Tag: Sci-Fi
0670 – A Quiet Place (2018)
spacetime coordinates: 2020 – 2021 upstate New York
Speaking of the political and social commentary the film encouraged, director Krasinski said, “The best compliment you can get on any movie is that it starts a conversation. The fact that people are leaving and talking about anything is really fun—but certainly about deep stuff like that, is awesome.” Krasinski, who did not grow up with horror films, said that prior films of the genre such as Don’t Breathe (2016) and Get Out (2017) that had societal commentary were part of his research. In addition to considering his film a metaphor for parenthood, he compared the premise to US politics in 2018, “I think in our political situation, that’s what’s going on now: You can close your eyes and stick your head in the sand, or you can try to participate in whatever’s going on.” He cited Jaws (1975) as an influence, with how the protagonist police officer moved from New York to an island to avoid frightening situations, and was forced to encounter one in his new location with shark attacks.
Matthew Monagle of Film School Rejects said A Quiet Place seemed to be “the early frontrunner for the sparsely intellectual horror movie of the year”, like previous films The Babadook (2014) and The Witch (2015). Monagle said Krasinski, who had directed two previous films, was “making an unusual pivot into a genre typically reserved for newcomers”, and considered it to be part of a movement toward horror films layered “in storytelling, [with] character beats not typically found in a horror movie”. Tatiana Tenreyro, writing for Bustle, said while A Quiet Place was not a silent film, “It is the first of its kind within the modern horror genre for how little spoken dialogue it actually has.” She said the rare moments of spoken dialogue “give depth to this horror movie, showing how the narrative defies the genre’s traditional films even further”.
Bishop Robert Barron was surprised by strikingly religious themes in the film. He likened the family’s primitive, agrarian life of silence to monasticism, and commends their self-giving love. Barron noted the pervasive pro-life themes, especially in the choices of the parents, as Mrs. Abbott risks everything to give birth to a child, and her husband lays down his own life so that the children can live: what Barron sees as the ultimate expression of parental love. Sonny Bunch of the Washington Post also commented and expanded on a pro-life message.
Krasinski, who had recently become a new father, said in a conference interview “I was already in a state of terror about whether or not I was a good enough father,” and added that the meaning of parenthood had been elevated for him by imagining being a father in a nightmare world, struggling to simply keep his children alive. Jonathan Hetterly, writing in Shrinktank, saw the film’s whole premise as a commentary on modern American paranoid parenting, saying that Krasinski “viewed the premise as a metaphor for a parent’s worst fears”.
Krasinski himself has told CBS News “The scares were secondary to how powerful this could be as an allegory or metaphor for parenthood. For me, this is all about parenthood.” (wiki)
668 – Ready Player One (2018)
spacetime coordinates: 2045 Columbus, Ohio
imdb
cultural references
The film was noted to have significant differences from the book, with some critics calling the film’s plot an improvement over the source material. 🙂
661 – West of Loathing (2017 video game)
spacetime coordinates: 1890’s wild west
West of Loathing is a comedy adventure role-playing video game developed by Asymmetric Publications and released on 10 August 2017.
The game takes place in the universe of Asymmetric’s Kingdom of Loathing, in a Weird Western themed frontier setting. The player character leaves the family farm and heads west to seek their fortune on a trek to the city of Frisco. (wiki)
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS (MINIMUM) – OS: Windows XP SP2+ / Processor: 2.8 GHz Intel® Core™2 Duo or better / Memory: 2 GB RAM / Graphics: 512 MB / Storage: 4 GB available space
0660 – Rampage (2018)
spacetime coordinates: 2017 San Diego / Wyoming / Everglades > Chicago
Rampage is a 2018 American science fiction monster film directed by Brad Peyton, and loosely based on the video game series of the same name by Midway Games. The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jake Lacy, Joe Manganiello, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It follows a primatologist named Davis Okoye who must team up with George, an albino gorilla who turns into a raging creature of enormous size as a result of a rogue experiment, to stop two other mutated animals from destroying Chicago. It is the third collaboration between Peyton and Johnson, following Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012) and San Andreas (2015). (wiki)
It is the all-time best reviewed film based on a video game, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
649 – Priest (2011)
Priest is a 2011 American post-apocalyptic dystopian science fiction action horror film starring Paul Bettany as the title character. The film, directed by Scott Stewart, is loosely based on the Korean comic (Manhwa) of the same name by Hyung Min-woo. In an alternate world, humanity and vampires have warred for centuries. After the last Vampire War, a veteran Warrior Priest (Bettany) lives in obscurity with other humans inside one of the Church’s walled cities. When the Priest’s niece (Lily Collins) is kidnapped by vampires, the Priest breaks his vows to hunt them down. He is accompanied by the niece’s boyfriend Hicks (Cam Gigandet), who is a wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess (Maggie Q). (wiki)
0647 – Timecop (1994) / Timecop 1983
spacetime coordinates: 1929 NY / 2004 / 1994 Washington
Timecop is a 1994 American science fiction action film directed by Peter Hyams and co-written by Mike Richardson and Mark Verheiden. The film is based on Timecop, a story created by Richardson, written by Verheiden, and drawn by Ron Randall, which appeared in the anthology comic Dark Horse Comics, published by Dark Horse Comics.
The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Max Walker, a police officer in 1994 and later a U.S. Federal agent in 2004, when time travel has been made possible. It also stars Ron Silver as a rogue politician and Mia Sara as Melissa Walker, the agent’s wife.
Timecop1983
TimeSpace Warps 