The 2nd Science Fiction Hall of Fame

Anti-Woke

05-23-19

What would a science fiction HoF be without The Twilight Zone...

Originally Posted by pahaK

Seconds (1966) N

A man who's bored and disappointed with his life is given a chance to start anew by a mysterious company.

I hate to repeat myself but Seconds is, once again, a film that feels like elongated episode of The Twilight Zone. It's not the worst complaint a film can have but a complaint nonetheless. As a result the ending is pretty obvious for a long time and the extra minutes compared to a TV episode feel unnecessary.

Early on Seconds builds a feeling of anxiety and paranoia really well (why does our protagonist feel like that is never explained but the effect itself is brilliant). Especially the train sequence was very nice. Unfortunately this is clearly the best part of the film.

The selling speech makes very little sense (maybe in the 60s people believed everything they were told but somehow I doubt that). After the operation starts an extended party sequence that bored the hell out of me. Wilson acts in almost random way and there's very little building towards the ending.

And the twist (I don't even know if something as predictable should be called a twist) is honestly rather stupid. There's no way that all of these people smart enough to build wealth needed to buy them a new life could be so naive. On one hand the whole business seems to rely on stupidity of its customers but then on the other it needs them to be smart enough to keep it secret. As a whole the writing is mediocre at best.

Outside of writing the cinematic qualities are good. The first act is by far the best in this regard with its inventive camerawork and intensity. Despite of the bit shaky characters acting itself is good too. Only the middle part drags on for too long - an issue that's amplified by its meaninglessness and film's well telegraphed ending. Definitely not my favorite type of science fiction but somewhat OK still.

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CosmicRunaway

Winner by Default

05-23-19

Liquid Sky (1982)
Directed By: Slava Tsukerman
Starring: Anne Carlisle, Paula E. Sheppard, Otto von Wernherr

At first glance, Liquid Sky seems to be all style and no substance � other than the illegal kind that is � but over the course of the film, feminist themes and pointed social commentary begin to emerge and take shape. The result is an interesting concept that is open to a number of different interpretations, and I imagine that multiple screenings would help viewers appreciate the smaller details. However, under the flashy costumes and bold make-up, the film itself is quite uneven and often struggles to rise above its own limitations.

While Anne Carlisle did an adequate job as Margaret, her performance as Jimmy was incredibly poor, and proved detrimental to most of his scenes. Even though it was obvious from the start that they were played by the same person, shots that contained both characters were well framed and edited to minimize distractions. The speech Margaret gives at the end of the photo shoot was actually quite good as well, and if more of the film had been like that, it would've been a far more enjoyable experience.

I usually like synthesizer-heavy music, but the soundtrack for Liquid Sky did not sit well with me. It was incredibly abrasive, and I could never tell if it was legitimately trying to set a mood, or just be intentionally irritating. A line late in the film bemoaning the expectation of artists to be kind to their audiences could make the latter option quite plausible, but if that were the case, it could've been handled with more finesse. Then again, subtly is not exactly in the film's vocabulary, and that's one of the aspects that makes it so intriguing. The more I reflect on the film, the more forgiving I am of its flaws, so it definitely needs more time to settle before casting judgment.

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Citizen Rules

Noir Time

05-23-19

@pahaK I totally agreed with your thoughts on Seconds. I felt exactly the same way. I'm not sure why it's considered an underground sci fi classic? Maybe it's the last desperate moments, that stick with fans of the film...

I forgot who nominated Seconds, but I'm really glad you did

Millions of people love and respect it and it's been a great film for this HoF as it's been topical.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

05-23-19

Originally Posted by CosmicRunaway

Liquid Sky (1982)

While Anne Carlisle did an adequate job as Margaret, her performance as Jimmy was incredibly poor, and proved detrimental to most of his scenes. Even though it was obvious from the start that they were played by the same person, shots that contained both characters were well framed and edited to minimize distractions.

I think it was Pahak who said he didn't realize they were the same person until the credits rolled...Well guess what? I didn't realize they were one in the same person either. In fact I kept stopping the film and telling my wife that Jimmy was a male actor playing the role like a girl. I was so sure! I even pointed to Jimmy's adam's apple and light mustache as proof

Seriously I was confused! I didn't even know Jimmy was played by a female let alone Anne Carlisle. Of course if I had paid attention I would have noticed they had the same hair color and hair cut, other than Margaret had some color splashes in her hair.

CosmicRunaway

Winner by Default

05-24-19

Originally Posted by Citizen Rules

I think it was Pahak who said he didn't realize they were the same person until the credits rolled...Well guess what? I didn't realize they were one in the same person either.

Yeah, I just read that in pahak's write up. I guess it was only obvious to me then? Maybe I should edit that line in my review haha.

I called it within seconds, but paused the film to see if the characters were played by a pair of female twins instead of just one woman. I was expecting some sort of big reveal towards the end, but their similarities were mostly brushed under the rug, with only the occasional mention of how they look the same.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

05-24-19

Originally Posted by CosmicRunaway

You're observant, sometimes I am too, but I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention...at least I got the aliens shrimp joke

CosmicRunaway

Winner by Default

05-24-19

Originally Posted by pahaK

I hate to repeat myself but Seconds is, once again, a film that feels like elongated episode of The Twilight Zone

I wonder how many films that description would fit. We could probably do a Twilight Zone-esque HoF haha.

Also, every time someone mentions the Twilight Zone, I get the Golden Earring song stuck in my head, so it is now the official theme song for this HoF.

Okay

movies can be okay...

05-24-19

Minority Report (2002) by Steven Spielberg

This is actually the first Spielberg movie I've quite liked.

First of all, the film is thematically great. At the beginning, I thought that the philosophical conflict and paradox that the movie was trying to present was frankly stupid. I just couldn't seriously take Colin Farrell debating with a straight face, whether the precrime program is a good thing or not. Meanwhile, he's backing up his position with silly arguments such as: "oh, well they never actually commit the crime, therefore they didn't break any law hehe". The actual conversation between Farrell and Cruise was well presented, but what pissed me off about it was that I knew in real life there really would be some smartass popping up with those kind of ackchyuallys.

Anyway, the film did surprisingly end up making me take a second glance at the precrime system, when it showcased the valid argument that is Tom Cruise's predicament. It really made me deeply think of the importance of choice, the complexity of human emotions and their unpredictable nature. It even made me swallow my own words about Farrell's ideology (I still say he oversimplified the matter, which's why I initially took it the wrong way), then it led me to deduce that the precogs really can't really predict the future, really. Speaking of the precogs, their design, aesthetic, along with Agatha's mannerisms and overall character, it was all handled exceptionally well. And that ain't the only thing that was quite impressive. The world of Minority Report itself is one to gush over, as it is filled from head to toe with endless genius ideas, designs, and technologies. I especially enjoyed how companies advertise their products through holograms, who directly speak and seduce passersby by even using their initial names.

One thing the film didn't excel at, at all, is the fight sequences. They look ridiculous. And I can't even say that they aged badly, because there's no age where I wouldn't find them goofy. It's not necessarily because of the special effects (although, the jet packs weren't a good look whenever they were in action), or even the choreography that seems out of a whole other flick, but it's more so because of the mere existence of these action sequences at all in this kind of film. Seeing people's properties get ridiculously destroyed as a repercussion of these ridiculous movie fights has always been a pet peeve of mine, and it also doesn't help how it is out of character for Cruise's character to contribute in such riot, but whatever. The most shocking scene for me however was the fist fight between Tom and Colin. I quite literally had to stand up to check if that was really happening on my screen. It was absurd.

In conclusion, Minority Report is a pretty good film. It sure has all types of flaws, but it still achieves most of what it sets out to do, therefore, it's good in my book. It's also one of the few films out there that have a second third act :P

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Citizen Rules

Noir Time

05-24-19

Minority Report (2002)

High marks to the story concept of Minority Report, and that's thanks to the sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick who also penned the novel Blade Runner.

Minority Report did indeed feel a lot like Blade Runner. There was the same roguish law enforcement individual, who finds himself violating society's future laws and goes on the run. Then there's the humans who aren't quite the same as everyone else. They have unique abilities and those abilities cause them to be treated like objects, all for the benefit of society. Then there's the same invasive technology that has been usurped by commercialism and used to sell goods via personalized ads that follow you around like a bad rash where ever you go.

I found the concept of the movie to be deep...but damn if good old Steven Spielberg didn't come along and muck up a great sci fi movie with his bloated chase scenes and product placement that most have brought in millions.

Image for a moment if Spielberg had directed Blade Runner and instead of the deep existential story about what it means to be human, we'd get Harrison Ford driving cars down the sides of buildings and flying through air as he leaps for his life like some reject from an amusement park ride. And image if Spielberg had taken the visual beauty from Blade Runner and replaced it with yet another assembly line looking Dream Works movie...Luckily Spielberg didn't get his hands on Blade Runner but he sure did a number on Minority Report. This could have been great, an equal to Blade Runner...But instead this unique vision by Philip K. Dicks was aborted and demoted to 'Hollywood movie making magic'.

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CosmicRunaway

Winner by Default

05-25-19

Videodrome, Seconds, D�j� Vu, and now Minority Report. Reviews seem to keep popping up in pairs! (though Videodrome had a three review run not just two)

Strangely, I was going to rewatch either Minority Report or Gattaca yesterday, but I went with Gattaca. We're almost on the same wavelength haha.

CosmicRunaway

Winner by Default

05-25-19

Gattaca (1997)
Directed By: Andrew Niccol
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, Uma Thurman

Gattaca combines retro aesthetics with modern architecture to create a cold, sterile environment that is the perfect backdrop for its dystopian setting. Gattaca's world is emotionally stunted, just like much of its population, and the film's slow, deliberate pace serves the narrative well. It focuses on the real fears many people have about eugenics, while also managing to tell an uplifting story about human perseverance and fighting against the odds.

The actors all do a great job playing intentionally stilted and distant characters without alienating the audience. There is a heavy reliance on their individual screen presence and chemistry with one another, so their performances become integral to enjoying the film. I'd personally prefer to see more of Jude Law, but since Vincent is the one we're supposed to sympathise with, a deeper exploration of Law's character is not exactly necessary.

In a society where science has discovered how to engineer nearly perfect humans, both Vincent and Jerome are proof that genetics can't predict a person's potential. Valids are not guaranteed to live up to their supposed destinies, and in-valids have the capacity to be more than what society thinks of them. While the parallels with our existing forms of discrimination are not exactly subtle, the film does a good job making its themes central to the plot, without being too heavy-handed. It's an accessible, yet still thought-provoking film that I'm always happy to revisit.

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Okay

movies can be okay...

05-25-19

Originally Posted by pahaK

There is no plan to murder when the prevision about Anderton is received (unlike with all the other crimes referenced) and the whole chain of events would never happen without the prevision. Also the way things play out is more like a crime of passion which should show up only minutes before the event anyway.

I say the murder is premeditated by Leo Crow himself, since he came in there with the intentions and plan of getting killed. There's also another way to look it, with Lamar being the premeditator, as that whole scheme was of his invention. I do agree that the method used by Lamar to set up Tom Cruise is simply impossible and only leads to a paradox. It didn't bother me too much though, because without it there's no movie.

Originally Posted by pahaK

There are other inconsistencies with the precogs too. They were only supposed to see the murders but still Agatha sees all shorts of irrelevant minor stuff when she helps Anderton to evade the police. The whole going nation-wide plan is weird; the three precogs are sold as unique individuals meaning they should already see crimes nation-wide if the project would be able to expand (yet in the end they live in recluse so that they don't get their annoying previsions).

If you really want, you can find some sort of hole or contradiction in every page of the script, as much as you can cover them up with far fetched excuses. But the point of the film is not to get all of the logistics and technicalities right, but rather to build an engrossing tale with decent enough characters, while also presenting conflicting questions and moral dilemmas to the viewers, which at least can lead them to questioning their pre-existing values and codes.

If you want though, Agatha was stated to be the most gifted out of the 3 precogs, so whatever that means, it can somewhat explain her seeing the immediate future.

There could also have been some kind of weird system, made by the company, that filters out the previsions of murders outside of D.C. Or maybe, the plan of going nation-wide comes with the expansion of more precogs candidates. The point is, one surely can do some mental gymnastics to answer these kinds of questions.

Originally Posted by pahaK

I also hated the visual style of the film. Terrible over-saturation and lens flare all the time. I'm quite sure that seeing this in theaters would actually hurt my eyes.

Personally didn't mind it. Actually, I even thought it was a pretty cool aesthetic. Mainly because I've never seen it done before, or at least not as boldly.

Originally Posted by pahaK

or plain stupid (streets adds speaking to individuals on a crowded street).

I say it's genius

rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

05-25-19

Coherence

This was a pretty pleasant surprise for me. The thing that gets me hooked is that the director gets you to care about what is going on. Thematically the film gets you to think about how you would respond in the characters shoes and I appreciate filmmaking like that a lot.

A lot of the acting was improv, a huge gamble that can certainly blow up in the directors face but it worked for me here. It seemed like the obvious things that might happen didn't happen, so it kept the viewer on it's toes for the duration of the film.

The editing was bad but I tried to look past it. The acting isn't Grand either but the characters seem to have a chip on their shoulder for the most part. They did what they needed to do. I was quite surprised by this.

ahwell

Registered User

05-25-19

Videdrome

A unique and brilliant film, Videodrome probably should have made my list for the horror countdown, but I hadn't watched it. Now that I have, I definitely would have replaced something else with it. I liked the characters for the most part, the script wasn't bad for a completely plot driven movie, and the themes about American immersion and obsession were really well thought out. Some of the flaws were in the pacing, I think it actually got better at the end except for the last five minutes, hated that "Long live the flesh!" portion of the film. It just seemed so pointless. Anyways, there are some bigger flaws and minor flaws but it was overall a really fun and interesting watch.

CosmicRunaway

Winner by Default

05-25-19

The thread's been open for a month now, and the HoF has been in full swing for 3 weeks so I think it's time for some statistics:

Seconds has been the most reviewed film to date, sitting at 6 write-ups.
Minority Report and Videodrome are in a close second with 5 each.

We currently have 39 total reviews, and every film has been covered at least once.
We've reviewed an average of 3 films each.

edarsenal

Women will be your undoing, P�p�

05-25-19

Thanks for stats, Cosmic!
Always great to see those. I'll be be another Seconds review later today along with a comment or two on recent reviews since I'm only on my phone presently.

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pahaK

Anti-Woke

05-25-19

Another causality loop movie to accompany Minority Report.

Originally Posted by pahaK

Timecrimes (2007) N

When man is suddenly attacked by a masked assailant he flees to nearby research facility and finds himself in quite a mess.

Timecrimes is very basic and formulaic time travel movie. That doesn't mean it's a bad film though but it just feels like I've seen it many times before. After H�ctor had answered the phone the basic premise of the film was clear as day (and that's without any prior knowledge of the movie outside it's name and the fact it's science fiction).

Like so often with time travel movies the logic and causality of the events is sketchy (or paradoxical). I have no idea what stance modern physics has towards such causality loops but, just like with Minority Report, to my classical physics tuned brain they just seem wrong. Probably because of that I've never been a huge fan of such films.

Despite being little generic and having the causality issues Timecrimes is slightly above average among its kind. I don't think it's precisely better written than majority but I like how it feels almost like a parody at times (something about the characters and the events as a whole is just off). I also like the ending that's not a typical Hollywood happy ending but extremely selfish and morally flexible "happy" ending.

In short Timecrimes is a typical indie science fiction. It doesn't try anything ambitious and doesn't really fail but also lacks the courage to reach for greatness.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

05-25-19

I've been mostly agreeing with pahak on the films. I'll have to watch Timecrimes soon and see if that trend continues or not. I've not seen Timecrimes before.

Citizen Rules

Noir Time

05-25-19

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Nah, my review isn't going to be all about Anne Francis, though it could be! This is about how Forbidden Planet became one of the most important sci-fi films to be made and literally changed the future...Not only the future of sci fi films, but the future of women's fashions...I'm talking the mini skirt and mini dress. I just didn't make that triplicate panel of Anne Francis for window dressing...Look at what she's wearing in 1956, a mini-dress, a very short mini-dress! Women in the 1950s would never have dressed like that, but in a futuristic sci-fi film they were able to show that. A decade later and women all over the western world would be wearing super short attire and thanks in large part to Forbidden Planet.

Of course the biggest contribution this classic 50s sci fi made was in directly influencing the most iconic of sci fi TV shows, Star Trek. One can't help but notice how much of Star Trek was directly lifted from Forbidden Planet. Such as:

As soon as the title credits in Forbidden Planet rolls we see a wide angle shot of a star field and then one of those stars grows bigger as it comes closer to the screen, then the 'star' comes close enough for us to see it's a ship...Star Trek did the exact same shot in the opening title credits.

The story of mankind spreading out into space, exploring and colonizing it in the 23rd century, sounded just like Star Trek's mission. In Forbidden Planet they travel to a distant planet to rescue a Earth ship that had crashed 20 years earlier. When they get there they find aging scientist and one of them has a beautiful daughter who's highly cerebral and educated, but ignorant of men..as she's never seen one. That's very much like the original pilot for Star Trek, The Cage.

I could go on but let me just end this by saying Forbidden Planet broke new ground by including deep scientific techo-talk and giving the world a more adult story of existentialism in a sci fi story. This moved sci fis from kid movies, to more serious films thus allowing films like 2001 A Space Odyssey to be made.

A few more photos to show the influence of Forbidden Planet on sci fi. See if you recognize these.

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CosmicRunaway