Here Comes The Sun

James Wallis says that Boyle's new Sunshine is "the best science-fiction movie since The Matrix".

Hm.

Using The Matrix as some sort of benchmark point of comparison with regard to SF movies bothers me considerably.

Here are movies that have been released since The Matrix which I consider better movies, and also better exemplars of science-fiction than The Matrix:

• Solaris (Soderbergh's remake, admittedly)
• Code 46
• Minority Report
• 2046 (admittedly, this is a bit of a stretch as SF, but better movie certainly)
• Primer (not necessarily a flashier movie, but certainly a better example of SF)
• A Scanner Darkly
• The Fountain
• The Prestige (the science doesn't have to be up-front to be SF)

And those are just the ones that fairly leapt to mind like keener kids in the front row.

I suppose you could also want to include Vanilla Sky on the list, but it's a pale remake of Abre los ojos, which came out two years before Keanu's resuscitation vehicle. And by including that, let's chalk up three writer credits for Philip K. Dick on that list (five, if you are brave enough to include Impostor and Paycheck, which are neither better films than The Matrix, and arguably not quite as good SF either, but that last point is certainly arguable -- it's really hard to completely obscure and butcher Dick's ideas, but Georgaris' woeful adaptation of "Paycheck" certainly comes close).

Comparing Sunshine to The Matrix, and not, say, Solaris leads me to have serious doubts about whether I want to see Sunshine. And that's not good. Frankly, I want more films like Solaris or Code 46 or Scanner Darkly as exemplars of the SF genre: a genre that, primarily, seeks to invoke wonder and thoughtfulness in the audience.

What I don't want is more films like The Matrix and Serenity which, frankly, are to SF as the entire modern James Bond movie franchise is to the espionage genre.

I really hope that Sunshine isn't just another big-guns, big-explosions, big-nothing movie. I had hopes for so much more.

Here Comes The Sun

James Wallis says that Boyle's new Sunshine is "the best science-fiction movie since The Matrix".

Hm.

Using The Matrix as some sort of benchmark point of comparison with regard to SF movies bothers me considerably.

Here are movies that have been released since The Matrix which I consider better movies, and also better exemplars of science-fiction than The Matrix:

• Solaris (Soderbergh's remake, admittedly)
• Code 46
• Minority Report
• 2046 (admittedly, this is a bit of a stretch as SF, but better movie certainly)
• Primer (not necessarily a flashier movie, but certainly a better example of SF)
• A Scanner Darkly
• The Fountain
• The Prestige (the science doesn't have to be up-front to be SF)

And those are just the ones that fairly leapt to mind like keener kids in the front row.

I suppose you could also want to include Vanilla Sky on the list, but it's a pale remake of Abre los ojos, which came out two years before Keanu's resuscitation vehicle. And by including that, let's chalk up three writer credits for Philip K. Dick on that list (five, if you are brave enough to include Impostor and Paycheck, which are neither better films than The Matrix, and arguably not quite as good SF either, but that last point is certainly arguable -- it's really hard to completely obscure and butcher Dick's ideas, but Georgaris' woeful adaptation of "Paycheck" certainly comes close).

Comparing Sunshine to The Matrix, and not, say, Solaris leads me to have serious doubts about whether I want to see Sunshine. And that's not good. Frankly, I want more films like Solaris or Code 46 or Scanner Darkly as exemplars of the SF genre: a genre that, primarily, seeks to invoke wonder and thoughtfulness in the audience.

What I don't want is more films like The Matrix and Serenity which, frankly, are to SF as the entire modern James Bond movie franchise is to the espionage genre.

I really hope that Sunshine isn't just another big-guns, big-explosions, big-nothing movie. I had hopes for so much more.

Impending play: Spirit of the Century!

So, I was jazzed enough by Spirit of the Century, a new pulp-age rolegame, that I thought I would try to actually play it (this may seem like a silly statement, but I probably have actually played less than a fifth of the rolegames that I have purchased over the years; partly the reason I don't really buy them any more). In fact, I was impressed enough by reading the game's rules, that I thought, "Hey! These rules would seem to be good for any kind of heroic action game, not just a pulp-genre game!".

So, starting this week, my regular Friday group (finally back together after a long absence) will be easing into the pool, with a game that's roughly inspired by Hellboy and BPRD -- strange heroes bump back against the things that go bump in the night!

And, I've also set up an irregular Sunday group (featuring pyat, doc_mystery, and thebitterguy in an effort to expand my gaming horizons. Once we managed to settle on a schedule that seemed to work for everyone, we then settled on what to play -- in the end, it's going to be a sort of a face-off between Spirit of the Century and Traveller (the Classic kind, of course).

Here's the four "campaign seedlings" I presented to the players. They chose the first one on the list.

Operation Atlantis!
Clarence K Clapton, III, eccentric billionaire and media baron has financed the construction of a massive submarine, named The Leviathan, and seeks a crew. His purpose? To find the fabled lost city of Atlantis, gateway to the Hollow Earth!

Gotham Knights!
Dr Thomas Wayne was a happy and successful doctor until one night tragedy struck! A street robbery resulted in the death of Wayne's wife and young son, leaving Thomas alive and permanently crippled. Now Thomas has created the Wayne Academy as a cover for his youthful group of vigilantes with special talents, hand-picked by the good Doctor to Investigate Mystery And Fight Crime!

Starship Odyssey!
A group of brave astronauts are chosen to test The Odyssey Project, a new SpaceCorp Star Ship with their ground breaking Better-Than-Light drive! The BTL drive will open up new horizons for mankind and bring us beyond the bounds of our solar system, to the stars!

They Day They Came Back!
Somewhere in the Florida everglades works Richard Mendelman, a brilliant scientist, assistated by a crew of able assistants, funded by a top secret government research dollars. Some time last week, his research station went radio-silent, and his government minders decided it was time to send in a top-flight team to investigate. Your briefing has been maddeningly ambiguous on certain points, but on one point your are clear: you must travel to the research base, ascertain the status of the Dr Mendelman and the project, and report back to your superiors. Sounds like a walk in the park.

Discerning readers will remark that at least one of these is a shamelessly ripped off notion. But I do much better with riffs than sui generis notions anyway.

Which of these would you like to use as a starting point for your upcoming Spirit of the Century game? What, you're not playing it? Well, you should give it a try...

Impending play: Spirit of the Century!

So, I was jazzed enough by Spirit of the Century, a new pulp-age rolegame, that I thought I would try to actually play it (this may seem like a silly statement, but I probably have actually played less than a fifth of the rolegames that I have purchased over the years; partly the reason I don't really buy them any more). In fact, I was impressed enough by reading the game's rules, that I thought, "Hey! These rules would seem to be good for any kind of heroic action game, not just a pulp-genre game!".

So, starting this week, my regular Friday group (finally back together after a long absence) will be easing into the pool, with a game that's roughly inspired by Hellboy and BPRD -- strange heroes bump back against the things that go bump in the night!

And, I've also set up an irregular Sunday group (featuring pyat, doc_mystery, and thebitterguy in an effort to expand my gaming horizons. Once we managed to settle on a schedule that seemed to work for everyone, we then settled on what to play -- in the end, it's going to be a sort of a face-off between Spirit of the Century and Traveller (the Classic kind, of course).

Here's the four "campaign seedlings" I presented to the players. They chose the first one on the list.

Operation Atlantis!
Clarence K Clapton, III, eccentric billionaire and media baron has financed the construction of a massive submarine, named The Leviathan, and seeks a crew. His purpose? To find the fabled lost city of Atlantis, gateway to the Hollow Earth!

Gotham Knights!
Dr Thomas Wayne was a happy and successful doctor until one night tragedy struck! A street robbery resulted in the death of Wayne's wife and young son, leaving Thomas alive and permanently crippled. Now Thomas has created the Wayne Academy as a cover for his youthful group of vigilantes with special talents, hand-picked by the good Doctor to Investigate Mystery And Fight Crime!

Starship Odyssey!
A group of brave astronauts are chosen to test The Odyssey Project, a new SpaceCorp Star Ship with their ground breaking Better-Than-Light drive! The BTL drive will open up new horizons for mankind and bring us beyond the bounds of our solar system, to the stars!

They Day They Came Back!
Somewhere in the Florida everglades works Richard Mendelman, a brilliant scientist, assistated by a crew of able assistants, funded by a top secret government research dollars. Some time last week, his research station went radio-silent, and his government minders decided it was time to send in a top-flight team to investigate. Your briefing has been maddeningly ambiguous on certain points, but on one point your are clear: you must travel to the research base, ascertain the status of the Dr Mendelman and the project, and report back to your superiors. Sounds like a walk in the park.

Discerning readers will remark that at least one of these is a shamelessly ripped off notion. But I do much better with riffs than sui generis notions anyway.

Which of these would you like to use as a starting point for your upcoming Spirit of the Century game? What, you're not playing it? Well, you should give it a try...