REVIEW: The Road
Nov0
The Road movie poster is ©2009 Dimension Films, all rights reserved
Remember back in high school, when you’d skirt having to read the book by watching the movie instead, and your teacher would admonish you for not getting the most out of the experience? I never fully grasped what that meant until watching The Road, a new feature film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning survival epic. Though dedicated to realizing McCarthy’s scope of a ruined, uninhabitable planet and is a pleasant enough watch, the film ultimately can’t translate the book’s introspective vision and humanistic totality. Sometimes, it’s better sticking with the 1,000 words. Complete ScriptPhD.com review under the “continue reading” jump.
REVIEW: 2012 (It’s The End of the World As We Know It)
Nov4
2012 poster ©2009 Sony Pictures, all rights reserved
The Roland Emmerich Sci-Fi Terrestrial Destruction Tour continues. Not satisfied with immolating the White House by alien visitors in Independence Day or icing over Earth in post-global warming catastrophe in The Day After Tomorrow, the audacious director goes for cataclysmic broke with 2012, a bona fide disaster epic. Light on solid science, heavy on jaw-dropping special effects, the eradication of humanity and its habitation never felt so visually scintillating. ScriptPhD.com review and science discussion, under the “continue reading” jump.
This is Your Brain on Music
Nov0
The Human Instinct image ©2009 PBS, all rights reserved.
Music. We all know what it sounds like when we hear it. It has the ability to create powerful emotions, or bring back memories from the distant past in our lives. We may use it when we exercise, study for exams, read, or for traveling form point A to point B. But what is music? Is it unique to human beings? How do we interpret music when we hear it? Are the emotions created by music universal, irrespective of the listener’s culture and country of origin? Can music teach us anything about how the human brain functions? These interesting questions and more are explored in the fascinating documentary The Music Instinct: Science and Song, a PBS production that was recently honored with the top prize at the prestigious annual Pariscience International Science Film Festival. ScriptPhD.com’s newest regular contributor NeuroScribe provides his review and discussion under the “continue reading” jump.
REVIEW: The Fourth Kind and The Box
Nov4
Image ©Matt Groening, all rights reserved.
So the ghosts and goblins of Halloween have passed, you already watched Paranormal Activity, and yet, you’re still in the mood for some scary, sci-fi goodness. Rest assured, because this weekend, two new movies, The Fourth Kind and The Box, will frighten the pants off of you. (Unfortunately, only one is meant to do so intentionally.) The Fourth Kind explores alien abductions through the story of an actual Alaska case study, while The Box is a psychological thriller that centers around the morality of a life-changing decision. ScriptPhD.com reviews of both films, under the “continue reading” jump. Leftover ScriptPhD Halloween candy goes to those that guess the cultural work invoked by the spoof in the picture on the right.
The Flu, The Facts, The Media and You
Nov9
A microscope image of the H1N1 "Swine Flu" influenza virus. ©2009 CDC, all rights reserved
We are in the midst of a pandemic, folks. A pandemic of fear. A truly formidable novel strain of influenza (H1N1) is spreading worldwide, creating an above-average spike in seasonal illness, the genuine possibility of a global influenza pandemic, and an alarmed public bombarded with opposing facts and mixed messages. It’s understandable that all of this has left people confused, scared and unsure of how to proceed. ScriptPhD.com cuts through the fray to provide a compact, easy-to-understand discussion of the science behind influenza as well as invaluable public health resources for addressing additional questions and concerns. Our discussion includes the role of media and advertising in not only informing the public responsibly, but effecting behavioral change that can save lives. Our full article, under the “continue reading” jump.
