Science Fiction Tagged Articles at Cinematical

There was a time, I know I was there, when men were men, women were women and sometimes a cigar was just a good smoke. But 40 years of feminism have taken their toll. The war against masculinity has been won. Everything has turned into its opposite, so that what was once flirting and smoking is now sexual harassment and criminal. And everyone is more lonely and miserable as a result. --Dirk Benedict

To some, there is no villain more evil, more destructive, and more unwanted than the female race. We're a scourge that needs to be stopped, having mutilated the business industry and now ravaging the hallowed halls of media. Yes, this is a criminally outdated mindset, but nevertheless, the idea thrives for many groups as Hollywood and television diversify the ranks. In essence, adding more women to the mix has evoked a territorial "Give me my man-tainment!" outcry -- just one step away from a "Girls have cooties!" defense.

I bring this up for two reasons. First, as I stated last week, we've got villains on the brain this month at Cinematical. Two, a little surfing over at io9 brought up this: "Is Science Fiction Feminized Or Is It Sexist? Both." That led to reading the original rant that inspired the post, and then something I can't believe I missed: Dirk Benedict -- the man who played the original Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica and Faceman in The A-Team -- ranting about the castration of manly entertainment.

Naturally, reading all that made me want to jump into the topic here and add my own .02.

Continuing with our 2009 preview series, I've got an overview of what awaits us (non-comic-book) sci-fi/fantasy geeks this coming year.

Salivating:

- Coraline (Feb. 6) - Henry Selick + Neil Gaiman + some awfully creepy button-eyes.
- Push (Feb. 6) - Solely because Paul McGuigan (Wicker Park, Lucky Number Slevin) makes lovely, elegant films.
- Star Trek (May 8) - I'm kind of a Trekkie. Plus, that trailer.
- Game (Sep. 4) - Neveldine/Taylor are genre geniuses; if anyone can breathe new life into the futuristic-video-game genre, it's them.
- Pandorum (Sep. 4) - No pedigree, but that concept is right up my alley.
- 9 (Sep. 9) - Looks like beautiful, hyperstylized, post-apocalyptic sci-fi; sold.
- The Box (Nov. 6) - Because "extended Twilight Zone episode" isn't a criticism, it's a compliment.
- Avatar (Dec. 18) - You know why.

You know what I call 18 consecutive days of horror, sci-fi, action foreign, indie, obscure, and generally weird movies? Well obviously I call it heaven, but most normal people refer to it as Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival, which runs every July and throws a couple hundred features and shorts to a very ravenous crowd of genre freaks. And with folks like Mitch Davis, Tony Timpone, and Todd Brown (among others) on the programming end, you could probably just book a flight to Montreal without even checking the official Fantasia website.

I'm still not sure if I can make the trek up north next month, but I have been invited and (based mainly on the recently-released full lineup of flicks) I can pretty much guarantee that the current registrants are in for one hell of a good time. Among their selected titles, I can very strongly recommend All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, Dance of the Dead, Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, Let the Right One In, Mother of Tears, [REC], Stuck, and Timecrimes -- plus they're offering solid titles like Fear(s) of the Dark, The Objective, Red, Second Skin, and Spine Tingler. Among the stuff I'm still drooling to see: Babysitter Wanted, Dark Floors, Midnight Meat Train, Pig Hunt, Repo: The Genetic Opera, and (of course) a new Uwe Boll flick. Plus this festival seems to offer more "Asian weirdness" movies than you'll ever find in one place. At least a dozen that look and sound certifiably insane, unless you'd define Tokyo Gore Police and Negative Happy Chain as "mainstream."

For a complete schedule, lineup, trailer bank, and tons of geeky goodness (in your choice of English or French!), click here and then here. (Montreal's not all that far away...)

I'm not always a big fan of the bang-bang, action-packed sort of sci-fi flicks that seem to so permeate theaters these days, but give me a good, intelligent story with a unique premise and interesting characters and I'm there. The first few minutes in I was going to like Puzzlehead, but I ended up getting drawn into its story and liking it quite a lot. The film is set in some undefined, presumably post-Apocalyptic, typically depressing, futuristic reality (why is the future always so damn depressing in sci-fi?) where all science and technology resources have been redirected towards one common goal: repopulation. Other uses of technology are strictly verboten.

We're not really told the whys and wherefores of this in the voiceover intro, all we know is that Walter, the protagonist (or, more properly, one of the two protagonists) managed to squirrel away as much as he could before "they" could stop him, and he's now using said equipment to build an android version of himself - Puzzlehead, the narrator of the story. We also aren't told why exactly Walter would choose to name his super-sized Mini-Me a name like Puzzlehead, but we can suppose he had his reasons; at any rate, Puzzlehead's name, as we come to learn, is quite apt. Part of the process of Walter bringing Puzzlehead to life involves him electronically infusing the android with his own thoughts and memories, which is apparently a painful (assuming androids can feel pain, or at least electrical impulses they can translate as painful) and disconcerting process. Once the infusion is complete, Walter wakes up his wooden puppet and begins teaching him how to be a real boy.

All you sci-fi fans who have been waiting anxiously for news on Russian director Fyodor Bondarchuk's Inhabited Island -- the folks at Twitch have you covered. They dug around and found some concept art for the big-budget flick over at Quantum Creations, and I have to say (and this is coming from someone who's admittedly not a huge fan of the sci-fi genre in general) that the art looks pretty darn cool.

It appears from the artwork that the island in question is going to be inhabited by a bevy of wicked-looking creepy creatures, including an appropriately scary werewolf, a weird hooked creature with a tale and a really ugly mug, something called "The Angler," which reminds me a lot of the design for the monsters from the Alien films, at least one "Dark Elf," and a "Snow Devil" I wouldn't want to run into in a dark alley -- or forest.

The site is flash-based, so I have to point you to the main site and then you'll have to navigate your way around from there, but if you click on "concept art," you'll find all the Inhabited Island images your geeky little hearts desire. I've not read the Strugatsky brothers book from which the film will be adapted, and IMDb is short on other info on the film, other than that it will be in Russian, and there's a cast. I was a little amused that under "plot synopsis" it only says "This plot synopsis is empty" -- let's hope that's not indicative of the script. You can read all about the storyline over at Wikipedia, though -- it's a pretty interesting storyline, and could possibly turn out to be a decent sci-fi flick if it's done well. Time will tell ... in the meantime, go look at the pretty pictures and hope for the best. Twitch also has a link to some behind-the-scenes footage, so you can check that out as well.

Not to be confused with the forthcoming Matthew Perry comedy of the same name, Numb was released in 2003 to a presumably limited number of theaters, and is just now arriving on DVD from Heretic Films. This certainly isn't the sort of film you're likely to find playing down at the local multiplex, but it's probably the most challenging film I've watched for the Killer B's on DVD featurette. The qualifications for what makes a film a B-movie are rather broad, encompassing many genres and styles of filmmaking. If I had to assign a genre to this one, it would be art house science fiction. Numb unfolds at its own pace, and there is little exposition until fairly late in the film. Scenes are presented in a not-quite random order, and are often revisited in greater detail later on once the viewer has been given the background to fully understand the scene. The first third of the film was confusing yet fascinating, and I was pulled in even deeper once the seemingly disjointed images coalesced into a coherent story.

Shot on 35 millimeter film in glorious black and white except for a series of flashbacks in harsh over-saturated color that was shot on mini DV, Numb postulates a bleak future for humanity. Almost everyone is hooked on an I.V. drug known only as The Drip, addiction to which is instantaneous and all consuming. So pervasive is the drug that it can be bought at the pump while you're filling up your car's gas tank. The story is seen from the point of view of a woman named Claire (Jennifer West Savitch) who is seemingly the only person in the entire world not using The Drip.

Empire Magazine (and website) recently asked its readers to come up with a bunch of questions for filmmaker Danny Boyle, and get this: Most of the questions were actually pretty intelligent! Mr. Boyle was rolling all over most of the world (but not the United States ... yet) in an effort to promote his latest film, an ambitious sci-fi project called Sunshine, but he found a few minutes to answer a good number of those questions. My favorite response from the esteemed moviemaker came after he was asked when he'll return to the science fiction genre. The reply was "I will die before I return to sci-fi." Heh. I guess Sunshine was a pretty tough shoot.

The fan-centric mega-interview covers a wide array of Boyle-related topics, from that long-discussed Trainspotting sequel and the upcoming 28 Weeks Later, but most of the piece focuses on Sunshine -- which opened in England last week but we have to wait for freakin' Septemer god that makes me mad... Whoops, sorry. Mr. Boyle also lets us know what his next film will be: Slum Dog Millionare is the title, and, as Chris Campbell pointed out last week, it's about a poor kid who hits the lottery on the Hindi equivalent of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Looks like the director will be following a "big" movie with a "little" one, kinda like he did with 28 Days Later and Millions.

Another great quote from Boyle is "All I can say about Transformers is that I hope Michael Bay doesn't find himself near me when he's on fire." Heh.

Younger folks may know Elvira as that vampire chick with the cleavage from all those beer commercials, but the character originated on Movie Macabre which premiered on KHJ-TV in Los Angeles in 1981. The show featured Elvira-Mistress of the Dark (a.k.a. Cassandra Peterson) introducing schlocky horror films while sporting a gothic gown with a plunging neckline and an industrial strength push-up bra. Horror movie hosts were once a staple of local television, but In 1982 Elvira became the first nationally syndicated horror host, bringing Movie Macabre to stations all across the U.S.

Shout Factory DVD has recently released six episodes from the series, with all of Elvira's introductions, quips, and corny jokes preserved. The original broadcast versions used edited-for-TV prints of the films, while the DVD versions retain all the gore and nudity that B-movie hounds demand. This is interesting, because Elvira often uses clips from the films while doing her schtick, and these clips are drawn from the broadcast versions, allowing viewers to compare and contrast the two different prints. The host segments look quite good for two-decade old video tape, while the quality of the film prints varies widely. Personally, I like the fact that the scratches and bad splices have been preserved. Many films deserve a pristine digital transfer; Doomsday Machine is not one of them. I think keeping the imperfections of these old prints helps seal in the schlocky goodness. The host segments are full of campy fun, but, as in the case of The Devil's Wedding Night, can be a bit long-winded. While the series sports no extras, it does allow the viewer to choose between watching the entire episode with Elvira's intros, or to watch just the film itself. As for the movies:

More news on that pending re-match betwixt extraterrestrials with nasty pointy teeth. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 20th Century Fox sequel to Alien Vs. Predator (AVP to some, but I don't believe bad movies deserve acronyms) now has the official title of Alien vs. Predator: Survival of the Fittest. While I have very little hope for this film, I think it's certainly a step in the right direction and, according to Joblo, it will carry an R rating as opposed to the PG-13 of its predecessor. That was the one thing all of the Alien and Predator films had in common: violence, and lots of it. Obviously someone realized that trying to reach the broadest audience possible was shooting the franchise in the foot which, if you think about it, is a pretty violent act for a PG-13 film. I suppose they could have gone in the opposite direction with a G-rated film about a young Predator named Skip who saves an Alien pup named Sparky from some intergalactic dog catcher. The next thing you know we've got Alien and Predator beanie babies. It's just wrong, I tell you!

The sequel has added Shareeka Epps (from Half Nelson), John Ortiz (of the recent Miami Vice feature) and The O.C.'s Johnny Lewis to the cast. Epps will play Kendra who must protect her younger brother from alien nastiness. Ortiz is the new sheriff in town and Lewis is a troubled kid. These three newcomers will join Reiko Aylesworth and Steven Pasquale whose participation I wrote about a few days ago.

The first time I fully realized that Hollywood had gone slap happy for CGI was when I saw Jan de Bont's remake of The Haunting (1999). I am a huge fan of Robert Wise's original 1963 version which, with the exception of a door that seems to breathe, scarcely has a special effect to its name. It's a masterpiece of subtle horror, while the remake is an atrocity of in-your-faceness; Wise gave us eerie cries in the night, while de Bont's protagonist is attacked by a four poster bed.

Sure, CGI has its place. Used in concert with other techniques it can be quite effective. It's when filmmakers refuse to acknowledge the limitations of the process and turn out features that look like extended cut scenes from video games (XBox if we're lucky, PS-1 if we aren't), that CGI gets a bad name.

Along these lines, Rob Wright has a cool article called "CGI Gone Awry: The Worst Special Effects of the Computer-Generated Era" up over at twitch guru. After establishing a few ground rules (no B-movies, reasonable expectation of quality, etc.), Rob explores some of the worst sins committed in the name of computer-generated imagery. The article is broken down into:

1. Bad CGI Orgies: Wall to wall CGI badness like The Hulk, Van Helsing, and the aforementioned The Haunting.
2. Giant Leaps Backward: CGI-heavy films that represent a drop in quality from their predecessors like Terminator 3.
3. Why Didn't They Just Use Real Animals: Exactly what I was saying during the deer scene in The Ring 2.
4. The Effects Were Great Except: A single digital blemish in an otherwise solid film, like the digital Jabba the Hut in the re-release version of Star Wars.
5. Showstoppers: Similar to the previous category, but this single case of bad CGI is so heinous it brings the rest of the film down with it, such as the Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns.
   

I don't agree with everything Rob has to say -- I didn't think that bit he picked out from Spider-man was all that noticeable -- but he makes some good points and the article is a fun read.