Reader Top Ten Greatest Science Fiction Films 2000 - 2013: J.D. Lafrance at Radiator Heaven

Film scholar and blogger J.D. Lafrance of the must-read Radiator Heaven starts off our Friday Reader Top Ten in fine style.

He commences his list:

“CHILDREN OF MEN: A brilliant dystopian vision of a futuristic England where women can no longer get pregnant and a former activist is contacted by his ex-wife revolutionary. Not since Brazil has there been such a breathtakingly fully-realized future-world been committed to film and one that eerily mirrors our own, only pushed slightly into the future. The direction is masterful as is the performance by Clive Owen as a jaded man who finds something to believe in again. Not only is this film entertaining and exciting, it is also thought-provoking.

A SCANNER DARKLY: There have been many adaptations of Philip K. Dick novels and stories, but this is by and far the most faithful and the best. In an audacious move, Richard Linklater decided to animate over live-action and in doing so manages to preserve the drug-addled vibe of the book. The cast is uniformly excellent with Robert Downey Jr. in top form as a motor-mouthed drug addict. The visuals are very impressive and yet they never overshadow the film’s message, which examines the devastating toll drugs take on the individual and the paranoia they can induce.

INCEPTION: A fascinating take on dreaming and dream-worlds as Christopher Nolan fuses Dreamscape with Heat. The film’s protagonist specializes in entering people’s dreams to steal their ideas, but is plagued by demons of his own. This is a film teeming with intriguing ideas and stunning visuals to back them up. Another powerhouse cast heads up this film and the exciting climax juggles three different action sequences all intertwined in a way that is never confusing. The film ends on a great image that leaves it open to interpretation in a wonderfully suggestive way.

LOOPER: The time travel movie has been done to death, but Rian Johnson’s film manages to find a new angle to explore with a world where only criminals have access to send people back in time. So, they send back people they want to be assassinated with operatives known as loopers doing the dirty work for them in the past. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is fantastic as the looper who develops a conscience and his relationship with Emily Blunt, playing a woman whose child he ends up protecting from his future-self, gives the film its heart.

DONNIE DARKO: Richard Kelly’s film explores the fascinating possibilities of alternate realities and how a jet engine crashing on a suburban house in middle America creates a new reality. Or is it all happening in the protagonist’s head? Kelly perfectly recreates the look and feel of 1980s suburbia that was featured so prominently in Steven Spielberg movies, like E.T. with a time travel story that was a popular sub-genre during this decade, but with a dark, foreboding atmosphere that eats away at the wholesome façade of America reminiscent of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. The film’s ending is truly haunting.

SERENITY: Cancelled and left for dead, Joss Whedon managed to convince another studio to resurrect his short-lived, but much beloved sci-fi western T.V. show Firefly, reuniting the cast for another rousing adventure. He managed to pull off a tricky feat by making the film accessible to newbies while still having all kinds of revelations for hardcore fans. This is the SF film that the Star Wars prequels should have been as Whedon beat George Lucas at his own game and makes the space opera fun and exciting again.

MOON: In what is essentially a one-man show (unless you count Kevin Spacey as the voice of an intelligent computer), Sam Rockwell pulls off an impressive performance as an astronaut slowly unraveling while pulling a seemingly endless shift on the Moon. Director Duncan Jones does an amazing job creating a thoughtful science fiction film about isolation and what it does to an individual. The twist ending is really something and had me thinking about it for days afterwards.

THE FOUNTAIN: What started off as a bloated, big budget epic starring Brad Pitt was eventually pared down to an ambitious yet intimate examination of love over hundreds of years, juggling three stories from the past, present and future. Darren Aronofsky digs deep and delivers a personal, heartfelt exploration of love and death with soulful performances from Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. As with all of Aronofsky’s films, it divided critics and audiences, but there’s no denying the care and detail that went into this film.

SOUTHLAND TALES: Richard Kelly strikes again in this unholy mess of a sprawling science fiction epic that takes place after World War III. Featuring a fascinating cast of Saturday Night Live alumni along with The Rock, Justin Timberlake, and Sarah Michelle Gellar, it attempts to fuse the sensibilities of Philip K. Dick, Thomas Pynchon and all kinds of other sources from various media into a funky hodge-podge that is confusing, maddening, brilliant, but never boring. Not many like this film, but those who do, really love it. This was Kelly’s all or nothing film and you certainly have to give him an A for effort as it displays the kind of ambition and cinematic chutzpah most films only dream of.

NEVER LET ME GO: This is a low-key drama without much sci-fi trappings, but does take place in a world where the human lifespan has been extended beyond a 100 years. The film follows three young people in what is subtly revealed to be an alternate world where students that go to an English boarding school exist for only one reason, which I won’t divulge for those who haven’t seen it. This one kinda flew under the radar and with good reason. It is a heavy film that explores life and death issues in thoughtful ways. The acting is excellent with Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan playing the three lead characters. Don’t expect a heartwarming tale, but those who like challenging, poignant, character-driven sci-fi, this might be for you.”

J.D.: This is a terrific list, with some must-see titles. I was happy to see the inclusion of A Scanner Darkly, in particular.  I have never seen Never Let Me Go, but that’s a mistake I hope to rectify.

I almost never turn a movie off mid-way through, but that’s what happened for me with Southland Tales.  Looks like it is time to give it another try!

I’m also happy to see that the love continues for my favorites like Looper and Donnie Darko, two great films from this time period.