By Jason Apuzzo. For the past several months here at Libertas we’ve been covering the massive new wave of politically-charged ‘alien invasion’ projects that are about to be unleashed on moviegoers over the next two years or so. The origins of this intriguing new wave of films probably go back to 2008, when J.J. Abrams and Matt Reeves released Cloverfield, a sci-fi cult hit that played out as a kind of faux-documentary riff on the 9/11 attacks. [Abrams would also incorporate a 9/11-style attack on the planet Vulcan in 2009’s Star Trek.] Also in 2008 came Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s affectionate riff on 1950s sci-fi invasion films, in which Dr. Jones confronts not only aliens (of a somewhat benign variety) but the Soviet communist menace, as well. Of course, the ‘alien invasion’ genre then got supercharged in late 2009 by James Cameron’s Avatar, which not only revived 3D but ‘politicized’ sci-fi to a degree unseen since the early 1950s.
One of the things that makes this new wave of films so interesting – and redolent of similar waves from the 1950s – is that it extends from the mega-big budget (e.g., the $200 million Battleship from Universal, starring Liam Neeson) to the low-budget (such as next month’s Skyline, made for under $10 million). And on a thematic level, although not all the plotlines are known for these films, many of them seem to be channeling political anxieties associated with terrorism, foreign threats, nuclear fears, as well as paranoia about the increasingly radical tone of American politics. [See my exchange with the LA Times’ Patrick Goldstein on this subject here.]
By the time this new wave of films peaks – probably about two years from now – Gareth Edwards’ Monsters (opening in select theaters today) is unlikely to be remembered as a high-water point of the genre, even for low-budget fare. Edwards’ film is too languorous, too derivative of other (and better) films to really linger in the memory. What Monsters does accomplish, however, is suggest how easily science fiction can be adapted to comment on contemporary political concerns.
America conducts urban warfare in Mexico in "Monsters."
The set-up for Monsters is relatively straight-forward. In the near future, America has sent space probes out into our solar system searching for microbial evidence of life. These probes have crashed back to Earth in the vicinity of the U.S.-Mexico border, where alien life forms brought back from space have swiftly grown into massive creatures – ‘monsters,’ that more or less look like grilled scampi – that have ravaged the countryside, and even major cities. The U.S. and Mexican militaries have thus conducted a massive (but largely futile) operation to both contain and destroy the creatures, resulting in urban warfare and endless bombing runs that have reduced many urban centers in Mexico to rubble. What’s more, we’re led to believe that the American bombing runs over Mexican cities have been far more devastating and lethal than the creatures themselves. Continue reading The First Wave of ‘Political’ Sci-Fi: LFM Reviews Monsters
• James Cameron is now everywhere, attached to everything. Apparently he’s going to be producing a Fantastic Voyage remake (the original film had a very strong Cold War subtext, by the way); he’s also about to announce some new venture with Governor Schwarzenegger (probably something political, rather than filmic); and you can read his latest thoughts here, here and here on subjects ranging from the future of 3D … to the Avatar sequels … to the ‘hotness’ of Angelina Jolie and how perfect she would be as a star for Sony’s Cleopatra, to which Cameron may or may not be attached. Also: you can catch part of the deleted Earth-opening from Avatarhere, which is just about to hit Blu-ray. At none of these links, however, will you read about an actual start-date for shooting Cameron’s Avatar sequel – which is surely what has Fox sweating bullets right now.
• The cast of the teen TV series Glee apparently got themselves in a lot of hot water over their racy spread in GQ magazine – and one of the show’s cast members has already apologized, more or less, for the provocative shoot (even though everybody involved in the shoot was safely over 18). I decided to investigate the matter, because I knew that Libertas needed to take a position on this important controversy … and having reviewed the photo spread thoroughly, I can confirm that in my professional opinion the pictures are, indeed, hot.
• You know what’s even hotter than the Glee photoshoot for GQ? Russian spy Anna Chapman’s photoshoot for Russian Maxim. I can’t even show it to you here, frankly. [I had no idea there was a ‘Russian Maxim,’ by the way – did you?] This photoshoot – and the accompanying video – remind me of why I miss the Cold War so much: the Girls of Al Qaeda can’t really pose for Maxim in a burqa, can they? [Read here, by the way, about how Muslim countries vary in their cinema censorship.] The pity of it is that we don’t deport known terrorist sympathizers in this country, yet we did deport Ms. Chapman. What a shame! Why did we give such a valuable ‘asset’ back to the Russians? Maybe we can get her back in a one-for-one deal involving Valerie Plame. [By the way, on this note, HBO is currently developing a new Cold War CIA drama.]
Victoria Vetri, in better days.
• On the Classic Movie front, the Wall Street Journal has a great article out right now about the new Errol Flynn box set of action films; and both Francis Coppola (here) and Walter Murch (here) do some fascinating interviews about Apocalypse Now, coming soon to Blu-ray. Originally Coppola wanted to do that film in 3D – although there are no current plans for a conversion.
By Jason Apuzzo. Watch this deleted scene from Four Lions above – it’s a hoot. As regular Libertas readers know, Four Lions is a blistering satire about Islamic terrorism from the UK’s Chris Morris. The film opens here in America on November 5th, and is sure to spark a lot of debate. We loved it here at Libertas; you can read my review of it here.
Incidentally, you can read LFM Contributor Jennifer Baldwin’s review of the newly restored, ‘complete’ Metropolishere, and you can also read my long-ago review of the ‘original’ cut of Metropolishere.
If you haven’t had the chance to see this film yet, you really should. [It’s available for purchase in our LFM Store as a DVD or download, by the way.] It’s completely hilarious, and deals in a warm-hearted way with a lot of taboo subjects that most American filmmakers currently seem too timid to cover.
By Jason Apuzzo. MTV News is showing a clip today (see above) from The Taqwacores, a film which opens this Friday in New York – and travels to art house theaters nationwide in subsequent weeks. The movie – which was a hit at Sundance – deals with the new Muslim punk scene here in the U.S.
Indiewire is actually showing a much more interesting clip from the film here, although the clip can’t be embedded. Take a look …
