21 through 25

Realising I've been somewhat lacking in the film watching department (Or at least the 'watching new films' department) I decided to pull my finger out and over the last weekend managed to get a fair few films in. Thank goodness for Bank Holiday weekends.
I also put it down to the new shop being my main focus at the moment. Had some rather amusing situations happen so far. In fact, before I get into the reviews, I'll tell you about a guy who came into the studio on Friday.
This dude came in looking pretty... spaced out. I dont think he was on anything but I think he normally is and its effected how he is in his normal day to day life... He approached the counter and rolled up his trouser leg
"Aaaah what it is butt, i've got a leg sleeve I want to know if you can finish off like. I got an angel holding a cross and jesus holding a cross and I want something to go in the gap inbetween like."
"No worries, did you have any idea of what you might want to fill in the gap?"
"Not really sure like, whatever you think would look good innit? Maybe a cross on its own like? Maybe another Jesus? I cant have the Virgin Mary though."
"Why cant you have the Virgin Mary out of interest?"
"Cos she's a Catholic like."
"Well... Actually she was Jewish"
"Same thing like"
Found it hard here not to piss myself laughing and then start arguing the differences of the worlds religions...
"Right..."
"I'm a Seven Day Adventist Christian see"
"Right... Well... um... without meaning to sound rude, what CAN you have?"
"Well I was thinking about having a headstone in the space."
"Ok... Did you want anything on the Headstone at all? Any sort of text?"
"Uh... Yeah... I'd want RIP J. J."
At which point I had to bite my cheeks to stop from laughing. Talk about completely unrelated to the religious imagery he had found so important only minutes earlier...
I gave him a break down of our prices at which point his junky head must have thought about all the drugs he could purchase instead, and he left.

So yeah a lot of stuff like that seems to be occupying my time these days.

Anyway, onto the films!

21.) Tron: Legacy (2010) Dir: Joseph Kosinski

I'd wondered if there would ever be a sequel made to "Tron" after the film did so poorly in the early eighties. I remember in the nineties there was an episode of the cartoon "Freakazoid" where they talked about how the original didn't turn out to be the success that Disney had hoped it would be and it was pretty much a financial disaster. That said, it kinda built up a massive cult following over the years with modern day popular culture oftern making reference to it. Things like "Family Guy" for instance.
So I was pretty happy when I heard that this film was being made as with modern effects I figured it could be something pretty special. I've seen the original numerous times but not for many years so only vaguely remember it but I always remember that I liked it. I heard various things about the film as it was in production. Things like Jeff Bridges real world son would have to fight his CG world son who was the spitting image of a young Bridges.
This was almost right with the young Bridges being pretty much a digital clone whose sole purpose is to improve the cyberworld. Of course, to develop the plot, he has to go bad and ends up imprisoning Bridges in the CG world or 20 years. Then Bridges real world son grows up on the outside and finds his dad is still alive and sets off to rescue him. Kinda. Dont want to give too much away.
This film is O.K at best. Visually yes it looks good but I have real problems with the story.
For example, I think they only really called this film "Tron" so that people would know it was a sequel as Tron is NOT a major player in the story. His appearance in it is totally predictable as well and his exit from the film is not one that I thought worthy of someone who is the film titular character. In fact I would go so far as to say it was completely unsatisfying and unmemorable. This pissed me off a bit.
It would kinda be like having a Conan film where Conan only appears in the film as a supporting character who you hardly really see and has little to no dialogue at all. Thats not what you're paying for on the door is it?
Another thing that bugged. If I came up to you and said "Here you go, this is a unsecure, easily accesible wallet that I want you to carry on the centre of your back where it can be easily removed by any third party. In this I want you to keep your: House keys, Car keys, Passport, Money, Credit Cards, Pin numbers, Jewellery and anything of any value to you." you would turn to me and tell me I was off my fucking head. Yet in this film its accepted practice in the CG world. They keep a disk which has their entire identity on their backs. I know it was kinda like this in "Tron" but I would hope that after 20 years of your identity being stolen in this CG world, they would have found a more secure alternative. Nope. Even the old Jeff Bridges is still carrying his on his back and his contains the key for any of the computer world people to leave and enter the real world. He knows his is the most valuable disk but instead of locking it away in a vault or something, he carries it. On his back. It ends up being stolen from him stupidly easily and everyone looks on as if this is a big shock.
I know you might think i'm over thinking it but after waiting over twenty years for a sequel, dont we deserve better than this? The ending is pretty gash too. Really, really disappointing. Have they left it open for another film? If so, will this one actually have Tron in it to justify the film name? We live in hope...
Rating 3/5

22.) 9 (2009) Dir: Shane Acker

I knew this film existed but I didnt really know much about it and for some reason, despite it being animated I wasnt really bothered about ever seeing it. Maybe the designs of the main characters just didnt do it for me or maybe it was the washed out colour scheme that seems to be used all through the film... Whatever it was, I decided that as it was on last weekend, I would give it a look.
The backround to the story is nothing particularly new: Humans versus Machines. I think Cameron had pretty much sown up this area in the Eighties. What I did like about this though, is that its not about the survival of humanity. We're already extinct. It's about the survival or some weird sock-puppet type things who were given life by the same human who created the machines that wiped us out in the first place. All this on top of flashbacks to the humans fighting the machines that sort of made it look more the World War 2 era when the machines attacked as opposed to some futuristic time.
There was also a clever way of handling death in the film that would still make it watchable to children while informing adults that people were being ruthlessly cut down and killed. I liked that. It didnt really directly show humans dying but it was implied. Human corpses always seem to be just slightly out of focus too so you cant really spend too much time studying them and they're really clever in the way that you're not really drawn towards the corpses but more the sock puppets anyway.
Now what did bug me was the character of 9. The only machine left to hurt the sock puppets was a robodog. The SP's track down the dog and see it trying to stick a special stone into a giant robot but they kill him before the robodog can finish inserting it. Most of the SP's celebrate whilst 9 thinks it would still be a good idea to see what would happen if the stone was inserted into the machine. Thus waking a maniacal machine hell bent on wiping out any life on the planet other than machine. Oh and it can create other machines as well and is in fact the main machine that started the whole human/machine war in the first place.
Good job 9. Maybe do some research before you go sticking that fork into the plug socket yeah?
Rating 3/5

23.) Paul (2011) Dir: Greg Mottola

I love Simon Pegg. I think he's done wonders for the whole Geek community. He's contributed, without a doubt, to Geek-chic. Making Geeks seem a lot cooler than perhaps we really are. "Spaced" was a stroke of absolute genius and I couldnt help but feel when I was younger that it was written about me (In "Spaced" the main character Tim was an aspiring comic book artist who worked in a comic book store. At the time I was an aspiring comic book artist working in a -yep you guessed it!- comic book store).
So whenever I hear that he's written a knew film I look forward to it. "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" were both brilliant. "Paul" wasn't quite up to their standards... It was nothing really... new. I think maybe the missing factor in this film was the lack of involvement of Edgar Wright.
The film was basically Pegg and Frost getting all the other geeky shit they had built up off their chests I think. In the last ten minutes of the film alone I think there are a billion quotes from other famous science fiction films.
So basically 2 Brits travel across America and along the way they meet numerous whacky folks from the film "Superbad" and the series "Arrested Development" causing much hilarity to ensue. Seth Rogen was a pretty voice actor, some of the CG seemed a tad shonky but overall I enjoyed the film! It just didnt blow me away.
Rating 3/5

24.) Surrogates (2009) Dir: Jonathan Mostow

I wanted to see this film when I heard it was being made. I liked the concept even as ridiculous as it was. Plus the idea of Bruce with a really ponce like hair style amused me somewhat!
This is one of those Sci-Fi films where if you spend too long thinking about the story, you realise it couldnt work and pick lots of holes in the plot. If you watch it and switch off though, it's pretty enjoyable.
Basically in this film the majority of the population jump at their own shadows so instead of leaving the house themselves, they plug into a computer and let robot versions of themselves who are impervious to pain go out instead. You could be anyone you want though. You dont have to look anything like yourself.
Willis is a cop investigating a murder whose surrogate is destroyed forcing him to walk around as himself. He becomes disillusioned with the whole surrogate robot thing but still has to solve a murder. Since he doesnt have a robot version of himself to investigate with anymore it puts him in danger of actually being killed but thats nothing compared to what could happen.
I wont say more than that. There's lots of things you could tear apart in this film but its alright. Has a pretty decent cast too.
It kinda reminds me of all the internet games where fat, sweaty, middle-aged, unemployed losers pretend to be teenage girls and masterbate profusely as they "cyber" with teenage boys...
I saw a documentary about it once...
Yes...
Rating 4/5

25.) Battle: Los Angeles (2011) Dir: Jonathan Liebesman

Not to be confused with my earlier review for "Battle OF Los Angeles" which of course is an absolute classic.
This is basically the same premise though. Aliens come to Earth and start attacking. You dont see too much of the actual aliens because of that "shaking camera" effect that seems to be so popular these days... Two-Face plays a staff-sgt who has to go up against the aliens with a inexperienced 2nd Lt. as his C.O.
It's not really strong on story if i'm completely honest. You learn a little bit about the backround of each main character but considering all of the main characters are Marines, you know they're really just there to be shot at and/or killed.
The marines go in, get their asses kicked and then spend the majority of the film trying to retreat to a safe zone before the area they're in is carpet bombed or nuked or whatever.
Two-Face is pretty bad ass and yet troubled all at the same time.
Michelle Rodriguez is in this too. She doesnt die in it either for a change. Seriously though, does anybody actually like her? Does anybody think "We need a hottie for this film, get Michelle on the phone" because if so, they clearly havent spent much time checking the wealth of hotties out there. I just find her really irritating with the whole "I'm such a bad girl" vibe she seems to like perpetuating. She's picked because she's so butch I think. The whole "Is she or isnt she a lesbian?" thing must appeal to a lot of guys who like it when towards the end of the film its revealed she is infact straight. I dont know, i'm probably reading too much into it but I dont think any film she has ever been in would have suffered if she HADN'T been in it. Anyone want to share any opinion on this?
Rating 3/5

So another 5 down! Only another 225 films to go! Easy...
I have a few lined up now that I want to watch but I've fallen a little behind so need to pull my thumb out and cram a few more flicks in I think...
Still taking suggestions for films.
Also if anyone knows a good source of old science fiction films online then please let me know! I'd prefer websites that would let me stream them. Films from the 50's and 60's etc etc...

Cheers!

Science Fiction 250: The beginning.

Ok I would just like to start by saying that I cant possibly claim this as being my own idea.
I found out that my friend Sarah had been set the challenge to watch 500 horror movies within one year. I thought this sounded like a lot of fun and decided I would give it a go myself.
It would be a bit pointless though to do it in the same genre as her as she was already covering pretty much EVERYTHING there. I made a few suggestions of films she could watch, most of which she had already seen, and didn't think too much of it.
The following day though I think it was, I was telling my best friend Gav about it while we were building our new tattoo studio (The day job) and thats when we realised we wouldn't mind having a go at something like this ourselves. I decided that, being the geek I am, I would watch 500 science fiction films and Gav 500 martial arts.
I got in touch with Sarah about it and she told me that 500 horror films she hadn't seen was working out at being a LOT of work as it meant she had to average 10 of them a week. Currently she's on 101 but I digress... Basically there are rules to the challenge it turns out. I initially thought it would mean I could watch any science fiction film which included any I had already seen. Sarah informed me that they would have to be completely new to me. On top of that, the films also have to be classed as Science Fiction by the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com for those of you who have been living in a box these recent years.) for them to count.
With this in mind she advised me that it might be more sanity saving to set a target more around the 250 mark. Thats what I have done. Hence the blog name.
I apologise now if this seems a badly constructed blog so far- I'm currently running on fumes after sacrificing sleep to science... fiction...

So far I think I have gotten off to a rather flying start with the challenge. On reflection if I had planned this in advance I probably could have been sponsored for charity or something. Alas it didn't occur to me. Maybe if I do this challenge, I can take on another and get sponsored.

Anyways, you don't know of course that I haven't seen these films before, you can only go on my word. Trust me though, as a geek I thought this would be a good chance to see more geek films I would have otherwise avoided and maybe I'll find some Gems along the way.

Here I intend to keep a record of the films I watch, give a basic review with a rating out of five at the end. Here are the first 9 films I have racked up in the last couple of days since starting the challenge:

1.) Pandorum (2009) Dir: Christian Alvart

So when I started this challenge I did the thing anyone would do and asked my friends for recommendations and this was the first one of them that I actually watched. The film had so much promise. Earth is overpopulated and so a deep space vessel is sent out to colonise a new planet in the hopes of humanity carrying on. Alas things dont run smoothly and the film pretty much starts with Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid coming out of Hypersleep with temporary amnesia and a ship that at first seems deserted.
Cue creepy mutant cannibal type characters.
At first this was pretty cool as it had elements that reminded me of Alien. Dark, narrow passages. Quick flashes of the enemy.
This soon fizzled out though to Ben Foster bumping into, what can only be described as 2 virtually superhuman, martial arts experts who have also survived what happened to the crew. I don't want to give away too much but here it is broken down in 3 segments: Good Start. A middle with nothing happening. Predictable ending.
Rating 3/5


2.) Children of Men (2006) Dir: Alfonso Cuaron

I'm not a Clive Owen fan. I'm not a fan of Julianne Moore. I liked the idea of the film though. It's set in the latter part of the 2020's and humanity has become infertile. The last child had been born 18 years earlier and as the film starts you learn he has been stabbed dead. The rest of the world has gone to shit but Britain has somehow managed to survive where all else have failed by imposing a ban on immigration. I know the Australians have a pretty tough immigration policy NOW so why they haven't survived and Britain has when Britain currently lets pretty much anybody in is beyond me. Anyway Owen plays the reluctant hero drawn into a "terrorist" cell by Moore when he discovers that Moore is protecting a newly pregnant woman. From the government. Yes. Rather than have specialists care for her and maybe discover a cure to the planets infertility, they try and smuggle her to a cell of good terrorists who can somehow help. Moore is (Satisfyingly) killed 30 minutes in and Owen ends up on the run for the rest of the film. Eugh. It's basically a film where Owen has to get a VIP from point A to point B. I didnt enjoy the film. 
Rating 3/5


3.) Babylon A.D (2008) Dir: Mathieu Kassovitz

I like Vin Diesel. Against my better judgement perhaps but I like him. You think back to the fact that he was in "Saving Private Ryan" and had the leading role in the brilliant low budget Sci-Fi flick "Pitch Black" and how could you not? The Fast and Furious films are a guilty pleasure of mine that I put off watching for years on the basis I figured they would be Gash liked only by Chavs... In the end I watched them and loved them. Yes, even "Tokyo Drift"
So I was hoping this would be another of Diesels fast paced, senseless action/violence flicks. It's set in the future and he is playing a Mercenary in it after all. There are certainly action segments to the film but they're all pretty much a lamer, shitter rip offs of scenes from James Bond movies. They have one scene involving ski-dos and its like a much, much, MUCH shitter version of the one in "Die Hard 2" and then the big end action scene is only about 30 seconds long with no main villain for Diesel to square up against. You cant help but feel that they could send 100 bad guys at once against Diesel in this and they would all be horribly outmatched. The ending is just farcical too. 
It's basically a film where Vin has to get a VIP from point A to point B. It's Gash.
Rating 2/5


4.) The Lost Future (2010) Dir: Mikael Salomon

I stumbled across this by chance early on Saturday evening. I thought to myself "Yeah it was only made in 2010 and is on the Syfy channel (HATE the name change by the way. It's SCI-FI) but it's got Sean Bean in it! He's Sharpe! He's Boromir! He's AWESOME!
Yet this film... isn't.
I wont say its the worst film i've ever seen but its definitely up there.
Set in the future, mankind has lost all grasp on technology, literature and arithmetic but has somehow managed to keep a basic grasp on Christianity. Hallelujah. Humanity are confined to tribes that tend not to leave their little villages for fear of coming across the "mutants" and they all dress like Tarzan. When the main characters tribe is attacked, three of the younger members escape into the wilds where they are rescued by Boromi... I mean Sean Bean and he tells them of a cure to a disease caused by contact with the earlier mentioned mutants. It's a yellow powder discovered by one of the young heroes fathers. Thats all its ever called: Yellow Powder. Bean cant read but since one of the young heroes can, he holds the key to mass producing a cure for humanity. Simply on the basis that being able to read of course, automatically makes you a chemistry and mathematical genius. Gash.
The Villain of the piece isnt actually a mutant really but is in fact a human who is hording what remains of the yellow powder. Maybe it goes to show, we're all monsters really (PAH!) but the villain looks like he's more suited to playing guitar in Spinal Tap than ruling in a post-apocalyptic future...
Even Bean can't save this film.
Rating 0/5


5.) A Scanner Darkly (2006) Dir: Richard Linklater

I really enjoyed this film. I loved the style of it and the story coming from a Philip K. Dick novel was something that appealed to me too. Robert Downey Junior is fucking brilliant (As per usual).
I like rotoscoping. It's not really done much anymore as animation has moved on to the more CG motion capture these days. It worked really well in this film though. It kinda added to the whole drug addiction that is the basis of the whole story. Keanu Reeves is really good in this because despite him being more wooden than the Forest of Dean, the script seemed to play to that and it worked really well.
Reeves is an undercover cop who has tried to infiltrate a group of drug addled miscreants in the hopes of the bigger bust. As he uses himself though he seems to become jaded between what is real and what isnt. I guess thats the only way I can really describe it as it is a pretty complex story. Enjoyable though. I've heard that even off people who DIDN'T understand what was going on...
Rating 4/5


6.) Skyline (2010) Dir: Colin and Greg Strause

This film is complete gash. The story is so fucking bad. Imagine if "Independance day" was 10 times worse than it was. Thats this film. Some people with more money than sense throw one of those yuppie parties that most regular people would hate to be at and the following morning, aliens invade. Groovy.
Some of them get taken but some remain holed up in the high rise apartment they had the party in. What should they do?  I know, they came from above (Space) right? well surely the safest place they can go is the roof of the building right? RIGHT? Wrong. Some how, the aliens that have come from space are actually already flying around the top of the building. Wowza. So then logic sinks in. Get to the ground floor. Makes a tad more sense... But NO! Aliens have the streets under wraps too! What to do? What to do? WAIT! I KNOW! Lets try the ROOF! AGAIN! Fuck me the Americans in this film are stupid.
When that doesnt work, the "Hero" (Term used VERY loosely) says that everything will be ok if they can just get to the docks and get a boat. Aliens who have taken over the planet wouldnt think to look at or fly over the sea apparently. Gah! I could rant for ages but I wont as I have another 3 films to get through.
Utter, utter gash.
Rating 2/5


7.) Cloverfield (2008) Dir: Matt Reeves

I know there was massive amounts of hype for this film when it came out and I really wanted to see it. Unfortunately at the time I allowed myself to be put off by my father and sister who had been to see it and left half way through as my dad said it was terrible and the my sister said the jerky cam was causing them both Motion sickness... BUT as part of my challenge I figured "What the hell" and gave it a go.
I loved this film.
Not just because it has Lizzy Caplan in it (I LOVE her.) but because everything about it was so well done. The effects were tremendous and the way it was shot on a camcorder made it a hell of a lot more real. You kinda get the impression that if this had been released in the forties around the same time as the "War of the Worlds" radio show was, you would have had a LOT more American suicides.
Also for added realism, according to the IMDB: The running time of the film, without credits, is about 80 minutes, the length of a long-running MiniDV tape
Which to me is pretty cool in itself.
So basically some giant creature from space/the sea/my closet has attacked and devastated New York and this is from the point of view of civvies on the run for survival. Brilliant!
Rating 4/5


8.) Monsters (2010) Dir: Gareth Edwards

I don't care what the IMDB says. This film is hardly a Science Fiction film. Aliens are seen twice for a matter of seconds throughout the entire film, yet it claims to be about humanity coping with life after Aliens have invaded... South America.
It's not. This film is about a douchebag trying to get an idiot across the border to her fiance and along the way they slowly (Very slowly) fall in love. It's tedious and quite possibly the worst Sci-Fi film I have ever seen. Dont watch it.
Apparently you're supposed to be impressed by the fact that the film was made for $16 with a crew of 2 people (Not including the stars) with anyone else who appears in the film being real area residents not actors.
I wasn't.
Rating 0/5


9.) Repo Men (2010) Dir: Miguel Sapochnik

I fucking LOVED this film. I probably shouldnt, but I did.
It's the future and technology has progressed so far that you can replace any of your internal organs. Bad Kidney? Here, have one of our cybernetic implants as a replacement! It'll only cost you $600,000! Cant afford to pay in one? Thats ok! We do a payment plan with an APR at the low cost of 19.95%!!
I must warn you though that if you fail to make a payment and 90 days pass, we will be forced to repossess the aforementioned organ.
Jude Law and Forrest Whitaker are body parts repo men. They're good at what they do too. Law's wedding is on the rocks and to save his marriage he has to consider switching his job from repossession to sales. When he goes on one last job, something goes wrong and he ends up needing a replacement heart himself. Needless to say he cant keep up with the payments as he's lost the taste for his high paying job now that the shoe is on the other foot. He ends up being hunted by his best friend and there's a brilliant twist at the end! I don't want to say anymore for fear of spoiling it! But this film is definitely a hidden gem!
Rating 5/5


SO! There's my first load of films! I think i'll do an update every five or so films as this has taken me fucking ages to do and it's nearly 1:30 am... I need to sleep! Comments are more than welcome, particularly if you have suggestions for films I should check out. Old or New.

Dan.