From: John Clark (jonkc@worldnet.att.net)
Date: Sat Dec 23 2000 - 22:13:53 MST
Everybody likes 2001, Alien, T1/T/2 and Blade Runner so I'll just talk about some of
the lesser known movies that I think are gems.
* Forbidden Planet: Corny dialogue and poor acting can't stop this from being
a terrific movie, because it has one of the best story premises ever put on film.
People land on a planet and investigate why half a million years ago an alien race
that was advancing technologically at a accelerating pace mysteriously disappeared
overnight. This may sound like familiar territory but remember the movie was talking
about the singularity way back in 1956. State of the art special effects for its day,
and not bad even for today. Also it was the first movie ever made with an all electronic
musical score, and it's aged well, it still sounds properly creepy. However if they ever
remake it I hope they dump the very last scene, that sucked. Why does the object
of wonder always have to blow up at the end?
* The Forbin Project: Came out about 1970. Great story, great dialogue,
great acting, great sets, great music, it's a mystery to me why nobody
knows about this masterpiece. The best part is the ending, it's exactly
what it should be, but not what you're expecting.
* The Lathe of Heaven: Made by PBS about 20 years ago. I thought it was
excellent but Isaac Asimov hated it. I agree with his criticism of one brief
line of dialogue but that wasn't enough to ruin the movie for me, I still like it.
The move just came out on video after being unavailable and stuck in
copyright hell for 2 decades.
* Defending Your Life: A fantasy comedy, and a very funny one. I kept thinking
of Tipler's Omega Point. It was made 5 or 6 years ago so you can probably
find it on video.
* Fearless: Not Science Fiction at all, just the story of a man who confronts
mortality and survives a airplane crash. Maybe I'm reading too much into it
but I thought I could see some >H ideas, and if not, it's still a excellent movie.
It's a few years old and on video.
*Being John Malkovich: Deals with qualia, identity, and immortality, not something
you see every day, especially in a very funny comedy. No fancy special effects,
just first rate writing acting and direction.
* The Thirteenth Floor: Came out at the same time as The Matrix and has the same
basic premise, it's not as spectacular visually and not nearly as well known, but may
be a better movie.
John K Clark jonkc@att.net
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