Category Archives: science fiction

Entropy Is What It Used To Be: “Tenet” (2020)

       “TENET”   (2020)     Christopher Nolan’s time circuitous action drama “Tenet” has been elevated in critical evaluation due in no small part to a reliance on the assertion that the film’s labyrinthine plotting is frustrating to any comprehensive … Continue reading

Posted in espionage, Eurospy movies, Kenneth Branagh, Michael Caine, Movies, Mystery, science fiction | Tagged , | 2 Comments

…On Gossamer Wings: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, July 2021 Edition, Vol. 0G

…On Gossamer Wings: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, July 2021 Edition, Vol. 0G     With the current interest is privatized space travel capturing the popular imagination, and providing a welcome distraction and yet another promising one-way ticket out of … Continue reading

Posted in books, Drive-In Movies, George Pal, Movies, photography, science, science fiction, writing | 3 Comments

All Creatures Great and Small: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, March 2021 Edition, Vol. 46XXL

All Creatures Great and Small:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, March 2021 Edition, Vol. 46XXL      With the arrival of a theatrical film award season celebrating the achievements of a year completely invisible of theatrical entertainment, it has become … Continue reading

Posted in animation, Bert I. Gordon, books, Boston, Drive-In Movies, horror, kaiju, Movies, Pre-Code Movies, science fiction, silent movies, writing | 5 Comments

Getting Crabs: “Attack of the Crab Monsters” (1957)

       “Attack of the Crab Monsters”  (1957)     One of the immediate presumptions one can make when noting the presence of genre regular Russell Johnson in Roger Corman’s “Attack of the Crab Monsters” is that, as in … Continue reading

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Folly Du Jour: “Hand of Death” (1962)

        “Hand of Death”  (1962)      In “Hand of Death”  poor John Agar stars as his latest incarnation of an actor impersonating a career scientist whose altruism is perverted with exponentially monstrous results as he operates … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, John Agar, movie reviews, Movies, science, science fiction, writing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “Humanoids From the Deep” (1980)

  “Humanoids From the Deep” (1980)  If one were uncertain as to the gravity of the situation in the small fishing hamlet of Noyo, California one would need no further measurement than the overbearingly ominous music of James Horner which … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, movie reviews, Movies, music, Roger Corman, science fiction, women, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Curiouser and Curiouser: “The Curious Female” (1970)

         “The Curious Female”    (1970)     One might be sympathetic to the exploitation filmmaker who deems that gratuitous sex and nudity alone is insufficient to realize any but the most base of creative intentions and … Continue reading

Posted in erotica, Film Reviews, grindhouse, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, sex, Sex in Cinema, women | Tagged | 2 Comments

Cold as Ice: “The Frozen Dead” (1966)

                 “The Frozen Dead”  (1966)      If one were take Hollywood’s version of history at face value, Germany’s defeat in World War II had little to do with the strangulation of resources … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, women, World War II, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Mud: “X the Unknown” (1956)

          “X the Unknown”  (1956)      For those interested in genre filmmaking, it is important to remember that in monster movies the world seems to be populated by citizens paralyzed with fright so intense it … Continue reading

Posted in British films, Drive-In Movies, Hammer films, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, writing | Tagged | 1 Comment

By the Colouring Book: “Die, Monster, Die!” (1965)

            “Die, Monster, Die” (1965)     The literary reputation of H.P. Lovecraft receives a glancing body blow with “Die, Monster, Die!”, an extremely casual adaptation of his celebrated short story The Colour Out of Space; a film … Continue reading

Posted in books, Boris Karloff, Drive-In Movies, H.P. Lovecraft, horror, Movies, Roger Corman, science fiction, short stories, writing | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “Godzilla” (1998)

       The Americanized version of Toho’s “Gojira” franchise is about nothing if not large, gaudy set-pieces. There are dozens of scenes, each involving catastrophic property damage, noisy weaponry and variable special effects, all topped off with a dollop … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, Godzilla, kaiju, movie remakes, Movies, New York City, science fiction, writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Concession Stand Bites: “Slaughterhouse-Five” (1972)

“SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE” (1972) Starring Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, Valerie Perrine, Eugene Roche, Perry King, Kevin Conway. Directed by George Roy Hill. Written by Stephen Geller based on the novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. When the film of a seemingly unfilmable novel … Continue reading

Posted in books, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Romance, science fiction, World War II, writing | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Solo: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Jan. 2019 Edition, Vol. 1

Solo:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Jan. 2019 Edition, Vol. 1     The act of being alone comes in many forms in the cinema, from a voluntary solitude to an imposed seclusion, with the reaction to such isolation ranging … Continue reading

Posted in biography, books, British films, Bruce Dern, comedy, History, movie remakes, Movies, science fiction, silent movies, Steve McQueen, women | 4 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “Zeta One” (1969)

“Zeta One”  (1969) Presumably intended as a spoof of spoofs of the Eurospy film, “Zeta One” is little more than a succession of baffling, tedious scenes whose only connection is the desire to undrape the dozens of shapely actresses who … Continue reading

Posted in British films, Drive-In Movies, erotica, espionage, movie reviews, Movies, science fiction, sex, women | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Empty Space: “Space Thing” (1968)

       “Space Thing”  (1968)     The most meritoriously insignificant of films, surely among which Byron Mabe’s “Space Thing” may be unhesitatingly included, may often offer themselves up as the bearers of small life lessons concerning the creative … Continue reading

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All Spaced Out: Classic Film Photo Quiz, Nov. 2018 Edition, Vol.109876543210

    All Spaced Out:  Classic Film Photo Quiz, Nov. 2018 Edition, Vol. 109876543210     With the idea of a Space Force looming within striking distance in the political ether (does this mean we can arm with ray guns … Continue reading

Posted in books, History, Movies, politics, science, science fiction, women, writing | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Shooting Blanks: “Inseminoid” (1981)

              “Inseminoid”  (1981)     With imitation being the shortest route to the creation of bad movies, it was only a matter of counting down the minutes before “Alien”, a prestige recycling of the … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, education, grindhouse, horror, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, writing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Stayin Cool: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Special 4th of July 2018 Edition, Vol. 1776

Cool and Refreshing:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, Special 4th of July 2018 Edition, Vol. 1776 With the current East Coast heatwave setting record temperatures exceeding those of the last time we had a warm day (it’s not really global … Continue reading

Posted in animation, biography, books, British films, comedy, holidays, Movies, photography, Romance, science fiction, women, writing | 8 Comments

Stairway to Heaven (Or At Least To The Mezzanine): Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, June 2018 Edition, Vol. 384

Stairway to Heaven (Or At Least To The Mezzanine):  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, June 2018 Edition, Vol. 384     Life has its ups and downs and so do staircases. If you’re looking for a philosophical musing that’s deeper, … Continue reading

Posted in books, horror, Movies, Puzzles, science fiction, short stories, silent movies | 10 Comments

Revisit: ORWELL LITE: “ALPHAVILLE, UNE ETRANGE AVENTURE DE LEMMY CAUTION” (1965)

ALPHAVILLE, UNE ÉTRANGE AVENTURE DE LEMMY CAUTION                                   (1965) (Originally posted on May 21, 2013)      One of the interesting characteristics of many of the young men associated with La Nouvelle Vague was their affinity toward what in higher literary … Continue reading

Posted in books, film noir, French cinema, Movies, Mystery, Paris, science fiction, writing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Revisit: A Report On the Desert and Its Guests: “Tarantula” (1955)

          “Tarantula”  (1955) (Originally posted on Dec. 24, 2011)   The film opens intriguingly with a mutated figure painfully wandering the desert until fatally collapsing; buzzards ominously circling overhead. Already before the opening credits, director Jack … Continue reading

Posted in clint eastwood, Drive-In Movies, Jack Arnold films, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Romance, science fiction, writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Revisit: Where Dreams Go Bad: “Westworld” (1973)

              “Westworld”  (1973) (Originally posted on Nov. 11, 2011)     Novelist Michael Crichton’s directorial debut “Westworld” encompasses his usual cautionary scientific doomsday scenario while satirically taking aim at America’s love affair with diversion; whether through theme park escapism … Continue reading

Posted in movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, westerns, women, writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Visitors: “It Came From Outer Space” (1953)

           “It Came From Outer Space”  (1953)     A meteor that could easily be mistaken for a Christmas ornament crashes into the Arizona desert  and mysterious galactic visitors descend upon an altogether peaceful Southwestern hamlet … Continue reading

Posted in 1950's movies, 3-D MOVIES, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Future Shock: “The Hellstrom Chronicle” (1971)

        “The Hellstrom Chronicle”  (1971)      One of the most recognizable characteristics of the 1950’s science fiction film is that peculiar concession to the presentation of an academic nature profile in the midst of an atomic … Continue reading

Posted in Documentaries, education, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science, science fiction, writing | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “A Sound of Thunder” (2005)

           “A Sound of Thunder”  (2005)      Based upon the Ray Bradbury short story of the same name, “A Sound of Thunder” is that rare science fiction film which ambitiously expands upon its source material, … Continue reading

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Delirium Tremors: “The Vampire” (1957)

      “The Vampire”  (1957)      A traditionally supernatural  creature meets modern science in “The Vampire”, a by-the-numbers monster movie which can more comfortably (though it doesn’t elevate the quality of the production) viewed as a drug addiction … Continue reading

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Blind Date: “Four Sided Triangle” (1953)

                 “Four Sided Triangle”   (1953) Commonly, science fiction films unwisely minimize (or altogether eliminate) the human element in favor of exploiting the more fantastic elements of the story, the greatest commonality of creative … Continue reading

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Night Visitors: “Invasion of the Saucer Men” (1957)

                   “Invasion of the Saucer Men”  (1957)      A flying saucer lands in a deserted field and wreaks havoc in the lives of an alcoholic drifter, a pair of teen lovers … Continue reading

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A Case for Cautionary Galoshes: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz; Sept. 2017 Edition; Vol. 40

A Case for Cautionary Galoshes: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz; Sept. 2017 Edition; Vol. 40     Occasionally life mirrors popular art (like when the invented adventures of one Baron Munchausen have recently been updated in a “nonfiction” version entitled What … Continue reading

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The Girl With Something Extra: “Lucy” (2014)

   “Lucy”  (2014)      Sometimes you get the opinion that certain directors watch far too many films and that they just cannot restrain themselves from emulating what it is that has already excited them on the screen. If one is in … Continue reading

Posted in crime, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science, science fiction, writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Bugged: “The Andromeda Strain” (1971)

        “THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN”   (1971) CONDITION RED: THE FOLLOWING TEXT CONTAINS SPOILERS STOP EXERCISE CAUTION BEFORE PROCEEDING FURTHER STOP      The evolutionary characteristics that would come to define the post-atomic bomb SF genre emerged, not … Continue reading

Posted in acting, books, Film Reviews, germ warfare, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science, science fiction, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

No More Undocumented Aliens!: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, August 2016 Edition, Vol. 30, 000, 000

No More Undocumented Aliens!: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, August 2016 Edition, Vol. 30,000,000     If we have learned anything from this election season, it is that it has never been more imperative that the sanctity of national borders … Continue reading

Posted in books, fantasy, Film, Hammer films, horror films, humor, movie reviews, Movies, politics, Reviews, Romance, science fiction, women, writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Hit and Run: “Death Race 2000” (1975)

           “Death Race 2000”   (1975)          One of the problems with films that take place in the imminent future is that they tend to appear flat-footed when envisioning the vicissitudes of the … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, Film Reviews, fRANKENSTEIN, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, Roger Corman, science fiction, sports, writing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Garters, Glitter and Gauze: “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (1975)

     “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”  (1975)     Frank N. Stein:  There’s no crime in giving yourself over to pleasure.     Audience Response (Boston):  There is in Massachusetts.     Long a staple of the disappearing urban … Continue reading

Posted in comedy, Culture, Film, Film Reviews, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Musicals, Reviews, science fiction, sex, theater, writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Chandler’s Trailers: “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” (1979)

      The great surprise of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” is the complete lack of control  which veteran director Robert Wise seems to hold over the entire enterprise. Wise’s prior contributions to the SF genre, the groundbreaking 1951 “The Day … Continue reading

Posted in Film Reviews, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, Star Trek, Television, writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Zzzzzzz: CLASSIC FILM PHOTO QUIZ, JUNE 2015 EDITION, VOL. 987654321

Zzzzzzz:  Classic Film Photo Quiz, June 2015 Edition, Vol. 987654321      Another month has come and gone and that can only mean one thing (well, actually it could mean several things, but time is short, though not as short … Continue reading

Posted in art house cinema, comedy, erotica, fantasy, Film, horror, humor, Movies, photography, Puzzles, Romance, science fiction, women | Leave a comment

Shrinkage: “Fantastic Voyage” (1966)

          “Fantastic Voyage”      (1966)      Has anything given science fiction a worse reputation than the movies? Beyond the obvious necessity of conceiving original ideas to stimulate a movie audience (speaking in general non-genre … Continue reading

Posted in Cold War, espionage, Film, Film Reviews, movie reviews, Movies, Raquel Welch, Reviews, science, science fiction, writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Eyes Have It: Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, April 2015 Edition, Vol. 20/20

The EYES Have It:  Classic Film Images Photo Quiz, April 2015 Edition, Vol. 20/20      Being that film is a visual medium, this latest edition of America’s Favorite Internet Diversion That Is Porn-Free Yet Still Causes Participatory Social Embarrassment, … Continue reading

Posted in cinema, Film, Film Reviews, grindhouse, horror, Movies, Puzzles, Reviews, science fiction, women | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Human Animal: “Planet of the Apes” (1968)

      If by its general definition which includes an elemental nihilism in both its thematic genetics and within the limited but evident visual aesthetic, film noir is certainly the most  formally pessimistic of the film genres. However, with the … Continue reading

Posted in books, Charlton Heston, Film, Film Reviews, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, writing | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Empty Space: “The Black Hole” (1979)

     If a science fiction film openly aspires to penetrate the vast mysteries of the unknown, chances are pretty good that it will fail if the ingredients in such an attempt are comprised of such a level of creative … Continue reading

Posted in Disney, Film, Film Reviews, movie reviews, Movies, religion, Reviews, science fiction, writing | 1 Comment

Chandler’s Trailers: “Godzilla” (2014)

      There is a harrowing moment very early on in Gareth Edwards’ busy but empty Americanized version of Toho perennial “Godzilla” in which the horror of a critical failure in a nuclear facility is made heartbreakingly personal when the wife … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, Film, Film Reviews, Godzilla, kaiju, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Lest Old Acquaintances Be Forgot: Jan. 2015 Classic Film Images Quiz, Vol. 39

With the passing of another year, it’s time to stop and reflect on those whose ghostly reflections will forever remain fixed in the cinema firmament even as they have left our mortal acquaintance. The following twelve images feature but a … Continue reading

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“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”: DEC. 2014 CLASSIC MOVIE PHOTO QUIZ, VOL. 222

“BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE”: DEC. 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES PHOTO QUIZ, VOL. 222 Welcome to yet another edition of the international Interweb’s favorite bored game, the CSR monthly CLASSIC FILM IMAGES PHOTO QUIZ, brought to you- as always  -by those … Continue reading

Posted in books, Cold War, comedy, Film, horror, John Wayne, Movies, science fiction, silent movies, war movies, women | 1 Comment

OCTOBER 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, Vol. 13

BUMP IN THE NIGHT EDITION: OCTOBER 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, VOL. 13     As the days are getting shorter (or, at least, that’s the rumor, though with it getting dark earlier it’s too hard to see if this is … Continue reading

Posted in Drive-In Movies, Film, Film Reviews, ghosts, Hammer films, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Puzzles, Reviews, science fiction, vampires | 2 Comments

Chandler’s Trailers: “Logan’s Run” (1976)

      If Michael Anderson’s film of “Logan’s Run” is an admittedly reduced version of the source novel by William F. Nolan and  George Clayton Johnson, it is neither the bastardization of a deep work (Whose reputation has grown … Continue reading

Posted in books, Film Reviews, Jenny Agutter, Michael York, movie reviews, Movies, Peter Ustinov, Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Chandler’ Trailers: “Lost in Space” (1998)

    Nostalgia often bathes a rosy patina upon material, which by way of sentiment or initial exposure during a more innocent and impressionable age (i.e. we were too young to know any better), finds a contented foothold in the … Continue reading

Posted in 1990's movies, Film Reviews, Gary Oldman, movie reviews, Movies, parenting, Reviews, science fiction, Television, William Hurt | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

It’s Not the Size That Counts: “The Amazing Colossal Man” (1957) & “War of the Colossal Beast” (1958)

         “The Amazing Colossal Man”    (1957)     Throughout the 1950’s, atomic energy was responsible for all manner of species succumbing to cinema gigantism from ants to tarantulas, scorpions, grasshoppers and a fellow named Gojira, but it … Continue reading

Posted in 1950's movies, Bert I. Gordon, Drive-In Movies, Film Reviews, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, writing | Leave a comment

SEPTEMBER 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, Vol. 999

METAMORPHOSIS EDITION:  SEPT. 2014 CLASSIC FILM IMAGES QUIZ, Vol. 999 Greetings cinephiles, or Fellowship of Those With Far Too Much Free Time, and welcome to this month’s edition of America’s most persistent irritant not treatable with a topical ointment: the … Continue reading

Posted in comedy, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Mystery, religion, Reviews, science fiction, silent films, Woody Allen | 1 Comment

Chandler’s Trailers: “Warning Sign” (1985)

     Being a mixture of prior infectious germs on the loose scenarios from “The Satan Bug” to “The Andromeda Strain” to  George C. Scott’s virtually forgotten “Rage” (whose more intimate, low-key exploration of a public crisis is an approach … Continue reading

Posted in Film Reviews, germ warfare, horror, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science, science fiction | Tagged | 1 Comment

Chandler’s Trailers: “Pacific Rim” (2013)

     With “Pacific Rim” Guillermo del Toro makes another attempt at convincing the stubborn that his reputation as an important international director is a stature entirely unmerited. This blending of kaiju and mecha genres is nothing more than”Inframan” only … Continue reading

Posted in Film Reviews, Guillermo del Toro, kaiju, mecha, movie reviews, Movies, Reviews, science fiction, Uncategorized | 1 Comment