What was the last movie you saw?

[j. d. worthington]

Automatic filter does that, I'm afraid.

On The Matrix... I don't see it anywhere near that high on the ladder, but I do think it's a very enjoyable, visually rich film (the sequels I don't even find particularly interesting visually, as all they do is take the same things a little further; nothing particularly new there); with some mildly interesting philosophical or metaphysical points.

I don't know as I'd say you specifically should be watching them (depends on your tastes), but from my perspective, I would list at least the following as better films overall:

Metropolis (1926): despite its dating in some respects, still one of the most visually dynamic films in the field, and with a great deal of iconic imagery; also almost the quintessence of what sf was originally about

Forbidden Planet (1956): again, dated in certain respects, but still both an entertaining film and a relatively intelligent adventure-sf film, with some stunning visuals, and again a perfect example of the sf of the "Golden Age"

2001: a space odyssey (1968): perhaps the iconic film of the genre, certainly the most accurate in terms of science of its day, with one of the most awe-inspiring themes (I mean the text of the film not the music) of any; visually stunning, and handled with a maturity and daring which has seldom been matched

A Clockwork Orange (1971): antoher visual feast, and one which tackles the other side of sf: the concern with social/moral issues and how we respond to them. Disturbing and unpleasant, but one of the most relevant films ever to come out of the field

Blade Runner (1982): again, visuals which set the high-water mark, performances which did the same, and a film which combines the best of sf with its indebtedness to numerous other literary and film genres; a film whose layers only become more numerous rather than diminished with numerous viewings

These are by no means all, but they are certainly some of the major ones. To be frank, I've not been overly impressed by much sf in film; it is mostly fairly mindless adventure/eye candy without substance; which seldom advances the genre (outside of the technical aspects of the visuals) beyond what it was capable of in the 1920s... hardly a ringing recommendation for how the field has been handled, given the potential. This is, of course, something of an overstatement, but as a general rule, I'm afraid it is more accurate than not....

The last film I saw was The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005), a rather bizarre film which deals with friendship and reclamation (of a particularly extreme, violent sort) in an unconventional, grotesque, and at times horrific fashion; not entirely successful, at times banal; but also at times very powerful, and an oddity worth seeing.

[JunkMonkey]

Originally Posted by mike1366

Just watched The Matrix again. It's still, for me, the most exciting Science Fiction movie yet made and my no. 1 favourite film. But I know some people really don't like it and I'm interested in their point of view. So, if The Matrix is crap, what are the great SF films that you think I should be watching instead?

And as for the sequels - yes I agree. Utter *****.

I would question the Science in this Science Fiction film for a start:

Prophesy? The whole premise that humans put out enough BTUs to keep the vast machine civilisation goig? (OK the sky is dark denying them sunlight wouldn't geothermal be a better way to go? or if you have to heatfarm an organism try something as exothermic as humans but a little less troublesome. Cows. Grass and sex. There a lot simpler than a whole 20thC city civilisation to look after - and cows don't carry guns, or have a complex belief system etc etc.)

The bit that really made me laugh out loud though was the moment when Trinity brings out hero back from the dead with a kiss. Oh, come on! What!?!? Somehow we managed to get from a semi-decent looking, what is going on? SF distopia (until we get to the battery speech the film looks fine), into a la-la Disney world where dead people are bought back from the dead with a whisper of love. No way! I expected her to start singing, dancing around the Nautilus with bluebirds to joining in the chorus. This sort of thing is fine in fairy tales. Makes sense in fairy tales, the magic kiss part of the fairy story rule book - but in a 'science fiction' film? Pants!

Until!

I realized it did make sense! Think about it. For the first umpty-x years of his life in The Matrix Reeves' character was a computer programmer. He lives alone in a room with computers. He's a hacker. He's a nerd. A social misfit. Now, just at the moment he's popping his clogs, a female woman of the opposite sex finally comes on to him? This is it! He might get sex! "F()ck this being dead lark," he's thinking with the last firing neurons in his head, "I might get to do sex - with someone else in the room! I'm going back!"


So, a few better SF films: (none of them perfect, but better)

Colossus: The Forbin Project (soon to be a ballsed-up remake).
Moon
Solyaris
1984
Gattaca
Parts: the Clonus Horror
A Scanner Darkly
Invasion of the Body Snatchers x2
Wall:E
Circuitry Man
Contact
Dark City
The Truman Show
eXistenZ
Blade Runner
Tron
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
the list goes on...

[JunkMonkey]

Rats! That last post of mine is stuffed full of typos. I did mean to come back and edit it but I had to watch The Return of Wonder Woman with my daughter and now I can't.

How long does the 'Edit' button stay up before the opportunity is missed?

[TheTomG]

I enjoyed and enjoy The Matrix still. I don't mind the living battery thing as I took that as part of the underlying Gnostic philosophy of the piece - that the world is a fake, and created that way so something can feed of us. Sure, it doesn't add up scientifically, but worked for me metaphorically.

So as well as reality-bending that I love in any format be it book or film or stage play, it also had some cool special effects and nifty new camera techniques, pretty cool action, and a comic book superhero vibe to it.

Not to say it compares to something like Blade Runner, but I felt it was a good movie. Good enough that, like Highlander, it should never have had the mystery and novelty destroyed by crappy sequels.

[JunkMonkey]

You see there's another one. Highlander. Dreadful film.

[J-Sun]

Originally Posted by JunkMonkey

How long does the 'Edit' button stay up before the opportunity is missed?

Less than an hour and forty-nine minutes, anyway.

[Moonbat]

Dinner for Schmucks (Hollywood remake)
I did enjoy this,m it made me laugh at times, and it has made me even more determined to see the original, but for all the jokes and sillyness it was still the usual formulaic hollywood story.
The gag reel was good, just watching the random ad-libbing from the comedy actors was very amusing. Notr entirely sure it was that close to the original premise, set up very succinctly in the first 10 mins, but then the actual dinner wasn't until the last 20 (of a 109 min film).
Not bad, made me chuckle but by no means a comedy classic.

[HoopyFrood]

As usual when No One visits, watched lots of films. We finally managed to watch Planet Terror which was...well, adjectives escape me at the moment. Also watched Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which is just an all-round awesome film. And also watched the second installment of Paranormal Activity.

[Foxbat]

The Tin Drum A strange movie but one I like very much.

[Allegra]

Batman Begins - I don't know why I didn't see this before, it's so much better than all the previous superhero stuff, loved it. Christian Bale is fabulous. My next one no doubt should be The Dark Knight.

Everyone Says I Love You, very Woody Allen, quite entertaining.

Watched again The Legend of 1900 and sighed again: what a hugely underrated masterpiece!

[biodroid]

Hoopy - did you also find the believable factor of Paranormal Activity 2 was just not there, like it was just another scary movie?

[clovis-man]

Originally Posted by Allegra

Everyone Says I Love You, very Woody Allen, quite entertaining.

The hospital dance scene was great.

[Foxbat]

The Dead
A pretty decent zombie road movie set in war torn Africa.
It might be a low budget production but (even though only stereo) I thought the soundtrack was good and the cinematography even better. One shot that stood out for me - a silhouette of a zombie against a gorgeous African sunset. This film can be picked up reasonably cheaply on DVD and if zombies are your thing, you should be fairly satisfied with this.

[HoopyFrood]

Originally Posted by biodroid

Hoopy - did you also find the believable factor of Paranormal Activity 2 was just not there, like it was just another scary movie?

I think the first one had such a believable factor because it had the couple actively recording (in all senses) what was going on, it felt like a proper ghost hunt. I don't think I got as involved with these characters this time, too. I spent the first half of the second film saying "Just look at the damn cameras and see!" The repetition was still there and quite effective, although I think it got a bit too over-dramatic at the end which, yeah, wasn't so believable. Problem with this type of film is trying to find something new each time, especially when it's the same entity coming back. I have deep worries about the third film, as the adverts seem to show it really going over the top -- that one does seem to have become just another scary film. I hope not.

[Allegra]

Originally Posted by clovis-man

The hospital dance scene was great.

Yes, it's also my favourate scene.