So, Ive now seen 57 low-budget 21st century sf flicks, with 24 left to go. Here are the 20 most worthy of your attention so far, in order, with equal weight given to overall quality (my 1-100 rating), how underrated they are (difference between same and Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB scores), and lack of exposure (based on box office, IMDB votes, and Netflix ratings.) Many must-see flicks that are neither particularly underrated nor obscure are omitted, i.e., Another Earth, Her, Under the Skin, Timecrimes, Safety Not Guaranteed, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Source Code, Moon, Limitless, Cloverfield, and District 9. 1. Upstream Color (Shane Carruth, 2013). Too few people have seen this, one of my five favorite films of all time. Read my review at Amazon. 2. Sleep Dealer (Alex Rivera, 2008/9). Subject of my last post! 3. Primer (Shane Carruth, 2004). Too smart for a lot of viewers and critics. 4. Extracted (Nir Paniry, 2012/3). If this actually had a RT score, it would rank 1st, since it didnt get a single positive review among a half dozen obscure ones that IMDB links to. But its fairly brilliant (see my Amazon review). 5. Night Watch / Day Watch (Timur Bekmambetov, 2004/6 and 2006/7). Really one movie in two parts, and I think that explains the low scores. 6. Perfect Sense (David Mackenzie, 2011/2). SF at its least literal and most metaphoric, and I think a lot of people took it too literally. 7. Sound of My Voice (Zal Batmanglij, 2011/2). The second movie co-written and starring Brit Marling is even better, I think, than Another Earth. 8. Extraterrestrial (Nacho Vigalondo, 2001/2). His followup to Timecrimes may be even better; a hilarious dark rom-com essentially set within the opening scenes of Childhoods End. The invading aliens do nothing, and yet are essential to the plot. 9. Code 46 (Michael Winterbottom, 2003/4). I mentioned this one already, too. 10. Shuffle (Kurt Kuenne, 2011/2). It has an abrupt third-act tonal change (from, say, Aronofskys Pi to Capra) that some will hate, but its warranted by the plot. 11. Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001/4). The Directors Cut transforms it from Lynchian ambiguity to unambiguous sf, which pissed off a lot of fans of the former. The thing is, though, its stone-cold brilliant as rigorously constructed sf. 12. The Nines (John August, 2007). Like Shuffle, Im not sure this is entirely successful, but its ambitious and engaging. 13. Attack the Block (Joe Cornish, 2011). This has a deserved strong reputation, and a mysteriously low IMDB score of 6.6. 14. Europa Report (Sebastian Cordero, 2013). A hard sf beauty, misread as a cheap horror flick by many critics and viewers. 15. Monsters (Gareth Edwards, 2010). Another film whose reputation eclipses its actual reception by critics and viewers. 16. Fish Story (Yoshihiro Nakamura, 2009/11). Would be much higher, but its not underrated at all--just criminally unknown. 17. A Scanner Darkly (Richard Linklater, 2006). Sneaks in by being a bit underrated and really good. 18. The History of Future Folk (John Mitchell, 2012/3). Modest, charming, delightful. 19. Kaboom (Greg Araki, 2010/1). Gleefully thumbs its nose at every single genre convention. 20. The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodovar, 2011). IMDB didnt even list this as sf, which it most certainly is. Makes the list on sheer quality. Bonus: Southland Tales (Richard Kelly, 2006/7). Incoherent to most viewers, thrillingly coherent if you had read the c. 300 page graphic novel that formed the first half of the narrative. More than once. And taken notes. What was he thinking? Some obscure films that are definitely recommended, but didnt make the list: The Machine, The One I Love, TiMER, How I Live Now, Ink.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 12:55:20 +0000
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