Europa Report (2013)

Europa Report. Dir. Sebastián Cordero, 2013.

This is one of the best science fiction movies I've seen in years. I turned to my friend J after the credits rolled and I said, "This is the movie that Prometheus wanted to be," and I stand by that statement. Europa Report blends a great story and a real love of space exploration with a meticulously unfolded, decidedly plausible science fictional premise and great performances from its actors.

The movie tells the near-future story of the first human-crewed mission to Europa, the Europa One, organized and funded by the private company Europa Ventures, LLC. For the first six months of the mission, cameras inside and outside the spacecraft connect the Earth and the astronauts in near real-time, but after unforeseen developments knock out the communications system, those left on Earth can only wait for communications to be re-established. Meanwhile, up in the Europa One, the crew must attempt to carry out its mission to seek out extraterrestrial life on Europa, if it exists, alone in the dark. Europa Report is the story of what happened after Europa One went dark, and what the crew found there. Post tenebras, lux.

It looks like the movie's theatrical run is coming to an end, but if you can't catch it in theaters you can still rent it on Google Play or the iTunes store, and I really recommend it! If you like space exploration or science fiction, particularly in the lower-key, realistic vein of movies like Moon, this is for you.

$5000 matching donation to The Ada Initiative!

The Ada Initiative's fundraising campaign is nearing its close, and Jacob Kaplan-Moss has made a $5000 matching donation challenge to the Ada Initiative! From now until midnight on August 31, he will personally match every contribution to the Ada Initiative's annual fundraising campaign up to $5,000 USD. Like previous matching donors, including Sumana Harihareswara and Leonard Richardson, the donation is a challenge to Jacob's communities (Python and Django) to live up to their values.

Whether or not we're in those communities, the matching donation is particularly good for those of us in the fandom and Wikipedia communities who maybe don't have the kind of tech industry salaries that would allow us to give more generously. Thanks to Jacob the impact of what each of us can donate as individuals is doubled! Although you won't get the awesome Ada Lovelace pendant unless you contribute at least $128 (either one-time or monthly, which is only $12.80 per), every little bit--even $5--helps, especially since TAI is so close to making its goal for this campaign! I've donated under the matching contribution, and I hope you will too.