// Category Archive for: Science Fiction

Best Of 2014: Carol Borden

Red Sonja

I am terrible at lists and ranking art against other art, so I’m taking some liberties with the concept of “Best of 2014” and sharing six comics and five films that I enjoyed or found thought-provoking in 2014.

Comics:

Alex + Ada (Image, ongoing) Sarah Vaughn, writing; Jonathan Luna, art/story.
After a rough break-up, Alex’s aunt gives him a female android for “companionship.” Alex is disturbed by Ada’s seeming humanity and takes her to an underground network to have her sentience illegally unlocked. Alex + Ada cleverly subverts the fembot trope, exploring the complexity of relationships and being human, passing, being closeted, and the history of dehumanizing people into property. Luna’s calm artwork is perfect for an android coming into her own in a world terrified of her.

Gotham Academy (DC) Becky Cloonan & Brendan Fletcher, writing; Karl Kerschl, art.
If you like girl detectives in creepy old private schools, Gotham Academy might be for you. At Gotham City’s fanciest private school, Olive Silverlock investigates strange goings on, including a ghost, and her sorta-ex-boyfriend’s little sister Maps tags along. It’s Manga-influenced with neat coloring and just plain fun, and if you like girl detectives, you’ll probably like Gotham Academy.

Red Sonja (Dynamite) Gail Simone, writing; Walter Geovani, art.
Like Saga, which I wrote about last time, Red Sonja is a comic I read every month. Unlike Saga, I never expected that. It’s a subversive, funny, and action-packed barbarian comic. Read as Red Sonja duels a master swordsman, rescues a beautiful dancer (who is also a gay man), refuses to bathe, and desperately tries to get laid. And always make sure to get Jenny Frison’s covers. Her work is gorgeous. (She’s also doing some great covers for Revival.)

Showa: A History of Japan (Drawn & Quarterly) by Shigeru Mizuki.
Showa is a stunning achievement. Mizuki presents the history of Japan from during the reign of Emperor Hirohito (1926 – 89) in four volumes. He covers Japan’s descent into fascism and Imperialism, the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II, the American occupation, post-War unrest, and Japan’s rise as an economic power. Mizuki’s draftsmanship is extraordinary, rendering his personal history and Japan’s history in almost photorealistic drawing and in expressive cartoons. And his writing is almost transparent, smoothly presenting a tremendous amount of material that mixes the personal and the political, local and global, the supernatural and the mundane.

The Wicked & The Divine (Image) Kieron Gillen, writing; Jamie McKelvie, art.
The Wicked & Divine comes across as almost a sequel to Gillen and McKelvie’s Phonogram—books about people whose magical power derived from music. Pop music. Club music. But where Phonogram was a testament to the personal power of music and to a certain time in the London club scene, The Wicked & The Divine is more cosmic in scope. Every 90 years, gods return to earth. They live for three years, putting on amazing concerts, and then they die, only to return again 90 years later. This time, someone dies when the Bowie-esque Lucifer snaps her fingers, turning humans against the gods, and the gods against each other.

Velvet (Image) Ed Brubaker, writing; Steve Epting, drawing; Elizabeth Breitweiser, colors.
Velvet is almost the secret life of Miss Moneypenny, if Miss Moneypenny were framed for murder and, possibly, treason. She’s been working as the secretary to ARC-7’s director, she’s still a deadly field agent, and she uses all her skills to find out who framed her and why. After years of paperwork and dealing with flirtatious, hotshot agents, her colleagues underestimate Velvet, but only for a little while. If you’ve always wanted to discover that Miss Moneypenny has a secret life, you’ll probably like Velvet. As with Brubaker’s Fade-Out, Fatale, Criminal, and Incognito, it’s worth buying Velvet in single issues to get each issue’s closing essay.

Movies

Cold In July (2014) dir. Jim Mickle, starring Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepherd, Don Johnson, and Vinessa Shaw.
Richard (Hall), a husband, father, and framing store owner, shoots and kills a burglar in his home. When the burglar’s father, Ben (Shepherd), shows up at the funeral and threatens Richard very congenially, Cold In July seems like it will be a straightforward revenge thriller. Then the story doesn’t so much take a twist as it takes a turn and the next thing you know, Jim Bob (Johnson) is walking into Richard’s store looking to get a pin-up framed. The chemistry between Hall, Shepherd, and Johnson is fantastic and Don Johnson does some engaging and entertaining work with his character, Jim Bob. Cold In July might be my favorite movie of 2014. It’s based on a book by Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale, which always helps. Jim Mickle really comes into his own with Cold In July. The visuals are a nice blue and red homage to late Eighties film. The exposition isn’t overstated. And the soundtrack is almost perfect, and leaves some room for silence.

Snowpiercer (2014) dir. Bong Joon-ho, starring Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Ed Harris, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, Ko Ah-sung, John Hurt. . . and it’s probably best to go check IMDb.
Snowpiercer is a satisfying dystopian film serving as an allegory for general global inequality and state violence as well as a very particular criticism of South Korean politics and society. Curtis (Chris Evans) leads an uprising of the train’s tail end lumpenproletariat against the elite in the front of the train―with a little help from Namgoong Minsoo (Song Kang-ho). Bong Joon-ho is one of my favorite directors and he made two of my favorite films, The Host (2006) and Memories of Murder (2003). But while Snowpiercer is not as good as either, there are two things I love that put it on this list: Song Kang-ho and Bong Joon-ho’s idea of a “cinema republic.” I am so excited to see these actors working together in an adaptation of a French graphic novel shot in the Czech Republic with South Korean and American writers and producers, a British action choreographer, a Korean cinematographer, and a cast of fine actors from all over the world. It’s like Bong Joon-ho picked every every actor he ever wanted to work with and put them on a train hurtling toward the cinema republic. In a time with so many bland blockbusters inspiring bland imitations in global cinema (*cough* China’s bloated historical epics *cough*), Snowpiercer is just plain heartening.

The Duke Of Burgundy (2014) dir. Peter Strickland, starring Sidse Babette Knudsen and Chiara D’Anna.
An homage to the ”Eurosleaze” films of the 1960s and 1970s, The Duke of Burgundy quietly subverts its genre. Cynthia (Knudsen) and Evelyn (D’Anna), colleagues in the study of insects, explore their kinks in a small village. The film explores how fantasy is negotiated in relationships and how relationships, like D/s scenes and films, have their scripts. And I find it remarkable that a film focusing on formal film structure can be so warm and compassionate when so much formalism comes off as cold and misanthropic. (There is also “specially designed furniture” and mole crickets.)

The Raid 2: Berandal (2014) dir. Gareth Evans; starring Iko Uwais, Arafin Putra, Yayan Ruhian, Tio Pakusodewo, Oka Antara, Alex Abbad, Cecep Arif Rahman, Julie Estelle, Ryuhei Matsuda, Kenichi Endo.
The Raid 2 gives everyone all the amped-up fighting we were looking for, with brutal new twists: Hammer Girl (Estelle) fighting half a dozen yakuza brothers and killing them with her two claw hammers; an amazing karambit-carrying silat master (Cecep Arif Rahman); prison shivvings; and harrowing car stunts. But Raid 2 is much more of a thriller in the mould of John Woo’s Hardboiled (though without the whimsy) or Andy Lau’s Infernal Affairs. Rama (Iko) survives the events of The Raid only to go undercover in one of Jakarta’s most powerful gangs. Rama serves two years in prison to earn the trust of Uco (Arifin Putra), son of the gang’s boss. But things get complicated, as they always do. There’s another Jakarta gang plus the yakuza involved, and the police themselves might be setting Rama up. If you were curious, Mad Dog (Yayan) might not have survived that fluorescent tube through the throat, but Prakoso (Yayan) really seems to take after Mad Dog in terms of his skills and his singular focus on fucking people up.

What We Do In The Shadows (2014) dir. Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement; starring Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, Rhys Darby, Jonathan Brugh, Jackie Van Beek, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, and Stu Rutherford.
Deacon, Viago, Vlad, and Peter are vampire roommates in Wellington, New Zealand. A documentary crew follows them as they deal with daily life, encounter stinky werewolves, make friends, try to get into Wellington’s clubs, and prepare for the annual Unholy Masquerade Ball, bringing the vampire, zombie, and witch communities of Wellington together. Who knew the undead community in Wellington was so active? Clever, fun, and hilarious.

Besides writing about comics for The Cultural Gutter and movies for various places, Carol Borden’s short story, “The Itch of Iron, The Pull of the Moon” was just published in Fox Spirit Books’ anthology, Drag Noir.

The ScreamCast: Episodes 41 – 43

You might have missed these recent installments of The ScreamCast. Now’s your chance to catch up.

Episode 41 – Silent Night Deadly Night (1984)
Includes a critique of Scream Factory’s Blu-ray release and a rundown of other holiday-themed movies.

Episode 42 – Tales From The Crypt (1972), The Vault Of Horror (1973) & Trancers (1984)
Brad, Sean, and Brian discuss the Scream Factory releases of Tales From The Crypt and The Vault of Horror as well as Full Moon’s Trancers reissue.

Episode 43 – The Device (2014) & The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)
Director John Portanova joins the crew to talk about his latest film The Device as well as Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray release of The Quatermass Xperiment and a list of Top 10 Alien Abduction/Invasion flicks.

DVD Review: The Device

By Brad Henderson

Watching filmmakers and writers grow is a beautiful thing. Through the past couple of years I’ve kept my eye on a few filmmakers like Adam Wingard, Ti West, Adrián Garcia Bogliano, Eric England, and many more. As far as more recent filmmakers, I’ve been following Jeremy Berg and John Portanova. A little while ago I reviewed their directorial feature debut, The Invoking. I was highly impressed with the direction they took with The Invoking and it falls into my category of “story horror” which I’ve described in detail in the past. So when I got word of them doing another horror film, and one involving aliens, I was down.

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Best Art Prints Of 2014: Kevin Burke, Filmmaker

I’ve had a great year as an art fan. It was really difficult to come up with a short list of my favorite releases, especially given that my own personal collection grew by almost 50 prints this year, but I’ve divided a list into two categories of some of my personal favorites of this year, in no particular order.

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Music Review: Alain Goraguer, La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet) Original Soundtrack

By Noreen Sobczyk

OK, full disclosure: as a sort of sommelier of the strange, I’m embarrassed to say I had never seen La Planète Sauvage (a.k.a. Fantastic Planet) until recently. But never fear, because this should prove to even the most jaded, freaky, boogie children that it’s never too late to discover something mind blowingly cool. If you haven’t seen this gorgeously animated Science Fiction philosophical allegory, seek it out immediately. Do not pass go; do not collect 200 dollars.

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Important Update On Reverse, A Sci Fi Short Film That Needs Your Help

By Less Lee Moore

Last week, we told you about the Kickstarter campaign for an upcoming science fiction short called Reverse from Ryan Smith (writer/director of After) and Mike Vogel (Cloverfield, Bates Motel, Under The Dome).

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Podcast Alert: The ScreamCast

By Less Lee Moore

Our very own Brad Henderson has been unusually busy these last few months. When he’s not writing reviews for Popshifter, he’s also working on movie scripts, and producing a podcast called The ScreamCast, along with Sean Duregger and Brian Saur (a.k.a. Bob Freelander and Rupert Pupkin).

Although The Screamcast was initially created to review horror and other genre releases from Shout Factory, they have expanded the scope to cover releases from labels like Synapse, Vinegar Syndrome, Cult Epics, and others. The podcast also includes special guests, celebrity interviews, top ten lists, and more.

Now on Episode 36, The ScreamCast is something you really should be listening to. We’ll be updating you every time they put up a new podcast, so stay tuned!

Here are the most recent episodes:

Episode 36 – Soultangler (1987): Podcast includes Joe and Zach from Bleeding Skull Video who brought the movie back from VHS hell.

Episode 35 – Nekromantik (1987): Podcast includes Nico B. founder of Cult Epics.
(Check out Brad’s Popshifter review of Nekromantik, too.)

Reverse: This Sci Fi Short Needs Your Help

By Less Lee Moore

If you were lucky enough to catch After when it screened at Toronto After Dark Film Festival in 2012 (review), you will be excited about this news. Director Ryan Smith has new short film he’s working on called Reverse. It stars Mike Vogel (Cloverfield, Bates Motel, Under the Dome) and the pair has started a Kickstarter to help fund it. The executive producers on Reverse are Chad and Carey Hayes, who recently brought us The Conjuring and are currently working on San Andreas with Dwayne “The Rock” Johsnson.

So what is Reverse about?

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TAD Film Fest Review: Time Lapse

By Siân Melton

Real talk: time travel hurts my brain. Sometimes I sit and wonder about the logistics of it all. If I travel back in time, is there still a Present Me or did Present Me vanish? If the latter, what happens in present time without me there? And how can I, instead of Chuck Berry, end up responsible for the discovery of rock and roll music? I think that’s why I hesitate before seeing a time travel movie. Sometimes I can enjoy the story and time-travely-ness (very official) and not get too distracted by it and other times I’m all, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA.

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Movie Review: Honeymoon

By Less Lee Moore

Leigh Janiak’s first directorial effort, Honeymoon, wants very much to successfully blend the feel of an indie dramedy with science fiction films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t succeed in either capacity.

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