And then there was none…

 

And then there was none…

 

Well it has finally happened. I am a card-carrying member of the I have watched the top 100 Sci-fi movies of all-time club.  WHAT UP!!!!  If I had not previously had my nerd card, I certainly have it now.  The journey I started at the start of the Covid ended last night when I finally watched Wall-E.  I ended up watching more movies this weekend than originally planned.

 

I came into Friday with 5 to go:

·         Forbidden Planet

·         The Day the Earth Stood Still

·         Logan’s Run

·         Invasion of the Body Snatchers (56)

·         Wall-E

 

Friday night I took down Forbidden Planet.  Yet another movie that I loved from the 50’s.  I can’t say enough about movies I have watched from the 50’s, really. Black in White or in Color it matters not to me, the movies are good.  They are well thought out.  They have a good plot.  Characters you could see yourself following.  I don’t know there is something about them that are completely magical to me.  This movie will always be special to me because it is the first time, I ever saw a young Leslie Nielsen.   With jet black hair and no wrinkles, I didn’t recognize him.  I am a huge Naked Gun fan.  I love those movies and quote them often.  I also loved him in the Airplane movie.  To see him actually play a smart and smooth spaceship captain was pretty cool.   I always knew him as the dim-witted Frank Drebin from the files of police squad.  It makes me smile just to think about it.  The movie was well done for its age.  Robby the Robot was believable.  The ID beast was as well.  I would definitely recommend this to any movie lover. 

 

I remember in 2008 when The Day the Earth Stood Still came out in theaters.  I went and saw it with my brother in law Jon, Jon Logue.  It was ok.  It wasn’t one of the great Keanu Reeves movies.  On the way home Jon comparing it to the original.  I never thought in a million years I would ever go back and watch a movie from ’51.  Let alone say it was fantastic.  After the 08 remake when I saw this on the weekend viewing list, I wasn’t really excited.  I like being wrong.  I like being wrong and being completely blown away by a movie.  As much as I liked Forbidden Planet, and some of the other movies on this list, I think this movie might have been my favorite movie in the final five.  It was well done.  Maybe Gort doesn’t stand the test of time and you can tell he is wearing a giant neoprene looking suite.  However, the character building and relationship building forged in the film definitely did.  Klaatu was one baller alien.  The guy was sleek and smooth.  He took the Earth and its people in and issued a pretty harsh judgement, change your ways or else.  I also like the relationships he built with Helen and Bobby Benson.  Very believable.  And although they say most of the relationship and feelings between Helen and Klaatu were left on the cutting room floor, I don’t by that, I felt it and I dug it a lot.  This movie is also a strong recommend. 

 

Logan’s Run is such an interesting movie.  To be honest, I was worried about another 70’s sci-fi movie.  To be honest, I didn’t like most of the movies that came out of the 70’s, which is ironic because Star Wars came out in 77 and I would consider that to be the holy grail in a lot of ways.  However, unlike the movies that I loved and adored from the 50’s I can’t say as much for the other Sci-fi movies from the 70’s and early 80’s.  Logan’s Run was different though.  The plot to me was very original.  The carousel was short very well and the mad frenzy of the crowd made me feel like I was actually at the event watching hoping people would get renewed.  Logan and Jessica’s journey was fun and adventured filled and they were a couple of people you really rooted for and wanted them to come out on top.  I felt like DC was really in ruins and covered by jungle and water.  That the old man’s years of isolation have driven him to madness.  I will be honest that I had my doubts about Michael York carrying the movie.  I know him mainly as Basil Exposition from Austin Powers movies, I mean yes he did play the fiery Tybalt from Romeo and Juliet, but come on it is really hard to get him in Austin Powers out of your head, I don’t care what you say.  He pulled it off though and I certainly understand why this movie was so highly rated.  It was a joy to watch and I would highly recommend it. 

 

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (56) is by far the best version of this movie I watched.  Since the start of the Covid this is my third version of this movie that I have watched.  In order of viewing it went Assimilate, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (78), and finally this 56, which I will call it from now on.  56, is by far the best of the three, by a long margin.  They say that 78 is a classic and the best remake of all time, I personally think it is dog shit and I wouldn’t recommend it at all. I think Assimilate is much better than 78.  There I said it and I don’t care what you think.  56 grabs me in the same way that The Day the Earth Stood Still Did.  I think the character build up was excellent. I think Dana Wynter was a total betty.  OMG, so beautiful when she was in this film.  I think Kevin McCarthy did a great job of playing a man who had complete grip on reality falling into what seemed to be utter and complete madness.  The plot was well thought out and while I knew what was going to happened having seen the movie twice before in the last few months, I didn’t care, I wanted to stick with this movie and see it play out.  I was amazed at how much 78 ripped off from this movie.  It was a pretty close remake, but I couldn’t stand that Keifer spawning bastard in the lead role and don’t get me started on Brooke Adams. It won’t be nice.  Anyway, some of the scenes are almost identical.   I would highly recommend this.  It was my second favorite movie of the weekend.  BTW, I don’t really need to note this but another movie was the 50’s that

 

So, the highest rated movie on my list of unwatched Sci-fi movies was Wall-E.  There isn’t a lot that I can say about Wall-E that hasn’t already been said.  It is a Disney/Pixar movie and I have yet to see one that I didn’t like.  Wall-E is cute movie that makes you really wonder about where humanity is heading with all our trash and technology.  Parts of Wall-e made me a feel bad being a fat person who has some trouble moving.  Perhaps, I truly am on the next rung of human evolution.  My own personal hang ups aside, Wall-E is a fantastic movie. Well thought out, well developed, and well executed.  It belongs in the top Sci-Fi movies of all-time list.  However, with all the praise I have for it, it didn’t move me the way other Disney Movies have.  I am behind on my Pixar movies and I am glad I finally got to watch and enjoy Wall-E. 

 

Now that the Top 100 is in the rear-view mirror and now the question becomes do we go straight in to the AFI 100 or just knock out all the movies I put on hold to navigate the top 100.