ARTICLES







Articles

Vicious Circle
Comic book author Mike Carey’s latest supernatural thriller featuring his wise-ass exorcist-for-hire hero Felix Castor will make for one heck of a horror movie in the Hellblazer mode . . .

Watchmen Q&A with actors Matthew Goode and Billy Cradup
Read this exclusive interview with the actors who play Dr. Manhattan and Ozymandias in the highly anticipated upcoming adaptation of the graphic novel by the author of V for Vendetta and the director of 300.

The graphic novels that inspired The Dark Knight movie
Definitely some of the best Batman books around . . .

Someone Make This Into A Movie: Gone by Michael Grant
It's Lord of the Flies meets X-Men!

Empress
Is Hollywood ready for a “darker” brand of fantasy such as Empress, the latest book by Aussie author Karen Miller?

The Andromeda Strain Remade
Fans of the original ‘Seventies movie will probably be irked by the new mini-series remake of The Andromeda Strain . . .

Exclusive Podcast Interview
Writer/director Kenneth Johnson discusses a movie remake of V amongst others. . .

Someone Make This Into a Movie Part VI - Wanted, by Mark Millar & J.G. Jones
The upcoming Wanted movie starring Angelina Jolie seems to have stripped the graphic novel of all its science fiction elements . . .

V: The Second Generation
The highly anticipated sequel to the popular miniseries V about aliens invading Earth masquerading as humanity's friends . . .

Battlestar Galactica - The War on Terror, In Space
Is the new Battlestar Galactica series a thinly-veiled comment on the invasion of Iraq? U.K.-based writer Nick Goundrey thinks so . . .

Post-Apocalypse Toasties
With the DVD release of I Am Legend with Will Smith as the only survivor of the Apocalypse, we look at some of our favorite post-apocalyptic stuff . . .  

I Am Legend - Book review
One wonders why Warners even bothered acquiring the rights to Matheson’s novel.

Superman vs. Hollywood: How Fiendish Producers, Devious Directors, and Warring Writers Grounded an American Icon by Jake Rossen
"Christopher Reeve
wasn’t the nicest of people until he got hurt. And when he got hurt, he became a nice person . . ."

From Page to Screen: The Ruins by Scott Smith
One can easily picture novelist Scott Smith thinking “I’m going to build myself a swimming pool when I sell this baby to Hollywood” when he sat down at his word processor to churn out The Ruins. . .

UFO Hunters
We couldn't help but laugh out loud at the newest History Channel TV show . . .

The Road – and stuff Pulitzer Prize winners get away with . . .
If you were to spell “can’t” as “cant” in a school essay you will get a D minus. But when Cormac McCarthy did it in The Road, they gave him a Pulitzer. . .

The 2007 Women of Sci-Fi Calendar Exclusive
Yikes! No Ripley . . . Believe It or Not! (But we do get Erica Durance . . .)

Somebody Make This Into a Movie Part V - Hooked: A Thriller About Love And Other Addictions by Matt Richtel
This noir-like book ought to make for a passable Michael Crichton-style thriller.

Somebody Make This Into a Movie Part IV - The Dark River: Book Two of the Fourth Realm (Fourth Realm Trilogy) by John Twelve Hawks
Here is the next National Treasure or Lara Croft wannabe franchise . . .

Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed
Relax, they're just movies! one wants to tell the excitable interviewees in the upcoming History Channel documentary . . .

Somebody Make This Into a Movie Part III - Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey by Chuck Palahniuk
We look at the new book by the Fight Club author . . .

Superman II Redux - The Richard Donner Cut
"Anyone from Robert Redford and Paul Newman to Elton John were considered for the role of Superman . . ." (Part one of three - part two to be published next week. Click here to receive our free weekly e-mail newsletter to be notified when it is published).

Somebody Make This Into a Movie Part II - The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
A “variation of themes” on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland novels if you like, this novel aimed at 9 to 10-year-olds purports to tell the “real story” behind Carroll’s beloved novels . . .

Somebody Make This Into A Movie Part I - It’s Superman By Tom De Haven
Perhaps the makers of Superman Returns should rather have filmed author Tom De Haven’s novel It’s Superman, a clever re-invention of the Superman mythos . . .

Metaphysics on a Shoestring
Despite being infamously cheap producer/director Roger Corman also made some dreadfully bad movies; something you wouldn’t guess from reading this book . . .

The Next Lord of the Rings?
So far comparisons between the upcoming Chronicles of Narnia movie and Lord of the Rings have been unavoidable . . .

Dark Commandos
An “Internet-only” movie which means that it is (a) cheap, (b) has no well-known stars, (c) poor special effects and (d) is curiously watchable. 

Best SF/Fantasy Movie of 2004?
And the winner is . . .

Cyrus vs. the Alien Mutant (From Outer Space)
Read about and download this weird short movie featuring aliens and pro-wrestlers (we kid you not!) . . .

The Most Overrated Movie Of 2003 | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Part Seven
Sheesh, as if we weren't getting enough hate e-mail as it is, we've gone and awarded Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as the most overrated flick of last year. Read our first in a series of articles on why we think so . . .

Finally, Star Wars on DVD (Not Really . . .) - Part One | Part Two
So George Lucas finally bit the bullet and decided to release the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD. That's fantastic, no? I mean, finally, after years of waiting, we can finally have digital, pristine, unfading copies of the original three movies that captured our hearts over twenty years ago. Everything is peachy and birds are singing and the world just became a better place, right? Hell, no . . .

George Lucas - A Biography Part One | Part Two
If John Baxter ever wrote your biography then you’d be spared all sorts of lurid “revelations”, but you’ll have to settle for some gossipy bits (such as “Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas had a falling out!”) and being a film-critic you won’t exactly be hearing anything like “Return of the Jedi rocks!” from Baxter’s mouth . . .

The Philosopher at the End of the Universe
A fun and easy-to-read book which explains several philosophic ideas and concepts by using science fiction blockbusters such as The Matrix, Total Recall and Blade Runner as examples . . .

John Carpenter On . . .
Some exclusive excerpts from a new book about cult movie director John Carpenter . . .

John Carpenter On . . . (Part Two)
More exclusive excerpts from a new book about director Carpenter . . .

Prince of Darkness - Part One
If you’re a fan of cult director John Carpenter’s work then you’ll definitely be interested in John Carpenter - Prince of Darkness by Gilles Boulenger. It is also however recommended to more casual genre fans and anyone interested in Hollywood.

Prince of Darkness - Part Two
In retrospect The Thing proved to be an artistic turning point for Carpenter. None of his later films would match its brilliance and his directing output grew patchier as the years passed by . . .

Prince of Darkness - Part Three
Cult director John Carpenter breaks several modern movie conventions and rules in his movies. There are, amongst others, a hero dying by the end of the movie, shockingly a child being killed for sport, violence against a dog and a hero who consciously plunges the entire world into anarchy out of spite . . .

Sci-Fi Movie Clichés
For example:
Aliens usually speak English and have the same colloquialisms . . .

Sci-Fi Movies We Do Not Want To See

Off-screen Sci-Fi
A list of some good sci-fi stuff I have recently read and watched.

Remaking Solaris - Why Bother?
Wired News calls Solaris the early 1970s movie recently remade and starring George Clooney "an obscure but treasured Russian film". Some on-line sci-fi science fiction fans are optimistic about the new version directed by Hollywood flavour of the month Steven Soderbergh. I am unfortunately not one of them. Remaking Solaris is something akin to heresy . . . 

Attack of the Hollywood Clones - Part One and Part Two
I won't be taking the day off to see Star Wars: Episode Two - Attack of the Clones when it starts . . .  

Why a Planet of the Apes Remake?
Somehow the original Planet of the Apes movies were unique to the turbulent late 1960s/early 1970s and their relevance as a "hysterical parable on race relations" would be lost in a conservative era such as ours . . .

2000 A.D. - Sci-Fi's Annus Horriblis
There were several times this year that I considered giving up doing this web site - anything to avoid seeing utter dreck like Battlefield Earth and Mission to Mars!

Battlefield Earth: Ishtar of the Apes?
Bad movies are more fun to write about than good ones - which is why critics must be secretly thanking Warner Bros. and John Travolta for having made Battlefield Earth . . .

The Top Ten Sci-Fi Movies of the Decade (That Was The 1990s - Part Four)
The Best and Worst of 1999
That Was The 1990s - Part Three (1996-1998)
That Was The 1990s - Part Two (1995)
That Was The 1990s - Part One (1990-1994)

Alien - 20 Years Ago

More Cool Sci-Fi Movies You Might Have Missed

Second Thoughts on Episode One

Jar Jar Binks Must Die!
Get the low-down on accusations of racism being hurled at this computer-generated character from The Phantom Menace and what site visitors and critics have to say about it.

The Most Anticipated Event of the Year - The Backlash Against Episode One (Part One) and Part Two
(Special thanks to Matt for permission to use this article. This article originally appeared in www.cinematter.com.)

The First Preview Screenings of Star Wars - How Star Wars was first greeted upon its arrival back in 1977 by the very first people who got to see it . . .

Battlestar Galactica - 21 Years Old

Ten Lesser-Known Cyberpunk Movies

Future Imperfect - What had happened to us in the movies by now and what we can expect in the years to come . . .

The Best and the Worst of 1998 - 1998 hasn't been a very good year for big screen sci-fi.

The Highs and Lows of Celluloid Star Trek
A look at how well a franchise that spanned several decades, TV shows and a myriad of spin-offs translated unto the big screen . . .

Can You Believe It's Been . . .
Sci-fi movies that had their anniversaries in 1998.

Video Killed the B-Movie
Life is too short to waste on those straight-to-video sci-fi epics gathering dust on your local video shop's shelves.

David Webb Peoples - My Strange Career
He may have written brilliant stuff like Blade Runner and 12 Monkeys, but he also wrote crap like Leviathan and Project: Alien and the abysmal Soldier.

Planet of the Apes - 30 Years Ago

2001: A Space Odyssey - 30 Years On

The Best of Times (1980 - 1982)
The early-1980s were to give us some of the best science fiction movies ever

Cool Sci-Fi Movies You Might Have Missed

The Beginner's Guide to The X-Files

Weird Science - Scientific Errors In Sci-Fi Movies

The Longest Sci-Fi Flicks . . . Ever!

The X-Files Revealed?

The Nitpicker's Guide To Godzilla
You'll love this if you're the type who whine endlessly about plot holes and minor details in movies.

Movie Wish List for the Coming Millennium
If you're not happy with the sci-fi movies Hollywood are making, somebody once remarked, then go make your own.

Overdue Sci-Fi Movies
The Library of Congress recently added 25 or so movies to its list of movies for "highest priority when it comes to film preservation." There wasn't a single sci-fi movie amongst them!

Previews

28 Weeks Later 
10,000 B.C.

Aeon Flux 
Alien Vs. Predator
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem 

Batman Begins  
Beowulf (2007) 

Blade: Trinity
Bloodrayne  

Casshern 
Catwoman
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 
The Children of Men
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 
Cloverfield  
Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride

Day Watch 
Doom
Doomsday

Elektra
Eragon
The Eye 

Fantastic Four 
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer 
The Final Cut
The Fountain 

Ghost Rider  
The Golden Compass 

Hancock
The Happening

I Am Legend 
The Incredible Hulk

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale 
Iron Man

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 

Immortel (ad vitam) 
The Incredibles
The Invasion (aka The Visiting)
The Island
 
I, Robot

The Jacket
Jumper

King Kong

Lady in the Water 
Land of the Dead
The Last Mimzy 

Meet the Robinsons
Stephen King's The Mist
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium 

Next 
Night Watch 

The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Resident Evil - Apocalypse
Resident Evil 3: Extinction 
Robots 
The Ruins 

A Scanner Darkly 
Serenity
The Signal
Silent Hill  
Sky Blue
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Slither 
A Sound of Thunder
Speed Racer
Stardust  
Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 
Southland Tales 
Spider-man 2
Spider-man 3 
The Spiderwick Chronicles

Steamboy 
Sunshine 
Superman Returns 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 
Thunderbirds
Transformers 

V for Vendetta 

Ultraviolet 

Wall-E
Wanted
War of the Worlds
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep 
White Noise

X-Men 3 

 

Extended Reviews

Star Trek - The Undiscovered Country (July 2000)
The Rocketeer (June 2000)
The Terminator (May 2000)
A Boy and His Dog (April 2000)
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (March 2000)
Fahrenheit 451
(February 2000)
Armageddon
(January 2000)

Strange Days (December 1999)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (November 1999)
Dune (October 1999)
The Thing & The Thing From Another World (September 1999)
Alien 3
(August 1999)
A Clockwork Orange (July 1999)
The Empire Strikes Back (June 1999)
Star Wars (May 1999)
Brazil (April 1999)
Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (March 1999)
Planet of the Apes (February 1999)
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (January 1999)

Superman - the Movie (December 1998)
The Road Warrior (November 1998)
The Postman (October 1998)
Starship Troopers (September 1998)
Dark City (August 1998)
Robocop 2 (July 1998)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Special Edition (June 1998)
King Kong (May 1998)
Star Trek - The Motion Picture (April 1998)
Battlestar Galactica (March 1998)
The Abyss (February 1998)
Mad Max (January 1998)

Independence Day (December 1997)
Aliens (November 1997)
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The Movie (October 1997)
2001: A Space Odyssey (September 1997)
Escape from L.A. (August 1997)
Blade Runner - The Director's Cut (July 1997)
V (June 1997)
Batman Returns (May 1997)
Jurassic Park (April 1997)
Return of the Jedi (March 1997)

 



Poll Results

Most Favourite Sci-Fi Movie Of All Times
Visitors' Favourite Star Wars Movie
Visitors' Best Sci-Fi Movie of 1997
Visitors' Worst Sci-Fi Movie of 1997
Lost In Space - Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?
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Godzilla - Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?
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