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Behind the Scenes at "Children of Men"

If you've seen the movie, you'll enjoy this cool inside look at the making of Alfonso Cuaron's Academy Award nominee, thought by many critics to be the best SciFi flick since Blade Runner. Juliane Moore, Clive Owen, Michael Caine (like you've never seen him!) star. It's 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind. Based on P.D. Jame's novel.

Link

Top 10 All-time Great SciFi Films

Great Britain's Guardian conducted a poll and a survey of some of the world's leading scientists and created what I consider to be the single most erudite listing of the all-time best SF films along with brilliant commentary. My personal favorite was #8, the original War of the Worlds, which I saw when I was nine. It inspired a year's worth of "aliens are here" nightmares and a lifetime of science fiction addiction. There were a few surprises in the voting, including the 1972 Solaris. The runnaway favorite was Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. Posted by Jason McManus.

Top 10 SciFiFilms

While We're talkin' about Blade Runner...

Don't miss this unforgettable review of Philip K. Dick's (author of Blade Runner, at left as android) novels, including the profound The Cosmic Puppets (published in 1953), a slim, mind-bending work where New Yorker Ted Barton returns to his Virginia hometown to discover that everything has changed — street names, houses, inhabitants. The local paper reports that he died as a 9-year-old, and he discovers that the current townspeople operate under a mutual, sustainable delusion. All Barton wants is to get back to the status quo — a return to normalcy. What follows is "a Zoroastrian freakout-cum-battle featuring golems, spiders, moths and gods."

Review Link

Children of Men -A Successor to Blade Runner

Alfonso Cuarón’s “Children of Men,” an electrifying and impassioned science-fiction film based on P.D. James novel, begins in the year 2027, women can no longer give birth; the world has fallen into disarray, stricken by nuclear war, , corrupt regimes and warring factions. Theo (Clive Owen), a former activist, is approached by his revolutionary ex-lover (Julianne Moore) with a favor:  He is to help the first pregnant woman in nearly 20 years reach a safe haven called the Human Project. 

Amid the impending doom of “Children of Men,” Cuarón with the help of Emmanuel Lubezki’s exceptional camerawork injects a strong undercurrent of hope, with message of faith, not necessarily in a higher power, but faith in a better tomorrow. . The film parallels the Christian nativity, though it does not specifically stay within the confines of that story. Cuarón achieves a great deal of spirituality without going too far.

Review Link

Children of God Trailer

Daily Video Classic: Ridley Scott's 1984 Apple Ad

In 1984, back when the Macintosh was considered a subversive, counter-culture tool (which of course it was), Apple Computer launched the Mac with a single broadcast of the now famous $1.5 million commercial based on George Orwell's 1984, and directed by Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven).

The commercial was broadcast during the 1984 Super Bowl XVIII. Steve Jobs' intention with the ad was to equate Big Brother with the IBM PCand a nameless female action hero, portrayed by Anya Major, with the Macintosh. The 1984 Apple ad was a subset of Ridley's direction of Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford.

Today Blade Runner is considered one of the most important science fiction films of the 20th century and is usually discussed along with William Gibson's novel Neuromancer as initiating the cyberpunk genre.

Scott personally supervised a digitally restored Blade Runner and approved the Final Cut, which is to be finally released in 2007.

Video Link

Behind the Scenes at "Children of Men"

If you've seen the movie, you'll enjoy this cool inside look at the making of Alfonso Cuaron's Academy Award nominee, thought by many critics to be the best SciFi flick since Blade Runner. Juliane Moore, Clive Owen, Michael Caine (like you've never seen him!) star. It's 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind. Based on P.D. Jame's novel.

Link

Top 10 All-time Great SciFi Films

Great Britain's Guardian conducted a poll and a survey of some of the world's leading scientists and created what I consider to be the single most erudite listing of the all-time best SF films along with brilliant commentary. My personal favorite was #8, the original War of the Worlds, which I saw when I was nine. It inspired a year's worth of "aliens are here" nightmares and a lifetime of science fiction addiction. There were a few surprises in the voting, including the 1972 Solaris. The runnaway favorite was Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. Posted by Jason McManus.

Top 10 SciFiFilms

While We're talkin' about Blade Runner...

Don't miss this unforgettable review of Philip K. Dick's (author of Blade Runner, at left as android) novels, including the profound The Cosmic Puppets (published in 1953), a slim, mind-bending work where New Yorker Ted Barton returns to his Virginia hometown to discover that everything has changed — street names, houses, inhabitants. The local paper reports that he died as a 9-year-old, and he discovers that the current townspeople operate under a mutual, sustainable delusion. All Barton wants is to get back to the status quo — a return to normalcy. What follows is "a Zoroastrian freakout-cum-battle featuring golems, spiders, moths and gods."

Review Link

Children of Men -A Successor to Blade Runner

Alfonso Cuarón’s “Children of Men,” an electrifying and impassioned science-fiction film based on P.D. James novel, begins in the year 2027, women can no longer give birth; the world has fallen into disarray, stricken by nuclear war, , corrupt regimes and warring factions. Theo (Clive Owen), a former activist, is approached by his revolutionary ex-lover (Julianne Moore) with a favor:  He is to help the first pregnant woman in nearly 20 years reach a safe haven called the Human Project. 

Amid the impending doom of “Children of Men,” Cuarón with the help of Emmanuel Lubezki’s exceptional camerawork injects a strong undercurrent of hope, with message of faith, not necessarily in a higher power, but faith in a better tomorrow. . The film parallels the Christian nativity, though it does not specifically stay within the confines of that story. Cuarón achieves a great deal of spirituality without going too far.

Review Link

Children of God Trailer

Daily Video Classic: Ridley Scott's 1984 Apple Ad

In 1984, back when the Macintosh was considered a subversive, counter-culture tool (which of course it was), Apple Computer launched the Mac with a single broadcast of the now famous $1.5 million commercial based on George Orwell's 1984, and directed by Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven).

The commercial was broadcast during the 1984 Super Bowl XVIII. Steve Jobs' intention with the ad was to equate Big Brother with the IBM PCand a nameless female action hero, portrayed by Anya Major, with the Macintosh. The 1984 Apple ad was a subset of Ridley's direction of Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford.

Today Blade Runner is considered one of the most important science fiction films of the 20th century and is usually discussed along with William Gibson's novel Neuromancer as initiating the cyberpunk genre.

Scott personally supervised a digitally restored Blade Runner and approved the Final Cut, which is to be finally released in 2007.

Video Link