Let's Get Off This Rock Already!
Musings on space travel, science fiction, and the radiant future
One afternoon in tenth grade, when I was home sick with a nasty cold, I curled up beneath some blankets and watched an old 1950s sci-fi movie about a mission to Mars. I ended up drifting in and out of consciousness through most of it. Afterwards, I only recalled bits and pieces, but the images... Continue Reading →
I know what you're thinking---The Hunt for Red October isn't even sci-fi or alternate history, so why am I reviewing it? I could make the (weak) argument that it is alternate history, as a 1990 film depicting events in 1984 that did not really take place. I could also say that the movie is science... Continue Reading →
Ranking the Star Trek movies is always a fraught question. Wars have started that way. You can hop onto message boards dating two decades back, and see countless battles between angry fans at the dawn of the internet---like the clash of titans when the world was young1. Their disputes still echo: is Wrath of Khan... Continue Reading →
Hello, all! This will be something of a silly post today, discussing a film that's a little hard to classify. Is it fantasy? Sci-fi? Comedy? Alternate history? Steampunk? Well, this tale of adventure through a clockwork universe is all of the above, an enchanting and beautifully animated voyage into space as it was once understood.... Continue Reading →
George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four defined the dystopian genre1. It became one of the greatest fictional examples of a totalitarian government ruling through fear and force, permeating every last aspect of its citizens' lives, and it tackled complex themes about individuality, resistance, and even the nature of reality itself. Altogether, the book is a timeless classic,... Continue Reading →
Now here's a movie I look back on fondly. I was in tenth grade when Christopher Nolan's Interstellar came out, and in the months leading up to its release I excitedly reposted the trailers to Google+ (anyone else remember Google+? May it rest in peace). Five of my friends went with me to see it in... Continue Reading →
Hello again, all! Sorry for the unannounced hiatus, these last few months have been godawful. I'm finally back on my feet again, though, and ready to resume blogging---so here's that review of Starship Troopers I promised. Fair warning, this is one of my favorite movies. Expect some gushing. Starship Troopers was directed by Paul Verhoeven, and... Continue Reading →
It's almost Halloween, everyone, and I'm sure you can guess what that means: it's time to take a look at the spookiest space film out there, Event Horizon. Like Ad Astra, it is about an expedition to a doomed ship around Neptune; unlike Ad Astra, it's actually good. Some spoilers (but no gore) ahead: What a beautiful... Continue Reading →
I'm a little late to the party with this one---Ad Astra came out a while ago, now---but I just saw it in theaters, and boy do I have an opinion on it. My expectations were sky-high going in. I'd been looking forward to Ad Astra since it was announced (it was pitched as Heart of Darkness in... Continue Reading →
In 1970 the final three Apollo flights---18, 19, and 20---were cancelled, victims of the penny-pinching Nixon administration, and their hardware was either shelved or used for the Skylab program. As a result, only twelve humans from six missions have walked on the Moon. Or so the government would have you believe. I've recently rewatched Apollo 18,... Continue Reading →
Let's Get Off This Rock Already! 