Author Archives: Coleman Tharpe
Smoke, Mirrors, and Real Lasers, Oh My!
Hollywood has a tendency to turn to smoke and mirrors when creating special effects. Stop-motion, miniatures, and painted plates wowed audiences in fantasy and sci-fi beginning at the turn of the last century. Through the 1950s and 1960s the audience … Read More
Posted in Blog
Tagged fusion, National Labs, nuclear energy, Star Trek
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Temporal Confusion in the Captain America: The First Avenger
This post takes a different turn from others on this blog. I want to explore something Dr. Webber mentioned during his SXSWedu panel last month. When looking at movies as historical documents, it’s important to keep in mind that their … Read More
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Tagged Captain America (2011), future of energy, nuclear, temporal shifts
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Russell Hustles Energy in American Hustle
I was kicking myself for missing American Hustle (2013) when it was in theatres, so I rushed to buy my own copy the day of its release. I’m still kicking myself but I finally watched it (twice), and through ten … Read More
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Tagged American Hustle (2013), Bradley Cooper, David O. Russell, geopolitics, Jennifer Lawrence, microwave ovens, Middle East, Middle Eastern stereotypes, oil, Robert De Niro, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
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Hitchcock’s Notorious Take on Atomic Energy
Those who aren’t film students might not know the definition of “MacGuffin”. In the cinematic world, a “MacGuffin” is the particular narrative element that drives a narrative. It is pertains very little to the story, but without it there would … Read More
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Tagged Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, MacGuffin, Notorious (1946), nuclear
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Webber Energy Group at the Movies
Today’s release of the first full-length Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) trailer brought great excitement to the Webber Energy Group. A set prop built by group member Charlie Upshaw and Josh Rhodes is featured in the trailer and the film (albeit temporarily … Read More
Dallas Returns and Energy Abounds
SPOILER ALERT: This blog post contains many plot elements from the first episode of the third season and the season finale of the second season of Dallas on TNT. I know this is a blog about “Energy at the Movies,” but I … Read More
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Tagged Big Oil, cartels, Dallas, Fracking, JR, methane, offshore drillin, vertical integration, women in energy
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Frozen Climate Commentary
Based loosely on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, Disney’s Frozen (2013) joins Mulan (1998), The Princess and the Frog (2009), Tangled (2010), and Brave (2012) in redefining the princess archetype through a twenty-first century feminist lens. Critical theory aside, … Read More
Posted in Blog
Tagged Climate Change, Disney, Frozen, Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, UN, UN negotiations, women
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Hydropower Saves The Fugitive
