And its bottom. I get the impression these are spherical endcaps to an axle, and that this isn't a wooden box so much as yet another kind of puzzle sorta kinda like a Rubik's cube with a single axis of rotation.a_contemplative_life wrote:Also, Owen picks up a wooden box scored into small squares on each side with half a sphere sticking out from its top.
I remember one of those puzzles. In the movie, it appears to be rather old (made of wood), but I played something very similar when I was a kid; sliding panels of differing sizes within a fixed frame. The object, as I recall, was to re-arrange the panels by sliding them at turns into whatever empty space might be handy. It was moderately absorbing for a short while, but mine was made of plastic.
It looks like the sum total of everything that has some kind of personal value (i.e., not survival-related) is on that table. Between the table and the wall are a couple of suitcases, and they might be stuffed with things of a similar nature, and they might not.
It's interesting to note that in neither LTROI nor LMI do we see much in the way of things that might belong to Haken or Thomas apart from a makeshift bed on the floor. In LMI, seen on the stove is a single sauce pan and a can of something that might be soup or chili beans. Thomas is shown enjoying a Walkman-like device. Otherwise, Haken and Thomas also seem to own only things involved with survival: on the kitchen counter in LMI there's what appears to be a battery-powered lantern with the box it was sold in standing right next to it, and there's a gallon jug of the kind vinegar is sold in full of fluid that might not be vinegar.
If Abby liked puzzles so much, why is her collection so meager? With all this money strewn about and the short daylight hours in the winter, you'd think she'd bop into a toy store every now and again and pick up a few new things to while the empty hours away. Similar could be said of Eli, but Eli's collection of nonsurvival stuff appears to be a bit larger and a lot more varied.
The Rook game, I've never seen. Wikipedia's entry says it's just a regular deck of playing cards with different faces, and so it isn't a game that requires a partner; there are any number of Solitaire-like games to play with a deck of cards. The Chinese checkers game is actually vaguely funny - can you imagine a girl who can solve a Rubik's Cube in a single night being engaged by such a game?
I strongly believe the two scenes of tenderness shown between Abby and Thomas indicates deep and abiding tenderness, but it still looks to me like Abby still lived mostly alone inside her head and unencumbered with much in the way of sentiment.