The Lego Movie

Everything about this film was pretty awesome.

The Lego Movie
2014, 100 minutes, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Oblivion

I avoid Tom Cruise films on principle, but at this point HBO stays until GoT so why not.  Oh, yeah, because I saw this, it was called Moon, and it was better.  Partly because it didn't include Tom Cruise.

Oblivion
2013, 124 minutes, directed by Joseph Kosinski

Star Trek: Into Darkness

I feel like I've seen this before.  Oh yes, I have.  You know, I've had to endure many reboots in the last decade.  The Star Trek one, as mentioned in my previous review, was one of the better ones.  After this film, I may have to retract that.  I'm disappointed both in the parallelisms they choose to keep (come on, radiation from the warp core again?) and the continuity they choose to break (they can get to and from Klingon space in 10 minutes?).  All in all I'm glad I saved this for Netflix.

Star Trek: Into Darkness
2013, 132 minutes, directed by J. J. Abrams

Fantastic Four

2005.  Marvel isn't yet part of the Disney monolith.  Their film rights are scattered among production companies.  Sony, through its Columbia subsidiary, has released Spider Man and its panned sequel.  Fox is in the middle of the first X-Men trilogy.  A film based on Marvel's original heroes, the Fantastic Four, makes perfect sense, and Fox delivers.... something godawful.  The writing is bad, the acting is bad, the plot is horrid and cliché.  Somehow it did well enough to churn out a sequel, but after that the series was canned, and when Fox decided to reboot (set to release in 2015), the negotiations with Disney/Marvel go so badly that Marvel cancels the Fantastic Four comics rather than provide even a little bit of promotion.

One day, the rights will all revert, and Wolverine can be an Avenger, and Spider Man can help Mr. Fantastic.  But not in this generation.  Instead we get dribble like this.

Fantastic Four
2005, 105 minutes, directed by Tim Story

Guardians of the Galaxy

I can picture the day - 1971 - Marvel is flying high with their diverse properties.  But they're all based on Earth.  In the midst of a drug-induced hazed, someone has a bright idea.  Rather than bring a super hero to Earth, why not send a regular guy into space?  And Guardians of the Galaxy is born.*

The film really tries to maintain this campy vibe despite being reset in a modern age, and it delivers.  When you are establishing your base as a talking racoon and a tree, why not throw in a 1970s soundtrack and smooth dance moves?

Guardians of the Galaxy
2014, 122 minutes, directed by James Gunn

* I have no idea if this is how it actually happened.  It seems probable.

Gravity

I drew the short stick for this one, the third and final secret screening of the fest.  Tucked into a broom closet theater, we were relatively certain this was Gravity up to the moment when Sandra Bullock appeared on screen.  (Alas, despite being a resident Austinite, she was filming in Canada and could only send a video greeting.)  What followed was perhaps the best use of 3D imagery I've seen.  The film felt much shorter than the 90 minutes it was billed, as it drives the whole time non-stop towards the inevitable conclusion, barely slowing for a smattering of character development.

Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a science specialist on the latest mission of the space shuttle Explorer, when disaster strikes: a Russian missile test creates Kessler-like high-speed debris, shredding the shuttle and anything else in its path.  Ryan and shuttle commander Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) are the only survivors, tethered together in space, with the only goal to return safely to Earth.

Gravity
2013, 91 minutes, directed by Alfonso Cuarón

Impact

When this made-for-TV movie started a few nights ago, I had no idea Syfy would drag it out into a four-hour sap fest.  In this epic tale, an asteroid - a fragment of a brown dwarf star - has crashed into the moon, causing it to veer and swing towards Earth.  A team of scientists rush to find a solution before the moon impacts our planet, while meanwhile their families suffer the effects of the star's gravity and magnetism.

With a few adjustments and a different ending, I think I saw this in Melancholia a few years ago.  And I hated that film.  And this one was almost worse.

Impact
2008, 180 minutes, directed by Mike Rohl

Red Planet

Part two of my year 2000 Mars film retrospective, Red Planet starts out almost exactly the same as did last week's Mission to Mars - right down to the machine-of-the-gods-style random event just as they reach orbit that nearly derails the mission (and drives most of the survival portion of the action).  Indeed, for a long while it doesn't feel as if any of the crew are safe, to the point that I was beginning to think this was a very high tech snuff film.

Instead, the crew finds Mars air inexplicably breathable, with an atmosphere caused by - something.  But the science has to take a back seat while they race across the surface to reach a way off the planet, before their rescue ship must return home.

They make an effort to explain "gravity" in space, and are even somewhat consistent with its application (and absence as necessary), but most of the special effects budget was spent on AMEE, their military hand-me-down, overly-complicated, psychopathic robotic scout.  Overall, with its solid cast of B-movie actors led by then stars Carrie-Ann Moss (hot from the Matrix) and Val Kilmer, this was a decent B-grade sci fi action film.

Red Planet
2000, 106 minutes, directed by Antony Hoffman

Mission to Mars

Usually, when I see a science fiction film that bothers to explain artificial gravity, I presume they want to pursue some sense of scientific rigor, at least for the mundane things not necessary to advance the "fiction" portion of the science fiction plot.  This was alas my downfall with Mission to Mars, for I tried to evaluate it as a good film, one that would be consistent in its scientific quality.  I was quite dismayed, then, when they let someone survive down to 10% atmospheric pressure - then back up again quickly without getting the bends.  Then there was the free scene in orbit, and I was ready to write the film off as hopeless.

But then it struck me; the gravity answer was the anomaly.  This is actually a bad film where acting, storyline, and accuracy were tossed in favor of vision.  Vision, that is, of the directory or studio execs or whoever cobbled this crap story together.  Recognizing that it was low-grade cinema allowed me to appreciate it for what it is: filler for my Netflix queue.  And as that it was all right.

Mission to Mars
2000, 113 minutes, directed by Brian De Palma

Prometheus

The interstellar ship Prometheus arrives at its destination and a long, cryo-sleep journey: a planet indicated on maps of every major prehistory civilization on Earth.  Perhaps this is the home of our progenitors, our Gods.

As it happens, though, it's not.  Instead it's the home of a living goo that, in the correct circumstances, breeds in the right kind of human to become an Alien of the franchise.  This is a prequel, sort of, but not really.  It's sort of a horror film, but no, not that.  There's some action, but it's certainly not an action film.  Maybe it's a survival film, but that's not really it either.  And since I've never given a reason to develop an emotional attachment to the characters, there's no possibility of suspense.  I wanted spine-tingling insight into the backstory of the Aliens; I got something bland and rambling on screen.

Prometheus
2012, 124 minutes, directed by Ridley Scott

Iron Sky

In a world where Sarah Palin is president, the Moon Nazis return...

Iron Sky
2012, 93 minutes, directed by Timo Vuorensola

I spent an hour in line chatting with acting hopeful Samantha Davilry.  I'm noting her name so I can keep an eye out for film credits.  Good luck!

Green Lantern

I just don't know about this one.  It's too big and too self-absorbed, like it thinks there's nothing silly about a galactic fleet of green superheroes who have a super ring but talk about their lanterns they keep at home in the closet.  And it stars Ryan Reynolds, who simply lacks any facial expression that hints at depth of character.  I understand that the "Lanterns" operate through force of will, and that humans are special because they can act despite fear, but the constant breaks from action to talk about with his friends made it even harder to not notice how hard they tried to push against the inherent cheesiness of the story.  It just doesn't work for me.

And yes, they set us up the sequel.

Green Lantern
2011, 105 minutes, directed by Martin Campbell

Planet 51

This computer-animated film portrays a typical children's humans-are-the-aliens story.  What surprised me, though, was the high level of violence in this PG film.  No, no one dies, except a seemingly sentient bug which is squished under a rock, and two solders who are shown dead and lobotomized (but turn out to survive without their brains later).

I guess "modern" kids have seen worse in their online games and afternoon TV, but really it just seemed excessive.  I'd rate this PG-13.

Planet 51
2009, 91 minutes, directed by Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad, and Marcos Martinez

Pandorum

This movie is pretty predictable but sufficiently fun.  They balance the action necessary to secure funding with some decently challenging cerebral sci fi, all set in the most famous of locales, the deep-space freighter.

Pandorum
2009, 108 minutes, directed by Christian Alvart

Cargo

There seems to be just one a year, and here it is: a true unabashed science fiction film for 2010.  If you liked Gattaca, if you loved Moon, find a way to see this.

Cargo
2009, 120 minutes, directed by Ivan Engler and Ralph Etter

Avatar

I was so set up to be disappointed, but I was so very not.  Yes, it's a very predictable plot.  It's the exact same plot as at least two different films I've seen before.  But that's ok.  Think about a movie you love, one you've seen a dozen times and can quote along with the dialog.  I think of my first viewing of Avatar in that way - totally predictable but emphatically compelling.

Avatar in 3D
2009, 162 minutes, directed by James Cameron

Star Trek

I very much appreciate the nod to continuity as part of the series reboot. I do wish they would stay away from the slapstick comedy and hope they'll work on the dialog for the expected sequels.

Star Trek
2009, 127 minutes, directed by J. J. Abrams

I didn't notice Majel Barrett Roddenberry as the voice of the computer, but caught it in the credits. I realized at that moment that it just felt natural.

Moon

As I've mentioned before (see Sunshine, Gattaca), there is far too little sci fi being created these days. Sure, there's soap opera in space (see Battlestar Galactica), there's western in space (see Firefly), and there's plenty of horror in space. I like all those types, too. But there's too little science fiction in the sense of the true masters. Sci fi is meant to push the boundaries of science, not necessarily a lot, but just a little, to create situations of tenuous morality. Then the science can be set aside and the story is about the people, and how mankind in its brilliance adapts and coexists.

Moon
2009, 97 minutes, directed by Duncan Jones

Gattaca

Not to dwell on a theme, but I tend towards sci fi. My current Netflix offering is Gattaca, a movie I missed in the theater. This is more sci fi than Jumper or similar action movies with a cheesy plot twist; true science fiction doesn't need special effects or choreography.

I quickly disliked the narration during the early flashback, but it was quickly over, and the story arc develops well from there. If you love the science fiction story, you'll enjoy this film.

Gattaca
1997, 106 minutes, directed by Andrew Niccol

Sunshine

Let me start by saying that Google and its services (including Blogger) are very frustrating to use overseas. Yes, I'm in Japan. Yes, most folks in Japan would prefer Japanese versions of these web sites. But I can't speak Japanese and don't even have the character sets installed. Line after line of questions marks aren't very useful, and there are no options to pick a different language.

It's been a few weeks since I last saw a movie. A break is good after the immersion that is a festival such as Fantastic Fest. But yesterday's 12-hour flight to Tokyo with little more than a 6-inch screen to keep me company was a fitting time to delve back into film, and there's no better choice to start with than something from my favorite genre, low-budget sci fi.

With Sunshine, I felt the budget was well used. I was somewhat disappointed with the expected plot twists and some cliché characters, but it was overall a satisfying experience. I'd certainly see it again if stuck on a plane with Evan Almighty as the only other option. (Incidentally, I later made it 10 minutes into Evan before giving up, so no review is forthcoming.)

Sunshine
2007, 107 minutes, directed by Danny Boyle