Films about (fictional) physicists

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around films featuring physicists or physics students, with a focus on how physics is represented in storytelling. Participants express interest in movies where physics concepts serve as metaphors for broader themes, as well as sharing specific film recommendations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant requests recommendations for films about physicists, noting that math-related films have been more prominent recently.
  • Another participant suggests the film "Real Genius" as a notable example.
  • A different participant references Christopher Lloyd's character in "Back to the Future," highlighting memorable quotes related to physics.
  • There is mention of other characters like Reed Richards and the scientist-hero from "Doctor Who," suggesting their relevance to the discussion of physicists in film.
  • One participant shares a link to an IMDb search for films featuring physicists.
  • A participant expresses surprise at forgetting "Back to the Future" and shares a link to a film plot that appears to be unrelated to physics, indicating a mix of content in the recommendations.
  • Another participant comments on the questionable quality of some films mentioned, referring to one as "the créme de crap."
  • One participant expresses interest in the upcoming film "Dark Matter," while also noting discomfort with its themes related to school shootings.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants share various film recommendations and opinions, but there is no consensus on a definitive list of films or a unified perspective on the representation of physicists in cinema.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express uncertainty about the quality of certain films and the appropriateness of themes in upcoming releases, indicating a subjective nature to their recommendations.

oedipa maas
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Can anybody recommend a movie about physicists or physics students? It seems that math people seem to have gotten most of the limelight in the last few years. However, there's a film coming out in April which I'm curious about:


"Dark Matter"

Dana Scully had a physics degree, but that barely ever came up on "The X-Files". In "Spiderman" Peter Parker was studying physics... But in these cases physics mostly serves as a cheap way to give a character credibility without actually being important to the character.

I'm particularly interested to hear about films where ideas from physics work as metaphors for some other aspect of the story. I can only think of a couple books which accomplish this in a very compelling way - "The Genius and the Goddess" (Aldous Huxley), "Music In A Foreign Language" (Andrew Crumey) and "The Crying of Lot 49" (Thomas Pynchon).
 
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Real Genius.
 
Excuse me? How can anyone forget Christopher Lloyd as http://www.imdb.com/media/rm912824576/ch0001831" ?
“There's that word again; ‘heavy’. Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?”​
“Wait a minute, Doc. Ah... Are you telling me you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?”
“The way I see it, if you're going to build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?”​

And if you're talking comic book heroes you've got yer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_Richards" (awesome job Patrick Stewart!).

Going way back in the history of film, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaatu_%28The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still%29" is also a physicist.

The character Sherlock Holmes is a scientist in general and spends lots of time monologuing about the scientific method. The scientist-hero http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Who" seems like he'd be classified as a physicist if anything, though he basically appears to know everything.
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And here's an http://www.imdb.com/Find?select=Plots&for=physicist" for “physicist”.
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Oh, how could I have forgotten "Back to the Future"? Thanks!

Thanks for the IMDB hint. Unfortunately there's no way to filter out the crappy films. ;-)

Here's my favourite entry so far:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467139/plotsummary

Two story lines in one bondage film: in the first tale, Natasha and Connie both have dreams of being tied and gagged in a strange white room. Too soon, the dreams turn to reality. In the second feature, a colleague breaks into a beautiful physicist's home, ties her up and searches her office for a secret research project while the lovely damsels struggles in her bonds.
 
Whoa. Sounds like the créme de crap.
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I forgot to say, Dark Matter does look interesting. Though I'm not really in the mood for a movie about school shootings right now.
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