I'm kind of surprised by Interstellar. Christopher Nolan did a superb job with his other films. Now whether you accept those premises is one thing -half the people I know loved Inception, the other half disliked it (usually the smarter people loved it- but the film's executions were par excellent. Interstellar felt very unsure of itself.
Inception was alright. Again, there were portions that seemed like story-glue that were so emotionally manipulative I felt vergüenza ajena. Nolan's a drama queen. Also it suffered from staring the always annoying Leo Dicaprio and his face-finger. He does this move in like every movie he's in... Put your finger in my face like that and you'll be looking for an occupational therapist. But on the flip side, Tom Hardy was at his oh so yummy peak.
I am not sure about Christopher Nolan. I mean Batman Begins and Rises are good(ish) films and The Dark Knight is a great film. Memento and Inception are above average (I got annoyed by all the crap about how Inception was apparently incredibly complex). Interstellar and The Prestige are middling (although Interstellar looks fantastic, but there was far too much wrong with it for me to settle for pretty and technically difficult shots alone). I mean his hit rate is better than most, but he is at risk of disappearing up his own anus in the style of Shyamalan (although no-one else could manage it quite that spectacularly). EDIT: and yes, he is a drama queen.
My favorite part of Intersteller was when Matt Damon showed up. I accidentally blurted out in a full, silent movie theater, "Matt Damon? What the fuck (is he doing here)?" It had a "very special episode of Punky Brewster" aspect to it.
Hah! I really like Joseph gordon Levit, but COMPLETELY forgot he was even in that movie. Beneath all the grit and grey, Nolan is absolutely a drama queen (have you seen the Prestige?) and that is why I love him.
What I would love to see is depth, depth and more depth ... Characters with real psychological depth and well acted; a world or society that is well thought through and composed of many layers; a storyline with a deep thought provoking message. I love all the CGI and special effects but they are nothing without something that deeply moves me, or provokes me think. Bladerunner and Dark Knight are good examples. Being a woman I especially hate beautiful, expressionless women in ridiculously revealing outfits totally unsuitable for the action in which they are involved. Please make the heroines dark and gritty and, again I repeat, with psychological depth. My all time favourite is The Chronicles of Riddick
Given the description of what you don't like in the portrayal of women in sci-fi, I would have thought you would go with ALIEN. The roles of both Ripley and Lambert were played to flawless, realistic perfection by Sigourney Weaver and Veronica Cartwright, respectively. Neither actress was made to lean on T&A to flesh out their roles and I bought both of them hook, line and sinker. Everyone makes a mythology of Ripley, of course, but when I watch that film (the hundreds of times) it's Lambert in the scene where she dies at the hands of the alien that leaves me truly, viscerally affected. It's a gobsmacking scene that Cartwright pulled off with incomparable talent. Spoiler: Lambert & the Xenomorph
Absolutely agree with you Wreybies I loved Ripley and Lambert, stunning acting with great gritty depth of character. I wish there were more examples in the world of Sci-fi or Fantasy. If you can suggest others I would be really interested.
Hard to think of other female parts in sci-fi that are as gender-less and person-based as Ripley and Lambert. I think the film is truly unique in this aspect. The realism of the style of the film is pervasive, from the unscripted, almost documentary feel of the first meal scene after awaking from cryosleep, to the completely utilitarian uniforms they wear. This film came out in 1979, which means filming was in '77 and '78 and it is utterly devoid of any 1970's-ness. They look and behave like the real people who would really be doing that job in real life. Ridley Scott was experiencing a moment of perfection in the creation of this film because it remains perfectly watchable 36 years later. Not even Star Wars managed that without a CGI "refresh" and the 1970's is very much present in that film, from Mark Hamill and his "California Golden Boy" look to Carrie Fisher with her Studio 54 hairdo and frock by Halston. I'll have to dig through my library. Ripley and Lambert came immediately to mind as the clear stand-outs.
When I was in the Air Force my friend Kim and I worshipped Sarah Connor. We were in the service, so though our jobs were not combat oriented (we were Russian interpreters), we had easy access to all the kit that gave Conner her bad-ass look. Come to think of it, if we're to tap Sarah Conner, and not to go back to the Alien universe, but there is Vazquez from the second film as well. Absolutely jaw-dropping, and one of my favorite characters in film, and while not in any way a "Bond girl" in presentation, there is a certain sexualization of her roll that perhaps makes her not fit into the discussion. Maybe other fellah's don't see her that way, but as a gay guy, I can appreciate the sexy in her butchness. I made this a few months ago. Spoiler: Vasquez
Less stories that are focused upon one or a few individuals and more wider scale stories and stronger plots and technical wonder (which does not = just more CGI) such as David Weber's Dahak Trilogy or his Stars At War series, or even the Bolo novels and David Drake's Hammer's Slammers or Redliners. Hell, I'd settle for more Warhammer 40K films.
Would it be awesome to get a Warhammer 40k movie trilogy in the same fashion as The Lord of the Rings?
Dystopia. Too many post-apocalyptic wastelands, Matrix-like computers-control-everything scenarios, drug-oriented plots (even going back to Dune), and so on. I love the old-style sci-fi, in which the future was optimistic. Anybody remember George O. Smith's Venus Equilateral stories? Somewhat juvenile in content, maybe, but they cast brilliant engineers as the heroes who solved intractable problems, defeated space pirates, and so on. They weren't presented as mad scientists or superheroes; they were presented as employees of an elite corporation just doing their jobs. Very fun stuff, fascinating from a technical standpoint (the stories were written in the 1940s, and vacuum tubes were all the rage - if you're an aficionado of old technology, these stories are cool as hell). I'd love to see those stories made into movies, keeping the period style. Exciting, very positive, happy-making sci fi.
But is it really surprising? The better part of all this flood of dystopia is Gen X writers. There's a huge cultural resentment between Gen X and Boomers, their parent generation. And it gets portrayed in all these dystopias. Boomers are rich compared to Gen X, but at what price did those riches come? Boomers set themselves up with private pensions that evaporated forever when Gen X hit their stride. Gen X was taught that superficiality, consumerism and greed were good (yes, good) and wasn't told that the greedwagon was on the verge of breaking an axle. It doesn't surprise me at all that the angst of the fall of Gen X is reflected in literature/film. The function of art - and writing is art - is to comment on culture.
Thought I'd contribute even though the last post was in April, so if this is dead, I apologise - What I Like: - Space Opera/Space Survival. Time Travel. Go big, go epic. Space Exploration! For example, Gravity. Interstellar. Star Wars. Doctor Who. Guardians of the Galaxy. BSG / The Martian. -Modern Day stories that expand into science fiction further down the line. For example, Person Of Interest. Orphan Black. -Superheroes. I love Marvel & DC Comics. Valiant are great as well. -BIG. GIANT. MONSTERS. Godzilla! Pacific Rim! So much yes. Also, dinosaurs. Jurassic Park. -Space Westerns. There should be more of these rather than just Firefly/Serenity and you could technically call Battlestar Galactica a space western as it shares a few themes. My current WIP is a Space Western. What I Don't Like: -Dystopia. No, no, no. Enough already! I tolerated the first two Hunger Games movies, but hated the second book even though the first one was ok, and wasn't too keen on the third film. There are a few exceptions to this rule like The CW's The 100 and Cuaron's Children of Men, Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven, but on the whole, the majority of Dystopia films/books have been awful especially when they're YA. Divergent, I'm looking at you. -Love Triangles/Romance becoming the whole focus of the story. I hate it when a good story just becomes will character a) pick character b) or c) during the course of the book/film. Again, I'm kind of breaking my rule here by saying that I like The 100, which has a love triangle, but changes it by making the male involved, Spoiler kill innocent civilians, and ends up getting killed by the MC in the middle of Season 2 , and moves away from the romance. -Anything that Michael Bay does. Ugh. Transformers. The exception to the rule of me mostly liking big giant monsters.
I like sci-fiction that makes you think with a mix of good action, great characters and strong plot. I LOVE British sci-fi. My favorite sci-films are: Back to the Future,Logan's Run, The Man from Earth, Planet of the Apes[original version], The Omega man, Soylent green, Star Wars, The Wraith, The Running Man, Flash Gordon[I know its low budget]Westworld,etc... Sci-fi series: Doctor Who, Red Dwarf, Star Trek TNG I also liked the film Gattaca.
I like all of those, except for a lot of the Dr. Who, where the plot is weak and if you think about it more than a little bit much of the episode falls apart. At least, in the Moffat era. Everything else on the list is solid
I'm tired of Sci-fi stories not following the rules of their own universe. Red Dwarf is a good example of this, brilliant right up to the season 6 finale, when they find a "Time Drive", which they use to visit a bygone era - only they're in deep space, so using the time drive only takes them back in time, not back to Earth at their chosen time. Then season 7 starts, and in the first episode they use the time drive to visit Earth. I do enjoy a good time travel story, but for some strange reason it's responsible for some of the worst episodes of Red Dwarf. Don't get me wrong, there are some great time travel episodes early on.
Earth being invaded. C'mon, getting sick of this. Have another planet get invaded for once, without the humans involved in any way.
I am planning to write a script for a movie. For me, I am very keen for the SFX to be subtle - to the point of not noticeable, vs the over the top Michael Bay et al stuff that seems flavour of the decade at the box office. It will be there, no question. Green screen, scale models, SFX via composition, etc, but subtle and only obvious when pointed out. I plan to make the movie as well - film it, edit it, etc, etc. Just for something to try and because it sounds like fun One of my favourite movies recently - that I have not seen mentioned (didn't read all posts though), was Moon. Some of the things I really dislike in sci-fi movies include: * when they make it so dark you cannot see what is going on or miss details in costumes / aliens, etc. * such fast paced action you have no effin clue wtf is going on * no time to absorb the story and the setting and see character development - just rush, rush, rush, wham bam, thank you ma'am. * really fucken inconsistent character behaviour - either OOC from one scene to the next, or dumb stuff like running in front of a rolling wheel, for ages, rather than ducking to one side to avoid the Engineers donut ship in Prometheus, as an example * Keanu Reeves ;-) Things I do like: * twists that get me * interesting, believable characters * a chance to see and appreciate costumes, makeup, sets or scenes, without pausing or rewinding * well lit sets anyway. HTH!
