I think this may be the first time I’ve shed a tear during a zombie movie. This short film deserves a feature film adaptation. The concept is absolutely beautiful: during a zombie outbreak, an infected father spends his last moments trying to bring is infant daughter to safety. A+
On a recent episode of the Functional Nerds podcast, Patrick Hester posited that based on the prefix “professional” in “professional writer,” those writers who do not make a living as writers technically don’t count as pros. I’m paraphrasing, of course, so I recommend actually listening to the podcast here (the comment appears around the 30-minute mark). The idea is not a new one. It falls within the same discussions about who gets to call themselves “writers” or “authors,” and who has to suck a bag of too-bads and accept that they don’t get to use a fancy label. And it’s likewise tied into the longstanding discussions about the term “professional” within our field, most notably in the fact that what the SFWA considers a “professional” publication has very little to do with whether one actually makes a living as a published writer. It’s from that last line that I’d like to suggest that while it’s perhaps accurate to apply “professional writer” only to those who make a living as writers, the material realities of the writing life make such a determination numerically meaningless. So few writers actually make a living as writers, and of those that do make a living as such, most of them do so via a variety of writing avenues. A midlist author of science fiction novels, for example, may fill in the enormous gaps from fiction publications with freelance work (essays, editing, etc.). The number of authors who actually get to live off a single form of writing (Stephen King, for example, or Neil Gaiman…) comprises such a small number of all published writers out there that using “professional writer” on them alone wouldn’t really tell us anything other than “these are the authors who sell enough books to pay a mortgage.” Since a great deal of non-writer folks likewise wouldn’t fall within the domain of a “professional” based on how well they do in a given field, I just don’t see why the term provides any use value if we apply so selectively. And that’s perhaps the big problem here. What the hell is a professional writer anyway? Would Harper Lee count as a professional writer? She only wrote one book: To Kill a Mockingbird. But it sells so many copies every year that I suspect she could live quite comfortably off the various royalties and rights purchases associated with it. Is she a professional writer? By the standard of financial value: yes. By any other standard of professionalism? Nope. Most uses of the term professional apply to those who actually participate in the production of a “thing.” A doctor who has a practice or works at a hospital is a professional. A practicing lawyer is a professional. An author who sells one book and nothing else? Well… I suppose all of this is essentially a reflection about the state of the field of authorship. In other fields, one can become a professional by “doing,” but in the world of writing, I’m not sure there’s an easy measurement for “professional” and “not.” Harper Lee is probably a professional writer, but the standards by which her professionalism would be measured wouldn’t apply to someone like, say, Tobias S. Buckell, who still splits his salary between fiction sales and freelance work (I’m not sure how true that is today, though; he used to do these in-depth analyses of his yearly salary, but he’s been quite busy lately). In Hester’s assessment, the former is instantly a professional writer; the latter is not. Why? What makes the distinction here? Money can’t be the only valuable distinction between the two. There have to be other factors, too; otherwise, what’s the point of calling anyone a professional writer if all you need to do to become one is publish one book and sell millions of copies? Any thoughts?
This is just the beginning. I’m going to make an announcement about this very topic after I pass my PhD candidacy exams in September. For now, however, I’d like to offer a list of films I consider to be “the best” in the SF/F category for the years 2010-2013 (thus far). By “the best,” I mean “films I think are good movies as movies.” A lot of these films were quite popular when they were in theaters, but I’m not concerned by popularity here. I’m only concerned with what I think are well-written and/or well-produced films. A film with a thin plot can still be great if it does something more than just throw lots of action at the audience to hide its flaws (this is why you will see no Michael Bay films on the list). And on that note, I will shut up. The following are the top 10 SF/F movies released since 2010…for now (this list will change as I start to watch things I missed): 10. Chronicle (2012) While I’m not a huge fan of the found-footage film form, occasionally they are done right. Chronicle is one of those times. The semi-diary-format superhero story coupled with a narrative about the psychological impact of parental abuse and death stuck with me after I saw it in theaters. I connected with the main character almost immediately, in part because I’ve had similar experiences (minus the super powers). The director also does a pretty damn good job cobbling together the fictive pieces of the main character’s film diary, gaps and all. That earns it a spot on this list. 9. John Dies at the End (2012) This movie is weird. Really weird. But it’s also the kind of brilliant mix of camp and horror that one expects from Don Coscarelli, Jr. If you haven’t seen the film (and like Coscarelli’s work), I recommend watching it on Netflix. I can’t describe it to you. It’s, as I said, really freaking weird, and relentless in its descent into insanity. It’s sort of what I’d expect someone who just saw Cthulu to dream as they slowly fall to pieces. Only John Dies at the End is hilarious, surreal, and dark. 8. Pacific Rim (2013) You can learn all about my love for this film here. 7. Pumzi (released in the U.S. in 2010) The only short film of this list, Wanuri Kahiu’s incredible dystopian film Pumzi took academic circles by storm in 2010. For such a short work, it manages to bring a lot to the table: a thoroughly African setting (I suspect there are cultural clues specific to Kahiu’s native Kenya, but I know too little about that nation to say for sure); a fascinating post-apocalyptic “green utopian” society; and some interesting uses of technology. I’d say the film is cliche, but the semi-mystic undertones and the ambiguous final vertical panning shot over a seemingly threatening climate on the other side of the mountains make this one of the best films released in the last three years, if only because I’ve had some intense discussions about that ending. 6. Another Earth (2011) While action and straightforward SF films are wonderful when done right, sometimes a character drama in an SFnal universe can make for exceptional cinematic experiences. Brit Marling and Mike Cahill’s Another Earth uses its SF premise (a planet that looks suspiciously like our own earth appears suddenly in the sky) to provide an extended metaphor about second chances. The interaction between Rhoda (Marling) and John (William Mapother) as they both come to terms with the horrors of their connected pasts (unbeknownst to John, whose family was killed in a car accident caused by Rhoda) had me captivated all the way through. And like all good character dramas, the ending provides an ambiguous solution to the primary conflict in the narrative. It’s just a damned good film. 5. Elysium (2013) You can find out what I think about this movie here. I’m likely to write several blog posts about the film, though. I think it’s actually quite an intelligent film, despite all the critics who call it propaganda, stupid, pointlessly utopian, and so on (it is neither of these things). 4. Hugo (2011) The only children’s film on this list, Hugo‘s charming story about family and French cinema deserved a lot more love than it got when the awards season came around. Asa Butterfield’s exceptional performance as the title character, along with equally strong performances by Ben Kingsley and Chloe Moretz, added depth to an already exceptional and brilliantly-imagined film. It most certainly belongs on a top ten list for children’s films from the last decade! For now, I’ve stuck it here. 3. Never Let Me Go (2010) I’m a sucker for Carey Mulligan films, I guess. This low-key dystopia centralizes the personal growth and development of a trio of clones who will one day have their organs harvested by the British state. I saw this film for the first time with my sister, and I recall the feeling of dread and horror that arises in the final moments — feelings that just wouldn’t exist without the direct focus on these three characters as characters. It’s not a film for everyone, but I think it’s easily one of the best SF/F films ever made. 2. Cloud Atlas (2012) This one shouldn’t surprise anyone. The Wachowski sibling’s adaptation of David Mitchell’s epic novel of the same name didn’t get a lot of love from the traditional SF crowd, but I wasn’t surprised by that in the slightest. More critics and viewers loved Prometheus than Cloud Atlas; I think it’s fair to say that the former is a steaming pile of glittering shit stained with oils made from petrified dinosaur crap (here’s what I really think about that movie…). Cloud Atlas, however, is an incredible journey into the interconnected lives of individuals existing across various time periods. Every time I see the film, I make new connections between characters, discover new ambiguities
The fine folks at Flavorwire recently released a list of 50 SF/F films they think everyone should watch (technically, there are 63 titles on the list, since they counted series as one). I figured it would be fun to turn it into a meme. So here you go: BOLD = You’ve seen it! E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Pan’s Labyrinth Moon The Fellowship of the Ring The Two Towers The Return of the King The Princess Bride Labyrinth Men in Black Edward Scissorhands Mad Max Princess Mononoke Spirited Away Gattaca Primer Blade Runner Fantastic Planet The Wizard of Oz The Secret of Roan Inish Dark City The Matrix Time Bandits Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark La Jetée Brazil Metropolis Big Fish Solaris (original) Jurassic Park Alien Aliens Orpheus Dark Star 2001: A Space Odyssey Avatar Back to the Future Star Wars IV: A New Hope Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back Star Wars VI: The Return of the Jedi Close Encounters of the Third Kind A Clockwork Orange Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb The Fountain Sleeper City of Lost Children Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt.1 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt.2 The Day the Earth Stood Still (original) Donnie Darko Invasion of the Body Snathers (original) Ghostbusters Being John Malkovich Akira The Terminator Terminator 2 Strange Days Serenity I count 49. That’s not bad, methinks… How did you do?
Apparently, the following short film is a collaboration between a fashion designer and a photographer. There’s something to be said about the fashion industry giving attention to roleplaying games, I suppose. In any case, this video is kinda strange and kinda awesome at the same time. And Elijah Wood has a small part, for what it’s worth. Enjoy.
I’ve been wildly anticipating the next Neill Blomkamp film for a long while. Now it’s finally here, and I’ve joined David Annandale and Paul Weimer to talk about it in the current episode of Shoot the WISB. Go check it out after you see the movie yourself! You might also like to check out some other episodes over at The Skiffy and Fanty Show, including these: An Interview w/ Michael J. Martinez (author of The Daedalus Incident) Torture Cinema Meets Transformers (2007)
