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"A-choo!" Uh, oh, did you just sneeze? Get away from me, you might have a sci-fi virus! In Breck Eisner's remake The Crazies, due out tomorrow, a mysterious toxin poisons the water supply of a small town, leading to insanity and death. In George A. Romero's thrilling original, released in 1973, the culprit was a virus code-named "Trixie." Developed by the government, "Trixie" was unleashed upon an unsuspecting populace and wreaked bloodshed, panic, and havoc.

Governments often get the blame for world-threatening diseases, usually concocted by military scientists with no cure in sight. It's a favorite theme in science fiction movies, creating a natural framework for near-future extrapolation, authority mocking, righteous rebellion, and murderous mayhem. And, what do you know, those are all necessary ingredients for some of our favorite flicks! Here are the top ten sci-fi movies that feature viruses. Please add your own picks in the comments sections -- let us know what we missed, and why your selection belongs in the top ten.

1. Twelve Monkeys
Brilliant, maddening, and fascinating, Terry Gilliam's film follows Bruce Willis as he is sent back in time to try and uncover clues about a virus that has killed 99% of the Earth's population. He discovers, among other things, a very excitable Brad Pitt. We get to see both pre- and post-apocalyptic visions of a world devastated by disease, and it's difficult to say which is more frightening.

Hardcore science fiction fans don't need the mainstream to validate their love of the genre, thank you very much. Still, it's always intriguing to see how a mainstream director -- for the purposes of this article I'll define "mainstream" as a filmmaker not known for his previous interest in the genre -- approaches a science fiction property.

Martin Scorsese, for example, has not tackled science fiction yet, but his knowledge and love for all types of cinema is clearly felt in his latest film, Shutter Island. The thriller reeks (in a good way) of atmosphere, mood, and tone informed by the classical brand of horror movies, the kind practiced by James Whale and Val Lewton. In a similar way, Ridley Scott's The Duellists placed the action in foreboding, menacing, gorgeous settings, allowed the story to unfold at its own pace, and displayed respect for the the genre (if Napoleonic sword fighting pictures can be termed a genre), qualities that would serve Scott well with Alien and Blade Runner.

Here, then, are the top mainstream directors gone sci-fi. These are not (all) among the best films ever made, but are fascinating nonetheless -- sometimes like that car wreck you can't tear your eyes away from.

1. Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey
As brilliant as his previous pictures were, Kubrick exceeded himself with this carefully-crafted, mind-blowing masterpiece. Science fiction allowed him to let slip the surly bounds of gravity -- and narrative convention. It marked a turning point in his career, as his films became increasingly poetic and untethered to earthbound reality.

With Benicio Del Toro ready to debut as Lawrence Talbot in Joe Johnston's The Wolfman tomorrow, it's time to pay tribute to transformations. When Lon Chaney Jr. played The Wolf Man in 1941, the physical transformation was effected through make-up and dissolves. But the idea wasn't just that Lawrence Talbot was changed physically, but that his interior life changed as well. All the make-up and special effects in the world can't hide a character who doesn't grow (or devolve) from the experience.

Science fiction opens up the possibilities considerably, expanding the idea of cross-species commingling. Here are my top ten sci-fi transformations, listed (almost) in alphabetical order.

1. Sam Worthington in Avatar
Jake Sully is a broken man in more ways than one, rendered paraplegic during his military service and broken of spirit as a result. He doesn't take much convincing to accept a mission that may earn him an operation to regain the use of his limbs. Little does he know that it's his increasingly intimate dealings with the Na'vi that will transform him body and soul. He may appear to be nine feet tall and blue, he may wag a new tail, but deep inside, it is his very essence that is changing.

2. William Hurt in Altered States
Eddie Jessup is a brilliant scientist, far more interested in expanding his mind and consciousness than worrying about his physical being. Yet the hours he spends floating in a sensory-deprivation tank -- not to mention the drugs -- begin to have an effect upon his body as well, drilling down far deeper than even the brilliant Jessup could ever have anticipated. The result is one of the more bizarre apparitions to appear on screen.

Fathers and daughters have a special relationship in the movies, sentimentalized to the extreme in movies like the original Father of the Bride, with Spencer Tracy doting on Elizabeth Taylor. That movie came out in 1950, just as the first great decade for science fiction cinema was getting started. Every monster / space flick of the era seemed to feature a brainy but befuddled scientist with a beautiful daughter, waiting to be kissed by the police officer / brave citizen / gun-toting hero. The fathers were protective; the daughters needed to be protected.

As the decades have passed, the idea of "Daddy's Little Girl" hasn't progressed very much. Women have played more warriors and have safeguarded their own daughters, but when it comes to the father / daughter dynamic, very few relationships have been portrayed with much subtlety or depth. For a mainstream comparison, take a look at Martin Campbell's Edge of Darkness, in which Mel Gibson plays a Boston police detective seeking vengeance for the murder of his daughter. The film is a tight thriller featuring an abundance of dramatic flavor. What drives the narrative forward, however, is Gibson's memory of his lost adult daughter as a little girl, the darling child with shaving cream on her face, shaving with a comb in imitation of her loving father.

Here are the top sci-fi fathers and daughters, the highlights and low lights of the genre's least appreciated family relationship.

1. Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Darth Vader doesn't have any kind of relationship with his daughter as his daughter -- he thinks she's the enemy -- but it's the mere threat that he will have one that whips Luke Skywalker into a frenzy. Surely the blood shared by Darth and Leia informs the entire series.

Han Solo as a experimental research scientist? In Extraordinary Measures, which opens wide tomorrow, Harrison Ford plays Dr. Robert Stonehill, a medical researcher seeking a cure for a life-threatening muscular disease. Though the film is inspired by the true story of John Crowley (played by Brendan Fraser) and his family, Stonehill is a composite of several doctors. As portrayed by Ford, the good doctor is strong-willed, hard-working, and ultimately heroic. Han Solo's cheeky bravado occasionally shines through in Ford's defiant countenance, though the sullen, oft-irritated facade of Rick Deckard (Blade Runner) is more often on view in Dr. Stonehill's bearing.

Not all experiments have happy endings, of course, and not all research scientists are heroic, especially in science fiction movies. When researchers on the cutting edge of science make mistakes, the results can be catastrophic. Here are the top ten sci-fi experiments gone wrong -- the movie edition.

1. The Fly (1986)
Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) has made incredible strides toward a working teleportation system, which could be the invention of the century. But it's not until after he meets Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) that he dares to experiment with a living creature: first a baboon, then himself. If only he had noticed the tiny winged insect in one of the experimental pods ... David Cronenberg's version of the Vincent Price-starring shocker is a character-driven thriller that feels like it's teleported into your nervous system. "Be afraid. Be very afraid."

Wrestling with issues of life and death in genre films: ordinary and customary. Doing so from a religious and/or spiritual perspective: not so much. Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, which expands wide tomorrow, tackles Alice Sebold's novel and flings its spiritual concerns firmly into the realm of wide-eyed, teenage fantasy. The director successfully added drama to the fantasy world of J.R.R. Tolkien, but critical reaction to the heavy dose of other-worldly whimsy that he adds to the criminal / domestic drama of a young girl's murder has been mixed. (See, for example, the thoughtful review by Cinematical's Elisabeth Rappe.)

By its very nature, science fiction invites debate on the past, present, and future of mankind, thus treading boldly into arenas formerly reserved for sacred discussions. Religion in sci-fi movies becomes a hazier issue to define by today's terms. Is 2001: A Space Odyssey a religious picture? How about Planet of the Apes? Rather than split any more hairs, and without passing judgment on the merits of the religions involved, here's a list of the Top Ten Religious Sci-Fi Characters.

1. Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guiness in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope)
As if his desert home and hooded robe weren't enough, old Ben spills off religious platitudes like water over a broken dam. He doesn't force his faith down anyone else's throat, but neither does he hesitate to speak about it in warm, personal terms. In repudiation of lapsed believer Darth Vader's contempt for his "devotion to that ancient religion," Obi-Wan displays genteel grace and self-sacrificing faith in a key climactic scene, providing admirable inspiration for everyone.

This week finally sees the release of Youth in Revolt, the film version of C.D. Payne's 1993 novel. Considering the book's length (about 500 pages), director Miguel Arteta and screenwriter Gustin Nash faced the unenviable task of deciding what should remain and what should be excised. How do you make a 90-minute film that pleases the novel's legion of fans while remaining accessible to a larger audience that has never read it?

It's a challenge familiar to sci-fi fans. We've probably all experienced that moment of utter disbelief that a favorite story or novel has been twisted and mangled beyond recognition. But when the filmmakers get it right, honoring the spirit and creating a work that lives apart from its inspiration, it's magical. Regrettably, I don't read as many novels nowadays as in my earlier years, so I've never read the source material for some of my favorite science fiction films (e.g. Children of Men, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Planet of the Apes). Still, it was difficult to narrow my choices down to just ten. Here's what I ended up with: a list of my ten favorite sci-fi adaptations. What are yours?

1. Slaughterhouse-Five
Screenwriter Stephen Geller took on a near-impossible job, adapting Kurt Vonnegut's wondrous novel, which was inspired by Vonnegut's real-life experiences during World War II. Oddly enough, George Roy Hill's direction is as sprightly as you'd expect from the man whose previous film was Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Yet Hill's jaunty approach was exactly the right way to capture the spirit, the basic trajectory, and much of the flavor of the novel, producing a picture that feels both tied to the year in which it was released (1972) and transcendent of time and place.

Watching grungy and gray-skied London in Guy Ritchie's action/drama Sherlock Holmes made me think of the future. Ritchie presents the fictional detective as a reflection of the period in which he lived, and as such Robert Downey, Jr. stands out as much for his independent thinking and alternative lifestyle as for his deductive reasoning.

That means he would have fit in very well in the future, or in an alternative today, as well illustrated by the ten films I've chosen for this list. As usual, it's a very personal list, which means I cheat sometimes on the nationality of the film. To me, born and bred in America, these films feel very British, reflecting a very distinct point of view. I'm sure that's more reflective of my own (perhaps misguided) perceptions rather than reality, but at least I've stuck with flicks that are set somewhere in Great Britain, somewhere in time. Are they all great? You be the judge.

1. Children of Men (2006)
My pick for SciFi Squad's The Best of the Decade. Without repeating myself, let me add that the film feels like a James Bond spy thriller in which the world has gone to hell. Clive Owen makes for a very good, tattered, weary 007, no longer interested in bedding or drinking martinis or gambling or chasing after the bad guys. The picture also tilts and narrows its worldview to present conditions after Britain has shut itself off from the world. Once again, the British Empire rules the world -- or, what's left of it.

My invitation to an early screening of James Cameron's Avatar got lost in the mail (cough, cough), so I'm just as eager as the rest of the world to see what a little imagination -- and $250 million -- has wrought when the flick finally opens in theaters tomorrow. We may never know the actual budget of Avatar, but if it delivers on the early buzz, we won't care. Money talks, but it doesn't guarantee that good scripts will be written or that actors will give good performances or that directors will find new ways to surprise and amaze us.

Here are ten sci-fi films from the past 40 years that delivered the biggest bang for the buck, in my estimation. Some had micro budgets, while others had $30-35 million at their disposal, yet still exceeded expectations, delivering thrills and chills that rank among the very finest the genre has to offer. As it happens, the list is weighted toward more recent fare, so feel free to share your favorite 'bang for the buck' sci-fi flicks.

1. Timecrimes
One of SciFi Squad's best science fiction films of the decade, Nacho Vigalando's stylish thriller gets tremendous mileage out of its simple concept: a man travels in time and wrecks increasing havoc upon himself. The script is clever, intelligent, thoughtful, and entirely logical as it plays out the consequences of the man's actions, progressing from lighthearted playfulness to something darker and richer. The film is aided immensely by Karra Elejalde's performance as that ordinary man caught up in extraordinary circumstances.

Traditionally, December is a time for family gatherings and personal reflection. It is not often thought of in a very romantic light -- too much rushing around on the one hand, too much inward contemplation on the other. Several movies this month, however, seek to redress that imbalance: Did You Hear About the Morgans? (opening December 18) looks at a bickering couple stuck together far from home after witnessing a crime; It's Complicated (out on December 25) deals with a husband and wife reuniting physically, if not necessarily otherwise; The Princess and the Frog (expanding wide tomorrow) wonders if a love affair between two species is really a good idea.

In the realm of science fiction, romances usually take a back seat. James Cameron's approach in The Abyss is common: romantic attachments are fine as long as we don't talk about them until we're at the point of death. But other sci-fi movies have featured wonderfully memorable romantic couples. Here's our top ten.

1. Han and Leia (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back)

The spark is instantaneous, beginning with bickering, progressing to bantering, and ending with ... well, if not yet babies, then at least the likelihood that children will enter the picture sooner rather than later. Their relationship started in Episode IV with fulsome denials -- remember that Leia defiantly kisses her brother Luke to rebuke Han's smirking self-assurance -- but broadens and deepens to love in Episode V as they face adversity together and eventually acknowledge their feelings, each in their own fashion ("I love you." "I know.") Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher find the right tone; after all, the Empire must be defeated, and that's more important than the romance between a cocky fly boy and a haughty princess.