Tuesday, September 09, 2008

... geeky movie lists - how many have you seen?

... continuing in the "geek" theme ... I visit Wil Wheaton's blog every once in a while (check out "Ensign Crusher!" on my Famous Folk blogroll), and yesterday's visit was a very productive one (see Netflix additions!). He pointed me to an article at The Movie Retriever entitled Ten Truly Underrated Sci-Fi Movies. I then visited its follow-up, Underrated Sci-Fi Movies: Five We Missed, Five We Didn't. Please go visit if you're interested, the write-ups are very informative. But in case you don't want to bother with the clicking, here are their 15 underrated sci-fi movies: [*drumroll*]
  1. Primer (2004) : NVH, NQ
  2. Aeon Flux (2005) : HNI
  3. Body Snatchers(1993) : HNI
  4. Tron (1982) : NQ (added by Kosh a while ago)
  5. Sleeper (1973) : NVH, NQ
  6. eXistenZ (1999) : NVH, NQ
  7. A Boy and His Dog (1974) : NVH, NQ
  8. Enemy Mine (1985) : HNI (Caught bits of it on TV, just didn't call out to me)
  9. Gattaca (1997) : S+
  10. Silent Running (1972) : NVH, NQ
  11. Dark City(1998) : NVH, NQ
  12. Strange Days(1995) : NVH, NQ
  13. Cypher (2002) : NVH, NQ
  14. Stalker (1979) : NVH, NQ
  15. The Quiet Earth (1985) : NVH, NQ

LEGEND:
NVH = never heard of until now (10)
HNI = heard of, not interested (3)
NQ = added to Netfliz queue (11)
S+ = have seen it, liked it (1)
S- = have seen it, didn't like it (0)


Looking at how many I'd never heard of until I read the article(s), I have to remind myself that this is a list of underrated movies; to me that implies not many people know of them, and of that small amount, few really appreciate them. Phew! I feel less deficient now :)

What about you? Have you heard of these movies?
Have you also been inspired to add them to your to-watch list?


= = = on a related tangent ... = = =

Some of you may know I am quite the Rocky Horror Picture Show freak. And for those who know the show, remember the opening song Science Fiction/Double Feature? The song is a tribute of sorts to various B-movies and serials parodied in the show itself. I'm half-heartedly trying to watch the movies referenced in the song, in an effort to perhaps appreciate what the previous generation had to put up with at the movies, LoL!

Here's the list, courtesy of wikipedia:
  • The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
  • Flash Gordon (1936)
  • The Invisible Man (1933)
  • King Kong (1933)
  • It Came From Outer Space (1953)
  • Doctor X (1932)
  • Forbidden Planet (1956)
  • Tarantula (1955)
  • The Day of the Triffids (1962)
  • Night of the Demon (1957), released in the U.S. as Curse of the Demon
  • Them! (1954)
  • When Worlds Collide (1951)
I quite enjoyed The Day the Earth Stood Still - the message relevant even to this day, and no I don't mean Klaatu Barada Nikto :D King Kong I half-listened to while puttering around on the 'puter, but all I can say about it is that it contained a LOT of screaming by Fay Wray, such that I don't think I want to bother sitting down and really watching it. The 1980 Flash Gordon was cheesy, I think I slept through 2/5 of it, but I should still give the 1936 version a chance... so that's 1.5 down, ten to go.

... so, have you seen any of these "classics"??


[I popped in our RHPS DVD while writing this, LoL!]

15 comments:

  1. Oh dear...I thought I was a science fiction sort of gal, but I am so ashamed. I have not actually seen any of the classics (I have seen some of the remakes, though). On the underrated list, I have actually seen several of those -Gattaca being one of my favorite movies. If I remember correctly (I was a mere pip at the time), Tron was a pretty big deal at the time...

    (And since you asked...I found you because you found me.;)

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  2. I have heard of all of them, but have only seen Tron, Enemy Mine, Gattaca, and Dark City.

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  3. Guess it's safe to say I'm not a sci-fi geek after all :-P. I watched Aeon Flux and Gattaca, both for their lead actress... LOL.

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  4. I've seen Gattaca, Primer and Enemy Mine. Gattaca was interesting... Primer, I can not remember anything about it. Saw Enemy Mine on Tv, Louise Gosset Jr's alien voice I've enjoyed, and the story is quite touching at the end :)

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  5. OK what I have seen:
    Tron = cool movie
    Aeon Flux = OK maybe a little under OK wont watch that one again.

    Haven't Seen but wanted to:
    Gattaca

    oh and LOL @FIR's comments

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  6. Thank you Lynne for the honest and long comments, I am so happy to read one...Yes you are right..to reciprocate is good and the next 100 is your option..I had and have great drops everyday..tips: advertise to either of the top 12 cards in any or suitable category..this will bring you to heaven..I always advertise to famous blogs, tho its expensive but its worth...traffic indeed.

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  7. OH MY GOD!!! I LOVE The Day The Earth Stood Still. They really don't make classics like that anymore.


    ...Unless they do, and I just haven't seen them yet. Because, if I'm to be honest, I haven't seen ONE movie on that list besides "The Day The Earth Stood Still".

    As for Aeon Flux... I've never seen the movie, and I've hardly watched the show, but I have to say this every time someone brings this up: AEON FLUX SCARES THE HELL OUT OF ME. The cartoon does.

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  8. Hi, Thanks for the comments. I was driving my husband's truck. That's why its very hard for me to park. lol! Anyway, you have a nice blog here.

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  9. I have never seen or heard of (some) of these movies, except for the list that you made up. I’m afraid of scary movies. My current blog posts has a movie theme you might enjoy this one. Thanks for visiting my blog, that’s how I found you. :)

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  10. Hi, I've seen a few flicks from both lists.
    Do you think they will ever do a remake of Rocky Horror?

    peace,
    mike
    livelife365
    Just Do It? Ten Tips to Get You Started

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  11. I thought that I was the ultimate sci-fi film fan but going through the list, you are clearly the Queen of Sci-fi.

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  12. Adam> more like queen wannabe! I've not seen most of the movies on the list!

    Mike> omg I hope that thought never occurs to anybody! in this age of horrendous remakes, RHPS would get totally mistreated!

    Natural/Valerie> thanks for stopping by! I have no inspiration for a movie of my life let alone who would play me... let me think about it some more... :)

    joytoy> thanks for dropping by, and good luck with the parallel parking! :)

    Cetta> Yeah, I've heard Aeon Flux the original cartoon/graphic novel is really twisted... I think I can do without exposure to that kind of thing!

    lispeth> thanks for dropping by! I was just sharing my still-in-infancy strategy dealing with entrecard dropping: everyone will find their own way to handle their 300 drops and get a good return on investment, I hope :)

    tazdog> Gattacca was an amazing movie - it really made me think about the implications of gene selection going on today..

    Ms O.D.> I might give Enemy Mine a chance... once I'm done with the rest of the movies on the queue :) thanks for dropping by!!

    FIR> LoL at least you're honest

    Kapgar> well, still better than me :)

    Ellie> don't feel bad, like I had to remind myself, these are underrated (for the first list) and old/B-list (second list) movies...

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  13. Great list.

    Boy and his dog was great...kind of.

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  14. Wil Wheaton. How totally cool. I have gotten deeply back to my Star Trek roots over the last few months thanks to DVR. I was 7 when Next Gen came out. I have Wil to thank for not being a total weirdo for being a Trekkie in second grade. I loved (still do) Spock, but all my little girlfriends thought Westley was all that.

    Thought I'd share, off topic as it is, as for the topic:

    Enemy Mine - Love it. Cry every time.

    The Day the Earth Stood Still - you can't understand sci-fi film without this classic

    King Kong - Nothing better. Of course, I grew up watching my dad's Godzilla movies.

    The Day of the Triffids - Can't imagine watching it without Mystery Science Theater

    Them! - I know I've seen it, but I don't remember it.

    Entrecard :)

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  15. Hypocritical One> "great... kind of" LoL! It does seem to me these underrated movies are underrated for a reason.

    Tina> My Star Trek exposure was minimal growing up, I've only seen so many TNG episodes. I pity the actor tho, because lots of "serious" Trekkers hated his character and therefore him!

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I'd love to hear from you, drop me a comment.

about two months later...

 ... hi again. This return to blogging is really not working out, is it? Actually, I am writing, three pages of mind vomit and affirmations ...