Posted on 07/06/2023 4:06:26 PM PDT by sphinx
Yes, science fiction is rooted in profound origins, examining humanity’s deep-seated fear of itself and the intimidating possibility of worlds unknown. But the last two decades have seen a metaphoric rush on sci-fi storytelling that’s left the once niche subgenre a supersaturated movie market. On the one hand, that’s produced an onslaught of sci-fi(ish) titles that aren’t always up to snuff. But on the other, it’s prompted some of the best sci-fi films ever made. Masterworks like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope” both arrived this year, and top our list at number five and number eight respectively....
Simply put: In determining the 50 best sci-fi movies of the 21st century, you must draw a line in the sand — even if that’s the sands of Arrakis. To that end, a few rules have been set.
No fantasy-centric superhero movies will appear here, and the same goes for those space-borne fantasy franchises “Star Wars” and “Star Trek.” For an action, horror, or animated movie to make it onto this list, it needs to be firmly rooted in sci-fi origins and make notable use of the tropes and themes therein.
(Excerpt) Read more at indiewire.com ...
That 53-year-old SF film holds up pretty well, especially given how AI is going lately. Like ChatGPT, Colossus was kind of schizo with a petulant personality.
I suspect the genre will continue to decline since the movie script writers are inspired by earlier movies, not literature.
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Reminds me of the music scene. Lots of the big rock bands back in the day were versed in music that predated rock. Now it’s rare for a band’s roots to go deeper than an earlier generation of rock.
I forgot a kindda cult classic sci-fi steam punk favorite.
City of Ember (2008)
IMDb
https://www.imdb.com › title
With Saoirse Ronan, David Ryall, Harry Treadaway, Bill Murray. ... a group of scientists decide to create and populate a city deep underground.
I found the CD at the thrift store for a $1. My kids liked Bill Murry so I figured its only a $1. Anyways we must have watched it 20 times in 5 years. Its got that Goonies Feel to it.
This was surely worthy of being on this list: Battle Los Angeles (2011) Good movie
I ate all that 80’s stuff up like CRACK! :)
Never seen Surrogates - at First I thought I had, I was confusing it with “Gamer”. I’ll watch it thanks.
Blade runner original with Harrison Ford, Rutger Howard.
Final death vs shutdown scene with dove/pigeon to me was best in class.
Agreed! District 9 was a great movie.
I can't believe they didn't make a sequel...
Sounds like the two-movie “A Quiet Place”. The daughter was deaf (played by a deaf actress). The second picture begins before the first, showing the day the aliens arrived.
“Prey” - I’ve heard a lot of good things about it. Haven’t seen it yet but plan to watch it soon.
“Moon” – Love! Love! Love this movie - great performance by Sam Rockwell as all the Sam Bells who IMO should have received an Oscar and even Kevin Spacy as the voice of GERTY. And a haunting soundtrack by Clint Mansell. Of all the movies on the list, this may be my favorite.
“Arrival” – I liked it. Had to watch it a second time to get the ending though.
“A.I. Artificial Intelligence” – I know a lot of people hated it, especially the ending, but I liked it, even the bittersweet yet what I thought was an oddly hopeful ending.
“Nope” – saw this in the theater in IMAX – wow! My friend and I talked about it for hours afterward, trying to list all the “Easter Eggs”, references to other sci-fi movies and TV and culture in general especially the overarching theme of “spectacle”. Inventive and original story.
Not on the list but movies I liked:
“Alita: Battle Angel”
“Morgan” – critics panned it, but I rather liked it. An artificial being is created with nanotechnology-infused synthetic DNA with the capacity for autonomous decision making and sophisticated emotional responses as a combat weapon but she/”it” proves hard to control. Is she human or is she a created being that can be terminated for being less than “perfect”? And a bit of a twist ending.
As others have mentioned, “Interstellar” should be on the list.
And I don’t get most people’s hate for “Passengers” as I liked it.
List ⁴am. Bump.
:-)
I liked Ex Machina too. Creepy...
List of the 50 ‘Best’????
Looks like the 50 WORST!...................
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” was unwatchable. Have not seen Nope
I take your point, but for those who haven't seen the movie we should perhaps note that those strangely shaped objects -- I had no idea what they were until I read some reviews, having no knowledge of such things -- are not presented as butt plugs.
They appear in the film, a whole row of them neatly lined up, on a shelf in the office cubicle of one Diedre Beaubriedre, an implacable IRS auditor who is the nemesis of hapless Evelyn and Waymond, a pair of gentle, well-meaning souls who are hopelessly flummoxed by the complexities of the tax code.
In fairness to the IRS, Eveyln's ideas of bookkeeping and tax accounting are close to nonexistent. She and Waymond are just trying to run a laundromat and juggle some family issues, and they are quite overwhelmed. Their records are a complete mess. Diedre has caught them in an audit. She has already afforded them every allowable concession and delay. Eveylyn and Waymond are simply incapable of dealing with the complexities of the tax code.
I.e., there is a libertarian/small business subtext here as well.
In any event, the butt plugs are a joke. They are presented as Diedre's impressive display of IRS "Auditor of the Month" awards. She is a formidable and implacable bureaucrat, and she has a shelf full of butt plug shaped trophies from the agency as her reward. The movie goes zooming off in all directions at a breakneck pace, but there is a commentary on the IRS here as well.
Yes, a character will land on one during one of the movie's frenetic fight scenes; Eveylyn is played by the legendary Michelle Yeoh, and one of the movies cascade of insanities is that it is a martial arts movie set in the chaos of the multiverse -- which is in turn about to be destroyed by an out of control cosmic bagel. (Yes, bagel. It is the most metaphysical bagel you will ever encounter. If you are curious, watch the movie, but be prepared for kaleidoscopic absurdities.) The butt plug joke involves no nudity and is not played for sexual titillation. It's Beavis and Butthead/Homer Simpson level barnyard humor of the sort that most of us outgrew by age 12. There are a couple of other crude references in the same vein.
I went to the theater to see EEAAO because I was curious about the hype it was getting. It's ... different. It swings wildly in all directions. It is intended to be comic, and a lot of it is, with some serious and thoughtful undertones as a throughline. Some of that works as well. I found it ultimately exhausting, but it's interesting enough to be worth a watch just for situational awareness.
Do you have some better ones to suggest?
EEAO is ultimately a revenge fantasy from an angry lesbian, who has the power to destroy the universe, and willing to use that power as retribution because her conservative family neither accepted or acknowledged her sexual preference.
It’s status as a martial arts movie of sorts is a dubious proposition, and is mere window dressing.
They can’t now. The aliens would have to wear dresses.
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