The 2020 sci-fi movie project continues! I’m watching all 50 movies listed in the cool book from Turner Classic Movies (TCM) called Must-See Sci-Fi: 50 Movies that Are Out of This World by Sloan De Forest (Running Press, 2018; available at Amazon.com and Shop TCM ). The complete list of 50 films is here .
Here’s the rundown of this month’s movies (with two of the four sections courtesy of my Instagram feed ).
Sleeper (1973)
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This week’s TCM “Must-See Sci-Fi” film is SLEEPER (1973). Co-written and directed by Woody Allen, this sci-fi comedy farce tells the story of a man (Allen) who gets cryogenically frozen and is revived 204 years later. Allen’s trademark snappy dialogue, non-stop jokes, and cultural jabs are firmly in place. The film is very busy, yet it succeeds as great satire, excellent social commentary, and a terrific homage to Allen’s favorite silent movie stars, including Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton. Also stars Diane Keaton and John Beck. @turnerclassicmovies #letsmovie #tcmmustseescifi (📷: United Artists)
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The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)Pure torture.
©️ British Lion Films Logan’s Run (1976)
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This week’s TCM “Must-See Sci-Fi” is LOGAN’S RUN (1976). A splashy, high-concept film set on Earth in the 23rd century where people live in a hedonistic pleasure dome but with a catch—you only can live to age 30, then you get killed in a bizarre public ritual. Those who avoid the ritual in order to live longer are called “runners.” Our hero, Logan (played by Michael York), is a “sandman,” whose job it is to kill anybody who tries to run. When he gets an assignment to find a place where many runners have been hiding, he and his love interest Jessica (played by Jenny Agutter) decide that perhaps that there might be more to life that what is presented to them in their dome of short-lived youthful pleasure. Also stars Roscoe Lee Browne, Farrah Fawcett, and Peter Ustinov. Author Sloan De Forest writes that “when gritty dramas like SERPICO (1973) and ONE FLEW OVER THE CUKOO’S NEST (1975) reveled in realism, LOGAN’S RUN offered pure escapism, recalling the grandeur of Hollywood’s golden age.” Directed by Michael Anderson. @turnerclassicmovies #tcmmustseescifi #letsmovie (📷: MGM)
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Star Wars (1977)One of my all time favorites (although I consider it more of a “space opera” than science fiction).
©️ Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios
