Retro Nostalgia: Legend (1985) and the Power of Innocence
(A different subtitle might say this: “A World of Oppositions, Stricken By Their Equilibrium.” This, of course, assumes I will follow Jason Sanford‘s story-title-generation process for these features. I’ll leave artistic license aside for now…) One of the curious things about Ridley Scott’s 1985 fairy tale — appropriately entitled Legend — is how desperately it clings to its fairy […]
Retro Nostalgia: Logan’s Run (1976) and the Infantilization of Humanity
(Note: There are a few spoilers below. If you have not seen Logan’s Run and want to, I recommend watching it before you read this post. I’m not ruining the entire movie or anything; I just know that I would prefer a completely untainted first viewing. If you don’t care about a few spoilers, then read […]
Retro Nostalgia: The Bourne Identity (2002) and the Politics of Amnesia
One of the things that fascinates me about the Bourne movies is the question raised by his amnesia within the ideology of terrorism (read: War on Terrorism, etc.). To think about Bourne’s amnesia as a symptom of a particular form of national ideology is to understand that his amnesia is not simply a convenient plot device (though […]
Retro Nostalgia: The Fifth Element (1997) and the Legacy of Camp
The Fifth Element is one of those films that the genre community loves not because it is a good film, but because it’s actually pretty awful, and intentionally so. At least, that’s how I interpret it. It has always seemed like a film that deliberately sought out science fiction’s pension for high-flying, mythological fantasy (in […]
Retro Nostalgia: Alien (1979) and the Uncanny Valley
Having recently viewed and podcasted about Ridley Scott’s prequel, Prometheus, I decided it would be a great idea to revisit the Alien franchise by re-watching Ridley Scott’s original: Alien. Released in 1979, the film remains one of the most terrifying science fiction movies to hit the big screen, despite the obvious dating in its technology […]
Retro Nostalgia: Sunshine (2007) and Science Fiction’s Supreme Optimism
I’ve argued before that science fiction is a naturally optimistic genre. One of the main reasons for this is the fact that SF almost always imagines a future in which we still exist. While watching Sunshine, however, my position became more nuanced. It’s not that we are still alive; it’s that we’ve survived. Sunshine is […]