Pumzi: short film with powerful message of preserving resources, freedom and human imagination and dignity
Wanuri Kahiu, “Pumzi” (“Breath”) (2009) Just over 20 minutes long, this movie short from Kenya is set
Tag: Science Fiction Films
German and German-language Films
Cargo (dir. Ivan Engler): too much cargo taken on board in the plot and characters wreck a visually fine film
Ivan Engler, “Cargo” (2009) Debut full-length directorial feature for Ivan Engler, “Cargo” is a bloodless
Eraserhead: fascinating and hilarious dark horror film about social and religious pressures on struggling families
David Lynch, “Eraserhead” (1977) Five years in the making from 1971 to 1976, “Eraserhead” was
Symbol (dir. Hatoshi Matsumoto): polished and slick slapstick comedy on nature of the universe
Hatoshi Matsumoto, “Symbol” (2009) A slapstick comedy about interrelationships and the impact one person can
Aelita, Queen of Mars: a multi-plot story with a moral about living in fantasy versus living in reality
Yakov Protazanov, “Aelita, Queen of Mars” (1924) This silent Soviet film from the mid-1920’s can be
Profound themes of evolution, maturity, cycles of life and death, and Japan’s modern history in Katsuhiro Otomo’s “Akira”
Katsuhiro Otomo, “Akira” (1988) In an alternative but parallel universe in 1988, a scientific experiment
French and French-language Films
Delicatessen: amusing dystopian black comedy that overdoes the oddball edge and comes out looking twee
Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, “Delicatessen” (1991) How to describe this droll French movie that
Blade Runner: movie remarkable chiefly for visual impact and theme
Ridley Scott, “Blade Runner” (1982) The curious thing with this movie is that as it
Alien: Resurrection (dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet): more a lame rehash than a revival
Jean-Pierre Jeunet, “Alien: Resurrection” (1997) The idea behind this movie was to give new life
Alien 3 (dir. David Fincher): potentially interesting psych horror / slasher flick in space is a mess
David Fincher, “Alien 3” (1992) At least in this third episode in the Alien series,