Astronomy, the movie

So while searching for something on Google, I found out about a movie called, simply, "Astronomy". Weirdly, IMDB’s synopsis doesn’t even mention astronomy itself, and it’s difficult to find any info on it given the popularity of the two obvious keywords. The movie sounds more like a melodrama than anything else. Anyone here in BABlogland seen it? Opinions?

May 5th, 2008 2:00 PM by Phil Plait in Astronomy, Time Sink | 8 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

8 Responses to “Astronomy, the movie”

1. Mark Martin Says:
May 5th, 2008 at 2:22 pm

Here’s another one with the same problem, ‘Galaxies Are Colliding’: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104316/
2. Michelle Says:
May 5th, 2008 at 2:28 pm

Well, it’s not like Metallica’s song “astronomy” has much to do about astronomy…
3. Dave Says:
May 5th, 2008 at 2:45 pm

I’m a big Metallica fan, but really, it’s Blue Oyster Cult’s “Astronomy”… it was just covered by Metallica.
4. Daniel Fischer Says:
May 5th, 2008 at 3:41 pm

Google knows everything … and leads to these NYT TV notes from 1991:

>>In “Astronomy,” with America Martin, Kathleen York and Ben Hoag, a schoolchild escapes her impoverished existence to the vast wonders of the galaxy.<<

And to a PDF with the info that Astronomy is a

>>35mm, 22 minute short film selected for THE NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL, THE LONDON FILM FESTIVAL, and SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL among others, screened in cinemas internationally and broadcast on Channel 4 in Britain and PBS in the US Chanticleer Films, Columbia Pictures<<

Talking about astronomy in feature films: In New Zealand one is now in production that will have deep links to the Int’l Year of Astronomy – stay tuned when someone mentions “Palindrome” to you …
5. Michelle Says:
May 5th, 2008 at 7:40 pm

@Dave: Oh, really? I didn’t know. I only heard the Metallica version. Very good stuff…
6. 01101001 Says:
May 5th, 2008 at 11:46 pm

Just released is “Dark Matter”,
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0416675/

“Based on actual events, a Chinese university student responds violently when his chances for a Nobel Prize are dashed by school politics.”

I expect most of the titular dark matter is the politics and violence, and not physical dark matter. According to some reviews, it may be only very loosely based on actual events (Google “Gang Lu”).
7. rutty Says:
May 5th, 2008 at 11:58 pm

There’s also Astronomy 101 from 1994:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/astronomy_101/

It sounds more like an educational release to me though. Not much drama involved
8. The Bad Astronomer Says:
May 6th, 2008 at 8:38 am

Ah, Daniel, nice catch. I tooled around Google for a while but couldn’t seem to pare down the search terms well enough. Well, maybe I’ll see if I can dig up a copy someplace. I expect it won’t be easy…

About Bad Astronomy

Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He's written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic and fights the abuse of science, but his true love is praising the wonders of real science.

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