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Showing posts from September, 2016

The Man Who Knew Infinity Review

What I liked: Probably the best part of this movie was watching it was a bunch of math majors. They were so excited about every bit of math that appeared. It was moderately disconcerting because I think this may be vaguely reminiscent of how I act when I watch science movies. The reason the math majors were so excited was this movie was the story of one of the most intriguing and possibly one of the greatest modern mathematicians: Srinivasa Ramanujan. He was a relatively uneducated man living in India who remarkably independently developed known theorems and discovered new mathematical theorems. I know virtually nothing about this guy but am assured by long and complicated (and enthusiastic) explanations that he was an continues to be hugely influential on theoretical mathematics. I assure you that theoretical mathematics is a useful thing for stuff like data encryption and GPS and outer space and that it is not equivalent to hypothetical and absurd answers to math questions that are t

Spotlight Review

What I liked: This was an excellent drama. It won best picture at the Academy Awards last year. Like The Artist, I am in full agreement with the Academy. I like fun movies, I liked to be entertained; entertain me well enough and I forgive most problems and go home happy. Generally, that is the end of it. 2-3 hours of fun, I think about it long enough to write a review and move on. Spotlight is a reminder that film can be substantial, something meant to be thought about. Spotlight is a great drama but it achieves more. Spotlight tells the story of the investigative journalists who broke the story of the Catholic priest child abuse scandal from the early 2000's. The writers do an impressive job presenting the events almost like a dramatized documentary. They avoid the low hanging fruit of villainizing individuals (it is still clear that there are individuals who will have much to answer for) or organized religion and approach the much harder questions. Questions about shared respons

Ghostbusters Review

What I liked: I liked the ghostbusters. All the characters were unique. And funny. And better developed than their 1980's counterparts. I especially loved the techy and the subway lady. I liked the cameos from almost everyone and everything from the original movie. They were fun for those of us who loved the original and not distracting if you hadn't seen it (who has not seen the original Ghostbusters? I mean honestly!). I liked the first ghost, that whole situation reminded me both of the Winchester Mystery House and of Lockwood and Co. I liked the crazy inventions, and felt like cheering when they got to use their gadgets in the show down, which also reminded me of Lockwood. I liked that the special effects haven't actually improved since the '80s. I liked the Chinese food delivery guy. I loved them clearing out their lab at the university, it is a short scene but seemed oddly familiar. I liked the credits. What I didn't: I don't know how I felt about the ghos