movie review

Reviewing the best science fiction movies from the past, present, and future.

Review of 'Quantum Suicide'
Gerrit Van Woudenberg's Quantum Suicide movie (which he wrote, directed, and -- with Shane Morgan - co-produced) won the Best Sci-Fi Dramatic Feature award at the Philip K. Dick Film Festival last week in New York City. I was at the Festival, and moderated a panel with Van Woudenberg, but I had another appointment when the movie was shown at the Festival. Van Woudenberg (who directed a few short films a decade ago) was good enough to give me the URL for a screener, which I just saw and greatly enjoyed. Herewith a non-spoiler review.
By Paul Levinson2 years ago in Futurism
Dune 2: Poor Chani
I have known all about Dune all my life, so when I saw Dune Part 2 in the theaters a few weeks ago, Chani's new character was a big surprise for me. Before I say anything more, I want to say that I can appreciate the need for changes to her character. The way Chani is written in the book is not very reflective of the ideologies of today's women. If they left her as she was it would have annoyed most women. I can see the need for a change, though I'm not positive I agree with the direction they took because it made me sad to see her reduced to a character of such limited understanding.
By Stephanie Van Orman2 years ago in Futurism
V (Mini-Series)
I remember sitting in grandma's living room in 1983, watching the premier of V, which was a two-night mega sci-fi "special event." I was probably all of seven, so the film had an extra special appeal to me. The special effects, state of the art for the era, were awesome, ominous, and frightening. But it was the characterizations of both humans and aliens in V, and the eternal questioning of what is good, noble, human, and true, that underscored the allegory at the heart of the entertainment.
By Tom Baker2 years ago in Futurism
Def-Con 4
The final victory has been won. Mankind can now rest in peace. Def-Con 4 (1985) Def-Con 4 is a relentlessly bad, even somewhat odious 1980s nuclear Cold War Era scare film set in a post-apocalyptic Ontario or thereabouts, and featuring three astronauts aboard an orbital space station cum Reagan Star Wars wet dream. They seemingly survive the thermonuclear mayhem below and rocket back to Earth but then the woman (Kate Lynch) dies or is imprisoned or something (I forget which) and the surviving male space hero (Tim Choate) gets kidnapped by a roly poly Sawney Beane psychopath (Maury Chaykin) keeping a cheerleader (Lenore Zann) hostage in the basement.
By Tom Baker2 years ago in Futurism
'Her' - Film Review and Analysis
Directed by Spike Jonze, ‘Her’ (2013) is a very thought-provoking film and emotionally resonant exploration of love, loneliness, connection, and the continually evolving relationship between human beings and artificial intelligence. Set in a near-future Los Angeles, the film follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a sensitive and introverted man who develops a deep emotional connection with an artificial intelligence operating system named Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). As Theodore navigates the complexities of his relationship with Samantha, ‘Her’ raises profound questions about the nature of love, intimacy, and the impact of technology on human connection.
By Ben W2 years ago in Futurism
Interface
"Since the 1943 phenomenon, the world as we know it has been plagued with an immaterial 'cerebral electricity'. Ghost stories and myths became no longer superstitions, but a horrifying reality that we have been forced to recognize. We have since learned that this electricity was not a foreign substance, that it had been with us all along. It had simply revealed itself to us to observe, to understand..." - Interface
By Tom Baker2 years ago in Futurism
Invasion of the Saucer-Men
The curious thing about Invasion of the Saucer Men is that there are no actual flying saucers in it. Instead, the BEMs (Bug-Eyed Monsters, a coin termed by Stephen King in Danse Macabre, when he was discussing this very film) arrive in a crescent-shaped affair with fins or something on the side and flashing lights that employs a meter or two of fishing line as a propulsion system. At any rate, the Army turns out (all four of 'em) to shoot at it, which is highly advisable I might add, when trying to establish friendly contact with just-landed extraterrestrials. (Just ask Klaatu.)
By Tom Baker2 years ago in Futurism
Hangar 18
Hangar 18 stars Darren McGavin, Robert Vaughn, Gary Collins, John Campanella, and John Hampton, as well as several other notable television actors of the era, in a sci-fi drama about a downed UFO that is scooped up by the government and taken to a supersecret government test facility where they can back engineer it so as not to provide us with free energy, but to advance their guided missile systems and whatnot. Because, baby, aliens or not, WAR IS MONEY.
By Tom Baker2 years ago in Futurism
Movie Review: 'I.S.S' is the First Great Movie of 2024
I.S.S (2024) Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite Written by Nick Shafir Starring Ariana Debose, Chris Messina, Pilou Asbaek, John Gallagher Jr., Costa Ronin
By Sean Patrick2 years ago in Futurism
Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers
1956 was either a stellar year to be an intergalactic flying saucer menace, or a bad one, depending on your perspective. We have Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Invasion of the Saucer Men, The Thing, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers. Whatever heavy trip the space brothers were laying on us that year (and it had more to do than just cleaning up the environment) the message was delivered by an iron fist in a velvety intergalactic space gauntlet. Or some such.
By Tom Baker2 years ago in Futurism
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, is a film I well remember from childhood. At the Community Rec Center at Fort Clayton in Central America, Panama, area of the Canal Zone, they played it on an old-fashioned projection TV. It's the only other film I can remember seeing there, besides this thing with Abbot and Costello or Laurel and Hardy as pirates. I can't remember which it was.
By Tom Baker2 years ago in Futurism
Akira (Anime)
I vaguely remember seeing Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira as a child--and most likely not understanding a minute of it, but just sitting back and letting the animated images of a futuristic "Neo-Tokyo" wash over me. Decades later, watching it yet again, on a digital YouTube social media platform no one could have foreseen in 1988, I was struck by how modern and well-preserved it is, how much it set the bar for decades of similar anime films, having all the earmarks of the various conventions that define the genre.
By Tom Baker2 years ago in Futurism