The Truth is Out There: March 2011

Golden age of sci-fi?

One of my favorite internet movie bloggers; C.Robert Cargill aka Massawyrm from Aint it Cool news, stated in his positive review of Battle: Los Angeles that we were currently living in a golden age of science fiction cinema. What? Did I miss this or something? Since reading that I have been struggling to think of what could be an example of this supposed golden age we are currently enjoying and specifically when did it start? I’m thinking probably around 2006 with Children of Men and The Fountain. Two brilliant pieces of cinema and the finest pieces of science fiction entertainment that had been released in many a moon at that time. Since then we have had the likes of Sunshine, Watchmen, Transformers, Cloverfield, Wall-E, Knowing, Star Trek, District 9, Avatar, Moon, The Box, Splice, Inception, Monsters and Tron Legacy. In March so far we have also had The Adjustment Bureau, Limitless and Source Code, all of which make you think and are filled with ideas despite varying in quality. Now that I have typed that out and looked at it I find myself agreeing with Mr Cargill. We can complain and bitch all we like about the fact that Universal have shelved plans for At The Mountains of Madness and R-Patz is a possible lead in a live action Akira but the fact is we have never had it so good. Films like Sunshine and District 9 were produced with very little fanfare or information leaked online about them and as a result when they came out kicked our collective arses. So yeah its a shame that Del Toro’s long cherished adaptation of Lovecraft’s work isn’t going to happen but the fact that it almost did happen is something to be glad about. Also Del Toro’s next project is Pacific Rim, which apparently involves giant mecha battle suits fighting giant monsters!! So how cool does that sound?!?

Blade Runner sequels

Speaking of Golden Ages and science fiction, this month it was announced that Alcon entertainment had secured the rights to sequels and TV projects based on Ridley Scott’s 1982 masterpiece. This was followed by the sound of several thousand plastic retainers being shattered as geeks clenched their teeth in anger. I think this was always going to happen it was just a matter of when and to be honest I’m not completely against the idea. No film is ever going to measure up against the original that much is certain and despite this a sequel or prequel isn't going to suddenly erase the original from existence. It will always be there for you to enjoy on whatever home entertainment format happens to be in vogue at the time. If they are going to sequelize it they should at least bring on Scott in an advisory capacity the way they did with Steven Lisberger for Tron Legacy. That way at least the geek army will be sated and we can be assured of some measure of quality. If sir Ridley has returned to the Alien franchise with Prometheus they there isn’t any reason to think he would not do the same for Blade Runner.

The X-Files

I made the mistake of watching the second X Files big screen feature; I want to believe, again this month, I still have a bitter taste in my mouth. I was really hoping that this franchise would kick ass on the big screen but so far we have had one very good movie and one limp above average feature length episode of the tv show in cinemas. The X-Files has masses of potential as a property but the problem seems to be Chris Carter’s lack of imagination. Therefore I am going to suggest something that may seem controversial; Reboot it. Yeah get rid of Carter, Duchovny and Anderson and bring on a new team and launch a new tv series on fox to build brand awareness. Get someone who is a huge fan like Edgar Wright as an exec producer and show runner and let it run wild. Fringe’s popularity has proven that there is still an appetite out there for unsolved believe it or not type scenario’s and The X-Files franchise gathers dust on a shelf when it could be out there working as the brand recognition name it is.

Robert Rodriguez Career

Remember when Robert Rodriguez was the great latino hope of action cinema? Me neither, but this was the case around 1995. He had El Mariachi under his belt, sequel Desperado about to come out and From Dusk Till Dawn in production. It was so sweet and we all marveled at how cool he made Antonio Banderas and George Clooney look. Then he made the entertaining The Faculty and a series of kids films and then Sin City which he only co-directed. Somewhere in between came a confusing third part in his mariachi trilogy. Lately he has been producing little seen 3D kids movies and Grindhouse knock offs. Oh and he produced Predators. For every cheap kids movie he directs he gets attached to five or so interesting sounding projects that never happen like Sin City 2, Nervewrackers or Zorro. The reason for me looking at the waste that is Rodriguez career is that I watched Machete on blu-ray and was a bit disappointed. It doesn't go far enough in the over the top seedy grindhouse style to be a homage and isn’t serious enough to be considered a socially conscious piece of entertainment that it wants to be, its a classic case of neither fish nor fowl. Rodriguez is capable of great things, I can point to the whole of From Dusk Till Dawn and a collection of scenes from his other movies, but he really needs to get out from behind his troublemaker studios and get back behind a camera and not in front of a green screen.

by Chris Holt

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