The second night of Toronto After Dark got its Bug Night under way in a huge way last night with the arachnophobe’s nightmare Big Ass Spider starring Greg Grunberg. Grunberg is Alex Mathis, an exterminator called in on his day off and into a delightful homage to the atomic creature features of the 1950s,…
Tag: aliens
Men In Black (1997) – Barry Sonnenfeld
The cult favorite comic book, created by Lowell Cunningham, hits the mainstream as a popcorn delight in this entry on the 101 Sci-Fi Movies list. Using the conspiracy of the MiB as a launching point, and incorporating all manner of UFO stories, rumors and possible sightings, Barry Sonnenfeld as director guides Will Smith and…
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) – James Cameron
The 101 Sci-Fi Movies, and the 101 Action Movies mesh with this title, appearing as a fin example of both genres. Cameron’s film picks up 13 years after the original classic, and finds a rebellious John Connor (Edward Furlong) living with his foster parents, while his toughened, but possibly psychotic mother, Sarah (Linda Hamilton)…
The Abyss (1989) – James Cameron
People will say Terminator 2 or Aliens, the romantics might go with Titanic, some people swear by Avatar, but for me, my favorite James Cameron film will always be The Abyss, and I’m so happy I got to revisit it for the 101 Sci-Fi Movies list. Featuring the largest underwater set ever built, in a…
Aliens (1986) – James Cameron
This time it’s war, as we return to the universe created in the original Ridley Scott sci-fi flick. James Cameron takes over as storyteller and director in this entry in the 101 Sci-Fi Movies list. Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is still in hyper-sleep, just as we left her at the end of the first film, but…
The Driver (1978) – Walter Hill
Long before Jason Statham was doing much the same thing in The Transporter, Walter Hill wrote and directed this action flick that is the next entry on the 101 Action Movies list. Ryan O’Neal plays The Driver and seems to be trying to do his best Steve McQueen, which isn’t surprising because apparently the film…
The Terminator (1984) – James Cameron
I do love a story that involves some temporal mechanics, and this one always pleases. Yes, T2 is arguably the better and stronger film, but you wouldn’t have T2 without this first film, which I was happy to revisit on the 101 Sci-Fi Movies list. Cameron did a lot of model work and visual effects for various science…
Repo Man (1984) – Alex Cox
Odd. Awesome. Punk. And oh-so-quotable. This entry on the 101 Sci-Fi Movies list was my first introduction to the punk when I was growing up. I remember watching this one with my friend Sean, his family always seemed to be more willing to rent the odd, kind of fringe movies that my parents would never…
V: The Original Miniseries – 30 Years And Counting
I’m a little late for this 30th anniversary post I wanted to write to partner with Tim’s piece celebrating the amazing and much-loved Kenneth Johnson series, V – but I figure it’s rather fitting, since I was a little late getting on board back when the miniseries originally aired, too. My father and brother…
V – 30 Years On
The Visitors arrived 30 years ago this week. Kenneth Johnson’s aliens who came to earth posing as our friends while hiding not only a horrible appearance but an equally terrifying agenda premiered with the original mini-series V. The sad thing is, I wasn’t allowed to stay up and watch all of it, and we certainly…
The Mind Reels 