Patrick Knipe

I love movies, literature, and obsessing about the audio world and ancient things

[Richard Roeper @RichardERoeper]

Movie reviewer here. For 30 years, I have adhered to an extraordinarily controversial take on casting decisions.

A. I see the film.
B. I share my opinion on whether or not the casting was effective.

I know. Crazy.

[Andrew Markowitz @amarkowitzWX]

Here’s the duality of Colorado weather in a nutshell…from a raging snowstorm this morning to sunny skies and a baseball game this evening. And tomorrow, it will be like it never happened.

[Jeremy @Jeremybtc]

A 21 year old business student raised $700,000 to claim a fighter jet from a Pepsi commercial. Pepsi sued him before he could collect.

> In 1996 Pepsi ran a TV commercial for its Pepsi Points loyalty program.

> At the end of the ad a teenager lands a Harrier fighter jet at a high school and steps out in a flight suit.

> The caption read: "Harrier Fighter Jet. 7,000,000 Pepsi Points."

> John Leonard, a 21 year old business student, watched it and did not laugh. He did the math.

> Pepsi sold extra Pepsi Points at 10 cents each. 7 MILLION points would cost $700,000. A real Harrier jet costs the US military $37.4 MILLION.

> He recruited his older mountain climbing friend Todd Hoffman and four other investors. Together they put up the full $700,000.

> Leonard mailed in 15 original Pepsi Points, a check for $700,008.50, and a formal written order for "1 Harrier Jet."

> Pepsi rejected the order and called the commercial "fanciful and simply included to create a humorous and entertaining ad."

> Leonard's lawyers responded by demanding immediate delivery.

> Pepsi sued first, filing a declaratory judgment action in federal court asking the judge to rule the entire claim frivolous.

> Leonard countersued for breach of contract.

> Pepsi's lawyers argued no reasonable person could interpret a joke commercial as a binding contract for a military aircraft.

> The Department of Defense weighed in. A spokesperson stated that neither Leonard nor Pepsi could legally possess a Harrier jet without "demilitarization", a process that strips out the weapons and the ability to take off or land.

> In 1999, Judge Kimba Wood ruled for Pepsi. Her opinion stated "no objective person could reasonably have concluded that the commercial actually offered consumers a Harrier Jet."

> Pepsi quietly updated the commercial. The jet now cost 700 MILLION Pepsi Points. They also added a "Just Kidding" disclaimer.

> In 2022 Netflix released a four part documentary about it called "Pepsi, Where's My Jet?"

> Leonard, now in his 50s, works as a park ranger for the National Park Service. He has never said he regrets it.

> The case is now taught in nearly every American law school.

The "Just Kidding" or disclaimer Pepsi added became standard practice across every advertiser in America. One student forced the industry to start spelling out when it was "for entertainment purposes only".

[NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman @NASAAdmin]

The world stopped to watch Artemis II.

Moments like this remind us what is possible and inspire the next generation to dream bigger and take us even further.

We are just getting started on this grand adventure. It is time to start believing again.

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

If you're under 53 years old, you have never once been alive while a human was farther than 250 miles from Earth. Tonight, four astronauts are heading 252,000 miles out. That's a thousand times farther than any person has gone in your lifetime.

The 250-mile ceiling is where the International Space Station floats. Every astronaut since December 1972 has been stuck in that zone. Spacewalks, science experiments, cool photos from orbit, sure. But nobody left the neighborhood.

The last crew to go farther was Apollo 17. December 1972. Nixon was president. The internet didn't exist. Cell phones were 11 years away. The youngest member of that crew is now 90 years old.

The farthest any human has ever been from Earth is 248,655 miles. The Apollo 13 crew set that number in 1970, and they didn't mean to. Their oxygen tank blew up, and the emergency route home took them farther out than anyone before or since. Tonight's crew will break that record on purpose.

And the crew itself. Victor Glover becomes the first Black astronaut to leave Earth's neighborhood. Christina Koch becomes the first woman. Jeremy Hansen, a Canadian fighter pilot, becomes the first non-American to do so. When they come home, they'll slam into the atmosphere at 25,000 mph, faster than any human has ever traveled.

The Moon's south pole has ice. Water ice, sitting in craters so deep that sunlight hasn't hit them in billions of years. A 2024 NASA study found way more of it than anyone expected. You can split water into hydrogen and oxygen, which gives you rocket fuel, breathable air, and drinking water, all made on the Moon instead of hauled up from Earth. George Sowers at Colorado School of Mines calculated that Moon-made fuel could shave $12 billion off a single trip to Mars. The Moon is a gas station on the road to Mars.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced last week a $20 billion plan to build a permanent base at the South Pole over the next seven years, with landings every six months. China is developing its own lunar lander and spacesuit, aiming for a crewed landing by 2030. The Artemis program has burned through $93 billion so far, and the first actual surface landing is penciled in for 2028. There's a real question of who gets there first this time around.

Harrison Schmitt walked on the Moon in December 1972 as part of Apollo 17. He's 90. Asked about it this week, he sounded pretty relaxed. "Mars is attainable," he said. "We're humans. That's what we've always done."

[Patrick Knipe @patknipe]

@Airunh23 @BillHuntBits @thedigitalbits Same here, multiple times since corrections were announced, no responses back.

[Iván Fernández Amil @ivanfamil]

Si vas al Museo del Prado y te paras justo enfrente de "El Lavatorio" de Tintoretto, pensarás que el pintor estaba borracho. Los personajes están desperdigados, hay huecos vacíos y la mesa se cae, pero si das diez pasos a la derecha, ocurre un milagro. Tira del hilo 🧵👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽

[Stuttering Craig (Official) @StutteringCraig]

MUST WATCH.

This NAILS the difference between 90's kids who played video games and Gen Z kids.

Thanks to @ShortN40 for the tip on this.

[cinesthetic. @TheCinesthetic]

During 1917, MacKay accidentally slammed into extras while running. Since every take was insanely expensive, they just kept the cameras rolling.

[Patrick Knipe @patknipe]

@BillHuntBits WHV never replaced my faulty Ricky collection UHD discs. I’ll be surprised if they replace the Superman discs for free.

[Patrick Knipe @patknipe]

James Gunn's 'Superman' Leads to more than 500% Surge in Dog Adoption Interest https://t.co/y84SpENcf7

[Justin🦩Boldaji @justinboldaji]

This is the funniest movie production fact I’ve ever read

[Arrow Video @ArrowFilmsVideo]

Cowabunga vibes only today... 👀 Lock in for a radical #WorldTurtleDay 🐢🤙

[Washingtons ghost @washghost1]

We made memories not content

[Dylan O'Sullivan @DylanoA4]

What a legend he was

[Vashi Nedomansky, ACE @vashikoo]

As far as we have come in filmmaking,
this shot from 1940 is still pure magic.

[Interesting AF @interesting_aIl]

Bro zoomed into the sound

[Reads with Ravi @readswithravi]

Leonardo da Vinci on excellence:

[9to5Toys @9to5toys]

Last Call for today’s Apple deals: M4 Mac mini all-time low, M4 iMac up to $120 off, AirPods Pro 2 $170, M4 Pro/Max MacBook Pro up to $150 off, more https://t.co/EKeIYFTpRJ

[Patrick Knipe @patknipe]

@ScribnerBooks @StephenKing King is an American treasure, and he’s a master of the short story in addition to being a master of the epic form.