The MoFo Top 100 Sci-Fi Films: Countdown

Oh, there's nothing wrong with Paul Verhoeven. He directed Basic Instinct, yes?

Well if you actually checked out some of the clubs before bashing them and taking the piss, then you'd know the answer to this question.

Because what is the POINT of these clubs anyway?

You click a button and all of a sudden you're part of a club. That's ALL you do.

It is! That's partly by design: instead of delaying this and adding features that may or may not be interesting to people, I decided to launch a bare-bones version so I can collect feedback and figure out what to add.

For example: do people mainly just want an easy way to signal who their favorite directors are, in the way they display their favorite movies? Do they want to be able to easily find lots of stuff about the director in one place? Do they want to make it easier for new people to discover them and start discussions about them? Or something else entirely?

I'll do this classic update thingy too, then...

17. Twelve Monkeys*(1995)
18. Close Encounters of the Third Kind*(1977)

Also... predictions...

I'm probably completely wrong on this. As I've come to learn, I suck at knowing the taste of this forum... This time I tried combining my gut feeling with the opposite of what I would usually do. And this is what came out of it. I don't know, let's see...

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey*(1968)
2. Terminator 2: Judgement Day*(1991)
3. Star Wars*(1977)
4. The Empire Strikes Back*(1980)
5. The Terminator*(1984)
6. Alien*(1979)
7. Blade Runner*(1982)
8. Back to the Future*(1985)
9. The Matrix*(1999)
10. Aliens*(1986)
11. The Thing*(1982)
12. A Clockwork Orange*(1971)
13. The Fly (1986)
14. Jurassic Park*(1993)
15. Planet of the Apes*(1968)
16. WALL.E*(2008)
17. Twelve Monkeys*(1995)
18. Close Encounters of the Third Kind*(1977)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)



Richard Dreyfuss gives his greatest performance as visionary power lineman Roy Neary, caught in an enigma he cannot understand but refuses to ignore, even at the expense of losing his family. Spielberg tells the story impressionistically with a series of striking scenes which he never really explains and leaves it up to the audience to tie the thing together. In that way, we experience the film the same way as Neary and his family do. There is also a scientific team, led by François Truffaut, trying to figure out what's going on, but rest assured, things come to a beautifully-moving conclusion. In fact, the final 45 minutes is almost like a mini-movie opera all by itself, but one which is suffused in warm light and hope with no tragedy.

Planet of the Apes (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968) +



No matter how many times I watch the original Planet of the Apes, I come away thinking that it borders on being a perfect movie. I mean, I see some continuity errors and a lapse in logic here and there, but none of those mistakes are significant at all. What IS significant is the beauty of Rod Serling's and Michael Wilson's screenplay and Franklin J. Schaffner's brilliant direction, especially his use of locations in the Southwestern U.S. I am one of the few people around here who actually believes that Charlton Heston is an excellent actor, and this is his best, most-complex performance in my opinion. The way he can be all for himself and think that being "prepared to die" is a ridiculous notion, whether for your country or any other reason, immediately makes me like his cynical character. I need to mention Jerry Goldsmith's score, which I also believe to be his best; it's just one of the weirdest things you'll ever hear which perfectly suits the film, and yes, I mean it may even be weirder than a Morricone score. The ideas which the film presents concerning evolution, religion, and the treatment of animals are all spot-on, and when you add in one of the greatest endings in film history, I don't think I need to repeat my original point again.

I really just want you all angry and confused the whole time.

More good ones that I didn't vote for.