The most expensive movie ever made, is getting its first reviews ... and so far the thumbs are mostly up. [more inside]
posted by philip-random on Dec 12, 2009 - 353 comments

Famous Monsters of Filmland, the legendary genre magazine edited by the late Forrest J Ackerman (previously), will be resurrected by comic publisher IDW.
posted by brundlefly on Dec 9, 2009 - 19 comments

What's 51 years old and made of silicone with red food dye? The Blob, best known for it's work in The Blob, an independent film released in 1958, with Steve McQueen's second movie role (following Never Love a Stranger, which was released earlier that same year). The movie has been considered the definitive '50s film about a town that won't listen to the kids until it's too late (as noted in a review for the Criterion laserdisc release), with a super-catchy theme song (extended single version and b-side Saturday Night in Tiajuana) that was Burt Bacharach's third US hit song. (See more: theatrical trailer, full film on Veoh, full film as YouTube playlist) Times change, and so do monsters, and things got a bit wacky in the 1970s, with Beware! The Blob (aka Son of Blob; wiki, trailer, full film). The sequel played more to the slapstick comedy than the sci-fi/horror spectrum of things. Thirty years after the original, The Blob was remade in 1988 (wiki, trailer, full film), and is supposedly being re-created by Rob Zombie, though his statement about reviving The Blob without "the big red blobby thing" has people asking, then why remake The Blob? (previous blobby goodness) [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Nov 3, 2009 - 53 comments

In praise of the sci-fi corridor -- a geeky look at that staple of sci-fi movie sets - the corridor.
posted by empath on Sep 3, 2009 - 71 comments

Welcome to District 9. Director Neill Blomkamp turns his sci-fi short "Alive in Joburg" into a full-length feature film - examining xenophobia in an allegory of Apartheid, set in a slum recalling District 6 of Cape Town in South Africa.
posted by crossoverman on Aug 23, 2009 - 135 comments

28 years ago they came to Earth. Explore the world of District 9. Consider a career with Multi-National United. Find out about enhancing your math skills with DNA from outer space. Play the game. And learn the truth behind the lies.
posted by scalefree on Jul 13, 2009 - 120 comments

Keep watching the skies - The New York Times looks back at 50s Sci Fi films in anticipation of Alien Trespass, the new film from X-Files veteran R.K. Goodwin. One or two of those classics haven't even been remade yet!
posted by Artw on Mar 28, 2009 - 19 comments

The Best Youtube Videos of Spanish Filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo (previously). [more inside]
posted by Staggering Jack on Dec 13, 2008 - 5 comments

5 reasons Luke Skywalker is a complete idiot
Luke Skywalker the whiny farmboy
Luke "Jesus" Skywalker
Worst Luke Skywalker moments
posted by swift on Oct 22, 2008 - 86 comments

Did you grow up anticipating sports where death would be likely, if not certain? Almost certainly played by convicts, possibly with robot limbs? And which would be even more likely to have chainsaws and flamethrowers not usually found in the sports of today? Those We Left Behind’s look at Future-sports of the past, in videogames, movies and comics is for you!
posted by Artw on Sep 11, 2008 - 41 comments

Since Georges Melies' 1902 'Trip to the Moon' cinema has been in love with science fiction. The romance has been rocky though, with many potential classics lost to spiralling budgets or studio whim. David Hughes the author of a new book, The Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Never Made, shares his favourites with us - The Top 10 Greatest Sci Fi movies never made Via The Times online
posted by infini on Aug 9, 2008 - 48 comments

Imagine a world without lightsabers—where, instead, every big Star Wars finale consists of a 10-minute slap fight. Thank the maker we’ll never have to witness such a spectacle, because magical and impossibly high-tech weapons are staples of nearly all of our favorite entertainments! ToyFare Magazine presents the 50 Greatest Fictional Weapons of All Time.
posted by cmgonzalez on Nov 21, 2007 - 59 comments

The Brain That Wouldn't Die is the best public domain movie I've seen all week. Abe Baker's spooky original jazz score is a staple in sci-fi B movies. The monster is played by Eddie Carmel, subject of Diane Arbus' A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y. 1970, in his first screen appearance. And I can't overlook the feminist take on this postwar gorefest. See for yourself.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot on Jun 28, 2007 - 23 comments

La Planète sauvage - based on the novel Oms en Série by Stefan Wul, and known to the English speaking world as Fantastic Planet, is a wonderfully psychadelic animated Sci-Fi film from 1973. An international production between France and Czechoslovakia, the movie has a cult following, mostly from viewers who saw it on USA's Night Flight in the 1980's. Although it has languished in obscurity for some time, Hollywood has decided it's time for a live action remake. For those who haven't seen it, or for people who haven't seen it in twenty years, some kind soul has uploaded the entire film to Youtube. You'll never look at your pets the same way again.
posted by smoothvirus on Dec 11, 2006 - 36 comments

Hoth Hell Freezes Over. The madness of King George subsides.
posted by Robot Johnny on May 4, 2006 - 82 comments

The 10 Best Sci-Fi Films That Never Existed
posted by Tlogmer on Feb 13, 2006 - 157 comments

As others see us: A Chinese review of 'Revenge of the Sith'.

For those of you who don't know, George Lucas' latest oeuvre has bombed in mainland China's box-offices - $38.5M there, vs. the $312 it has earned domestically. A cultural difference, an error in Jos. Campbell's theory, or just something else, altogether? In any case, the film and it's apparent failure over there have made for some interesting reviews (last one via).
posted by vhsiv on Jun 9, 2005 - 64 comments

Every year we seem to get a few horror or sci-fi movies featuring aliens. What happened this year? I may be missing some, but the only 2003 major release movies that had some aliens in them were Dreamcatcher, Good Boy! and Scary Movie 3. One horror movie and two comedies. Just a coincidence or are aliens no longer cool?
posted by quirked on Dec 30, 2003 - 17 comments

I Can't Believe I Missed BlobFest 2003!
The annual celebration of the cheesy sci-fi movie that made Steve McQueen a movie star and the town of Phoenixville, PA proud was last weekend... But even if you weren't there you can still...
» Meet The Man Who Owns The Blob and giggle when you learn just what it's made of.
» Read the liner notes from the Criterion laserdisc (yes, there was one).
» Listen to that awful theme song (written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David).
» Be shocked that the basement window that our heroes used to escape in the movie is now blocked by a wheelchair ramp!
» Or buy a ticket to the newly-restored historic Colonial Theatre, just so you can run out of it, screaming. They won't mind.
posted by wendell on Jul 15, 2003 - 10 comments

In light of the highly anticipated Tron 2.0 - Tron Killer App next year, (has its own google directory :) here're some v.cool production illustrations from the original visionary Tron! Includes sketches of Yori's apartment from the infamous deleted love scene :) [also see moebius!]
posted by kliuless on Jun 4, 2002 - 12 comments

"All democracies turn into dictatorships -- but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it's Julius Caesar or Napoleon or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea... It isn't that the Empire conquered the Republic, it's that the Empire is the Republic." George Lucas talks about the politics of his new Star Wars films.
posted by tranquileye on Apr 23, 2002 - 19 comments

R2-D2 Beneath the Dome is cute, funny, silly and the most despicable ploy to hype a movie ever in the history of cinema. Most importantly, it diminishes the stature of a great man, by failing to mention Kenny Baker's contribution to the successful phenomenon. It's like talking about Indiana Jones "behind the scenes" without mentioning Harrison Ford.
posted by ZachsMind on Nov 26, 2001 - 20 comments

Let the disappointment begin! Lucasfilm posted the teaser trailer to the highly anticipated Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones today.
posted by MegoSteve on Nov 5, 2001 - 56 comments

Halloween is almost here; time to start work on that Tron costume.
posted by swift on Oct 29, 2001 - 13 comments

Tron returns with a vengeance. With a theatrical sequel, a 20th anniversary DVD and a first-person PC shooter, you have to wonder why Disney is rollling out the red carpet all of a sudden.
posted by ed on Jul 27, 2001 - 34 comments

Dark Angel is a rip-off of Heinlein's Friday, which I completely agree with. Cameron has been successfully sued by Harlon Ellison before for blatantly ripping off his ideas. Then again the sci-fi word is a static world of either super-humans/machines/aliens/time-trave/alternate dimensions.
posted by skallas on Oct 19, 2000 - 13 comments

Okay, now he's not a replicant. Contrary to what Ridley Scott said, Harrison Ford claims Deckard was not a replicant. Where's Phillip K. Dick when you need him? Oh, right...
posted by Aaaugh! on Sep 28, 2000 - 16 comments

Darn Canadians are going to get Reboot! first. Looks like we'll both be waiting for this one, premiumpolar. Darn Canadians and their darn YTV anyway! Grrr...
posted by mrmorgan on Apr 10, 2000 - 0 comments

Thank God.
posted by Mark on Mar 21, 2000 - 3 comments