10 Movies for engineers for Valentine’s Day (part II)
Love is in the air and not even the force of gravity can pull it down. But maybe our list of movies can help you get through it.
It’s worth noting that today marks the anniversary of the very first “Patrick and Ilona” blog (pause for applause), and so much has happened over the past year. How fitting, for example, that we passed October 21, 2013, the day that Marty McFly arrived “Back to the Future,” a movie mentioned on last year’s list of movies for Valentine’s Day. A lot has changed, but one important thing has remained the same: we still disagree. A lot.
Over the past 12 months we’ve been doing a lot of cinematic research – all in the interest of engineering of course – so we decided to revisit our list from last year and create a sequel to the blog that started it all.
Here, some more of our Valentine’s Day movie picks for the world’s elite, scientific minds.
Ilona’s list
1. Indiana Jones (all of them) – It wasn’t until a recent episode of “The Big Bang Theory” (in which Amy, Sheldon’s girlfriend, ruins the movie for the geeky bunch by questioning the plausibility of some key moments) that I realized just how important this franchise is to scientists.
2. Pi, 1998 – the title itself should be romantic enough for any engineer…
3. Short Circuit, 1986 – Number 5 is alive! “Number 5” of course referring to a group of robots in a lab who becomes smart and escapes after being electrocuted. This fabulously geeky movie from the 80s is one of those sci-fi classics that tops every 80s kid’s list.
4. Weird Science, 1985 – One of my favorite movies growing up, this is the story of two teen-aged boys who create the woman of their dreams (a stunning Kelly LeBrock – goodness, what happened to her?) by using their computer and wearing bras on their heads. Which, I imagine, is what Patrick might do on a random Friday night.
5. Young Frankenstein, 1974 – For a little humor, watch Gene Wilder give an amazing, hilarious performance in this twist on the old Frankenstein story. Anyone who’s seen this comedic masterpiece, directed by Mel Brooks, will remember Frau Blücher, played by the brilliant Cloris Leachman (which is coincidentally the part I played in my 4th grade school play, also quite brilliantly, thank you very much).
Patrick’s list
1. Gravity, 2013 – It received 10 (!) nominations for the 86th Academy Awards and I’m seriously hoping it will win them all. Quite scandalously though, Ilona has not seen this masterpiece… Ok, so there’s not really a love story in it, but the whole space-shuttle-eternal-space-time-space-thing just blew me away! After watching Gravity, I wanted to board a shuttle, catapult myself into the outer atmosphere and peacefully suffocate in the nothingness of space. Or, option two, I’d catapult Ilona into space.
2. The Matrix, 1999 – It wasn’t on our list last time, but should’ve been. Not just the use of the bullet time shots made this movie outstanding, but the plot itself. Don’t you sometimes wonder if you’re living in a simulated reality, forced upon us by intelligent machines, who use us as batteries?
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968 – This one is from Ilona’s era, and, much like her, it’s a classic (note: classic, not classy). It’s not a movie to everyone’s taste (which is typical for Stanley Kubrick I guess), but considering it was released almost 50 years ago, quite visionary.
4. Oblivion, 2013 – This movie didn’t quite get the attention it deserved, which probably has to do with the fact that Tom Cruise is in it. I, however, liked it. And, working for ABB, I was intrigued by the revolutionary power plants that turn sea-water into fusion power! I’ll take two, please.
5. Minority Report, 2002 – I know, I know: another Tom Cruise movie. Still, the futuristic touch screen display Tom plays with in this thriller – along with all the other fancy gadgets (like the robot bugs) – make it a technology wonderland. I mean, honestly: Who wouldn’t want to take a spin in the Lexus 2054??
What are your picks?