Rollerball: The Harmony Of Havoc

As a follow-up to our A To Z piece on Rollerball last week, friend of the blog and avid Rollerball fan Chris Rogers approached us with a piece that digs into the themes and visual style of the classic SF movie. We’re delighted to present it, in full Multivision.

Continue reading Rollerball: The Harmony Of Havoc

The A To Z Of SFF: R Is For Rollerball

One of the classics. A gem of dystopian SF, and a great example of a sports movie to boot. A rare example of an intelligent box-office hit: a film that lets its audience make up their own minds about Jonathon E and the society that both embraces and rejects him.

Clive mentioned William Harrison’s 1973 short story “The Rollerball Murders”, the source material for the film. Read the whole thing here.

The A To Z Of SFF: H Is For Hard To Be A God

Over a decade in the making. Three hours long, black and white, an uncompromising political allegory and treatise on the dangers of anti-intellectualism.
Sounds like a laff riot, right? But Aleksei German’s Hard To Be A God has a lot to offer, if you’re prepared to put in the effort. Let Rob and Clive be your guides through a visit to Arkanar…

The A To Z Of SFF: W Is For We3

It’s been described as a mecha-suited Watership Down or The Incredible Journey on acid. But Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s We3 is a beast of a very different colour. It has its flaws, but the book is also a bold and brilliant example of proper comics storytelling.

Join Rob and Clive as they take a walk on the wild side…

The A To Z Of SFF: A Is For Alternative 3

There is a history under the history you think you know. A history where the space race never ended. Where Mars was explored back in the early 60s. Where the elite are preparing to evacuate a world dying in the face of catastrophic climate change.

Join Rob, Clive and Curiosity as they explore the secret conspiracy known only by the codename Alternative 3…

Those of you with appropriate secure clearance codes (level A323 and above) have access to the full briefing.

 

The A To Z Of SFF: C Is For Captain America: Civil War

Rob and Clive explore the point where the Marvel Cinematic Universe splits in twain. Yes, it’s time to talk about the Civil War. Are we #TeamCap or #TeamIronMan? Or like everyone else, #TeamSpidey?

DO WE REALLY NEED TO MENTION THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR HERE??? WELL, DO WE???

The A To Z Of SFF: D Is For The Dark Crystal

Rob loves the beauty and artistry of Jim Henson’s fantasy epic The Dark Crystal. Clive thinks it’s staid and a little bit boring. Who’s right? can they both have a point? That’s not going to help Curiosity make up its mind, is it?
Join the crew as they pick apart the film most people call “that one that doesn’t have David Bowie and his bulging tights in it.”

 

 

Here’s a clip, to give you an idea of the flavour of the piece…

The A To Z Of SFF: M Is For Midnight Special

 

Jeff Nichol’s masterful SF road movie gets the once over from Rob and Clive. Do they embrace the mystery, or does the film maybe leave a little too much unexplained? One thing’s for sure… it’s a hell of a ride.

 

Clive mentions Alex Roman’s short film The Third And The Seventh as an influence on the climax of Midnight Special. Check it out below. It’s a beautiful thing.

The A To Z Of SFF: Story Of Your Life

Let’s talk about some proper SF, with a nose around Ted Chiang’s Nebula-Award winning short story Story Of Your Life. If you want discussion on the challenges of living in a deterministic universe or Fermat’s Theorem of Least Time, then do we have a treat for you!

If not, don’t worry, we’ll be back to the zap guns and little green men soon enough.

 

 

Hey, if you want to read the story in question, lucky you! Check it out here (If you like it, we do urge you to buy the collection of stories in which it’s housed for yet more head-mangling goodness).