Reserved. My list will teleport itself here.
Title in BLACK = DVD/Bluray from my personal collection.
Title in RED = Seen online (Netflix or Youtube).
Title in BLUE = DVD/Bluray rental.
Title in PURPLE = Seen in movie theatre during it's current theatrical run.
* = First time viewing.
-popcorn- = Seen during its original theatrical run.
July 1
1. Alien: Resurrection (1997) -popcorn- Extended cut from the Alien Anthology Blu Ray Box Set. My favourite of all the Alien sequels, yes even above Aliens since I feel that this instalment blend all of the elements of the previous Alien films: Horror, SF, Action and character development. The CGI is thankfully used only sparingly so it does not feel dated at all and the (literal) evolution of the Ripley character makes this one stand out. Nothing compares to the first one of course but this one is pretty damn good.
2. The Beast Within: Making Alien / Enhancement Pods* (2010) Extensive "making of" documentary included in the special features of the Alien Anthology Blu Ray box set. Quite in-depth interviews with practically everybody involved that really give you a feel of the origin of the film and its creation.
July 2
3. Superior Firepower: Making Aliens* (2010) Behind the scenes look at the making of Aliens from the Alien Anthology Blu Ray Box Set. By all accounts James Cameron is brilliant but also an asshole.
4. Last Days on Mars* (2014) Since this film is recent I will not go into the plot as to avoid spoilers. Suffice to say that I expected more from it.
July 3
5. Dreamcatcher (2003) -popcorn- I decided to rent this to give it another shot but it's only marginally more interesting than the first time I saw it when I found it rather lacking and disjointed. First we have an intimate story of four friends whir share bond create by a special needs child they met when they were kids and then the movie goes into military mode with a secret army tasked with fighting an alien invasion. Based on the novel by Stephen King (which I started reading but never finished). Some interesting concepts but as a whole it just didn't do it for me.
July 4 - Christopher Walken double feature!
6. Brainstorm (1983) -popcorn-
7. Communion* (1989)
8. Iceman (1984) Timothy Hutton discovers a frozen Neanderthal who is brought back to life. While some scientists want to dissect him in order to find an anti-freezing agent that would prolong life, Hutton wants to keep him alive so we can learn about ourselves. John Lone stars as the Caveman and gives an excellent performance.
July 5
9. Fantastic Voyage (1966) A classic that looks fantastic on Blu Ray. This is what's missing from movies nowadays - a sense of wonder. When the crew of the Submarine go into the human body there is a sense of going where no-one has gone before and we are along for the ride. The characters are awed by their voyage and so are we. Compare that to the "business as usual" attitude of modern SF characters and you'll see what I mean.
July 6- Nothing
July 7
10. Source Code
July 9
11. Pacific Rim (2013) -popcorn- Guillermo del Toro's ode to Japanese monster movies complete with cardboard characters. A visual feast that never takes itself too seriously.
July 10-11 - Nothing
July 12
12. The Six Million Dollar Man
July 13
13. The Six Million Dollar Man, S2 (1974) Episodes: Pilot error / The Pal-Mir escort
July 14
14. The Six Million Dollar Man, S2 (1974) Episodes: The seven million dollar man / Straight on 'til morning The beautiful Meg Foster stars in this las one as an alien stranded on Earth. One of the episodes with a much more Science Fiction slant.
July 15
15. The Six Million Dollar Man, S2 (1974) Episodes: The Midas touch / The deadly replay In the latter episode, Steve Austin is aced to one again fly the experimental aircraft that he once crashed in and gave him his bionic limbs.
July 16
16. Fringe*, S4 (2012) Episodes: Everything in its right place / The consultant
July 17
17. The Six Million Dollar Man, S2 (1974) Episodes: Act of piracy / stranger in broken fork
July 18
18. Fringe*, S4 (2012) Episodes: Letters of transit / Worlds apart
July 19
19. The Six Million Dollar Man, S2 (1974-75) Episodes: The peeping blonde / Cross-country kidnap In the former episode Farrah Fawcett (Lee Majors' real life wife at the time) stars as a snoopy reporter out to get the scoop on Steve Austin's bionics. In the latter episode Donna Mills (she of the luminous eyes) stars as a computer programmer who is the target of kidnapping.
July 20
20. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes* (2014) -popcorn- Now THIS is what a Planet of the Apes movie is supposed to be! Yes, I liked Rise but I felt it just was tot far removed from what I love about the Apes movies since it was basically only the origin of the story. Now we see the apes organised into a rudimentary society and doing things we saw them do in the original series like riding horses and using guns.
21. Total Recall(2012) -popcorn- Not really a remake since it bears only a passing resemblance to the original film but it doesn't matter since it's a pretty good movie in it's own right. The only weak spot is Bryan Cranston as a totally one-dimensional villain but other that that everyone does a great job especially Kate Beckinsale as a relentless agent out to kill Colin Farrell's character.
22. Decoys 2: Alien Seduction* (2007) I have not seen Decoys 1 though I'm sure I'm not missing much. Bought this one dirt cheap at a video rental place that was going out of business just because it has the lovely Dina Meyer in it and the promise of boobs. What I got was only a handful of scenes with Dina Meyer and very little nudity. The plot is a combination of really bad teen comedy and a Species rip-off that does not deliver on either side.
July 21
23. The Six Million Dollar Man, S2 (1975) Episodes: Lost love / The last Kamikaze The former is an uneasily sentimental episode where Steve Austin rekindles an old flame.
July 22-25 - Nothing
July 26
24. Beneath the Planet of the Apes
25. Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) Roddy McDowall returns as Cornelius along with Kim Hunter as Zira as they travel back in time to 1971 and are treated to the same kind of scrutiny that they themselves placed upon humans.
July 26
26. Justice League: War* (2014) The origin of the Justice League in the New 52 DC Universe.
27. The Six Million Dollar Man, S2 (1975) Episodes: Return of the robot maker / Taneha In the former episode a villain from Season 1 returns and this time he makes a robot Oscar Goldman so we get a cool Steve Austin vs Robot Oscar fight at the end.
July 27
28. The Six Million Dollar Man, S2 (1975) Episodes: Look alike / The E.S.P. spy
July 28
29. Transcendence* (2014) Johnny Depp is uploaded into a computer and becomes sentient. Boring.
July 29
30. Solaris* (1972) Incredibly slow-paced (even by European film standards), this movie is nonetheless strangely engaging and delivers an SF story removed from the technology-loving, laser blast-spewing, green aliens seen in most western movies. it can be a chore to sit through (I saw it over the course of two days) but once the beautiful Natalya Bondarchuk as the alien construct Hari appears on the scene the movie becomes more watchable.
July 30
31. Solaris (2002) -popcorn- A more tightly-scripted and better paced version than the Russian movie of the same name. The story remains mostly the same - a psychiatric travels to a space station orbiting an alien planet and finds that the planet has a strange effect on the crew. George Clooney delivers a pretty good performance and carries the film nicely.
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