The Martian Is The Inspirational Science Fable We Need
Posted: October 6, 2015 Filed under: Rant-a-palooza | Tags: 2015, Andy Weir, Drew Goddard, Film Review, Mars, Matt Damon, NASA, Ridley Scott, Space exploration, The Martian Leave a comment
When I was a kid, one of my absolute favorite movies was Apollo 13. Besides being thrilling and fun, it was a great celebration of America’s space program, something that I was absurdly interested in at the time. One of the things that struck me back then was a scene where, to prepare the LEM guidance computer, Jim Lovell has to do complex math for the telemetry. I remember being surprised that something as cool as being an astronaut would require that boring stuff from school, unfortunately missing out on the potential inspiration that realization could have provided. Thankfully that is unlikely to happen to any youngster that watches The Martian, a film that takes all of the things that made Apollo 13 so great- the thrilling set pieces, the character-based humor, the ingenious problem-solving and the inspiring collaboration- and cranks them all up to well beyond 13 on the dial, resulting in a very fun film that also argues some important and inspiring things about humanity’s potential.
Daredevil Is The Catholic Guilt Superhero Marvel Needs
Posted: April 20, 2015 Filed under: Rant-a-palooza | Tags: Daredevil, Drew Goddard, Kingpin, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Matt Murdock, Netflix, Steven S DeKnight, Wilson Fisk Leave a comment
Despite my overall (and usually enthusiastic) fandom for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the one area where my attention has been lacking is their television shows. With apologies to Agents Carter and of SHIELD, I’ve just never been able to arrest my attention on either of them for any real length of time, and I know I’ve missed out on some great narrative developments for the universe as a whole. I took a step towards rectifying that by marathoning all of Marvel’s Daredevil not too long ago. While the series is markedly different than anything in the MCU so far, I also think it makes for a very good addition to the world, a great expansion of the mythos, and a damn good story in its own right. It’s taken me awhile to actually organize my thoughts on this show enough to put together a post about it, mostly because on a thematic, emotional level, it makes for a very murky and uncertain story, but in a way that is fully earned by its leads. Ultimately, what makes the series stand out from its Marvel brethren and provides new thematic layers to the universe overall all come down to the characters of Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk, and the Catholic-style guilt/righteousness that defines them.
CREATION FROM CHAOS 