Welcome back to our Sci-Fi Film Festival. This week, I continue my conversation with Mike Beidler about Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (TPM) as we chat about canons and legends. You can find the first half of the conversation here, including details about Mike's own role in the storytelling of Star Wars and his in-universe counterpart Myk Bidlor. … [Read more...] about Sci-Fi Film Fest: Talking The Phantom Menace with Mike Beidler (Pt 2)
Movie Reviews
Sci-Fi Film Fest: Talking The Phantom Menace with Mike Beidler (Pt 1)
Welcome to the first Emerging Scholars Network Sci-Fi Film Festival! I'll be having a conversation here on the blog on various classic and current science fiction movies. Feel free to watch along and join the conversation. This week's film is 1999's Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. I'm joined by Mike Beidler. Mike is a retired U.S. Navy commander who is active with the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) and BioLogos and who has connections to Star Wars stories that I'll let him explain. … [Read more...] about Sci-Fi Film Fest: Talking The Phantom Menace with Mike Beidler (Pt 1)
Science in Review: God or Supergod?
This is a spoiler-free reflection on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The Bible is coming to the big screen. You've maybe heard about Risen, the latest dramatization of the life of Jesus. Or Miracles from Heaven, a modern day story of healing attributed to faith. This weekend we get God's Not Dead 2, an adaptation of Christian apologetics. But the biggest Biblical blockbuster, the one that opened on Easter weekend, is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It desperately wants to be a passion play (among many other … [Read more...] about Science in Review: God or Supergod?
Jurassic July: Look, Don’t Touch
The final post in a series on the Jurassic Park films, mainly Jurassic Park and Jurassic World. We will be discussing the films in detail, so spoilers are possible but will be kept to a minimum. I don't believe anyone actually invokes the name Frankenstein in any of the Jurassic Park films, but the specter of the mad doctor and his monster loom large. The main lesson we seem to have learned from Mary Shelley's story is that you don't mix and match when it comes to nature. (As with Sherlock Holmes' deerstalker, … [Read more...] about Jurassic July: Look, Don’t Touch
Jurassic July: Safety Not Guaranteed
For the rest of July, we will be taking a look at the Jurassic Park films, mainly Jurassic Park and Jurassic World. We will be discussing the films in detail, so spoilers are possible but will be kept to a minimum. Risks can be challenging to human perception. Some are obvious, like a 13-foot-tall carnivore with big, nasty, pointy teeth. Just about everyone in the Jurassic Park films appreciates the danger of claws and fangs, even if their safety mechanisms and procedures suggest otherwise (moats or ditches have … [Read more...] about Jurassic July: Safety Not Guaranteed