• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Science Fiction: Films & TV

The Quiet Hour (2014): A British SF film (although it was shot in County Tipperary in Ireland) about an alien invasion, really more Post Apocalypse because this is the end of the world as we know it. We never see the aliens, just their Mother ships hanging the sky and the scout ships they send out to zap humans. Apparently they have come to extract minerals from the Earth's crust (we se vast open cast mines). Civilisation has fallen, only isolated groups of people survive. The narrative begins at an isolated farmhouse, 19 year old Sarah and her younger brother Tom are the only surviving members of their family, Tom was blinded in the attack which killed her mother. Their farmhouse comes under siege from marauders and they to decide whether to trust a stranger, A bleak take with more than one unreliable narrator. There is a sparse backstory available, we pick up information from conversations rather than infodumps. We see the savagery which has resulted from the crumbling of society, cannibalism isn't just alluded to - we also see evidence of it if not the actual act. Good acting. a lot more could have been achieved with a bigger budget, Still, well worth watching. Written and Directed by Stéphanie Joalland. On Netflix. 6.5/10.
 
Disney was happy that the final episode of Loki season 2 drew 11 million viewers on Disney Plus.

Tom Hiddleston said he was 29 years old when he first played Loki and now he is 42 years old.

I interpreted the last episode as Loki is now Yggdrasil, Norse tree of life and wisdom, and Tom Hiddleston is content to kept Loki there.
 
charliebrown said:
Disney was happy that the final episode of Loki season 2 drew 11 million viewers on Disney Plus.

Tom Hiddleston said he was 29 years old when he first played Loki and now he is 42 years old.

I interpreted the last episode as Loki is now Yggdrasil, Norse tree of life and wisdom, and Tom Hiddleston is content to kept Loki there.
Click to expand...
I enjoyed it. The fact Tom Hiddleston looks ten years older than when he began being Loki even though he's playing an alien who supposedly lives for thousands of years is made more noticeable because this version of the character has supposedly branched off from the invasion of New York in the first Avengers movie. He's given us a pretty amusing, interesting character, but it's probably time to draw a line under it. And it looks as though he's getting out of the MCU at the right time.
 
You never know what you are reading on the internet is true, but one article claims Tom Hiddleston could be drawn back into the Loki universe if Chris Hemsworth agrees to return as Thor.

Disney says there are no plans, but as they say never say never.
 
That's the thing about Disney, and the whole of Hollywood - they don't believe in leaving on a high note. They've got to flog a brand to death!
 
Disney rethinks Marvel movies as The Marvels, Shazam, The Flash, Blue Beetles, and Ant Man sequels have been “flops”.

The past Hollywood strikes have put Dead Pool 3 in limbo.
 
CEO Bob Iger of Disney has come down hard on Marvel and Star Wars saying “diluted focus and attention”.

This is being interpreted as much less of these kinds of movies in the future.

I think the latest movie, The Marvels, lost a lot of money.
 
charliebrown said:
CEO Bob Iger of Disney has come down hard on Marvel and Star Wars saying “diluted focus and attention”.

This is being interpreted as much less of these kinds of movies in the future.

I think the latest movie, The Marvels, lost a lot of money.
Click to expand...

It was only released on 10 November so it;s a bit early to tell, including yesterday it made $114,702,018 worldwide.
 
It is rumored that The Marvels budget was between 220 million to 270 million dollars.

I can not imagine that amount of money for a movie production.

How can you make cheaper movies ?
 
Meander: French SF/Horror thriller which takes an arty-mystical route. A woman is walking along a lonely road and reluctantly accepts a lift from a man. Her hesitation may have been well founded as she hears a news bulletin. Next we see the woman in a crawl space, she faces imminent doom from flames, water, and even being pursued by monsters. Far worse her deceased daughter also appears to her. Elements of cube, Saw, Escape Room and even Aliens influence this film. There are some horrific even disturbing scenes but everything is part of a process - she is being tested. If you pay close attention you will figure out what is really going on and on my opinion there is no supernatural explanation for her travails. Perhaps overly gnomic and derivative but still worth watching. Written and Directed by Mathieu Turi. 6,5/10,

Streaming free until 16 December at https://www.channel4.com/programmes/meander
 
I just watched Leave The World Behind on Netflix. It's slow and very tense, with Ethan Hawke, Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali and about 5 minutes of Kevin Bacon. I loved it, best new film I've seen in ages. It leaves a few mysteries without explanation, but I don't want to give any spoilers. It's a tense character-driven thriller, not an action movie, so won't be for everyone.
 
Last edited:
SimonBurchell said:
I just watched Leave The World Behind on Netflix. It's slow and very tense, with Ethan Hawke, Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali and about 5 minutes of Kevin Bacon. I loved it, best new film I've seen in ages. It leaves a few mysteries without explanation, but I don't want to give any spoilers. It's a tense character-driven thriller, not an action movie, so won't be for everyone.
Click to expand...

Good apocalypse as it develops film.
 
I just watched Maniac (Netflix). It makes no sense but is well acted by Jonah Hill. Maniac involves Jonah Hill and Emma Stone, two strangers, entering into a drug trial, each for their own reasons. Their characters become entwined as the drugs take them into alternate realities.

I had also seen him in The Wolf of Wallstreet.

The fact that he started in comedy films that I am not interested in seeing, he is quite good at acting in different genres. Maniac involves him playing several different characters. He does them well.
 
Leave the World Behind: An intriguing blend of tropes:Conspiracy, SF, Apocalypse (Ongoing), Racial Stereotyping, all tied together with elements of a Black Comedy Satire. A white family go to Long Island for the weekend. Things start to go wrong, no WiFi, no TV reception, When they go to a beach an oil tanker runs ashore, no GPS either. That night a black father and daughter arrive saying that they are the home owners, there's a power black out in New York city. Things get weirder as planes literally fall from the sky nearby, this has personal connotations for some of the characters. The satire goes into overdrive as the consequences of self driving cars left without a signal are explored. Even wildlife act strangely, with herds of deer becoming assertive and flamingos head north. Plenty of laughs but there's a dark story behind it all. Kevin i is great in a cameo as a survivalist. Produced, Written, and Directed by Sam Esmail. On Netflix. 8/10.
 
Just watching Rebel Moon on Netflix. Inferior space Western with a clunky plot, patchy acting, corny dialogue, over-use of snap to slow-mo in every action scene, and a particularly out-of-place griffin (it goes all Harry Potter there for a while). It's got some nice space shots though and some decent creatures.
 
SimonBurchell said:
Just watching Rebel Moon on Netflix. Inferior space Western with a clunky plot, patchy acting, corny dialogue, over-use of snap to slow-mo in every action scene, and a particularly out-of-place griffin (it goes all Harry Potter there for a while). It's got some nice space shots though and some decent creatures.
Click to expand...
I didn't last more than five minutes with it to be honest. Ditched it in favour of a Jason Statham movie!
 
Just watched the Critical Drinker review of it. I do this because I'm not much of a Star Wars fan and I can get the general gist.
I wouldn't say it was a Star Wars rip-off, more of an expensive re-boot which is sooooo blatant, you might only watch it if you just enjoy CGI action.
That said, Star Wars was intended originally as a Space Opera/Western ... and it proved so successful it became a valuable cash-cow. Lucas was really ahead of the game when he placed so much faith in merchandising.
 
I don't mind reviews - as Simon says*, these rely on personal taste and perception - but I appreciate reviews that can back up their judgement with specific examples.
We might like or dislike a film, but a good critic explains why they do - especially when it comes to technical aspects such as production, acting and *gasp* plot holes**. It's like when a children's film is panned and the blanket armour is "well, it's for kids!"
Just because it's for kids doesn't excuse shoddy workmanship.

* Sorry 'bout that. Couldn't resist it.
** Some excuse plot holes by insisting on a suspension of disbelief. The more plot holes, the less easy it is to suspend any belief!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top