hollywood q&a
Late laughs
By Adam Thomlison
TV Media
Conan
Q: I need help finding
a song (and a movie). The
movie was from the ‘80s
and was about a friendly ro-
bot of some kind. What was
the song that played during
the chase scene at the end?
A: This is surely a proud mo-
ment in the history of “Short
Circuit 2” (1988).
Most people remember the
song “Holding Out for a Hero,”
by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler,
from the movie “Footloose”
(1984), a much more success-
ful film that’s now considered
a classic. “Short Circuit 2” is
not as fondly remembered (a
sequel to a movie with a pretty
limited premise: What if robots
were sassy?).
The song was written specif-
ically for “Footloose,” though
the scene it was used in wasn’t
particularly pivotal — it was
the somewhat random part
near the middle of the movie
where two characters play
chicken with tractors.
By comparison, the scene
that “Holding Out for a Hero”
is used for in “Short Circuit 2”
is the climactic final chase —
arguably the most crucial scene
in any movie. In this scene, the
robot (named Johnny 5) chases
down the bad guy and makes
himself into a hero.
Maybe it’s this difference
in context that makes you
remember it better in “Short
Circuit 2.” Or maybe you just
prefer ‘80s cinematic fantasies
about smart-mouthed robots
to ‘80s cinematic fantasies
about towns saved by dancing.
Q: I have a couple of
problems with how they use
English subtitles on shows
when a character speaks
a foreign language. Why
don’t they stay on screen
long enough for everyone
to read them? And why do
they leave them in the same
spot on the screen even
when the background is
white (since the type is usu-
ally white)?
A: I think the problem here
is the “they.” There are lots
of different “theys,” all with
“their” own guidelines for how
subtitles should look.
President
Trump’s legal
adviser,
Jenna Ellis,
criticized the
halftime show
as “demeaning to women.”
She said the president
believes there is a time and
a place to demean women,
and that’s Twitter.
A scene from “Short Circuit 2”
Q: I watch “The Curse of
That said, there are some
Oak Island” and would like
standards — subtitles generally
to know if historian Doug
aren’t in wacky fonts or bright
colors and, as you say, they’re al- Crowell and his family are
from Cape Sable Island,
ways at basically the same spot
N.S.
at the bottom of the screen.
A: Doug Crowell is defi-
Their time on screen is one of
the least standardized elements. nitely from Nova Scotia, but
where exactly is hard to say.
The British Broadcasting Corpo-
He runs a research orga-
ration, for example, gets quite
nization called Blockhouse
technical, recommending a
Investigations, and the group
screen time of “0.3 seconds per
word (e.g. 1.2 seconds for a four- describes itself as “a great
bunch of Atlantic Canadians
word subtitle).” Netflix recom-
with adventurous spirits and
mends no more than two lines
a keen interest in the legends
of text, and each line should
and mysteries of our region
be no more than 42 characters
and beyond.” But Atlantic
wide. The U.K.’s Channel 4 (for
Canada is a big place.
some reason the Brits are more
We can zero in a little clos-
transparent about this stuff than
we are) says 38 characters wide, er. It’s known that he works
at Nova Scotia Community
or 34 “if wide letters such as M
College on the northwestern
and W occur frequently.”
coast of Nova Scotia — that
Also, in terms of their time on
is, the other side of the prov-
screen, subtitlers are unfortu-
nately constrained by the speech ince from Cape Sable Island,
they’re transcribing. If the actors which is on the southern tip.
Oak Island is, of course, a
are speaking quickly (think of a
Quentin Tarantino movie, for ex- pretty great mystery in that
ample), the choice is either make region, located on the east
coast of the province.
the subtitles keep up or else
But don’t let all this “other
drop some words (and that’s not
side of the province” stuff
a great solution).
mislead you: Nothing’s very
As you can see, things get
pretty complicated. But interest- far away in Nova Scotia. For
example, Oak Island on the
ingly, almost none of these sets
east coast is only about an
of guidelines even mention
hour and a half away from
placement. It’s just assumed the
Nova Scotia Community Col-
text goes on the bottom of the
lege on the other coast. And
screen.
it’s only about two hours
The problem of white text on
from Cape Sable Island on the
white background should, how-
south coast.
ever, be solved by font choice. A
number of these guidelines rec-
ommend fonts with outlines or
Have a question? Email us
shadows so that they show up
at questions@tvtabloid.com.
on any background. But again,
Please include your name and
as your question points out, not
town. Personal replies will not
everyone agrees.
be provided.
After President Trump gave
his State of the Union
address, House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi tore it in half.
Then Melania said, “Great!
Now do my prenup.”
A Little Late With
Lilly Singh
I’m realizing I
need to get
better at
dating. Let’s
be real: I’m
bored, I’m
lonely, I need to put
someone else on my will
besides my dog, Sparkles.
You can tell I’m new to
drinking because of what I
order. I’m not one of those
cool people who likes
whiskey or scotch — I like
really sweet drinks like
cosmos, fruit-flavored
vodkas, the stuff that
makes the bartender
assume I got in with a fake
ID.
You know the first record
of a woman wearing high-
heeled shoes dates all the
way back to the 16th
century, and I’m sure her
blisters will be healed any
day now.
The Tonight Show
Starring Jimmy
Fallon
Congrats to
the Kansas City
Chiefs on
winning Super
Bowl LIV. And an
even bigger congrats to
everyone in Kansas City
who actually showed up to
work today.
Bernie Sanders hosted a
Super Bowl party in Iowa
yesterday. He even made
his special three-layer dip
of Robitussin, Metamucil
and Werther’s Originals.
If NBC can count the votes
for “The Voice,” then Iowa
should be able to do it for
a presidential election.
Nancy Pelosi extended her
hand to President Trump,
and he wouldn’t shake it.
I’m not saying it was bad,
but even flights circling
LaGuardia aren’t left
hanging that long.
The Late Show With
Stephen
Colbert
Of course,
Trump doesn’t
think of
marriage when he
thinks of Moscow. For
Trump, Moscow means a
binding oath of loyalty that
you can not break until
death.
This is like saying, “Yes he
cheated at poker, but how
dare you accuse him of
cheating you at poker! He
will now prove his
innocence by cheating you
at poker.”
Jimmy Kimmel Live
According to
USA Today, the
most popular
Super Bowl ad
was the Jeep
ad where Bill
Murray rode around with a
groundhog. And the least-
liked commercial – was
Donald Trump’s re-election
campaign ad. It was rated
last. Donald Trump is less
popular than Scientology
and a hummus.
All the liberal networks
pre-empted their regular
programming for [the
State of the Union].
Instead of a new episode
of “This Is Us,” most
Americans spent tonight
going, “This is us?”
The day after Robert
Mueller testified was the
day [Trump] threatened
Ukraine and Biden.
Tomorrow, he’ll probably
call China to see if he can
give Bernie the
coronavirus.
Before his victory speech,
Trump spoke at the
National Prayer Breakfast,
which was a tough
decision because on the
one hand, he doesn’t like
to pray, but on the other
hand, he loves breakfast.
Late Night
With Seth
Meyers
Officials in
China opened a
new hospital today to deal
with the outbreak of
coronavirus that was built
in just 10 days. And
officials in New York said
the escalator at the 125th
Street subway station
should be fixed by 2024.
President Trump delivered
the State of the Union
address today. And I think
he’s feeling cocky, ‘cause
he just said, “It’s good,”
and walked off stage.
The makers of Peeps have
announced they will be
selling Hot Tamale-flavored
marshmallows this Easter
season. And when he
heard that, Jesus
announced he’s not
coming back.
President Trump delivered
the State of the Union
address last night and
claimed that he has led a
“great American
comeback.” Please.
Everyone knows the great
American comeback is,
“That’s what she said.”
East Oregonian and Hermiston Herald | February 26, 2020
Screentime | 19