A letter to you at 6 years old

5 of my Favourite Sci-Fi Movies

So much of marriage is about compromise. Sometimes this works out in my favour, of course and Matt bends towards my wishes and wants. Other times we find a middle ground we can both feel happy with. On occasion, however, this approach to decision making results in me doing things so heinous, so vile, so unfathomably torturous that they would be preposterous for me to do in any other circumstance. Last weekend was just such an occasion, for last weekend Matt forced me to see Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  Star trek? Me? I’m not some 40 year old man, living alone with my mum, speaking Klingon and wanking over pictures of Kate Mulgrew! I am a jet setting woman in my twenties with actual real life FRIENDS- put simply I am not the demographic. But needs must and off I went to see it on the big screen.

Desperate to gain something constructive out of the event, I decided use it as an excuse to share 5 of my favourite Sci-Fi films. As I write, more and more spring to mind but here I have picked a little selection of some of my top choices.

1           1. Twelve Monkeys

For me it has everything: rebellion, time travel, a puzzle you have to piece together, messages that click into place, as the plot unravels. It is a sumptuous conundrum of a film with no shortage of adventure thrown into the mix. I’m not sure why this is but any film that dangles questions of sanity at it’s audience, I find instantly compelling. It is worth watching even if it is just for the career highlight performance Brad Pitt gives, as well as it being, in my opinion Terry Gilliam’s finest directorial hour. (with The Fisher King, a close second.) It has one of my favourite qualities in a film: every time I watch it, and I have watched it a LOT, I get something new from it; some throw away moment I haven’t enjoyed before. It is a visually stunning, highly detailed, beautifully orchestrated, piece of cinematic chaos and I love it.

            2. Moon

Despite the annoyance I feel about the fact that the man with the coolest given name in the world (ZOWIE BOWIE) is now forcing the world to call him the considerably more boring, Duncan Jones, his directorial debut is a masterpiece! I reeeeeeaaaaally like it when films are basically held on the back of one actor. When that actor is the brilliant Sam Rockwell and he is playing opposite himself, and himself and himself and that all takes place on THE MOON, there you have a recipe for success! Like all good Sci-Fi, it at first appears to be about space and clones and those good things, but it’s actually about human stuff like emotions and that. Clever, really! It’s beautiful, intriguing, witty, sad and even a little hopeful. Did I mention Sam Rockwell playing opposite himself on the moon? YEAAAAAAHHHHHH!

     3. Minority Report

I have put this in, not because I think it is one of the finest Sci-Fi movies but because it is the one that changed my life. Before I saw minority report there was a wealth of films that I just didn’t bother with. I don’t know how to describe what kind of films they were. I don’t mean any one genre, there were just some films I would turn my nose up at, and Minority Report was one of them. When I saw it, however, it ignited something in me. If I loved this, what other films might I love. I became hungry to watch all the films I’d brushed aside as being not for me. Now I wanted to see The Godfather and Citizen Kane and Jaws and The Good the Bad and the Ugly. It started me on a mission to explore all genres, to become an eclectic film gatherer. It set me on a mission to open my eyes when it comes to all areas of the arts and that has shaped me immeasurably. Also, it’s an exciting film with lots of chasey chasey scenes, wicked cool technology and psychic water people.

            4. 2001: A Space Odyssey

For a start any film that can make the song “Daisy, Daisy” haunt your dreams has to be a pretty good! Thinking about it now, no film has ever been so epic in its scope as this. It is a film that attempts to encapsulate the entirety of existence. Others have tried to do similar, (Terrence Malick with the Tree of Life, as an example) but I just feel like what Kubrick did was so unusual that anybody attempting anything vaguely similar can’t help but walk in his enormous footsteps. I love that there is a proper Sci-Fi movie in the middle. You can even just watch that bit if you’re not up for the hippy stuff at either end, it is a compelling watch and brilliant story. For me, however it is all about the existential. The cyclical pattern of life, the timelessness of existence, the unknowable nature of the universe, is all there in one film. Rarely do I find things are better explained in images than words but here Kubrick does just that. He understands that there are things that defy verbal explanation. So I better just stop, here really hadn’t I?

And finally…

           5.Star Trek II: The wrath of Khan

Hand me my Klingon dictionary and a photo of Kate Mulgrew, I’m a Trekkie! I loved it! I laughed, a lot, I cried a lot and generally sat on the edge of my cinema seat enjoying every single second. Yes, it’s ridiculous and camp and dodgily shot with some beautifully questionable acting choices but it knows it. It’s aware of exactly what it is and uses it to its advantage.  Apparently when they made Star Trek 1 they were trying to imitate Star Wars and it didn’t impress. For the second film they decided to go back to what they do best and play to their own strengths. In Wrath of Khan they create a swashbuckling adventure in the skies, packed with marvellous characters and bags of wit. What really came as a surprise to me was the themes that were so well explored: fraternity, kinship, sacrifice, fears surrounding aging and obsolescence, to name a few, were all dealt with gracefully and poignantly. . It was… well… deep! Who knew?

After all these years it’s nice to be surprised by your partner. Most girls would prefer to be whisked away to Venice at a moments notice or to be swept of their feet with champagne and flowers but me, I am just as delighted for my husband to reveal I actually was a Trekkie all along. Thanks Matt!

P.S. Please, Matt, don’t let that stop you from taking me to Venice. I just said that for effect. Obviously Venice is a much better surprise than Star Trek, I’m not mental!