Category: Movies
Post Mortem: OPPENHEIMER
Oppenheimer and the Legacy of Genius An essay by John Burke *** “(They need us) … until they don’t.” – J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) *** Any scientists involved in any kind of significant break-through would do well to be mindful of the above quote. Probably all creative innovators have felt the sting of this […] Read More
LOSING THE MESSAGE
Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (2022) *** Movie mogul Samuel Goldman reportedly once said, “If ya wanna send a message, use Western Union.” (1) But despite Samuel Goldman’s misgivings, many authors do set out to deliver a message in their work, sometimes to great effect. Certainly, Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is one of those […] Read More
Post Mortem: DON’T LOOK UP
Don’t Look Up and the Impotence of Today’s Political Satire (An essay by John Burke, January 15, 2022) *** There’s an odd phrase that comes from a religious context that states one shouldn’t preach to the choir. Historically, organizations like the Roman Catholic Church took that premise to the ridiculous extreme. To follow the Judaeo-Christian […] Read More
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
SETI AND THE DANGERS OF MAGICAL THINKING An Essay, May 19, 2020 *** “The universe is a pretty big place. If it’s just us, seems like an awful waste of space.” ― Carl Sagan, Contact *** Scientists at the University of Nottingham have recently speculated […] Read More
HAVE YOU EVER QUESTIONED THE NATURE OF REALITY?
Westworld and the Courage of Storytellers An Essay, December 29, 2019 *** “Have you ever questioned the nature of your own reality?” — Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) With the release of Season 3 of Westworld just a few months away, HBO has again promised to create a lavish, though probably slightly distasteful, experience for […] Read More
Post Mortem: ‘AD ASTRA’
Dark Portrayals of White Male Angst (An essay by John Burke, Sept 30, 2019) *** Months ago I bought into the media blitz for the newest science fiction blockbuster starring Brad Pitt called Ad Astra (wr. Ethan Gross and James Gray/dir. James Gray). Not since the 2016 release of Arrival (wr. Eric Heisserer/dir. Denis Villeneuve) […] Read More
ONCE UPON A TIME IN … WTF?
(An essay by John Burke, August 21, 2019) *** No one would be surprised to learn that Hollywood films have a problematic relationship with violence. Such violence is so ubiquitous it hardly bears mentioning any more. Of late, there has been an emerging trend in cinematic violence that seems to be both deliberate and disturbing. […] Read More
Post Mortem: ‘FIRST MAN’
First Man and the Distorted Shape of Heroism An Essay. October 30, 2018 *** A very wise film producer once told me that ‘competence is inherently un-cinematic.’ To competently do your job without fanfare is a quality that cannot be filmed in a compelling way because, in film, the need for drama overrules all other […] Read More