At a time when the general populace seems to be growing more and more distrustful of science and the term “intellectual” is thrown around as an insult, a film like “The Martian” may hold the potential to tip the scales back in science’s favor. Committed to making the science half of their science-fiction tale feel […]
Science Fiction
Posted inMovies
Film Review: “I Origins”
Since the earliest years of cinema, science fiction has inspired filmmakers. Its major subjects — space travel, time travel, alien encounters, robots, the future — translate easily to film, the most magical of the arts, the most hospitable to the possibilities of fantasy. The form also responds to the dreams and fears of its time […]
Posted inMovies
“Edge of Tomorrow”
A collection of uninspired trailers sold “Edge of Tomorrow” as a derivative, effects-driven science-fiction action thriller, and to be fair, it is — calling to mind everything from “Aliens” to “Starship Troopers” melded into a high-concept premise inspired by “Groundhog Day.” But what those trailers drastically undersold is how much fun the film is and […]
Posted inMovies
Film Review: Transcendence
Since the Industrial Revolution, a succession of mechanical innovations represents the ambiguous gifts of progress: the power looms of the early 19th century, the locomotive later in the same century, the automobile for most of the 20th century, and the computer in our own time.ย Beginning with “Colossus: The Forbin Project” back in 1970, a […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
“The History of Space Photography””Astro-Visions”
“Yearning” is a good word, to sum it up. Since we gained consciousness, humans have gazed with wonder out into the fathomless depths of the sky, in search of some unknowable creator, to begin to understand the complex laws that govern this existence — and ultimately to better understand ourselves and our place in this […]
Posted inMovies
“World War Z”
The current proliferation of zombie books, movies, and television shows suggests that we now dwell in the time of the living dead, a horrible but not entirely surprising prospect. Born in the 1930’s, the most creative decade in cinema history, the genre reflected some particular realities of its era — the fact of race, the […]
Posted inMovies
“The Purge”
Like it or not, popular film, like other popular arts, often reflects important currents and significant truths appropriate to its time and place, providing a telling commentary on its cultural context. All those familiar summer blockbusters, for example, suggest some not entirely inspiring notions about the movie-going public’s demand for the constant bombardment of sound […]
Posted inCulture
Inside Astronomicon
The local sci-fi convention celebrates women’s contributions to the field
Posted inCulture
Sex and science fiction
Forty years ago, Samuel R. Delany changed the face of science fiction. He won the field’s highest honors as a young man, and was seen as the most promising writer in a genre struggling to redefine itself. His book, The Einstein Intersection, which won the Nebula Award in 1967, is both action adventure and […]
