Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) Thanks to NASA’s Perseverance rover, we can now see just how close Mars resembles Zabriskie Point, the location shot for this film. Academy Award matte artist Albert Whitlock channeled NASA’S Sixties’ scientific understanding of spacecraft and the Red Planet, assisted by Albert Nozaki, from War of the Worlds, for the … More Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)
A Scanner Darkly (2006) Richard Linklater adapted Philip K. Dick’s novel using rotoscopic animation to enhance the eerie life in a dystopian world of police surveillance during a drug pandemic. Substance D, which causes bizarre hallucinations, has swept through the entire population. It has become increasingly difficult to differentiate between what is real and what … More A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Woman in the Moon (1929 silent) Fritz Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou framed this trip to the moon within the paranoia of high finance and espionage. Helius and eccentric Professor Mannfeldt have devised a rocket that should be able to reach and return from the dark side of the moon. Their designs and … More Woman in the Moon (1929 silent)
Flight of the Navigator (1986) Disney desecrated the original ending, according to cult fans, and that’s the complaint most people have about this movie, even those who love it for allowing them to climb aboard a spaceship and fly it wherever they want. David Freeman (Joey Cramer), a genial 12-year-old, gets to do just that. … More Flight of the Navigator (1986)
War of the Satellites (1958) In response to the Russian Sputnik, Roger Corman slapped together and directed this tale of an alien force that is determined to prevent nations from launching satellites into space. The aliens have the ability to take the shape of humans and to duplicate themselves. Despite the pasteboard set, with its … More War of the Satellites (1958)
Entropy is the Damoclean sword Over our heads. Whatever we build breaks down: Pyramid schemes snap like a bungee chord, As stock markets crash and plutocrats skip town. Complexity science scales the world’s body Whose genetic drift spins ten times faster Than IQ scores for any minority That rank or caste can engineer stronger. … More THE KEY TO EVERYTHING
Nightfall (1988) A hippie version of Isaac Asimov’s short story, this movie luxuriates in burnished landscapes that the celebrated Paolo Soleri incorporated into designs to achieve what he called “Arcology,” “architecture cohered with ecology.” When finally Roger Corman could raise the money, Paul Mayersberg agreed to write an adaptation, provided he would direct. In … More Nightfall (1988)
Repo Man (1984) “The life of a Repo Man is always intense,” Harry Dean Stanton [as Bud] tells Emilio Estevez [as Otto], and no more so than when repossessing a 1964 Chevrolet Malibu full of alien bodies from outer space. Alex Cox wrote and directed this punk satire of science fiction and teen … More Repo Man (1984)
Tobor the Great (1954) Opening with an atomic blast to remind audiences of the communist threat breaking out in the Korean War, Lee Scholem cranked out this kiddie flick that explores the psychic relationship between a boy [Billy Chapin as Gadge] and his robot. Robert Kinoshita, having been interred in a Japanese camp in … More Tobor the Great (1954)
Curse of the Faceless Man (1958) Edward L. Chan directs this drive-in B-Horror version of The Mummy, this time with a reawakened id of a gladiator who perished during the volcanic destruction of Pompeii while trying to save his aristocratic mistress. Now stone-encrusted, this creature seeks out the reincarnation of his lost love in an … More Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)
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