Top Ten seminal science-fiction films... (repost from other blog)

...in no particular order - a personal list.

• Forbidden Planet - Shakespeare's The Tempest given a science-fictional re-interpretation
• Metropolis - imagination ahead of its time
• 2001: A Space Odyssey - the first SF religious movie, with special effects that even today have not been surpassed (equalled, but not surpassed)
• Blade Runner - Ridley Scott's dystopian free-adaptation of Dick
• The Matrix - awesome spectacle, shame about the sequels
• Brazil - Gilliam's finest (in fact, anybody's)
• Silent Running - greenhouses in space, with cute robots
• Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope - strictly fantasy rather than SF, despite the space-ships, robots and futuristic weapons
• ET - The Extra-Terrestrial - highly successful, but full of Spielberg schmaltz
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind - another influential Spielberg flick, though my least favourite here

Remember: not in order. Also remember: this is my list.

Dark thoughts on The Dark Knight (repost from other blog)

Having watched Batman Begins a few days previously, and found all the tedious double-revelations of the Liam Neeson ninja character fairly underwhelming, I wasn't holding out much hope for the sequel.

The technology in The Dark Knight was impressive, up to a point. The explosions (and there were lots of them) were impressive, up to a point. The plot was okay, up to point.

That point, for all the above, was reached when the film could have been expected to conclude. It didn't conclude, but went on to portray technology way beyond the realm of credibility, with more and bigger explosions that resembled a random fireworks display, while the plot descended into mephistophelian obfuscation, forsaking any semblance of coherence.

And it was too long. Half an hour of plot-knotting could have been cut without adversely affecting the story - other than to make it marginally clearer.

The film's one redeeming feature was Heath Ledger's career-defining performance as the Joker: manic, psychotic, remorseless - a truly terrifying villain.