Summer space cinema

Posted by Bill Andrews
on Friday, July 1, 2011

It might be no shock to the careful reader of Astronomy, but I’m a bit of a fan of movies. I don’t catch every movie ever, but apparently I see more than my share — especially if it’s about a subject I enjoy, like space.

Even NASA enjoys a good movie poster! What space movies are you excited about, or have you enjoyed, this summer? // NASA photo
This summer, though, has made things a little difficult. Space-themed movies abound these hot months, but I haven’t the resources (neither financial nor temporal) to see all of them. I’ve already caught some of the first wave, including Thor and Super 8, which were pretty good, and awesome, respectively. (There was a bit more astronomy in the former than the latter, but only a bit.)

But Green Lantern and now Transformers: Dark of the Moon are out, and I’ve heard about some lovely astro-sights in The Tree of Life, yet all three have so far passed me by. Then there’s March’s Paul and Battle: Los Angeles (both of which I missed), the upcoming indie film Another Earth (due out July 22) upcoming horror flick Apollo 18 (out September 2), and upcoming chick flick The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (which is at least named after sky phenomena) a few months after that. And let’s not forget the culminating moment of awesome that only a name like Cowboys & Aliens can deliver!

With all these spacey options to choose from, how’s a guy to decide? I mean, these aren’t exactly critically acclaimed films we’re talking about here. Personally, I loved Super 8, and encourage anyone to see it (except for the very squeamish). Do you agree? Disagree? What would you recommend? Are you looking forward to any upcoming releases?

Let me know in the comments below!

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