war of the worlds

"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.

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.

In news, TNT has given the green light to three new shows. In cool, relevant news, one of those shows is Untitled Alien Invasion Series, a concept co-created and produced by Steven Spielberg. I'm going to go ahead and assume the title will change in the near future.

The mammoth TNT press release (which I read at AICN) describes the series thusly: "The series opens shortly after aliens have wiped out most of the human population. The aliens are now rounding up the few people left, but they are met with strong resistance from a group of soldiers and civilians who fight for their survival all while struggling to maintain their humanity." Shades of War of the Worlds, pieces of V, maybe a little Battlestar Galactica...certainly not the most original science fiction concept out there, but it's definitely a premise that could support an ongoing series if the writing is up to snuff.

The pilot was written by Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan) and the series stars Noah Wyle as "The Reluctant Leader," Moon Bloodgood as "The Unrealistically Attractive Therapist," Jessy Schram as "The Unrealistically Attractive Motorcycle Scout" and Seychelle Gabriel as "The Orphan, Whom We Can Presume Has a Heart of Gold."

Spielberg's TV ventures have varied in the past, ranging from "Oh My God, What An Achievement!" (Band of Brothers), to "Really? This Is Something You Had Faith In?" (The United States of Tara, On the Lot) to "Okay, Steve, You've Had the Rights For Several Decades Now, Can You Please Get it Made?" (Stephen King's The Talisman).

Snark and kidding aside, I'm completely game for a new alien invasion series after the failure that was the new V. Similarly to Push hitting the small screen, television may be the ideal place to examine the concept of an alien invasion in a way we haven't seen before. Not to mention, I need something new to watch when Lost ends this year.

Even though I'm a fan of Guy Ritchie's updating of Sherlock Holmes currently playing in theaters around the world, were I for whatever reason limited to recommending only one Holmes adventure per season, I'd have to tip my hat to Sherlock Holmes & The War of the Worlds by Manly and Wade Wellman.

The Wellmans, a father and son team, actually began writing this fusion of genres in the late 1960s, publishing it as a series of short stories in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. A few months ago, however, Titan Books (who have really been championing the sci-fi field for the last few years) collected the Wellman's short stories and published them in a complete paper back collection, a collection I'm happy to recommend to not only fans of either Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle's characters or H.G. Wells' alien invasion scenario, but to all fans of sci-fi. One would think the melding of the two stories would yield an absurd, incongruous amalgamation, but the Wellmans have done an outstanding job of creating a storyline that triumphs on its own while at the same time never ignoring the debt to the men whom without their story couldn't exist.

The two have plucked the characters from Doyle's world and deposited them into Wells' end of the world, keeping Holmes and Watson untouched while modifying Wells' story rather significantly (though not disrespectfully). It opens with the titular character purchasing an odd crystal egg from an antiques dealer. A strange trait of this rare item has him showing the sphere to his scientist friend Challenger. When the two look into the crystal egg, they see not their reflections, but a spherical view into an alien landscape, a landscape they quickly deduce is Mars.

The immiment release of the intense modern-day family drama Brothers may not make you think instantly of science fiction, but Jim Sheridan's film, starring Jake Gyllenhall, Tobey Maguire, and Natalie Portman, is a remake of Susanne Bier's original from just five years ago, and that got me to thinking about sci-fi remakes, which have mostly had the good sense to wait a longer period of time before cashing in on the original visions.

With all due respect to my friend and colleague Eugene Novikov, who compiled a list of his favorite sci-fi remakes for Cinematical last year, around the time that the cringe-inducing remake The Day the Earth Stood Still came out, my Top Ten is much better (or, at least, different, though we overlap on a couple of picks). To make things more interesting, I've included a few unofficial remakes to round out the list.

1. The Thing (1982)

John Carpenter's remake, still based on a novella by John W. Campbell Jr., cuts to the bone. The 1951 original, credited to Christian Nyby but popularly understood to be under the control of producer Howard Hawks, is visually striking and narratively propulsive, but Carpenter's version, with a precisely-written script by Bill Lancaster and featuring a superb musical score by Ennio Morricone, creates a moody, nerve-jangling atmosphere from the outset, and slowly sets out to dismantle the very idea of uber-macho men crumbling -- and occasionally persevering -- under the crushing weight of fear. Kurt Russell, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Wilford Brumley, and Donald Moffat stand out among the uniformly strong cast. With each viewing, Carpenter's remake reveals more layers, while the original remains firmly lodged in its time and place.

It's really hard not to think of other post-apocalyptic tales when something like The Road is coming out this week. There are quite a few television shows that fit the bill. There are no less than six post-apocalyptic series of varying robustness, beginning with Max Headroom, which, in 1987, turned the MTV icon and soda barker a broadcast television star. The drama lasted two seasons.

In 1988, the War of the Worlds brought us Adrian Paul in the second season, before he became The Highlander.

A mini-series of Stephen King's The Stand riveted us in 1994 as we wondered how well the book adapted, as Mother Abigail and the Walking Dude fought for the souls of humanity. SciFi, err, SyFy is known to play it fairly often, but it's so edited beyond comprehension.

In 2000, James Cameron wowed some and bored others with Dark Angel, making Jessica Alba the poster girl for fanboys with televisions. And in 2002, Showtime aired the adaptation of Jeremiah, giving Luke Perry a chance to shake off his 90210 chains. That show had a shaky history, with the final episodes of season two taking over a year to air. Most recently, Jericho started well in 2006, but was revived more than once before finally being laid to rest in 2008.

With the exception of Max Headroom, all these series on out on DVD.

An honest attempt to explore a phenomenom reported in Nome, Alaska, The Fourth Kind walks a fine line between science fiction and reality. Videotaped interviews with a psychologist (played by Milla Jovovich) and her patients are recreated as she employs hypnosis to dig into disturbing memories. Our own Jenni Miller found it "pretty damn scary" while Todd Gilchrist questioned the validity of the "actual" footage and felt the movie unraveled quite easily. Personally, I appreciated the effort by director Olatunde Osunsanmi to make a different kind of UFO movie, even though his concept of mixing documentary-style footage with high-gloss narrative didn't entirely succeed. You can decide for yourself when The Fourth Kind opens in theaters tomorrow.

Aliens and UFOs are a common sight in sci-fi movies, though most often they come in peace or come out fighting. Abductions, the so-called "fourth kind" of alien encounter, are relatively rare. Television shows have explored this arena much more than films, but here are the top ten alien abductions in sci-fi movies; it's another very subjective list, to be sure, so your recommendations, additions, and disagreements are welcome.

1. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Presenting a more "fantastical" kidnapping, little Barry (Cary Guffey) is stolen right from under the nose of his frantic mother (Melinda Dillon). Steven Spielberg made this a heavy-duty workout for his special effects team, from the rolling clouds to the suddenly animated toys and kitchen appliances. The best special effect, though, was the look on little Barry's face when he sees his abductors. Close that door, boy!

Welcome to Captain's Log -- your (semi) daily round-up of sci-fi randomness from around the web. Here's what's happening:

Tomorrow marks the 71st anniversary of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast.

SyFy is cooking up a U.S. version of the BBC ghost, werewolf, and vampire roomie show Being Human, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Right after Yves Saint Laurent, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Michael Jackson, and Elvis comes J.R.R. Tolkein on Forbes' list of top-earning dead celebs.

Total Sci-Fi Online reports that Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss is prepping his own adaptation of the H.G. Wells' story, The First Men in the Moon.

Meanwhile, io9 points out that there's an Easter Egg on the new Battlestar Galactica DVD.

[Welcome to Sci-Fi Science, a new weekly column that takes an alternating look at the real science behind sci-fi and the every day strangeness that often sends us scrambling for a textbook.]

I recall a few years back walking out of a shop at dusk and being met by a sky that was a putrid orange color as far as the eye could see. It was a barely describable hue that had blanketed the entire horizon and the reason I remember it so well is that, for a second, I was convinced that some manner of Lovecraftian Elder God was rising from his slumber in the netherworld betwixt ours and His. I still don't know what caused that weird optical illusion, but it certainly wasn't the only cloud formation to ever inspire thoughts of invaders from beyond.

Just two weeks ago citizens all over Moscow tilted their heads upwards and broke out their cellphones to snap pictures and record videos of what looked alarmingly like a UFO in the sky. It was a bright halo of light that lorded over the city like an eye from space, though meteorologists have a different explanation for why the sky suddenly looked like the saucer invasion scene from Independence Day. Surprisingly, it does not involve swamp gas. From the Daily Mail, "Several fronts have been passing through Moscow recently, there was an intrusion of the Arctic air too, the sun was shining from the west – this is how the effect was produced."

It's hard enough to make either a good sci-fi flick or a horror movie, one that avoids the tired stereotypes yet embraces the aesthetic, with a smart script that provides something fresh and new and solid direction that establishes a proper atmosphere and allows for surprising developments. And performances that don't camp it up but are sincere and convincing. Combining the two genres is much trickier than blending peanut butter and chocolate. That was my thinking when compiling this list. Your comments are more than welcome. What are your personal favorites? Here are mine:

1. Alien
I don't know if Ridley Scott actually realized he was making a sci-fi horror movie, so much as he thought he was making a stylish thriller. Call it willful ignorance, but that may have contributed to the refreshing absence of overcooked ideas, which typically pop up like dandelions for directors new to either genre. Like the original, original Star Wars (before George shined it up), Alien resides in a future which feels lived in and used up, from the battered old Nostromo to the planet that harbors the seeds of the crew's destruction. By keeping the alien (mostly) out of the shot, and showing instead what the creature has done, the level of terror keeps rising. A distinct sense of dread permeates the picture, and it still makes me shiver.