Tag Archives: Science Fiction

Honoring Ray Harryhausen (1920-2013) – Our Five Favorite Harryhausen Creations

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I was fortunate enough to grow up around classic movie lovers, and since I was a child I was given a very hefty education in classic movies of all kinds. From Drama, to Science Fiction, I was able to understand the wonders of the classic films while also enjoying the modern cinema to boot. I loved the special effects spectacles, but I could also appreciate films like “Jason and the Argonauts” or “The Valley of Gwangi.” During my childhood, Ray Harryhausen’s works of art and amazing special effects astonished me. While they were low tech considering it was a new time for film, Harryhausen’s creations had a light and a life to them that computers and CGI animators could not duplicate. They had a spark within them, and within every motion, and I appreciated them with every film that Harryhausen left his signature on. Years later, I’m still a fanatic for Ray Harryhausen’s incredible work.

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Defiance

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Syfy really wants another “Battlestar Galactica,” since the series itself was one of the most compelling and unique pop culture landmarks in the 21st century. But with “Defiance” I really doubt they’ve caught lightning in a bottle twice. In face one of the main caveats of “Defiance” is that it’s so heavy handed in its pursuit to explore racism and prejudice, that it becomes the bases for the entire series. So far with a two hour pilot movie, and two one hour episodes, as well as a game, “Defiance” has proven to be a well produced, and beautifully constructed science fiction epic that when watched is just… okay. It’s by no means a lemon of a science fiction offering, but I’m not going to be following its mythos any time soon, either. In fact, I had a hard time remembering any of the characters’ names, even after three episodes.

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They Live (Collector’s Edition) [Blu-ray]

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Roddy Piper always seemed like an unusual choice for the role of Nada in John Carpenter’s “The Live” to me. Especially considering the film itself is less an action thriller, and more of a science fiction film that slowly elevates its horror when you consider how much this world reflects our own. The aliens themselves aren’t so much extra terrestrials, but are just us. They’re unrecognizable because they’ve submitted themselves to the decadence and subliminal commands of their overlords. The people that have chosen to act with them are akin to the Jews who chose to ally themselves with the Nazis. They’re slimy, but they’re acting on survival. The aliens have found a way to destroy society from the inside out, and we don’t actually realize it until we break the status quo and put on sunglasses.

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The Ten Worst Movies Ever Aired on TNT's Monstervision

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“Monstervision” ran for five years here in the US on the TNT cable station late on Saturdays and Fridays. Often times you could find it at midnight, but often it would be on late in the night thanks to whatever sports game or special TNT decided to air that night. Joe Bob Briggs is one of the last gasps of great cable television where he migrated from The Movie Channel to TNT to hose “Monstervision” for many years. During that time, he hosted many movies of the cult variety, and some mainstream stuff, mostly due to TNT’s demands. Though the show was called “Monstervision” Briggs was pretty much obligated to air movies like “Love Potion No. 9,” and “Twins” while Briggs was able to mostly air his kind of movies like “Shaft,” “From Beyond,” and “The Return of the Living Dead.” Throughout the span of the series, Monstervision aired some truly terrible movies that could only be appreciated with commercial breaks for the sake of the audiences sanity. And Briggs’. These are ten of the worst movies ever aired on Monstervision.

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Flash Gordon: The Complete Series (DVD)

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Man, what the hell happened?

It seemed like such a good idea at the time. The Syfy Channel or The Sci Fi Channel has had a good track record for television series that excelled in epic space adventures with hit shows like “Stargate” and “Farscape.” Plus, they engineered one of the most critically acclaimed award winning reboots of all time, “BSG: Battlestar Galactica” which ended up being an important touchstone for science fiction in the twenty first century.

So what in the heck happened with “Flash Gordon”? Syfy and their executives not only seem to miss the point with these characters of the pulp era, but completely seek out to alter their personas rather than re-invent them.

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D.N.A (1997)

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It’s pretty funny that “DNA” manages to be a total rip off of “Predator.” Because once you get a full glimpse at the alien monster in this 1997 Mark Dacascos vehicle, you realize that the alien in the film looks exactly like the early concepts for the monster in “Predator.” Anyone who knows movies, knows that the early designs for the monster in “Predator” featured a long necked more primal beast with a beak like mouth later changed in to a dreadlocked crab like hunter. The beast in “DNA” looks similar to the aforementioned monster from early drafts of “Predator,” except this time he’s tangling with Mark Dacascos and his boss long hair. “DNA” is not the worst “Predator” wannabe I’ve ever seen, it’s just incredibly silly. Especially when the first half is pretty much a riff on “African Queen” that then turns in to “Predator” once we learn of the evil plans bad guy Jurgen Prochnow has in store.

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Battledogs (2013)

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“Battledogs,”is a film that demonstrates the fine art of retooling a movie and having a good time doing it. In this instance, Writer Phillip Van Dyke retreads 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk” but tailors it more for werewolves. Every plot device and moment in the film is shamelessly derived from the 2008 action film. Hell, there’s even a moment where one of the infected humans is kicked out of a helicopter in mid-air and sent crashing in to the Earth as it transforms in to the rabid werewolf.

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