Solved!
As many of you probably know from reading my blog, I’m not a movie person. But of the few movies I do like, most of them are space movies. More specifically, space disaster movies.*
I like space. I like disasters (both real-life and fictional). But I think the main draw for this particular genre is the fact that many of them have astounding soundtracks where there is at least one song that results in an unavoidable and severe emotional reaction (usually crying).
Examples (I’ve posted a lot of these before but I DON’T CARE):
Interstellar – No Time for Caution (Hans Zimmer)
The buildup to 2:36 is wonderful and the payoff is so good. I’m pretty sure I damaged my hearing by cranking this up too loud the first few times I listened to it.
Gravity – Shenzou (Steven Price)
I’m posting the clip of the movie where this song is heard because it syncs so beautifully with the amazing imagery in that scene. That breakup of the craft at 1:30. That shot of all the pieces entering the atmosphere at 2:46. The smoke and alarms at 3:00. I re-watched this scene for this blog post for the first time in like three years and I’m freaking sobbing over it, haha.
Armageddon – Launch (Trevor Rabin)
Did Michael Bay fit as many explosions into this movie as was physically possible for its run time? Yes. But the soundtrack is still great.
Mission to Mars – Toward the Unknown (Ennio Morricone)
This movie was…strange. But this even stranger song really fit the scene it was part of and is this weird combination of futuristic and retro (in my opinion).
And the big hitters:
Sunshine – Adagio in D Minor AND Capa’s Last Transmission Home (John Murphy)
Didn’t know this movie existed until I heard Adagio in some YouTube vid, looked up the song, and found this movie. The whole soundtrack is wonderful.
Apollo 13 – The Launch (James Horner)
I know, I know, I know. Every single year I post about this song. But this is honestly one of my favorite pieces of music to ever exist. That heartbeat of silence at the crescendo of music just after 6:17 gives me literal goosebumps every single time.
*Actually, I can’t think of a single movie set in space that does not involve a disaster…but then again, my knowledge about movies is almost nonexistent. Can anyone think of any?
Favorite Movies
Heyo, buttbandits.
So remember back in February sometime when I did my “Top 5 Books” blog post? Let’s do movies today.
‘Cause I’m trying to avoid all the work I’m going to need to do to move my three classes online for the rest of the semester.
From fifth to first:
#5: Toy Story
This movie came out around the time I was in first grade and I loved it so very much. As in, “let’s-force-the-whole-first-grade-class-to-pick-characters-and-then-make-our-own-version-of-it,-‘cause-I-was-mini-Stephen-Spielberg-and-no-one-was-going-to-stop-me” level of love. It still holds a very special place in my heart. Also, Tom Hanks.
#4: Armageddon
Armageddon kind of terrified me when I first saw it as a kid (specifically when the Independence shuttle bit it in the debris, that was horrifying to me as a little). But I love it now. It’s just such an American film, yeah? Awesome music. Bruce Willis. Manly drilling…in space. I love it.
#3: Mystery Men
I had my appendix removed in 2000 (literally as I was supposed to be attending my 6th grade graduation). I couldn’t do much for a few weeks after that, so there were two movies I watched incessantly while I had to stay home: The Music Man and Mystery Men. Mystery Men is kind of a nostalgia trip for me because it just brings me back to that time of my life. It’s funny and weird and has a lot of very quotable lines in it (“you threw a spoon at the guy, Jeff!” “Yeah, what was up with that?”).
#2: Apollo 13
I’ve loved this movie ever since the first time I saw it. It’s a very beautifully-put together movie with AWESOME music. Seriously. The music is probably what pushes this over the top for me. My favorite is “The Launch.” Also, Tom Hanks.
#1: Sunshine
(I have a thing for space disaster movies, can you tell?) Not a lot of people know about Sunshine, which is a shame because it’s freaking fantastic. You look at the DVD cover or you read a brief synopsis of it and you’re like, “oh, so it’s Armageddon but with the sun instead of an asteroid?” Nope, not even close. It’s so different from Armageddon, and I think that’s why I like it. Oh, right, and THE MUSIC OMFG. Here’s one of my favorite scenes with one of my favorite parts of the soundtrack.
It’s so beautiful. And yeah, the whole movie is about that level of intensity.
TWSB: Super Moon = Super Lunacy
You know what the best part of This Week’s Science Blog is? How insane people get over the smallest things.
Well, largest things.
Hold on, let’s start again.
On March 19th, the moon will be the closest to the earth it’s been in 18 years. This particular lunar perigee is also special because the moon will also be full that night. Moon enthusiasts (lunatics?) are calling the event an “extreme supermoon,” and of course you’ve got the conspiracy people saying that the closeness of the full moon will lead to—what else?—terrestrial Armageddon.
While scientists have indeed shown that earthquakes are actually more frequent when the moon is closer to the earth, particularly when it is lined up with the sun (owing to the greater gravitational tug-of-war for the earth between the moon and the sun) and historic years involving supermoons have had worse weather, the dudes at NASA remain calm and assert that “there’s nothing really special about this.”
The moon will be closer to earth than it’s been in the last 18 years, true, but NASA scientist Dave Williams says that it’s closer by about half a percent more than usual—which is fairly trivial.
Even so, I’m hoping that the night of the 19th will be one of those super rare cloudless nights here in Vancouver so I can see the brightest, biggest moon we’ll have seen in 18 years.
WOO!
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/supermoon-/story?id=13097014&page=1
Valentine’s Day Solar Flare Massacre
OH SHIT SOLAR FLARE TIME GUYS.
(Edit: The article posted in here was published tomorrow; I just included it because apparently a lot of people are a day behind on this)
http://www.universetoday.com/83392/sun-erupts-with-enormous-x2-solar-flare/
Yesterday the sun decided to wish the universe a belated “happy Valentine’s Day!” by throwing out one of the largest solar flares since 2006 (the year I graduated high school!).
I think our awesome star is starting to rev up for its solar symphony that’s coming up in the next two years. Better make good use of that Blackberry/iPhone/3G network while it’s still in operation; even this single flare is expected to cause minor issues over the next few days.
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