Best Sci-Fi Tournament - Round 1, Group A

[fernandito]

http://dustyreels.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/fountain_ver2.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5198Q19EYGL.jpg

http://www.radiotiw.de/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/children-of-men_cover.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c1/ThingPoster.jpg

https://snobbing.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/melancholia-poster.jpg

http://tommydmovies.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/existenz-dvd.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cf/Twelve_monkeysmp.jpg

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTY3NTY0MjEwNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTE3NDA1OA@@._ V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zRTGtprdVbs/T8escRRjcWI/AAAAAAAAAIo/1lcI7RBgwmU/s1600/serenity3.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/db/Despicable_Me_Poster.jpg

[fernandito]

NOTE

Please choose up to six films you feel should move on to the next round. Votes are public.

[fernandito]

Children of Men
The Thing
Melancholia
eXistenZ
Twelve Monkeys
Looper

[mae]

It has begun! Picking:

The Fountain
Children of Men
Melancholia
eXistenZ
Twelve Monkeys
Looper

[mae]

And here are the trailers:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAuxryJ6pv8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiNY3anKBa4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VT2apoX90o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7t-919Ec9U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHMy6abqq04

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXgOUa91GHg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiubGM25atM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6v3eOMrTIs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY3u7bB7dZk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tikthjwNUBw

[Ben Staad]

This is the moment I realized I have not watched enough sci-fi.

[divemaster]

I'm assuming we can pick UP TO six films but are not required to choose six, right?

[mae]

This is the moment I realized I have not watched enough sci-fi.

That's one of the reasons we do this, education!

[Heather19]

I'm assuming we can pick UP TO six films but are not required to choose six, right?

I think so, I only picked 4.
The Thing
eXistenZ
Twelve Monkeys
Serenity

[mae]

Everyone picked Twelve Monkeys so far!

[Merlin1958]

Those trailers really fuck up the loading time.

[fernandito]

I'm assuming we can pick UP TO six films but are not required to choose six, right?
Correct. Let me edit the first post.

[fernandito]

Twelve Monkeys looking to run away with this early! Such a damn good film.

[mae]

Twelve Monkeys looking to run away with this early! Such a damn good film.

And a sweet trailer. Probably haven't seen it since the '90s.

[Mattrick]

The Fountain (my nom)
Children of Men
The Thing
Twelve Monkies


Couldn't choose the others since I haven't seen them. Well, I've seen Existenz but remember hating when it came out (never revisited it). I've heard Serenity is great but...Joss Whedon. It's hard for me to watch something by someone who I've hated everything he's ever made until Cabin In The Woods (which he only wrote) which I was ready to hate because he wrote it but I've watched it 3 times now. Then I read a review for his Much Ado About Nothing he filmed in his house and it sounded worth watching and if I watch that and enjoy it, I'll bite and watch Serenity.

[T-Dogz_AK47]

More votes for Despicable Me!!!! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:


http://vimeo.com/29353528

[Mattrick]

I haven't seen Despicable Me. I see it as the Armageddon/Volcano to Megamind's Deep Impact/Dante's Peak

[mae]

It's a good and fun cartoon but hard to rank it among the best sci-fi films.

[pathoftheturtle]

This is the moment I realized I have not watched enough sci-fi.

That's one of the reasons we do this, education!

You could hold your vote to see if you find time to watch some more if you check the forum fairly often - I'm sure a last call will be announced early enough that you'd still get the chance to at least support what you know you like.

[mae]

I'm sure many movies are available on Netflix and such.

[mae]

Need more Melancholia votes! Utterly mind blowing.

[RUBE]

SERENITY NOW! SERENITY NOW!

[pathoftheturtle]

I'm sure many movies are available on Netflix and such.

Amazon instant watch can be handy for some people, too.

[Ben Staad]

I will try and catch a few more of these before voting ends. Netflix streaming via apple tv is the only option for...I can't stand watching movies on the computer.

[Iwritecode]

Looper

[frik]

I only saw The Thing and Twelve Monkeys.
Both are great movies and got my vote.
(Nominated The Thing...)

sk

[fernandito]

Looper
Saw that movie in theaters twice, then bought it on blu ray and have probably watched it about 5 times. Amazing film.

[T-Dogz_AK47]

More votes for Despicable Me!!!! :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a622/T-Dogz_AK47/despicable_me_zps376c9fb2.jpg

[Merlin1958]

Despicable me, is NOT a Sci-Fi movie. It's a kids animated feature. I can't believe it got more than just your vote.

[Still Servant]

Wow, this group is jam packed with some of my favorite films. My list in order:

1) Twelve Monkeys
2) Children of Men
3) The Thing
4) Looper
5) Serenity

I love Despicable Me, but I don't consider it Sci-fi, so I can't vote for it. I wish it the best of luck in the tournament.

Matt, I would suggest watching the series Firefly before watching Serenity. The movie is good, but doesn't truly capture the TV show in my opinion.

[pathoftheturtle]

Plotwise, Serenity continues on the foundation lain by Firefly. It probably is best to watch the full series first. (Luckily for one in that situation, it's not extremely long.) However, I don't think it is an absolute must to do it that way. They did a pretty good job making it accessible and appealing to a larger audience.

[Heather19]

I would also highly recommend watching Firefly if you haven't seen it yet Matt.

[mae]

How does Despicable Me have three votes already? :confused:

[webstar1000]

How does Despicable Me have three votes already? :confused:

LOL I thought the same thing!

[fernandito]

eXistenZ and The Fountain are currently tied at 6 for the final berth!

[pathoftheturtle]

Despicable Me would probably be one of the best I ever saw if I was like 11.

[Randall Flagg]

I chose only 4. 12 Monkeys is the best, but I thought eXistenZ was a very clever movie.

[T-Dogz_AK47]

More votes for Despicable Me!!!
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a622/T-Dogz_AK47/keep-calm-and-watch-despicable-me-1_zps81a59b87.png

[mae]

eXistenZ and The Fountain are currently tied at 6 for the final berth!

NEED MORE MELANCHOLIA.

[mae]

A tiebreaker between The Fountain and Melancholia would be fun! :excited:

[Mattrick]

More Aronofsky votes.

[mae]

Now four votes for Despicable Me and still only five for Melancholia. What in the fuck is going on?

[T-Dogz_AK47]

Now four votes for Despicable Me and still only five for Melancholia. What in the fuck is going on?

You're right, what the fuck is going on? It should be FORTY votes for Despicable Me!!!


More votes for Despicable Me!!!!
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[mae]

Why are you so adamantly championing that movie? What do you see in it that's so special that it deserves to be named one of the best sci-fi films ever made? Not being a dick, just wondering.

[Mattrick]

Especially when we know Wall-e is the best animated feature in this tournament.

[Odetta]

I would be more inclined to see Despicable Me as a comedy... Sorry but cannot vote for it here

[fernandito]

Especially when we know Wall-e is the best animated feature in this tournament.

Nope. Ghost in the Shell.

[Still Servant]

Especially when we know Wall-e is the best animated feature in this tournament.

Nope. Ghost in the Shell.

Did Akira make it into the tourney? I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard nothing but great things and it's at the top of many lists.

[fernandito]

Especially when we know Wall-e is the best animated feature in this tournament.

Nope. Ghost in the Shell.

Did Akira make it into the tourney? I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard nothing but great things and it's at the top of many lists.

You're goddamn right.jpeg

I nominated both Ghost and Akira. Watch them, watch them NAO.

[mae]

And Nausicaä - another animated film that's pretty mind-blowing. I also wanted to nominate A Scanner Darkly and Paprika and Renaissance, but there's only so many films you can fit into 160...

[fernandito]

I thought about A Scanner Darkly this morning and I too am sorry I didn't get a chance to nominate it.

[Mattrick]

Especially when we know Wall-e is the best animated feature in this tournament.

Nope. Ghost in the Shell.

Did Akira make it into the tourney? I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard nothing but great things and it's at the top of many lists.

I used to love Akira as a kid. Revisted it a few year back and couldn't even finish it. I couldn't get into Ghost in the Shell either. Just can't watch anime like I used to. It was the shittiness of Metropolis (same creator of Akira) that really soured me, I think.

A Scanner Darkly isn't really animated, they just digitally painted film.

[Still Servant]

And Nausicaä - another animated film that's pretty mind-blowing. I also wanted to nominate A Scanner Darkly and Paprika and Renaissance, but there's only so many films you can fit into 160...

Is Renaissance the Daniel Craig film? I didn't enjoy that one very much.

[Mattrick]

I think you're thinking of Defiance.

[Still Servant]

I think you're thinking of Defiance.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh7s32XRScQ

[Mattrick]

I thought you may have been confusing the similar names lol

[Still Servant]

Na, Renaissance isn't well known and both films are pretty mediocre.

[Mattrick]

Defiance had a bad ass sountrack....I haven't seen the movie but I listened to the soundtrack lol

[Iwritecode]

The problem with Despicable Me is the simple fact that since it’s animated, they can basically throw out the laws of reality and do a lot of the Looney Tunes type things like literally pulling a freeze ray out of nowhere.

At least a movie like Wall-E attempted to be a little more realistic.

[fernandito]

Na, Renaissance isn't well known and both films are pretty mediocre.

So should I not bother with it then?

[Still Servant]

Na, Renaissance isn't well known and both films are pretty mediocre.

So should I not bother with it then?

Not until you exhaust every other book, movie, graphic novel, TV show and video game that has been on your list for a while. Once you finish that, then you can give it a shot.

[DoctorDodge]

I will try and catch a few more of these before voting ends. Netflix streaming via apple tv is the only option for...I can't stand watching movies on the computer.

Same here really, I don't know why that is.

And this is definitely a reminder that I need to see 12 Monkeys.

[Mattrick]

12 Monkeys is another movie I've seen in the double digits since it was released. A lot of my childhood favourites in this tournament. I'm hoping The Arrival is in a weaker group, that's a unsung classic.

[mae]

And Melancholia keeps sliding back :cry:

[fernandito]

Yessssssss, glad to see The Thing beasting it! :D

[mae]

By the way, Renaissance is really cool.

[Ricky]

Voted for Melancholia and Looper. Sad to see that it doesn't look like Melancholia will make it (but it doesn't surprise me).

[mae]

This is a pretty good group but I still feel Melancholia should be in the top six. A beautiful and haunting film.

[Jean]

This is a pretty good group but I still feel Melancholia should be in the top six. A beautiful and haunting film.bears have voted for it. They never got to see the whole of it, but what they have seen is enough to know it's a worthy film.

[mae]

Woohoo! Just need one more now to tie for sixth!

[pathoftheturtle]

Sure, it is beautiful and haunting, provokes the heart and the mind, but, I don't know; just didn't seem like great science fiction.

[mae]

Well we are trying to decide the best film that's sci-fi so foremost we have to judge it on the filmic aspects (direction, acting, cinematography, score, script, etc) and not simply how science-fictiony it is. Melancholia has a rogue planet crashing into Earth, how is that not sci-fi!

[pathoftheturtle]

I'm just saying I don't feel it's a great in the category. I watched it the other day for the sake of this contest. It's just an impression of mine, to try to say why I didn't vote for it. I know that's vague, but please don't assume I've decided that it is just not science fiction or that I'd reject it out of hand as not science fictiony.

[Tommy]

eXistenZ needs more votes!

[Mattrick]

Seeing whose in Melancholia makes me want to see it a little more. I assume they needed Jack Bauer to stop that planet from hitting earth.

[Iwritecode]

Well we are trying to decide the best film that's sci-fi so foremost we have to judge it on the filmic aspects (direction, acting, cinematography, score, script, etc) and not simply how science-fictiony it is. Melancholia has a rogue planet crashing into Earth, how is that not sci-fi!

I’ve skipped voting for movies that I thought were pretty good simply because I didn’t believe they were sci-fi. I doubt I’m alone in that thinking either. It goes back to the argument of whether it’s actually a sci-fi movie or it’s a (insert genre) with some sci-fi elements. IMO, we have a few of the latter in this tourney.

I’ve seen about 5 mins of Melancholia. I happened to catch it in the middle while flipping channels. I’ve been meaning to check it out but just haven’t had the time.

[mae]

Well, as we've discussed in the long nominations thread, where do you draw the line exactly? When does a film have enough sci-fi elements to qualify as a full-fledged sci-fi film? There are a couple of movies that made it into the 160 titles that certainly stretch the meaning of science fiction, but I don't think none is really out of place by a significant margin.

[Mattrick]

There's only a few films that were nominated I really thought are out of place, Hugo being at the top of the list.

[mae]

Agreed, but let's not rehash that again and take this poll off-topic :)

[Iwritecode]

I don’t think there is really a cut-and-dry definition of what is and what isn’t. Everyone has their own perspective. I think mine might be a little narrower than some others.

Although at least one of the movies I was referring to hasn’t gotten many votes at all. So I don’t feel so bad.

[pathoftheturtle]

I believe a precise definition of science fiction is possible.
I don't know what that is right now.
I know I'm not comfortable for us with the commercial definition which includes all types of speculative movies and potentially even nodding acquaintances to the broadest genre, from documentary to pure plotless imaginative imagry, grouped just by what might be expected to sell to a particular audience base.
This thread of course is not for debating the whole theory, but I think it's fine for individual voters to continue using individual judgment about what should not have qualified and good for as many as will to think about our ultimate end. Really, picking a Best Science Fiction Movie is neither the same as picking the best film the label can be applied to nor the same as picking the film the label can be applied to best.
:orely:

[T-Dogz_AK47]

I believe a precise definition of science fiction is possible.
I don't know what that is right now.
I know I'm not comfortable with the commercial definition which includes all types of speculative movies and potentially even nodding acquaintances to the broadest genre, from documentary to pure plotless imaginative imagry grouped just by what will sell to a particular audience base.
This thread of course is not for debating the whole theory, but I think it's fine for individual voters to continue using individual judgment about what should not have qualified and good for as many as will to think about our ultimate end. Really, picking a Best Science Fiction Movie is neither the same as picking the best film the label can be applied to nor the same as picking a film the label can be applied to best.
:orely:

Eh??? That doesn't even make sense. :confused:

[pathoftheturtle]

I think if we found a great example of what science fiction is all about, that wouldn't be enough if it was only kind of good, and that finding a great movie that was only kind of sci-fi would also be a fail. It needs to be both iconic and artful. Is that clearer?

[mae]

This is closing tomorrow, can't we get a bit more Melancholia love?

[Mattrick]

If I had time to watch it first I would vote for it.

[mae]

If I had time to watch it first I would vote for it.

It's streaming on Netflix: http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70184165?trkid=13752289

[Ricky]

This is closing tomorrow, can't we get a bit more Melancholia love?

Just saw the votes and was going to say the same thing.

Just one more so it has a chance in a tie-breaker!

[Mattrick]

It's been in my queue for a few months but between watching my friends kids and leaving for my aunt's memorial tonight I have no time to watch it before the poll closes.

[pathoftheturtle]

Well, I liked it more than eXistenZ, so I would change my vote to give it a chance, but I'd rather just let The Fountain move on. That's a great movie, too.

[fernandito]

Group is closing today!

[mae]

Well, there goes Melancholia... :cry:

[fernandito]

The following nominees will advance to the next round

Children of Men
The Thing
Twelve Monkeys
Looper
Serenity


There will be a tie breaker for the sixth berth between
The Fountain
Omega Man

[Tommy]

Damn, eXistenZ was so close

[Iwritecode]

Damn, eXistenZ was so close

This was on last night. I caught it about a half-hour in. I watched for about 15 mins and it didn’t make any sense to me before I fell asleep.

It sounds interesting but it certainly looks like something I’d have to sit and watch from the beginning. Reading the Wiki entry about it, it sounds a little bit like the Matrix.