MODERN SCI-FI FILMS FAQ - by Tom DeMichael

Another book in the FAQ series addresses one of our favourite subjects, science fiction movies. Considering we call ourselves the Sci Fi Freak Site, that shouldn't come as any great surprise to anyone.

Also not coming as a surprise to anyone will be the reservations we have over the title and subtitle. There are still no frequently asked questions in this book and we still don't know what they mean by 'all that's left to know about...', in this case time travel, alien, robot and out-of-this-world movies since 1970.

With this book, though, we also have larger reservations about the content than the previous entries we've tried (Doctor Who and Stephen King Films). It's not that it's hard to read; the writer's style is clean and easy to read and doesn't distract from the content at all. It's the construction that we don't understand.

Each film starts with a synopsis and then has some afterwords, analysis, box office and anecdotes. Nothing wrong with that, but it's the amount of room devoted to each that confuses. Take the entry for INCEPTION for example - the plot synopsis runs to seven pages whilst the rest runs to two. That seems to us to be entirely the wrong way around. Admittedly, INCEPTION is a film with a dense and twisting plot, but does anyone really need every twist and turn to be laid out for them? And that's the problem. If you've seen (and loved in most cases) the films then you'll know them well enough to not need to read a detailed synopsis of what happens. If you're going to see the film then you're not going to want to know all the twists and plot spoilers that are included. We found ourselves skipping the synopses altogether and reading only the 'afterwords'. Since these are the smaller sections and seemingly obsessed with box office receipts and not a lot else, the 380 page count gets a lot, lot less.

More interesting are the opening section on the literary roots of the genre (i.e. some important sci fi writers whose work has been recently adapted), science fiction movie spaceships and notable sci fi movie personages. Since these are not simply regurgitating plots, they have more interest.

It's hard to know who this book can be aimed that who won't be disappointed by it, and that's a big problem.

SCI-FI CHRONICLES - Aurum Press - Out 2nd October

It's not often that we open something that we've been sent to review and let out very unmanly fanboy squeals, but that is exactly what happened when we opened the packaging on SCI-FI CHRONICLES. Our very first impression was 'Oh my God, it's beautiful'. The cover is a lush patterned black with a rendering of Hal 9000's eye lens and some very shiny lettering that just isn't done justice by the image alongside.

But, the beauty of this book doesn't just stop at the cover. It is lavishly illustrated throughout with glorious colour images. They're not huge, but there are so many of them. Each entry is illustrated with small icon images with some of the larger subjects getting two or four pages devoted purely to the pictures.

You need a lot of pages to get all of that onto and SCI-FI CHRONICLES has more than 570 of them (though admittedly 40 of those are dedicated to the index and the credits.

With so much information now readily available on our electronic devices at the swipe of a finger, encyclopedias like this one are much harder to come by, so it's to Aurum's credit that they are willing to even produce the book, let alone do such a good job on it. There are 27 listed contributors, all of whom seem to have a passion for the subject.

And it's a wide-ranging subject too, since the book doesn't restrict itself to just one medium. There are landmark books, films, TV shows, comics, video games and even characters and personalities all contained within. Isaac Asimov shares space with The Day The Earth Stood Still and Jack Kirby. Steven Spielberg jostles elbows with King Kong and Halo. Even with half a thousand pages, it can't be all-encompassing, but we've yet to come up with one entry that we thought ought to be featured that wasn't. The detail is more of a sketch, an introduction to each subject, but you'll know whether you're interested in finding out more about each by the time that you reach the end of the page.

It's not perfect, though, surely. Very nearly. The chronological structure makes it a little harder than necessary to find your subject of choice if you're not interested in reading it as a narrative and the index is a touch fiddly to find the main article of choice. The chronology also stops in 2009, which suggests that there has not been one single book, film, video game, graphic novel, character or creator who has emerged in the genre in the past five years. That seems a little hard to believe.

The space devoted to each entry can be a little obscure as well. Blade Runner, visually the second most influential film of all time, shares its page with the book Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep and mention isn't even given to the excellent video game version and the not quite so excellent KW Jeter sequels. This means that the most influential movie in the genre since Metropolis actually gets less page space that soggy submarine series Seaquest DSV!

Also, any book that states as fact that Tom Baker was the third Doctor has to lose some credibility points.

All of which is nit-picking. The fact is that we have lost hours to this book already and we've had it for less than two days. It has become our favoured reference book of choice and has pride of place on our shelves. That is seriously not bad going.

The £25 price tag might seem a little steep, but take a look inside and you'll probably fall as instantly in love as we did. Also, it's a book that you will go back to time and time again. And it's the kind of gift that your science-loving significant other would thank you for and mean it.

The lovely folks at Aurum have promised one lucky winner a copy of this book absolutely free, so trot on over to www.scififreaksite.com and take part in our giveaway.

DOCTOR WHO FAQ - All That's Left To Know About The Most Famous Time Lord In The Universe by Dave Thompson

It may have escaped your attention, but the BBC TV series DOCTOR WHO celebrated its fiftieth birthday recently. This was as good a reason for a few million more words to be written about what must be one the most written about television series of all time. What, indeed, can there be left to know?

Quibbles first - title and subtitle. This is not a book of frequently asked questions. And as for its claim that it contains 'all that's left to know' about the Doctor, well that's just nonsense. 'All that's left to know' after what?

Don't get me wrong, author Dave Thompson knows his stuff and certainly has opinions on his stuff, but there is very little here that even a semi-knowledgeable viewer like me didn't already know, or certainly couldn't have found out pretty quickly on the internet. True enough, the chapters on the Big Finish audio productions and the music inspired by Doctor Who were news to me, but then I did say that I was only semi-knowledgeable.

What this book really is, is a comprehensive overview of the show for someone who knows a little and wants to know a lot  more. This is for people who are new to the series in its modern incarnation and want to be indoctrinated in the history.

It is also, make no bones about it, for Americans. The opening chapter is entitled 'The TARDIS in America'.

It is also out of date, containing nothing of the fiftieth year's celebrations, but that's a minor point since any book like this is out of date as soon as it's printed (if it's lucky).

So, what's good about it? Well, if you don't already have an overview of the show then you could certainly do worse than this and it does cover those Big Finish audio productions and books and music as well. There's a comprehensive listing of TV episodes, audio productions, original books and even comic books featuring the 'most famous time lord in the universe'.

It's also pretty easy to read. Thompson has a clean style and isn't shy about coming forward with what he thinks. That he didn't like Adric or Mel is no surprise to any right-thinking individual, but his views on the Moffat era might not go down so well with some others.

There's an eclectic mix of illustrations (black and white) to break up the text and at 258 pages of history and opinions, there ought to be something for everyone to find of interest.

We're back, though, to that thorny question of who exactly this book is for. Completists will want it for, well, completeness, but there's very little in it to make it indispensable. Then again, after so much has been written about the show, what on earth could there be left to know?

BFI 100 Science Fiction Films

When it comes to movies, the British Film Institute knows a thing or two, so when they choose to produce a book giving you the top 100 entries into a genre then you'd expect to sit up and take notice.

As a result of those expectations, 100 Science Fiction Films by Barry Keith Grant is something of a puzzle.

Now, don't get me wrong - the author knows his science fiction films. Whilst all the usual suspects are there (Metropolis, Blade Runner, Star Wars) there are a few less obvious entries. Nobody could argue with La Jetee, for example, but it's a bit on less well-known side as are Born In Flames and Tribulation 99: Alien Anomalies Under America (what do you mean, everyone has heard of that one?).

No, the reason for puzzlement is the form of the book. Nobody would expect a book from the BFI to be a vapid picture gallery, but the assessment that goes with each film proves to be mainly a precis of the storyline (and yes, spoilers ahoy!) with only a small amount of time spent on why the film is notable. Each film only gets two pages and that's reduced to only a page and a half when you take into account the single image that goes with it. This really doesn't give enough space for the author to go into any great depth.

So, here's the rub - who is this book for? True, if you are a newcomer taking on the genre for the first time, then this might be the book to guide you on your way, but there are plenty of 'best of' lists online. For the the experienced sci-fi moviegoer, there really isn't enough here to make it even a worthwhile gift from a loved one.

The licence fee is your friend

This weekend, BBC3 broadcast an event called Frankenstein's Wedding...Live In Leeds in which the original gothic science fiction story was retold in a mix of live acting, song, dance and filmed inserts. The final event was a curate's egg for some, but we thought caught the essential power of the story (see the link).

What got us thinking, though, is who else but the BBC would have even considered commissioning something like this? ITV? Five? We don't think so. Only the BBC because of the licence fee source of finance can take the risk on non-commercial minority programming. Because let's be clear about this, science fiction and fantasy is minority programming.

Take a look at the recent BBC output in this area - Outcasts, The Deep, Being Human, Survivors, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Whistle And I'll Come To You and, of course, Doctor Who. OK, the quality has been variable at best, but you can't fault the committment to home grown science fiction and fantasy.

What have the other main channels produced? ITV brought us Marchlands and Primeval (which only came back thanks to creating financing in part paid for by BBC America!) and Sky Living gave us Bedlam. And that's it.

The non-BBC channels bring us tonnes of science fiction and fantasy from America and we're not complaining about that, but if you are a fan of British science fiction then it is clear that the licence fee is your friend and long may it continue.

Sci Fi Franchise Hell

RESIDENT EVIL:AFTERLIFE in 3D emerged onto cinema screens this week and proved not to be the much better than the original. This got me thinking about sci fi movie franchises and how there just aren't any good ones.

Immediately an army of STAR WARS fans leap to the fore and demand apologies, but the prequel movies aren't that great, special effects advances are not, and there aren't that many people STAR WARS fanboys or not who would be able to argue with that.

The STAR TREK fans would be the next ones up to complain, but be honest STAR TREK V THE FINAL FRONTIER is just plain pants. The original STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE was not nicknamed the slow motion picture without reason either. For every good one there's a not so good one.

The ALIEN franchise might have a claim after the first two films, but ALIEN 3 didn't rock most people's world and ALIEN RESURRECTION was generally found to be lacking. When it merged with the, frankly average, PREDATOR franchise things went seriously downhill with the ALIEN VS PREDATOR movies.

The MATRIX movies had a hell of a start in the original movie but he architect's nonsense put an end to that even before the dodgy rave/orgy scene in REVOLUTIONS.

So what does that leave us with? And if anyone suggests the bloody awful TRANSFORMERS films they might just get a punch in the mouth.

It leaves us with the superheroes. The X-MEN movies had a chance, but THE LAST STAND and WOLVERINE certainly put a crimp in the quality of that and THE FANTASTIC FOUR could only manage and OK Two. Robert Downey Jr's IRON MAN films might make it, but the second film was just the first film reheated and ought to have seen the end of that particular franchise. SPIDER-MAN 3 was so poorly received that the whole franchise is to be rebooted from the start only a few years after it was started.

Only the reborn BATMAN franchise shows any sign of managing to create a franchise with any consistency of quality and that's because the studio aren't about to hurry the creative team into a rush job when they are getting successes like INCEPTION out of them.

Science fiction has never been a genre that has lent itself to the franchise market (PLANET OF THE APES aside), but with many potential franchises not even getting past the sequel, things have never been as thin as they are right now.

What's in a name?

The art of the episode title is something that the science fiction and fantasy genres have got a head start on thanks to their pushing the boundaries in terms of subject matter. Because they don't necessarily have to relate to reality, sci fi shows can go out there at bit with their titles as well, borrowing from literary sources and quoting all out of context, but coming up with titles as wierd, wonderful and portentous as the shows themselves.

STAR TREK in all its variations has come up with some wonderful titles. FOR THE WORLD IS HOLLOW AND I HAVE TOUCHED THE SKY for example. It just reeks of quality and makes you want to know more. And who wouldn't have wanted to take a holiday in the CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER? DEEP SPACE NINE went LOOKING FOR PAR’MACH IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES and tried to right WRONGS DARKER THAN DEATH OR NIGHT.

More modern pretender to the throne BATTLESTAR GALACTICA had a more practical line in episode titles, but still gave us A DISQUIET FOLLOWS MY SOUL and ISLANDED IN A STREAM OF STARS, both of them quality titles.

Of course, a title doesn't have to have a literary quality to it to be great. LOST'S best episode title was the more mundane ALL THE BEST COWBOYS HAVE DADDY ISSUES and SOMEHOW SATAN GOT BEHIND ME was offered up by X-FILES follow up MILLENNIUM.

And then there are the funny ones. A funny title usually has to be clever such as PUSHING DAISIES episode DIM SUM, LOSE SOME. A TOWN CALLED EUREKA found a knack for these in its later seasons, giving us the puns of BAD TO THE DRONE, SHOW ME THE MUMMY, FROM FEAR TO ETERNITY and SHIP HAPPENS. Cleverest of them all, however, was 3rd ROCK FROM THE SUN's I AM DICK PENTAMETER. That same show, though came up with the much less clever, but just as fun BIG ANGRY VIRGIN FROM OUTER SPACE. How could you resist an episode with that for a title?

There can also be the promise of advice from these shows. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER was able to offer the advice NEVER KILL A BOY ON THE FIRST DATE which would appear to be good advice whilst HEROES offered to tell us HOW TO STOP AN EXPLODING MAN.

The daddy of all the great episode titling shows, though, was BABYLON 5, which delighted in great, literary sounding titles. Get a load of these - MIDNIGHT ON THE FIRING LINE, THE GEOMETRY OF SHADOWS, PASSING THROUGH GETHSEMANE, CEREMONIES OF LIGHT AND DARK, FALLING TOWARDS APOTHEOSIS and INTERSECTIONS IN REAL TIME.

And the greatest episode title of all time. Well, for our money that goes to BABYLON 5 as well for the impossible to dislike THE DECONSTRUCTION OF FALLING STARS.

2010 Razzies for Sci Fi - now that's more like it

The Razzies - or the anti oscars - have a better track record of picking what's worst in the movies than their illustrious opposites have in picking the best, but then it's an easier job. For 2010 the big winners (or losers dependant on how you look at it) are

TRANSFORMERS:REVENGE OF THE FALLEN - This is nominated for the worst film, worst director (yes, you Michael Bay, hang your head in shame), Worst screen couple for Shia LaBoeuf and Megan Fox, Worst Actress for Megan Fox, worst supporting actress for Julie White's embarrassing turn as LaBoeuf's high mother and worst remake,ripoff or sequel. It should be noted that this film also got the Golden Freakie as our worst film of 2009.

LAND OF THE LOST - This comedy without jokes is up for worst film, director, screenplay, worst remake,ripoff or sequel, worst screeenplay, worst couple for Will Ferrell and anyone who he was on screen with and worst supporting actor for Jorna Taccone. This was an unworthy runner up in the Golden Freakies for worst film of the year on the Sci Fi Freak Site.

MEGAN FOX - It's a bit unfair that she is nominated for worst actress in TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN as she was effectively hamstrung by the role in the film and it is well out of order that she was nominated again for JENNIFER'S BODY.

GI JOE:RISE OF COBRA - is also up for worst movie.

EDDIE MURPHY - is up for the worst actor of the decade and we think he ought to get it on the strength of MEET DAVE alone.

Oscar Nominations for Sci Fi Movies - what's up with that?

The 2010 Oscar nominations are out and it doesn't come as no surprise that AVATAR leads the science fiction field whilst much better films MOON and LET THE OTHER ONE IN don't even get a mention.

The list is

PICTURE - Avatar and District 9 (neither of which deserve a nomination let alone the award. I mean they were fun, but best picture of the year? I don't think so.)

DIRECTOR - James Cameron for AVATAR (can you direct a film made inside a computer?)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - DISTRICT 9

ART DIRECTION - AVATAR and THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS (OK, so AVATAR was very pretty so we might forgive them this)

CINEMATOGRAPHY - AVATAR and HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE (Does a film made in a computer actually have cinematography?)

Sound Mixing - AVATAR, STAR TREK and TRANSFORMERS:REVENGE OF THE FALLEN (Transformers? Really? Crash, bang, wallop! is mixing sound?)

SOUND EDITING - AVATAR and STAR TREK (apparently editing is different from mixing and STAR TREK sounds good.

MUSIC SCORE - AVATAR (Did anyone actually notice the music?)

COSTUME - THE IMAGINARIUM OF DR PARNASSUS (What, nothing for the loincloths of AVATAR?)

FILM EDITING - AVATAR and DISTRICT 9. (Again, as AVATAR was made in a computer how much film was edited?)

MAKEUP - STAR TREK

VISUAL EFFECTS - AVATAR, DISTRICT 9 and STAR TREK.

So, once again, to get a nomination for the Oscars you have to be American, big, successful and not too complicated or containing a thoughtful plot. Show some aliens and then blow them up is the way to the American Academy's heart. We can only reflect on the fact that they only give genre films the big awards when the absolutely have to, so the question is whether AVATAR's made enough money that they don't feel they need to reward it any more for things it doesn't deserve.

The Sci Fi Freak Blog comes to the internet

It's taken a while to clear the schedules of the team to get around to setting up the Sci Fi Freak Blog, but it's finally here.

The reason for this is because there has been just so much great (and, let's face it, not so great) science fiction on TV and cinema screens in the UK. We've all been beavering away watching the new shows and films and trying to catch up with old ones to review on our parent site The Sci Fi Freak Site, but things have slackened off momentarily (US writers' strike and pause before the summer blockbuster season be blamed) and so we've set up the blog at last.

This is to take a less formal look at the science fiction scene in the UK (on TV and cinema) than our parent site, talk about things that we haven't see yet and generally shoot the breeze about all things sci fi that come across our radar.

Hell, we might even throw in a few personal posts along the way, if you're unlucky.

We do this for fun, make no money out of it, and really just want to be liked so comment on anything that you see here, subscribe to the blog and let us know of anything that we ought to be looking at.

Anyway here we go. 'Live long and prosper' as a non-human once said.