Interesting...and Disturbing to James

The Martian: a Mini Review

I've been pushing for exciting, but thinking movies with more adult themes.  My son is totally hooked on Star Wars and while a lot of fun (and I love watching the movies with him), I want him to take a look at other sciency films, too.  My daughter was totally hooked on Contact and so I am not as worried.  The warrior heritage runs strong in my son and I want to make sure while I support the 'family business' (so to speak), I want him to use his brain, too.  Orest already does math in his head and he reads really well for a kindergartner.  Its a side I want to emphasize along with his athleticism, etc.

On Saturday, we watched at home, Interstellar.  It was a bit slow of the kids, but my daughter was extremely thoughtful with it afterwards.  Avrora asked questions about time, wormholes and whatnot.  My son was underwhelmed.  No fighting he said.  hrmph.  Mission half accomplished.

This sunday I took my kids to see The Martian as the next attempt.

Kids reviews: 

Orest wanted fighting.  He wasn't scared (he's six), but I also covered his eyes during the initial emergency surgery.  Freakin lightsaber nut.  He loved the rockets though. 

Avrora thought it was awesome.  She looked away during the surgery scene, too.  She grasped more than Orest did.

Both kids laughed when the potato plot came up and I quipped Watney was a 'space Ukrainian.'  Space Irish would have worked, too, but my kids are closer to their Ukrainian heritage than their Irish.  No surprise given their mom is a first generation immigrant from Ukraine.  Their German, Italian and etc ancestry falls within the Americana for them.  Pretty funny that.

Parental review.  Gorgeous.  Engaging.  Not slow, really, but still thoughtful.  The language was too strong for Orest at times, but I know a lot of the kids use stronger than I did until college.  One kid Avrora used to know could probably take down a sailor, no sweat, in a "vocabulary" battle.  The surgery scene was the only other bit that made it too intense for unfiltered kid watching. 

General Review:  I have not yet read the book.  I purposefully avoided it prior to the film beause I'd be sitting there doing a comparison rather than enjoying the film. It was gorgeous and nicely paced.  I think it could have done a better job showing the loneliness of being the sole human on a whole world.  It might be Damon's expressions don't signal that for me well.  Other than that, loved his performance.  The humor was spot on for me.  The music.  hrm.

Geek Review:  The science was ok.  The most jarring thing was the gravity not being quite right.  Mars has a lower surface gravity than earth, but everything was obviously 1 g.  The perchlorate soil thing was jarring, but its a case of science catching up and surpassing the author.  The orbital mechanics...better but...um.  yeah.  I did love one of the heroes was the astrodynamicist.  Mike's (my guy for that) is going to love that, if he didn't see it.  Roland, I swear you were the head of JPL!  The tech was off.  Too 2015, not enough 2035.  Rockets are not the issue.  The computer tech amongst other kids.

Snarky Review:  Sean Bean didn't die.  Something was felt wrong there. 

General: 4 stars, weighed down with my geekry. 

THIS WAS WORTH THE MONEY!  GO SEE!

Freakin Awesome Critique of Jurassic World

link.

hat tip.

Nolan's Interstellar: Looking a Little More Promising

The Robopocalypse has Come for the Videographer/Photographer

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is taking its first major step toward opening up the skies for commercial drone use, allowing six TV and movie production companies to use drones to shoot video.

Commercial flight of drones has been effectively banned by the FAA as it grapples with how to integrate drone traffic into controlled airspace while not compromising the safety of existing air traffic. But as the months have passed, it has come under increasing pressure from U.S. companies to make a ruling.

Online retailer Amazon.com has been one of the most vocal, warning that it would take development of parcel-delivery drones overseas if the FAA doesn’t allow commercial use soon, and numerous other companies in the movie production, agriculture, environmental and energy industries have also been lobbying to allow their drones to fly.

“There has been a lot of interest around this technology recently,” said U.S. Department of Transport Secretary Anthony Foxx, recognizing the role the pressure played in reviewing the issues.

Foxx was speaking on a telephone conference call with FAA Administrator Michael Huerta where they announced that limited use of drone technology wouldn’t pose a problem to existing users of airspace.

Thursday’s deal with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) will allow six companies to operate drones over controlled areas of movie and TV sets. The drones will be flown by licensed pilots and won’t fly at night, and details of any accidents will have to be filed with the FAA.

A seventh production company has applied to the FAA and its application is under review.

link.

BWAHAHAHA: How the Desolation of Smaug Should Have Ended

ENOUGH WITH THE EAGLES!

hahaha

A Movie Written for Noel

Nolan Makes a Movie for Noel. And Charlie.

Elysium: The Ultimate in White Flight

A certain director et al have been channeling James and Carlos.

Ender's Game Trailer

I find the Nimoy v Quinto to be more interesting.  hrmph.

My Kids Saw This Recently...And It Made Me Wonder...

It would happen to have absolutely nothing to do with this...

Having sat through it (and only understood one word in twenty), the plots have  a LOT of parallels...

Skyline: Best Part of The Movie?

Some day, somebody has GOT to sit down and plan a military strike by military folks given the resources at hand for an alien invasion movie.

The drones, kewl. No problem. The way they were used. erm. Looks kewl, but soooo inaccurate.

Oh well.

No, not seen the movie. However, someone flagged me to look at this youtube clip of it.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"What happens is Earth is 70% water," Liebesman said in the press conference. "The aliens in our movie use water for many different things so it's for those natural resources."

Why, yes, my desk is shaped that way due to excessive expectations of the media. Why do you ask?

Every time Hollywood does a SF movie, bab asimov cries.

Noel! Wish Granted! Remember Panic Attack?

A producer from Uruguay who uploaded a short film to YouTube in November 2009 has been offered a $30m (£18.6m) contract to make a Hollywood film.

The movie will be sponsored by director Sam Raimi, whose credits include the Spiderman and Evil Dead films.

Fede Alvarez's short film "Ataque de Panico!" (Panic Attack!) featured giant robots invading and destroying Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.

It is 4 mins 48 seconds long and was made on a budget of $300 (£186).

So far it has had more than 1.5 million views on YouTube.

"I uploaded (Panic Attack!) on a Thursday and on Monday my inbox was totally full of e-mails from Hollywood studios," he told the BBC's Latin American service BBC Mundo.

"It was amazing, we were all shocked."

The movie Mr Alvarez has been asked to produce is a sci-fi film to be shot in Uruguay and Argentina. He says he intends to start from scratch and develop a new story for the project.

Noel: Movie to be made!

Best Avatar Description Yet

"Smurfahontas!"

Montevideo Destroyed (sfnally)

(more properly titled, Panic Attack)

hmmm. Is it Just me?

Is it me or does James Cameron's newest (Avatar) seem like a bad case of James Nicoll's Honky blended with the whole noble savage theme?

Oh! But they ARE!

They're remaking Red Dawn.

Wow.

Words. They fail.

Pixar's Up!

eh.

Not that fun a movie. Avrora was scared a good deal of time. Lyuda was bored most of the time. I was...underwhelmed. There were a few good moments, but ...idk...

SQUIRREL!

(best line in the whole movie)

To The Last I Grapple With Thee

Rest In Peace.

He was, BTW, so much more than this, but he was really an impressive man in general.