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Entertainment Weekly's sci-fi top 25The new issue of Entertainment Weekly, on newsstands today, includes a special pull-out list of the best (according to them) sci-fi movies and TV of the past 25 years. (Yes, that means Star Wars was ineligible, which is a nice move on the magazine's part — way to counterbalance all the hype.) You can view the full list on the EW website. Here are some highlights of the top 25 (and by "highlights," I mean my rants and raves). 24. Galaxy Quest — I adore this movie. Not many parodies manage to be both smart-funny and stupid-funny at the same time, but this one strikes the perfect balance. Plus, how great did Sigourney Weaver look in that costume?
19. Starship Troopers — Ugh. I made it through about 28 minutes of this dreck before lunging for the remote. I don't think Troopers is dangerous propaganda, as many a critic did at the time. I just think it's boring, maybe because there are almost no women in it. (And maybe because I kinda loathe Denise Richards.)
17. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind — Wow, I didn't even know this was a sci-fi movie. I mean, I guess you could call it that. I do know it's a beautiful, moving film. I had heard nothing about it the first time I saw it, and I almost refused to see it because my dislike of Jim Carrey comes close to surpassing my undying affection for Kate Winslet. But by the time the credits rolled, I was crying and felt kind of blessed.
12. Back to the Future — Again, I'm not sure this should really count as a sci-fi movie. But it is pretty cosmic that if you Google "back to the future," you get over 2 million results. "Whoa, this is heavy."
9. Aliens — Oh, look, Sigourney Weaver shows up twice on the list. Can we just give her this whole genre? Here's hoping Weaver and Cameron can hit the jackpot again with Avatar.
4. The X-Files (the TV series, not the movie) — I still miss this show. No matter what Gillian Anderson may or may not say.
3. Blade Runner — Still creepy, still cool.
2. Battlestar Galactica — I've tried, but guess I just don't get it, even when Lucy Lawless shows up. What the frack/frak is wrong with me?
1. The Matrix — Ah, now this I get. Who knew a mind-f--- could be so satisfying? Too bad the sequels sucked.
Check out EW's list for yourself — what did they get right, and what did they miss completely? Submitted by on May 7, 2007 - 12:40am. |
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News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media
Jaw Drop
I had forgotten how HOT Carrie Ann Moss looked in The Matrix!
Wow!
:-)
in the first one, yes...
...but in the second and third movies, she was looking more like "She-Keanu." :)
I could never forget... she
Galaxy Quest!
Nah! that was one darn
Nah! that was one darn good movie! :D
Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco
Totally
That movie cracked me up when I saw it. The fact that nothing made sense... "Why are there booby traps in the spaceship? Whoever wrote this episode whould die!"
Chompers
wheee!
My replies, in no specific order:
Starship troopers: I'd see that movie fifty times start to finish just for the scenes with butch Dina Meyer, I mean, come on! and I have no trouble what so ever to ignore The Guy.
X-files I totally get! That was one great show although it did get worse as time progressed (my opinion!)
The matrix ruled... well, the first one did! A very deserved first place!
Firefly/Serenity made it to 15! I'm so proud! I'm absolutely in love with this show. No matter what anyone says, it's the best!
Lost at 11? Why again? And why on a sci-fi list? for the occasional polar bear? give me a break!
All in all, pretty reasonable list! Don't agree with everything, but then, I didn't make it, now did I? thanks for putting it up!
Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco
You can't take the sky from me...
ok, so usually I agree with these lists, but really, how could you leave out Firefly/Serenity??? Yes, I am a Whedonite, but it is chock full of women heroines.
Gina Torres/Zoe kicking some serious no-nonsense booty? Yes please.
Jewel Staite/Kaylee as the gender role bending mechanic? Righto!
Summer Glau/River as the savior of the universe? Fine by me!
Morena Baccarin/Inara as a self-empowered companion? Indeed!
It might not be the most well known, or the longest running, but these characters deserve to be remembered for the amazing ideas they represented.
made the sci-fi list...
It did make the original list :D I LOVE firefly/serenity!
Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco
The original list, yes.
The original list, yes. True. *nods*
But missing off this list? Psh!
Lucy looks beautiful!
Lost in transmission
I can't believe EW left off:
I would have substituted any of the above for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Heroes, and Lost. I was pleased to see Children of Men made their list, though. As for Galaxy Quest, it still makes my personal Top 10 list of Movies Quoted On A Daily Basis.
By Grabthar's hammer... what savings.
-sputter- -shame-I forgot
-sputter- -shame-
I forgot all about SG1...
-blush-
Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco
Firefly
I'm so glad Firefly/Serenity made the list! That show was awesome.
And yeah, The Matrix deserves to top the list.
They're All Pretty
Cute. Except Gillian. Thereagain, after her recent comments and behaviour, that woman is never going to be cute to me again. To think people used to tell me I looked like her! PFT!
Lucy is noice. Berry noice, indeed. But, I'm afraid Sigourney does it for me, every time!
Sigourney
For some reason, Sigourney Weaver (in a blonde wig) reminds me of Stevie Nicks.
;-)
Hmmm...I just added this photo, but decided that Stevie had a rounder face.
Galaxyquest is the funniest movie ever
I just want to say, about
I just want to say, about Starship Troopers, I agreed wholeheartedly about it being crappy, especially after I read the book (which, by the way, you should read, because it's kind of amazing. It's a shining example of Cold War era science fiction, but I kind of love Robert Heinlein. Slash, the book is nothing like the film, if that's any incentive). However, I want to see it again after reading this article in Cineaste about Paul Verhoeven and his films, specifically because of the part about Starship Troopers.
I agree, it is a problematic film, but this article pointed out a lot of things about Verhoeven's films in general. Granted, the article also makes me want to re-watch Showgirls, but that's just me.
I'm also not trying to convert anyone into lovers of bad scifi movies (I promise).
A case for Verhoeven
The book and movie are nothing alike because the movie wasn't meant to be an adaptation of the book. At all.
Also, Verhoeven's entire oeuvre is based upon the idea that if you inject enough violence and sex into a film, you can sell it to any audience--and especially the American audience. That's why Starship Troopers is so absolutely violent: while the audience is gleefully cheering on the inhabitants of Earth in their questionable quest to destroy the bugs (preemptive war and all that), the film is one big fascists propaganda message. I've seen Nazi propaganda films, and the stuff they put in is eerily similar to that. The fact that the film is also pro-capitalist makes it even more subversive, because it aims to reveal the inherent fascism of the American capitalist system.
Showgirls is built on the same premise. Here you are watching this movie where there are naked women everywhere and everyone has sex without abandon and then suddenly, a woman who at no point was presented as a sex object is raped and you realize that you, as a complicit observer of this hypersexualized fantasy world where a woman's nipples get her a promotion, are no better in principle than the rapists. It's too bad that people only see it as a stripper movie, because it's such a terrifying study of American culture.
"Out of the box is where I live." -Starbuck
Just me...?
It's probably just me and my mind, but when I watched starship troopers (and I did just last week, I found it at a junk yard sale for 50 cents) I found that it disses war and things more than the other, especially through the 'news', like "join our brave young men and women now!" [cut to scene of brave young men and women getting slaughtered]
But again, that might just be me.
Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco
Nope, not just you :)
Yep, that was the point of the movie. It's only after the fact that you realize that you've been duped.
"Out of the box is where I live." -Starbuck
I'd like to point out
That I was all in favor of the film in my original post. In fact, I love it. And I appreciate in it all you're talking about. But I still think that there are certain failures inherent to both it and Showgirls that make it problematic. That said, I don't think those failures are any more or less prevalent than in, say, Too Wong Foo, or The Birdcage.
Sometimes filmmakers just don't land all their points, that's all I was saying.
Galaxy Quest made me feel bad!!
pimples in the face! I'm not really into Sci Fi movies, but there are some that just made me laugh.
lesbian without borders
denise richards...urgh
Agreeing totally with the whole loathing Debise Richards thing.
There is something about her i just. dont. like.
I find her so hard to watch. she even managed to spoil the world is not enough for me, and i love bond films!
~I've been watching your world from afar, I've been trying to be where you are, I've been secretly falling apart...~
Denise Richards
Starship Troopers
Actually, I think "Starship Troopers" qualifies as one of the greater anti-war movies, just because it balances very narrowly between pretending to be a simple SciFi Action and actually beeing one. It also has a nice feminist narrative were the woman who looks the most empowered and liberated really isn't.
I wish they had done "The Matrix" without the pop-philosophy, that just made me groan through the whole thing, especially since it had been done immensly better in "Existenz".
As posted above
As posted above, I feel the same, thanks for agreeing! There is just something in the movie that, by overdoing it, makes you so aware that war = media that makes it an eye opener...
Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco
This is the first time I've
This is the first time I've agreed with a large majority of a top sci-fi list. It's missing a few things, they are a little too mainstream (as mentioned above, eXistenZ was a way better deep thought movie about reality than The Matrix, even though The Matrix definitely is an amazing sci-fi movie that totally changed modern film) and there's no reason LOST should be on it, but hey. For the most part they got it.
How is Back to the Future NOT science fiction? The entire premise wouldn't work without time travel. The same for Eternal Sunshine. They're not "hard" sci-fi, but when your story doesn't work without something that's scientifically improbable (if not impossible) at the time it was made, that's sci-fi.
Firefly/Serenity
Starship Pooper
I can totally get behind-V:
I can totally get behind
-V: The Miniseries (the first sci-fi show I saw in my youth and the mice eating totally freaked me out. It was super awesome).
- Galaxy Quest (One of the most funniest sci-fi spoof/comedies ever. Sigourney Weaver totally nails it when she shreaks "Whoever wrote this episode should DIE!")
- Futurama (best.animation.comedy.ever).
- Heroes (I love this show and it seems to just get better and better with each episode)
- Firefly/Serenity (It was shortlived but I'll never get tired of the few episodes they did make and I refuse to ever give up on it returning on the small screen, no matter how impossible it might be).
- Star Trek: The Next Generation (THE sci-fi show back when I was growing up. Dr. Crusher was my first crush. I've been attracted to redheads ever since ;) )
- The X-Files (Smart. Sexy. Redhead. Creepy. Entertaining. Funny. Scully's glasses).
- Battlestar Galactica (Brilliant storytelling, amazingly strong female characters, wonderful action. Awesome cast).
- The Matrix (Dude, the bullet time was the bomb! And so was Carrie-Anne Moss. Smokin' hot does not even begin to describe how awesome she was).
So, what was left behind.
- Babylon 5 (clunky production value, but story wise it was awesome)
- The Fifth Element (possible one of the best sci-fi movies ever. Surely a lot better than Blade Runner which is a totally overrated movie).
- Star Wars: IV - A New Hope? Only THE best sci-fi movie in the history of scifi movies.
- Stargate Atlantis. It's THE sci-fi show for me. It keeps getting better and better and better with each year. It's the bomb!
Galaxy Quest
Star Trek
Don't forget...
Don't forget DS9's Rejoined and The Emperor's New Cloak. It isn't much, but there was an f/f kiss in both and the alternative Ezri Tigen was gay. the alternative Leeta was (assumed) bisexual as was the Intendant (Kira). As I said, not much but something and the Rejoined kiss is still the best f/f kiss I've ever seen on T.V.
Also, most of the books (novels and comics) feature gay characters. (http://www.gayleague.com/forums/display.php?id=76)
But really, by this time I'll take anything I can get :D
Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco
Thanks for that link! Great
Welcome :D
Very welcome :D
I'll always be a Trekkie :)
Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco
I did not forget.
So.......
So it was a sweeps kiss, I really don't care. It was a fifteen second f/f kiss. Longer than any by that time. And no, Trills aren't ungendered. The hosts are gendered, the symbionts are worm like creatures that don't have genders.
I guess we'll just have to read what we want to read in these things :D
Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco
Sigh.
...
Starship Troopers- Dina Meyer...and the fun(brutal) violence in the form of satire.
Firefly- glad it made to the middle, although I would have liked it to be a couple of notches higher.
Definitely
Babylon 5 is definitely missing. It was so rich and well-developed! And Claudia Christian . . . mmm, that was good stuff.
---------------------
"From error to error, one discovers the entire truth."
- Sigmund Freud
Trihardist's BlogOk so while I don't
Ok so while I don't understand how Eternal Sunshine could *ever* be miscontrued as a sci fi film...it is still one of my all-time favourites. And ps...Jim Carrey is amazing in it...as is the effervescent Kate Winslet.
As for Battlestar Galactica...you don't have to like it...Lucy Lawless is hot enough to make it good. However...I do happen to love it.
And OMG HOW HOT IS GILLIAN ANDERSON IN A SUIT????
I think they forgot one
I pretty much agree with just about everything on the list. Woooo Hooo for Star Trek TNG, its the shit, ive been into the X-files since i can remember, Galaxy Quest was just to funny and Ms Weaver was so hot in that movie and she kicked so much ass in Aliens. But where was Farscape in that list. The show was so awsome it had the best story lines, the best characters and it was just awsome. And I mean come on is anyone hotter then Claudia Black in all that leather shootin a pulse pistol and kickin some ass? And what about Virgina Hey all painted blue and blad as Zhann? And who can forget the abs of Tammy MacIntosh and Jool? Ok lemme stop im gettin to into it ^_^ But come on can I please get a shout out from all the Farscapers out there?
Chu Know Chu Want It!!!!! (")^_^(")
Yet again...
Yet again someoen puts me to shame! How could I have ever forgotten Farscape?! I LOVE that show! Same with Babylon 5! Good, good shows!
Indeed why are they not on the list?! Lost has absolutely nothing on both!
Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco
You're not alone...
MIB
Indeed!
And how about Men In Black?!
Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco
Maybe in a top 50 or 100,
Most awesome X-Files episode ever.
Most awesome X-Files episode ever has got to be, hands down, "Home," featuring the Peacocks: three hideously deformed brothers and their dear old mother, a quadruple amputee who they keep on a mechanic's dolly under the bed.
Gah, how I love a freak show.
X-Files