Science Fiction

They Live

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They Live. Alive Films 1988.

Before watching the movie:

I’ve heard this movie talked up a lot, but I’m not sure exactly how much of it I know. Sometimes it sounds like the most famous development doesn’t have much to do with it, sometimes it sounds like the whole movie.

The theme of glasses or other visual devices showing the true nature of things is a common one in literature, though I can’t think of any notable ones right now, except I think I remember something about a  Seeing Stone in The Spiderwick Chronicles, but I haven’t seen that.

I’m going to pretend I chose this movie this week in honor of Google’s announcement of Project Glass.

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Dark Star

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Dark Star. Jack H. Harris Productions/University of Southern California 1974.

Before watching the movie:

This movie is selling itself to me hard as a comedy, and I see the potential, but it’s working so hard on that that I don’t have much else to go on but the genre. Apparently the main plot concerns a planet-destroying bomb stuck in a colony scouting ship that gets delusional and considers exploding in the hold. Like I said, not much to go on. It sounded like a fun movie, and one I’d probably have a lot to say about, but leaves me even more uninspired than usual in this section.

Bearing in mind that it’s a student film, but one of high acclaim and penned by some famous names in sci-fi, this could get interesting.

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The Fly

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The Fly. Brooksfilms 1986.

Before watching the movie:

Oh. Another horror film. Even though I’m not fond of horror. I’m more interested in this because it seems more like “creepy sci-fi” than horror, though. It’s hard to even place a good handle on what “horror” is, and that’s probably because I never get as scared as I’m told I’m supposed to by horror.

It occurs to me that Jeff Goldblum is an odd choice for horror. I thought for a while that he’d actually be rather good as a victim protagonist, but then he still has to act as the human/fly monster as well. So, it should be good to see him act out of type?

I really hope I get a good, safe scare out of this. But then, can a scare really be safe and still scary?

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Fantastic Voyage

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Fantastic Voyage. 20th Century Fox 1966.

Before watching the movie:

I loved the concept of this movie when I first heard about it years ago. Matter shrinking, a tour of the human body, the body as a counterpart to outer space and alien worlds…

I’ve put it off for so long because films of the 60s and 70s, especially science fiction films, were focused on amazing imagery that looks badly dated today and moved at glacial paces. Aside from 2001: A Space Odyssey, I can’t think of a better opportunity for a filmmaker to stop and let the scenery flow over the acid-tripping audience than a submarine  drifting through the world inside the human body. Never mind the dying patient they belong to, aren’t those nerve fibers far out?

I just hope the storytelling of this movie won’t be as nonexistent as in 2001.

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AI: Artificial Intelligence

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A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. Warner Brothers 2001.

Before watching the movie:

It’s not often that I come across a science fiction movie that I’m not looking forward to seeing. This film should have everything going for it. It was made recently, so should have a clean, appealing aesthetic. It’s about robots and what it means to be human. It was made by Stephen Spielberg. So why have I put this off for ten years?

I’m not looking forward to the story. It sounds too sad for me to enjoy. A child android is programmed to be completely human, but he’s still a robot in society’s eyes. Wait, that sounds like Bicentennial Man without Robin Williams. The problem I expect is that the robot in that movie was on a quest to make society understand him, but in this movie, since he is a child, I only expect harsh treatment and crying. Admittedly, that’s a little too simplistic. I fully expect this one to fall in the category of movies I liked better than I expected because my expectations were too low.

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A Sound of Thunder

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A Sound of Thunder. Franchise Pictures 2005.

Before watching the movie:

I randomly found this movie on the shelf at the library, and I was intrigued. I’m somewhat breaking my rules for selections (I try to have a minimum age of ten years), but I’m very interested in seeing how this turned out. I have read the Bradbury short story this is based on, and I’m interested in discovering how they adapted it into a feature. My guess is that the characters have to battle through the alternate world they create, but I’m hoping to be surprised. For one thing, the happy ending they’re probably going to build to makes the title meaningless.

It also features Ben Kingsley, so there’s that.

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Batman & Robin

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Batman and Robin. Warner Brothers 1997.

Before watching the movie:

Once again, here’s a film that lives in infamy, a fate that befalls far too many superhero movies. Often derided for being the campiest movie of the Batman series, it’s… well, it broke the franchise. Look at it this way, though: between it and Catwoman, it made Batman Begins possible. I’m hoping to find more reason to appreciate it than that, but if George Clooney is allegedly giving refunds on people’s tickets, how great can it be?

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Blade Runner

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Blade Runner. The Ladd Company, 1982 (2007 recut)

Before watching the movie:

Few movies have such radical differences between the theatrical version and the Director’s cut. In fact, the only one I can think of that comes close is Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In order to split the difference, the version I’m watching is “The Final Cut (2007). It’s probably the same in intent to the Director’s Cut, but I believe in putting the director’s intent on the screen, so I chose the latest version for the same reason I prefer widescreen over fullscreen.

Anyway, I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and I’m expecting to see a familiar element here and there in a completely repainted world.

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