I’m trying to get a gauge of what people here are interested in.
Sci Fi top 6 ‐ focusing a bit on the soft sci-fi
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2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) dir: Stanley Kubrick
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Arrival (2016) dir: Denis Villeneuve
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Her (2013) dir: Spike Jonze
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BladeRunner (1982) dir: Ridley Scott
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Children of Men (2006) dir: Alfonso Cuarón
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GATTACA (1997) dir: Andrew Niccol
I can recognize 2001 as being incredible and inspiring for its time, but it doesn’t hold up very well. By modern standards, it is painfully boring and tedious.
Disagree, I think 2001 is perfect. Yes it’s slow, but that’s intentional, it’s part of the feeling of the film.
Modern standards don’t really apply, because I don’t think anyone nowadays is trying to do what Kubrick was, nor (obviously) was he trying to live up to any standards of future movie making.
Each to their own of course, but wanted to put a friendly counterpoint :-)
2001 is timeless.
Political intrigue, technological advancement, piercing the unknown, all drawn on the backdrop of an innocuous, normal exploration mission.
Until things go awry.
As directly inspired by 2001, I’d count a bunch of modern classics: Children of Men (2006), Sunshine (2007), Passengers (2016), the Expanse (TV series), and more.
What Kubrick did write the story with Arthur C. Clarke, slow the pace to reflect the long-haul nature of the mission — let alone the slow pace of human development — and focus on the sheer scale of progress needed to achieve such exploration. He also ensured that the conflict was truly tangible and high-stakes. Simple and human in its genesis, but devastating in its execution. Then, confronting ET intelligence as truly “other.”
Perfect.
If you haven’t seen it, Ex Machina (2014) fits the vibe of your list. It’s one of my favorites.
Little known fact: all mattes are shot on first generation film. Kubrick would shoot the matte, put the film in storage, put it back in camera, then shoot the inside of the matte. It looks pristine to this day because there was no generation loss since there was only one generation even in the most effects heavy shots.
