Tuesday, July 15, 2014
PINK ELEPHANTS
The circus music has started to play
and here comes a sight that’s strange for the day.
Pink elephants march all straight in a line
and lift up their trunks to reach for your wine.
Just give them their sips before you must go
to brew some coffee to end this strange show.
2014 William P. Rigler
William P. Rigler's books are available at www.lulu.com/spotlight/wrigler
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Essential Sci-Fi Films
Sci-Fi is a genre that has been popular with filmmakers since the inception of the medium. Check out Georges Melies 1902 short silent film, A Trip to the Moon, as an example. Space travel, alien life forms, and futuristic predictions have long preoccupied the minds of filmmakers. The following list is what I consider the most influential sci-fi films ever made and must viewing for film fans...
METROPOLIS - Acclaimed director Fritz Lang's 1927 epic view of a futuristic society/environment boasts impressive effects (for the era) and unforgettable German expressionist images (for any era). Ingredients of the complex story include a disgruntled mad scientist and a female android that is a pawn for revolutionary ends. The android's initial appearence was reputedly an inspiration for the look of Star War's C3PO while its scene of creation was an influence on James Whales work in the original Frankenstein. This vision of the future must have been awesome to its original audience. Its theme of the need for the heart to mediate between the hands (workers) and head (society's leaders) still resonates.
THINGS TO COME – Based on a story by famed science fiction author H. G. Wells, this film was released in 1936 and the story starts at Christmas time 1940. It chronicles the occurrence of a great war, the struggle humanity undergoes to survive the aftermath and attempts to rebuild a society that can one day reach to travel to the moon. Raymond Massey stars in two roles and the film’s tone is quite somber throughout. There’s not a trace of camp or humor in this film, just a straight forward chronicle. But I have to say that the segment chronicling the walking death reminds me of a current popular TV series.
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - This collaboration from famed director Stanley Kubrick and visionary science fiction writer Authur C. Clarke is a cinematic hallmark. The movie meditates on humanity's evolution as well as its place is the cosmos. Its enigmatic approach to aliens and artificial life forms both baffled and entranced audiences. Visual effects reached new levels in this 1968 film and space became more majestic then ever before. Kubrick's approach of minmal acting and inclusion of classical music to enhance the journey into space is enthralling.
PLANET OF THE APES - Another 1968 science fiction film of great ambition that has remained popular is Planet of the Apes, based on a novel by Pierrre Boulle. The movie starred Charlton Heston as an astonaut who crash lands on a world run by apes. With Heston's experience at playing history's great characters, who better to face of for humanity against the apes? Plus screenwriter Rod Serling adds a shocking final scene that has become iconic in the annals of cinema. I'd consider this the best of the Ape films, however the initial four films that followed in the early 70's were pretty good. And filmmakers won't let the franchise goes. The original was remade by Tim Burton in 2001. New versions of the saga have since appeared, the latest of which mere days ago under the title Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
STAR WARS - While 2001 renewed interest in sci-fi as a mind expanding force and Planet of the Apes initiated the profitable bonanza of sci-fi film marketing, it was George Lucas' Star Wars that made the genre all the rage for sudio and viewers. With a simple plot of good against evil and colorful characters drawn from sturdy archetypes, Star Wars' appearence in 1977 was a sensation with audiences. Two sequels quickly followed with the same cast and characters. In the 90's a trilogy appeared focusing on earlier events.
FORGET THE ZOMBIE INVASION - WORRY ABOUT THE APES!
METROPOLIS - Acclaimed director Fritz Lang's 1927 epic view of a futuristic society/environment boasts impressive effects (for the era) and unforgettable German expressionist images (for any era). Ingredients of the complex story include a disgruntled mad scientist and a female android that is a pawn for revolutionary ends. The android's initial appearence was reputedly an inspiration for the look of Star War's C3PO while its scene of creation was an influence on James Whales work in the original Frankenstein. This vision of the future must have been awesome to its original audience. Its theme of the need for the heart to mediate between the hands (workers) and head (society's leaders) still resonates.
THINGS TO COME – Based on a story by famed science fiction author H. G. Wells, this film was released in 1936 and the story starts at Christmas time 1940. It chronicles the occurrence of a great war, the struggle humanity undergoes to survive the aftermath and attempts to rebuild a society that can one day reach to travel to the moon. Raymond Massey stars in two roles and the film’s tone is quite somber throughout. There’s not a trace of camp or humor in this film, just a straight forward chronicle. But I have to say that the segment chronicling the walking death reminds me of a current popular TV series.
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - This collaboration from famed director Stanley Kubrick and visionary science fiction writer Authur C. Clarke is a cinematic hallmark. The movie meditates on humanity's evolution as well as its place is the cosmos. Its enigmatic approach to aliens and artificial life forms both baffled and entranced audiences. Visual effects reached new levels in this 1968 film and space became more majestic then ever before. Kubrick's approach of minmal acting and inclusion of classical music to enhance the journey into space is enthralling.
PLANET OF THE APES - Another 1968 science fiction film of great ambition that has remained popular is Planet of the Apes, based on a novel by Pierrre Boulle. The movie starred Charlton Heston as an astonaut who crash lands on a world run by apes. With Heston's experience at playing history's great characters, who better to face of for humanity against the apes? Plus screenwriter Rod Serling adds a shocking final scene that has become iconic in the annals of cinema. I'd consider this the best of the Ape films, however the initial four films that followed in the early 70's were pretty good. And filmmakers won't let the franchise goes. The original was remade by Tim Burton in 2001. New versions of the saga have since appeared, the latest of which mere days ago under the title Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
STAR WARS - While 2001 renewed interest in sci-fi as a mind expanding force and Planet of the Apes initiated the profitable bonanza of sci-fi film marketing, it was George Lucas' Star Wars that made the genre all the rage for sudio and viewers. With a simple plot of good against evil and colorful characters drawn from sturdy archetypes, Star Wars' appearence in 1977 was a sensation with audiences. Two sequels quickly followed with the same cast and characters. In the 90's a trilogy appeared focusing on earlier events.
FORGET THE ZOMBIE INVASION - WORRY ABOUT THE APES!
Myself posed with prop rifle and uniform from original Apes film that is part of a friend's collection.
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