Tag Archives: Sci-Fi

401. Close Encounters of the Third Kind

For my final podcast, I look at how Steven Spielberg effectively remade his first feature, Firelight to deliver a message of hope.

391. WALL•E

Twenty-one feature films, $14b at the worldwide box-office and 15 Oscars. If you ever wondered about the secret of Pixar’s success, read their mission statement.

349. The Matrix

Science-Fiction operates in many ways; fantasy, allegory, romance, satire and speculative. Another is prophecy. Twenty years on The Matrix seems eerily prescient.

301. Alien

We are told we watch horror films because they offer a vicariously thrilling, and thus safe experience. I don’t believe that. I believe horror films are instructive.

296. Un Chien Andalou

This film lasts seventeen minutes, features mutilation, insects and dismemberment. Yet it is one of the most influential ever made.

277. Blade Runner

Are classics always instantly recognized? If ever there were proof that critics cannot assess a film’s merits on a single viewing, it is Ridley Scott’s masterpiece.

259. THX-1138

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, George Lucas was an avant-garde filmmaker whose sole interest was in making highly experimental short films.

252. Freeze-Frame

Once considered avant-garde, freeze-frame is now common place in every genre. Here are some of landmark and innovative uses of the technique.

230. Chinatown

Roman Polanski’s masterpiece is often called film noir. But lacking a dark look and a femme fatale, it’s not. It’s a very rare Hollywood breed; a true tragedy.

221. Children of Men

Science-fiction sometimes predicts the future. Released a decade ago, Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men grows more prophetic as the years go by.

217. Great Scenes – Part Three

What makes for a great scene? Performance? Conflict? Dialogue? Visuals? Music? Combine them and you have atomic weight.

193. Aliens

James Cameron took a risk in tackling a sequel to Ridley Scott’s Alien. But his follow-up added other elements to the sci-fi/horror: action, adventure and all out war.

187. The Revenant

Originally pitched as a simple story of revenge, under Alejandro Inarritu’s direction The Revenant became a journey of spiritual release.

173. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

How do you make a film about a character who can neither move nor speak, but can only blink his left eye?

158. The Big Sleep

How can Howard Hawks’ adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s labyrinthine detective novel be heralded as a classic when it is impossible to follow?

123. The Terminator

Because The Terminator is not about a cyborg but a resilient woman, James Cameron’s landmark film presented him as a unique feminist.

122. Under The Skin

It took Jonathan Glazer over ten years to bring Under the Skin to the screen, but with that long gestation he might just have delivered the film of the decade.

Spielberg’s Techniques

This video-essay examines Steven Spielberg’s career, from his days in television up until War Horse, and shows how he uses the disciplines of cinema to secure specific emotional responses.

Alien

This video-essay on Ridley Scott’s Alien examines the origins of horror and science-fiction and uses them to illustrate the disparate themes, ideas and influences that came to bear on the film’s creation.

Inception

This video-essay on Christopher Nolan’s Inception examines the themes of time and memory which serve as twin anchors to the film’s plot. These elements are also central to surrealism and the way it depicts dreams.

Blade Runner

This video-essay on Blade Runner examines how Ridley Scott visualizes the film’s numerous and seemingly disparate themes of urbanity, ecology, identity and mortality.

45. Spielberg & Friends

Steven Spielberg is one of Hollywood’s most influential filmmakers ever, so what accounts for his phenomenal success?

37. Robocop

Robocop is now a quarter of a century old. With a remake soon to be released, we ask is Paul Verhoeven’s original beginning to rust?


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