Film School Dropouts: Sci-Fi

I'll admit it -- I'm fairly sensitive about this category. Mostly because I think a lot of the movies that take place in space don't really have anything to do with what I could define as science fiction, which is the exploration of how technology and science impacts the human condition. By that definition, movies like The Fifth Element aren't really science fiction, but simply action movies set in space, while movies not set in space but dealing with science issues, such as Oryx and Crake and Donnie Darko (because of the time travel elements) would be science fiction. But Hollywood tends to blur this line a lot, so I won't get too uptight about it.

Primer

This movie is the little indie film that could.

Children of Men

This movie was directed by Alfonso Cuaron and stars Clive Owen. That is reason enough for me to like it. However, it has a lot of standout elements. Cuaron really knows how to film a particular look masterfully -- Great Expectations looks always perpetually shrouded in the sunshine-drenched gardens of memory. Y Tu Mama Tambien also sort of looks that way. In this movie, the future dystopian look of a crumbling society where law and order have essentially fallen by the wayside and humanity is consumed by despair is capured perfectly. The look is further accentuated by the long newsreel type shots and the attention to detail -- the setting speaks for itself, instead of having everything spelled out. It's a very stark world of grey bombed out buildings, concentration camps, and urban chaos. It looks very real. The long scenes serve to build up tension and reinforce the drama. Long scenes are rare nowadays, because Hollywood just assumes that the average viewer has an attention span of only five seconds.

Special effects are integrated seamlessly into the movie, instead of being the sole reason to watch the movie. The acting is superb. It's a classy, intelligent science fiction movie.

The Fifth Element

The thing I like most about this movie is that it doesn't take itself too seriously. I hated it the first time I saw it, thinking that it was a pile of crap, but upon watching it again later, I realized the whole thing is sort of an elaborate running joke and that you're not expected to take it seriously. Seen from this viewpoint, the movie is wildly entertaining. Yves Saint-Laurent designed the costumes, which seem to be predominately planned around the color orange. The techno opera scene is a remix of the Mad Scene from Lucia di Lamamour, with Sarah Brightman's voice. Even Tricky has a small role as Zorg's main henchman. There's some sort of Stargate-esque plot involving aliens and ancient Egyptians, but the entire first half of the movie is basically an opera comique until they actually arive at Phloston Paridise and Bruce Willis is allowed to bust out his guns and go all commando. But it's great fun, all around.