FanFare

An obsessed scientist conducts profane experiments in evolution, eventually establishing himself as the self-styled demigod to a race of mutated, half-human abominations. [more inside]
posted by kittensofthenight on Jan 18, 2024 - 1 comment

Rewatch! In space, things happen. There's a plague and Jack Palance is evil, and at one point his holographic head is gigantic and rotating over the landscape of an alien planet, and there's a really annoying robot that can teleport wherever it wants it seems. H.G. Wells fans, well, won't actually have much to enjoy here, the movie's kind of dull and doesn't really have much to do with his writing. The movie's a mess. Previously.
posted by JHarris on Jul 13, 2023 - 4 comments

Dockworker Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) struggles to build a positive relationship with his two children, Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and Robbie (Justin Chatwin). When his ex-wife, Mary Ann (Miranda Otto), drops them off at Ferrier's house, it seems as though it will be just another tension-filled weekend. However, when electromagnetic pulses of lightning strike the area, the strange event turns out to be the beginning of an alien invasion, and Ferrier must now protect his children as they seek refuge. [more inside]
posted by DirtyOldTown on Feb 6, 2023 - 15 comments

"Beyond the earth... beyond the moon... beyond your wildest imagination!" It's the future in space, and there's a plague, and important drugs are being brought from a distant planet, and Jack Palance is trying to take over the universe, and there's a teleporting robot, and some kids in one scene. I couldn't make heads or tails of this one folks. There's a plot synopsis on Wikipedia, read that. It's another movie that tried to cash in on Star Wars' gigantic success. It's not nearly as campy as Starcrash, but that makes it very bland as a film. Even with Jack Palance as the villain, he's simply not in enough scenes to make it memorable. Other than sharing some character names and being set in the future, this movie has almost nothing to do with H.G. Wells' novel. Premiered October 7, 2022, in the Gizmoplex. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Oct 15, 2022 - 1 comment

Woking, 1905. A Martian capsule lands on Earth. When George and Amy join the curious crowd to examine it, the unleashing terror turns their lives into a nightmare. [more inside]
posted by Major Clanger on Nov 18, 2019 - 5 comments

Jack's expert witness testimony at a high profile trial thrusts the rocketry team into the spotlight and helps land them a coveted invitation to The Athenaeum. Meanwhile, Virgil drops off Patty, Susan's rebellious teenage sister, for a trying weekend stay, and Ernest's wife, Maggie, makes a surprise return. When Jack's evening at The Athenaeum doesn't go as planned, Jack seeks out Ernest to blow off some steam and ends up on a detour into a darker part of Los Angeles on Hallween.
posted by filthy light thief on Jun 18, 2019 - 0 comments

A young H.G. Wells travels in the time machine he created to modern-day New York in pursuit of Jack the Ripper. (previously on Fanfare, the 1979 film) [more inside]
posted by oh yeah! on Mar 5, 2017 - 9 comments

"Teen-agers zoom to supersize and terrorize a town!" Opie invents a magic growth formula, called "Goo," that turns surly teens into Olympian gods! It's the beach party of Ragnarok, and boy, is Andy ever gonna be pissed! It's another low-budget schlockfest from the most prolific of all MST directors, Bert I. Gordon; indeed, it is the last of his films the show would do. Although MST had a rule against doing comedies, Village of the Giants is partly one, although with suspiciously low-grade jokes. The script is based off of H.G. Wells' Food of the Gods. Musical guests The Beau Brummels and Freddy Cannon give this film rather more star power than you might expect from Mr. BIG's projects. It's a pretty good episode! The movie's certainly riffing fare, but is still watchable and fun all the same. And in the host segments, prepare yourself for a visit from an old fiend.... YouTube (OFFICIAL, with Annotations!) (1h32m) Premiered January 22, 1994. [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Sep 29, 2016 - 2 comments

Behind the scenes chronicle of how clash of vision, bad creative decisions, lack of interest and really bad weather plagued the disastrous production of the 1996 adaptation of The Island of Dr. Moreau.
posted by brundlefly on Aug 7, 2015 - 17 comments

Chapter 38: H.G. Wells (Paul F. Tompkins) welcomes the creator of James Bond himself, Ian Fleming (Matt Gourley) to the Dead Authors stage. Mr. Fleming is a troubled soul who only wants to be a monstrous misogynist. Is that so much to ask? Apparently so. [more inside]
posted by Room 641-A on Dec 17, 2014 - 5 comments