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It looks like we have a theme change in the works. Hard Sci-fi is the next theme. We could start on that this week or we could do one more from the 'Exceptionally Original' theme.
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Regardless we need to nominate some films to go into the new poll. I found this unsouced blurb describing what makes Hard Sci-fi hard.
Hard science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction that prioritizes scientific accuracy, technical plausibility, and rigorous adherence to established principles of physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, and other natural sciences, often featuring detailed explanations of speculative technologies and phenomena.
And I suppose the realism ultimately falls on a spectrum, and so everyone needs to make their own determinations. If you list it, I will add it. But there will be two one hard rules to keep find media easy.
If you aren't sure what movies are hard scifi, wing it. Just get as close as you can. Or you can look up some lists online, which do exist, and nominate the ones you think look interesting. Or maybe we'll have JC judge what is hard scifi or not. /s
The poll is always open for themes:
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In case we do another 'Exceptionally Original' night here is the poll:
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If we ever go back to a prior theme, we already have the polls ready to go.
EDIT: Dr. Strangelove (1964) (RT 98% in light of recent events)
Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982) (RT 94%)
Solaris (1972) (RT 92%)
Coherence (2013) (RT 89%)
Twelve Monkeys (1995) (RT 88%)
Paprika (2006) (RT 87%)
The Matrix (1999) (RT 83%)
Black Mirror, S2 E4 White Christmas (2011- ) (RT 83% - 90%)
Black Mirror, S4 E4 Hang the DJ (2011- ) (RT 83% - 87%)
Gattaca (1997) (RT 82%)
Serenity (2005) (RT 82%)
Europa Report (2013) (RT 81%)
Some good ones in there.
Hard sci-fi (some debatable):
From the current exceptionally original list:
From the cyberpunk list:
From the space list:
I didn't include titles I don't know about.
Also found these:
For my nomination I will be suggesting Andromeda Strain, since it is a true classic.
I like The Quiet Earth
Sounds peaceful.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9KQrOx5cz8
I can't urge folks enough to aim for higher rated movies.
Lower-ranked movies have more problems.
Hard sci-fi, in general and in short for plebs: no magic, no monsters, real physics.
Obviously exceptions apply. All movies have their own vibe to be subjectively experienced.
I'd say Alien and Aliens are great and pretty hard, but may fail by some measures with monsters and gravity in space. Plus, it's mostly atmosphere without too much technical. Still pretty hard and "realistic" - but more from good writing and circumstances (ie. truckers in space + army in space).
Arthur C. Clarke's third law says, Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. So maybe controversial ideas like time-travel may be an exception, especially if the rest of the movie is sufficiently hard.
I can't remember what movies we've seen. I've missed some nights.
To me one theme of hard-ish scifi is they get one fictional premise for reality and only one. The rest of it is seeing how that one premise would play out.
So, time travel, sure. But it can't have anything else.
Portal to another demention with different life, sure. But now the life has to be biologically plausible.
Something like Star Trek isn't hard scifi because it has ship gravity, teleportation, aliens. That's more than one thing.
That's a good metric. Though it is extremely limiting - so much fewer movies to chose from, which has its pros and cons.
Yes. For me it's about believability. Too much suspension of disbelief (necessary for animation, super heroes, etc.) makes it difficult to appreciate the more stupid movies get - with plot holes, poor acting, terrible writing, bad physics, continuity errors, logical fallacies, shitty cinematography, etc. - as they snap you out of the trance to be aware you're watching a thing instead of experiencing the thing.
Besides gravity in space with Alien, anti-gravity with Arrival, wormholes in Contact, and The Abyss - they all seem quite plausible as first contact stories.
It's also utopian melodramatic space opera, making up their own universe of inventions, physics, creatures, etc. - instead of occupying our reality.
That's why it's really a spectrum. There are even a few hard sci-fi's with zero fictional science. Someone could set something in the future and only adjust technology within what could easily be predicted, and it would be a sci-fi. That would be the hardest sci-fi
But the standard has to be relaxed from there because even Andromedia Strain, which is maybe the most cononical hard sci-fi, did have at least one scientific fiction in it. A lifeform that could change the cryistilization of matter to a lower energy state.
The least hard would be Marvel films where something can be pulled out of their ass every scene, or even per sentence of conversation.
But I have to admit, most of these films aren't hard scifi. They are just scifi. If I run the current list I'll have to rename the theme to just scifi because I can't label something that is just every scifi film we could come up with as hard scifi. There are relatively few hard scifi films in existance.
That's ok. We pushed in a direction for the target, and we'll just have to label the end product what it is. Nothing wrong with that.
If we want this to be truly hard scifi I'll have to make another thread with a poll, is it hard scifi, and not what movies you want to see, to filter down that aspect. Then run the poll again. What movies do you want to see?
That's what I've tried to do with my Bittersweet Seeds. None of the tech is "magic" - it's just the novel stuff could be made (with financial, political, supply chain, and manufacturing will power) but has never been done. I want to try to include rationals and backstories for as much of it as possible, without distracting - or at the very least make tech 25 years from now seem well-used.
With recent A.I., surveillance, and drone tech developments, many of my once far-out novel ideas are no longer and unique and surprising as they once might have been. This is not all bad though - as on the bright side, it means less exposition is necessary. Plus, I still have some bigger bolder novel ideas for the third act.
I can't speak for others, but perhaps it might be worth subjectively dividing the list into two: Sci-Fi + Hard-Sci-Fi. Folks can vote on them and we can see which flix gets more - plus maybe determine how they get chosen. Most points? One from each? Strictly hard or not? Alternate weeks? Rename the theme: Half-Hard-Sci-Fi?
At least these movies feature much less fantasy, magic, monsters, and bad physics than typical average sci-fi.
Really, the hardest of all hard science fiction has no fiction, just science (and maths) - and that opens up a whole other realm of movies.
Nomination:
The House of Rothschild (1934) Rumble link - Was apparently intended as pro-Rothschild propaganda that backfired and made them look bad. Reddit thread from 2015
For hard sci-fi, The Artifice Girl - Though debatable if true AI is "hard" sci-fi, it's a fairly grounded, low-budget movie that relies on writing and acting.
Hah hah! The movie backfired on the Jews!
The Artifice Girl (2022) 6.6/10
. A team of special agents discovers a revolutionary new computer program to bait and trap online predators. After teaming up with the program's troubled developer, they soon find that the AI is rapidly advancing beyond its original purpose.
Seems interesting. A writer-director can have a strong vision.
Have you seen it?
Will it be good to chat along with?
Oh yeah, I think it's pretty great. I love an efficient, intelligent low-budget movie. 6.6 seems unfair to me.
6.6 is usually considered pretty good.
I admit that I only skimmed the thread... some great mentions in there... I was very surprised that I didn't see a mention of John Carpenter's 'The Thing'.(maybe I missed it) Not too many hard sci-fi titles come to my mind before that one does IMO. Some of the best 1982 effects you are gonna see anywhere and a massive amount of tension.
Looks like two great flicks - well rated too.
Haven't seen the first. I have a source for limitless large cardboard sheets, plus I've got dozens and dozens and dozens of paint cans from the dump's chemical recycling - both free. For some time now, I've been thinking of building/sculpting/painting simple painted sets, like in this movie (as well as Dave Made a Maze and the creative directing work of Michel Gondry). (In Oakland I built a janky circus, with a stage, and painted a moon mural with holes where alien puppets would pop up - for a music video.)
Love the second. Pop musician Sting's wife saw some of his work, then they produced this, the first feature of then unknown Guy Ritchie. Rapid (especially then), original, raw, edgy, gritty, attitude, style, and sometimes confusing. We may want some subtitles for the cockney. Great ending!
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
The Ides Of March Eve (Sat. Mar. 14) we could have a special St. Patrick's triple-feature movie night.
I suspect Goat Folks will appreciate the political nature of these movies despite the lower scores that may be from unpleasant content and harsh tyrannical realities. These are IMO exceptional for their cutting politics in very well made cinema - but are not happy movies.
My reviews: https://Projex.Wiki/wiki/Recommended_Irish_movies
Do not confuse this short list with the huge List of Holocaust films.
I like this idea. But what if we cut it down to a double feature but patty day related?
Folks could start nominating Patty movies here.
We could even move it to March 17th.
I have no interest in watching Leprechaun, assuming it even takes place on St. Patrick's Day.
There are some St. Patricks movie lists on DuckDuckGo, (List of 100
St Patrick'sIrish movies on IMDb.), but most aren't even about nor on St. Patrick's Day - they're just Irish, like my recommendations.IMO, few seem remotely as appealing as those three, especially for our crowd.
There are some Irish (or Irish-adjacent) movies that I can recommend seeing, whether this month, next year, or whenever in your lifetime:
Celtic also, but in England:
Have not seen: