John Scalzi Has His Eyes on Watchmen and Star Trek in 2009
Yes, it's the new year. Come, now. This shouldn't be a surprise; every twelve months or so they spring another one on us. What you should really be pondering is which science fiction and speculative movies I'm interested in seeing during this new and now current calendar year. And to that end, I'll tell you, provided you understand this woefully incomplete list is in no particular order.
Watchmen
One of the reasons I'm interested in seeing it is because I'm not sure I'm going to be able to see it at all. The movie is at the center of a legal brawl between Warner Bros. and Fox over who owns the copyright. A recent ruling says Fox does, which bothers Warner seeing as it's the studio that put nine figures into the making and marketing of the thing. Aside from the legal mumbo-jumbo, I'm interested to see it because, like the graphic novel's writer Alan Moore, I'm not in the least bit convinced the material is actually possible to make into a coherent movie. But I'm hoping to be convinced, and I'm willing to offer some slack for this insanely ambitious project.
Star Trek
Basically, I want to see how much J.J. Abrams and his writers have messed with accepted Star Trek canon. Yes, I'm a Trek dork that way -- but not militant about it, since, let's face it: In order to make a TOS-era Star Trek origin story that doesn't look like cheap '60s TV, they'd have to mess with it to some extent. Besides, Paramount already squeezed every possible bit of juice out of the last iteration with unbearably flaccid Star Trek: Nemesis. Now, per last week's column, I'm not 100% convinced we need a new Star Trek at all, but since we have one, at this point coloring outside the lines is what the universe needs.
Knowing
Nicolas Cage gets disturbingly accurate disaster predictions out of an elementary school time capsule, and it's pretty clear the end of the world is on its way. This strikes me as more generally speculative than straight-up science fiction, but I can roll that way. And I'll sign up for seeing what director Alex Proyas has to show me any day because he directed The Crow and Dark City, and because unlike many angry, angry purists, I liked I, Robot just fine.
Avatar
James Cameron plays with 3D. I mean, really, people: How much more does a science fiction geek need to know before he says "sign me up"? Cameron is like the good writer/director twin of George Lucas, in that both have been instrumental in using science fiction to push filmmaking technology as far as it can possibly go. What makes Cameron the good twin instead of the evil goateed twin is that he can write interesting plots and characters, and then direct humans to show actual emotion. Not everything Cameron does works, but even when he fails, he fails interestingly (see: The Abyss). So I live on the faith that Avatar is going to be worth my time and money.
9
It's a freaky little animated movie produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of Wanted, and, rather more crucially, Night Watch), which is best described as Toy Story meets Mad Max, or perhaps The Nightmare Before the Apocalypse. Every goth and steampunk devotee in the universe will see the trailer and explode with joy, to which I say, "Eeeeeeew."
So those are the flicks I'm interested in. What am I anticipating, um, less? Well...
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Back in my day, toy commercials had the decency to be thirty seconds long! And on Saturday mornings! Between Scooby-Doo and Super Friends! And they didn't have sequels! Damn kids! Get off my lawn!
Dragonball Evolution
Back in my day... oh, what's the use. But I just want to say: Chow Yun-Fat? In this? God is dead, my friends.
2012
The Mayan Calendar runs out and it's the end of the world! Again! By my count, this is at least the third time director Roland Emmerich has tried to destroy the entire planet in his movies (others being Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow). I'm not saying it's not fun to watch him squash us all like bugs, but I think maybe we should all get together and buy this guy, like, a stuffed animal or something.
What science fiction movies are you looking forward to in 2009? What are you dreading?
Winner of the Hugo Award and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, John Scalzi is the author of The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies and the novels Old Man's War and Zoe's Tale. He's also the editor of METAtropolis, an audiobook anthology on Audible.com. His column appears every Thursday.
I'm amazed that Coraline is not on this list. Looks like it's going to be very true to the books.
It's more fantasy than science fiction(y). But you bet I'm looking forward to it.
I can't say I am actually looking forward to any 2009 movie. At least not any I have heard of When Worlds Collide (supposedly coming in 2010) has my interest though.
I have a simple text file on my computer where I save titles of upcoming movies that look interesting, so I don't forget about them. Here are four that are science fiction:
Moon
An old-school science fiction movie with Sam Rockwell that, from the looks of it, could have been directed by Peter Hyams (it's not however). Rockwell plays a mining corporation employee stationed on the moon all by himself. Things start to go wrong and he finds out that his employers want to replace him with his own clone. Could be a great science fiction thriller with psychological depth. It will premiere at Sundance and hopefully get a wide release after that.
2081
A 20 minute short film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron". I love short films, so I definitely want to see this. I doubt it will be in theaters though. Here's the trailer.
District 9
Produced by Peter Jackson, this could be the big surprise in science fiction this year. It's directed by Neill Blomkamp, best known for his two fantastic SF short movies Alive in Joberg and Tempbot.
There's not much known about the plot and I don't keep up with the viral marketing campaign for the movie, but it seems to be based on the Alive in Joberg short: An alien spaceship crashes near Johannesburg, South Africa and the visitors start living among the locals. Trough oppressive laws enforced by a special police a new apartheid system develops between humans and aliens.
Eva
I'm not even sure this movie will actually be released this year. IMDb lists it as a 2009 movie, but I think we won't see it until 2010. A promo showing the little robot girl that gives the movie its name looks intriguing however.
Your assessment of this year's films is spot on. I want to add in the Wolverine and Terminator movies somewhere, but I'm not sure which list to put them in. I'm a little burnt out on X-Men on the big screen, so I think I'm putting Wolverine in the not so anticipated. I think I'm more looking forward to Terminator, as I'm curious to see a Terminator movie without Arnold. Plus, Christian Bale as John Connor.
I think all of Roland Emmerich's work has, as its subtext, the destruction of life as we know it. Looking at "The Patriot," all I could think was that the End of the World had just come another step closer.
I'm most looking forward to The Road, which was supposed to have been out last year. I've always been a fan of post-apocalyptic fiction and films, and think the novel The Road was top rate.
I'm also looking forward to Star Trek (and Harry Potter and Coraline).
I've seen a trailer for 2012, and it looks like a typically bombastic apocalyptic flick.
9
It's a freaky little animated movie produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of Wanted, and, rather more crucially, Night Watch), which is best described as Toy Story meets Mad Max, or perhaps The Nightmare Before the Apocalypse. Every goth and steampunk devotee in the universe will see the trailer and explode with joy, to which I say, "Eeeeeeew."
JOY!!!!!
*cleans up keyboard*
Thanks for the heads-up on this one. Oh, and btw I too quite enjoyed I, Robot.
I'm looking forward to '9' very much. My main problem, and sorry to bring it up in your column, John, since it's not a problem I have with you exclusively, but, in several online articles I've read so far about notable movies to watch for in '09--whenever '9' comes up, no one mentions the creator of this concept/character/premise and the original 11 minute short that the feature-length movie is based off of, namely Shane Acker.
If you haven't, people, go watch the original short. Or not, since it might ruin the movie for you. Either way it's available to watch its entirety, and it really is brilliant. And no, I don't know anyone affiliated with that production, even remotely, and I'm not a plant. I'm a semi-regular at Whatever, though.
This is no offense to Tim Burton et al. I just keep reading about this AWESOME MOVIE THAT'S COMING FROM TIM BURTON IN 2009!!! and just feel sad when they don't mention the creator of the piece. Ackerman's short is masterful, and worthy of praise, and I applaud very much that it was picked up for larger release. I still want to see him acknowledged for his creation, that's all.
And then again, maybe I'm just whistling-Dixie. I don't know the whole story of how it came to be made into a major Hollywood production, so humility is in order for me if I'm out of line here. Just saying that I've been reading an awful lot about this soon to be big CGI movie that's being made for a more grownup crowd (a topic that is bound to be rehashed, I'm sure after a disappointing run with Beowulf) and it irks me that the original crew who made the short aren't getting their due in all the mainstream media chatter.
OK, end rant here.
My list is much shorter:
Watchmen, assuming we get to see it
Star Trek
Avatar, which to me has the most promise
MAYBE 2012. Maybe.
I started 09 off on a shaky note, movie-wise: The Spirit. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, but I know it was not what I was hoping for.
I'm optimistic about all of these:
Star Trek
Watchmen
9
Terminator: Salvation
Wolverine
Coraline
Avatar
Knowing
And very curious about Moon...
I too want to add that "9" is based on a short film and I was very lucky to catch it at a short film festival. I was very surprised to find out that it was being turned into a full length feature. I don't think that happens too often does it? I do feel that the short deserves mention as it is very nice and perhaps the new film will not only overshadow, but destroy the magic in the original. Hobbyns, you said the short was available for all to watch. I would love to know where because I have been dying to see it again for two years.
I will also add a little more to the talk of great short films. The Oscar winning "The Mysterious Geographic Adventures Of Jasper Morello" is also a great steam punk fantasy. You can catch it on YouTube and I just noticed, "9" is also found at YouTube. Watch and gives these little films their due!
Correction, "The Mysterious Geographic Adventures Of Jasper Morello" was only nominated for an Oscar, Best Animated Short Film.
My list includes Alien Trespass and Egon and Donci
Frienetic, I'd only seen it just last month when io9.com linked to the full 11-minute short on youtube. The link is here.
http://io9.com/5117511/forget-john-connor--a-straw-man-is-our-only-hope-against-the-machines
At first I thought I was just watching a trailer for the upcoming movie, but then realized it was the real deal. I'm looking forward to the full-length adaption very much.