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Science Fiction: Films & TV

maximus otter said:
It is if they’ve invented a weapon called an “AR16”. Had it involved an AR-15 or an M-4 it might have seemed more realistic.

;)

maximus otter
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I omitted a hyphen:

The AR-16 is a prototype select-fire, gas operated battle rifle made by ArmaLite after the US Military adopted and bought the designs of the AR-15 and M16. The AR-16 was only manufactured in prototype form and was never put into production. The AR-16 was Eugene Stoner's last design for ArmaLite; he left the company soon afterwards.


http://guns.wikia.com/wiki/ArmaLite_AR-16
 
Any love for The Osiris Child? I got halfway through it and fell asleep. Got some ok reviews but I found it tedious. Worth trying again?
 
skinny said:
Any love for The Osiris Child? I got halfway through it and fell asleep. Got some ok reviews but I found it tedious. Worth trying again?
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I got though it, although admittedly while doing 'killer sudokos'. I thought it was OK, it just looked like so many other things, although it doesn't end how you might think. It looks good, the effects are good and not over-used but the breaking up of the film into non-linear vignettes undermined the narrative a little, which is maybe why it was hard to invest in some of the characters. If it was me I'd shuffle it around a bit.
 
Attraction: Russian Science-Fiction Film. A big meteor shower is expected over Russia but they get more than that. An Alien Starship in orbit is damaged by meteors and is forced into the atmosphere where it is attacked by fighter jets. Critically damaged it crashlands in Moscow leaving a trail of demolished buildings.

The story involves a Dence Ministry Militia Colonel, his teenage daughter,her boyfriend and his gang, a humanoid alien and his exoskeleton battle suit. Will the gang sell the suit? Will the Colonel convince the Russian Security Council to delay an attack on the Alien Vessel? Do the Aliens come in peace?

Some interesting mob scenes as locals clash with the police and military wanting revenge for those killed in the Starship crash.They even use a Mad Max style car to break through barricades.

Impressive special effect with a great Alien Starship design. The exoskeleton suits are somewhat reminiscent of a Cylon-Robocop hybrid, their movements are convincing and always suggestive of restrained power. Adequate acting, good plotting and dialogue but the idea that an Alien (even if humanoid) could accept a human blood-transfusion strains credibility. Excellent cinematography, muchof it in a dusty, smokey devastated Moscow streetscape. Director Fyodor Bondarchuk ties all the strings together into an enjoyable SF adventure. 8/10.
 
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Here's an unusual one - the Further Adventures of Walt's Frozen Head

The Further Adventures of Walt’s Frozen Head is a quirky comedy about the unlikely friendship between the frozen head of Walt and Peter, a Magic Kingdom Cast Member. During his yearly dethaw to oversee the direction of his company and guard his creative legacy, Walt demands to be allowed up to see his final dream, Walt Disney World. When management scoffs, he recruits Peter to kidnap him for a day in the Magic Kingdom. The feature film was primarily shot in the Orlando area, including on location at Walt Disney World. The movie was made without the knowledge or permission of the Walt Disney Company or family.
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ramonmercado said:
Attraction: Russian Science-Fiction Film. A big meteor shower is expected over Russia but they get more than that. An Alien Starship in orbit is damaged by meteors and is forced into the atmosphere where it is attacked by fighter jets. Critically damaged it crashlands in Moscow leaving a trail of demolished buildings.

The story involves a Dence Ministry Militia Colonel, his teenage daughter,her boyfriend and his gang, a humanoid alien and his exoskeleton battle suit. Will the gang sell the suit? Will the Colonel convince the Russian Security Council to delay an attack on the Alien Vessel? Do the Aliens come in peace?

Some interesting mob scenes as locals clash with the police and military wanting revenge for those killed in the Starship crash.They even use a Mad Max style car to break through barricades.

Impressive special effect with a great Alien Starship design. The exoskeleton suits are somewhat reminiscent of a Cylon-Robocop hybrid, their movements are convincing and always suggestive of restrained power. Adequate acting, good plotting and dialogue but the idea that an Alien (even if humanoid) could accept a human blood-transfusion strains credibility. Excellent cinematography, muchof it in a dusty, smokey devastated Moscow streetscape. Director Fyodor Bondarchuk ties all the strings together into an enjoyable SF adventure. 8/10.
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So this is out with English subtitles is it now? That's great news! I saw this one (as`Prityazheniye`) at the Russian cinema at the time it came out (early last year, I think it was) and I'm pretty sure I shared a trailer for it on this thread somewhere back. I thought then that the chances of it getting subtitles were slim.

What a Western audience can easiy miss is the sociopolitical subtext of the film: it's a plea for tolerance, tolerance towards foreigners and different ethnic groups in particular. The gang of protesters unite under the banner of `Earth Is Ours!` and intend violence towards the alien newcomer. For a mainstream film in contemporary Russia that is quite special and important.

It is also interesting in the way that the visual iconography references the `real` Voronezh close encounter of 1989: the alien (in its armour anyway) strongly resembles those allegedly seen by the kids in that Russian town of Voronezh that autumn all those years ago.

And I found the female lead to be highly magnetic.
It's a nice, kind-hearted movie, and part of a renaissance of Russian cinema which is currently underway.
 
Zeke Newbold said:
So this is out with English subtitles is it now? That's great news! I saw this one (as`Prityazheniye`) at the Russian cinema at the time it came out (early last year, I think it was) and I'm pretty sure I shared a trailer for it on this thread somewhere back. I thought then that the chances of it getting subtitles were slim.

What a Western audience can easiy miss is the sociopolitical subtext of the film: it's a plea for tolerance, tolerance towards foreigners and different ethnic groups in particular. The gang of protesters unite under the banner of `Earth Is Ours!` and intend violence towards the alien newcomer. For a mainstream film in contemporary Russia that is quite special and important.

It is also interesting in the way that the visual iconography references the `real` Voronezh close encounter of 1989: the alien (in its armour anyway) strongly resembles those allegedly seen by the kids in that Russian town of Voronezh that autumn all those years ago.

And I found the female lead to be highly magnetic.
It's a nice, kind-hearted movie, and part of a renaissance of Russian cinema which is currently underway.
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Very well put!

Yes it has English subtitles.
 
Downsizing: Science-Fiction/Satire/Serious Comedy. Hoping to save the planet from depletion of resources, global warming and overpopulation a Norwegian scientist (Rolf Lassgard) invents a process to reduce humans to 5% of their normal height and a tiny fraction of their mass. Years later Paul (Mark Damon) and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig) decide to downsize to take advantage of the more affordable lifestyle in Leisureland and live like royalty. Audrey backs out at the last moment (after Paul has been shrunk) and the resulting divorce leaves Paul living in "reduced" circumstances in an apartment rather than a mansion and working at a call centre.

Things pick up however when Paul's becomes friends with his new upstairs neighbours, Dusan (Christoph Waltz) and Konrad (Udo Kier). After one of their wild parties, Paul meets cleaning woman Ngoc ( Hong Chau) who had come to the US as a downsized refugee in a television box. We then see there are even more layers to the Downsized world.

The downsizing process is presented in a comic manner and the script keeps the laughs going throughout the film but this is very much a serious comedy and social satire. Paul is reduced in status (even after downsizing) from upper class to middle/working class but then encounters an underclass which carry out the menial tasks. Whilst Leisureland is high-tech (climate-controlled under a dome) and even Paul's apartment faces a marina the casual workers live outside the walls of Leisureland in makeshift accomodation under netting. Ngoc is a local leader who looks after the sick and old inhabitants of this favella and co-opts occupational therapist Paul as a doctor. After that things get even stranger as Paul and Ngoc travel to another downsized community with Dusan and Konrad.

Surprises abound in this thought provoking film. So many other angles to the Downsizing experience could be explored and even if there isn't a direct sequel, variations on the theme would be welcome. 8/10.
 

Latest Russian science fiction blockbuster - due to hit the screens in Russia in March. `Rough Draft` (`Chernovik`) is a science fantasy about a computer geek who gets drafted into being someoene who mans a security post beween two parallel worlds. This seems quite an original concept and comes from the same writer - Sergei Lukyanenko - as the `Day Watch` and `Nightwatch` films. However, it has a 6+ certificate and appears to be fairly light-hearted, so more of a family movie then.
 
As the new Duncan Jones movie is about to drop on Netflix, along comes news that Alex Garland's follow up to Ex Machina will soon follow...

On one hand, this is great news for Netflix users, BUT... is this the start of a worrying trend where Netflix buys up a bunch of cool movies, denying them a chance to be seen on the big screen?
Following the release of The Cloverfield Paradox, Netflix’s next big feature-length release will be Annihilation, a movie from Paramount Pictures.

The streaming service has now confirmed when UK subscribers can expect the Alex Garland’s second movie: 12 March. For those in the US, Paramount has decided to release the movie into cinemas, opening on the 23 February.

Deadline reports that the decision was inspired by the release of Garland's directorial debut Ex Machina, which grossed just $11.4m internationally. Debuting on Netflix should mean Annihilation will be seen by a far larger audience.
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http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...ilation-netflix-uk-release-date-a8221716.html
 
There is a theory that Netflix are out to destroy the cinema as an evening (or afternoon) out, reduce it to strictly home entertainment, and reap the financial benefits. I don't know if that's true, mainly because the company are so secretive they could be planning world domination and we'd never realise till it was too late.
 
GNC said:
There is a theory that Netflix are out to destroy the cinema as an evening (or afternoon) out, reduce it to strictly home entertainment, and reap the financial benefits. I don't know if that's true, mainly because the company are so secretive they could be planning world domination and we'd never realise till it was too late.
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Independent & Arthouse Cinema will provide the resistance!
 
I've just made the mistake of watching the latest Netflix sci-fi movie, Duncan Jones' Mute, before checking out the reviews. This was his pet project, what he had been wanting to make as long as he's been a director, and it's absolutely horrible. Makes no sense, looks monotonously drab, Paul Rudd is somehow terrible in it (and he's always reliable, until now anyway), and the child abuse subplot was vomit-inducing. Moon was so good, and now he's making this future-gangster shite? It's a real shame.
 
GNC said:
I've just made the mistake of watching the latest Netflix sci-fi movie, Duncan Jones' Mute, before checking out the reviews. This was his pet project, what he had been wanting to make as long as he's been a director, and it's absolutely horrible. Makes no sense, looks monotonously drab, Paul Rudd is somehow terrible in it (and he's always reliable, until now anyway), and the child abuse subplot was vomit-inducing. Moon was so good, and now he's making this future-gangster shite? It's a real shame.
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I'll give it a chance anyway.
 
GNC said:
OK, but don't say you weren't warned - I've wasted two hours on it! I'm trying to catch up with The Orville, and should have been doing that instead.
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You have given me fair warning! But I just have to see it!
 
For interesting sci-fi/thriller tv series I recommend 'Falling Water' and 'Counterpart'.
If you like oddball quirky sci-fi fantasy try The Magicians.
 
GNC said:
It's OK, every film buff can sympathise with that impulse.
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Haven't seen it yet. Tonight I saw In the Fade directed by Fatih Akin*, a powerful drama set in Germany involving neo-nazis bombing a Kurdish advice office, the victims, the aftermath the family of the victims, a trial. Really moving, my friend was in tears, she was so shaken by it. I'll do a proper review.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5723272/

* Fatih also directed Head On and The Edge Of Heaven. I heartily recommend both films.
 
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