Science Fact & Fiction
Good news in an article at newsmax.com: “Doctors are reporting improved survival in men with advanced prostate cancer from an experimental drug that delivers radiation directly to tumor cells.”
This week’s movie fix courtesy of Netflix by mail was of the cerebral sci-fi variety. Annihilation (2018) is the story of an investigation into what is dubbed a “Shimmer,” an expanding area being altered, wildlife included, from within. Only one of the many who have been sent inside has returned. He is portrayed by Oscar Isaac and is married to Natalie Portman’s character. She is a former soldier now biology professor. He has been changed by his experience, and his wife volunteers for a mission in order to understand what has happened to him. I enjoyed the first-rate effects, but wasn’t drawn into the grim, somber narrative. While I believe I understand the basics, I’m baffled about any overall message being conveyed, although the opening scene of cancer cells signals the way nature occasionally consumes itself. I guess it’s for folks smarter than yours truly. Science was my worst subject. The flick, based on a novel by Jeff VanderMeer, was directed and written Alex Garland, a Londoner who also did Ex Machina (2014), which I liked. It did okay at the box office, returning $43+ million on a budget of $40 million. I’m sure DVD sales and rentals and streaming has added substantially to that total. 288,000+ users at IMDb have rated Annihilation, forging to a consensus of 6.8 on a scale of ten. I’ll go with 5.5. I particularly hated the scene where Portman’s extramarital affair is revealed, although I realize it may reinforce a theme of self destruction. There is some profanity and intense violence. It runs ten minutes short of two hours. I believe the flick would appeal almost strictly to those who prefer the most serious works of the genre. Jennifer Jason Leigh, playing a psychologist, heads the expedition. Although I did not recognize the other main principals, each has a solid career in progress. Here are the five, left to right: Leigh, Portman, Tuva Novotny, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez:
Day one of the heat wave was a snap, as the prime parking space under the tree in front of Chase was wide open as I arrived, and there was a nice breeze blowing along Bay Parkway. It looked like all the sales would be of Russian wares until the last half hour of today’s session of the floating book shop. My thanks to the gentleman who bought three hardcovers in that language, and to the woman who purchased two and five DVDs; and to the woman who chose a large tome on power foods; and to the other who took home Angels and Demons by Dan Brown and Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. I also got to thank Ann, who two weeks ago gave me more than 30 DVDs, of which only seven remain. She was thrilled with the fancy cook book on country Italian cooking.
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