The PHD movie

2011 "Life (or the lack thereof) in academia"
6.8| 1h5m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 12 August 2011 Released
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Synopsis

"Piled Higher and Deeper" The Movie is a live-action adaptation of the popular online comic strip by Jorge Cham. It was filmed on location at and was produced in partnership with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The film introduces audiences to the unique and funny culture of Academia and follows four graduate students (Cecilia, Mike, Tajel and the “Nameless Grad Student”) as they struggle to find balance between research, teaching and their personal lives with humor and heart.

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Reviews

arif-ashraf-opu Although the story line was based on the life of grad students, but surely you are not gonna feeling lost, if you are not a grad student! Majority, approximately 42%, of the students left grad school without having a degree. It sounds really weird as the most academically sound students go for higher education and found their place in grad school. The thing that strikes me most as all the grad students come up with a dream that they are going to change the world with their ground breaking research and their name will be on the front wall of history for their contributions to mankind. But the system of graduate school let them forget that they are missing the "key". If education is the "key" to "success", then where's that "key". It's nothing but the self- enthusiasm for your research topic. At the end of the film, two major characters, Winston & Cecilia, found that if you are not change yourself outside the "norm" of your system, how will you change the whole world one day? Otherwise, you can't change the next person of you! Watch this film for self realization & try to believe that "Life is Good" after all those actions and deeds, whatever or however we like it or not!
minhongyu If you are a PhD student, especially a senior one, definitely watch it!I gave it 9 out of 10 just because those actors and actresses are not professional ones which makes this less moviey. But the story line tells the true life and the true miserable life in graduate school. You will feel it if you are in the same position. It's now my last year (hopefully if I can find a job) in graduate school and I think all of us should consider finding a job and getting a real life at the earliest stage of our grad school.It makes me cry at the end. Find your own life while "enjoy" you graduate school. So, quote two sentences in the movie: How's your research? How's your thesis?
FlorisV This is enjoyable for an audience a lot larger than just students. I have read the web comics for many years and think they have a universal appeal. This film is equally charming. OK the film didn't really surprise me in some ways since I already knew all the jokes from the comics...but the production was far more professional and polished than I expected. The actors are all good, only one I thought could be casted better is Cecilia, not that she's bad but the actress looks and acts too much like a happy-go-lucky surfer girl, not as nerdy as the Cecilia from the comic books.Tajel is a great choice as is Mike Slackenerny and Winston (the nameless student). Would love to see this become a TV show. Or at least see more of these 3 talented actors!The film could be longer but does in a nutshell tell it all (life procrastinates in grad school) and it doesn't shove it's puns in your face...
CHAO LIU Just saw the premier at LSU tonight. I must say this movie reaches so many PhD students' heart, as it describes the exact problems that an average PhD student is going through somehow on a daily basis. Many of the lines borrowed from phdcomics.com are blended perfectly into the movie, making it an instant classic. If this movie was made by armature students, then true kudos to all people involved! Sadly this movie will never become popular in the main stream, since the grad students community is so under- presented that they are probably the only group of people who'll understand this movie. We were supposed to be the smartest people coming out of high schools and colleges, how then did we end up here? Puzzling.