Not that much in the way of science news this month. Even the scientists are talking about economics and politics.
The really big news this month has been in cosmology from analysis of three years’ worth of data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. The consensus is that, whatever it is, the effects of dark energy seems to be weakening over time, rather than being constant as previously believed. This finding is also supported by measurements of the cosmic microwave background. We don’t know what this means yet, only that it throws into question our current model of the universe.
In more uplifting news, Japanese scientists have announced some success in giving paralyzed people the ability to walk again through stem cell therapy. The team had already succeeded earlier by transplanting neural stem cells into patients with spinal cord injuries, but back then they had used cells from fetuses. This time they repeated the feat with reprogrammed stem cells, which takes mature cells and induces them to become pluripotent. The success so far is only partial but the benefits to humanity of making this work consistently are obvious.
Finally here’s a report about how DNA analysis of two naturally mummified remains found in the Sahara Desert a different and long lost lineage of humanity. Around 7,000 the area was not a desert and instead a lush, green savannah. These two ancients humans however came from a branch of humanity that split off much earlier than that, perhaps as much as 50,000 years and so were something like ancient fossils even while they were alive. It’s simply wild how much we don’t know about our past and now will probably never know.
So much of the fun of this film is that Andy Lau plays a fictionalized version of himself here along with copious references to other Hong Kong superstars and the industry itself. The premise of a cinema superstar who deliberately does an artistic film to bait for acting awards is both on point and funny. The execution goes well at first but then it seems to lose track, turns into an uninteresting lesson about arrogance and in the end just kind of falls apart. I really wanted this to be good so it’s especially disappointing that it’s not.
As a film directly inspired by Au Hasard Balthazar, this one is similarly about the travails of a donkey. This time the setting is modern day Poland and while it has won a slew of accolades, I believe it is by far the lesser film. While the original was largely about the suffering of life in general, this one is focused on the harm that mankind inflicts on animals. Not only is that somewhat trite but it does so by throwing EO the donkey into a series of misadventures that are more or less random and improbable. It experiments with colors and stylistic effects but overall I’m not impressed.
A Christmas film comes with a certain set of expectations but don’t confuse the French with the Americans. With its large cast of characters and multiple storylines, it threatens to be a confusing mess and is more than content to leave things unexplained. Worse still is the application of French logic as applied to morality and family dynamics, excusing or even glorifying behaviors and actions that would be shocking in the US. Yet it’s undeniable a riveting watch, absurdly funny and makes for a wonderful example of just how different the French can be at times.
This is the kung fu fighting game that garnered a great deal of attention upon release but also scared many off due to its high difficulty and aging mechanic. I count myself among those who were intimidated and so stayed away. But then Epic gave it away for free so I was out of excuses. It took a great deal of focused practice but I did finally beat the game even if I had to cheese the hell out of the bosses so I’m here to report my verdict.
This is only a middling movie so skipping it would be no big deal. But we just got done with finishing the excellent Better Call Saul so I thought we might as well close out the entire Breaking Bad universe. This one of course completes the story of Jesse Pinkman picking up from where we last saw him at the finale of the original series that started it all. I thought this would be something of a road trip film as Jesse escapes to head north to Alaska but it’s very much not so. Instead he spends the entire time still in New Mexico gathering what he needs to escape. The plot feels stilted as a result but it’s not a bad way to close out all the loose ends and show more of what Jesse went through in captivity.
An experimental Soviet-era black and white silent film with no plot and no intertitles doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, even if it’s only an hour long. But this film, now considered one of the greatest documentaries of all kind, may surprise you. It does start slow with straightforward shots of inanimate objects and you wonder what it’s trying to do. Then it grows in scope and the shots become more sophisticated as if the cameraman is slowly learning as he goes until it becomes a joyous celebration of everything a camera is capable of.
