Movies We Love

If I asked you who did the best on-camera Doctor Emmett Brown impersonation you might be tempted to answer Seth Rogen or Paul Rudd. And while those are both fine choices, you'd be wrong. Completely and totally wrong.

No, the best Doc Brown impersonation comes not from a member of Apatow's crew, but from former President Ronald Reagan.

Ever since seeing the iconic vehicle roll onto the silver screen once again, I've had an itch to re-watch what has long been my personal favorite sci-fi trilogy. It's an itch I get at least once a year. But since I don't have time right now to watch all three movies, I'll tide myself over by posting a few BTTF-related items of interest over the next few days.

Up first is an incredible DIY paperwork DeLorean from Back To The Future II. I'm not a big arts-and-crafts guy, but I'm tempted to track down a high-quality printer and give this project a go:


The full-resolution version can be found at Kryptonian Warrior. If you end up putting one together, leave a link to a picture in the comments.

Every Friday we present a new film as part of the Sci-Fi Squad Movie Club (like a book club for movie geeks), asking some questions of our own while we watch the film, with the ultimate goal of starting a discussion about science-fiction and some of the movies we love. This was my first week to host, and I trotted out an old favorite from when I was a kid, Michael Crichton's Runaway (you can read Friday's post here).

The movie can be streamed through Netflix, so don't feel like you had to catch it over the weekend to join in on the fun. It's a 1984 techno-thriller about a beat cop (Tom Selleck) who handles robotic mishaps in the near-future, and uncovers a plot involving microchips that cause robots to go berserk (as well as powering experimental heat-guided bullets).

Let's get into some of the questions posed in Friday's post...

I'm leading the Sci-Fi Squad Movie Club this week, and we're shifting gears a little bit with a 1980's action-thriller, that also happens to have an interesting take on how robotics might play a part in out future (or at least how our future was perceived in 1984, the time of the film's release). The film is Runaway, from writer/director Michael Crichton, who did a capable job in the director's chair, although the movie died a quick death upon release.

Runaway stars Tom Selleck as Sgt. Jack Ramsey, a cop in the "Runaways" unit, a special division of the police force that handles safety concerns caused by robots (almost like a futuristic version of animal control). When a household robot runs amuck and starts shooting people during a dangerous, but routine call, Ramsey discovers a trail that leads him into the most perilous case of his career, against techno-terrorist Dr. Charles Luther (Gene Simmons. Yes, The Demon from KISS). Kirstie Alley appears in an early role as Dr. Luther's mule and Cynthia Rhodes co-stars as Ramsey's partner Karen.

The film is available to "watch instantly" on Netflix, which should make it easy for you to join along. Here are some things to consider while you watch it...

--Does the mundane "everyday-living" approach to the robots help or hinder the film?
--Is Crichton's vision of the future obsolete or is this still a plausible direction for robotics?
--Cornfields and vertigo - Are these intentional nods to Hitchcock?
--What's your take on the acting style of Gene Simmons?
--Is the scene with the psychic necessary to the film?
--What elements make the film Michael Crichton-esque?

We'll be back with a discussion post on Monday. You can see the full trailer for Runaway after the jump.

For those following along at home, so far the Club has watched: Altered States - The Man Who Fell to Earth - Right at Your Door

We've been trucking along with our new Sci-Fi Movie Club every week, and I've been thinking a lot about the eventual moment when it comes around to my turn to "host" the film. One choice that keeps popping up in my head is Godzilla: Final Wars from director Ryuhei Kitamura (Midnight Meat Train). It's loud, dumb fun with more monster mayhem than any film in the Godzilla series. (It even features a delightful cameo by Roland Emmerich's American Godzilla, whereupon the lame CG abomination has the holy crap smacked out of him by the original Godzilla's tail.)

Right now, it's free to watch on Crackle as part of their "Attack! Attack!" series, which includes nine recent Godzilla films (and Starship Troopers, which isn't short on its own brand of rampaging creatures -- giant bugs). Along with Final Wars, they're offering Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla Vs. King Ghidorah, Godzilla Vs. MechaGodzilla II, Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus, Godzilla Vs. Mothra, Godzilla Vs. SpaceGodzilla, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., and Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack.

That's hours worth of panic and destruction right at your fingertips!

In case you missed the initial post, my pick for this past weekend's Sci-Fi Squad Movie Club was Chris Gorak's 2006 indie flick Right at Your Door. So if you're still planning on watching it (and I obviously recommend that you do), you should stop reading now as there are spoilers incoming. If that's the case (and even if it isn't), hop over to Cinematical's Movie Club, where Monika is doing The Graduate, and/or Horror Squad, where Brad is talking about the pulse-pounding French gem Ils.

You've been warned.

Official Synopsis: "After multiple dirty bombs are detonated spreading deadly toxic ash across Los Angeles Brad (Rory Cochrane) inadvertently quarantines his wife Lexi (Mary McCormack) outside their new home by safely sealing himself inside. With the city under siege and Martial Law in effect Brad and Lexi struggle to survive with little supply limited time and no information - all the while separated by thin doors and thinner sheets of plastic. When "help" finally does arrive it appears to be anything but."

Most science fiction films announce their arrival with a bang. If a movie is about aliens, we'll be seeing aliens in the first ten minutes. If the movie features time traveling robots, we'll see some time traveling robot action within the first act. Most movies wear their genre on their sleeve and display it proudly.

Some movies don't announce their true identities so soon. For better or for worse, some movies don't let their freak flag fly until late in the narrative, long after it's lured in viewers who would normally never watch a science fiction story. Below, I've taken the time to dissect eight science fiction movies that may not, at first, appear to be science fiction movies. I know I've missed too many to count, so feel free to abuse and educate me in the comments below!

Oh, and it gets about as spoilery as you can get from here on out, so tread lightly.


1. Predator (1987)



How Does It Start?

Well, technically the very first shot tells us this is a science fiction film, but no one remembers that shot. They remember the dawn arrival of a helicopter filled with the toughest team of mercenaries ever put on film, the bicep-bulging reunion of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Dutch and Carl Weathers' Dylan and the lousy tough-guy jokes on the chopper flight into hostile territory. The first act of Predator is the best men-on-a-mission action film of the 1980s, complete with the standard Arnie death-puns ("Stick around!"). It's the manliest non-homo erotic movie ever made, the story of a team of bad*ss super soldiers ruining nameless guerillas in the jungle...

Whoa! What Was That?

...And then an invisible monster brutally shuffles the mortal coil of Shane Black's Comic Relief Commando. An alien big game hunter, eh? That sucks. You just can't plan for some things.

Now What?

The science fiction twist of Predator (which isn't really a twist since everyone knows it's going to happen, but whatever, this is my article) is brilliant not only for its concept, but for how and when it is revealed in the movie. By hiding the titular villain for the first thirty minutes or so, we get to spend time watching Schwarzenegger, Weathers, Jesse Ventura, Bill Duke and Sonny Landham prove that they're the toughest guys on the planet. They're relentless and deadly and pretty much unstoppable in that 1980s action movie kind of way.

Once we're comfortable with the fact that no human being can possibly bring these guys down, a super-intelligent creature with highly advanced weaponry pops up and begins picking them off with relentless ease. I don't think anyone who watches Predator will ever forget Ventura's sudden demise, where his minigun-toting Blain goes down without a fight.

Of course, this all culminates in the classic climax, where Arnie goes mano-a-beastie with the Predator, a sequence that manages to feel equal parts Conan the Barbarian and Alien. The science fiction element ups the ante, increases the threat and manages to make a goofy flick into one of the great sci-fi action hybrids of all time.

I don't want to say that the Sci-Fi Squad Movie club got off to a rough start, but I think it is fair to say that Jacob and I both picked movies that were a little less accessible than most sci-fi movies tend to be. So I think this weekend we'll stray away from the more dour side of the genre and go with something a bit more thrilling*: Chris Gorak's Right at Your Door.

If you haven't seen this largely undiscovered 2006 mini-gem already, it's about what happens after a dirty bomb goes off in Los Angeles. Except it's not the large scale disaster movie you might think. Instead of Gorak attempting to go the Roland Emmerich route, he opted for a more intimate scale that explores what happens to a single couple after a dirty bomb goes off in LA. The result is a tightly wound, well plotted little film that would have been right at home as an Outer Limits episode from the '90s.

It's a common enough movie that your local rental store should have a copy, but if you're like me and have a crippling fear of walking out your front door lest a dirty bomb go off in your city, Right at Your Door is available on Netflix Watch Instantly. I don't have any discussion questions to keep in mind off the bat, so just kick back, enjoy at your leisure over the weekend and then on Monday I'll have a longer writeup to offer.

*Okay, so as you can tell from its plot, Right at Your Door isn't exactly an upper of a movie, but it's still a lot of fun.

(I consider myself a pretty serious movie fan. But the simple fact of the matter is that I miss stuff. Famous and interesting stuff. But not for long! Welcome to the column where I continue my film education before your very eyes. I will seek out and watch all of the movies I know I should have seen by now. I will first "review" the movie before I've watched it, based entirely on its reputation. Then I will give the movie a fair chance and actually watch it. You will laugh at me, you may condemn me, but you will never say I didn't try!)

The Film:



Starring:

Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner and Cindy Morgan

Why I Haven't Seen It Until Now:

I grew up on a steady diet of Indiana Jones, James Bond and Marty McFly. 1980s live-action Disney films couldn't have felt less appealing to a kid like me.

Pre-Viewing:

Tron is a fascinating but tremendously dated and ultimately boring film that hit a specific generation at the exact right moment to have a lasting impact. Like The Goonies, this is a film that coasts on nostalgia and rose-tinted childhood memories and those who loved it as children have yet to realize just how bad it really is.

Jeff Bridges stars as an adventurous computer programmer who enters the computer world known as TRON, where he engages in a bunch of lame video game challenges, culminating in the famous light cycle sequence. There is little plot to speak of and what is there feels like filler to connect the various special effects sequences, which may have been impressive in 1982, but are borderline unwatchable today.

Ultimately, I can see how Tron was a major step forward for visual effects, but outside of that, it's an empty, plotless mess with little to offer me and I'm only watching it because the trailer for Tron Legacy looks pretty nifty.

Post-Viewing:

Okay, put those stones down. I was way off.

"Are you the first?"

"The first what? Visitor? There's always been visitors."

Welcome to this week's Sci-Fi Squad movie club discussion. I hope you took the time to seek out and watch The Man Who Fell to Earth over the weekend. Or I hope you've seen it before. Or you can keep reading if you haven't seen it, but I'm not going to shy away from spoilers. Let's dive right on in!