my sunny nose

I may not be famous or important but this is the Internet so dammit I’m going to give my opinion.

I love science. I’m a big nerd. Especially with anything related to astronomy and our fate in the universe. I’m reading a book by that theme (sort of…) called “The Memory of Earth” by Orson Scott Card. It’s not bad (pretty boring though). More importantly, I saw a trailer this afternoon from Fox Searchlight for a movie called Sunshine coming out soon. It piqued the part of my brain that likes space and extinction. Even though I can tolerate a lot of bad science in the name of cinema, I’m not sure I could recommend this movie. The Apple Quicktime website description says, “Fifty years from now, the sun is dying, and mankind is dying with it.” Yeah… I don’t think the person who wrote the screenplay ever bothered to research fusion. Or the sun. Or the lifecycle of a G2V star. Star death doesn't really sneak up on you. Maybe Apple paraphrased the description from the studio's original which used “5.0x10^10 years.” I could believe that. Or maybe the description mistakes the real plot. Don't forget, though, they’re supposed to “jump start” the sun. It would be ignorant to say we could never design some (crazy) device to “jump start” a dying star. But in 50 years? Really? I might believe 500 years. Maybe.

Another problem I've got with the "Sunshine" trailer: it uses the same goddamn music that "Lord of the Rings" made popular. It may evoke heroics and power but after hearing it a few hundred times I think I'm ready for something new.

I've got more than negative thoughts on the trailer. The visuals look incredible. I particularly enjoyed the eye-like shot of the "Icarus II" (their spaceship) in front of the sun. I'm excited they've also got the director from "Trainspotting" and "28 Days Later." Anything bleak like those two movies has my attention. The narrator in the trailer gives a nice effect.

The movie has promise, my only plea is don't neglect science.


Check out my nose. It might or might not have accidentally been whacked by a new brother's fat forehead. Three stitches.