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Favorite Sci-Fi movie?


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Sci-fi may be my favorite film genre.

 

There are so many that I enjoyed.  Generally the first film in the most popular franchises (The Matrix, Predator, Aliens, Star Wars, Star Trek, Terminator, etc) as well as one offs like Ex Machina are films I enjoyed

 

I have never seen an alien, as far as I know.  I do believe there is intelligent extraterrestrial life. I would absolutely pay to board a UFO and go to another planet especially one with superior technology (and hopefully behavior).

 

From the link you provided @Stefan I discovered Son Of Ingagi (1940): the first all-Black horror film.  I will watch this on my TV later -- Thanks!

 

I watched most of the other films, most of them I did not care about very much.  I did enjoy seeing Black Panther, but thought The Matrix was a far better film. 

 

 

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@Troy

Thank you. I love Sci Fi movies, but tend to shy away from horror flicks.

I have several favorites:

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) with Michael Rennie as alien visitor Klaatu and Patricia Neal who ran a Washington. D.C., rooming house he stayed in. It was an eye opener for that decade's fear of atom bombs for sure. The remake got the casting of Keanu Reeves as Klaatu right. But the remake's portrayal of Gort, was childish.

"Tron" (1982) About a human beamed into a 1980's video game. 

I do not understand why "Black Panther" is considered Sci Fi. It's more of a superhero movie. But it was great.

"Logan's Run" (1976) Good premise, clunky dialogue. In a perfectly designed city under a dome, no adult lives past 30 in this artificial, but colorful world. Bargain basement special effects.

Why did I like it? The film's unlikely star and the reason for Logan to go on the run is a gleaming metallic-like cyborg who calls himself "Box."

Roscoe Lee Brown played this crazed ice castle robot to perfection and after one gets past the "Box" scene, the logic of the movie holds up.

"Contact" "Independence Day" "A.I." "The Matrix" "Inception" "Gravity" "Edge of Tomorrow" "Interstellar" "Soylent Green" and the original and remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatcher"  are great films.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I like various science fiction films, as I define science fiction. But I thought about, did I know a science fiction film I liked a lot that was written/directed/financed/starred black people? the answer is no. I liked some, but to call them favorites. I will be lying if I said so.

 

Good attempt to bring fun into the forum:)

 

 

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@richardmurray

If you are addressing me, then you are welcome. We need to have fun.

Until I got much older, it was rare that I saw a Black actor or Black character on the screen as a integral component of a Sci Fi film. Forget about producing. That takes multi-millions and at times, pure groveling.

And directing? Only in the latter part of the 80's did this occur. Black people simply did not run film studios and lacked the access to financing to produce motion pictures. 

So, I don't understand anyone actually expecting wholly Black-made, Black-financed and Black-distributed motion pictures. We do not yet have this kind of clout. 

Would I like to see this? I don't care about that. In the movie business, one must have allies.

Now, thanks to the Internet, a movie producer can reach an audience of millions faster. But is their product going to be available in all languages, be approved by overseas governments or authorities or attacked as too narrow minded? 

I just want to view an entertaining science fiction film. Of course, it's great if the film has Black men, Black women or Black children  in a starring role. I'd love that. 

But it's not a deal killer for me. 

There are hundreds of Black movies released every year through various genres in Africa. I don't know how many are Sci Fi.

But I've seen some incredible Black African police series on Netflix where a viewer would quickly warm up to the central characters. 

And Netflix really wants to showcase Black Sci Fi talent. 

https://blacksci-fi.com/10-black-science-fiction-fantasy-works-that-need-a-netflix-adaptation/

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@Stefan yes, if i do not place a name then I am communicating to the initial poster

 

After Reading your reply, my first thought was, what does it take to have a film environment. 

you said Black people were not on many screens in sci fi films or films in general. That is true, but it means you need a place to show films.

you said Black people didn't run film studioes or have financing to make equal budget films. That is true, but how cheap can one make a film.

You said you don't comprehend expecting a blackwood. But was a Blackwood impossible before modernity, meaning the last forty years.

Now you say, the internet provides possibilities. And I concur, but does that mean a Blackwood was impossible in the past. 

Now you say you want to enjoy a science fiction film first and be happy for who participates in it second. I am 100% certain most black people, over 90%, in the usa and definitely in the white countries in humanity, USA/UK/France/Brasil et cetera, concur to you. 

And yes, Nollywood exists today, though they don't make blunt science fiction films. Many people in the usa consider Daughters of the dust a science fiction film so the artistic debate I will leave alone. 

But, was it possible to have black financed/directed/produced/acted, ala a Black Wood?

Now, body and SOul by Micheaux to Meteor Man from townsend prove, Black people did make movies from the silent to today, with financial or quality standards that are on par to what audiences may have expected.

But, if the BlackWood was created, how could it be?

The questions are: 

Where to show the films?

Who to make the films? 

Who to finance the films? 

How to distribute the films?

 

My quickest answers, 

Where to show the films?

From the 1970s to the end of the war between the states, the most prolific places in the black community, that black people had control over was black churches. Black churches are the theaters. Take a wall, color it white, project on it. If someone has a white curtain use that. Now the white law will definitely find the act of a church theater fiscally improper, so show the films for free, people need popcorn, water, vending is the roots of retail. A person with a little cart is as ancient as the pyramids. Nothing bars the church from having a small set of vendors outside. The vendors are free to donate to the church some of their revenue.

Who to make the films? 

I think many Black people made films, but it was common Black folk, not the OScar Micheaux's or Robert Townsends of the world. And, if you have a video recorder, then you have all it takes to make a film, starting with yourself. animation is not new, I know for certain black people near 100 years old recall seeing animation as a child in NYC alone so I know it isn't fantastical. Common Black folk made films. Maybe not close encounters of the third kind in production level, but artistic display isn't about competition it is about creation. if you don't create it doesn't exists.

Who to finance the films? 

Black businesses are not new. The Black people who financed MLK jr, the Nation of Islam, Madame CJ Walker has her old house upstate new york. Somebody black had enough money to make a small production film, every year since circa 1865.  Now again, do they have hollywood money? no. But is the goal a blackwood or the goal competition with hollywood. 

How to distribute the films?

Oscar Michaeux's films were all found in Europe , not the usa. so somebody copied them and I think oscar micheaux knew who. so, I can't believe later, the ability to copy a film and send to the churches was beyond the means for the Black community in the USA.

 

Thus, in my view, a Blackwood should had existed already in the USA from the Black community in it. Now some caveats. yes, the Black community in the USA from the Negro leagues to my potential Blackwood are more interested in Black people aside whites than Black people alone. But, I think Black churches, showing films by Black people, spending money to make copies based on word of mouth, with small revenues was sustainable. I didn't even add historical Black colleges for the southern Black populace, which is historically or modernly the largest in the USA per a region. I can't deny many Black people wouldn't care, or would snub. But I think the model was sustainable... if attempted. 

 

South side home movies project 

https://sshmp.uchicago.edu/

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@richardmurray

I only wanted to discuss favorite Sci-Fi movies.

You seem to want to expand this thread into a discussion on the general state of the Black film industry.  But I believe there are too many moving parts to that to have an effective back and forth.

I am also unconcerned about the state of the Black, White, Latino and Asian film industries. I am only interested in folks' favorite Sci Fi movies.

But there does not seem to be much interest in Sci Fi movies in this forum. 

It appears most want to ignore real life and death issues for Black people in favor of lying on Joe Biden and Democrats, bashing the majority of Blacks and then making excuses for the immaturity of Trump.

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Brother from Another Planet 🌎 along enjoy Will and Jaden Smith 🎥.

 

 I have found there is a large and growing AfroFuturism movement which rejects the current version of Sci Fi. 
 

Blerds are a large community too. 

@Troythat’s a funny movie 🎥. “I ain’t never been in one yet.” And “Especially Black Detectives”.

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6 hours ago, daniellegfny said:

 

 I have found there is a large and growing AfroFuturism movement which rejects the current version of Sci Fi. 
 

Blerds are a large community too. 


"Blerds are a large community, too." Wow.

This is amazing. I wonder if he knows that Walmart Stores Inc. is a big Big Box store retailer.


The only problem is that this guy does not speak for all Black people and certainly not for the group of souls who consider themselves adherents of AfroFuturism.

He claims AfroFuturism rejects the current version of Sci Fi. As if he's some scholarly intellectual with deep connections to this school of thought and philosophy. He's not and knows very little about anything other his tortured belief that Donald Trump is God. 

How Black Girl Nerds see Science Fiction

But there are many, many, MANY Black individuals who can actually define what they believe AfroFuturism is. 

Blerds describe what AfroFuturism actually is

Unlike others on here, I don't guess or make up stuff. I do the research and offer then proof:

https://blacksci-fi.com/tag/afrofuturism/

Here is what the operators of Black Science Fiction dot com include in their Black Sci-Fi universe. Look at the bottom box and glimpse all the different topics include in this.

https://blacksci-fi.com/10-black-science-fiction-fantasy-works-that-need-a-netflix-adaptation/

Now, let's actually read what one scholarly individual thinks about AfroFuturism, shall we? 
 

"What is Afrofuturism? It’s the story of musicians, artists, writers, philosophers, fashion icons, filmmakers, costume and set designers, actors, activists and academics who have believed in a better future for Black people — and for all people," according to Delan Bruce, an associate editor at the University of California.
 

"Afrofuturism, more concretely, can be understood as a wide-ranging social, political and artistic movement that dares to imagine a world where African-descended peoples and their cultures play a central role in the creation of that world, Bruce further explained."

You see, just as it is with the definition of Science Fiction, the explanation for AfroFuturism is all over the place and changes every month. Thus, anyone who claims they can define it is talking out of the side of their backside.




 

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@Stefan I know the topic you wanted to discuss , I gave my thoughts to that.

And I know your position on my topic redirection. And I didn't post to demand a reply from you or any others to my topic. You never know who will read something one day online. 

And, In posts I have started others have went away from my themes, and I didn't have to mention it, as it is no problem. 

 

Well, many artistic question go unanswered in this forum. Artistic question don't offer much room for argument, like geogovernance or communal strategy or individual or collective financial strategy. I do care about the state of any black collective scenario. 

 

 

@daniellegfny the problem with all artistic labels is how they are determined is all human craft. The art of categorization is that, an art. Yes, colleges and universities are in the business of creating a narrative from supposed experts in the arts, but that is merely cultural control. 

What is science fiction? The word science itself means knowledge. So, fictional knowledge can be magic, pseudo documentaries, theoretical ideas of physics or chemistry. 

In my experience, artistic groups: black, white, female, male, christian, muslim, et all other racial groups, don't agree on many genre labels. What is a romance? What is a whodunnit? 

My point is, the acceptance of commonly stated labels is never holistic or appropriate. 

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@richardmurray

The poster who called himself Nels created a thread on Blacks in Hollywood and the movie industry. That is where your general questions about Cinema should have been posted. 

You cannot post general thought Blogs. You must be specific at least when engaging people who do research. This thread is quite specific.

Email your blogs to an online publication and gauge their editors' view of your work. You have to be specific or have a topic that is narrowed down.

Or sign up for any kind of news Website that allows short commentary. And you will discover I am right.

Or if you really desire true and honest reaction to your writing, search the Internet for discussion groups to your liking. Look at the threads and the writing there-in. Then sign-up.

I've been on a multitude of such Websites since 2000. I enjoy beating the crap out of White racists. And I will tell you that bad writing, phony facts and questionable sources generate blowback. The same is true of constant put downs, especially if nothing new is being presented.  Because someone will always demand that you provide prove for your assertions.

You also don't like using commonly stated labels. Dude, self correct immediately because you're lying.

In your response, you employed the term "Blackwood." I thought you were referring to a town. But you are apparently referencing Black film makers.

Here are four terms about the movie making industry you need to accept and to USE:

Hollywood (U.S. Cinema)
Bollywood (Indian Cinema)
Nollywood (Nigerian Cinema)

What you meant to use is Black Cinema. Because Black movie making takes place all over the U.S. and in the Caribbean. 

 

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On 3/8/2022 at 12:28 PM, Stefan said:

claims AfroFuturism rejects the current version of Sci Fi. As if he's some scholarly intellectual with deep connections to this school of thought and philosophy. He's not and knows very little about anything other his tortured belief that Donald Trump is God. 

He seems to be more interested in Trump than I am, yet he hasn’t taken the time to read one of his books. But, https://www.instagram.com/p/CX-9zy1s7so/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

There are authors who agree with my assessments. Don’t Hate Us because You Can’t Be Us. 😂🤣😇

On 3/8/2022 at 1:55 PM, richardmurray said:

My point is, the acceptance of commonly stated labels is never holistic or appropriate

My statement was that there is a large Afrofuturism movement that rejects the current standards of SciFi. That’s not say all. It pointing to a reality. @Stefanbiggest problem is that I am a succinct communicator. He loves hearing himself rather than hearing others. So much so he puts words in his mouth.

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Why would I want read a book supposedly written by that liar?

He cannot write! He can't even give a decent speech!

This thread is supposed to be about Science Fiction. Why do you have such a difficult time understanding clear and definitive English sentences?

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