Scientific marvels

[altariel]

I brought the laptop upstairs to bed with me. Wireless networking is a marvellous thing. Still no cure for the common cold, though.

Bit of a Zemeckis-fest this week; watched Forrest Gump the other night, watching Contact as I type. I still like Forrest Gump in a sort of shamed 'I probably shouldn't like this sentimental nonsense' kind of way (tho' it does go on too long). And I really like Contact.

Comments

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

And I really like Contact.

Absolutely! And I also like your idea of watching a DVD in a corner of your screen while typing. I must try it. Hmm, it would be a good excuse to go shopping for a new laptop....

Re:

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Aha - there's a DVD player and a widescreen telly in the bedroom, so I can watch Proper Big Telly and surf the internet.

We take television *very* seriously in this house.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Clearly! I've never learned the art of watching telly in bed. Bed is where I sleep, and downstairs is where I watch telly, curled up in a chair with some munchies, a drink, and, preferably, a cat. But then I'm no good at lying-in in a morning, either: I feel like I should be *doing* something. My upbringing has a lot to answer for.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Bed is my natural habitat. The only reason I leave bed is that I've never got round to setting up an intravenous coffee system in the bedroom. And then I have to go foraging for chocolate periodically.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

I have to go foraging for chocolate periodically.

I can recommend ChocExpress (http://www.chocexpress.com) - chocolates by post. No more foraging: the only thing you have to do is open the door to the post delivery. Unfortunately, like all online shopping, it's both easy and addictive. The only reason I'm not the size of a house is that, as I mentioned, I'm no good at lying in bed. You've been warned.

Re:

[altariel.livejournal.com]

What I need now is to have the letterbox removed from the front door and put on my bedroom wall.

[trixieleitz]

Damn you, glitterboy! Damn you to Thorntons!

Altariel, couldn't you get one of the penguins to lower a basket on a rope, then bring you the bounty? (or green and blacks, or mars, or...)

TL
(browsing choccy site and whimpering piteously)

Re:

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I have a big slab of Dairy Milk Crunchie on the bed, but I always lose my taste for chocolate when I have a cold. And my taste for coffee, although I still need to have my daily recommended dose.

[glitterboy1.livejournal.com]

Damn you, glitterboy! ... (browsing choccy site and whimpering piteously)

Ooops, sorry! *g* If it's any consolation, I've also been whimpering at the site. I'm compiling my Easter order, and have just had to scrap it on the grounds that it was so large it was practically a weapon of mass destruction. Ok, and also that it was hideously expensive. So I'm starting again, restricting myself to the absolute essentials.... Ahem.

Re: <i>Contact</i>

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I love that opening shot so much! With the radio and TV broadcasts going back in time. It's very like the opening shot in my favourite film, 'A Matter of Life and Death', which travels inwards towards Earth and... well, I won't say any more just in case you haven't seen it, but I think everyone should see 'A Matter of Life and Death'! *g* (I think it has a different title in the US: 'Stairway to Heaven'.)

I think 'Contact' handles questions of faith really well, and really interestingly. And I love SF movies that look more at social and cultural issues (heh, of course).

I think it's probably one of my favourite films too - definitely an INFJ film! *g*

Re: <i>Contact</i>

[archbishopm.livejournal.com]

Well I love "Contact".
--Archbishop Melker, INTP

Re: <i>Contact</i>

[altariel.livejournal.com]

There's always one... ;) An IN** thing.

Re: <i>Contact</i>

[trixieleitz]

I liked Contact, too

Trixie Leitz, Ixxx

Re: <i>Contact</i>

[altariel.livejournal.com]

In that case, I'll just have to call it a 'film'.

Re: <i>Contact</i>

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, the ending of Contact wrecks the movie for me. Ellie doesn't NEED faith to know she was in contact with aliens; she knows with 100% certainty that alien contact occurred, even if she's uncertain about whether she actually underwent the wormhole journey she thinks she remembers. The original signals received by the radio telescope (the ones which transmitted the plans for the transporter machine) simply couldn't have been fake - a satellite couldn't send signals that would look like a point source at infinite distance moving at a sidereal rate of speed, something that Ellie the astronomer would be well aware of!

too bad the movie muff that part up so badly, because up until that point it was very good. "Some things we just have to take on faith" was a crappy cop-out of an ending; the movie deserved better.

Re: <i>Contact</i>

[altariel.livejournal.com]

That's the kind of plot thing that generally doesn't spoil films for me. Firstly, I am so scientifically lightweight that they might as well be talking Trek-technobabble at me. Secondly, I am firmly of the opinion that plot is just a delivery mechanism for dialogue and angst.

But I can understand how that kind of thing would be damnably frustrating.

Re: <i>Contact</i>

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I did read the book, but I didn't get on with it at all - mostly to do with the writing style, I think.

Re: <i>Contact</i>

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I liked the film of 'The Remains of the Day' an awful lot more than the book.

Re: <i>Contact</i>

[altariel.livejournal.com]

I've never even heard of "A Matter of Life and Death" (or "Stairway to Heaven") (why do they always have to change the title of British films when they release them in the US? Grr)

It's a classic British film, made in 1946, directed and produced by the classic partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. I think their most famous film is probably The Red Shoes (ballet movie), and they also made Black Narcissus (nuns in the Himalayas).

As well as being beautifully, stunningly shot, A Matter of Life and Death also has entertaining takes on the 'special relationship' between the US and Britain.


What are your other favorite SF films?

Argh! Talk about putting someone on the spot, LOL! The moment I get a question like that I blank on any film titles! Er, Bladerunner... Name some SF films and I'll tell you if I like them!

To be honest, I'll watch any film with SF content, because I like looking at starscapes. Even went to see Mission to Mars twice. I really love SF and fantasy television, particularly classic (1970s) British television - SF and fantasy on TV and with real budgetary constraints means that the scripts and the performances have to come to the fore.