was a little too obscure for the Scranton Public Library VHS collection back in the day. However, I managed to find it on YouTube. Man, am I glad I took your recommendation! The soundtrack, the cast, the sheer lunacy, and (especially) the sweater shopping scene!

Still trying to figure out if Alan / Mollymauk / Roddy McDowell was really a high schooler or if he was a genie or other metaphysical creature. Hmmm.... Such a fun, far out flick! Thank you for that recommendation!

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No problem! So happy to push such a unique and flick and have it pay off! That sweater scene is so wonderful and disturbing and I think the whole movie is pretty much open to interpretation. I hadn’t seen it until after I turned thirty and I still haven’t seen anything else quite like it! Mollymauk is probably whatever you think he is and, whatever that may be, he sure stays with people after encountering him!

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1) the ship, or rather, the parts and contents that float in our find their way to show.

2) I might have my guns and clocks mixed, but I think the tapes are the gun here.

3) Maude and her elevated age.

4) is it Ripley's girlfriend (Cate Blanchett) and Dickie's fathers money?

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I know in Harold and Maude the gun is her age. However, if they did not meet, I don’t think the gun would’ve ever triggered. She wouldn’t have committed suicide if it wasn’t for him. It was just potential energy he made kinetic.

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So I guess in a way their meeting is also a clock as in it’s the beginning of the end.

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For Session 9, the gun is the lobotomy tool, not the tapes. The tapes would be the clock because you’re waiting to listen to all of them as the events occur. The pick, however, is the one object seen that strikes fear into one character. A small note but one that shows up later after so many other events happen, the audience writes the pick off as unimportant. Then, when least expected, we find it the weapon used at the end.

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Yes, exactly. Bing bing bing. But moments too late. (frowny face)

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