Ech, it is a stinker. I wouldn't at least, if you want my personal recommendation. I don't know how it has a 7.1 rating on IMDB (those numbers are pretty much always rubbish for anything made in the last 15 years). Something I might watch on cable for free, but even then requires a bit of patience not to change the channel. It is basically a poor episode of an anthology sci-fi show (e.g. neo-Outer Limits or something) that they stretched out into a feature.

I finally gave in and watched Interstellar (I was so fed up with Nolan's attitude of 'this will be the new 2001' and the guy still owes me 20 bucks for the clusterfuck that was TDKR that I actually did not want to give him any more of my money).
This could have been taken right out of my mouth, it is just missing curses: What bothers me most is the praise it gets from all sides.

I hope The Martian can rebuild my faith in SciFi.
100% agree on all points.

Oh and I watched Chappie and really liked it. Of course it has some big problems and my expectations might have been low after Elysium but I was well entertained.

Actually, funny you bring up Chappie here, as it is related to what kind of got me thinking about starting this dicussion. I will save the review for that here, as it has already had plenty of attention in its own thread, but what brought me to this point is actually Alien.

So, with all the recent reboots, rehashes, prequels, etc., etc., I was mentioning to someone a few weeks back how one thing I actually think they could, maybe do right is a new installment in the Alien franchise. Now, there is a HUGE caveat here. I don't want this to be a reboot, sequel, prequel, or any other such BS. No need for Ripley (she was great, but you killed that completely now with A:R ). Aliens (the xenomorphs that is) have such potentional because they have been estalished as existing across the galaxy/universe(?) in several hundreds of years timeframe. Thus, I think this is just screaming to do another movie featuring them as the monster/antagonist, that has NOTHING to do with any of the previously made films. You don't even need to have humans, and you certainly don't need to build any connection to Earth. A new setting, new story, new characters. Just give us 'horror in space', a confrontation with the completely unknown, which IS what made Alien one of the best horror AND sci-fi movies ever made. But. I really don't want them to fuck this up. Aliens has been such an amazing franchise and something I love so much, I really don't want them to shit all over it. It has to be done right. Seeing what they did to other beloved films in the past couple decades, makes me wish they would steer clear of using any source material from movies in the 70s and 80s. But also a part of me wants to see a great Alien movie, precisley because I am a huge fan. Here is the thing though, yes, they will likely never make a good movie, and will never approach the calibre of the old ones, but looking at what they have already done to the franchise now as of 2015, I almost think it couldn't get any worse. A:R (and, depending on your view, A3) plus the AvP movies, then Prometheus, have really sucked the joy out of it already. So mightn't we try to get something decent then, at least? Is a potential horrible installment in a failing franchise worsening it? Hard to say. [in the case of Prometheus I say yes, but I can't go back and unsee it now unfortunately.]

Okay, so here we go. Getting us to now, where I have since learned that Blomkamp is currently working on an Alien project. This is potentially great news, or extremely depressing, depending on how you approach it. The main thing I will mention, [angry spoilers] is that he has stated he wants to bring back Ripley, Newt, and possibly even Hicks. (Aaarrghhh!) Why, I ask you? Nevermind the age differences now, and believability, that storyline has played out.

In any case, discuss/take this as you will. If anyone is interested though in critical analysis of where Blomkamp might take us, here is a solid article on what he might do with his take on an Alien film, and why we should, or shouldn't, be worried.

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospect ... franchise/

I like low budget or surreal sci-fi so here is my list with IMDB links. I have more recommendations if people want them.

An American Astronaut
Stingray Sam
Nothing Lasts Forever
Dark Star

Ahhhhh, thanks! I had forgotten the title of this movie. I actually stumbled upon it several weeks back, watched the first 10m but didn't have time to finish it - but wanted to. Now I can go back and watch the whole thing!


I watched Ascension a few weeks back and agree with your take. Great idea, terrible acting AND casting. I made it all the way through - only 6 (?) episodes, so it was easy enough.
I remember liking Upstream Color, but that's about all I remember! Should probably watch it again - much like Primer it probably gets better with multiple viewings.
Red Mars TV series? As in Red/Green/Blue Mars book trilogy? Sweet! I was going to read the books, but after reading a ton of old sci-fi, and being underimpressed by nearly all of it, I think I'll just wait for TV on this one.

Looks really good! Except for that fedora - haha!


Agreed on both counts! Loved the movie, love Chris Foss' work and am happy to be able to put a name to it.
Also, that book Jodorowsky made in preparation for filming is amazing! I really wish someone would publish it so I could own a copy.

Oh yeah - wanted to comment on this, too. I purposely didn't mention it because that just opens up the entire Marvel universe, which is fun, but could dominate an otherwise great sci-fi conversation.

Yes indeed! Maybe even some Purple elements! I barely read old sci-fi anymore for the same reason, but while I read the Mars trilogy some time ago (ten years or so), it feels like something that can withstand the test of time: much more political than spare opera-y. Epic in the scope it encompasses. It's definitely not easy reading, especially the first volume, but you'd be doing yourself a disservice not reading it. While I'm excited about the tv series, there is -no way- they'll be able to achieve the same scope. That + the last news I saw on the adaptation dates from September: http://www.thewrap.com/game-of-thrones- ... fi-series/

Hmmm, thanks for the mini-review, but I'm still unconvinced. What I have the hardest time with is the clunky writing that makes up so much of the older sci-fi books. The nuts and bolts prose is just bad. I can't deal with it anymore. The worst were the later books in the Rama series - OMG how did I ever suffer through all that terrible writing!?! I just finished A Mote In God's Eye the other night, and while not even remotely as bad as the Rama books, I think it's going to be the last pre-1990 sci-fi book that I read. There are just way too many books in my to-read list to bother with bad writing - even if they are beloved classics that helped define the genre. The only good, old sci-fi books that I can recall are 2001 and Dune.

That's why I'm excited for movies & TV shows that are based on classic sci-fi books - I can get the story without having to suffer! Speaking of, I think I heard a while back that Foundation is going to be made into a TV series? Perfect! I read the first book, enjoyed the ideas but not the writing, and learned from Rama that it probably wasn't worth continuing the series.

Thanks. It's free on Amazon, so I may give it a whirl some day.

Well I generally agree with you, I hope you've simply momentarily forgotten about Vonnegut and PKD.



Foundation is a great series if you read it as a teenager, but reading it again was not a good idea, especially the prequels. The latest news on that series is fairly old as well (http://www.thewrap.com/interstellars-jo ... exclusive/). I can't see the fact that there's only one recurring character with a usually very minor role work for the tv series format though. Will be hard to sell it to producers...

I am ashamed to say that I haven't read any Vonnegut. I don't know how I made it through high school - let alone all the years after high school - without having read any. Especially since my best friend since 4th grade counts him as his favorite author! One of these days...
PKD? Again, I have a hard time with his prose - it's bland and clunky. The stories are good, but the writing is meh.
While on the topic of old sci-fi books, I should clarify my opinion - if you go back MUCH further back (Verne) there's some really great stuff. But I've been disappointed with the "golden age" from Bradbury to Asimov.

To get back on topic of filmed sci-fi I'll throw out some that I haven't seen in a while, but that I remember liking: The Thing, Blade Runner, Firefly/Serenity (which Expanse reminds me of), 5th Element, Planet of the Apes (both original and newest re-boot - not the Tim Burton crap). Sunshine, the new BSG might be my favorite TV series. Oh, and Tron is an all-time favorite!

great thread. I haven't been interested in any new scifi really.

most of my favorites have been listed.
2001 and Bladerunner are in my top 5 movies of any genre.
but Ill add Videodrome. Some of the coolest effects in that one.

I'm gonna go on record here as liking Prometheus. The Alien sequels I couldn't care less about. Of course I could watch the original every week (along with The Thing).

Even though it could never possibly live up to the books, I'm super excited about the Hyperion miniseries (which has been rumored for years, but now has new life): http://arstechnica.com/the-multiverse/2 ... nt-series/

The Hyperion/Endymion books are my favorite sci-fi books - and possibly my favorite books ever. I just wish SyFy would make it a MEGAseries rather than a miniseries.

Although most are dated I still have a thing for many of the 80's films, the cult movie era.

In no order...
Blade Runner
Buckeroo Banzai
Flash Gordon
Road Warrior

Planet of the Apes (1st and 3rd runs)

Predestination
Her
Super8
Fury Road

Prometheus has all the elements for a great Sci-Fi movie. So much potential. Whenever I watch it, I can almost see the movie that could have been.
But then I get sad. And then I get mad.

Just watched Transcendence. It wasn't good by any measure, but it was just interesting enough to hold my attention. But probably only because of my deep love for sci-fi, especially when current infant technologies are involved. The best part was probably Elon Musk's cameo, in which he didn't say a word and was just a face in a crowd.
Johnny Depp is terrible - how does he keep getting jobs? I think he's probably my least favorite actor.

SyFy will be airing Childhood's End by Clarke in December as a miniseries. I'm looking forward to this.

I like how December miniseries have been an annual event for SyFy lately, although they may not be the best overall individually. Ascension was enjoyable, but the ending was weak.

Would Monsters from 2010 count as sci-fi? It's life in a world influenced by alien events, but they don't serve as the main antagonistic threat. I liked the film overall.

How about Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within? It was a decent CG sci-fi tale. (Advent Children was killer though.)

Monsters definitely counts. Its sequel however, Monsters: Dark Continent - which I have not seen, but has been described as yet another 'Murica/US Army vs. Taliban/terrorists film, also more aptly titled as Monsters: in the background - does not. That movie just sounds awful. You took a decent indie flick (written, directed, and edited by one person, done on a small budget) where the titular monsters played such a key role, though the film wasn't about them in the end, and just trashed it by making a sequel to cash in on it shoehorning the idea into whatever lame-brained war action script you had lying around. The unoriginality of the movie "business" is killing the industry.

Agreed. I heard the same thing about the sequel. Heard it was slow too.
Last year's Godzilla was directed by the same writer/director as the original Monsters, Gareth Edwards.

BUT WHAT ABOUT PIXELS?

Sci-Fi flix are my favorites, so waaaay too many to list and discuss. But among my favorites is Casshern. Should be up the alley of collectors on this board (the vintage vinyl figures are ever popular).

In terms of recent viewings:

- Avoid Jupiter Ascending at all costs! One of the worst films I have ever seen. From the absurd costumes and dialogue, to the ridiculous creature designs, to the horrendous acting, this movie is an utter abomination. I could not even finish watching it (despite the unintentional comedic element).

- Predestination was so-so. It was pretty obvious half-way through what was happening.

- Project Almanac was better than I expected. Nothing new here, but decent.

- Coherence was pretty cool. Definitely worth a watch. I wonder if anyone else here saw this.

- Edge of Tomorrow and Snowpiercer are both good. Recommended.

- People mentioned Primer and Upstream Color. Both were good, and I really dug the latter. But expect a slow crawl.

I have Lazarous Effect and Ex Machina at home - will watch them soon.

Boooooo!!



Really though, this is a pretty terrible time (especially summer) for movies.

Too bad, too. Obvious reasons aside, I was digging the new old-video game effects, but at least I still have Wreck-It Ralph.