talking meme day... 8th
Dec. 8th, 2018 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivendellroseMy talking meme calendar has some gaps in it, but I got a bunch of lovely new questions today, and since one of them had to be shuffled a bit due to two people selecting the same days, I moved one to today!
mekare asked: "What other sci-fi films and/or shows have you enjoyed apart from Babylon 5 and Star Trek? Can you rec any?"
And indeed I can! Your mileage may vary, of course, with recommendations, but I'll try to at least give some sense of what it is that I liked about each property, and whether or not I would recommend watching it.
Sci-fi films:
I limited myself to space movies, here, because that's where my heart lives when it comes to sci-fi. If you're interested in non-space movies, I can also recommend GATTACA, Minority Report, Looper, and The Matrix as all quite good.
The Martian: I love this film so much. I love the book as well (and while I know some people get put off by the math/technical language in it, I am not a math person and I handled it just fine, so... that's one anecdotal data point for you, I guess), but THIS MOVIE. It is a love letter to NASA, a love letter to space exploration, and... do you know the concept of competency porn? It is that as well. I have some issues with a few elements of the casting (major characters who were very obviously Indian and Asian in the book were cast as Black and white in the movie), but otherwise I could not have been happier. In addition to Matt Damon, also watch out for Sebastian Stan (Bucky from the Captain America movies), Chiwetel Ejiofor (many things), Donald Glover (Community, Solo, etc.), Jessica Chastain, and Michael Pena, among others.
Europa Report: This poor movie got next to no marketing when it was released. I don't know why the production company decided to bury it, but they clearly did, and it was a crime. In addition to just being an extremely smart and fun intimate movie about a mission to Europa with a surprising amount of action in it for it basically being a low-budget bottle show, it features a soundtrack by Bear McCreary, the composer of the Battlestar Galactica (2005) soundtrack. There's nothing in his work here (or ever since) that's quite as amazing as what he did on BSG, but it's still quite a good score, and a gem that a lot of people missed.
Moon: I grew up reading my dad's old copies Asimov's short stories and similar, and no other movie has so brilliantly captured the feeling of those old shorts as this one does, while also feeling up-to-date. This movie is a bit slow and contemplative when compared to some of the action movies that sometimes get into sci-fi territory, but it picks up pace, and it packs a punch in the end. Also, the cinematography is very attractive.
Galaxy Quest: It's essentially a cliche, anymore, to say that this is the best Star Trek movie... but I honestly think it's the truth. For all that it's a satire, for my money it does a better job of being Star Trek distilled to its essence than any actual Star Trek movie ever has. Granted, I am deeply biased because a) I actually don't like most of the Star Trek movies, b) I loved the dearly departed Alan Rickman and adore his performance here, c) there are a lot of jokes in here about actors and acting, and as a former theater kid that's kind of my jam, d) I also loved the late Robin Sachs, who plays the villain here, and have a weird affection for Enrico Colantoni, who plays one of the aliens. Also, Sigourney Weaver. The less said about Tim Allen the better, but he doesn't ruin things anymore than William Shatner regularly does, so I figure that works out.
Independence Day: Ignore the sequel, and take this with a grain of salt because I am a child of the 90s and some things seen in childhood will just always be special. But for what it's worth, I still think this is an amazing and worthwhile movie. Also, if you are a BSG fan, look out for Madame President as the president's wife. She's underused, but she's there. ♥
Sci-fi TV shows:
This one's harder because, frankly, I'm really picky about TV shows and tend not to watch any except the ones I really love. The result is also a broader list, because... frankly, there are not that many space shows that I actually like.
Battlestar Galactica (2005)
I didn't see the original show, and I don't care to, but I adore this show and hold it up as one of the best sci-fi TV shows ever made. It's dark and sometimes difficult, and the episodes can be pretty uneven at times (there's a period around the middle to the end of all but the first season in which the writers seem to run out of ideas or go off on "eugh, seriously?" tangents), and the finale is infamously divisive, but when this show is good, for my money, it is transcendental. If you want a taste, just watch the pilot (which is tough) and then the episode called 33, which is still one of my favorite-ever hours of television. If you're not hooked by the end of that, it's probably not your kind of thing, but if you are, then you are in for a wild ride. (Fair warning: A couple of episodes of this show feature sexual violence, and there is also network-TV-acceptable normal violence as well. Nothing on the level of what shows get away with nowadays, but... still. Best to be aware going in.)
Also, even if you don't watch the show, if you are interested at all in soundtracks I recommend giving Bear McCreary's soundtrack for the show a chance. Diaspora Oratio, Farewell Apollo, and The Shape of Things to Come are a decent taster pack for the series, and Apocalypse from the spin-off miniseries is also, I think, quite impressive.
The X-Files
It's a classic for a reason, and I like to think I don't just love this show because I grew up with it. A lot of the episodes look really dated nowadays, and some just plain are dated. I would also not recommend paying the slightest attention to any of the show after season where Gillian Anderson leaves, including the more recent seasons that they've come back to. Just don't bother. I personally prefer the monster-of-the-week episodes to the larger "mythology" arc episodes. If you're interested and don't know where to start I could probably throw a couple of suggestions your way.
The Good Place
I'm not sure if this could technically be considered sci-fi (it's definitely speculative fiction, but it's also a half-hour comedy about philosophy?), but it is absolutely brilliant and at this point I am telling every single person I know that if they're not watching it they should be. Start at the beginning, do not skip around, and avoid spoilers if at all possible. It just got picked up for a fourth season, and it is without a doubt the smartest dumbest show on TV.
Pushing Daises
Another "not sure it's technically sci-fi" pick, but another show that is absolutely brilliant. It's the story of a man who bakes pies and has the unexplained ability to wake the dead with a touch of a finger, but if he touches them again they go right back to being dead. This has all the complications that you would imagine it might, and then some, and for a show about the dead, this is the brightest, most colorful and generally most cheerful show you could ever hope for. Lee Pace plays the lead, and Kristin Chenoweth of Broadway fame is one of his co-stars. Yes, she sings, and, yes, it is fabulous.
American Gods
The basic pitch is simple: The gods of ancient mythology came over to America with the people who worshipped them, and they changed with the times as America changed. ...Nothing after that pitch remains simple, though. I would put this down as "season 1 only" for now, because a) season 2 has not yet come out, and b) it's undergone some major leadership changes and lost one of its main actors in the process, so I do not quite trust the second season to be anything like as amazing as the first, but oh my god, that first season was genius. This show is arguably really more fantasy than sci-fi, but since it's set today, I would argue it deserves inclusion as much as Pushing Daisies and The Good Place do, and since I refuse to leave either of those out of this list, I'm including it. (This show was on Starz for a reason: it features both violence and nudity much stronger than is allowed on network television, and also some other horrifying stuff regarding dead bodies and whatnot. Beware.)
mekare asked: "What other sci-fi films and/or shows have you enjoyed apart from Babylon 5 and Star Trek? Can you rec any?"And indeed I can! Your mileage may vary, of course, with recommendations, but I'll try to at least give some sense of what it is that I liked about each property, and whether or not I would recommend watching it.
Sci-fi films:
I limited myself to space movies, here, because that's where my heart lives when it comes to sci-fi. If you're interested in non-space movies, I can also recommend GATTACA, Minority Report, Looper, and The Matrix as all quite good.
The Martian: I love this film so much. I love the book as well (and while I know some people get put off by the math/technical language in it, I am not a math person and I handled it just fine, so... that's one anecdotal data point for you, I guess), but THIS MOVIE. It is a love letter to NASA, a love letter to space exploration, and... do you know the concept of competency porn? It is that as well. I have some issues with a few elements of the casting (major characters who were very obviously Indian and Asian in the book were cast as Black and white in the movie), but otherwise I could not have been happier. In addition to Matt Damon, also watch out for Sebastian Stan (Bucky from the Captain America movies), Chiwetel Ejiofor (many things), Donald Glover (Community, Solo, etc.), Jessica Chastain, and Michael Pena, among others.
Europa Report: This poor movie got next to no marketing when it was released. I don't know why the production company decided to bury it, but they clearly did, and it was a crime. In addition to just being an extremely smart and fun intimate movie about a mission to Europa with a surprising amount of action in it for it basically being a low-budget bottle show, it features a soundtrack by Bear McCreary, the composer of the Battlestar Galactica (2005) soundtrack. There's nothing in his work here (or ever since) that's quite as amazing as what he did on BSG, but it's still quite a good score, and a gem that a lot of people missed.
Moon: I grew up reading my dad's old copies Asimov's short stories and similar, and no other movie has so brilliantly captured the feeling of those old shorts as this one does, while also feeling up-to-date. This movie is a bit slow and contemplative when compared to some of the action movies that sometimes get into sci-fi territory, but it picks up pace, and it packs a punch in the end. Also, the cinematography is very attractive.
Galaxy Quest: It's essentially a cliche, anymore, to say that this is the best Star Trek movie... but I honestly think it's the truth. For all that it's a satire, for my money it does a better job of being Star Trek distilled to its essence than any actual Star Trek movie ever has. Granted, I am deeply biased because a) I actually don't like most of the Star Trek movies, b) I loved the dearly departed Alan Rickman and adore his performance here, c) there are a lot of jokes in here about actors and acting, and as a former theater kid that's kind of my jam, d) I also loved the late Robin Sachs, who plays the villain here, and have a weird affection for Enrico Colantoni, who plays one of the aliens. Also, Sigourney Weaver. The less said about Tim Allen the better, but he doesn't ruin things anymore than William Shatner regularly does, so I figure that works out.
Independence Day: Ignore the sequel, and take this with a grain of salt because I am a child of the 90s and some things seen in childhood will just always be special. But for what it's worth, I still think this is an amazing and worthwhile movie. Also, if you are a BSG fan, look out for Madame President as the president's wife. She's underused, but she's there. ♥
Sci-fi TV shows:
This one's harder because, frankly, I'm really picky about TV shows and tend not to watch any except the ones I really love. The result is also a broader list, because... frankly, there are not that many space shows that I actually like.
Battlestar Galactica (2005)
I didn't see the original show, and I don't care to, but I adore this show and hold it up as one of the best sci-fi TV shows ever made. It's dark and sometimes difficult, and the episodes can be pretty uneven at times (there's a period around the middle to the end of all but the first season in which the writers seem to run out of ideas or go off on "eugh, seriously?" tangents), and the finale is infamously divisive, but when this show is good, for my money, it is transcendental. If you want a taste, just watch the pilot (which is tough) and then the episode called 33, which is still one of my favorite-ever hours of television. If you're not hooked by the end of that, it's probably not your kind of thing, but if you are, then you are in for a wild ride. (Fair warning: A couple of episodes of this show feature sexual violence, and there is also network-TV-acceptable normal violence as well. Nothing on the level of what shows get away with nowadays, but... still. Best to be aware going in.)
Also, even if you don't watch the show, if you are interested at all in soundtracks I recommend giving Bear McCreary's soundtrack for the show a chance. Diaspora Oratio, Farewell Apollo, and The Shape of Things to Come are a decent taster pack for the series, and Apocalypse from the spin-off miniseries is also, I think, quite impressive.
The X-Files
It's a classic for a reason, and I like to think I don't just love this show because I grew up with it. A lot of the episodes look really dated nowadays, and some just plain are dated. I would also not recommend paying the slightest attention to any of the show after season where Gillian Anderson leaves, including the more recent seasons that they've come back to. Just don't bother. I personally prefer the monster-of-the-week episodes to the larger "mythology" arc episodes. If you're interested and don't know where to start I could probably throw a couple of suggestions your way.
The Good Place
I'm not sure if this could technically be considered sci-fi (it's definitely speculative fiction, but it's also a half-hour comedy about philosophy?), but it is absolutely brilliant and at this point I am telling every single person I know that if they're not watching it they should be. Start at the beginning, do not skip around, and avoid spoilers if at all possible. It just got picked up for a fourth season, and it is without a doubt the smartest dumbest show on TV.
Pushing Daises
Another "not sure it's technically sci-fi" pick, but another show that is absolutely brilliant. It's the story of a man who bakes pies and has the unexplained ability to wake the dead with a touch of a finger, but if he touches them again they go right back to being dead. This has all the complications that you would imagine it might, and then some, and for a show about the dead, this is the brightest, most colorful and generally most cheerful show you could ever hope for. Lee Pace plays the lead, and Kristin Chenoweth of Broadway fame is one of his co-stars. Yes, she sings, and, yes, it is fabulous.
American Gods
The basic pitch is simple: The gods of ancient mythology came over to America with the people who worshipped them, and they changed with the times as America changed. ...Nothing after that pitch remains simple, though. I would put this down as "season 1 only" for now, because a) season 2 has not yet come out, and b) it's undergone some major leadership changes and lost one of its main actors in the process, so I do not quite trust the second season to be anything like as amazing as the first, but oh my god, that first season was genius. This show is arguably really more fantasy than sci-fi, but since it's set today, I would argue it deserves inclusion as much as Pushing Daisies and The Good Place do, and since I refuse to leave either of those out of this list, I'm including it. (This show was on Starz for a reason: it features both violence and nudity much stronger than is allowed on network television, and also some other horrifying stuff regarding dead bodies and whatnot. Beware.)
