Tag: Film

You gotta make way for the Homo Superior: Mutation, Evolution, and Super Powers on Screen

Recently I went to a fascinating research seminar on the history of the theory of mass extinction and the human fears of and impact on extinction given by historian of biology, Dr David Sepkoski (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin) at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine (University of Manchester). It got me… Read more →

In the Heart of the Sea: Bringing the White Whale to the Silver Screen

Will Ron Howard’s new film Moby Dick In the Heart of the Sea be Hollywood’s (and specifically Warner Bros.’s) final attempt to adapt Herman Melville’s epic novel Moby Dick? The film seems to act as proof that it can’t be done; at least not in a way that includes the deep themes, philosophical points, and science of the novel. This… Read more →

Un-Natural Selection: Evolutionary Concepts in Horror Cinema

This post originally appeared on the Science & Religion: Exploring the Spectrum blog. Evolution doesn’t seem scary. It is the processes of change in heritable traits of biological entities over successive generations, which give rise to biological diversity between and within organisms. This isn’t something likely to make you cower behind your popcorn box at the multiplex. However, the horror… Read more →

Neurology Meets La Nouvelle Vague: The Flutter of Memory and Imagination on Film

This post contains minor spoilers for the film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) My previous SciEntLab blog post examined the ways in which disturbances of memory and consciousness caused by neurological damage have been depicted on film. The post explored the cinematic portrayal of a fictional character, Leonard Shelby, with profound anterograde amnesia in Christopher Nolan’s Memento (2000).… Read more →