science fiction
Neil Blomkamp is still a relatively new director in the game, though he has now done three movies. His first, District 9, is an intensely original feature, focusing on the subject of extraterrestrials who have come to Earth and suffer to live alongside the community of South Africa. It is at once both entertaining and politically charged, and was so well-received upon its release that it was even nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, a very rare accomplishment for a sci-fi.
Back in January Neill Blomkamp, the director of District 9, Elysium and the forthcoming Chappie posted online some intriguing fan/concept art for an as-yet-announced project related to the now floundering Alien franchise. The art featured some very intriguing illustrations of not only Sigourney Weaver as an almost fully evolved Ripley/xenomorph hybrid but also Michael Biehn as a battle scarred Corporal Hicks. At the time nobody knew what they were for:
Let’s say Star Wars meets The Matrix. What comes to mind? An all-out intergalactic battle?
As this year’s Oscars draw ever closer, one was drawn to re-watching the awards contenders from last year. Some still stand up: Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave is ever bit as wonderful as when I first saw it.
As much as I love movies, I’m completely against the franchise bandwagon. Every time I hear about a movie I love having a successful opening weekend at the box office I get a sense of impending dread that they are going to ruin my memories of it with a plethora of inferior sequels. Even though I grew up on the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises, both the books and the films, I’m not feeling nostalgia so much as cynicism whenever a prequel is announced or released.
Christopher Nolan has made a solid place for himself in the rank of modern filmmakers. His latest film, Interstellar, further establishes his stance. It is a wondrously beautiful movie, with intense sci-fi sequences, a solid and talented cast, and even some thought-provoking ideas.
Big Hero 6 takes the cultural stereotypes of the East and West, smashes them together to a fine powder, and fabricates from it a 100-minute ride that is so eye-poppingly pretty, so gently moving and so explosively inventive that it’s the most unabashed, jolting fun you’ll have at the movies this year. Even after turning out two very strong features like Wreck-it Ralph and Frozen, Disney proves once again that its capability to push boundaries of imagination is strengthening by each passing endeavor. Disney at its absolute peak Based on a Marvel comic, directors Don Hall and Chris Williams gather the immense arsenal of talent at Disney to conjure up on screen the beautiful cherry-bomb of a city called San Fransokyo – a hybrid mash-up of the architectural sensibilities and culture of San Francisco and Tokyo.
There had been many films about outer space before 1968, but it was in that year that Stanley Kubrick lit the fuse leading to a powder keg that would explode 9 years later. The influence of 2001: A Space Odyssey is arguably the most influential film ever made.
One of the year’s most-anticipated films is Interstellar, and it is directed by acclaimed director Christopher Nolan. It will be the first film he does exploring space. He began his resume with a short film called Doodlebug, and since then, he has taken Hollywood by storm directing nine films that include Following, Memento, Insomnia, The Prestige, Inception, and the The Dark Knight trilogy.
Time travel can be a tricky plot device. Stories can defy their own time travel rules or become so convoluted that you struggle to follow it at all. With the hundreds of movies that feature different aspects of time travel, it can also be difficult to bring a fresh, original idea to the screen.
The best film of the summer is here, and it is the Guardians of the Galaxy. After months of promos and trailers, the time has come to see Marvel’s newest addition to its universe of superhero films. According to The Wrap, it got started with a nice boost from Thursday night showings with $11.
What’s on the Menu? The Exit Room is a film written and directed by Todd Wisemen (Improv Island, Manifesto). It stars Christopher Abbott (Martha Marcy May Marlene, All That I Am) as Joseph Michaels, a journalist facing execution in a futuristic America.
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes is the sequel to Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (2011), which heralded the latest reboot of the Planet Of The Apes franchise. Dawn presents a story much more intelligent than you’d expect of a blockbuster, its creators having put an overwhelming amount of effort into creating a world that is believable, into creating a wholly new culture for characters that are unique and relatable, furry or not. Rise was good, but Dawn is even better.
There is only one theatre within reasonable driving distance where I can go to see the smaller, limited release films that come out. On their website they list any small film as an “art film”. When I finished watching Snowpiercer this title seemed like a complete misnomer.
I’m going to preface this article by saying I’m very set in my ways. Taken into a different context that means I’m old, and at the ripe wizened age of 27, I shun your new fan-dangled ideas of what makes a good movie. Furthermore I will use this mindset in reviewing the short film 9 Minutes.