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Rumtum

I think that our system is pretty odd, all in all, with Uranus at a 98-degree axial tilt, the wildly irregular orbit of the Pluto/Charon minisystem (probably rogue moons of Uranus), the extensive asteroid belt, our own wierdly huge moon (the result of a collision with another planet about as large) and more. Seems

Changed my life, it did.

Like saying DaVinci was not "original" because he used "paint" and "canvas" and "models" to create his paintings.

Wrong.
Did you not see this movie?
Sure, the story was derivative, drawing from roots as deep as Beowulf and as shallow as the Saturday Serials that several have alluded to. But the entire film was, in fact, groundbreaking: the cinematography, FX, costuming, sets, character design, backstory, world building ... all

I am aware of that, but when I saw it, it was just "Star Wars" and I never realized it was "Episode IV" until re-watching it some time later on Betamax.

Great list, Charlie!
I would suggest that the problem is not that they "copied the wrong thing," but they copied it with far less skill in execution. These films are iconic because they were original, new, groundbreaking and (for the most part) owed little to any of their predecessors.
I can still remember going to see

But I was being vulgar, gosh darn it.

And where did people dress like that in the 70s? Certainly not in DC (where I grew up).
Other than in-movie night-clubbers/discoboys, the attire you describe was far from commonplace.

Now playing

Here's one we had here in Savannah back in 2007; the "controlled implosion" of Stubbs Tower, a residential housing block that had become uninhabitable. It was a collapse, rather than an implosion, too, but pure amazement for those of us on the scene.

It was a joke.

D'oh!
You are correct.

Frappe carp

Except for setting transcontinental speed records and all.
The flying was feasible, it just scared the competition.

That explains the Spitfire 1500!

Latin: Carpe crape'

And 6 years later, The French Revolution put an end to Louis and his infant aeronautics program ... coincidence, or ... I dunno:

In 1938, Lockheed developed the flying wing (first as a prop-driven version, then later with turbojets). It was even featured in the George Pal movie War of the Worlds in 1953, in an unsuccessful attempt to nuke the Martians and successful attempt to coat Gene Barry with chalk dust.

This came to my mind. Perhaps I am not alone?

This one, though it was always canon, bothers me a lot. He has been a smart guy with big feet, a smart grey monkey, a smart black monkey, a smart blue monkey, a stupid guy with big feet, a smart cat man, and whatever the heck he is above.
If I were Dr. Henry McCoy, I would be embarrassed at how often I had to reshoot