SF and Fantasy Movie Reviews Starting With F
The Faculty (1999) 
Genres: Com Hor SF
High-school teachers become infested with tentacled aliens. Funny and fun. With the tough teen problems of peer pressure and acceptance skillfully woven in.
Fantastic Planet (1973 France)
Genres: Ani SF
One day a nice girl invited me to go see a free performance of Shakespeare in the park. We went to the park but there was no performance; evidently she had been mistaken about the date, or possibly about the park. I was disappointed of course, but I am urbane so we both went back to my house in the best of friendliness and sat down in front of the TV instead. Luckily I found this fine entertainment, proving even further how urbane I am -- it's not everyone who can appreciate it. The nice girl remained quite quiet throughout; a polite girl in her own right, she evidently didn't feel it her place to protest at any point since it was her fault we drove to the park in vain and my hopes of seeing the Shakespeare performance were dashed. At the end she said it was a strange piece of work and I don't remember ever seeing the girl after that.
Field of Dreams (1989) NR
Genres: F
Watched: no
It's about baseball and has Kevin Costner, two big minuses. But one must put up with it if one claims to like SF. Baseball . . . it's a completely alien sort of thing. Even American football is less dumb. I think. I don't understand it at all. Neither one is any fun to watch. Baseball players have tremendously dorky uniforms and they're often old and fat, and no wonder, with all that sitting around. And football players wear so much crap it's impossible to see what they look like. Now soccer, that's a much nicer game. They wear very little and they kick high. Seriously, they have really cute bodies. Not that soccer is worth watching for more than a couple minutes. By far the nicest sport they have on TV is Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. I love it. Apparently nothing is funnier than seeing Japanese get hideously mauled in whimsical sporting contests. And that Kenny is pretty cute. But the freaks they have tormenting the contestants are even cuter. Some of the contestants are hot too. Americans manage to like this show too but also like baseball -- I don't know how that works. Sometime I ought to buckle down and watch this movie and try to fathom these incomprehensible Americans and their bizarre infatuation with this very silly game.
I suppose it's unfair to recommend that you see it for your edification about American culture since I haven't, so I give it NR. Also it's NR based on this summary from my boyfriend who also hasn't seen it but picked this up from a trailer he thinks: This guy (Kevin Costner) is a farmer who hears voices in his head telling him to build a baseball field in the middle of his corn field. He does it. And ghosts of past great baseball players come and play there. Soon this phenomenon attracts many baseball fans who also play there with the ghosts. They eventually replace the ghosts and play at this in-the-middle-of-the-corn-field baseball field so the venture proves a success. The ghosts all quit though, because they and Costner can't come to agreement about payment terms.
Final Fantasy (2001 Japan)
Genres: Ani SF Act Adv
The computer animation is nice. The plot -- well it sure doesn't have a Hollywood ending. It could have used more of a Hollywood ending. It could have used various other basic help too, at least in pleasing Americans. Perhaps this sort of thing pleases the Japanese. But we don't like so much negativity around here.
Flash Gordon (1980)
Genres: Adv SF
Nice. It's like a classic comic book. Pretty funny and suffused with understated sexuality! I am not often impressed that way by actresses but even I could groove to the vibes emanating from that villain's daughter. Flash is a dweeb for even considering the boring cheerleader instead. But then he's supposed to be. He's a football player and that's what they do, squeaky-clean all-American blah blah yawn, so he tries to resist the super-hot vamp who has him all tied up; that is pretty funny.
Flubber (1997) NR
Genres: F Com Kids
Watched: trailer
The odds seemed highly stacked against there being a good Robin Williams movie but there is one: Death To Smoochy. The odds against there being two are astronomical.
The Fly (1986) NR
Genres: Hor
Watched: no
This is directed by Cronenberg, but it has lots of Jeff Goldblum so I can't watch it -- some things are just too gross.
Forbidden Planet (1956)
Genres: SF
For a 50's movie, it's really good. The science is good and the science fiction is good. It's very loosely Shakespeare's The Tempest, in plot anyway. The dialogue is sometimes a bit insane, but that's funny. And it's extremely square. All the good guys are military and square. Although they're cute. And they have a quantum mechanic. It's so square! I love it! And they're all hand-picked specimens of perfection, bodily and mentally. What a setup. A girl lives all her life with no-one except her father and a robot and some tame forest critters and then whammo! Dozens of young hand-picked specimens of manly perfection land next-door. Now that's romance for you.
You can tell they're serious about the science. Mankind surpassed the speed-of-light barrier -- and they make sure you know it wasn't easy. You have to suffer to pass the light barrier. Suffer annoying sounds. This movie is full of annoying sounds. It must have had a huge sound effects budget. Everything goes beep boop wee blauauau eee. And it was impossible to keep my boyfriend from joining in.
They take care of details they'd never bother about today -- it all goes along with being square. And they use an actual coordinate system instead of making up some dumb crap like saying "52 mark 6.2 by Q17 orange, with a hint of cinnamon."
Forbidden Zone (1980)
Genres: F Mus Com
Watched: second half
I caught the second half of this at Bad Idea Theater, where they were nice to me and gave me a blanket when I whined about being cold. Sweet folks, come out and see them next time you're at Burning Man or one of the associated events.
Once I was cozy I quite enjoyed the experience. I'm sure I wouldn't have been less confused if I had watched the first half; making little sense is part of the artistic sensibility. It's surreal and protean, like a nightmare or a music video. Which is all very nice, especially when you're cozy. You'd think I'd be satisfied and grateful for all this, but still I must whine. Weirdness for weirdness's sake frequently spoils the effect, the Devil's imitation of Calloway sort of sucks, how come there is only female nudity . . . yeah, I will spit on your gifts, so you may want to not bother.
Frankenstein (1994) NR
Genres: Hor
Can a movie be worse than the book? Of course; it usually is. But can it be worse than a really crappy book, like, say, Frankenstein? Yeh, why not. But can it be a whole lot worse? Apparently. Yes, it does inherit the stupidity, but it also adds a lot of drawn-out grossness. And boy does it capture the stupidity and the whining. Mercifully I don't remember this movie too well.
Freaks (1932)
Genres: F Hor
Not bad and sure pays off in freakiness. You don't get to see so much freakiness in entertainment these days. Is this a good thing? People love freaks. This fact can't be denied. But we are these days deprived of the joys of freaks, Jew-bashing, etc. Is that why we sometimes feel lost and unfulfilled? We have been told that it's healthy to express a certain set of primal desires which we have been told for centuries we had to suppress. But if we just take a step back and really assess the situation we see that we just exchanged one set of taboos for another.
Freaky Friday (1976)
Genres: Com F Kid
Mother and daughter switch bodies. Quite enjoyable for youngsters.
The Frighteners (1996)
Genres: Hor
It has Michael J. Fox and strangely is good. The plot makes sense.
Fritz the Cat (1972) NR
Genres: Ani F Com
Watched: video cover
It's based on the comics of legendary cartoonist R. Crumb. Crumb was and is apparently quite unhappy with the movie's vision. He tried to stop its production and later spoke out against the product. Please buy R. Crumb's work instead; he's a genius. A good place to start might be A Carload O'Comics (over 18 only).
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Genres: Act Hor
Awesome. This is so much fun and evokes powerful emotions. Lots and lots of exhilarating fights with monsters, tons of gorgeous gore, plus terrific character dynamics.
Oh my God is George Clooney hot in this one. He's in many ways a stupid typical Hollywood wanker but this movie wipes it all away in a glorious shower of blood and glistening sweat on hard tattooed male perfection. (Why is he a stupid Hollywood wanker? Well take this for instance. He made a snide and very public comment about Charleton Heston's Alzheimer's disease; when people complained he said Heston deserved it for being head of the NRA. I'm sorry. I suppose I may have have ruined the manly glisteny fantasy for you.)
From Hell (2001)
Genres: Hor
I hardly recall this but I'm fairly certain it isn't good. I'm guessing one star is about right. Jack the Ripper targets a group of charismatic prostitutes led by Heather Graham. Police Inspector Johnny Depp fights Jack and more decoratively, his personal demons. The inspector may look like a demented pretty boy but he's actually very effective because taking opiates allows him visions of the crimes. It just goes downhill from that.
Futureworld (1976)
Genres: SF
Sequel to Westworld. Reporters investigate an evil and predictable scheme involving robots and world leaders. I resent the hijacking of a good movie's legacy to make uninspired schlock.
Please note that all material on this page is Copyright © 2005 by D. Aline Lurie.
Movie Reviews
| # | A | B | C | D | E | ||||||
| F | G | H | I | J | K | ||||||
| L | M | N | O | P | Q | ||||||
| R | S | T | U | V | W | ||||||
| X | Y | Z |
Series Reviews