15 Years of Science Fiction (15-11)

Continuing...

15. Gravity (2013)

  

Seeing this in 3D in the theater was a marvel.  Beautiful images, haunting sounds (or lack thereof), a reminder of the beauty and peril of space flight.  Unfortunately the closer you look at it the more issues arise.  I still do not understand why they made her a doctor, why she would be working on the Hubble, and why someone else would have to explain to her medical things.  For the experience alone, I figured it was worth a top-15 choice.

14. Looper (2012)

 A brutal film, that bends the mind's idea of time travel.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is brilliant as a young Bruce Willis.  I was completely sucked in, even if the ending was a not quite what I expected.

13. The Road (2009)

I am a big fan of survival films and post-apocalyptic films.  This is one of the best of both worlds.  I love that there is no explanation needed for the apocalypse, it just happened and now this man and his son have to deal with it.  It does not hurt that one of my favorite actors has a cameo.

12. Predators (2010)

So maybe I have this a little high because I wanted for so long to see a good Predator movie in the theater.  This was a great attempt at rebuilding the franchise destroyed by the AVP movies.  I am hopefully that more sequels will come expanding on a truly interesting universe.

11. Snowpiercer (2014)

This movie is not for everyone.  It is difficult to watch at times, but that was what kept me in it.  Chris Evans shows here that he is a legitimate actor.  It is also one of those movies, like Memento, that not enough people have seen and those who have love it.  I would like to see more American directors take chances like foreign ones.

15 Years of Science Fiction (20-16)

20. Prometheus (2012)

  

I understand the hate for this film, because people were expecting Aliens and got Alien.  I never understood that, given the director of the film.  I found it to be compelling, and the sign of a good movie: I kept thinking about it for a long time.  It was a very good re-establishing of the franchise.  The only reason I do not have it higher is because of some of the issues with stupid characters.

19. Oblivion (2013)

  

I do not like Tom Cruise as a person at all.  As an actor, as this list will show, I find him to be one of the best action stars going who picks some great films.  Are there hints of Scientology in this movie?  Maybe.  But that does not take away how interesting the story is as a welcome departure from so many sequels and reboots.

18. Inception (2010)

  

Christopher Nolan is a good story teller, but he is far from the greatest as some people like to make him out to be.  This is a well-shot movie with a story that is overly complicated and not as smart as some people make it out to be. 

17. Serenity (2005)

Surprisingly low given how much I love the TV show?  Confession time: I saw the movie first.  I remember thinking: this is good, but I bet it would be better if I had seen the show.  I immediately bought the show, fell in love, and realized the movie still has some issues.  Overall it does capture the heart of the show, and for that deserves at least this placing if not higher.

16. Super 8 (2011)

 I am a big J.J. Abrams (non-Star Trek) fan.  This movie is just fun, and reminds me of so many good movies from my youth (E.T., Goonies, etc.).  I am also a big fan of hiding the monster until he needs to be seen, which will be evident later in the countdown.  A special recognition for some of the best acting from young actors I have ever seen, especially when they are acting like they are acting.

Last 15 Years of Science Fiction (Movies 25-21)

In honor of a good friend FINALLY watching the Star Wars movies.

Whether you have noticed or not, we are in a golden age of science fiction movies.  There is everything from ridiculous over-the-top action movies (Mad Max) to hard sci fi (Interstellar), and much of it is very good.  It has always been my favorite genre, mostly because you can do anything with it you want.  It is the most malleable genre, and authors and directors have long known this.  Since the 1950s they have been doing everything from making bold political statements (Planet of the Apes is a chastisement of racism) to social commentary (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) to just making a buck (take your pick).  This is still the case, of course, today.

This is the start of my picks for the top 25 science fiction movies of the past 15 years (so starting with 2001, sorry Pitch Black).  It does not include superhero movies, because I think of those as a completely separate genre.  It does not include a few others that people have labeled as science fiction, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Time Traveler's Wife, because I wanted to focus on "traditional" science fiction.  But certainly those types of movies prove the elasticity of the genre.  As all rankings and lists, it is a bit arbitrary since my opinion and list could very easily change tomorrow.  Feel free to agree or disagree with me.  Without further ado, #s 25-21:

25. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Slightly breaking my own rule that Star Wars is not science fiction to make a probably controversial pick.  I love Star Wars.  I like the prequels.  They are not great, but they are entertaining at parts.  Revenge of the Sith has some great lightsaber battles, and the Jedi cull is rather heartbreaking.  It is easily the best of the prequels, and not that far off the originals.

24. Jurassic World (2015)

Ok, so some of my love for this might be nostalgia.  The story has some problems if you look at it too closely.  None of the problems take away from the fact that it was an extremely fun movie, and we got to see dinosaurs wrecking havoc and fighting each other.  It was what I wanted it to be, and sometimes that is enough.

23. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

A very good revival of one of the classic science fiction series.  It was an intriguing idea to go back and look at how the apes start to reach ascendance.  I also think, if you want it to be, and can be a good cautionary tale about genetic research and what not.  But really, it's a bunch of monkeys running around, which is fine in my book.

22. Dredd (2012)

I like the Stallone Judge Dredd.  I've never read the comics.  I understand the most recent Dredd is more faithful.  I don't know, but I do know it was a gritty, in-your-face action movie with some great and weird visuals.  I loved that Karl Urban wanted to be authentic and did not care about showing his face, one of the biggest complaints with Stallone's version.

21. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

Good, better than its predecessor, but still cannot touch the original.  There are some major plot holes that ding it a little, though I'm always a fan of seeing monkeys with guns.  I am hopeful for the future of this series.

Who do you think you are, and what do you think you are doing?

I figured I should probably explain what I intend with this little blog.  I meant to post this earlier but my first week of second Pre-Theology was wicked busy.

Let me start with me.  I am an introvert, which does not mean what you think it means.  In fact probably the opposite.  I actually have a lot to say, because I think about things a lot.  I basically live in my head, constantly analyzing things around me, categorizing, researching.  Since I am an introvert, I rarely ever talk about these things, I just keep them to myself.  Or sometimes I write them down so I do not forget about them.  That's kind of what I think this will be.  All of my little musings I have in my head, but this time down on paper, or on the internet, or whatever, so I don't have to hold on to them.  And perhaps someone will find them interesting.

I also like to organize things, just not my room.  I have all kinds of lists of things, movies, baseball players, music, etc, that I have made to help myself organize my thoughts.  I guess this comes from having a mathematical, analytical brain.  Instead of just keeping these to myself, sometimes I might want to share them with others to see what they think.  And since I generally don't talk about them, again this might be a good vehicle.

Also, I am a writer.  Maybe not a good one, but still.  It's a gift and a curse.  I speak much more thoughtfully and, I think, more eloquently through the written word.  So, again, this.

What do I want to write about?  All kinds of things that interest me.  Or things that I observe.  Or things that happen to me.  What kinds of things interest me?  Some of the usual: sports, particularly baseball, movies, movie scores, other music, the Catholic faith, etc.  But perhaps you already know that since you probably know me a little if you are taking the time to read this.  But maybe some day I will just have a thought, say about traveling, or cooking, or something much less exciting like driving in Houston traffic.  Maybe I will write about that too.  We will see.

Who am I? I guess that goes back to the first point.  Let me end with me.  That way I am the first and last word, kind of like how Houston was the first and (almost) last word spoken on the moon.  Well right now I am a seminarian in the second year of Pre-Theology for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.  What that means is, at some point I received a Bachelor's in something but now I need two years of philosophy before I can study theology.  But maybe you already knew that.  What is my degree in?  History.  In fact I have a PhD in History.  The History of Technology, specifically focused on Spaceflight History.  And I taught for a few years.  But maybe you already knew that.  I went to Texas A&M University for my undergraduate years, so I am a die-hard Aggie.  But maybe you already knew that.  I was born in Houston, but we moved to Massachusetts for five years before moving back to College Station, Texas, during my freshman year of high school.  But maybe you already knew that.  I am also a sports nut.  Since I can remember I have loved baseball.  My mom loves to tell the story that I learned how to read by placing the sports page on the floor of the living room every morning and reading all the box scores.  This was before I went to kindergarten.  I used to like basketball, but grew out of that when I went to high school, was all of a sudden too short to play, and Hakeem Olajuwon was nearly done.  Then football became my second sport.  I started watching the Packers because my mom is from up there and I liked Brett Favre (the traitor).  Then the Texans came.  But I have slowly lost interest in football, coinciding with my newfound love of futbol.  I started watching soccer during the 2010 World Cup, then decided to follow an English Premier League club.  I had no idea who to follow, just not Manchester United.  After a few months, I decided on Everton for reasons I may get into in a future post.  Soccer is now by far my second favorite sport. 

If you already knew all of that about me, then stop stalking me.  It's kind of creepy.  I need some space.  But really, hopefully you will find something in my writing here that will be of interest.  Feel free to ask questions.  Feel free to propose topics.  Feel free to argue with me.  Just please do not do those things face to face.  I despise human interaction.

(I find it necessary to interject, in case my sarcasm did not come across, that I do not actually despise human interaction.  In fact in many ways I hate that computers and the internet are dehumanizing us so strongly and making it even more difficult to carry on conversations.  It took a lot for me to embrace the idea of a blog because it goes against some of my beliefs.  In short, this whole thing is an experiment, and may blow up in my face or deflate like a balloon.  Note to my note: yes I intentionally did not make a Tom Brady deflate joke because I think that whole thing is stupidly blown out of proportion.  Thanks ESPN.)

NP: Mission: Impossible - The Television Scores (3/5 stars)

Witnessing History

My first post is inspired by finally witnessing something that I have been waiting for all my life.  Mike Fiers pitched a gem of a no-hitter, the first in Minute Maid Park history, and I was there.  It was Catholic night at the old ballpark, so we seminarians were given free tickets.  Originally I was bummed because I would have rather gone tonight to see Craig Biggio's HOF plaque.  Now I'm ok with it.

It's funny how the whole thing kind of crept up on me.  Usually I am paying attention to those things, but he was a bit wild at the beginning and there were a fair share of baserunners by walks.  That and his pitch count was high.  Around the 5th inning I realized, there's a 0 in the hit column.  At that point Fiers was in a groove, but was up around 60-70 pitches.  By the 7th he was in the 80s and I figured no way they leave him in.  But, as A.J. Hinch said in the presser after the game, he was only getting stronger, and there was a 3-run lead, so why not?

In the 7th a few others started to notice, and I was afraid the collective realization would lead to a jinx (yes, I believe in those).  But he instead just started striking everybody out, including 5 in a row.  By the 8th the whole crowd was getting into it.  Booing ever ball called, cheering wildly for every strikeout.  I had to take a potty break, and for the first time in a long time made sure to do it while the Astros were up so I wouldn't miss him pitching. 

There are only two batted balls I remember worrying about.  One was a titanic foul ball to left by Justin Turner in the 6th.  The other was the very long fly out to right-center by Jimmy Rollins in the 9th.  For the next batter, Chase Utley, I was at the edge of my seat, quite literally.  When Turner came up with 2 outs in the 9th, I debated recording the at bat between jinxing it and recording history.  I decided with the latter.  I am glad I did, though it slightly muted my celebration.

Regardless, it is a baseball memory I will keep with me for a long time.  After all, it's not every day you get to witness history.