Far and Away by Sam M. '07

DID YOU KNOW? Although Boston conducted the most famous tea party in American History, colonists at Charleston did better by stealing the tea and then selling it, rather than dumping it into their harbor.

I saw X3 last night. Here are some thoughts, from an MIT undergrad’s perspective:

1. I think it was edited from a two-hour movie down to the point where it was just barely coherent. There seriously isn’t one line of dialogue in the entire thing that doesn’t advance the plot in some way. They really just want to get you in, have some explosions, show Hugh Jackman half-naked, and get you out.
2. I wonder if acclaimed thespians Kelsey Grammer, Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, et al, actually know or care what they’re talking about when they have to discuss the monoclonal antibody against mutations or the psychic barriers that Professor X has erected against Jean Grey’s unlimited power source. I just remember an interview with Hugh Jackman on MSNBC about “the physics of Van Helsing” where he said something like, “Yeah, he’s got these cool blades that spin around real fast, and then he can throw them!”
3. On that note, the bad science didn’t bother me at all, unlike Spiderman 2, where the value of an eigenvector can be 4.6 electron Volts. That had me laughing out loud. Which was kind of inappropriate, because I saw it in Harrisburg and not at MIT. Also, my 8.022 textbook made a cameo in Spiderman 2.
4. One thing that did bother me was that it turns from day to night within about 5 seconds when Magneto lifts the Golden Gate bridge from its foundations to advance his renegade mutant army to Alcatraz.
5. I am in love with Ian McKellen, and my favorite mutant is now Magneto rather than Storm.
6. He actually says “I’m the Juggernaut, b****!” Also, there was a preview for Snakes on a Plane. Between the two of those, I feel like the movies are watching us rather than the other way around.
7. Also, for all the hype, I think that Angel was in the film for a grand total of about three minutes, and he coincidentally had his shirt off for about 2.8 of those. My friend Shana hypothesized that they were going for some kind of “Angels in America” homage with the whole “gay gene”/”mutant gene” thing, but I don’t think I can give them quite that much credit.
8. Speaking of famous people in the movie for three minutes, I actually yelled out, “No, don’t kill Shohreh Aghdashloo! She was Oscar-nominated!” but they didn’t listen to me. I guess she didn’t really even bother to clear her throat for either of her two scenes, so she kind of deserved it.
9. The title credits are supposed to be “scientific,” so they feature an HPLC autosampler bombsastically grabbing a vial and a centrifuge whirring ominously, and I think that was when I stopped taking the movie seriously.
10. You should probably stay after the closing credits if you happen to see it. Which isn’t a bad idea; you get what you paid for.

Okay, going to GERMANY in three hours!! I LOVE MIT!! WOOHOO!!

Also, Sam’s Mom was benevolent enough to buy me a digital camera, so this entire summer my blog will probably just be pictures of me in Europe with no text. Thank Sam’s Mom for that!