Category: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

SFN: Sci-Fi Films I’ve Selected to Watch During SFN

Posted Wednesday, 6 November, 2013 by jorielov 5 Comments

Sci-Fi Films I’ve Selected to Watch During:
Sci-Fi November!

I’ve previously spoken about my admiration and appreciation for science fiction films happily watched throughout my lifetime, however, at this particular moment I want to highlight the films I’ve selected to focus on during Sci-Fi November as far as re-watching certain motion pictures that spoke to me in a way that left my head full of wonder and a heart full of curious questions! The type of films that you could spend hours pondering due to the depth of the story-telling, the quality of the film production, the character driven acting, and the atmosphere of the setting which catapulted you directly up and out of your seat and straight into the action of the story!

Selection One:

Double Header Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within & Advent Children

I originally came across the announcement for The Spirits Within quite by accident, as I had known about the gaming version of “Final Fantasy” for such a long time, that it nearly felt as though there wasn’t a moment of my growing years where someone wasn’t speaking about that universe! However, it was not a game I had ever played myself, which is why I was completely blind to the fact that they had garnished a motion picture set inside that universe but completely separate in of itself from that universe of gamers! What struck me the most whilst I saw this in a darkened theater for the first time is the amount of dexterity CGI effects had become! I was taken with the ‘hair’ of the characters as previously animated hair never quite looked like the hair of The Spirits Within! The story held my heart suspended in the air until the closing sequences, as it’s a story that is driven by the characters and the plight of the circumstances they find themselves wrapped up in!

I never had the proper chance to ‘chase down’ the sequel for The Spirits Within, as I only heard a whispering about a potential sequel but without any hard evidence that one was in the works (and knowing fully well how long it takes for motion pictures heavy on CGI effects takes to produce) it was speculation only! Not until a chance encounter with an anime buff at a demonstration of a surround sound system at a retail outlet for gadgets and gear, did I uncover the name of said sequel: Advent Children! Further still, what as even more intriguing is that this gent had the dvd on hand to introduce us to the latest in surround sound technology! He disappeared for a good twenty minutes in which time, Mum and I were so enraptured into Advent Children we had forgotten where we were! From what I can remember of that day (as several years have passed since) is that this second “Final Fantasy” film is as thought-provoking as its predecessor! It wasn’t until a friend of mine offhandedly suggested that I could have her copy of the film as she was uninterested in it, that I found myself in a position to watch The Spirits Within & Advent Children in a double-header extravaganza!

Selection Two: Gattaca

I found Gattaca whilst browsing through channels one night when I was open to ‘anything!’ as I was that bored with the selections, when I suddenly came across this particular story which I didn’t quite understand but was enthralled with nonetheless! There was something about the ‘feel’ of Gattaca which allowed me to step inside this world, curl up for a short spell and become a part of the evolving story. I didn’t see the opening of it as I came in whilst it was already in progress, but from what I was able to gather it wasn’t quite like any other film I had seen before and I liked that about it! It had an edge to it that I respected and appreciated as well! I always wanted to return back to it if I could and SFN presented the perfect opportunity for me! I will say that it wasn’t too far from my viewing of this film when I stumbled across The Fifth Element, and I am still deciding my final thoughts on that story!

Selection Three: The Last Mimzy

I knew from the trailers (whilst seeing other films) and teasers (whilst awaiting a series to return from commercial break) that this was going to be ‘one’ of the motion pictures that I would need to see on the silver screen! Everything about the premise intrigued me, you see! And, as I was watching the film, I felt suspended in time as I was inside the story itself the entire time it ran on the reels! I love having that feeling wash over me, where you’re not even aware of who is in the audience seated around you, much less was it morning, afternoon, or evening when you entered the theater? I even loved how they brought in the upper sciences into the story as well as crafted such a believable story arc with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance! IF I had seen a bunny like Mimzy I would have been one of the first to pick it up as a remembrance of this unforgettable film!

Selection Four: Somewhere in Time

I am not even sure how many tissue boxes are truly needed to get through this film in its entirety but surely a hefty amount for sure! When I first saw this film it was running on tv and I had the fortunate luck to see it from the very beginning,.. already an appreciator of Reeves & Seymour who play the title roles, I was entranced at the opening sequences, especially at the mentioning of ‘time’. In how it could play a part in ‘where’, ‘when’, and ‘how’ the characters were going to interact with each other! I knew a bit about this part of Upper Michigan as well, although I learnt a heap more after the film in the years since I originally watched it. I can say all my research into the Upper Michigan surrounding area of Mackinac Island has only enhanced my desire to watch this film again and become lost inside it! The resounding question at the end is what holds my heart in suspense,…

Selection Five: The Postman

I realise I have already spoken about my appreciation for this film during SFN features, however, let me just say that this film has always held an interest for me, to where I aspired to read the novel the film was based upon! And, I just might be in a position to finally accomplish this as I not only sought to ILL this motion picture but the novel as well! We’ll just have to see what comes in and if everything aligns to where I can read and watch a story that I have oft thought about in the moons and years since I originally saw it! I wonder then, does this story hold anyone else’s attention!?

Selection Six: Midnight in Paris

Ooh, my dear stars, who could not dig into this film with gusto!? A writer’s dream of a motion picture if you ask me! To be able to find the hidden secret to walking back into the folds of time and introducing yourself into your perception of the ‘golden age of living, life, and art’!? Who wouldn’t be tempted to travel along the circuits of time if it meant you could receive sound advice for your writing as much as how to live!? I loved the interactions with all the infamous writers, of whom, to me were portrayed rather well by the actors who created the illusion of their persona! Ooh, yes, I cannot wait to go back to Paris at midnight! Whose going to join me!?

Selection Seven: The Lake House

On the same vein as Midnight in Paris, the science fiction elements of this motion picture are subtle and gently influential to the story. A film for whichever reason was passed over by Mum and I despite the hearty recommendations coming from everyone we knew at the time, we simply did not feel compelled to watch it! This was prior to finding the dvd of said film at a library sale, at which time we felt “oh why not?” Let me just say that from the moment the story began until the very last scene – we were completely bewitched! There was something about the manner in which the communication of The Lake House transfuses through time that captures the romantic in all of us!

Let me ask you, dear hearts, which of these are you looking forward to my review the most? Which of these haven’t you seen and are deeply curious about? Do you feel like me its hard to pick a ‘favourite’ amongst this lot of choices? Did you avoid any of them for whichever reason seemed logical to you at the time!? Would you attempt to watch that particular film now? Kindly drop me notes, I look forward to conversing with you soon!

This feature is brought to you by:

{SOURCE: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing}

Posted Wednesday, 6 November, 2013 by jorielov in Final Fantasy: Advent Children, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Gattaca, Midnight in Paris, Sci-Fi November, Somewhere in Time, The Lake House, The Last Mimzy, The Postman

SFN | Favourite Top 30 Sci-Fi Motion Pictures of All-Time!

Posted Wednesday, 6 November, 2013 by jorielov 16 Comments

I felt a bit betwixt knowing which motion pictures to focus on whilst I created my Top List for SFN! On the same vein of thought as my previous Top List for Sci-Fi Serials, as I always struggle to denote which selection I am making would belong placed on a “top list” of recommendations!! You see, I tend to love more than I dislike when it comes to these things, and I’m always worried I am inadvertently going to leave something ‘off the list’ that I had meant to include! Therefore, in absolute no particular order here are my ‘most beloved’ science fiction motion pictures! A lot of these films I would see over and over again on “VHS” not! “DVD”!! Yes, I am that young to remember videotapes! :)

Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country – As previously stated, this particular motion picture is held in rather high esteem for me, as my journey towards become an appreciator of Trek is shown in my first feature for SFN. As much as my declaration of why this particular Trek film holds a special place in my heart was outlined directly in my previous Top List for SFN! I will simply say, I could never tire of seeing this film!
Star Trek: The Voyage Home – Long before I watched “7th Heaven“, I knew of Catherine Hicks in her role as a marine biologist who helped save the whales (and humanity!) in this installment of Trek on the silver screen! My heart swelled with emotion during this film as I have a soft spot for marine mammals! I love every inch of this film and it will always be in my top 2 as I cannot help but watch this before &/or after The Undiscovered Country!
Star Trek: Insurrection – Technically speaking, I’m a big fan of all three of the Next Generation films under Roddenberry’s vision (Generations, First Contact, & Insurrection), however, this one stood out to me from the pack (even though I tend to watch them back-to-back!) due to the unique story-line and the fullness of the heart behind the characters. You get to see the crew of the Enterprise in a new light, as well as in a whole new setting! I truly loved this start to finish!
Star Wars: (Original Trilogy) – I honestly cannot separate the original trilogy, because each of the films is half of the story you find in the next one that comes after it &/or before it depending on your preference of viewing! I inherited my love of Trek & Star Wars, and equally for me, both film series are over. I will always re-watch everything that has been made thus far without feeling I need to move forward.
Avatar – I could not literally take my eyes off the screen when I was in the theater watching this première! The fullness of the depth of story was simply awe-inspiring! I have come to realise that my favourite fantasy are epic story arcs and this is a prime example of how readily that is true! Pandora left quite the impression on my heart and I could seriously take up residence there! I am forever hopeful the next installments will be released as their ready for an audience because I am hopeful this was non a one-off but rather the first of either a trilogy or a sequence of films!
Superman (Original) – Christopher Reeves is ‘my’ Superman, I must confess! Aside from Dean Cain and George Reeves of course, on the small screen! In motion pictures, hands down there is no one who can compare to Christopher’s version of Clark Kent! At least for me this is true! Again, this is case of where I am not following the crowd nor the film into its new incarnations but rather opt instead to see the original(s) indefinitely!
Somewhere in Time – Could there be a more heart-breaking romance ever made than this one!? I had not one dry eye watching this film originally! The science involved was pristine as well, because at first your not even sure what is happening! I won’t spoilt it if you haven’t yet seen it, but for me, Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour did a fantastic job of turning me into a ‘believer’ that love can be found anywhere in time!
Back to the Future – I nearly put all of the trilogy in this spot, but truthfully, Part II isn’t my favourite one if I had to pick between Part II & III, the third one will win hand’s down! However, without Part I, we wouldn’t have had any of the sequels, which is why I sided with Part I! I cannot even begin to explain how important this film was for me, as it started to get me thinking about special effects as much as Star Wars first encouraged me too! In another lifetime, I would have become a special effects artist, for sure! I love the time travel aspects of this film, as much as the connection between Marty & Doc Brown! It served as an introduction to Lea Thompson as well, and I continued to follow her career afterwards.
Titan: AE – This was a rather inventive film for its time, as I went to see it with my Da! It was one of the few times where we could steal away some father and daughter time together due to his hectic schedule with work! What impressed both of us was the format in which the story was told as much as the clarity of the story as it was told! I always earmarked this one as a film a bit ahead of its time!
2001: A Space Odyssey – I am not entirely sure how I stumbled across this tape in our media library at the young age that I had (I was in middle school), but I remember being enraptured by the sounds of it and the storyline in general! Not that I fully understood everything until my second viewing, because it was unlike any other film I had seen up until that point! The sequel was seen after I felt I had a handle on the first one, and the two combined became ready favourites! Although, I must confess, I have never come across another who claims the same!? Usually I get the response, ‘you actually liked them?’ Sighs.
Batteries Not Included – Who can not fall in love with this film!? No seriously, who cannot fall in love with this film!? Breaks my heart but I always return back to it after a time has passed because of the endearing quality of the story! I am going to be reviewing this film for SFN, so stay tuned!
Gattaca – Unfortunately, I remember very little about this particular film, as unlike the others on this list, I only saw this one ‘once’! Imagine!? I know! Which is why I marked myself down to review this for SFN! I wanted to re-visit this film for such a long time, and it felt like it would be right to do it for this event! I can say, that despite the uniqueness of the story (at least to me, I remember this being true!), I was able to get into the heart of it and could not take my eyes off the screen!
Tron: Legacy – I honestly should have seen Tron prior to seeing the sequel (as not only is that logical, but it would have helped!), yet, off I went to see the sequel because this was seriously one of the most spoken about films during my childhood! I’ve always been surrounded by sci-fi geeks which is probably why I haven’t used that term to describe myself until SFN popped up and I noticed a few of the participants were saying we’re the SFN Geeks! Laughs. I heard the story of Tron so vividly that I suppose I always felt like I had seen the original! Therefore, I was so wrapped up in this sequel you wouldn’t have been able to pull me out of the theater unless the power went out during a freak thunderstorm! Thankfully, that was not the case! I saw it in full when it premiered! For a gamer, who wouldn’t like Tron!?
The Rocketeer – I am not even sure if this will be considered a sci-fi film but for me, it has a major element that border lines the ‘science’ into the ‘fictional realm’! How else do you describe being able to strap a rocket onto your back and fly!? This was always one of the endearing classics my parents and I liked to watch every so many years due to the uplifting nature and spirit of the story overall! It has its dramatic bits yes, but ooh, the ending is the best!
Memoirs of an Invisible Man – This is another film that my Da first introduced me too, as he had shown it to Mum who had completely fallen in love with the premise! I remember when I read the backside of the tape to see what it was all about only to have Da whisk it away from me saying the allure of watching it is not knowing what it involves! I couldn’t surmise much from the title, but after the story started to unfold before me, I sort of ‘fell into’ the mystery of the Invisible Man as much as his heart! Loved it instantly at that point!
Coneheads – This is another family classic for us! Enough said!
ET: the Extra-Terrestrial – I believe next to Annie, this is seriously one of the first motion pictures I went to see and it was beloved from the very first showing!
Flight of the Navigator – I remember flipping channels on tv one day as a young child and stumbling across this strange silver ship with a kid on board! It took a few random viewings on tv to see it from start to finish, but I had already appreciated it enough to know I liked it! The odd bit is that no one ever talked about it!?
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids – Again, I am not sure if this is straight up sci-fi or not, but for me it has enough science elements inside of reality to make it as such! I cannot even tell you how many times I have seen this film! Laughs.
I-Robot – I was torn if I wanted to see this film when it first premiered or if I wanted to wait to see it on dvd after I could read through the books that inspired it! My curious heart won out and I saw it on the silver screen! I was taken with the sincerity of the story and the manner in which everything was revealed! It made me want to read Asimov’s works evermore readily!
Independence Day [I-D4] – Yes! I really was one of those millions of people who crowded into a theater the opening July 4th weekend this film premiered! And, what a blast it was to see it at that particular moment! I even remember the I-D4 advert campaign and all the excitement that was swirling around this film leading up to seeing it live in person! It was the sort of film you ‘experience’ with the audience as everyone is reacting and being vocal about certain scenes and moments all at the same time! The fact we all were standing, clapping and celebrating at the end was icing on the cake! I love being in an audience like that!
Contact – I cannot remember how I first saw this film, but I was entranced with the story to the brink that I knew I wanted to add Carl Sagan onto my TBR List! It is one of the stories that leaves you museful after you watch the film as well!
The Postman – Here’s a more unique story of how to see a film! At the time I saw this film (late 90s) we had a sat dish that would get feeds from both the West Coast and the East Coast, so in theory, you would never miss ‘any show or film’ you wanted to see as long as you could handle the time differences and air dates! I was up late one night unable to focus on whichever project I was working on at the time, so around 9p or so, I came across this film! Although I didn’t realise it was this particular film until a full hour and a half had gone by and I realised it myself! When the credits rolled I was feeling as though I had missed out on the best bits of the film! I quickly scanned to see if it was going to re-air and sure enough! It was! Clearly not the most logical idea I ever had as the end-time for the re-airing was well past 3am! I simply could not think straight afterwards, I was that inspired and intrigued! Loved it! Which was a bit of a surprise, really!
Bicentennial Man – I knew going in that this was going to be a highly emotional film for me to see and I was not disappointed!
Galaxy Quest – I honestly shouldn’t love this one as much as I do because I am into Trek, but what can I say!? They handled it well and the cast play off each other in such a clever and fun way, that I find myself wanting to watch this on a rotation to where it’s never far from sight! Except to say the last several years I haven’t seen it as readily as I had in the past! Laughs.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within – I consider this a landmark film on so many levels, which is why I am reviewing it for SFN! A friend of mine gave me the dvd for Advent Children which is the sequel as she didn’t like it at all. I couldn’t understand why until she told me how she felt about the original. Clearly we were not matched in the film department! Oy! I am going to be watching both of them and doing a double-feature review! I cannot wait!
Clockstoppers – What can I say!? I adored this film! Cheeky humour and all!
Zathura: A Space Adventure – Loved the creative edge to this film, but then, I adored Jumanji!
The Last Mimzy – I could not literally stop thinking about this film after I saw it in the theater! When I found a copy of it on dvd at a library bookshop on sale for less than $3 I nearly thought my vision field was misreading the label! I couldn’t sort out how no one appreciated this film!? Maybe it was too sophisticated!? Not sure. If I have time, I want to review this for SFN!
Wall-E – Simply one of the best films ever for creating such a positive representation for being a steward of the environment as much as being a community rather than a numbing society where no one knows anyone else! Loved it!

I look forward to seeing comments populate to see if I have selected any that are warmly regarded by you, dear hearts! At least we have been given a wide choice of what we can watch, eh!? IF you would like to create your own blog post that speaks about your own Top 10 or Top 20 List of Favourite Science Fiction Motion Pictures of All-Time, I encourage you to drop back and share the link of your post here on Jorie Loves A Story! As always, I encourage you to remember to link directly to your post and not your homepages! :)