Strange dream

Time Loop (Photo credit: Ran Yaniv Hartstein)

I had the strangest dream last night. I was caught in some kind of time loop and back in the 1950s. I knew all the people there and that I’d have significant life experiences with them. But they didn’t know that. Funny thing is, I was born in 1962.

So then I’m talking to my brother on the telephone. He answers my call with his name. I tell him who I am but he doesn’t know me at all. It was like I’d looped back to some kind of parallel reality. Another universe. But somehow my going back worked out a whole bunch of issues that needed to be resolved. All very strange. Would have made a good sci-fi story.

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In Time

There’s something about digital numbers glowing through the skin that strikes a cord.

Review – Sunshine (DVD)

This review also appears at Earthpages.org

The other day I happened to notice Sunshine in the video section of the local library. I’d never heard of this film but being something of a sci-fi buff, was willing to give it a try.

Glad I did.

Blending the genres of action thriller and psychodrama, Sunshine boasts an international cast with recognizable influences from several sci-fi classics, such as Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris, and Douglas Trumbull’s Silent Running, to name a few.

Without this being a spoiler, let’s just say that a group of astronauts are sent on a follow-up mission in a spaceship, Icarus II, to save the Earth from its dying sun. The first Icarus mission failed. And the second team’s job is to seed the failing sun – our sun – with an atomic bomb that hopefully will jump start a new star within it.

Not being a physicist, I wondered about the math behind this. But that didn’t really matter. What makes this film well worth watching is its solid cast, whose characters are a bit different from the usual sci-fi template, but not too different.

In addition, Sunshine’s special effects are certainly up to scratch. No jerky starfields, overdone spacecraft shadows, or obvious cutouts here.

The paradoxical closeness and distance of Sunshine to so many other sci-fi films and TV shows makes it a bit elusive—but in a good way. Maybe dreamlike would be a better word. The sets and action scenes are familiar, but not quite like anything else we’ve seen.

All in all, an engaging, enchanting film. Possibly not a timeless classic. But sci-fi fans should definitely take a look at this unique mix of action and introspection.

–MC

Related Articles

• Traversing the Cosmos – With a Little Help from My Friends (Pt I) | Science Not Fiction (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
• First trailer for Douglas Trumbull’s insanely detailed 2001: A Space Odyssey documentary [2001: Beyond The Infinite] (io9.com)
• “Trailer — “2001: Behind the Infinite — The Making of a Masterpiece— and related posts (shadowandact.com)
• Indie Trailer Sunday: Making Of ’2001: A Space Odyssey’ Doc (firstshowing.net)
• Movie Trailer: ‘Beyond the Infinite: The Making of A Masterpiece,’ Douglas Trumbull’s Documentary About the Making of ’2001: A Space Odyssey’ (slashfilm.com)
• Movie Review Friday: Silent Running (sierraclub.typepad.com)
• Must Watch Trailer for a new Documentary on 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (geektyrant.com)
• Douglas Trumbull’s ’2001: A Space Odyssey’ Documentary Looks Awesome (screenrant.com)
• What’s the Big Deal?: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (seattlepi.com)
• Why You Shouldn’t Drop Acid and Go to the Movies [Freakouts] (gawker.com)

… man of tomorrow

… man of tomorrow, originally uploaded by x-ray delta one.

I just came across this image and thought it was great!

2024

2024: MC at flickr.com

The invisible man?

Invisible Man Living Statue, Thames South Bank, London by Jim Linwood

Remember H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man?

No?

Well how about Star Trek‘s Romulan cloaking device?

The key here is i-n-v-i-s-i-b-i-l-i-t-y and scientists are now saying it may become fact instead of fiction in the not too distant future.

It all has something to do with bending light waves around objects.

Don’t believe me?

Check out this article in Discover:

http://tr.im/iTbh

(from a tweet by JayOatway)

Star Trek, to boldly go where no “one” has gone before…

Star Trek, to boldly go where no “one” has gone before…, Photo copyright © hilllisa23, 2009. All rights reserved.

The New Star Trek movie is on it’s way… warp factor 8 !

Thanks to hilllisa23 for permission to post photo.

just another future song

just_another_future_song, originally uploaded by earthpages.

it’s time

it’s time, originally uploaded by earthpages.

I was in a coffee shop today and thought this was sort of interesting… most people don’t know it but coffee shops are actually places where people time travel… aided by that hallucinogen known as caffeine… just kidding, btw!

Rod Serling – Interview Pt 1

I never knew Rod Serling was this intelligent! Fascinating and candid account of the relationship between ads and TV.

Rod Serling – Interview Pt 1