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Ketchup Entertainment dropped the trailer for “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie” on February 28 ahead of its March 14 theatrical release. The indie picked up the Daffy Duck and Porky Pig sci-fi origin story last year after Warner Bros. Discovery killed it for tax purposes (like the live-action/animated Looney Tunes hybrid “Coyote vs. Acme”).

The franchise’s first fully 2D-animated theatrical feature finds Daffy and Porky (both voiced by Eric Bauza) stumbling onto a secret alien plot to take over the world via mind-control and chewing gum. But they attempt to gum up the works with their inimitable antics.

Director Peter Browngardt (“Looney Tunes Cartoons”) admirably captures the essence of the wacky odd couple with wit and warmth, channeling the outrageous look and gags of his favorite Warner Bros. director Bob Clampett. “We wanted the audience caring about these characters,” Browngardt told IndieWire, “but still also...

Since the 1950s, science fiction has given Hollywood some of its most thoughtful stories, from 2001: A Space Odyssey to The Day the Earth Stood Still. While the serious side of the genre tends to receive the most accolades and critical acclaim, it isn't without a thriving comedy side. Ranging from witty parody movies to biting works of satire, a number of directors have used sci-fi to bring audiences some of the funniest films ever made.

Sci-fi comedies explore everything from bizarre and comical dystopia to buddy adventure stories, exploring a range of ideas along the way. While these films don't typically get as big a budget as a Star Wars movie, they do a great job of poking fun at some of cinema's most epic and successful stories. People who need a good laugh and love fantastical ideas to explore that, they have a wealth of good choices.

Evolution...

Classic films like The Day the Earth Stood Still are iconic for a reason attempting to modernize them may not always succeed. Keanu Reeves' remake of the beloved sci-fi staple fell short, failing to capture the magic of the original '50s classic. Hollywood's trend of remaking revered classics shows that some iconic films are best left untouched, preserving their legacy.

Hollywood just can't get enough of drawing upon established classic films for inspiration and giving them a modern-day makeover, with the results often being a bit...underwhelming. Despite all the technological advancements and dazzling special effects available at their fingertips, studios have a tough time replicating the magic, wonder, and legacy of these acclaimed staples.

While there are certainly some standout reimaginings like West Side Story and War of the Worlds, there are also plenty of less-than-brilliant remakes that have left a sour taste in the mouths of fans.

Keanu Reeves has starred in some of the most iconic films of from each decade starting from the 90s. That decade saw Reeves cement himself as the bonafide action hero with Point Break, Speed, and The Matrix. The actor continued his successful reign in the Matrix franchise with the two sequels.

Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves in Point Break | 20th Century Fox

However, one of the projects that did not turn out as well as he hoped was the 2008 sci-fi The Day the Earth Stood Still. The film is one project that Reeves regrets doing. In a 2017 interview, the John Wick star remarked that the failure of the film put his career at a complete standstill.

Keanu Reeves Claims He Was in Studio Jail After The Day the Earth Stood Still‘s Failure

Keanu Reeves’ The Day the Earth Stood Still is one of his worst-reviewed films | 20th Century Fox...

Quick Links Only the Valiant Plot and Cast Why Gregory Peck Considers Only the Valiant the Worst Film He Ever Made What Fans and Critics Thought of Only The Valiant Where to Watch Only the Valiant

Actor Gregory Peck would become one of Hollywood's most recognizable faces, turning out iconic performances in cinema from the 1940s to the 1970s. From his role as Atticus Finch in Robin Mulligan's To Kill a Mocking Bird to his role as Joe Bradley across from Aubrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, it isn't easy to pick the best or definitive role of Gregory Peck. However, there was one movie that the actor regretted deeply, being rushed into the role in a film he never wanted any part in.

We will examine Only The Valiant, the 1951 Western, how Peck came to the project, and why he regretted it. We will also see if it is as...

Keanu Reeves's action movies are among his most successful, showcasing his fight scene skills and stunt work. But his highest-grossing films also involve romantic and comedic performances, proving his versatility. Some of Reeves's most iconic characters include Neo, John Wick, John Constantine, and Jack Traven. He has played some of these roles in multiple installments, and his portrayals are charismatic, cynical, and serene. While action films like Speed and John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum have performed well at the box office, Reeves's top-grossing movie is actually Toy Story 4, in which he voices the character Duke Caboom. The film's charm and humor, along with its talented voice cast, contributed to its phenomenal popularity and billion-dollar gross.

Keanu Reeves has appeared in tons of movies since making his debut in 1986, and a number of them have been huge hits at the box office, with one even grossing as much as a billion dollars.

The Black Phone director Scott Derrickson has shared five horror picks he recommends people check out in the lead-up to Halloween. Derrickson, who helmed the blockbuster films The Day the Earth Stood Still in 2008 and Doctor Strange in 2016, has a long history in the horror genre, going all the way back to his debut feature, the 2000 sequel Hellraiser: Inferno. Since then, he has also overseen The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Sinister, and Deliver Us From Evil, with Sinister in particular earning a reputation as one of the scariest films of all time.

Earlier this year, Derrickson delivered his latest horror film, The Black Phone. The project, which is adapted from a short story by Joe Hill, stars Ethan Hawke as The Grabber, a child abductor who keeps young men trapped in his basement before murdering them. His latest victim is Finney Blake (Mason Thames), who begins to receive calls on...

In terms of silly sequel ideas, 1997's "Speed 2: Cruise Control" is the king of them. The original "Speed" was a beloved action thriller, but it was the sort of movie with a premise so specific it could only really be done once. After all, what are the odds that the same cop would find himself on yet another mass transportation vehicle he needed to stop from exploding?

Keanu Reeves had the same thought, which is why he famously chose not to star in the follow-up movie. Although he certainly enjoyed working with co-star Sandra Bullock and director Jan de Bont, the very premise of the sequel just didn't work for him: "It was just a situation in life where I got the script and I read the script and I was like, 'Ugh,'" he said, "It was about a cruise ship and I was thinking, 'A bus, a cruise ship.

Remaking a classic film is always a dangerous endeavor. If a remake tries too hard to capture the same tone as the original it can feel very repetitive, but stray too far and it's no longer the same story. There has been no shortage of terrible science fiction remakes in recent memory. "The Day The Earth Stood Still" from 2008 paled in comparison to the original because the 1951 version works as a grim warning about the dangers of militarism, while the remake is simply a generic alien invasion movie.

Similarly, 2012's "Total Recall" was a major disappointment. The advancements in computer-generated imagery somehow made the new film look less imaginative than the original, while Paul Verhoeven's 1990 film is still as awe-inspiring and exhilarating today as it was during its initial release. That doesn't mean that remaking a classic is never a good idea. A remake has the opportunity to enhance the visual sensibilities,...

Director Scott Derrickson is known for jumping around different genre sandboxes. His work ranges from science fiction ("The Day the Earth Stood Still") to Marvel superheroes ("Doctor Strange"), but arguably his most effective films are those that exist within the horror sphere. After all, Derrickson's latest film, "The Black Phone," is one of 2022's biggest hits. Even though it's been well over a decade since I last saw "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," I find it difficult to shake Jennifer Carpenter's haunting performance.

If there's one film of Derrickson that gives me the creeps more than the others, it undoubtedly has to be "Sinister," which just celebrated its 10th anniversary. It's the kind of horror movie that you can't quite shake from your memory. Even a scientific test deemed "Sinister" the scariest movie ever made.

The menace of "Sinister" unveils itself when true crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke...

Horror is an ever-popular genre, but one where it's increasingly difficult to stand out. It takes a truly special set of circumstances for something to break through in the horror space, to endure and showcase staying power, to become something more than an easy paycheck for a movie studio. Back in 2012, one little movie managed to break through and become one of the finest horror films of the 21st century. And one that many horror fans consider among the scariest movies ever made. That movie is "Sinister."

For those who need a brief refresher, the film centers on true crime writer Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke), who hasn't had a bestseller in years. So he moves his family into a house that has a murderous past -- without telling his loved ones that part -- and discovers a box of snuff films in the attic. What could go wrong? Everything. And...

"Follow your passion" seems to be Scott Derrickson's guiding philosophy as a director, and so far it's served him pretty well.

The key, it appears, is his ability to bounce back from disappointment by channeling his energy into something he really believes in. After his big-budget 2008 film remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" left him unhappy, Derrickson teamed up with producer Jason Blum to work on an original low-budget movie rather than another film based on an IP, resulting in his acclaimed horror flick "Sinister." Likewise, when Derrickson felt his creative vision for the "Doctor Strange" sequel had become too compromised, he stepped away as director to go and make "The Black Phone," a well-received coming-of-age horror drama that's emerged as one of the more notable box office success stories of 2022.

Derrickson's next film as director, "The Gorge," is another original venture, this time based on a...

Filmmaker Scott Derrickson can seemingly track his reputation as a director by what projects he was offered following any one of his movies. After writing the modest 2000 horror sequel "Urban Legends: Final Cut," Derrickson had an opportunity to write and direct the newest installment in a popular film series. Sadly, "Hellraiser: Inferno" went straight to video and was not terribly well-received by "Hellraiser" fans. In 2004, Derrickson garnered a story-by credit on Wim Wenders' post-9/11 drama "Land of Plenty," which, in terms of genre, was quite the gearshift. "Landy of Plenty" never emerged as an arthouse darling and the director moved back to horror to make "The Exorcism of Emily Rose." On a budget if 19 million, that film made 145 million worldwide in 2005.

In an upcoming oral history of Derrickson's "Sinister" compiled by /Film's own Ryan Scott, the future "Doctor Strange" filmmaker says he "was a big darling around town" following the...

Newcomers to science fiction might not know where to start diving into this strange and fantastical genre -- or even if it's worth the ride. But, good news! Sci-fi is incredibly versatile, containing elements and expectations that fit into several subgenres like action, horror, romances, and even comedies.

The World Fantasy award-winning Ray Bradbury once told The New York Times (via Reuters), "In science fiction, we dream." Sure, the genre allows writers, filmmakers, and viewers to imagine far-flung, fantastical worlds and creatures. But it's also a clever way to comment on humanity. Bradbury also said, "Science fiction is also a great way to pretend you are writing about the future when in reality you are attacking the recent past and the present." Sci-fi asks questions like: What might the world be like if we all suddenly learned that we are part of something larger?

Here's a chronological list of landmark...

Communication is the key to successful first contact scenarios. The empathic relationship that language can create between two dissimilar peoples is a source of optimism in both in fiction and in real life. Consider, if you will, Denis Villeneuve's 2016 film, "Arrival." It may not be the first big movie about forging a connection between humans and aliens, but the way that its story never loses its focus on linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) allows that link to feel bigger and more poignant because of how personal it becomes.

What Banks discovers is that humanity must evolve, so that we can save others at some future date, and that language is the key to doing so. It's a poignant lesson, as we realize that, in learning it, Dr. Banks must face her destiny with her eyes wide open, fully aware of what she'll lose. It's also painful, because so much...

This article contains major Star Trek: Strange New Worlds spoilers.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Episode 1

Nobody expected Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to be lacking classic Star Trek Easter eggs. However, what was unexpected was just how hardcore Snw would be in its love and adoration for The Original Series. Considering this show is probably the one that’s most welcoming to new fans, it’s somewhat ironic that it’s also the series premiere with the nerdiest Trekkie references, at least since Lower Decks Season 2.

From obscure characters suddenly coming into the forefront, to fleeting references to classic Trek aliens, and even one huge meta-fictional reference to a sci-fi classic, when it comes to Easter eggs, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has it all. Here’s every reference and deep cut we caught in the series premiere.

“Mathematical probabilities”

The opening voiceover from Number One/Una — later revealed...

Amazon Prime Video’s epic The Lord of the Rings series won’t arrive until 2022. Thankfully, with its list of new releases for November 2021, Amazon has a pretty major fantasy adaptation to hold us over.

The Wheel of Time is set to premiere on Nov. 19 and will bring Robert Jordan’s massive fantasy universe to life. Rosamund Pike stars as Moiraine, a powerful magic-user who guides five young people on a perilous journey around the world. One of them just might be the reincarnation of the Dragon, a powerful entity who could save the world…or destroy it.

Read more TV The Wheel of Time: Who Are the Aes Sedai? By Michael Ahr TV How The Wheel of Time Adapts a Sprawling Epic Fantasy By Michael Ahr

In addition to that bit of fantasy fun, Amazon Prime also has some other TV options this month. Lesbian dating show Tampa Baes (Nov.

Devo’s Gerald Casale joins us for a discussion of the movies that made Devo!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Truth About De-Evolution (1976)

Island Of Lost Souls (1932)

Akran (1969)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Fail Safe (1964)

Valley Of The Dolls (1967)

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970)

The President’s Analyst (1967)

The Atomic Cafe (1982)

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

Village Of The Damned (1960)

Children Of The Damned (1964)

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954)

Planet Of The Apes (1968)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The Parallax View (1974)

Soylent Green (1973)

Sweet Smell Of Success (1957)

Rocky (1976)

A Face In The Crowd (1957)

Whisky Galore! (1949)

No Time For Sergeants (1958)

Network (1976)

JFK (1991)

Natural Born Killers (1994)

Lost Highway (1997)

Mulholland Drive (2001)

Expresso Bongo (1959)

Gremlins (1984)

I Was A Teenage Werewolf (1957)

Other Notable Items

Paul McCartney

Slash

Willie Nelson

Devo

Elliot Roberts

Lorne Michaels

Saturday Night Live TV series (1975- )

Michael O’Donoghue

The Muppets

Neil Young

Walter Williams

Mr. Bill

Richard Myers

George Kuchar

Mike Kuchar

John F.

Since making his screen debut all the way back in 1984, Keanu Reeves has appeared in almost every imaginable genre. While he holds a well-earned reputation as one of the modern era’s greatest action stars after headlining Point Break, Speed and the John Wick series, he’s always seemed to have a soft spot for sci-fi.

As well as starring in three Bill & Ted movies spanning over 30 years, the internet’s favorite actor also donned Neo’s leather and sunglasses combo for The Matrix trilogy, with the fourth installment having wrapped shooting last month before releasing on HBO Max and in theaters in December of next year. That’s seven sci-fi efforts between those two brands alone, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Admittedly, Johnny Mnemonic, Chain Reaction and Replicas were all pretty dire, Scott Derrickson’s The Day the Earth Stood Still remake was incredibly uninspired,...

Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.

Metrograph

“To Hong Kong with Love” looks at one of the world’s most luminous cities in its past and present.

The great Hal Hartley is given an extended retrospective.

A new print of New York, New York begins screening.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople screens early, while Scarface shows late.

Anthology Film Archives

Time to...

Don Kaye Apr 3, 2019

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey changed the face of science fiction cinema.

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered in Washington D.C. on April 2, 1968 and opened in New York and Los Angeles a day later. Four years in the making, Kubrick’s epic spanned all of time and space and spun an awe-inspiring tale of humankind’s evolution from primitive hominid to spacefaring superbeing -- and how we were helped along the way by an unseen alien presence beyond our comprehension.

While cinematic science fiction had produced landmark movies in previous years, such as Forbidden Planet, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and the Quatermass trilogy, 2001 elevated the genre in terms of its depiction of the future, its stunning visual effects, and its sheer scope. 2001 ensured that sci-fi would never be dismissed as simple “kiddie fare” ever again, while the movie’s imagery,...

By Dean Brierly

For a film director with such an iconic resume, there’s a surprising scarcity of scholarly books devoted to Robert Wise, the man who directed such classics as "West Side Story" (1961), "The Haunting" (1963), “The Sound of Music” (1965), “The Curse of the Cat People” (1944), “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951), “The Sand Pebbles” (1966) and many other critical and commercial successes. To say nothing of his stature as the man who edited “Citizen Kane” (1941) and “The Magnificent Ambersons” (1942) before taking up decades-long residence in the director’s chair.

Wise brought a self-effacing approach to directing, one that never drew attention to itself. He may have had the most “invisible” style of all the major directors from Hollywood’s Golden Era, which no doubt helps explain why he never had the auteur imprimatur conferred upon him by French critics who swooned over Welles’ baroque visuals, Douglas Sirk’s melodramatic excess,...

Tony Sokol Nov 26, 2018

The Man Who Fell to Earth gains its vision by losing sight of the stars.

The Man Who Fell to Earth isn’t like any other science fiction movie, even though it inspired and continues to pour new life into the genre. It is subtle, ethereal and a wholly human story. Indeed, David Bowie’s Thomas Jerome Newton is the most human character in the film. If not more human, certainly one with more humanity. He is an ideal that the people who betray him, and that’s almost everyone in the film, could only aspire to. Bowie’s alien is an outsider, a visitor suffering from hyperopia who becomes more myopic as he is corrupted by the temptations of his new home. At first he is focused on the plight of his home planet, but that gets hazy through the tunnel vision of the problems of a suspicious and greedy world.

It’s a powerful plea against the death penalty, but also an Oscar bid for a fiery actress. And don’t forget the cool jazz music score. On top of this Robert Wise adds a formerly- taboo sequence, a realistic depiction of an execution in the gas chamber. Of such things were gritty, hard-hitting reputations made.

I Want to Live!

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1958 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 121 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Theodore Bikel, Virginia Vincent, Wesley Lau, Philip Coolidge.

Cinematography Lionel Lindon

Original Music Johnny Mandel

Written by Nelson Gidding, Don M. Mankiewicz

Produced by Walter Wanger (for Joseph Mankiewicz)

Directed by Robert Wise

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Robert Wise’s I Want to Live! from 1958 is a Can of Worms movie… start discussing its subject matter, and opinions immediately become a stumbling block. So I’ll...

Ryan Lambie Nov 14, 2016

As well as a great sci-fi thriller, Arrival is a film that offers a message of hope in a year of division and uncertainty, Ryan writes...

Nb: The following contains mild spoilers for Arrival.

It's no coincidence that the wave of science fiction films that emerged in the 1950s rode on a tide of post-war anxiety. The advent of the atom bomb, the Cold War, renewed fears of Communist incursion: these were just some of the fears that emerged as World War II shuddered to a close. And as the 40s tipped over into the 50s, those fears began to play out in movies: giant atomic monsters tore apart cities in the Us and Japan. Alien invaders arrived in their saucers, raining down great waves of death and destruction. Other invasions were more insidious: the aliens looked like us, lived among us, even controlled us from within.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a few days immersed in Netflix’s new original series, Stranger Things. As someone who grew up in the 1980s and ‘90s, the show proved a wonderful exercise in nostalgia; a delightful amalgam of the wide-eyed Spielbergian ingenuousness and nightmarescapes of Stephen King that so informed my youth. From the moment the opening credits began I was hooked and a large part of this had to do with the show’s opening theme music. Composed by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, members of the Austin-based electronic outfit Survive, the show’s theme immediately brings us into the curious world of Stranger Things. Analog synthesizer motifs creep in and out of the mix, pulsating ominously, intoning dread. A percussive heartbeat simmers underneath, propelling us forward into awaiting disaster and, paradoxically, backward to another time and place. When combined with the show’s titles—its...

Join us for some old-school 16mm Movie Madness! – It’s our monthly 16Mm Double Feature Night at The Way Out Club (2525 Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis)! Join Tom Stockman and Roger from “Roger’s Reels’ for a double feature of two complete films projected on 16mm film. The show is Tuesday July 5th and starts at 8pm. Admission is Free though we will be setting out a jar to take donations for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

“Klaatu barada nikto!”

First up is: The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

The sci-fi parable The Day The Earth Stood Still starring Oscar winner Patricia Neal tells the story of Klaatu, a visitor from another world (played by Michael Rennie) with his allmighty robot Gor who land unexpectedly at the White House to stop people from expanding the human violence beyond frontiers of the planet Earth. When he sees that he cannot...

Ryan Lambie Oct 19, 2017

Massive cost overruns, script rewrites and an angry Leonard Nimoy. Ryan charts the battle to make the original Star Trek movie...

After years in limbo, the rush to make a Star Trek movie suddely began in earnest on the 28th of March 1978. That day saw a lavish press conference arranged by Paramount president Michael Eisner, chairman Barry Diller and the entire cast of the original Star Trek series. Eisner announced to an assembled group of reporters that a film spin-off from the cult Trek TV show was finally going to be made. Its appropriately grand title - Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

See related Gunpowder: air date announced for Kit Harington's new show Game Of Thrones: the things Jon Snow does know 26 new TV shows to watch in 2017

The director, Eisner continued, would be Robert Wise - an industry veteran who was not only...

Ryan Lambie Oct 11, 2017

In the late 1970s, an aborted feature film would have given the Klingons a striking movie outing...

It's March 1977, and there's a very odd party going on at Paramount. The champagne's flowing, the glasses are clinking, but the atmosphere's far from celebratory.

See related Arrow season 6: UK air date announced Arrow season 6: Rick Gonzalez interview Arrow season 5 episode 23 review: Lian Yu

Writers Alan Scott and Chris Bryant, who for the past six months had been working on a Star Trek movie script, have decided to leave the project following numerous rewrites and conflicted ideas from producers.

Susan Sackett, who was Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry's personal assistant at the time, was one of several people at that party. "The occasion was one of celebration," Sackett wrote in the seventh issue of Starlog magazine, "yet touched with the sadness of saying 'au revoir' to old friends.

Two obscure Robert Wise titles reach Blu-ray release this month, both direct follow-ups to some of the auteur’s more iconic works. First up is 1962’s Two for the Seesaw, a romantic drama headlined by Robert Mitchum and Shirley MacLaine following the famed 1961 title West Side Story. But the decade prior would fine Wise unveiling one of his most stilted efforts, The Captive City (1952), a sort-of noir procedural which followed his sci-fi social commentary The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Providing John Forsythe with his first starring role (a performer who would find his most famous roles decades later on television, as Blake Carrington in “Dynasty,” and of course, the famous voice in “Charlie’s Angels”), it has to be one of the most unenthusiastic renderings of organized crime ever committed to celluloid. A scrappy journalist defies the mob ruled police force and a slick Mafia boss in a tired...

Robert Wise's taut noir suspenser about the Mafia takeover of a small city is like an underworld Invasion of the Body Snatchers. John Forsythe's newsman slowly realizes that gambling corruption has infiltrated the business district, city hall, and even his close associates; he's expected to become a crook too, or else. Great docudrama style aided by a special deep-focus lens; Estes Kefauver makes a personal appearance touting the crime-busting Washington committee that inspired the picture. The Captive City Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1952 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame / 91 min. Street Date January 5, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring John Forsythe, Joan Camden, Marjorie Crossland, Victor Sutherland, Ray Teal, Martin Milner, Geraldine Hall, Hal K. Dawson, Paul Brinegar, Estes Kefauver, Victor Romito. Cinematography Lee Garmes Film Editor Robert Swink Original Music Jerome Moross Written by Alvin M. Josephy Jr., Karl Kamb Produced by Theron Warth Directed by Robert Wise

Reviewed...

Read More: 9 Cult Films That Deserve a Television Prequel Series "Michael Rennie was ill / The day the Earth stood still / But he told us where we stand. / And Flash Gordon was there / In silver underwear, / Claude Rains was the Invisible Man. / Then something went wrong / For Fay Wray and King Kong, / They got caught in a celluloid jam. / Then at a deadly pace, / It came from Outer Space, / And this is how the message ran..." The opening lines to "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" reference American low-budget productions in the horror-sci-fi genre that were made between the 1930s and 1950s. Michael Rennie starred as an alien visitor in "The Day the Earth Stood Still;" Flash Gordon, who originated as a comic strip hero in the 1934, became a film franchise by the end of the decade; Claude Rains had a breakthrough performance as the titular Invisible Man in 1933 and Fay Wray portrayed the equally.

Let’s get the obvious question out of the way: why in the world is Criterion Cast posting a review of Star Trek: The Motion Picture? The film was released in the late Seventies, no new version has been recently issued on either Blu-ray or in a new theatrical run, and while it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility for this site to take a look at mainstream big budget productions aimed at the mass audience, it’s also pretty obvious that St:tmp isn’t the sort of movie that fits all that comfortably alongside the foreign, independent and alternative cinematic expressions that typically draw our critical attention.

The reason I’m posting this review here is that I agreed to participate in the 2015 White Elephant Blogathon, a project organized by Philip Tatler in which he solicits nominations from a couple dozen movie bloggers for offbeat films...

Article by Beth Kelly

Science fiction, by its very nature, seeks to innovate in storytelling. Restricted only by the boundaries of their imaginations and the limits inherent to their craft, filmmakers of this genre use complex cinematic effects and fantastical plotlines to create worlds outside time. These films are notable for their craftsmanship as well as their embedded social and political messages, which later serve as reflections of the time periods during which they were produced. For enthusiasts of film, culture, and recent American history, classic science fiction movies provide a window into the past while predicting the course of society’s future

1. Metropolis (1927)

At date of its release this was the most expensive silent film ever made. Unfortunately, in the time since its initial debut in Weimar Germany, nearly a quarter of the original film has been lost. Legendary German director Fritz Lang, a notorious control freak, used inventive...

Article by Beth Kelly

Science fiction, by its very nature, seeks to innovate in storytelling. Restricted only by the boundaries of their imaginations and the limits inherent to their craft, filmmakers of this genre use complex cinematic effects and fantastical plotlines to create worlds outside time. These films are notable for their craftsmanship as well as their embedded social and political messages, which later serve as reflections of the time periods during which they were produced. For enthusiasts of film, culture, and recent American history, classic science fiction movies provide a window into the past while predicting the course of society’s future

1. Metropolis (1927)

At date of its release this was the most expensive silent film ever made. Unfortunately, in the time since its initial debut in Weimar Germany, nearly a quarter of the original film has been lost. Legendary German director Fritz Lang, a notorious control freak, used inventive...

People latch on to certain filmmakers and hold them up to an incredibly high standard. Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock and many others are given the pedestal treatment. However, there are so many directors out there who never get their due diligence. For example, who talks about how great Victor Fleming isc Not many people, despite directing Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz... in the same year. One such filmmaker who I think has made some pretty fantastic films but is often overlooked in the film community is Robert Wise, who is the subject of a forty-five minute documentary you can watch below. The man started off as an editor, editing films like Citizen Kane and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Moving into the director's chair, he made films like The Day the Earth Stood Still, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Star Trek: The Motion Picture,...

We've been celebrating 100 years of director Robert Wise all week by looking at some of his lesser known efforts. Previously: Tim on "Curse of the Cat People", Nathaniel on "Somebody Up There...", David on "I Want To Live!", and Manuel on "Star!" -- now here's Jason wrapping it up with "Audrey Rose"

It says a lot about the breadth of Robert Wise's filmography that the team of writers that tackled his Centennial this week here at The Film Experience have had such a gigantic stage to play upon. I mean here I am an avowed musical-agnostic taking on the director of two of the biggest movie musicals of all time, and even with the tossing aside The Sound of Music and West Side Story (although strangely I did write that movie up at Tfe back in the day) I had multiple films which I could've tackled with glee. His...

Humankind’s collision with otherworldly life forms can make for unforgettable cinema.

This article will highlight the best of live-action human vs. alien films. The creatures may be from other planets or may be non-demonic entities from other dimensions.

Excluded from consideration were giant monster films as the diakaiju genre would make a great subject for separate articles.

Readers looking for “friendly alien” films such as The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), It Came from Outer Space (1953) and the comically overrated Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) are advised to keep watching the skies because they won’t find them here.

Film writing being the game of knowledge filtered through personal taste that it is, some readers’ subgenre favorites might not have made the list such as War of the Worlds (1953) and 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957).

Now let’s take a chronological look at the cinema’s best battles between Us and Them.

Robert Wise's 1951 film "The Day The Earth Stood Still" is notable for a few things, including being a stone cold sci-fi classic, and inspiring a pretty lame remake. But what you might have forgotten is that it boasts an early score from composing legend Bernard Hermann (probably best known for his frequent work for Alfred Hitchcock including "Vertigo"), one that to this day is pretty terrifically eerie. And part of that secret to the success is down to one instrument: the theremin. The power of the interwebs has unearthed a six minute studio recording session focused solely on the aforementioned instrument. Dr. Samuel Hoffman and Paul Shure played the two electric theremins used on the soundtrack (it's not clear) who was playing here, with the rest of the music rounded out by organs, vibraphones, glockenspiels, pianos, harps, trumpets, trombones, tubas and various percussion instruments. But it's the theremin that...

Hollywood has introduced us to a ton of awesome robots over the years. Robots have always been extremely cool, and they've sparked the imagination of what is possible. The robots we've seen in the movies have inspired technology and science. There are engineers out there who have created robots of their own and are constantly trying to perfect them. One day those robots will take over the world and destroy us all.

We all have our favorite robots, and I thought I'd come up with a top 10 list of my personal favorites. Note: Cyborgs like RoboCop don't count as robots on this list.

If you'd like to share your own favorites, please feel free to post them in the comments section below!

Iron Giant - The Iron Giant

The Iron Giant is by far my favorite robot. He's the one I would have loved to play with as a kid.

David McCallum with event host Bruce Crawford. (Photo: Steve Gray)

By Jon Heitland

On any list of the best films based on World War II, The Great Escape, directed by John Sturges and based on the novel by Paul Brickhill, will always rank near the top. The compelling story of a group of British and American prisoners of war and how they outwitted their Nazi captors observes its 50th anniversary this year, and actor David McCallum, who plays Ashley-Pitt in the film, travelled to Omaha, Nebraska on November 9, 2013, to help celebrate the classic film. Proceeds went to the Nebraska Kidney Foundation, which was why McCallum took time from his busy television schedule to make an appearance. The evening event centered around a showing of the film at the large, concert-style theater at the prestigious Joslyn Museum, to an enthusiastic, full house crowd of 1000.

The Great Escape 50 year retrospective was another...

This kaleidoscopic compilation of soundtracks by Bernard Herrmann scored for film, television and radio presents a feature-length overview of this incredibly unique composer's wide-ranging and distinctive style. Working with directors such as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese, during a career that spanned over forty years, Herrmann created scores of such innovative and emotional magnitude that notions of sound and music in cinema have never been the same. The breadth and scope of Herrmann's ingenious composing, arranging and orchestrating talent is on full display here, from the use of the theremin in The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951), to the all-string "black & white" sound for Psycho (1960), and the whistled main title of The Twisted Nerve (1968). Despite a well-charted, stormy history of personal and professional battles, Herrmann could work effortlessly in many musical idioms, seemingly without pause, whether it be within the Romanticism of Jane Eyre (1943) and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir...

Our daily countdown continues, with part 17 out of 30 in our list of the 300 Greatest Films Ever Made. These are numbers 140-131.

 

140) The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (1928) Carl Theodore French Silent

 

139) Walkabout (1971) Nicholas Roeg Australia

 

138) Dreams (1990) Akira Kurasawa Japan

 

137) Grave Of The Fireflies (1988) Isao Takahata Japan Animated

 

136) Letters From Iwo Jima (2006) Clint Eastwood USA

135) The Quiet Man (1952) John Ford USA

 

134) The Wolfman (1941) George Waggoner USA

 

133) The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) Robert Wise USA

 

132) The Man Who Shot Libery Valance (1962) John Ford USA

 

131) The Hustler (1961) Robert Rosen USA

Numbers 130-121 coming next...

film cultureClassicslist300...

"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939): Despite the title, a Los Angeles soundstage was the main setting -- but you wouldn't know it from watching -- of the Frank Capra-directed classic about a novice politician (James Stewart) who learns how some of the big boys play.

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951): Earthlings, if you want to ensure that the Lincoln Memorial remains intact, do not mess with alien visitor Klaatu (Michael Rennie) and his towering, death-ray-firing robot Gort.

"The Exorcist" (1973): Washington's Georgetown section gets big play in director William Friedkin's chilling version of William Peter Blatty's novel.

"All the President's Men" (1976): Shots of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman) racing through the nation's capital at all hours lend authenticity to the Oscar-winning docudrama of how the reporters broke the Watergate scandal.

"Broadcast News" (1987): A D.C. television newsroom is...

Okay, full disclosure time: I've been a fan of Claudio Simonetti and his musical projects ever since I experienced the opening minutes of Suspiria, which is also the first film by Dario Argento ever to flash before my stunned eyeballs. A couple of decades have passed since then, but I have yet to hear any music from Claudio and his various collaborators that I didn't enjoy – including scores to films I've long since forgotten, and a few I haven't even seen yet. Among the latter is the latest Argento epic to feature Simonetti's music: the much-talked-about Dracula 3D. This isn't the first time I've reviewed the score to an Argento film before seeing the film itself: I also had the unique pleasure of reviewing Simonetti's wonderfully bizarre gothic rock opera soundtrack to The Mother of Tears long before the film's international release. Sure, that movie caught unholy hell from a lot of outraged horror fans,...

James Aquilone Rob Leane May 7, 2017

We look at the nine actors who’ve graced Batman's cowl on the big screen, including Mr Ben Affleck…

Holy revolving door, Batman! The Caped Crusader has been portrayed by more actors than any other superhero in movie history – nine to be exact. Most have lasted for just one film, but with the release of The Dark Knight Rises, Christian Bale became the first man to have played Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego more than twice on the silver screen.

He didn’t have much competition – Michael Keaton was the only prior actor to reprise the role. Will Arnett's voice joined the club with Lego Batman Movie earlier this year, though. Ben Affleck could well throw all these records out, of course, given the sprawling DC Extended Universe plans now afoot and his vital involvement in them.

Here's the nine actor who've played Gotham's Dark Knight.

Thirty-six years ago today, on April 25th, 1976, filmmaker Carol Reed passed away. One of the greatest directors ever to come out of the U.K., Reed started out as an actor, but gained fame as a writer-director in the late 1930s and 1940s, thanks to films like "Night Train To Munich," and the outstanding "Odd Man Out" and "The Fallen Idol." Later, he'd also find success with films like "Trapeze," "Our Man In Havana," "The Agony and the Ecstasy" and "Oliver!," for which he won the Academy Award for Best Director, beating out Stanley Kubrick's "2001" and Gillo Pontecorvo's "The Battle of Algiers."

But Reed's undisputed masterpiece is "The Third Man," a 1949 film noir based on a screenplay by the great British writer Graham Greene. The film involves a writer of Westerns, Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), who comes to post-war Vienna after being promised a job by his childhood friend Harry Lime.

It’s that time of the year when stores give us offers we can’t refuse. From now til the end of November, you might be able to find good deals on all those DVD and Blu-ray movies and TV shows that were a little too pricey over the last year.

We’ve got a round up of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and everything in between deals.

Amazon:

The online retailer has different deals each day morning, afternoon and evening, plus all-day Gold Box Deals. Some of our favorites from…

Monday Nov. 21: The Cider House Rules Blu-ray $4.99 (8.30am – 12.30pm Pst), Burn Notice Season 3 $9.99 (12.30pm – 4.30pm Pst), Pulp Fiction Blu-ray $3.99, I Am Legend Blu-ray $4.99 (4.30pm – 8.30pm Pst)

Tuesday Nov. 22: Office Space Blu-ray $4.99 (8.30am – 12.30pm Pst), Weeds DVD season 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 $7.99 each (12.30pm – 4.30pm Pst)

Wednesday Nov. 23: Princess Bride Blu-ray $4.99 (8.30am – 12:30pm Pst), 300 Blu-ray $4.99 (12.30pm – 4.30pm Pst)

Thursday Nov. 24:...

As the title suggests Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same ( Clsass ) is a whimsical examination of the lesbian singles scene told with a science fiction angle. With that angle the film carries on in the tradition of Alien Nation and District 9 in using otherworldly settings and characters to comment on aspects of modern society. Like the classic alien visitor epic The Day The Earth Stood Still this film is in stark black and white and mainly takes place in an American metropolis. The film begins when Jane, a schulby twenty-something retail clerk, tells her therapist about an unusual encounter. Next we zip through the stars to a far distant planet and pick up a report from their version of CNN. Seems that the release of big emotions are causing some sort of hole in the planet’s ozone layer. To offset this, some of the inhabitants are being sent...

In response to the presently on-going Bernard Herrmann series at Film Forum in New York honoring the composer's centennial, presented here is a selection of short soundtrack music cues by the composer, with brief observations, and information regarding their availability on CD, LP or other formats.

1. “Snow Picture” from Citizen Kane (1941)

It’s amazing to think that Bernard Herrmann scored his first film for Orson Welles, and his last for Martin Scorsese, thirty five years later (he died in his sleep, the evening after finishing the recording sessions for Taxi Driver). This very short cue begins during the Thatcher Library scene, with the Inquirer reporter, Thompson (William Alland), pouring over an immense volume, as the film transitions from over-the-shoulder shot to close-up pan across Thatcher’s handwritten recollections, into a flashback punctuated by a sudden burst of light and music. This musical movement through memory is achieved in less than thirty seconds.