Welcome to #FantasyJune. For those that have been with me for a bit you will remember that January was #SciFiJanuary. SciFi is all about science including the softer sciences. Fantasy is all about magic and what is not explained. https://hottakesonfilm.substack.com/p/welcome-to-fantasy-june?sd=pf

For #SciFiJanuary - a review of Rich Horton's excellent Best of the Year Anthology for 2021. https://www.shortsf.com/reviews/horton2021

Let’s cap off #SciFiJanuary with one of my favorite #SciFi #Films The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951 US). This was directed by the insanely talented Robert Wise and released the same year as the classic noir The House on Telegraph Hill which he also directed. Busy guy. A rebuke of Cold War politics this masterpiece is considered one of the best #ScienceFiction films ever and really holds up over time. Keanu Reeves made a remake in 2008 but I like the original. Keanu was like “Duuude your planets going to be blown up” JK! love you Keanu. Wise later directed West Side Story and then in 1979 Star Trek the motion picture. I forgive him for that. It looked good though. #Film #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

Let’s cap off #SciFiJanuary with one of my favorite #SciFi #Films The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951 US). This was directed by the insanely talented Robert Wise and released the same year as the classic noir The House on Telegraph Hill which he also directed. Busy guy. A rebuke of Cold War politics this masterpiece is considered one of the best #ScienceFiction films ever and really holds up over time. Keanu Reeves made a remake in 2008 but I like the original. Keanu was like “Duuude your planets going to be blown up” JK! love you Keanu. Wise later directed West Side Story and then in 1979 Star Trek the motion picture. I forgive him for that. It looked good though. #Film #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

As we wind down #SciFiJanuary the second transition film to #LoveFestFebruary is A Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021 US). Two teenagers are stuck in a time loop in a small town. Like About Time this has a strong romance and relationship component to it but it’s still solidly #SciFi. I love how it plays with the rules of the genre. I won’t spoil it for you and talk more about that but just to say it’s really interesting that way. I really enjoyed this one and especially appreciated the color work on it. It’s an Amazon original and as such is not available elsewhere at least not right now. #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

As we wind down #SciFiJanuary the second transition film to #LoveFestFebruary is A Map of Tiny Perfect Things (2021 US). Two teenagers are stuck in a time loop in a small town. Like About Time this has a strong romance and relationship component to it but it’s still solidly #SciFi. I love how it plays with the rules of the genre. I won’t spoil it for you and talk more about that but just to say it’s really interesting that way. I really enjoyed this one and especially appreciated the color work on it. It’s an Amazon original and as such is not available elsewhere at least not right now. #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

As we close up #SciFiJanuary I like to post a transition film into #LoveFestFebruary and the first entry is About Time (2013 UK US). On a man’s 21st birthday he is told the family secret. The men in the family can travel through time. And as you would expect a 21 year old man to do he f*cks around with it and of course finds out. What’s neat is you really see him grow up through his time transgressions. Although, this has a very strong romance element it is still solidly #SciFi. I think this is one of my favorite time travel movies. Star Domhnall Gleason comes across as so very endearing even when he’s being an idiot. Rachel McAdams is a little too much “the love interest” for my taste but I still enjoyed it. Find it on Amazon or for rent on most streaming, #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

As we close up #SciFiJanuary I like to post a transition film into #LoveFestFebruary and the first entry is About Time (2013 UK US). On a man’s 21st birthday he is told the family secret. The men in the family can travel through time. And as you would expect a 21 year old man to do he f*cks around with it and of course finds out. What’s neat is you really see him grow up through his time transgressions. Although, this has a very strong romance element it is still solidly #SciFi. I think this is one of my favorite time travel movies. Star Domhnall Gleason comes across as so very endearing even when he’s being an idiot. Rachel McAdams is a little too much “the love interest” for my taste but I still enjoyed it. Find it on Amazon or for rent on most streaming, #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

The Vast of Night (2020 US) students investigate a mysterious signal in 1950’s New Mexico. I like to call this a great little film that could. With a budget of 700k which was spent mostly on costumes and props including cars, director Andrew Peterson did a great job creating tension and just the right amount. It can be a bit of a slow burn sometimes as it gets into the details of radio reception and science. It’s kind of cool that way, but then it picks up. I enjoyed it. Find it on Amazon. I’m not seeing it for rent in my region. #SciFi #SciFiJanuary #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

The Vast of Night (2020 US) students investigate a mysterious signal in 1950’s New Mexico. I like to call this a great little film that could. With a budget of 700k which was spent mostly on costumes and props including cars, director Andrew Peterson did a great job creating tension and just the right amount. It can be a bit of a slow burn sometimes as it gets into the details of radio reception and science. It’s kind of cool that way, but then it picks up. I enjoyed it. Find it on Amazon. I’m not seeing it for rent in my region. #SciFi #SciFiJanuary #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

It’s #FondueSunday in #SciFiJanuary and todays second entry is Angry Red Planet (1959 US). I’m finishing up a color grading project on a film so my mind is on color. I was curious how they made the Martian scenes in this film. Apparently, they shot those parts in black and white then applied some manner of chemical to it in the development of the film. The budget was $200 k and the sets were cheesy af so they were able to hide that and an added bonus is that B/W is cheaper to film in. Two birds with one stone. Clever! But OMG the dialogue was cringe and the lead astronaut was such a douche. I liked the color effect but I kinda got over it after the first five minutes. Overall though this is classic fondue. Find it on Amazon or for rent if you are so inclined. #SciFi #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

It’s #FondueSunday in #SciFiJanuary and todays second entry is Angry Red Planet (1959 US). I’m finishing up a color grading project on a film so my mind is on color. I was curious how they made the Martian scenes in this film. Apparently, they shot those parts in black and white then applied some manner of chemical to it in the development of the film. The budget was $200 k and the sets were cheesy af so they were able to hide that and an added bonus is that B/W is cheaper to film in. Two birds with one stone. Clever! But OMG the dialogue was cringe and the lead astronaut was such a douche. I liked the color effect but I kinda got over it after the first five minutes. Overall though this is classic fondue. Find it on Amazon or for rent if you are so inclined. #SciFi #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

It’s #FondueSunday in #SciFiJanuary and todays entry is LaserBlast (1978 US) a moody teenager finds an alien laser gun in the desert. Things don’t go well after that. Well folks I don’t know what to say. It’s really bad. However, I am in awe of how many explosions they were able to have on a $280k budget. Those things aren’t cheap. The stop motion aliens were kinda fun. I loved the scene where a senior alien was chewing out the juniors for losing the laser. A black ops sort of character looked exactly like the guy on the cover of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here Album. You know, the guy that was on fire. I gotta say I checked out from watching the film. I really should have watched the Mystery Science Theaters 3k version. Believe it or not this film made money at the Box Office. It’s on Tubi and Amazon free and available to rent if you are so inclined. #SciFi #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

It’s #FondueSunday in #SciFiJanuary and todays entry is LaserBlast (1978 US) a moody teenager finds an alien laser gun in the desert. Things don’t go well after that. Well folks I don’t know what to say. It’s really bad. However, I am in awe of how many explosions they were able to have on a $280k budget. Those things aren’t cheap. The stop motion aliens were kinda fun. I loved the scene where a senior alien was chewing out the juniors for losing the laser. A black ops sort of character looked exactly like the guy on the cover of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here Album. You know, the guy that was on fire. I gotta say I checked out from watching the film. I really should have watched the Mystery Science Theaters 3k version. Believe it or not this film made money at the Box Office. It’s on Tubi and Amazon free and available to rent if you are so inclined. #SciFi #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

The Beast from 20,000 fathoms (1953 US) another Ray Harryhausen stop motion #Kaiju. On the Harryhausen box set there are pics and video of the making of this film. It’s really neat to watch. I recommend the box set. This is another example where the monster carries the film. Talk, talk, talk, blah blah, Monster! Yay! Rejoice! At the last I heard there is a Harryhausen museum in London with a lot of his models on display. I also heard his family is trying desperately to save the relics from natural deterioration. If anyone has updates please feel free to post. I would love to go there but alas I’m just too busy rn. You can find this one on Hulu or for rent on most streaming. #SciFi #SciFiJanuary #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #Movie #Movies #FilmFan #Cinema

The Beast from 20,000 fathoms (1953 US) another Ray Harryhausen stop motion #Kaiju. On the Harryhausen box set there are pics and video of the making of this film. It’s really neat to watch. I recommend the box set. This is another example where the monster carries the film. Talk, talk, talk, blah blah, Monster! Yay! Rejoice! At the last I heard there is a Harryhausen museum in London with a lot of his models on display. I also heard his family is trying desperately to save the relics from natural deterioration. If anyone has updates please feel free to post. I would love to go there but alas I’m just too busy rn. You can find this one on Hulu or for rent on most streaming. #SciFi #SciFiJanuary #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #Movie #Movies #FilmFan #Cinema

It came from Beneath the Sea (1955 US). Like I said earlier I’m a big Ray Harryhausen fan. I just love stop motion. So much so that I made a short film stop motion. This film is all about the #Kaiju and Harryhausen’s work and tbh there isn’t much else going for it. Harryhausen was just so good at what he did that it was enough to carry a film and propel it into legendary status. There is a theory floating about that his work resonates so much now because it was painstakingly hand crafted and not computerized. Yeah there were flaws but it was human flaws. Harryhausen talked about creating this beast. It only had six appendages instead of eight because eight was just too much to animate. He was doing the work one day and got a phone call. When he returned he forgot where he was and had to start all over again. Nowadays there is tech to help the animator but even then that happened to me several times. I stopped answering my phone. I have the Harryhausen box set which is awesome but you can find this for rent on most streaming. #SciFi #SciFiJanuary #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

It came from Beneath the Sea (1955 US). Like I said earlier I’m a big Ray Harryhausen fan. I just love stop motion. So much so that I made a short film stop motion. This film is all about the #Kaiju and Harryhausen’s work and tbh there isn’t much else going for it. Harryhausen was just so good at what he did that it was enough to carry a film and propel it into legendary status. There is a theory floating about that his work resonates so much now because it was painstakingly hand crafted and not computerized. Yeah there were flaws but it was human flaws. Harryhausen talked about creating this beast. It only had six appendages instead of eight because eight was just too much to animate. He was doing the work one day and got a phone call. When he returned he forgot where he was and had to start all over again. Nowadays there is tech to help the animator but even then that happened to me several times. I stopped answering my phone. I have the Harryhausen box set which is awesome but you can find this for rent on most streaming. #SciFi #SciFiJanuary #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

King Kong (1933 US) I’m a big Ray Harryhausen fan and he got his start on Kong animating the #Kaiju. He was just a helper at that point. It stars Faye Wray who seriously reconsidered her life choices after getting crush by the robot arm of Kong. In 1933 filmmakers were still trying to figure out how to make good films so a lot of the rules that we acknowledge and take for granted now weren’t quite imbedded in stone yet. For instance Faye Wray is on the beach, she looks shocked, points to something and says “look over there”. The camera never pans to the pov shot nor does it cut to. You just never know what she was looking at. Nowadays that would be grounds for incarceration but back then it was just “huh I wonder what was there?” I’m team Kong in the Legendary universe and I have to say I liked the 1933 film but it was kinda f’ed up. It was widely understood in the black community that Kong was “the scary black man” out to harass white women. Ok they made it in 1933. You can appreciate the skills and artistry of Kong now but two remakes should not have happened. The Legendary Kong is more of a king and protector and Im down for that. Find it on HBO and Amazon and available for rent on most streaming. #SciFi #SciFiJanuary #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema

King Kong (1933 US) I’m a big Ray Harryhausen fan and he got his start on Kong animating the #Kaiju. He was just a helper at that point. It stars Faye Wray who seriously reconsidered her life choices after getting crush by the robot arm of Kong. In 1933 filmmakers were still trying to figure out how to make good films so a lot of the rules that we acknowledge and take for granted now weren’t quite imbedded in stone yet. For instance Faye Wray is on the beach, she looks shocked, points to something and says “look over there”. The camera never pans to the pov shot nor does it cut to. You just never know what she was looking at. Nowadays that would be grounds for incarceration but back then it was just “huh I wonder what was there?” I’m team Kong in the Legendary universe and I have to say I liked the 1933 film but it was kinda f’ed up. It was widely understood in the black community that Kong was “the scary black man” out to harass white women. Ok they made it in 1933. You can appreciate the skills and artistry of Kong now but two remakes should not have happened. The Legendary Kong is more of a king and protector and Im down for that. Find it on HBO and Amazon and available for rent on most streaming. #SciFi #SciFiJanuary #ScienceFiction #Film #Films #FilmFan #Movie #Movies #Cinema