Daily Staff Writer

“Contact”

Following the typical theme of “Man meets Alien” has often resulted in numerous carbon-copy movies that don’t provoke any real thought.

In fact, many often promote a type of Earth-centricity, but “Contact,” starring Jodie Foster (“Nell,” “Silence Of The Lambs”), follows the lines of “Alien” and “E. T.,” and promises to become a relic of science-fiction mastery.

Foster portrays Dr. Eleanor “Ellie” Arroway, in her journey to find intelligent life in outer space. Arroway, working for SETI, scans the stars for radio signals.

Her research team’s funding is eventually cut and all hope is lost until the savvy industry mogul S. R. Hadden, played by John Hurt, steps into the picture and funds the project further.

Hadden looks a lot like Austin Powers’ Dr. Evil, and with his sly, yet grandfatherly demeanor throws money and support at Dr. Arroway whenever it seems all is lost.

When the team finally discovers and decodes a radio signal from a region near the star Vega, the planet comes together to build a giant machine that will supposedly send an Earthling to Vega to meet the aliens that transmitted the signal which carried the plans for the machine.

Arroway, a strict scientist, eventually finds faith through Palmer Joss, (Matthew McConaughey) a spiritualist, who is at her side trying to make her believe in more than just science.

This movie is more than just a movie about contacting extra-terrestrial life. It challenges the boundaries of science and religion, leaving the viewer to decide in the end which to believe in.

-Kevin Hosbond

“Pi”

This one is a must-rent for two reasons. One is you would have to have been Andy Warhol to get near this thing when it was in theatrical release, and the second is because it is just that good.

“Pi” is a dark piece of science fiction indeed. It is the brain child of director Darren Aronofsky, and you wouldn’t want to hang out with this guy for too long if “Pi” is a good example of what is inside his head.

“Pi” is a real philosophical brain-teaser. It takes a deep hard look at the life of one seriously paranoid genius mathematician. This brilliant loner is studying chaos.

Studying is too mild a term; he is really obsessed with the idea of finding a magic string of numbers in pi. He is cynical but one gets the impression that his obsession is fueled by an inner belief that the answer to the mysteries of the universe are there. He is about to make an amazing discovery, and his sanity is seriously in jeopardy.

Meanwhile, two groups are trying to get inside his confidence. One is a group of Jewish mystics looking for God. Hebrew letters have numerical values, and they believe that if properly decoded, the name of God will reveal itself.

The other group is a dark corporate group that believes the key to controlling the world economy is in that string of numbers. They might both be right, but our hero just wants to get the string of numbers.

It makes disturbing and thrilling connections between mathematics, Jewish mysticism and Wall Street.

“Pi” is filmed in high-contrast black and white with occasional spots of quick edits. The cinematography aids the well-crafted sense of paranoia viewers are forced to feel.

For the serious lover of good film, “Pi” is too perfect to pass up. No it’s not a laugh riot, and there are no stars, sex or nudity. But what it lacks in salaciousness, it makes up for in brain-tingling universe-bending mysteries that make “The Twilight Zone” look like the Discovery Zone.

-Greg Jerrett