Wednesday, August 25, 2010

25 Must see Sci-Fi films

io9 has a post on 25 classic science fiction films you must see. Let's review the list, shall we?

Metropolis (1927, dir. Fritz Lang) Yay! Finally saw it!

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951, dir. Robert Wise) Nope. I know Michael Rennie was ill, does that count?

Forbidden Planet (1956, dir. Fred M. Wilcox) Nope.

Planet Of The Apes (1968, dir. Franklin J. Schaffner) I've seen Stop the Planet of the Apes I Want to Get Off. I think that's good enough.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, dir. Stanley Kubrick) Oh my god I hated this.

Alien (1979, dir. Ridley Scott) I think I've seen all of Alien and Aliens at one point or another, but never in one sitting. I should do that.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980, dir. Irvin Kerschner). Yup. Good stuff.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981, dir. George Miller) Hmmm... I don't think so. I saw Beyond Thunderdome as a girl, but I'm not sure I ever saw the first two.

Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (1982, dir. Nicholas Meyer) Nope.

Blade Runner (1982, dir. Ridley Scott) Nope. Must see.

E.T. (1982, dir. Steven Spielberg) HATE.

Tron (1982, dir. Steven Lisberger) I plan to see the new one. Is that good enough?

Back To The Future (1985, dir. Robert Zemeckis) I have seen this. And I remember next to nothing about it. I never got why it was so popular.

Brazil (1985, dir. Terry Gilliam) Hmmm... my least favorite Terry Gilliam movie (I've never seen Tideland). I like what it is trying to do, but by the time I saw it, 20 years after the fact, I just didn't feel like it was particularly exciting or subversive and the characters didn't really click with me.

RoboCop (1987, dir. Paul Verhoeven) Nope.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991, dir. James Cameron) Nope. This, however, is awesome.

Ghost In The Shell (1995, dir. Mamoru Oshii) Nope.

The Matrix (1999, dir. the Wachowskis) Of course. Love.

Primer (2004, dir. Shane Carruth) Ack. Must see.

The Incredibles (2004, dir. Brad Bird) Meh. It was fine, but I've never understood the slavish devotion.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004, dir. Michel Gondry). Love.

Children Of Men (2006, dir. Alfonso CuarĂ³n) Love.

Moon (2009, dir. Duncan Jones) Love love love! I'm including the io9 review below;

"Yes, we're putting three movies from the last couple years on this list, and there are a few other recent films that were strong candidates as well, including Wall-E, Avatar and The Dark Knight. As much as it's true that we're drowning in a sea of derivative garbage, as Hollywood tries to churn out as many cookie-cutter films and sequels as possible, some really original and clever films have sneaked through. Moon is both a throwback to old-school film-making (mostly practical effects, a single massive set that was built in its entirety and sealed up during filming) and a huge step forward in terms of using special effects in a clever, inobtrusive way. (The central trick, of having two Sam Rockwells, could not have been done without CG effects, and the DVD gives some insight into just how hard it was to pull off.) This movie manages to make the theme of corporate evil and the nature of selfhood, that pops up in so many films on this list, and make it totally fresh by throwing in a horrifying twist, in which Rockwell's character turns out to be disposable in the most literal sense. Well worth watching a second time, even if you saw it in theaters."

District 9 (2009, dir. Neill Blomkamp). Love.

Inception (2010, dir. Christopher Nolan). And Love.

13/25. I need to catch Primer.

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