A Scanner Darkly
I rather expect some people will be left scratching their heads over this choice, but Richard Linklater's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's cautionary tale on drug abuse in a near-future sci-fi setting has stuck with me to this day.
There's two major reasons for my enjoyment of this film. Firstly, it is the most faithful adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story I have ever seen, and that includes ALL of these movies:
- Minority Report
- Paycheck
- Blade Runner
- Screamers
- Total Recall
These movies naturally vary in quality, but not a one of them scarcely resembles the source material. Linklater remamined incredibly devoted to the story, keeping in portions that I thought would never translate to the big screen and succeeding beautifully. This is not to say that I think slavish devotion is key to successful movie adaptation; my previous post "Ruminations on Adaptation" expands on this. I'm more impressed at how well Linklater communicates the concepts, the settings, and especially the characters. When I initially heard this was going to be a movie, I thought it would never work. Linklater proved me wrong.
I rather expect some people will be left scratching their heads over this choice, but Richard Linklater's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's cautionary tale on drug abuse in a near-future sci-fi setting has stuck with me to this day.
There's two major reasons for my enjoyment of this film. Firstly, it is the most faithful adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story I have ever seen, and that includes ALL of these movies:
- Minority Report
- Paycheck
- Blade Runner
- Screamers
- Total Recall
These movies naturally vary in quality, but not a one of them scarcely resembles the source material. Linklater remamined incredibly devoted to the story, keeping in portions that I thought would never translate to the big screen and succeeding beautifully. This is not to say that I think slavish devotion is key to successful movie adaptation; my previous post "Ruminations on Adaptation" expands on this. I'm more impressed at how well Linklater communicates the concepts, the settings, and especially the characters. When I initially heard this was going to be a movie, I thought it would never work. Linklater proved me wrong.
The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne
I said before that some shows on this list would be new to most people, and I'm sure that this will be one of those occasions.
The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne was a very short-lived steampunk series that ran initially on CBC in Canada and Sci-Fi Network in the US. It posited that Jules Verne's stories were not mere fiction, but were actual adventures that he embarked on in the company of Phileas Fogg (gentleman explorer from Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days), Fogg's servant Passepartout, and Fogg's cousin Rebecca, a spy for the British government. Together the four of them travel in Fogg's magnificent airship, the Aurora, to battle mysterious forces and explore strange happenings.
I said before that some shows on this list would be new to most people, and I'm sure that this will be one of those occasions.
The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne was a very short-lived steampunk series that ran initially on CBC in Canada and Sci-Fi Network in the US. It posited that Jules Verne's stories were not mere fiction, but were actual adventures that he embarked on in the company of Phileas Fogg (gentleman explorer from Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days), Fogg's servant Passepartout, and Fogg's cousin Rebecca, a spy for the British government. Together the four of them travel in Fogg's magnificent airship, the Aurora, to battle mysterious forces and explore strange happenings.
Hello readers!
For the month of April I thought I'd try something different. It just so happens that the Toronto Symphony Orchestra will be performing a concert at the beginning of May called the "Sci-Fi Spectacular", which will feature guest host George Takei in all his glory. As a lead-up to this nergasm of epic proportions, I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring of "best of" lists and do a top 10 of Sci-fi TV shows and a top 10 of Sci-fi movies.
There really is no criteria for these lists. It's all down to my personal opinion. However, I am going to try to throw in some things that you don't often see on major top 10 lists, to keep it fresh.
So, without further ado, it's on to the #10 Greatest Science Fiction Film:
For the month of April I thought I'd try something different. It just so happens that the Toronto Symphony Orchestra will be performing a concert at the beginning of May called the "Sci-Fi Spectacular", which will feature guest host George Takei in all his glory. As a lead-up to this nergasm of epic proportions, I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring of "best of" lists and do a top 10 of Sci-fi TV shows and a top 10 of Sci-fi movies.
There really is no criteria for these lists. It's all down to my personal opinion. However, I am going to try to throw in some things that you don't often see on major top 10 lists, to keep it fresh.
So, without further ado, it's on to the #10 Greatest Science Fiction Film: