SF meme and more

[peck72]

This caught my attention and since I've just watched 'The Matrix' again it seemed kind of appropriate.

 

This is the Science Fiction Film Canon, 50 most influential (not necessarily best or worst) films as listed by John Scalzi in his Rough Guide to Science Fiction Films. As usual, bold those you've seen; italicize those you want to see and strike those you have no desire whatsoever to put before your retinas.

Modification: Put an asterisk after the ones you own on DVD, 2 asterisks for VHS

* The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
* Akira
* Alien**
* Aliens**
*Alphaville
* Back to the Future
* Blade Runner
* Brazil
* Bride of Frankenstein
* Brother From Another Planet
* A Clockwork Orange
* Close Encounters of the Third Kind
* Contact
*The Damned
*Destination Moon
* The Day The Earth Stood Still
*Delicatessen
* Escape From New York
* ET: The Extraterrestrial
*Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (serial) (Erm, not really sure about this one, as I’ve seen lots of Flash Gordon serials but couldn’t tell you which ones)
* The Fly (1985 version)
* Forbidden Planet
* Ghost in the Shell
* Gojira/Godzilla
* The Incredibles
* Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956 version)(Really enjoyed the 1978 version with Donald Sutherland too, that has possibly the best ending to any horror film I've ever seen)
* Jurassic Park**
* Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior
* The Matrix*
* Metropolis**
* On the Beach
* Planet of the Apes (1968 version)*
* Robocop **
* Sleeper
* Solaris (1972 version)
* Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
* Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope*,**
* Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back*,**
* The Stepford Wives (I'm guessing the list refer's to the original from 1975. I've seen both and the remake is really awful, I mean really, really awful. And I don't think I was influenced by the fact that I saw it on the plane as I was flying back from my honeymoon, but you never know)
* Superman
* Terminator 2: Judgement Day
* The Thing From Another World
* Things to Come
* Tron
* 12 Monkeys
* 28 Days Later
* 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
* 2001: A Space Odyssey
* La Voyage Dans la Lune
* War of the Worlds (1953 version)

Interesting to see how many of the (so-called) influential films I've seen and of them, how many I'd still lilke to own. but then I always was greedy ;>

On to home news, Anna and I are about to be offered the (red?) right hand of friendship at church as we have been accepted into membership.

Hmm, guess this means I'm about to become a Baptist! So far in my christian lilfe I've been non-denominational, with my church's being of an independant nature. Not that it really makes any difference but it feels a little . . . odd? Really not sure why though and it's definitly not in a bad way. I guess it's not something I'd ever really given a great deal of thought to.

Finished Neil Gaimans 'Anansi Boys' last night and have to say . . .
that it is a very good book. It definitly helped my mental image to know that Lenny Henry is doing the audio book version because that meant that Fat Charlie (the main character) now looks and sounds like Lenny when he was in his twenties, which ain't a bad thing for Fat Charlie.
It is a follow up of sorts to Neil's book 'American Gods', at least it is in the fact that it's looking at what gods do once people have forgotten about them or ascribed them to myth and legend rather than actually believing in them.
I liked the way stories worked within the book, but then that seems to be Neils stock in trade - telling stories about story telling. There are several older Anansi stories (or folktales) included within the narrative, not really asides or footnotes, but there to add a depth of history to this new Anansi story.
The only downside to it was that there seemed to be quite a contrivance in getting all the characters to the same place for the big finale. These include one character who only seems to have stuck around, long past when it would have been expected of her, just so she can do something in the finale that only she could (you may have to actually read the book for that last sentance to make any kind of sense, sorry).
Those criticism's aside, this is a very good, funny book and probably a pretty good introduction to Neil Gaimans work in general. It carries a lot of the theme's from his other work but without a lot of the 'darker' content of the 'Sandman' comics or some of the heaviness of 'American Gods'.

But that said, I'd advise practically anyone to read anything written by him anyway, because he is simply that good.

Now I've finished 'Anansi Boys' though, I really, really want to tell stories again. I just havn't had an original idea since about sometime in '97 and it was even longer ago that I sat down and told a group of kids a story (the best time I had doing that was telling watered down Sandman stories at a bible week in Scotland. Me and the kids had a blast). I am going to have to do something about this, I'm just not sure what? (Suggestions on a post card to . . .)

Comments

Membership

[graceunplugged.livejournal.com]

Is that like being a member of the red hand gang coz they were cool ;)