science fiction | the m0vie blog

403. Prometheus – All-ien 2024 (#—)

Posted on December 14, 2024 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Jess Dunne, this week with special guest Niall Glynn, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This week, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus.

Inspired by strange discoveries from around the globe, reclusive ageing billionaire Peter Weyland funds a journey into the deepest and darkest recesses of outspace. Led by Elizabeth Shaw, the Prometheus mission is intended to find not just new life, but also discover the origins of all life on Earth. However, when the scientific team arrive at their destination, they find something altogether more sinister waiting for them.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best or worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: aliens, belief, David, elizabeth shaw, faith, god, gods, Guy Pearce, imdb, jess dunne, Michael Fassbender, niall glynn, Noomi Rapace, peter weyalnd, podcast, Prometheus, religion, ridley scott, science fiction, The 250 | Leave a comment »

395. Predator 2 – All-ien 2024 (#—)

Posted on October 19, 2024 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Jess Dunne, this week with special guest Emmet Kirwan, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This time, Stephen Hopkins’ Predator 2.

In the distant future of 1997, Los Angeles descends into a gang war in the midst of an unprecedented heatwave. As local law enforcement tries to maintain some sense of order in the lawless city, an extraterrestrial visitor arrives on the scene with plans to hunt the most dangerous game of all.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: action, action movie, Danny Glover, dystopian, eighties, emmet kirwan, franchise, gang violence, gangs, jess dunne, los angeles, Moral panic, predator, predator 2, science fiction, sequels, the predator, violence | Leave a comment »

376. Wall-E – Ani-May 2024 (#59)

Posted on May 12, 2024 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Graham Day and Deirdre Molumby, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

This week, Andrew Stanton’s Wall-E.

In the distant future, Earth has been abandoned. Towers of garbage loom over a toxic landscape consumed by dust storms. The planet is dead, except for Wall-E, a small service robot assigned the task of cleaning Earth in the hope that the planet might be ready to welcome a returning humanity. Alone and forgotten, Wall-E makes a life for itself among the ruins.

At time of recording, it was ranked 59th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: Andrew Stanton, animated, cinematography, criterion, disney, environmentalism, imdb, pixar, podcast, robots, Roger Deakins, science fiction, silent movie, sound, The 250, wall-e | Leave a comment »

370. Dune: Part Two (#12)

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Brian Lloyd, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

So this week, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two.

House Atreides has fallen to an ambush by their old rivals, House Harkonnen. Rumous swirl of the Emperor’s involvement in this scheme. However, as the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen schemes to get spice production back up to targets, not all members of House Atreides lie buried in the desert sand. Paul Atreides unites with the Fremen, and charts a course towards revenge.

At time of recording, it was ranked 12th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: antihero, austin butler, brian lloyd, deconstuction, dune, dune: messiah, dune: part two, epic, fantasy, florence pugh, Frank Herbert, gen z, Hero, imdb, lord of the rings, podcast, sci-fi, science fiction, star wars, the lord of the rings, timothée chalamet, zendaya, zendaya coleman | 1 Comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Black Mirror” as a Movie About the Limits of the Empathy Machine…

Posted on June 21, 2023 by Darren

We’re launching a new column at The Escapist, called Out of Focus. With the sixth season of Black Mirror releasing on Netflix last week, it seemed like a good opportunity to delve into one of the defining shows of the modern moment.

Black Mirror is often framed as a technophobic show, asking, “what if phones… but too much?” However, this is an inherently reductive way of looking at the series, which is much more about humanity than it is about people. In many ways, the show is about how technology reflects humanity’s worst impulses back at them, and the fear that cinema and television – along with other forms of media – serve as barriers to empathy rather than windows to it.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Black Mirror, charlie brooker, empathy, humanity, media, phones, science fiction, Technology | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Andor” as an Embrace of 1970s Retrofuturism…

Posted on November 6, 2022 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist last week. With Andor continuring to be very good, it seemed as good an opportunity as any to talk about the show’s unique aesthetic, and how that relates to the original Star Wars.

Andor manages to thread a very fine line. It takes the audience to places that were largely unseen in the original trilogy, from prison planets to remote highlands to sprawling urban centres. However, it does this in a way that manages to feel faithful to the aesthetic of the original films. It does this by embracing the culture and aesthetics of the era around those movies, embracing a version of the science-fiction world that feels very much in step with seventies cinema. The result is something that manages to feel both part of the larger Star Wars universe and also something new to it, while remaining very contemporary.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Television | Tagged: 1970s, andor, escapist, in the frame, retrofuturism, science fiction, seventies, star wars | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On How “Strange New Worlds” Offers “Star Trek” by Way of “Alien”…

Posted on June 30, 2022 by Darren

I published a new piece at The Escapist this evening. We’re doing a series of recaps and reviews of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which is streaming weekly on Paramount+. The ninth and penultimate episode of the first season released this week, and it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at the series.

All Those Who Wander is an interesting genre experiment, effectively providing an intersection between Star Trek and Alien. It’s an interesting approach, and very much in keeping with how the franchise has approached other iconic works of science-fiction. However, it also demonstrates the limitations of the approach taken by Strange New Worlds, which seems frustratingly uninterested in what it means to juxtapose the humanism of the Star Trek franchise with the bleak nihilism of the Alien franchise.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Star Trek | Tagged: alien, genre, gorn, science fiction, star trek, star trek: strange new worlds, strange new worlds | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On How “The Expanse” Got Small…

Posted on December 10, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the final season of The Expanse beginning this week, it seemed like an opportunity to take a look at the final six episodes of the season.

For most of its run, The Expanse has been impressive in terms of scale and scope, often splitting its cast across multiple story threads and vast geographical distances. This makes the sixth season feel a little jarring, as the production team attempt to condense the longest book into the shortest season. As a result, The Expanse feels strangely insular and claustrophobic in its final stretch, almost like a cliff notes version of the show that it once was.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: escapist, in the frame, sci-fi, science fiction, the escapist, the expanse | Leave a comment »

258. Dune – This Just In (#127)

Posted on November 6, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guests Jenn Gannon and Deirdre Molumby, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

So this week, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune.

The galaxy is in turmoil. Rumours swirl of a plot against House Atreides. As Duke Leto Atreides takes control of the desert planet of Dune, he tries to track down the traitors in his midst. Meanwhile, his son Paul finds himself on the verge of an awakening that will have a profound impact on the future of mankind.

At time of recording, it was ranked 127th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: This Just In | Tagged: blockbusters, deirdre molumby, Denis Villeneuve, dune, epic, humanity, imax, jenn gannon, scale, science fiction, size, spectacle, The 250, timothée chalamet | Leave a comment »

256. Breach (Anti-Life) (-#69)

Posted on October 16, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Joe Griffin, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

So this week, John Suits’ Breach.

Earth is dying. Mankind’s last hope lies in the stars. On board one of the last colony ships ferrying the handful of survivors to their new world, something inhuman is stirring. The vessel’s maintenance crew find themselves in a battle against an alien entity, with the fate of mankind in the balance.

At time of recording, it was ranked 69th on the list of the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.