[extropy-chat] Future friendly movies

Mon Aug 8 18:18:21 UTC 2005

How can one of the most basic human activities be "distracting?
Two options: if they do it like us, then a good sex scene is always
good. If they do it different from us, then it becomes interesting
doesn't it?
I think a good SF movie must be, first, a good movie. Some good movies
have sex, some don't. All have a story with human interest. Good
movies have a good director, good actors (not necessarily stars), good
photography and good music.
I have been thinking of the best SF movies I have seen, I still rate
good old 2001 as first. Vanilla Sky (or the original Open your eyes)
is also good.
G.

On 8/8/05, Al Brooks <kerry_prez at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Correct on every count. And I don't even like sex in SF at all, it is
> distracting. However films have to appeal to a vast cross section of taste,
> including the lowest common denominator, to become successful enough to make
> it worth the investment and interest of all those responsible for production
> & release. And that often means scantily clad spacecraft sirens being chased
> by aliens and engineers, all the rest of the silly cliches. 'Spaceballs' got
> it exactly right, it was an underrated comedy. 
> Of course there are high quality SF films but they float in a sea of
> mediocrity or light entertainment-- depending on whether the viewer is a
> truck driver or a scientist.
> 2004's Sundance winning film _Primer_ ranks my top time travel movie, 
> mainly because of its believability. It's quite an amazing film, but 
> really showcases more of the human condition in greed (not positive). 
> It's also not a movie for kids.
> 
> However, beyond presenting a vehicle for abstract non-linear thinking, 
> I don't think a time travel movie would make science sexy again. I 
> could be proven wrong though.
> 
> Time travel movies seem to suffer from too many paradoxes that are 
> resolved in half-baked crackpot theories on "how the universe works out 
> what happens when you kill your grandma before you were born" rather 
> than any hard science. I can think of numerous scenes (i.e. _Timecop_) 
> where special effects explain these paradoxes rather than explanation 
> or understanding. Perhaps a time travel flick could be pulled off in a 
> s! cientific and sexy fashion (never say never), but I think scifi should 
> stick to ideas or science. Throwing around junk science flotsam is not 
> very good for today's youth.
> 
> I would second _Fallen Angels_ as an excellent example of something to 
> make science sexy again for the youth. The premise is pretty damn fun 
> by itself.
> 
> On Aug 7, 2005, at 2:15 AM, Al Brooks wrote:
> 
> > Does anyone here like time travel films? This is a
> > plot I wrote down: a Jewish scientist's daughter
> > travels from the year 2097 to the year 1945, to sleep
> > with Hitler.
> > If the film were well done it would be guaranteed a
> > success, as the notoriety of such a plot would draw a
> > large audience.
> >
> >
> >> My current favorites for transhumanist movies are
> >> The First Immortal
> >> and Down and Out in Magic Kingdom.
> >> But any good story with a human angle and set in a
> >> rear-singularity
> ! >> world with uploading technology would do. A series
> >> would perhaps be
> >> even better than a movie in terms of impact.
> >> G.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On 8/6/05, Mike Lorrey wrote:
> >>> I concur. Such movies should also, besides
> >> portraying science and
> >>> transhumanism positively, show the true dark
> >> underbelly of luddism. One
> >>> movie I think actually did this quite well was
> >> "AI", which portrayed
> >>> the AI boy sympathetically and humanity and its
> >> fears of AI negatively.
> >>>
> >>> I have long thought that the Larry Niven/Jerry
> >> Pournelle novel "Fallen
> >>> Angels" would make a good transhumanist movie.
> >> Neal Stephenson's
> >>> "Cryptonomicon" would do well also.
> >>>
> >>> --- Giu1i0 Pri5c0 wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> I have long been persuaded that the best way to
> >> promote a positive
> >>>> and
> >>>> hopeful attitude toward future developments in
> >> science and technology
> >>>> is
> >>>> through movies. Apparently the idea has been
> >> taken up by the US
> >>>> establishment.
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>
> > Slashdot> 1413200&from=rss>:
> >>>>
> >>>> *According to the New York Times, the Pentagon
> >> is funding classes in
> >>>> screenplay writing for 15
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>
> > scientists>
> ex=1280808000&en=b35c2085878bcf51&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>.
> >>>> The idea is ! to encourage kids to go into science
> >> and engineering
> >>>> through
> >>>> mainstream media and thereby presumably bolster
> >> long-term US national
> >>>>
> >>>> security. While it sounds like a lot of fun for
> >> the researchers
> >>>> involved,
> >>>> and anything that stems the spiral of the US
> >> into a culture of
> >>>> anti-intellectualism is a good thing in my book.
> >> Will glamorizing
> >>>> science in
> >>>> the movies make kids pay better attention in
> >> chemistry class?
> >>>> *In the New York Times
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>
> > article>
> ex=1280808000&en=b35c2085878bcf51&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss>the
> 
> >>>> idea is using movies to make science sexy again
> >! > so that American kids
> >>>> chose technical careers and replenish a pool of
> >> US experts on
> >>>> technologies
> >>>> for national security. Professional scientists
> >> and science
> >>>> communicators are
> >>>> asked to contribute to film making as they are
> >> the ones who can
> >>>> develop
> >>>> realistic future scenarios: "to reconcile the
> >> cinematic suspension of
> >>>>
> >>>> disbelief with the scientific method and with
> >> their basic purpose of
> >>>> bringing accuracy to the screen".Teaching
> >> screenwriting to scientists
> >>>> was
> >>>> the brainstorm of Martin Gundersen, a professor
> >> of electrical
> >>>> engineering at
> >>>> the University of Southern California and
> >> sometime Hollywood
> >>>> technical
> >>>> adviser. Recently, he was asked to review
> >> screenplays by the Sloan
> >>>> Foundation, which awards prizes for scientific
> >> accuracy, and found
> >>>> most to
> >>>> be "pretty dismal," as he put it."My thought
> >> was, since scientists
> >>>> have to
> >>>> write so much, for technical journals and
> >> papers, why not consider
> >>>> them as a
> >>>> creative source?" Dr. Gundersen said.
> >>>> I believe the same concepts can be used to
> >> promote a friendlier
> >>>> attitude
> >>>> toward radical, "transhumanist" scientific
> >> advances and their
> >>>> deployment in
> >>>> society through technological (and legal)
> >> developments. We need
> >>>> movies set
> >>>> in believable and "accurate" future scenarios
> >> and with a positive or
> >>>> at
> >>>> least non-threatening view of future
> >> technologies such as radical
> >>>> life
> >>>> extension, Mind Machine Interfaces (MMI), and
> >> eventually mind
> >>>> uploading.
> >>>> I think Matrix was a horrible movie as it had a
> >> very dark atmosphere
> >>>> and
> >>>> made viewers actually scared of the future.
> >> There are many excellent
> >>>> science
> >>>> fiction novels that could be turned to good
> >> pro-science,
> >>>> "transhumanist"
> >>>> movies. I am sure we can help the movie industry
> >> with ideas and
> >>>> scenarios.
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> --
> Adam K. Olson
> Student Designer, Comm Tech Lab
> http://commtechlab.msu.edu
> 
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