The 2008 Movie Genre of the Month Club

[Heineken Skywalker]

iamthesmitty said:

I see you're getting all your movies out of the way early. ;D

Well, I actually had a totally selfish reason for picking that particular category first.
I had recently purchased BLADE RUNNER and ROBOCOP on dvd and hadn't yet watched either, and I had BRAZIL saved on my dvr. So picking that category gave me the push I needed to watch them all. And I hope to start seeing some selections listed here by most of you as well.

And welcome Phoenix.

[Heineken Skywalker]

STRANGE INVADERS (1983)

Campy homage to alien invasion movies of the 50's like DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. The problem is, it's not campy or cheesy enough and it's way too slow-paced. To the point of sheer boredom. It should be really campy and really fast paced. MARS ATTACKS is a much better and funnier homage to those movies.

2/10

[slayrrr666]

Okay, first of all:

What kind of genres are there to pick from? And what constitutes a movie's entrance into the genre? Any specific things I should look for?

Secondly (and you stole a pick of mine)

Robocop (1987)
A true 80s classic. The action is outstanding, the special effects are truly top-notch (I have a soft-spot for stop-motion, I love it a lot) and with some truly outrageous and messy blood and gore effects to be shone. A catchy theme, solid technical work and a real blast to get into. The attempts at social commentating aren't that bad, and in some cases enhance the joy (like those zany commercials being played) and I absolutely love the humor. It's one that's funny and gets plenty of laughs through it. Some cheesiness comes in (the work on the guy who drives into the vat of nuclear waste) and a couple of dangling plot threads that don't get solved until the sequel (how does he manage to remember everything despite being clinically dead?) leaves this one with minor head-scratching lines, but don't distract from an enjoyable experience.
9.5/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

slayrrr666 said:

Okay, first of all:

What kind of genres are there to pick from? And what constitutes a movie's entrance into the genre? Any specific things I should look for?

Secondly (and you stole a pick of mine)

Robocop (1987)

Okay, maybe I wasn't clear in the rules.
For February, and as part of this club or experiment, or whatever you want to call it, the "only" genre or category to choose from is 1980's SCIENCE FICTION MOVIES. That's the January genre of the month.
As for what constitutes a movie's entrance into the genre, just go back and read the rules. I think it was all pretty clear, unless there's something I missed.

On February 1st, I'll announce a completely new genre or category, and not a day before.
I have several in mind already and some of you are probably going to hate some of the upcoming categories. But that was the whole point of this, right, to try new things?

As for both of us having picked ROBOCOP as one of our movies for this month, I figure that's bound to happen from time to time. It won't affect final scores or anything like that. In fact, it would be nice if some member's selections inspire other members to check out a movie they maybe hadn't seen or thought of.
Kind of like Phoenix mentioning that she was going to add BRAZIL to her Netflix because I watched it and she hadn't seen it before.

[slayrrr666]

I know it was in the first post, but I was asking what are the specific sub-genres of 80 Science Fiction movies, as the only ones I know of are Sci-Fi/Action and Sci-Fi/Horror, and I've already seen the Sci-Fi/Action film in Robocop.

[Heineken Skywalker]

I see.
Well, there are all kinds of sci-fi movies. Sci-fi/action, sci-fi/horror, sci-fi/comedies, of which I just watched GALAXY QUEST, which unfortunately doesn't count for this because it was released in the 90's. There are sci-fi/adventure films, sci-fi/drama, etc.
Don't get too hung up on the sub-genres though. Watching more than one sci-fi horror or sci-fi comedy is fine, as long as you're not watching movies that are "all" pretty much the same, ie; all action or all horror, etc., it's all good.
All four of the films I've watched so far have been sci-fi, but are all very different from each other. If I have time I'll be watching more and I'm sure certain subgenres will be repeated.
Hope that helps as I don't think I can really make it any clearer than that. If anybody else wants to chime in with suggestions or ideas feel free.

[Heineken Skywalker]

WARGAMES (1983)

Techno-thriller starring Matthew Broderick as a computer geek who accidentally hacks into the computer that controls America's nuclear weapons. He innocently challenges the computer to a simulation of World War 3 not realizing that the computer thinks it's the real thing, and it begins the countdown to launch real missiles.
Broderick is pretty good in a pre-Ferris Bueller role and it's funny to see the gigantic home computer that his character has in his bedroom as opposed to the laptops or flat screens that most people have today. A little too long as it tends to drag at times, but it's okay.

The computer joins HAL from "2001: A SPACE ODDYSEY" and Mother from "ALIEN" as a big-screen computer that makes life tough for humans. It also foresaw our over reliance on technology as we see human employees replaced by a computer early on in the film.

Livingdeadgirl, look for a really young Michael Madsen in a small early role in this movie. ;D

6/10

[ZapRowsdower]

Escape from New York (1981, John Carpenter)

Can't believe I've never seen this one before (years back, I saw the vastly inferior Escape from L.A.). Kurt Russell is bad-ass as Snake Plisskin. With a character that cool, I could see why they'd want to do a sequel. The action sequences are marked by the decade (i.e., old), but they're still fun to watch and beats the CGI we're being blasted with today. Also, I was surprised to see some of the people involved in this: Lee Van Cleef, Isaac Hayes and Ernest Borgnine. That was a nice surprise. 8/10

So, I bought the 4-disc set of Blade Runner on DVD. Would my viewing of the film count? I know this has been asked before, I just wanted to clarify.

[Heineken Skywalker]

iamthesmitty said:

Escape from New York (1981, John Carpenter)

Can't believe I've never seen this one before.

So, I bought the 4-disc set of Blade Runner on DVD. Would my viewing of the film count? I know this has been asked before, I just wanted to clarify.

I can't believe you've never seen it before either. It's on my list as a possible to watch for this month as well. Glad you got to see it before the Gerard Butler remake is released.

As for BLADE RUNNER, why wouldn't your viewing of it count? Because I already watched it? No, it would still count. I fully expect certain movies each month will be watched by more than one person.

[Heineken Skywalker]

To easier keep track, here are the scores so far.

January: 1980'S SCIENCE-FICTION

Heineken Skywalker = 5
Sybillness = 1
Slayrrr666 = 1
ZapRowsdower = 1

[slayrrr666]

The Fly (1986)-Gets my Sci-Fi/Horror one out of the way.
After seeing it for a second time, I haven't really changed my opinions of it much from my original view. It's still a more than acceptable horror film of the decade, due mainly to the spectacular special effects work, and there's a whole lot more than I remembered that are just fine. This time around, I actually felt that the use of the transportation machine doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, as his rants about being able to go from here to there in the blink of an eye just didn't have the same impact, and at certain points came across as him being just lazy rather than wanting to try something to improve mankind. Finale is still a little problematic, but it's still not the worst I've seen.
6.5/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

I think THE FLY is way better than a a 6.5/10, but that's just my opinion.

THE TERMINATOR (1984)

A cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is sent from the future to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), a woman who will someday be the mother of the leader of a rebellion against a race of machines bent on wiping out mankind. Meanwhile, that same human leader has sent back a soldier (Michael Biehn) to try to protect his mother.
Easily one of the best and most original sci-fi movies of the 80's. Director James Cameron wrote and directed this fast-paced slam-bang film and only slows down once in a while so the hero can explain to Sarah Connor, and to us, what exactly is going on.
Good acting, great effects, especially for a low-budget film from 1984, and a pulsing mechanical-sounding score make this one highly memorable. Also lead to one of the best sequels of all time.

9/10

[slayrrr666]

You're right. That should've been 7.5/10, but I guess my finger slipped for some reason.

[Quorthon]

Oh hey, I guess sign me up, too. Bit late in the game, but eh.

Over the weekend, I watched Harry and the Hendersons, but I'm not sure if it counts as science fiction. Most sasquatch movies fall into horror or SF, but this one is also a family movie. Uh. Hmmmmm.

[Heineken Skywalker]

Consider yourself signed up, Q.
Don't worry about not joining up until now, at this point you've seen just as many movies as some people who signed up right away.

As for HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS, I don't know dude, that one sems to be stretching the boundaries about what is sci-fi and what isn't. To me, it's more of a whimsical family comedy, but I'll leave this one to others to decide.
Does everyone else think that HARRY & THE HENDERSONS should be considered sci-fi? I'll go along with majority vote on that one.