Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryScience Fiction

alien-planet-landscape-beautiful-forest-the-surface-of-an-exoplanet-stockpack-adobe-stock
alien planet landscape, beautiful forest the surface of an exoplanet

Sci-fi Film Explores Idea That Earth’s Life Was Seeded From Space

Prometheus 2012 offers an intriguing premise: ancient civilizations were told in mysterious ways of a habitable moon in a distant galaxy (Part 1 of 4)

The corporation funding the mission to investigate the moon in Prometheus (2012) may have a different agenda from what the crew supposes.

Read More ›
dystopian-wasteland-with-decaying-machinery-and-industrial-structures-under-a-stormy-sky-concept-art-for-science-fiction-post-apocalyptic-and-cyberpunk-themes-stockpack-adobe-stock
Dystopian wasteland with decaying machinery and industrial structures under a stormy sky. Concept art for science fiction, post-apocalyptic, and cyberpunk themes.

Hypothesis: Yes, ET Existed — But Mainly in the Past

A recent paper introduces the idea of cryptoterrestrials, technologically advanced civilizations on Earth, perhaps from earlier geological eras, as the source of the UAPs/UFOs

What never grows old is the belief that They are out there — one foot in faith, one in science, and a great future in the world of the imagination.

Read More ›
portal-in-the-universe-with-a-fiery-glow-around-contours-of-dark-trees-stockpack-adobe-stock
Portal in the Universe with a fiery glow around. Contours of dark trees

Interstellar 2014, Part 5: Time Travel Saves — But Also Destroys

Time travel solves some problems for planet Earth but it turns out to be no match for human mortality and sundered relationships

While the film begins well, it eventually falls into the trap of spectacle over substance. But I recommend it for the music, the acting, and the visuals.

Read More ›
abstract-innovation-space-travel-successful-business-future-disruption-strategy-for-time-and-space-travel-portal-gateway-3d-rendering-stockpack-adobe-stock
Abstract innovation space travel successful business. Future disruption strategy for time and space travel portal gateway. 3d rendering.

Interstellar (2014), Review Part 4: So Who Are “They” Anyway?

Will we at last find out?

Cooper says that the mysterious “They” have “evolved.” How in the world did natural selection select the fifth dimension?

Read More ›
scene-of-an-astronaut-standing-on-an-unknown-icy-planet-with-a-breathtaking-landscape-stockpack-adobe-stock
scene of an astronaut standing on an unknown icy planet with a breathtaking landscape.

Interstellar (2014): Dr Mann Uses Nature to Justify Murder

The awful secret that comes to light while the crew visits Dr. Mann's planet has nothing to do with the planet

Last Saturday, we looked at Cooper and his crew landing on the first of three planets that might sustain human life. Humanity’s time on Earth is running out, and Cooper’s crew has been tasked with finding it a new home. The first planet they tried turned out not to be so ideal, and that one trip cost them decades of valuable time thanks to relativity. The planet was too close to a black hole, which meant that it had created a dramatic time shift. On Earth, over twenty years have passed since their mission began. Now the crew is traveling on to the next planet. The extra time spent on the first planet has left them with just enough fuel Read More ›

galaxy and planet
Abstract planets and space background

Interstellar (2014): The Plot Thickens—Well, Relatively…

Aside from adventures and misadventures exploring Miller’s planet, discovery of a dreadful secret awaits the crew

Interstellar succeeds in the difficult task of creating sympathy for an initially unlikeable character via a harrowing plot turn.

Read More ›
dust-bowl-stockpack-adobe-stock
dust bowl

Interstellar (2014): Starting Out at the End of the World

As Earth’s surface is turning to dust, a former NASA pilot is offered another mission, to help find a way to transport humanity to a habitable planet

Interstellar’s visuals and music score are excellent but more backstory would have helped orient the reader. We are largely left to guess how disaster occurred.

Read More ›
robot-police-officer-patrols-metropolis-using-a-drone-skyscrapers-stockpack-adobe-stock
robot police officer patrols metropolis using a drone, skyscrapers

RoboCop 2014: Murphy Is a Real Boy After All

After his wife confronts him with troubling news about his son, Murphy starts a chain of events that enables him to confront key sources of crime and corruption

The political commentary is on the nose but lazy writing took much of the punch out of the ending. Still it may be worth your time.

Read More ›
big-robot-and-soldiers-in-a-fight-stockpack-adobe-stock
big robot and soldiers in a fight

Does a Lack of Empathy Make You More Efficient?

Robocop (2014) tests out that thesis when Murphy, now a robocop, is matched against actual robots

With all of the city’s criminal records downloaded into his mind and his dopamine levels nearly zero, Murphy meets the press…

Read More ›
asian-cyberpunk-robot-police-officer-accompanied-by-a-robotic-dog-neon-lights-chinatown-stockpack-adobe-stock
Asian cyberpunk robot police officer accompanied by a robotic dog, neon lights, Chinatown

Robocop 2014: A Good Movie Hampered by Bad Timing

The 2014 remake of RoboCop is considered a failure by most. I disagree. It has its problems but it is pretty solid in many respects

The film implies the existence of the human soul, as that seems to be pretty much all that Alex Murphy has left as he begins a new life as a robocop.

Read More ›
man-vs-ai-concept-created-with-generative-ai-technology-stockpack-adobe-stock
Man vs AI concept created with Generative AI technology

I, Robot Review, Part 3: Why Must Robots Always Enslave Us?

Even after watching the movie several times when I was younger, I’d still forgotten that Robertson wasn’t the main villain

Last time, Spooner’s investigation into Dr. Lanning’s apparent suicide led him to Sonny, the robot who claimed it could dream. It turns out that Sonny’s dream isn’t a dream at all, but an image programmed by Dr. Lanning. It was meant to lead Spooner to a storage area where all the older robots were being kept. Once Spooner finds the exact spot where he was supposed to be standing in Sonny’s dream, he plays the hologram Dr. Lanning recorded before he died. The hologram program is simple. The doctor recorded certain responses that are triggered by the right questions. Spooner begins talking to the hologram until it tells him what he needs to know. Dr. Lanning’s hologram says there’s going Read More ›

purple-smoke-and-purple-clouds-on-dark-background-stockpack-adobe-stock
purple smoke and purple clouds on dark background

Spaceman Review, Part 3: Inside the Chopra Cloud at Last

There has to be a gem inside this film somewhere because, despite all the problems, I still found myself rooting for Jakub and Lenka

In the end, I wanted Jakub and Lenka to restore their relationship. So, if you have a couple hours, give Spaceman a try. You just might find that gem.

Read More ›
space-stockpack-adobe-stock
space

Spaceman: Along Came a Spider and Sat Down… Well, Maybe

The spider is an alien with a somewhat complex relationship to people and toilets

Adam Sandler gives a marvelous performance at a key point, but the script doesn’t give a specific moment that tells the audience what changed his mind.

Read More ›
astronaut-in-a-ship-with-a-giant-spider-in-space-stockpack-adobe-stock
astronaut in a ship with a giant spider in space

Spaceman: World Is Ending. Worse, an Astronaut’s Wife Wants Out

It’s not clear just what role the threatening Chopra Cloud plays and that complexity dogs the story

Netflix recently released a film called Spaceman, starring Adam Sandler. It’s… interesting. The first time I watched it, I hated it. The second time I watched it, I hated it less. I can appreciate what the movie was trying to do, and Adam Sandler puts on a fine performance… most of the time. But there were just too many plot holes and too much meaningless rhetoric for me to really enjoy the story. The movie is based on a 2017 novel, Spaceman of Bohemia by Czech author Jaroslav Kalfař. It begins with a Czech astronaut flying toward a mysterious, purple anomaly called the Chopra Cloud. The Cloud had appeared in the sky a few years previously, with no known reason. Read More ›

Modernity versus nature concept - end of civilisation

Dune, Part Two: A Good Movie But a Bad Set-Up for Part Three

When Paul avenges his father and settles an old feud, the threads of the story start to connect

Last Saturday, we talked about how the writers did an excellent job setting up Feyd-Rautha as a worthy adversary for Paul. However, their decision to make Chani a skeptical antagonist—opposing the man she supposedly loves—has already created numerous problems for the story, and those problems continue to stack up. By the time we reach the conclusion of the film, I don’t know how the writers expect to create a Part Three that will be in any way, shape, or form consistent with the source material. In Part Two, Paul and the Fremen finally launch their final assault on the emperor. As in previous retellings of the story, Paul uses his father’s stash of atomic weapons to blow a hole in Read More ›

dramatic-sand-storm-in-desert-abstract-background-digital-art-stockpack-adobe-stock
Dramatic sand storm in desert. Abstract background. Digital art.

Dune, Part Two: At Last, Feyd-Rautha Becomes Relevant

The treatment of Feyd in this version is more satisfactory than in any previous one. We are prepared for Paul’s confrontation with him

The portrayal of Chani in Part Two is, however, much harder to understand. If she doesn’t believe in the Bene Gesserit religion, why is she there on Arrakis?

Read More ›
transparent-invisible-person-on-the-city-street-ai-generated-stockpack-adobe-stock
transparent invisible person on the city street. ai generated

Invisibility Isn’t Science Fiction; It’s Interesting Engineering

Things are visible only when light strikes them but light can sometimes be manipulated so as not to strike them, with remarkable results.

Invisibility is one of those interesting concepts that started out as imagination: What if I were invisible? Or— in the hands of a storyteller — what if my character were invisible? Tolkien famously made it a power granted by the Ring in The Lord of the Rings. The concept is used in science fiction too, for example, in the form of the cloaking device: However, as science fiction writer Douglas Adams (1952–2001) noted satirically in Life, the Universe, and Everything, in everyday life, “The Somebody Else’s Problem field is much simpler and more effective, and what’s more can be run for over a hundred years on a single torch battery. This is because it relies on people’s natural disposition not Read More ›

desert-landscape-with-sand-being-shaped-into-sharp-dunes-by-the-wind-stockpack-adobe-stock
desert landscape with sand being shaped into sharp dunes by the wind.

Dune, Part Two: Paul Becomes a Hero — Very Reluctantly

Some departures from the book work better than others. The “reluctant hero” trope simplifies a complex political situation but at a cost

Overall, Paul’s reluctance, in this version, to be the Fremen’s leader enables him to earn their respect over time while doing more ordinary tasks.

Read More ›
sandstorm-in-the-desert-generative-ai-stockpack-adobe-stock
sandstorm in the desert. Generative AI,

Dune Part Two Succeeds Brilliantly — But Dooms Plans for Part III

The difficulty is that the changes made for the film have warped the core story so much that it’s going to be nearly impossible to follow the source material from here on out.

For example, if the Bene Gesserits are the true power behind the throne, why do they need a Kwisatz Haderach to cement their power?

Read More ›
dramatic-sand-storm-in-desert-background-digital-art-stockpack-adobe-stock
dramatic sand storm in desert, background, digital art

Dune 1984 Offers A Strong Finish to a Unique Adaptation

I’d go as far as to say that, while not all of David Lynch’s adaptations worked, the film is, overall, better than the book

The rainstorm Lynch introduces at the end, implies, refreshingly, that there was more going on in Dune than just the plans of men.

Read More ›