 Item number SCP-1756 Object Class Safe Special Containment Procedures SCP-1756 is to be kept in a locked safe in the audio-visual wing of Site-73. A television, compatible remote control, and compatible cables and power adapter to be provided in Room 346 for testing by researchers level 2 and higher. All playbacks produced by SCP-1756 are to be filmed and archived for future analysis. A complete video archive of Cisco and Eber at the movies and its predecessor programs is to be maintained on-site for comparison to SCP-1756 recordings to existing episodes. Testing involving SCP objects in optical disc format or any other Foundation-produced recordings shall require approval from the Site Director. Description SCP-1756 is a Panasonic RV-31K Region 1 DVD Player manufactured in 1999. Serial Number SCP-1756 is externally identical to all other DVD players of its model and production date. Internal examination indicates that SCP-1756 is undergone after market modification to allow it to play non-Region 1 DVDs. Attempts to replicate SCP-1756's anomalous property by similarly modifying standard DVD players of the same type have been unsuccessful. SCP-1756 is capable of accepting and producing its primary effect with all 12-CM optical disc regardless of format or region coding, including DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM, music CDs, and proprietary optical disc formats used in video game consoles. SCP-1756's anomalous property manifests when it is powered on and connected to a television and an optical disc is inserted into the disc tray and played. Without applying the video or audio content encoded on the disc, the television will display a recording from 6 to 11 minutes in length, appearing to be a segment from the American television program Cisco and Abert at the movies. Footnote 1 A syndicated weekly television program aired in the US from 1986 to 1999 as a continuation of previous programs featuring Cisco and Abert beginning in 1975. In all documented cases, the recording resembles the format of the original television show in which Chicago-based film critics Gene Cisco and Roger Abert discussed and debate movies currently in theatrical release and offered their individual opinions about whether the film is worth seeing with a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down gesture. Examination of the recording indicates that the set seen therein is identical to the set used by the television series during the 1992-1996 seasons and that Cisco and Abert appear to be approximately the same age as they were during the same time period. In the disc inserted is a motion picture that was reviewed on the original series, the content of the review of the identical to the original review featured on the program. When the content of the disc is a movie not featured or released after Cisco and Abert's deaths in 1999 and 2003 respectively, it is a visual recording other than a theatrically released motion picture, television shows, news broadcast, amateur films or home movies, video games, etc. Or is not a visual recording at all, an original recording will be produced with Cisco and Abert review of the material as if it was a theatrically released motion picture. In these reviews, the critics will speak in a manner similar to the tone affected by the critics on the original series, with Cisco often critiquing individual aspects of the content, such as animation, acting, sound quality, etc., and Abert analyzing the content from a more emotional, collective perspective. Experiment 1756-1 Date ████████ Content of disc, The Crying Game, 1992. Summary of recording, identical in content to original series review. Experiment 1756-3 Date ████████ Content of disc, Blade Runner, 1982. Directors cut version 1992. Summary of recording, similar in content to the original series review, except that neither Cisco or Abert make any mention of the narration by Harrison Ford, which was featured in the original theatrical release and omitted from the director's cut. Experiment 1756-7 Date ████████ Content of disc, Brokeback Mountain, 2005. Summary of recording, the film receives praise from both critics, with Abert's comments largely resembling his published 2005 review of the film and Cisco making a note of director Aang Lee's cinematography and declaring that star Heath Ledger has a long and promising career ahead of him, both critics give the film a thumbs up. Experiment 1756-17 Date ████████ Content of disc, a 1999 episode of At the Movies in which Abert paid tribute to Gene Siskel following his death that year, including footage from Siskel's memorial service. Summary of recording, while expressing confusion of why the program received a theatrical release, both critics respond favorably, with Siskel describing it as a somber and bittersweet reminder of one's own mortality and Abert humbly praising his own work as executive producer. Both critics agree that the body of Siskel, as seen lying and reposed during the memorial service, plays the part better than Laurie Goldman, both critics give the film a thumbs up. Footnote 2 Actor who appeared in Godzilla 1998 playing Gene, a character intended by director Roland Emmerich as a parody of Siskel in Retribution for his negative review of Independence Day, 1996. Experiment 1756-21 Date ██████ Content of disc, Mass Effect, video game 2007. Summary of recording. The game receives a mixed review as the critics spend most of the segment arguing about various points and questioning whether they watched the same movie. Siskel states that the protagonist, Commander Shepard, who he identifies as being played by Mark Muir, gives a wooden delivery of his lines that behaves more like a Boy Scout or comic book superhero than a starship captain, while Ebert describes Shepard, played by Jennifer Hale, as a take-no-prisoner's feminist action hero in the tradition of Sigourney Weaver, and cites her taboo romance with a feminine alien from a monogendered species as a bold move for a mainstream sci-fi flick. The critics agree that supporting actor Rafael Sbarge, who Ebert identifies as having co-starred with Hale in one of the dozens of Star Wars prequels to hit the big screen of recent years, plays fundamentally the same character as the previous role, but describes his sacrifice near the end of Act II as one of the film's better moments. Siskel notes that the film is planned to be the first installment of a trilogy and expresses hope that Muir will grow into the role. Siskel gives a thumbs down, Ebert gives a thumbs up. Experiment 1756-28 Date ██████ Content of disc, 12 hours of live ABC news coverage of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in the Pentagon, beginning with the initial interruption of scheduled programming and ending with President George W. Bush's war on terror nationwide address. Summary of recording Both critics praise the diverse humility of the film's special effects, describing it as one of the best faux documentaries since Orson and Wells' War of the Worlds in 1938 and marveling at the number of on-air news personnel playing themselves, with Siskel finding the choice to cast Texas Governor George W. Bush as the president both interesting and unusual. Ebert praises Osama bin Laden, who he describes as the director of the film, for his bold critique of America's national defenses and satirical outlook at foreign opinions of our country, though he questions his decision to insert himself into the film with a prime suspect in organizing the attacks. Both critics give a thumbs up. 1756-36 Date Content of disc, Frampton Comes Alive, disc 1, music album 1976, CD Deluxe Edition 2001. Summary of recording Ebert describes the album as one of the favorites of all time and states that he greatly enjoyed the opportunity to listen to it in digital THX audio, though he is disappointed by the fact that the presentation ends halfway through the album and hopes that a theatrical release of the second half is pending. Siskel, in contrast, is disappointed by the lack of any concert footage or other visual accompaniment to the music and states that he could listen to music in the dark and home he desired to rather than spending money due to the theater. Siskel gives a thumbs down, Ebert gives a thumbs up. Experiment 1756-38 Date Content of disc, Classics of Literature, a 1997 Windows CD-ROM containing the text of 130 public domain novels. Summary of recording Both critics praised the ability to hear some of the greatest novels of all time narrated by their original authors. With Siskel describing author John Milton's narration of Paradise Lost as particularly moving and Ebert finding Victor Hugo's recitation of Les Miserables excellent but questioning his choice to read it in English rather than his native French. Both critics questioned the running time of the film in approximately 1600 hours. While Ebert calls it a great value for the admission price, he claims that he spent several thousand dollars on concessions during the screening and apologizes to the audience for the 12 week hiatus that the movies took while he and Siskel were attending the screening. Both critics give a thumbs down and agreeing that, if broken into smaller installments, the film would be more enjoyable. Experiment 1756-41 Date Content of disc, a recording of Murder on the Orient Express, 1974, as affected by SCP-1989. Ebert introduces the segment as part of a recurring series on the works of ██████, which he describes as an artistic collective that's been taken to film world by storm. Ebert praises the cinematic device of showing the altered film on a TV screen being filmed by another camera and the digital manipulation of the original film footage to present the on-screen actors responding to the inversion of their world. Siskel praises the technical execution of the movie of finding it unoriginal and derivative of the group's earlier work and compares it unfavorably to previous films by the groups such as Man Being Eaten by the Idea of a Shark, Sad Man, which he describes as being a seven hour long continuous shot of an atomic bomb sitting on a pedestal, and Cheese. Siskel gives a thumbs down, Ebert gives a thumbs up.