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PostPosted: Wed Apr 08, 2015 3:34 pm 
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I've been asked by a couple of posters where I got the list of top 100 SF Movies that I posted as the countdown to the last Marathon. The answer is that it's a hodgepodge, using items from other lists for the lower selections and then gradually going over to items that I liked. I've never seen four of the movies listed and if I were to do it again, a fair number of the lower entries would be a ways higher. A few are at their position on the list to represent a sub-genre, as much as a specific film.
Several are listed because of their time. Indies from the last year such as Predestination or Time Lapse from this year are actually better films. If I were to re-do it, I would juggle around a bunch, esp. in the 30-50 range, but that's not a question of their being on the list, just where.
A few are obviously fantasy, but I did try to avoid them, as a separate genre. If you want exactitude or consistency, I would love to see your list. I know that I have a weakness for funny films and against horror.
Since I've been asked twice to post the list & in the hope that it's interesting and that it will provoke some conversation and, hopefully, outraged reactions, here it is again.

Top 100 Science Fiction Movies
100. Andromeda Strain
99. Starman
98. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
97. Time Bandits
96. Strange Days
95. Another Earth
94. Fahrenheit 451
93. Invisible Man
92. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
91. Attack The Block
90. Buckaroo Banzai
89. Mars Attacks
88. Minority Report
87. They Live
86. Altered States
85. The Avengers
84. 12 Monkeys
83. Young Frankenstein
82. Godzilla
81. Iron Giant
80. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
79. Fantastic Planet
78. Quiet Earth
77. Fifth Planet
76. Truman Show
75. Seconds
74.Total Recall
73. Sleeper
72. Soylent Green
71. Time After Time
70. Innerspace
69. Sunshine
68. Spaceballs
67. Akira
66. Road Warrior
65. Brother From Another Planet
64. Titan AE
63. Island of Lost Souls
62. Westworld
61. 20 Million Miles to Earth
60. 1984
59. Them!
58. Stargate
57. The Hidden
56. Wall-E
55. Star Trek: Wrath of Khan
54. Brazil
53. Enemy Mine
52. Cube
51. Earth Girls Are Easy
50. Ghost In The Shell
49. Repo Man
48. The Time Machine
47. The Fly
46. Predator
45. Gravity
44. When Worlds Collide
43. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
42. Paul
41. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
40. Cocoon
39. Galaxy Quest
38. Primer
37. Dark Star
36. Moon
35. Thing From Another World
34. THX 1138
33. Contact
32. AI
31. Serenity
30. Abyss
29. Watchmen
28. Silent Running
27. 28 Days Later
26. Things To Come
25. Lost World
24. Matrix
23. Gattaca
22. A Trip to the Moon
21. Jurassic Park
20. Forbidden Planet
19. La Jetee
18. Independence Day
17. King Kong
16. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
15. Frankenstein
14. Men In Black
13. Children of Men
12. District 9
11. Avatar
10. Back to the Future 1-3
9. ET
8. Planet of the Apes
7. Terminator 1-2
6. Day the Earth Stood Still
5. Metropolis
4. Blade Runner
3. Alien(s) 1-2.
2. 2001
1. Star Wars Trilogy (4-6)

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 1:28 pm 
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Yeah, first post in over a week!

You can make decent arguments for the Top 10 on that list, but DISTRICT 9 and AVATAR that high up, just doesn't compute. Down the line they will remembered more as films that were big when they came out, but faded over time. Even now, you mention AVATAR to any large gathering of sci-fi fans and you get more smirks than applause. And, after ELYSIUM and CHAPPIE, D9 looks more and more like a one hit wonder.

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 2:10 pm 
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And John Carpenter's THE THING isn't even on the list and it should easily be in the #2 or #3 position. I hate lists that aren't made by true fans of the genre.

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PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 5:17 pm 
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LA, Ghost,
Thanks for responding. If this gets too heated, it can be transferred to KABOOM!

LA,
Avatar made a huge impact well beyond the usual market when it was released. High, even unique production technique was celebrated in the SF media when it came out. Plot? Seven Samurai did it better.
Impact? As noted when I listed it, sure has faded fast. But I put it up there for me due to the quality in it's time plus the general impact, not just on fans of the genre.
District 9 we disagree about. I thought that its on its face plot, plus the staging, plus the huge allegorical story combined to make it the film of the year, and of lasting quality. Sorry we disagree. A parallel disagreement is that I thought that in it's story, execution and pseudo depth, SNOWPIERCER was a piece of trash, unredeemed by its admitted high technical production values.
Wouldn't mind debating our different opinions.

Ghost,
Ya got me on THE THING. It's one of several films that I skipped. It should have been on the list. Story, pace, gradual development & quality of action, all very good. Unlike you, I certainly would not put it close to the top. What do you think about it raised it to that level?
I do not claim to know or spend as much time on the SF movies as you. Or, for that matter, have as much knowledge. I did however read Who Goes There, by Campbell before you were born.
Your little carp, '--- lists that aren't made by true fans of the genre." was cute. I seriously doubt that you have read a tenth as much Science Fiction in your life as I have, although that is, of course, due to your callow youth. Do you really think that sitting in a dark room with strangers, or in a living room watching a monitor, is all that there is about Science Fiction?
I would seriously welcome your suggesting a best list by a "True fan of the genre."
The time I spent searching for titles and looking at a couple of dozen lists certainly could be improved on.

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 1:58 am 
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While I could nitpick Pogo's placement of some specific films, I certainly wouldn't use that to disparage his credentials as a "true fan of the genre."

People have different opinions... no big deal.

Here's a few big changes I personally would have on my top 100 list (full disclosure: this is off the top of my head, with very little thought given - perhaps someday I'll take the time to really put together my top 100 :)

Ones that would not make my list:
Men In Black
Gattaca
AI
Paul
Earth Girls Are Easy
Cube
Spaceballs
Sunshine
Truman Show
Mars Attacks

Ones that Pogo missed (in no particular order):
Carpenter's The Thing (although, nowhere near as high as #2 or 3... it would probably be around #25 or so on my list, I would guess)
A Clockwork Orange (I suppose it's debatable if this counts as scifi, but I consider it such)
Dr. Strangelove (same as above)
Dark City (Sleeeeep! :) )
Donnie Darko
City of Lost Children
War of the Worlds (1953)
Robocop (1987)
Equilibrium
Cloud Atlas (I know I'm in the minority on that one, but I thought it was an amazing film)
Ghostbusters
Being John Malkovich
Timecrimes
Man Facing Southeast (little known film from Argentina - this is the film that inspired K-Pax, which sucked... see Man Facing Southeast, instead - it was awesome!)
aaaaaaand... Logan's Run (I know, I know, it's flawed... but it's one of my guilty pleasures :)


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 11:52 am 
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scottcoz wrote:
Ones that Pogo missed (in no particular order):
....
Man Facing Southeast (little known film from Argentina - this is the film that inspired K-Pax, which sucked... see Man Facing Southeast, instead - it was awesome!)



Wow! THE MAN FACING SOUTHEAST is an obscurity. Pretty hard to find with VHS tapes going for $50 and up. Where did you see it?? I saw it in a theater when it came out in 1986, and I don't recall hearing anything about availability since the early-90s at the most recent!

Carpenter's THE THING should be #1. The number one most OVERrated Sci-Fi film of all time.

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 4:53 pm 
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I saw it in film school - can't remember which one. :) I attended 3 film schools (long story) - OSU, WSU (Wright State in Dayton, Ohio), and Northwestern.

As for The Thing... well, I guess I would be ranking it higher than you, LA :) But, upon a little more reflection, once I started realizing how many more things I'd be adding to my list that weren't on Pogo's, it probably wouldn't be as high as I had previously thought - it'd be farther down the list, but still in the top 100.


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PostPosted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:47 pm 
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Thanks Scott,
Differences & agreements.
I can't make any strong arguments for Cube. It made the list based on rep - I admit that I haven't seen it.
Spaceballs almost didn't make it, even on my list. My love for Mel Brooks probably exalted it beyond its good spirited cheesy nature.
Would still list the others, although Earth Girls is sorta marginal.
Strangeglove, Malkovich & Ghostbusters should all have been on the list - by my standards. Sorry, my bad.
Except for Man Facing Southeast, which I've never even heard of, the others were considered & left off my list.
Which is not to say that persons using better criteria, or judgement, would not list them. As you say,
"People have different opinions... no big deal." and in this case, perhaps a lot better ones.
You & LA have got me wanting to see Man Facing Southeast. I'm going looking.
I was reacting to Ghost's carp, but I genuinely would like to see other lists. Not necessarily of a full 100, but at least of films to be careful not to miss. The purpose here is to share, right? And perhaps to learn?

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 12, 2015 8:15 pm 
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Good luck finding MAN FACING SOUTHEAST. Like I said, I haven't even heard of anybody watching it for 20 years! Amazon has it on VHS and import DVD, but the prices are $50 & $75 respectively!

Ebay has a tape for 'only' $30. And, if you still have a working LaserDisc - it's yours for $40!

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 2:15 am 
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CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBE!!!!!!!


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PostPosted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:35 am 
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pogo wrote:
I've been asked by a couple of posters where I got the list of top 100 SF Movies that I posted as the countdown to the last Marathon. The answer is that it's a hodgepodge, using items from other lists for the lower selections and then gradually going over to items that I liked. I've never seen four of the movies listed and if I were to do it again, a fair number of the lower entries would be a ways higher.


I wasn't trying to attack Pogo, the list that he posted was not "HIS" list, it was gathered from "a hodgepodge, using items from other lists"

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 4:19 pm 
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Ghost,
I perhaps should have been clearer. I looked at other lists because they made suggestions that might otherwise not have occurred to me. With the exceptions of the four or so films that I had not seen, but were so consistently mentioned - and well reviewed - that I added them, it wasn't that they were on someone' else's list as that they gave me a breadth to remind me of past films that my less than perfect memory did not. I'll stand behind what I posted as "My" list, warts and all.

I find it interesting that you and LA are on opposite ends of the spectrum about The Thing - and that Scott & I are in the middle.
I listed Cube, but on others' evaluations. Good buddies Scott & Kevin seem to disagree pretty profoundly.
Do you or LA have an opinion? I am enough of a geek that I'll track it down, but probably not for a while.
As asked earlier, do you or does anyone here have strong suggestions outside of the usual suspects? Scott made some strong suggestions. I agreed with about half and said so. Your choices?
LA? Others?

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PostPosted: Mon Apr 13, 2015 7:04 pm 
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pogo wrote:
The purpose here is to share, right? And perhaps to learn?

Absolutely! I love talking about films, and assume most of us here do. :)

As for differences of opinion, as has been said before - if we all loved exactly the same thing, the world would be a pretty dull place!

As for Cube:
Firstly - I apologize that I have not seen it since it first came out. So, my opinion of it is based on my first reaction from a viewing 18 years ago - not a particularly enlightened, educated, or considered one. Just my gut reaction, to the best of my recollection. Who knows... if I saw it again today, perhaps I'd love it?

My issue with Cube is basically that its boring. To me, it's a classic example of the problem of taking what worked as a short (the Twilight Zone episode, "5 Characters in Search of an Exit," itself inspired by Pirandello's play Six Characters in Search of an Author, and Sartre's No Exit), and then expanding that very basic idea into a feature film. It's a simple plot device that stretches on for an hour too long.

I know that some reviews of it are positive, appreciating it as an original allegorical statement of the futility of trying to understand our existence... I can't help but think that those reviewers simply are not familiar with the works of Sartre, Camus, etc?


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PostPosted: Wed May 06, 2015 3:59 pm 
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I will always have a soft spot for CUBE!

I love it and always will.

I did a podcast review of cube with some guys and talked about where the director drew his inspiration for it. It was done very inexpensively and had a great plot.

17 bags of gumdrops!

Not to mention it has one of the best pre-title hooks in a film I've ever seen.

Image
Image
Image


Long Live CUBE! (p.s. Hypercube is garbage. But I still watch it.)

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PostPosted: Thu May 07, 2015 12:04 am 
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I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but... there's a Cube remake in the works. It's probably going to happen. They will undoubtedly explain everything and ruin it for everybody...


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