Movie Review: Sunshine
This is probably one of those overlooked movies that everyone should see. Will it become a cult-classic? Probably not, and in all likelihood it will be forgotten in the next ten or so years. The sad thing is that this movie is one of the most amazing movies to come out last year. Sunshine follows the story of the Icarus II and her crew. The sun is dying a lot sooner than expected and mankind, being the stubborn “we will live” species that we are, is not ready to die out. They decide to send an enormous nuclear device to restart the sun. When the first ship, the Icarus I, mysteriously disappears, a second mission is set in motion with an even larger bomb–the size of Manhattan. Sixteen months into the journey the crew receives a disturbing signal: a distress beacon from the Icarus I. Capa, the crew’s physicist and expert on the bomb they are carrying, is given a decision: either ignore the Icarus I and hope the one bomb they have will work, or deviate from their course and possibly get a second bomb…two second chances. Like any story such as this, things do go horribly wrong, and I’ll leave it at that. Sunshine is a brilliant film that deserves a lot more attention than it has been given. Considering the abundance of flashy, space-opera science fiction being thrown out there, this is a huge breath of relief. It’s a disaster movie, but with gripping scenery. The CGI is fantastic here. It isn’t overdone and it looks, gasp, real. This is something that other directors should be looking at when they envision using CGI. If you can’t make it look real, don’t bother. There’s no point and it really hurts the feel of a movie when things look fake. The characters, while somewhat sparse in characterization at points, are powerful and memorable. The cast is well picked for the characters they are supposed to be and the acting is on par. It’s really hard to not love this film. Perhaps the only part that I felt hurt the movie was after a fire erupts in the Icarus II and destroys their oxygen supply. Later on, when things are falling apart, Corazon (played by Michelle Yeoh) finds a single little plant growing out of the ashes, which is such a beautiful scene, but considering the ending seems somewhat pointless. I love the scene, but it’s so depressing to think about Corazon’s almost tearful happiness at seeing life springing from the ashes (which might be a commentary on the story as a whole), only for that little bit of life to end up being no more anyway. I loved the scene, but sort of wished it had ended a little different. Perhaps that is what the writers intended to do, though. Regardless, this is a powerful film that stresses what it is to be human and even touches on some really disturbing issues of human psychology and God. One little bit of technology that I really loved was this sort of miniature holo-deck. Unlike in Star Trek it’s non-interactive. You can’t go walking around as Sherlock Holmes and shoot people, but for these astronauts who are stuck on this ship–which is huge, but still a giant tin-can–it acts almost like a refreshing moment to remember what it is they’re saving. It’s truly a beautiful little machine. Contrary to what the critics have said about this film, the end half does not ruin the amazing, beautifully envisioned beginning. In fact, the ending seems to amplify the desperation of the crew to succeed in their mission, even when there’s a killer on the loose and everything is falling apart. Remember, this isn’t just a survival of the individual, this is the survival of a whole species, and that desperation is clear by the end. The ending was powerful, gripping, and terrifying. The movie as a whole is equally as powerful, gripping, and terrifying and if you haven’t seen Sunshine yet, do so immediately. This film is truly a gem in the field of science fiction.
Today Has Been…Special
I have been one heck of a trooper today. I set a lofty goal of 2,000 words a day, with an amendment that stated that if I was writing an essay or doing something school related I would be able to sidestep the writing, since my entire life and success depends on being able to hold a job that can pay off the student loans and otherwise give me a livelihood that will sustain me and keep me from going nuts and working at Burger King. Partially the point of going to school is to educate myself in things I don’t already know, which is working, and partially to secure a decent job that will, hopefully, make me happy. Now, of course I’d love to be one of those nice folks who write for a living, but I think a part of me knows that such things will never happen, and I can live with that. All writers should, by the way, because most writers never get to that point. Even some of the huge names in the field right now are barely scrounging from all the work they put into writing. John Scalzi is not rich by a long shot and is quite generous in sharing his financials (which, while much better than I have ever made in my short life, is certainly not the greatest income considering he works his butt off writing fiction and other stuff).Okay, that aside, I’ve been a trooper because I started the day feeling generally like crap, for no apparent reason, and with my mind attempting to contemplate what exactly I was going to do with the story currently entitled “To Paint Lords Green”, a fantasy short set in the same general world as “Irlgem”. I sat around talking to the girlfriend and came to the conclusion that whatever I was doing with that story wasn’t going to work the way I had intended and the idea I was working with was going to turn into something too large for my tastes (I wanted a story under 5,000 words, and that just wasn’t going to happen).So I spent hours feeling sort of horrible and then I had a spark of random inspiration and started writing this new SF story currently called “Interstellar Realty”. I don’t think that will be the final title, but it’s a humor piece and I’m loving it. It took a while to get through because there is something about humor for me that requires a little more in the thought process. Jokes are somewhat difficult to write I think, especially if you don’t want to come off sounding like one of the very few SF writers who tell jokes in their stories. So, it is now after eight in the evening and I have officially written 2,752 words, 49 of which were in “To Pain Lords Green” (yes, I counted those).Is “Interstellar Realty” finished? Nope. Is it close? I think so. It’s technically at a good closing point, but I want to write a little more to provide a better ending to it. One thing I learned about a story I wrote a while ago was that the ending left people a little unsatisfied, which was difficult to change and still is (I think I’ve figured it out though, so I may be writing that very soon). Basically I want the story to end on a high-note, which won’t be much more than 500 words I think. I could probably cram it into 300 without losing much. It all depends what bizarre stuff pops in my head. Just so you know, “Interstellar Realty” is basically a comedy piece about futuristic realty companies in a galaxy where humans have moved to other planets and the like (there are aliens thrown into the mix). It’s also a commentary on customer support services, which we all have probably had to deal with. I won’t say much more than that though, because it might ruin the story.Now, the story “Life of Jordan” that I’m working on is written. It comes in at around 17,600 words, which is 600 over the limits for Writers of the Future, so I have to trim it down. It’s not edited at the moment, but in a very raw state. Part of that is because I want to go through it, with help from the rather brilliant and writing conscious girlfriend (yes, she gives honest advice and sometimes it ticks me off, but she’s more often right than wrong about things related to writing), and find all the bits that really shouldn’t be there and drop them out now before doing the real edit (typos, sentence structure, etc.). The premise of that story is one where the world has fallen due to global warming and small, walled and guarded cities have sprung up and genetic manipulation has been used to alter children so they are homosexual to prevent overcrowding, leaving heterosexual people, in such communities, to be considered dangerous (and illegal). I’ve enjoyed writing it because it does deal with some interesting conflicts in today’s society and it does spring up the idea of what we might one day do to solve our population problems.So, that’s where it all stands, basically. I’m doing a lot of writing and hopefully by the end of the next week I will have two more stories polished and ready to go out (“Life of Jordan” to Writers of the Future and “Interstellar Realty” to…somewhere). Exciting. Now I’m exhausted, so I’m going to go read and clear my head. Somewhere in there I’ll eat food.