# Real Genius (1985) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 29, 2023, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270 "2023-06-29T03:28:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/81 "2023-07-01T02:07:16Z")
Northwestern as well. My students have told me stories of Chicago winters and the tunnels between buildings. Totally alien to my experience, being a SoCal native. Sure, I lived in Alaska a while. But sourdoughs don’t tunnel. To bring it back to _Real Genius_ - the unofficial motto of Alaska applies to the nerds as well - “The odds are good, but the goods are odd.” (Speaking of the male/female ratio and addressed to the females.) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/82 "2023-07-01T02:19:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > _Anyplace_ with lots of snow is going to have lots of tunnels and gerbil tubes. Wusses, the lot of you. In Saskatoon, we walked to class in blizzards, and the next day in 30 below, and we liked it! ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/83 "2023-07-01T02:21:54Z")
The only time Montana State ever closed due to weather conditions was in 1981, when they got three inches of the white stuff. The “white stuff” in this case being ash. We didn’t have any steam tunnels (at least, not anywhere accessible), but one was advised not to breathe too deeply in the basement of the old physics building, where a failed gravitational wave detector had resulted in a massive mercury spill. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/84 "2023-07-01T02:39:55Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > I’m still waiting for Buckaroo Banzai against the World Crime League. > [@Miller](#): > > I can’t vouch for its quality I liked it. Depends what you expect; I mean, it’s a Buckaroo Banzai novel. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/85 "2023-07-01T02:47:40Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > How has it not been turned into a TV series by now? Sony reportedly tried, via Adam Sandler’s company. They wanted Chris & Mitch in a _business_ setting! > **['Real Genius' TV Series in Development](https://screenrant.com/real-genius-nbc-tv-show-remake/?newsletter_popup=1)** > > NBC and Sony are teaming up to develop a small-screen adaptation of the 1985 Val Kilmer comedy 'Real Genius.' ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/86 "2023-07-01T02:48:21Z")
The University of Alberta had lots of “gerbil tubes” (great name!) connecting buildings. Makes sense, since Edmonton, at 53 degrees N, gets maybe 7 to 8 hours of daylight in winter; so any chance to experience daylight was welcome then. It was surprising where you could get to, without having to go outdoors. Loved _Real Genius_. The casting worked well, and you understood who these characters were pretty much from the beginning. And the dialogue has plenty of quotable lines. “This? This is ice. This is what happens to water when it gets too cold. This? This is Kent. This is what happens to people when they get too sexually frustrated.” “Why is that toy on your head?” “Because if I wear it any place else, it chafes.” “You _are_ Chris Knight, aren’t you?” “I hope so. I’m wearing his underwear.” Fun film. I’ll have to rewatch it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/87 "2023-07-01T02:50:15Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > My students have told me stories of Chicago winters and the tunnels between buildings. [Which got flooded in '92.](https://interactive.wttw.com/chicago-stories/downtown-disasters/a-comedy-of-errors-how-a-small-leak-became-the-great-loop-flood-of-1992) ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/88 "2023-07-01T03:12:10Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > The University of Alberta had lots of “gerbil tubes” (great name!) connecting buildings. There used to be a network of those in Charlotte, NC. They called them “honkey tubes” ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/89 "2023-07-01T03:15:57Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > “You _are_ Chris Knight, aren’t you?” > “I hope so. I’m wearing his underwear.” I’ve used this line many times and forgot where it came from. 👍 (My name of course.) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/90 "2023-07-01T03:29:02Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > (My name of course.) You’re Chris Knight?? _swoons_ 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/91 "2023-07-01T06:57:19Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > You’re Chris Knight?? I wish, he played Peter Brady and married a supermodel. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/92 "2023-07-01T08:30:36Z")
Not just Physics - We had our own small tanks, but I sometimes had to wander across campus from the Geochem labs to the Chem building with a flask, like some neighbour going begging with a sugar cup. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/93 "2023-07-01T13:31:45Z")
I’m sure chemistry and biology, and probably some of the engineers, used liquid nitrogen, too, but at my school it was the physics department that had custody of the big storage tank, so when those other departments needed it they got it from us. ---
**Author:** ![SoToasty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sotoasty/32/2803_2.png) [@SoToasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoToasty)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/94 "2023-07-01T17:29:41Z")
It was just on AMC. Unfortunately, I did not get home to see it all. Caught about the last 15 minutes of the movie. I hope it shows up again soon, or maybe i can find it on “On Demand”. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/95 "2023-07-01T18:41:12Z")
Out of all the things to get one’s hands on, I would expect liquid nitrogen to be one of the least problematic. IME we never had a problem making instant ice cream… ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/96 "2023-07-01T20:53:59Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > I would expect liquid nitrogen to be one of the least problematic. I know there was a tank behind one of the physics or chemistry buildings at UT, and I have vague memories that there was an unprotected spigot, or maybe some friends of friends had the combination to the gate, or something. Anyway, it was easy to get and put in a Thermos and a couple tablespoons in a plastic bottle makes an impressive bang after a few minutes. We had fun with that for a week or so, until somebody told us to cut it out. Similar to launching model rockets from the football practice field, all fun and games, until somebody told us to cut it out. For the good old days, when pressure bombs and incendiary devices just got you a, “yeah, you’re going to have to stop” from the police. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/97 "2023-07-01T22:01:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And when Val Kilmer’s ,character slices off a disc of frozen stuff to use as a coin in the vending machine, my immediate thought was “that wouldn’t work – the density’s all wrong.” I don’t know. Vending machines back then were less sophisticated, and those in the basement of Baker House were extremely easy to hack. Though I don’t know of anyone who did it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/98 "2023-07-01T23:11:40Z")
Less so getting a bit of N2. More so getting several tanks to the dorms along with a fair amount of other gear for unspecified purposes. It lasts surprisingly long in those tanks in a regular, AC’ed room. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/99 "2023-07-01T23:21:17Z")
I hadn’t thought of that, but a something very cold like that would probably adhere to the metal inside the drop slot, and then just melt or sublimate away, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270/100 "2023-07-01T23:27:59Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > and those in the basement of Baker House were extremely easy to hack. Hack, hell The locks on those machines are absurdly simple to jimmy. Or they could just make a key from the one they swiped from the service provider person when he was distracted by the whatever. Why bother with the slot, when you can just open the side and reach inside? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-genius-1985/986270.md?page=6)