Pat @Pat@qoto.org

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Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)

Shortly after Sputnik but before astronauts walked on the Moon, the Soviets made a science fiction film called Paneta Bur (1962). Roger Corman bought the rights to the film, sliced and diced it, dubbed it, added a few scenes and the result was Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet, released in ‘65.

The plot, the pace, just about everything is incomprehensible in this mess, but the cool part is all the 1960’s scifi props from the original Soviet film (which is probably what Corman was after when he bought it). It’s got a 60’s concept car with big fins, a Robbie Robot knockoff, reel-to-reel tape recorders, astronauts with fishbowl helmets using gunpowder pistols… it’s got just about everything you’d expect from a 60’s scifi film (see the parody trailer for some examples). ...and of course all of the factual science errors like gravity in a spaceship, campfires and animals on a planet with little oxygen, Venus is 200 million miles away, sounds in space and much more.

Corman made a sequel to this film, Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968), which used much of the scenes from this film, but also added some women on the planet.

You don’t want to miss this one (unless you have anything else to do).
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Accessible video description:

Parody trailer opens with title graphic, color is extremely under-saturated, almost black and white; a space station with astronauts walking on the outside like there’s gravity; a meteor whistles in space and crashes into one of the spaceships; guys walk around inside a space ship like there’s gravity, their lips are out of sync because the voices are dubbed; a 1960’s style concept car drives up with huge fins and a bubble top; a brunette woman with a beehive hairdo tries to reach guys on the radio; a robot opens the helmet visor of an astronaut who is in distress and puts a tablet in his mouth and pours water on his face and clumsily closes his helmet; an aquarium with a little turtle and goldfish, the concept car is behind the aquarium (pretending to be underwater), the astronauts are carrying the concept car; an old astronaut with a fishbowl helmet talks to a robot; the robot carries two astronauts on his shoulders through lava; a brontosaurus; an astronaut gets attacked by an fake alien monster puppet that looks like the one from The Little Shop of Horrors; the astronauts build a campfire on the planet with little oxygen; another brontosaurus with an astronaut playing with his tail; the astronauts fly the concept car and get attacked by a goofy-looking pterodactyl; an astronaut hurries into the rocket ship, they kick away the ladder, close the door and blast off from the planet.

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #65 #film65 #movie65 #Venus #monster #dinosaur #spaceship #meteor #pterodactyl

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Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

After Earth (2013)

Here’s another film by M. Night Shyamalan that was produced in collaboration with Will Smith, Jada Pinkett Smith and others. It stars Smith and his son, Jaden on a far future Earth that has been overrun by a variety of dangerous genetically modified and evolved organisms.

The plot is rather simple, basically about a father and son relationship and facing adversity, but the characters are deep and multi-dimensional. And there are plenty of symbols and metaphors throughout. There’s a lot of action, of course, but this is not some formula, Mac-Hollywood scifi movie with a bunch of CG and non-stop chase scenes. It’s a real character study with a deliberate pace.

It’s rare to find a young actor who can pull off a role like this – young actors usually don’t have enough experience to give great performances -- but Jaden gives a convincing performance. In part, I think it’s because throughout most of the film his character is experiencing fear and facing challenges, which I believe is basically what Jaden, as a young actor, was likely experiencing during the filming of this major, high-stakes project.

Technically, the film has all the world-class production value of a Shyamalan film, so I don’t think you will be disappointed with this one.

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #Earth
#monster #fear #journey #character #GMO

#covid19 #respirator #mask #pandemic #airborne

People who don't recover from COVID-19 are less likely to share their experiences about being sick with the disease.

(image: Free Art Licence, 13-11-12-rechtsmedizin-berlin-charite-by-RalfR-20)

#trump #Russia #collusion #treason

Trump was accused of asking the Russians to break into the computer systems of his political opponent during the 2016 election and steal embarrassing emails. He has denied the allegation.

Here are the results from a careful investigation and analysis that answers that question once and for all...

(very short video from CSPAN)

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Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

The Village (2004)

This is probably more of a horror than a science fiction film, those genres often get conflated -- definitely a mystery. It’s all about a village, as the title implies, but what is this village about? Who are these people? Where are they? And who are those they don’t speak of?

It’s a very well made film. The acting and writing is flawless, the script is original and compelling, filled with metaphors and symbolism, and ultimately a commentary on society and the human condition. The cast includes some of the greatest stars in Hollywood -- William Hurt, who we lost recently, along with Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Sigourney Weaver, and Brendan Gleeson.

The film is scored by James Newton Howard with brilliant performances by violinist Hilary Hahn.

However, there are about 100 people in this cast and they are all white. Every one of them. One guy looks like he may be of mixed Asian heritage, maybe not. Actually, the director has a cameo in the film, but he is seen from behind and you can’t tell from the camera angle that he is Indian. This film was made in 2004, with a cast of some of the most progressive stars in Hollywood. How did that happen?

It was written, produced and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, so he’s ultimately responsible for the quality of the film, as well as the extreme racial bias in the cast. Some of his more recent films are more racially balanced, so maybe he woke up.

Even though this is a well-made film, I can’t recommend it because of the extreme racial bias in the cast.

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #village
#horror #mystery #society #humanity #progress #thosewedontspeakof #biglie

#creationists #evolutionists #evolution #dinosaur #film #joke

Here is definitive proof that humans and dinosaurs lived on Earth at the same time...

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #StarTrek #vulcan #deltan #klingons #CarbonUnits #Vger #AI #trekies #kolinahr

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

This film is about a bald, long-legged alien… and other stuff.

It’s hard to convey how anticipated this film was when it was released. The original TV series had been canceled a decade prior, which disappointed loyal fans and by time this film was made, the series had been widely syndicated and gathered a huge fan base. It was a really big deal. The first Star Trek movie, ever.

Production for the film was a real mess. The suits at Paramount thought the thing was some kind of Star Wars knockoff and the script was rewritten several times before production began. They even wanted to turn it into a new TV series at one point. When production finally started, the script was still unsatisfactory to everyone. Creator Gene Roddenberry and director Robert Wise struggled over the project throughout. Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and other cast members, and even the special effect guy were contributing to the script as the production was going on. The final script at the end of production contained only a fraction of what was in the original script when shooting started.

In the end the narrative wasn’t the tightest story ever produced, but it was original. However, it lacked any contemporary social commentary, which was a hallmark of the original series. The special effects were fantastic (for 1979), as was the score.

Douglass Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey) did the special effects which were almost entirely done with models, lighting, hand-painted mattes and photographic special effects; only a few simple computer generated images were used. The score was done by Jerry Goldsmith who continued on with the franchise, providing it with it’s distinctive theme music.

Because the film was so rushed, Wise was not totally satisfied with it and a directors cut was eventually made years later, which he thought was the best edit of the film.

Even with its flaws, I highly recommend this film.

Here's a picture of Uranus next to a pic of Earth, to scale.

(PD image per Wikimedia Commons)

#cia #taiwan #U2 #spy #globophobia #weather
#caturday

The Black Cat Squadron was a secret spying project run out of Taiwan during the 60s into the mid 70s. It was run by the CIA using ROCAF pilots under the cover of a weather research unit of the Taiwanese Air force.

Most of the missions were flown over China using a small fleet of just two U2 spy planes. The US would replace the planes whenever they were shot down or crashed.

#BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackGenealogy #USPol #flotus #potus

Michelle Obama was the second black woman to be First Lady of the United States. The first black woman to be First Lady was Sally Hemings who was First Lady during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. Hemings lived with Jefferson as his concubine during his presidency. They had three children while he was in office: Harriet Hemings (dob. May 1801), James Madison Hemings (dob. January 19, 1805), Thomas Eston Hemings (dob. May 21, 1808).

Because marriages between black and white people were not openly accepted at the time, they never officially married and Jefferson instead asked Dolley Madison to serve as hostess during official events. Legally, Hemings was considered one of Jefferson’s slaves. The exact personal dynamics of their relationship is unknown.

(Note: The term “First Lady” has no official meaning in law and it was not actually used in writing until the mid-19th Century.)

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #trains #power #future #climate #change #CW7 #class #postApocalypse

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Snowpiercer (2013)

I don’t like this film but I’m including it in the series because it’s original and a lot of other folks like it. It’s a post-apocalyptic film about a train that, as the title suggests, rides through a wintry Earth that has frozen over when an attempt at climate-change mitigation goes bad. The train is an ark that carries the last survivors.

Quite a bit of suspension of disbelief is required to watch the film because the entire premise is ridiculous, but it's really just a metaphor anyway, so that’s how you need to see it. The acting is really well done and the writing is very good for what it is, but the cinematography – particularly the lighting and exposure – is done in a way that makes it nearly impossible to see what is going on. A lot films do this to try to invoke a depressing or fearful mood, but its just irritating to not be able to see what's going on.

If you like post-apocalyptic movies about trains, big naked metaphors and poorly lit scenes, then you’ll probably like this one, otherwise I’d skip it.

Note: When this film was first released, Weinstein demanded that 25 minutes be cut from the film, however due to fan requests, a director’s cut was later released under TWC’s house brand, Radius-TWC. I think a review of both versions might give insight to how Hollywood censors and molds the messages in its films.

*****Puzzle spoiler*****

The Moon's gravity is 1.622 m/s^2, much less than Earth's 9.80665 m/s^2.

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Fun Fact:

If someone smokes a joint in a zero-G environment, all the smoke just hangs there.

#science #zeroG #space

(image CC-BY-2.0, Elsa-Olofsson)

#CSPAN #USPol #UnfairEdit
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Here's a minute and a half summary of today's CSPAN callers.

#catuday #felix #science #fiction #scifi #STEM

Here’s a 1950’s children’s cartoon, Felix the Cat. “Master Cylinder” is introduced in this episode. Some of the science demonstrated in this episode:

- Coherent solenoidal optical tractor beam

- Levitation of biological organisms via a superconducting magnet

- Whole-brain scanning and uploading to a non-biological brain emulator

- Realtime telescopic photonic image processing, enhancement and display

- Fully articulated robotic arm with semi-anthropomorphic end effector

- EMP (electromagnet pulse) weapon

Yeah, our grandparents were smarter than we are.

(Episode: Master Cylinder, King of the Moon (1959), fair use reproduction for educational, critical… blah, blah, blah... )

@QOTO #BugReport

@freemo

The icons under my toots and menus are displaying improperly. Seems to happen after I send a toot. Refreshing the page fixes it.

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #robots #AI #future #military #weapons #war #MtSaintHelens #vegetarian

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Short Circuit (1986)

Robots in fiction have a long history of being portrayed as adorable or affable characters, beginning with Tik-Tok and the Tin Woodman from Baum’s Oz books.* (Ironically, the name Tik-Tok was used by John Sladek as the titular character in his 1983 novel for an evil robot.) The robot in this silly film, Number 5, is a nice robot.

Number 5 has a high-pitch, whiny-sounding voice, which apparently is appealing to people because the same voice has been used over and over again ever since for many robots. In fact, an almost identical clone of Number 5 (same voice and personality) stars opposite Tom Hanks in Finch (2021).

Although the robot has a main role in this film, the movie is really about Ally Sheedy, who plays a woman who operates a vegetarian food truck in Oregon. (I think her character was given most of the silliest lines in this film.)

I almost didn’t pick this film for Retro Scifi Film of the Week because the film has an all-white cast – there are no black characters or characters played by people of color at all in the film. Also, the sidekick character “Ben” uses that phony Hollywood Indian accent which is now universally considered offensive. And one of the main characters, Newton Crosby played by Steve Guttenberg, tells an antisemitic joke at one point in the film, which is kind of weird since both Guttenberg and Sheedy are Jewish. But 1987 was definitely a different time, coming after the 50s-60s civil rights movement, but before the Rodney King beating in 1991. I only included this film because it has a lot of otherwise positive messages.

Sheedy also starred in WarGames (1983) which I including in this series. (See: https://qoto.org/@Pat/109282008723785446 for more on the history of the time during which these films were make.)

(* - Also, coincidentally Sheedy’s mother’s maiden name is Baum.)

(fair use image from the film)

Just a reminder...

More people died this past week in the US from COVID-19 than died in the 9/11 attacks.

Please wear your respirator when you are in public.

(image CC-BY-SA-2.0, Martin Von Creytz; modified with inset of N95)

#TruthBeTold

Believe it or not, but Burkina Faso is only 38 years old.

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#TruthBeTold = A statement that is logically or literally true (or partly true), but seems to imply something that isn’t true or is just plain weird. (for rhetoric, logic or propaganda studies… or just for fun)

#women #leaders #malta #BurkinaFaso