The Frame » film-science fiction

The Invasion

Jandy — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:31:42 +0000

I was truly expecting the worst from this one, after the horrific reviews it got on release. Folks, it is not that bad. Certainly it’s no classic like the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but it’s a perfectly acceptable little thriller to kill a few hours with. The basic storyline is similar to the original – aliens land and start taking over the bodies of humans, turning them into emotionless husks that otherwise seem the same as ever. Kidman’s ex-husband Jeremy Northam is one of the turned, and he tries to get her to join him; she spends the rest of the movie trying to get herself and her son to safety. There’s a good mix of intense and quiet moments, and I’m not at all sure where the charge of incomprehensibility that a lot of reviewers made comes from, because everything made perfect sense. Apparently they need to watch Made in USA. Or, like, Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Anyway, the moral/ethic dilemma introduced is that supposedly if the alien beings won, there wouldn’t be any more conflict or war, which is introduced by emotion and passion (a similar theme to 2002’s Equilibrium) – the question left open at the end is which is better, peace or freedom. Normally I’m not a huge fan when remakes stick on moral quandries, but this time it works, mostly because these are the sorts of questions that classic sci-fi used to ask before sci-fi turned into mere alien-hunting action.
Above Average

Sunshine

Jandy — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:42:22 +0000

Here’s an example of a current sci-fi film which I’m glad to say also counts as actually science fiction. The premise is that the sun is dying, and we have sent up a team in a spaceship with a huge atomic payload in the hopes that exploding the bomb in the sun will reignite it. A previous ship had tried to do the same thing, but had gone missing; don’t worry, it turns up. And when I say “don’t worry,” I mean from the standpoint of narrative; for the characters’ safety you should definitely worry. I’m not shy about admitting that I pretty much think Danny Boyle is a visionary director (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Millions, among others), and this is no exception. Sunshine is visually stunning from start to finish, allows plenty of time for philosophic contemplation and ethical dilemmas, not to mention the hugely disorienting ending sequence (possibly too disorienting, actually–it’s the one place I think Boyle may have gone too far into self-indulgence). The downside is that, as evidenced by the delays and short theatrical run, distributors don’t have any idea how to market a sci-fi/action film as cerebral as this one. But if you like Boyle’s previous work, or 2001, or Tarkovsky’s Solaris, seek out Sunshine.
Well Above Average

Them!

Jandy — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:59:57 +0000

I love a good classic sci-fi film every now and again, and this one hits all the high points. Radioactive material? Check. Mutant insects? Check. Scientists? Check. Nuclear paranoia? Check. This is what I love about 1950s sci-fi: for one thing, they’re actually about scientific things and not just tangentially including aliens or some such like modern sci-fi; for another, there’s always such a lovely undercurrent of McCarthyism or nuclear fear running through them. Them! is about giant mutant spiders ants (created by radioactivity left by atomic bomb tests in Arizona) who start attacking people, first in Arizona, then to Texas and Mexico, and finally in the middle of Los Angeles. A team of scientists works with the police to take the monsters down. This is actually one of the better examples of the “atomic mutant” sci-fi films, of which there were many; it builds intensity perfectly (in fact, it’s at least half an hour in before you come close to finding out what’s happening, adding in a very welcome mystery element), doesn’t spend too long on the romantic subplot, and is ambiguous enough with its blame as to not be xenophobic.
Well Above Average

Paprika

Jandy — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 01:49:57 +0000

In this anime film, scientists working on a device to enter into people’s dreams (for the purpose of psychological healing) have to go on the offensive with the device is stolen by someone who wants to control people’s dreams (for the purpose of, like, world domination). The “Paprika” of the title is the sprightly dream-avatar of the main scientist; she carries on the dream-world activities while the scientist works with a patient of hers, a policeman, on the outside. The world of dreams and reality get more and more muddled as time goes on, but surprisingly, everything stays relatively coherent within the logic of the film. Incredibly inventive visually, though it does at times get a little busy.
Above Average

Alphaville

Jandy — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:13:21 +0000

Or, Jean-Luc Godard does sci-fi. Sort of. Lemmy Caution arrives in Alphaville, which has been taken over by a gigantic computer, which runs and regulates everything in the town. All the details were a little hard for me to grasp, even though I watched it twice (I never did get what exactly brought Lemmy to the city in the first place), but there are, as usual for Godard, a lot of interesting things going on. My beloved Anna Karina is here, as the girl who becomes both Lemmy’s way to get into the computer to destroy it and his love interest. There’s a good bit of 1984 in it, especially linguistically–what the inhabitants of the city term “the Bible” turns out to be a dictionary, which is replaced daily with a new one, as the list of approved words changes. There’s a great scene where Natacha (Karina) and Lemmy discuss words which have been deleted from the city’s vocabulary, suggesting that if the word for something doesn’t exist, than neither does the thing itself–Natacha can no longer feel emotion because the necessary language no longer exists. And the weapon Lemmy brings against the totalitarian computer? Poetry. Awesome. Anyway. The lighting scheme and set design are great too, very minimalist, and very obviously 1960s-era Paris. The plot may be futuristic, but the setting isn’t…a purposeful move on Godard’s part, who in 1965, when this was made, was moving into a more politically-charged section of his career.
Well Above Average

Renaissance

Jandy — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 05:15:38 +0000

I wish the story of this French film were as strong as the visuals. A detective gets the job of finding a missing researcher who was working for huge corporation; but everything is tied up with the research she was working on, which remains part of the mystery until near the end. It’s a good premise (though a bit derivative), but ultimately the corporation just isn’t evil enough, and it’s not clear that the corporation would misuse the technology the researcher had created–and the story rises or falls based on whether this technology is implemented or destroyed. But the visuals are absolutely gorgeous, and totally worth the film. It’s animated, but definitely not a kids movie (note to filmmakers, if you want to please me, make an animated film not aimed at kids), and it’s basically motion capture turned into high contrast black and white–almost no greys. It’s stark, noirish, and I find it captivating. Oh, and don’t watch the dubbed version. I know it has Daniel Craig’s voice in it, but I watched both, and the original French track is better (and the DVD defaults to the dubbed version, so you have to switch it manually).
Above Average

Primer

Jandy — Sat, 06 May 2006 21:04:45 +0000

Now this one I had to watch twice. Seriously. In between the two viewings, I scoured the internet for information about the film, and one review I read described it just about right: (not direct quote) Most movies about time travel either ignore the science necessary for time travel machines or make up outlandish but lay-person-comprehensible theories explaining how it is possible. In Primer, the science is central, and the science isn’t explained. There is no one involved in the time travel experiment who wasn’t intimately familiar with the necessary scientific ingredients, so watching the film feels something like being thrust into a conversation between post-doctoral scientists. It’s heady stuff, and yet fascinating. One would fear that it would end up sounding like a jargon-filled thesis or something, but it doesn’t…it feels real, not forced, as are so many movies and TV shows that have to introduce a novice character to explain everything to so that the audience has someone to identify with as they learn the ropes. Watching Primer is like jumping in to the deep end when you can’t swim. The intricacy is astounding, as the plot folds back on itself multiple times, and the narration is given much like the science–as if the audience should already know who is speaking to us and the basics of how the story plays out. It’s a movie that refuses to compromise an inch, and assumes its audience is intelligent enough to enjoy the attempt to figure it out. Honestly, it was refreshing in its complexity and its complete lack of condescension. Do I completely understand it even yet? No. But I’d rather be challenged by a movie that assumes I’m smarter than I am than condescended to by a movie that assumes I have the brain of a pea, like most Hollywood offerings do.
Well Above Average

Equilibrium

Jandy — Sat, 06 May 2006 20:56:38 +0000

In an indeterminate future, it has been decided that the reason for all the world’s problems with war and violence are caused by the fact that people have emotions…so it is decided to eradicate all emotion, through removing things that elicit emotion–books, music, photographs, heirlooms, families. The main character is an elite policeman, commissioned to enforce the ban on emotion and seek out and destroy members of an underground resistance. One day, however, he neglects to take the mandatory dose of emotion suppressents, and he become susceptible to the very emotion he has sworn to uproot. Soon he is working with the resistance to take down the faceless, all-controlling dictator running the metropolis. Basically, take The Matrix, cross it with Minority Report, and throw in a dash of Metropolis. It’s nowhere near the quality of any of these films–the effects are extremely cool, but the invincibleness of the main character gets old after a while. You’re never worried whether or not he’s going to make it, as you are worried for Neo. There’s no tension between whether or not the system has good qualities, as there is with the Pre-Crime system. Still, it’s not half-bad, for a couple of hours of viewing pleasure.
Average