2001ASpaceOdyssey

(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.

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.

Charles T. "Chuck" Baker makes the least dignified astronaut entrance in cinematic history. He lands on Planet 51, plants an American flag, encounters life in the form of a "dog" that looks suspiciously like a mini-me version of the creature from Alien -- and promptly runs away, screaming like a little girl.

Baker, voiced by Dwayne Johnson in the amusing animated film that opens tomorrow, has a lot to learn about being an astronaut. Planet 51, aimed squarely and pleasantly at children, is ready to impart lessons about the true meaning of "the right stuff," not only for Baker, but also for mournful astronomer Lem (Justin Long), his unrequited love Neera (Jessica Biel), and the evil 1-2 punch of a a military leader (Gary Oldman) and a scientist (John Cleese). The film pays homage to a variety of sci-fi flicks, and the stylish, rounded curves of its character and production designs are reminiscent of the early 1950s, the grand era when astronauts first started popping up on the big screen.

In compiling this list, I was tempted to draw from the huge pool of space jockeys, ranging from Luke Skywalker to Captain Kirk, but decided instead to stick to a more traditional view of astronauts. Some, obviously, are more realistic than others.

In the Shadow of the Moon

You can't get much better than the real thing. David Singleton's documentary allows the Apollo astronauts to give voice to their hopes, fears, and memories of their dazzling missions to the moon, accompanied by rarely-seen archival footage. It's dazzling, mesmerizing, and ultimately humbling.

Yes, it's a long way from the far reaches of outer space to Bora Bora, but you just know that if you managed to get away with your girlfriend for a few days of rest and relaxation, something's going to screw it up. That's what happens to four romantic pairs in Couples Retreat, which was filmed in Bora Bora and opens tomorrow. In the movie, the couples think they'll be able to enjoy of fun and sun in Bora Bora, but instead are forced to undergo couples counseling.

None of the therapists quite rises up to the level of "villain" -- though Jean Reno comes close -- but, as a science fiction fan, I thought it would fun to imagine the sci-fi villains you'd least like to see on an island retreat. It would be impossible to get romantic with these guys around.

1. Jabba the Hut

Talk about a buzz kill! You don't want to head down to the dining room and see this monstrosity sitting next to your table. First, he's make you lose your appetite. Which is a good thing, since he'd eat all the food on the island anyway. Of course, your girlfriend would probably already be wearing a bikini like Princess Leia's in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, but she wouldn't take kindly to enforced slavery. And he'd force you to compete in a real-life battle to the death, which is no way to enjoy your holiday. The only plus: he'd probably eat all the insects in your vicinity.

I grew up reading science fiction, thinking my beloved genre was all about the possibilities of the infinite: advanced civilizations inhabiting distant star systems; men with brains so large and hearts so beneficent they could barely be contained within their bodies; women with beauty so magnificent and intellect so stunning they would leave bystanders breathless.

And they I started watching movies and eventually realized it's all about death, destruction ... and more death.

This week's release of The Final Destination, which is obsessed with staging elaborate 'kill scenes,' got me thinking about memorable scenes of demise in science fiction films. Sci-fi is notably short of serial killers, but offers a wider range of death scenes, beyond simple murder and mayhem. Here's my list of the top 10 sci-fi deaths. (Of necessity, this list is nothing but spoilers, so you have been warned.)

1. The Emperor (Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi)

Everyone knows where they were when they saw the Emperor get what was coming to him. Me, I was in the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles, opening night, second showing, near 5:00 a.m., shouting (and ultimately cheering and applauding) along with the rest of the sold-out auditorium as Luke looked between his father and the Emperor, in pain, agonizing, understanding that the man he had hated was being tortured by the man who should be hated. And then he made the right call. Goosebumps still raise up in the glory of the memory.