The latest Blick on Flicks:
On the Fringe
Read the review | Listen to it!

We all love watching movies. But we also love science. And sometimes the two don't mix!

To help us sort the good science from the bad in movies and other visual media, Jacob Clark Blickenstaff, PhD, provides expert commentary, pointing out where the physics is stretched, the chemistry fudged, or the biology twisted on behalf of the story—without losing sight of the fact that movies are meant to entertain.

Jacob helps turn "bad science" into teachable science for middle level and high school students.

Blick on Flicks is a regular column in NSTA Reports and a periodic feature of NSTA WebNews. Here is a handy list of previously published reviews:

• Finding Science Amid Misery (2013.01.17): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Bond's Latest: Skyfall (2012.12.12): Read the review | Listen to it!
• When Did the Lights Go Out? (2012.10.31): Read the review | Listen to it!
• The Woman in Black (2012.09.25): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Ask Blick (2012.08.29): Read the review | Listen to it!
• No Fate But What You Make (2012.07.19): Read the review | Listen to it!
• The Avengers Assemble Math and Science Concepts (2012.07.02): Read the review | Listen to it!
• In the Jungle with Oscar the Chimpanzee (2012.06.14): Read the review | Listen to it!
• A Blend of Old and New Technology in The Hunger Games (2012.04.16): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Some Bones to Pick With This Show (2012.03.19): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Recalling Super 8 Film (2012.03.01): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Holmes and Watson Can Get There From Here: Transportation in A Game of Shadows (2012.02.07): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Comic Science: Biology, Geography, and Physics on the Funny Pages (2012.01.05): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Transformers: More Action, Less Science Than Meets the Eye (2011.12.14): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Can You Find the Science Tonight? Animal Physiology in The Lion King (2011.11.09): Read the review | Listen to it!
• A Taste for Science: Good Eats in the Classroom (2011.10.04): Read the review | Listen to it!
• The A-Team Doesn't Earn an "A" in Physics (2011.09.20): Read the review | Listen to it!
• The Big Bang Theory Effect (2011.06.17): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Still Relevant: Gattaca at 14 (2011.04.18): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Megamind—The Fittest Survive (2011.03.25): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Stammering and the Science of Sound in The King's Speech (2011.02.09): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Haber: Ethics in the Laboratory (2011.01.21): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Muggle or Wizard? Science in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) (2010.12.17): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Retired and Extremely Devoted to MythBusters (2010.11.14): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Inspiration on the Rugby Field: The Science of Invictus (2010.10.05): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Opening a Pandora's Box of Science Problems in Avatar (2010.09.10): Read the review | Listen to it!
• High-Voltage Science in The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010.08.13): Read the review | Listen to it!
• To College and Beyond? Science in Toy Story 3 (2010.07.13): Read the review | Listen to it!
• If I Could Turn Back Time: Physics in The Prince of Persia (2010.06.18): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Finding Science in Dragon Training (2010.05.19): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Here Comes They Might Be Giants (2010.04.16): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Successful Science Fiction in Moon (2010.03.12): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Careful Science Ignored: Forensics and Police Procedurals (2010.02.16): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Sherlock Holmes: A Study of Science (2010.01.20): Read the review | Listen to it!
• A Reboot for Star Trek Science (2009.12.11): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Amelia and the Physics of Flight (2009.11.06): Read the review | Listen to it!
• The Old Song and Dance: Physics and the Remake of Fame (2009.10.09): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Aliens Teach Humanity in District 9 (2009.09.02): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Bringing Hollywood Science to School (2009.08.12): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Don’t Try This at Home: Mythbusters in the Science Classroom (2009.07.07): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Pixar is Up to Something Good (2009.06.08): Read the review | Listen to it!
• A Hollywood Solution to a Viral Problem (2009.05.11): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Monsters vs. Aliens: Classic Sci-Fi in 3D (2009.04.10): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Pushing the Limits (2009.03.16): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Nuking the Fridge, Odd Magnetism, and Issues with Inertia in The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2009.02.18): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Advanced Cartoon Physics: Lessons from WALL-E (2009.01.15): Read the review | Listen to it!
• The Physics of Vampire Baseball (2008.12.11): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Physics and Batman: A Troubled Relationship (2008.11.21): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Under Pressure: Jimmy Choo and Body Image in The Devil Wears Prada (2008.10.24): Read the review | Listen to it!
• Microbial David vs. Alien Goliath (2008.09.12): Read the review | Listen to it!
• A Journey to the Center of the Earth, or How Low Can You Go? (2008.08.01): Read the review | Listen to it!
• One Happening Science Teacher (2008.06.23)
• Nim’s (Fantasy) Island (2008.04.28)
• A Scientific Approach to Surviving a Zombie Attack (2008.03.31)
• Jumping to the Wrong Conclusions (2008.02.26)

Jacob Clark Blickenstaff is teacher education programs manager for the American Physical Society.