6 Science Fiction Movies For Your Face

I love science fiction, and not just for the green boobs.  Traditionally they served as a warning not to fuck with things you don't understand or everything would go to hell, much like the bible but in outer space.  Lately there has been a shift; since we've already sent everything to hell the messages revolve around going back to simpler times.  Of course not all follow these principles. Plenty are just normal dramas or action movies but with 70% of the cast replaced by aliens and plentiful allusions to fictional history.  I suppose it's harder to notice bad dialogue at the speed of light.  Here are 6 science fiction movies -besides- the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises that deserve note.  Please comment on any disagreements or your own favorites.

1. Event Horizon (1997, Sam Neill, Laurence Fishburne):  Horror works well in space largely due to the isolation.  No one is coming to help, and when the power goes out as it ALWAYS does, that vacuum is quieter than a 16 year old boy waiting for his girlfriend's pregnancy test.  In this one a rescue team boards a ship that has returned from a black hole and brought, "something" back.  Hilarity ensues.  Nice visuals, and the rare comedic relief amazingly doesn't detract from the tension.  A bit Clive Barkerish, it's, "Sam Neill gouging out his own eyes," good. 

2. Gattaca (1997, Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law):  This movie invents an entirely new ism.  When you can genetically engineer a perfect human, why would you want anything but being responsible for all the good jobs?   Hell, if I had a choice I'd take a genetically engineered barista to foam my latte.  Ethan Hawke's parents are the future equivalent of hippies who want their child born without genetic tampering.  Silly granola pushers, right?  Turns out he's born with more problems than a math textbook, but the little trooper wants to be an astronaut.  Yup, totally illegal, but fortunately the human spirit can't be genetically engineered... yet.  It's got Ernest Borgnine, what more do you want?

3. Bladerunner (1982, Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer):  One of my top 5 favorite movies of all time, Bladerunner is based on the book, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep."  You'll exclaim, "Holy shit!  Edward James Olmos is so young in this!" (Adama from Battlestar), like I just did 10 seconds ago when I read up on the cast.  It's the age old tale:  People are lazy.  People make robots to do their crap.  Robots wonder why they are programmed to love and start asking questions.  People kill all robots.  Those robot killers are called Bladerunners despite not using blades and jogging at the best of times.  Clearly the role that landed Rutger Hauer, "Hobo With a Shotgun," his intense performance as the poetic lead Replicant, (angry robot), is nothing short of breathtaking, landing a credibility to the genre previously unheard of.  He even wrote his own final monologue, giving it to the director on the day!  With more metaphors than a John Woo movie, this is not to be missed.

4.  Moon (2009, Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey-ish):  A recent addition to my favs, this movie is all Sam Rockwell.  He is the only actor seen in about 90% of the movie, and you'll be floored when you realize what he's doing technically.  He is essentially running the Moon, which supplies Earth with most of it's power in this time and his only company is a helper robot creepily but charmingly, (totally my niche), voiced by Kevin Spacey.  Directed by the son of David Bowie, you may see the twist coming but it won't stop you from being emotionally involved in this both heartbreaking and uplifting tale of fighting against your destiny.  Oh yeah, you'll question your humanity too.  I'm noticing a theme....

5. Brazil (1985, Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Michael Palin):  If you like your futures dystopian, you'll LOVE Terry Gilliam's visual masterpiece with more than a little dash of 1984.  A tonne of stars in this one, and the evilest you'll ever get to see Michael Palin, (unless you are currently tied up under his bed - jealous!).  Gilliam clearly hates modern consumer culture, and if you are familiar with his career it usually hates him back.  Pryce plays Sam Lowry, a peon driven to defy the mundane life he lives by forces sometimes well beyond his ambition and intelligence.  This is perhaps why his character is so sympathetic: he is a normal guy surrounded by self-righteous nonsense helplessly ushered to his own doom.  We should not be able to relate to that as well as we do.

6. Enemy Mine (1985, Dennis Quaid):  I'll be honest here; I don't actually remember how good this one is, just how much  I loved it as a kid.   Dennis Quaid crash lands on a barren planet.  Well, that' not so great, is it?  Ooooooh, hold on!  The only other intelligent thing on the planet is a similarly stranded member of the race of aliens he was just fighting against.  Snap!  From what I remember, this one was an intelligent look at the inanity of war at a time when the internet wasn't humanizing other cultures through online, "Call of Duty," (which has helped us conclude that we are all, in fact, equally douchey).  Someone watch this and tell me if it stands up.  I don't want another, "Thundercats," level disappointment.  P.S.  Is it proper to use, "humanizing," if the other creature is actually an alien?  And how vain is the word," humanoid?"

An introduction to my brain-krakens

When I was younger I used to read all the time.  I would stay up for hours after lights out using the light of the hallway to get just a few more chapters in.  While my parents would try to curtail the unhealthy habit of not sleeping, it's hard to shut a kid down who is really into educating themselves.  This turned into writing.  At the time there was some inter-school yearly creative writing contest where selections from kids across the city would be published in this big book.  I imagine it's gone the way of hotdog/sloppy joe day and school camping trips.  It was a major point of pride for me that I got into this book most years, although really I can't recall how selective it was.  Let's just say very for the sake of my unrepressed inner child's ego. 

Jump ahead 15 years.  I am an English major in university having watched Dead Poet's Society the week before enrolling in classes and immediately deciding to change my life's course from engineering to something a little more creative.  My tattered wallet still weeps.  I won a play writing competition and had it performed, something I still slip into conversations occasionally when wanting to sound like I've done something.  I can pinpoint this as the most literate I've ever been.  Also almost junior-high level socially retarded, but trust me: that's an improvement from my junior high level.

I don't think I've read a book without pictures in months.  Recently I uncovered a paper I'd written in University and didn't understand it.  Seriously, fuck that.  This has got to stop.  I am taking inspiration from a  friend of mine, (Chris Munroe - http://munsistories.blogspot.com), who wrote a short story every day for about a year and who's skills improved to quite impressive levels.  Is this stealing my friend's idea?  Sure!  All storytellers were inspired by previous storytellers.  I'll make it my own by not being nearly as dedicated.  I hope any readers out there enjoy these writings and are perhaps even inspired to release their own brain-krakens on the world once again.  This seems like a good place to test the waters anyhow. 

BD