Fahrenheit 451

From my 1960s Science Fiction Marathon, part 5 of 6.



Fahrenheit 451, 1966. A member of the dystopian book-burning brigade takes up reading.

Directed by François Truffaut. Written by Truffaut & Jean-Louis Richard, based on a book by Ray Bradbury. Starring Julie Christie & Oskar Werner.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh, 2/4). Soooo boring. According to IMDb's trivia, Werner insisted on giving a robotic performance. Considering that the movie has essentially the story of a character study, and 90% of the character development needed to be conveyed through the performance, you're left with no movie. Again from the trivia page: "[Truffaut] later declared that if he hadn't wasted six years attempting to make the film, he would have left the set like a shot." That pretty well sums up the movie.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.5/4 (Eh)

"Ready, Set, Zoom!"

"Ready, Set, Zoom!" (short), 1955. Coyote tries to catch Road Runner.

Directed by Chuck Jones. Written by Michael Maltese.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 3/4 (Good). I'm giving this one a higher "characters" score than usual, mostly because of a rotating head thing Road Runner does at the start of the cartoon. It's a little thing, but comunicates so much.
Dialog: n/a
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good). Coyote is particularly expressive this time.
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). More of the same. Keep it coming.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.0/4 (Good)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Two

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Season Two, 1993-1994. Democratic imperialists and former terrorists work together on a space station in order to keep away fascist imperialists.

Created by Rick Berman & Michael Piller. Directed by David Livingston (5 episodes), Winrich Kolbe (4), Corey Allen (3), Les Landau (3), Cliff Bole (3), Kim Friedman (2), James L. Conway (1), Alexander Singer (1), David Carson (1), Robert Scheerer (1), Robert Wiemer (1) & Avery Brooks (1). Written by Michael Piller (7 episodes), Ira Steven Behr (6), Robert Hewitt Wolfe (5), Peter Allan Fields (4), James Crocker (4), Jim Trombetta (4), Jeri Taylor (3), Bill Dial (2), Rick Berman (2), John Whelpley (1), Gene Wolande (1), John Wright (1), Evan Carlos Somers (1), Steven Baum (1), Hilary J. Bader (1), Mark Gehred-O'Connell (1), Frederick Rappaport (1), Gabe Essoe (1), Kelley Miles (1), Joe Menosky (1), Morgan Gendel (1), Paul Robert Coyle (1), Jeff King (1), Richard Manning (1), Hans Beimler (1), Flip Kobler (1), Cindy Marcus (1), Andrea Moore Alton (1) & Gary Holland (1). Starring Avery Brooks.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). Everyone's less of a jackass this season, which is a huge improvement. They're still a far cry from good characters, but at least they're watchable characters.
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad).
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). It's considerably improved from the first season. Someone's paying enough attention to avoid the major plot holes and continuity errors. A few episodes are even good - but for every good episode, there are two bad ones.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.6/4 (Eh)

MASH: Season Six

MASH: Season Six, 1977-1978. Hijinks in an army hospital.

Created by Richard Hooker (novel) & Larry Gelbart (developer). Directed by Alan Alda (5 episodes), Burt Metcalfe (5), Don Weis (4), Charles Dubin (4), George Tyne (3), Hy Averback (2), William Jurgensen (2), Stuart Millar (1) & Harry Morgan (1). Written by Jim Fritzell (6 episodes), Everett Greenbaum (6), Alan Alda (5), Ken Levine (4), David Isaacs (4), Burt Prelutsky (3), Laurence Marks (2), Ronny Graham (2), Larry Balmagia (2), Bill Idelson (1) & Allyn Freeman (1). Starring Alan Alda, Mike Farrell, Harry Morgan, Loretta Swit & David Ogden Stiers.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 3/4 (Good). Winchester replaces Burns this season. He's a better character, but considerably less funny.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). Wow - a sudden and drastic drop in quality. It maintains the tone of season five, which is great, but that's about all this season has going for it. It's rarely funny, and when it's serious it's never compelling. Also, it's turning into The Alan Alda Show. Although the episodes he wrote and directed in earlier seasons were some of the series' highlights, now he seems to just be doing it for the sake of having more screen time than everyone else. So, the big question is: will the show pick up again in season seven, or did it just run for 11 seasons because people were in the habit of watching it?
Objective Rating (Average): 2.4/4 (Okay)

Fantastic Voyage

From my 1960s Science Fiction Marathon, part 4 of 6.



Fantastic Voyage, 1966. A submarine is shrunk and sent inside someone.

Directed by Richard Fleischer. Written by Harry Kleiner; adapted by David Duncan from a story by Otto Klement & Jerome Bixby. Starring Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Donald Pleasence & Arthur Kennedy.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good). The sets and miniatures are great, but any shots that combine people with effects look pretty bad.
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). I'm quite surprised that this wasn't crap. Even though it's often silly and has a fair amount of bad science, it reminds me a lot of A Space Odyssey. It has that slow, deliberate pacing (especially during the shrinking sequence), and usually seems more interested with science fiction ideas and visual spectacle than with plot and characters.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good)

"Baby Buggy Bunny"

"Baby Buggy Bunny" (short), 1954. Bugs Bunny vs. a tiny bank robber disguised as a baby.

Directed by Chuck Jones. Written by Michael Maltese. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Funny, with wonderful mid-century visuals.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.8/4 (Good)

"Stop! Look! and Hasten!"

"Stop! Look! and Hasten!" (short), 1954. Coyote tries to catch Road Runner.

Directed by Chuck Jones. Written by Michael Maltese.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent). The audio commentary informs me that this one didn't have the usual animation team, and it shows. Coyote's movement consists of connecting one Chuck Jones drawing to the next.
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). It has a relatively low gag density for a Road Runner cartoon. The first third of it is all setup - good stuff, but at this point in the series we hardly need to spend time establishing Coyote's motivation.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.6/4 (Good)

"An Eastern Westerner"

"An Eastern Westerner" (short), 1920. A boy is sent west to a town owned by an outlaw.

Directed by Hal Roach. Written by Frank Terry, with H.M. Walker. Starring Harold Lloyd.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). Not particularly funny or otherwise notable. On the other hand, it doesn't have any major problems; it runs pretty smoothly for a comedy that's not particularly funny.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.0/4 (Indifferent)

(update of a previous post - original is here)

"Zipping Along"

"Zipping Along" (short), 1953. Coyote tries to catch Road Runner.

Directed by Chuck Jones. Written by Michael Maltese.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: n/a.
Pacing: 4/4 (Great)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). This one's a little slow to get started (relative to Roadrunner cartoons at their best), but makes up for it in the second half.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.9/4 (Good)

ParaNorman

ParaNorman, 2012. A boy who can talk to ghosts has to save his town from a zombie curse.

Directed by Chris Butler & Sam Fell. Written by Butler. Starring Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). Moderately funny. It hits a lot of speed bumps, including a surprisingly dull climax and a number of lectures on how to be a better person (although, the movie is morally complex enough that the lesson-learning sections aren't nearly as bad as the typical children's movie).
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

Alphaville

From my 1960s Science Fiction Marathon, part 3 of 6.



Alphaville, une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution, 1965. A secret agent investigates a city (or maybe a planet?) ruled by a computer.

Written & directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Starring Eddie Constantine.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 0/4 (Terrible). If you remove the poetry and philosophy, you're left with almost nothing.
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad)
Cinematography: 3/4 (Good). I might say great, if it weren't for the random shots in negative.
Special effects/design: 1/4 (Bad). If you watched it with the subtitles off, you wouldn't even know it's a science fiction film. I don't know if Godard means to be doing that for some sort of effect, or if he just doesn't care about his budget restrictions. Either way, it doesn't work.
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 3/4 (Good)
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). A pretentious, boring mess.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.6/4 (Eh)

The Last Stand

The Last Stand, 2013. A small town sheriff takes on an escaped fugitive's small army.

Directed by Jee-woon Kim. Written by Andrew Knauer, Jeffrey Nachmanoff & George Nolfi; story by Knauer. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 0/4 (Terrible)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 1/4 (Bad)
Music: 1/4 (Bad)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). I had fun, I guess. I was hoping for 80's Arnold (who could chew up a terrible script like this and spit out a masterpiece like Commando), but this is 90's Arnold. It's funny when it means to be exciting, embarrassing when it means to be funny, and boring when it means to be dramatic. Oh, well.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.6/4 (Eh)

Space Janitors: Season One

Space Janitors: Season One, 2012-2013. A couple of guys are janitors on the evil empire's space station.

Created & written by Geoff Lapaire & Andy Hull. Directed by Lapaire. Starring Brendan Halloran & Pat Thornton.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 1/4 (Bad). Most of the season is basically a series of sketches, which is when the show's at its best.
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). Uneven, but when it's good it's memorable and funny.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

the first half hour of Sans Soleil

Sans Soleil, 1983. A photographer observes contrasts in foreign cultures.

Written & directed by Chris Marker. Starring Alexandra Stewart (English version).

(unofficial ratings, as I didn't finish the movie)
Subjective Rating: 3/10 (Bad, 1/4). It's not that it's A Bad Movie. I just personally felt no reason to continue watching it. It's kind of impressive that, 30 minutes in, a film could fail so completely to engage me on any level.
(Estimated) Objective Rating: 1.3/4 (Bad)

"Snow Business"

"Snow Business" (short), 1953. Sylvester and Tweety and a mouse are snowed in.

Directed by Friz Freleng. Written by Warren Foster. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's a refreshing break from the formula. The bits with the mouse are very funny. The bits with Tweety are typically obnoxious.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.3/4 (Okay)

"La Jetée"

From my 1960s Science Fiction Marathon, part 2 of 6.



"La Jetée" (short), 1962. A man from a post-apocalyptic future is sent back in time.

Written & directed by Chris Marker. Starring Jean Négroni, Hélène Chatelain & Davos Hanich.

Concept: 4/4 (Great)
Story: 4/4 (Great)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great, 4/4). It's no Twelve Monkeys, but it's pretty great. I don't think I'd usually be a fan of this style (a series of still photographs with narration), but with this particular story it's effective.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.4/4 (Very good)

The Time Machine

From my 1960s Science Fiction Marathon, part 1 of 6.



The Time Machine, 1960. A Victorian inventor travels to the distant future.

Directed by George Pal. Written by David Duncan, based on a book by H.G. Wells. Starring Rod Taylor.

Concept: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Story: 1/4 (Bad). There isn't much to Wells' story to begin with, but they did an appalling job of adapting it. They seem to have tried to turn it into the standard Atomic Age anti-war morality tale, but by the end of it wound up with an unambiguously pro-war morality tale instead.
Characters: 1/4 (Bad)
Dialog: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Pacing: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent). Lots of great, and lots of terrible.
Acting: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Music: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent, 2/4). I didn't expect much, and I didn't get much. The book is not particularly suited to being a movie, and despite all of their changes to the story, they didn't do a single thing to address that problem. And the few things that the movie should have been able to have in its favor - adventure, suspense, and a sense of wonder - are absent.
Objective Rating (Average): 1.8/4 (Eh)

Django Unchained

Django Unchained, 2012. A freed slave and a bounty hunter work together.

Written & directed by Quentin Tarantino. Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz & Leonardo DiCaprio.

Concept: 3/4 (Good)
Story: 3/4 (Good)
Characters: 4/4 (Great)
Dialog: 4/4 (Great)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 4/4 (Great)
Special effects/design: 4/4 (Great)
Acting: 4/4 (Great)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites, 4/4 5/4). Lots of fun. Not as fun as Kill Bill or Inglourious Basterds, but lots of fun.
Objective Rating (Average): 3.7/4 3.8/4 (Great)

"A Bird in a Guilty Cage"

"A Bird in a Guilty Cage" (short), 1952. Sylvester vs. Tweety in a department store.

Directed by Friz Freleng. Written by Warren Foster. Starring Mel Blanc.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad). It actually has a beginning and an end, which is pretty good for this sort of thing.
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). Sylvester gets a couple great character moments.
Dialog: 1/4 (Bad)
Pacing: 3/4 (Good)
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 4/4 (Great)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good, 3/4). There are some really great gags in this one - some of them are recycled almost verbatim from Bugs Bunny cartoons, but they're actually done better here. Freleng's in rare form. Wait a minute, I liked a Tweety cartoon? What the hey?
Objective Rating (Average): 2.2/4 (Okay)

VSM: 1960s Science Fiction

We've done this with the 50s and 70s, so the 60s were inevitable. They're a relatively sparse decade when it comes to iconic sci-fi (if you don't count tv shows), and I'm impatient anyway, so it's a short list. I think that might be the new norm for these marathons - just hit the few most important/most promising titles and move on.

These are all movies that we've either never seen or haven't seen in a very long time (no need to re-watch Planet of the Apes and A Space Odyssey for the third times in as many years).

Very Slow Marathon #13 - 1960s Science Fiction
1. The Time Machine, 1960
2. "La Jetée," 1962
3. Alphaville, 1965
4. Fantastic Voyage, 1966
5. Fahrenheit 451, 1966
6. Barbarella, 1968