People don’t ask me all the time…
“Hey Ted, what’s new in sci-fi films?” To which I don’t reply,
“Funny you should not ask…”
A couple of years ago I stumbled across a short film, or what should really be called more of a portfolio piece, called Tetra Vaal. It was included on the complimentary DVD that used to come with each issue of RES Magazine, the incredibly-awesome-while-it-lasted publication that is now M.I.A. I was mesmerized (try to watch it only once), it’s sort of a third world robocop but with a surreal documentary look and feel. You can check it out on youtube. The effects are seamless and have a gritty, humanistic realism about them. Remember the vibe we all loved so much in the original Star Wars and Blade Runner? Yeah, Neill Blomkamp does too. So I was excited to see his first feature, produced by none other than Peter Jackson (hint: this means pay attention), is hitting theaters this August. It’s called District 9 and the trailer debuted on the apple site yesterday. The trailer is also showing in front of Wolverine from what I understand, and I shall test that statement later tonight!
Also definitely of note is Duncan Jones’ Moon starring Sam Rockwell. Admittedly, I will watch anything with Sam in it. Seriously, even Charlies Angels, but this one is another very encouraging first feature from another filmmaker who is nostalgic for the sci-fi my generation grew up on. If District 9 is in the mold of Blade Runner then Moon is a sort of blend of Kubrick’s 2001 and Castaway, only with 2 or 3 more twists (and no volleyballs). I had the pleasure of seeing this at the Atlanta Film Fest and loved it. Incredible performance by Rockwell, solid writing, and incredibly well done visual effects and sound design. Nothing fancy, just really patient sci-fi realism, if there can be such a thing.
The other things these two films and directors have in common is that they are interested in telling stories that tap into deeper issues like identity, exsitence (Moon) and (gulp) political sociology (District 9). Granted, I haven’t even seen District 9 but i have a good feeling. So it’s exciting that there is at least the possibility of a new crop of sci-fi filmmakers that are trying to bridge the gap between Jedi and Phantom Menace. Because whatever happened in the time in between those two films rained a suck storm all over George Lucas. But maybe we should be thanking him for sucking so bad the last 10 years, otherwise these directors might not be trying so hard to perform cinematic CPR on the genre in order to revive what we lost in the 70′s and early 80′s — imagination.
