Welcome back to “Cuz It’s Good for You,” movies from the Criterion Collection. Friends. How many times has this happened to you? You’re hosting a dinner party. The music is elegant. The hors d’ouevres are delightful. The hamsters are impeccably groomed. You’re set to the host or hostess of the season . . . and then . . . oh no! Those pesky radiation-fed animate brains start coming out of the wood-work, feeding on the occipital lobes of your guests, spilling the drinks, and changing the music to “The Greatest Polka Hits of Ollie Knutson and the St. Joe Fatboys.” Your party is ruined! You become a social pariah! But wait! No more! Now you can stop this horrible experiment in telekinesis gone horribly wrong before it even begins, with new, improved BumpyGuard Brainz-Away! Just install our small, barely-noticeable Brainz-Away Stationstm in each corner of every room of your house and for a small monthly maintenance fee, we will guarantee your house will remain brain-free, much like the writers of this week’s movie. Don’t delay, order today! Use your brain! Get rid of brains! Give us a listen for more details.
Poll question: what is the most ludicrous movie “science” you can think of? Leave a comment or call our SCIENCE hotline at 617-398-7266
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Wow, there was an uncomfortable amount of Canada in this episode! Including Max mentioning our Lovecraftian horrors. Did he read “La Cité Oblique,” the graphic novel that retells the history of my province of Québec but mixed with… Lovecraftian horrors! (I am sending the cover to Mike to show Max. It’s a trip, and I liked it a lot. I don’t think there is an English translation, but to be honest, I didn’t look.)
Anyway, ANY film by Roland Emmerich has TERRIBLE science in it. He should get a life achievement award for that. But the film “Lucy” has a big pet peeve of mine with the whole “we only use x % of our brains” trope, which is 100% wrong. Even if it were true, how/why/where would it mean we could do every scientifically impossible thing imaginable if we used more of our brains, like telekinesis and turning into a USB stick?