Waaaaa-aaaaaaahaaaaaa-aaaaahaaaay? (Part 1)

I saw this compilation of the 25 top sci-fi movies and TV show on the Entertainment Weekly website that listed some of the most memorable shows and movies of the sci-fi genre over the past 25 years. I was glad that some of my personal choices made it to the list -- The X-Files, Heroes, Back to the Future, Aliens (though Alien was better, but the cut-off year of the list was 1982), Terminator, Total Recall, Pebi's fave Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Battlestar Galactica (the "re-imagined" series), Star Trek: TNG (yay!),The Matrix, even the cartoon Futurama.

But what concerned me was the glaring omissions in the list. One probable cause may have been the decision to lump together movies and tv shows -- thus, the limited number of slots. So, for a wider scope of sci-fi material, I humbly offer you my additional best of the best. Some of these were actually featured in the EW website as a list of "glaring omissions" from the list. how nice naman of them...

Movies

1. The Fifth Element - who could forget this masterpiece of Luc Besson (who directed my other favorite movie -- Messenger: Joan of Arc)? Now this is science fiction with style -- with the costumes designed by the renowned Jean-Paul Gaultier. Memorable Moments: "Leloo Dallas...multi-pass!"; Chris Tucker playing an obnoxious, shrill-voiced, sexually-ambiguous character; Gary Oldman playing the villain, the lumba-lumba aliens who look like metallic penguins; the "cellular reconstruction" of Mila Jovovich which gave way to Mila Jovovich in nothing but body tape covering the "essential spots" hehehe; Bruce Willis going "out of his element" playing the character of Corbin Dallas with a mixture of tough-as-nails yet slightly "bangag" personality; finally -- the Diva Song. Astig!

2. Resident Evil - NO, i do NOT have a thing for Mila Jovovich! But this is one of the better movie adaptations of a video game and the best of the trilogy so far. Best moments: Mila Jovovich naked in the shower (why is she naked or scantily clad in almost every movie I've seen? not that I'm complaining...); her fight with the zombie dogs; the laser corridor which sliced and diced the SWAT team that entered it; the voice of the computer program; and the sewers filled with walking, flesh-eating zombies -- imagine MRT during rush hour, and everybody is dying to tear each other apart and feast on human flesh.

3. Minority Report - the actress playing the precognitive was great! Though personally I would have preferred the ending to be a bit darker...Tom Cruise forever in stasis...ha!

4. Dark City - a man begins to discover that he has powerful psychic powers...and the world that he thought he knew is not what is seems...Fave moment was when the lead character wanted to touch his wife from behind the glass panel of the detention area...and the glass just broke when he leaned over to embrace her (or was it kiss?). And the "men in black" who all look a bit like Nosferatu...especially the kid...weeeeeird!

5. Alien vs. Predator - no high-profile stars here so the focus was on the extraterrestrials. I have a nagging feeling that Predators are Rastafarians for some reason...Fave moment: the aerial-twist and backstab performed by the Predator which made me go "Yeah 'mon! niiiiice..."

6. Dune - I haven't seen the original movie which was released during the 80's (where Sting played one lead character - was he a Harkonnen?) haven't read the book by Frank Herbert...but the recent TV movie adaptation of the book caught my imagination as I saw an interesting subtext...how local customs, traditions, and myth can be co-opted to serve political ends. Reading Ileto's "pasyon and revolution" further convinced me that there is ample evidence to suggest that myths and folklore could spark a revolution in a society repressed by an oppressive regime. (grabe na relate pa sa phil history ang sci fi!) Fave stuff: the "weirding way"! and the voice-hypnosis thing that Muadib/Paul Atreides and his mother does.

7. Akira - now this is where I think EW had a bit of a bias for western-sci fi. Despite being an animated film, Akira marked a revolutionary approach in anime and the cyber-punk genre. Japanese anime could be approached and analyzed in varied levels -- you can go as superficial or as deeeep as you want. and Akira provides a sh+tload of stuff to deconstruct and analyze. Favorites: The killer stuffed toys backing off at the sight of blood, the shriveled toddlers with immense psionic powers; and the cool bikes those gangsters were riding.

8. Ghost in the Shell - Motoko Kusanagi...the name above every name hehehehe. Na-addict sa movie kag sequel, pati sa anime series na-addict man. Check out the name of this blog and go figure...favorites: scuba diving android, perfectly rendered san miguel bottles, the cloaking device and the chase scene; motoko versus the tank-robot

9. The Forgotten - Julianne Moore in a sci-fi thriller that delves deep into the resilience of human memory -- and a mother's connection with her child. Favorites: people getting sucked into the atmosphere after they've figured out some aspect of the "experiment"; Julianne Moore's line: "I have a son...you sonofabitch!"

10: Star Trek: First Contact - Alice Krige as the Borg Queen...yummy...

Any movie I missed? do check out the Entertainment Weekly list on their website and see if you agree with their listing...

Next time I'll be giving my own list of top sci-fi TV shows...next time lang ah...