FanFare

Awesome 1963 Czech scifi film directed by Jindrich Polák about a spaceship crew bound for Alpha Centauri, based on an early Stanislaw Lem novella. It's been called an influence on 2001 (we know Kubrick saw it) and Star Trek. It includes eerie encounters with alien spacecraft, fantastic sets and costumes, a wonderful experimental electro-acoustic score by Zdeněk Liška (who later scored Jan Svankmeyer shorts), and the 2nd best outer space dance scene ever, complete with casual drug-sniffing. Available in a beautiful 2016 restoration from Second Run DVD with neat extras, and currently up at YouTube. [more inside]
posted by mediareport on Nov 5, 2023 - 13 comments

Rewatch! The Asylum is an infamous studio I'm a bit conflicted about. It's true, I've seen a lot of their films, despite finding it challenging to make it through a lot of them. Many of them aren't what I'd call good. But they continue to make movie after movie, even after all this time, despite it being a difficult craft, doggedly doing what they want no matter what people tell them. I admire that. And they made Z Nation, which people generally liked. Well, this is more typical of their output: a movie based loosely upon, and named similarly to, a big-budget movie, released straight to disk. This one has pretty unlikable characters. It's the second movie of "The Gauntlet," MST3K's short 12th season. Previously.
posted by JHarris on Apr 6, 2023 - 1 comment

It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They're going to need to ask it a lot.
posted by curious nu on Jul 16, 2021 - 11 comments

Rewatch! An amiable handyman is turned into a furred killer by virtue of a syringe of Wolf Juice, in service to that diabolical process called science. When it is proclaimed of our our somewhat-hairy, yet still humanoid, victim that he has "become a wolf," it is a profoundly silly moment. Comes with Pt. 2 of Radar Men From The Moon. Previously [more inside]
posted by JHarris on Feb 27, 2020 - 3 comments

Rewatch! Evil Dr. Krupp, aka "The Bat" continues his plans to steal a treasure from the body of an Aztec mummy. This time he builds a robot to do it for him, which, why? Sell the robot, get more money than the treasure is worth! No matter. He's opposed by the virtuous Dr. Almada and the mummy, Popoca, itself. Also riffed is the first part of Commando Cody serial Radar Men From The Moon. Previously
posted by JHarris on Feb 20, 2020 - 2 comments

The megabudget sequel to the 2010 Tamil-language smash Enthiran brings back Rajinikanth in the dual role of Dr. Vaseegaran, government super scientist and Chitti, his AI/robot creation. All of the cell phones in Chennai have flown into the sky and coalesced into a bird-like monster. Only Chitti, Dr. Vaseegaran, and the doctor's newest robot Nila can save the city.
posted by DirtyOldTown on Dec 2, 2018 - 2 comments

In Duncan Jones (nee Zowie Bowie, son of David)'s debut feature, astronaut Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell in a celebrated showcase performance) has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, alongside his computer companion GERTY. Despite not storming the box office, Moon (trailer) drew comparisons to movies like Solaris, Alien, and 2001, found critical praise (though not universally), won several awards, and still maintains a healthy following seven years later. (Some links contain spoilers)
posted by churl on Mar 12, 2016 - 16 comments