science fiction
It is always nice to visit the short films that people work so hard on but you never really think about viewing. It is not until the Oscars that these films get any mainstream attention, and that is one of the best things the Oscars provides to filmmakers. This year’s nominees are strong, featuring sad bears, old men who desperately want hand-drawn animation to survive, clumsy cosmonauts, Hindu superheroes, and some brilliant sci-fi.
Aleksei German once said “I am not interested in anything but the possibility of building a world, an entire civilization from scratch.” While “worldbuilding” has turned into a sort of buzz term, it’s fair to say that he did succeed in creating a meticulously detailed world that is as equally claustrophobic and terrifying as it is expansive and daunting. Aleksei German’s final film Hard to Be a God, an adaptation of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s novel of the same name, turned into a subject of curiosity given the thirteen-year production, dense source material and the death of the director before the film’s release.
Since 1989, when Batman became a mainstream film series for DC, and in 2002 when Spider-Man kicked off Marvel’s campaign, the legacy of the superhero on the silver screen has progressively grown. Particularly throughout the 21st century and through to the 2010s decade, superhero adaptations and the science fiction genre have practically dominated the Hollywood film industry, with the vast majority becoming massive commercial triumphs. We have seen a number of films released each year, and in 2016 we are awaiting a variety of superhero/comic book adaptations from Marvel, DC and others.
Over at our official Facebook page, we are currently posting daily film recommendations, with each week being a different theme. This is a collection of those recommendations! This week’s theme is focused on Time Travel films.
Sometimes watching a movie can feel like a duty. Maybe that’s because I take movies too seriously sometimes (okay, maybe all the time). But explaining why a movie fails is fraught with questions about my own expectations of a movie as they relate to the quagmire of unknowns about the creators’ intentions, let alone the practical budgetary constraints and other contingent aspects of an independent or studio production.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The cyclical nature of contemporary pop culture means that for every blockbuster released, a backlash is likely imminent over the course of its opening weekend, no matter how good the reviews. JJ Abrams knows better than anybody about the perils of falling victim to the hype train; despite critical and commercial success, mere weeks after its opening his Star Trek sequel Into Darkness was voted the worst Trek film of all time at a leading Trekkie convention. Taking fanboy rage on the chin, he has decided to follow this minor outrage by taking the directorial reigns of the new instalment of one of the most beloved franchises at all time, as audiences worldwide wait with bated breath to see whether or not he has (to use a common expression) “raped their childhood”.
It’s been at least two years now since I first saw Daniel Radcliffe on The Graham Norton Show, sporting the unattractive hair extensions that would define his character, Igor’s, look. Admittedly, I have been excited for Victor Frankenstein since I first heard of its production. A Frankenstein ‘re-imagining’, told from Igor’s point of view, and one starring both Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy?
Although initially derided as nothing more than a rip-off of similar dystopian novels (and their subsequent film adaptations) The Running Man and Battle Royale, author Suzanne Collins saw her book series become increasingly popular due to how it tied in with the contemporary societal fear of graphic violence co-existing with inane entertainment. Collins devised the idea for her original 2008 novel whilst at home channel-surfing, with the image of a bleak reality showcased by war reports on news channels making an uneasy bedfellow with the artificial reality of TV talent competitions. A dystopian fantasy that now closely resembles our reality As the adaptation of the final chapters in Collins’ trilogy closer Mockingjay Part 2 makes its way to the big screen, it is less than a week after the world was left horrified by images of terrorism in Paris.
By its nature, sci-fi is a genre of revolution. The fantastical elements (time travel, dystopian future setting or parallel worlds) allow the genre a certain amount of artistic license. This generally results in society being represented as fairer, less discriminatory or strong themes of trying to make the world a better place.
Technology has made finding relationships easier than before, yet also far more difficult to sustain. Less than a day before writing this review, my boyfriend broke up with me. It took eight months to realise that we are completely different people with different interests, with the realisation of our incompatibility unwelcome but inevitable.
There are franchises that have their special days to commemorate their enduring legacy, usually ones which are directly implied from the films. Star Wars, for example, has its May 4th as a reference to the famous “may the Force be with you” quote, and the Back To The Future trilogy also has its own. As the series centres on time travel and that there are a number of dates which our heroes transport to, the one that arguably stands out as ‘Back To The Future Day’ is October 21st, 2015.
Some of the very best films are those that are immersive experiences. You immediately know after leaving the theater that you have witnessed something special, and for anyone to even suggest otherwise just seems inarguably wrong. The Martian is one of the few films that I have seen this year that has left such an impact.
Absolutely Anything is a comedy co-written and directed by Terry Jones, he of illustrious Monty Python fame. It stars Simon Pegg and a host of other recognisable British talent and comics. In addition to this, Jones’ fellow Pythons offer their vocal talents, as does the late, great Robin Williams.
Fantastic Four is a film that people wanted to hate from the start. First, there was the controversial casting of Michael B. Jordan as the traditionally white character Johnny Storm; shortly following this was the discovery that Victor Von Doom was a computer hacker instead of a brilliant inventor; finally, there was the casting itself, which involved younger characters just finishing high school, whereas most adaptations of the story present the Fantastic Four as adults.