The Evil Eyebrow

Category: SF Movie Series

  • Children of Men: The Movie!

    This is such an old draft, I’m not sure why I never finished it. I watched this movie in October.

    Alert readers may recall that I read the P.D. James novel, Children of Men, last summer. I didn’t like it. See the link for why.

    Now, I’ve finally gotten around to watching the Movie that prompted me to read the book. I didn’t like it, but it was a good movie, I think.

    For one thing, it’s depressing as hell. I don’t really care for depressing movies, no matter how “quality” they are. Almost all of the major characters die (true to form from the book) but without the tragic majesty of Hamlet. Some of them die suddenly, some pointlessly, and some forseeably.

    For another thing, they flipped the bitch in the movie. In the book, it’s men who can’t father children. In the movie, it’s the women who are sterile. I’m not sure what that change was supposed to accomplish, except maybe the screenwriters agreed with my point from the earlier post that if a man was suddenly found to be fertile, go find him and get him to impregnate every single woman possible! Flipping that makes it much more about the pregnant woman, which lends to the drama.

    For a third thing…I’ve got no third thing. Did you read that note up above about how I sat on this draft for 4 months? Back in October I was all full of righteous fury; now, not so much.

    I wouldn’t watch this movie again, and I’d only recommend it to people who are interested in dystopian depressing movies. It’s not scifi in the sense that there’s any science fiction going on. The only SF bit is the assumption that every man is sterile, for some reason.

    But, that’s another movie off of my list of summer (2007) movies to watch. Maybe I’ll finish the list before 2009.

  • Scifi Summer Movie Project

    Way back at the beginning of the summer I posted a list of scifi movies that I either needed to see, or see again. Let’s see how I’ve been doing.

    • Gattaca: Nope
    • Blade Runner**: Nope
    • Digitally scragged Return of the Jedi (I was so fed up with Lucas after his “improvement” of episode IV and V that I never went to see VI): Nope
    • Akira: Nope
    • The Last Mimzy: Yes, but it was a bit disappointing. It was an excellent tale, with good CGI, but it seemed a bit hollow from a science fiction perspective. Much ado was made about the kid brother being “the engineer” and then…nothing. Also (spoiler……) if all the future Earth peoples needed was a bit of DNA, why didn’t the Mimsy go and swap it’s furry hand through the kid’s mouth while she was sleeping?
    • The Animatrix: Nope
    • Time Bandits**: Nope
    • King Kong (the original): Nope
    • The Day the Earth Stood Still**: Nope
    • THX 1138: Finally saw this. It was exceptionally strange to watch, not only because it is a strange movie, but because I’m a huge star wars fan, and a lot of the same sound and visual effects that Lucas uses in episodes 4-6 are present in this film. Was very deja vu-ish.
    • Soylent Green (is people!): Amusing and campy. I’m still wondering why Charlton Heston’s character had a huge apartment that he shared with one person while there were people living on his stairway.
    • The Terminal Man: Nope
    • Robocop** (I saw this at a very impressionable age and it gave me nightmares. I’d probably enjoy it more, now): Nope
    • Bicentennial Man (we briefly saw the filming of this as we drove on 101 Hwy 1 in CA): Nope
    • The Thirteenth Floor: Excellent movie. Based off the same book Simulacra and Simulations as the Matrix was.
    • Red Planet: Nope
    • 28 Days Later: Nope
    • The Butterfly Effect: Nope
    • Thunderbirds: Nope
    • Children of Men (after I finish the book): Nope, and haven’t finished the book, either.
    • The Fountain: Nope
    • Ultraviolet: Yes, but I was heartily disappointed. I didn’t ever read this comic, and I think you needed to in order to appreciate the film.

    I don’t think I’m going to finish the list by the end of summer, but the year is still young!

    *There may be some films on this list that don’t qualify as “science fiction” in some fans’ minds. That’s ok. Make your own list! And keep in mind this is not some Top 10 or Top 100 list, an exercise I find is a bit meaningless on the hugely interactive web because no two people will ever agree on the contents of those lists.

    **Seen it at least once. Barely recall the plot

    ***Astute readers will note that most of this is a chronological/alphabetical list taken piecemeal from wikipedia

  • Scalzi on Star Wars

    I’ve had Star Wars on my mind because yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the debut of Epidode IV: A New Hope (a.k.a. STAR WARS).

    John Scalzi, the author of Old Man’s War1, which you may have seen knocking around the bookshelves, has an opinion regarding the Star Wars movies and their value as entertainment. He feels that the Star Wars sexology were not designed by Lucas to be entertaining, more as a vehicle for his politics and mythology. Go read it for more detail, it’s long.

    Toward the end of the post, he recommends a movie:

    Look, here’s a test for you. I want you to go out and find this movie: Battle Beyond the Stars. It’s a piece of crap 1980 B-movie, produced by Roger Corman, that’s clearly cashing in on the Star Wars phenomenon. Hell, it’s even a pastiche of the same things Star Wars is a pastiche of (it even has a planet Akir, named for Akira Kurosawa), and it was made for $2 million, which is nothing money, even back in 1980. Thing is, its screenplay was written by John Sayles (later twice nominated for the Best Screenplay Academy Award), and it’s funny and smart, and the whole movie, rather incredibly, keeps pace. Watch it and then tell me, honestly, that it’s not more entertaining than Star Wars Episodes I, II, III and VI.

    I haven’t seen this move, but I may have to add it to my list of SF Movies To Watch this summer.

    1 Old Man’s War is a very good novel. If you liked Starship Troopers (the Book!, not the “movie” with the same title and a few of the same character names) you’ll like Old Man’s War.

  • SF Movies I Need to See (again): SF Movie Series Part One

    I’m sure I’m not the only one who has a list of “classic” films that they’ve never seen. It wasn’t until about two years ago that I watched Casablanca, I’ve never seen The Graduate which some people assure me is a crime, and I’ve never watched Fast Times at Ridgemont High which I know is a crime.

    Unfortunately, I have neither the time nor the desire to watch every movie I “need” to see, so I’d rather specialize a bit. Here’s a list of Science Fiction* films that either I haven’t seen, or haven’t watched in so long I barely remember what happened. I’m going to make an effort to knock these out by the end of the summer 2007. I hear Netflix calling my name…

    If there’s something not on here that you think I should add, please note it in the comments. The List, in no particular order:

    • Gattaca
    • Blade Runner**
    • Digitally scragged Return of the Jedi (I was so fed up with Lucas after his “improvement” of episode IV and V that I never went to see VI)
    • Akira
    • The Last Mimzy
    • The Animatrix
    • Time Bandits**
    • King Kong (the original)
    • The Day the Earth Stood Still**
    • THX 1138
    • Soylent Green (is people!)
    • The Terminal Man
    • Robocop** (I saw this at a very impressionable age and it gave me nightmares. I’d probably enjoy it more, now)
    • Bicentennial Man (we briefly saw the filming of this as we drove on 101 Hwy 1 in CA)
    • The Thirteenth Floor
    • Red Planet
    • 28 Days Later
    • The Butterfly Effect
    • Thunderbirds
    • Children of Men (after I finish the book)
    • The Fountain
    • Ultraviolet

    I’m sure there are movies I’m forgetting at the moment. I’ll add them later. As I count up the list (22) I realize that if I watch one a week, I’ll be done in late August. That’s iffishly doable; I do have other things on my plate (wife, yard, vacation, work, hiking, other hobbies) so I may not be “successful”.

    *There may be some films on this list that don’t qualify as “science fiction” in some fans’ minds. That’s ok. Make your own list! And keep in mind this is not some Top 10 or Top 100 list, an exercise I find is a bit meaningless on the hugely interactive web because no two people will ever agree on the contents of those lists.

    **Seen it at least once. Barely recall the plot

    ***Astute readers will note that most of this is a chronological/alphabetical list taken piecemeal from wikipedia