The Lost Highways B movie Reviews and Cult Films 5. Today is Xmas, the most wonderful time of the year a time when everything is perfect, when all boys and girls are well behaved, when man loves his fellow man and woman, etc, etc., when dogs and cats snuggle together in peaceful harmony, when fruit cake is a delicious confectionary treat, the time of the year when ones soul cannot help but sing at the beatitude of the day. Or is it the worst wonderful time of the year a time when everything is horrible, when all boys are girls are devils, when man loathes his fellow man and woman, etc, etc., when dogs and cats fight viciously for dominance, when fruit cake is a chunk of disgusting, the time of the year when one crawls into the darkest of corners and prays for death For Ren Cardona it was the latter. Granted, it was the late 1. Cardona was in Mexico, which was a land in an unparalleled Golden Age, all of which likely influenced Santa Claus, also known as Santa Claus vs. Former Time Lord Peter Davison leaves Twitter after Doctor Who backlash. He also clarified his earlier comments about Jodie Whittakers casting. Science fiction often shortened to SF or scifi is a genre of speculative fiction, typically dealing with imaginative concepts such as futuristic science and. I should add that I think Trek matters more than just to fans. It was the only scifi universe thats always been unabashedly utopian. Its a fluke that it. The Devil, to fall on the happy go lucky side of the spectrum. Or maybe the world really is a candy cane dream in the waning days of the year. Cult Sci Fi Movies Dead Leaves And The DirtyWhichever end of the spectrum your feelings on this matter fall into join me for this months walk thru where well see if Santa Claus is naughty or nice. Open Crystal Gold Space Palace. High above the North Pole, way out in space, is Santas crystal and gold Space Palace. Cult Sci Fi Movies Dead Leaves AnimeThe Andromeda Strain 1971 Very much the model of the restrained scifi film theres very little eye candy on display, including the starfree cast who. Lost Highway is your source for weekly reviews of bmovies and cult films ranging from scifi and horror to the downright weird and bizarre. Enjoy the journey. From The Borg to Fringe to the nearsilent episode of Buffy, weve taken a look at the best individual episodes of the last 25 years. Data on the film includes cast and crew credits, trivia, and other information on the movie. Within, Santa cackles madly as he arranges his nativity scene but soon remembers that he has to make presents for good children of the world. He tells the nativity scene as much, and that he mustnt be late, to which it replies, because its NOT REAL. Undisturbed by this psychotic episode, Santa heads straight to his Hammond Organ to play a jaunty Xmas ditty. The organ has a built in video feed to Toyland, Santas sweatshop, erhm toy factory. Despite being the late 1. I swear yall published this the exact same day as The Fil mStage. Last year, Ryan Gosling told GQ that Harrison Ford punched him in the face while filming Blade Runner 2049. According to Ford himself, yup, it happened, its. American Horror Story Cult Episode 2 will give fans something to cheer about when the real face of the cult starts to take shape. See the details and watch the. Cult Sci Fi Movies Dead Leaves Retro' title='Cult Sci Fi Movies Dead Leaves Retro' />Santas P. R. team suggested the name Toyland. Toyland tested well, especially considering all the laborers are small children. As Santa mashes away at the keys we watch the equal opportunity enslavement at Toyland. There are children from Africa half naked, bones in hair, banging drumsToylands equal in conscripted service but still very backwards where race is concerned, Spain, China, England, Japan, Orient Arabs, Russia, France whom get special treatment, i. Hey, You Evette and Pierre, Germany, Italy, Caribbean, South America Brazil and Argentina, the only countries in South America, Central America, USA, and finally, Mexico. Hey, isnt Mexico part of Central America SHUT UP Actually, to suggest this is a sweatshop is my cynicism. Actually, the children arent working at all. Toyland is a big room where theyre forced to stay in their ethnic groups and sing traditional songs from their respective homelands. After all the different groups have finished their lamentations, the children bring Santa a devil toy. The doll has fireworks built into its buttocks which, when lit, causes it to spin around. Cult Sci Fi Movies Dead Leaves Bts' title='Cult Sci Fi Movies Dead Leaves Bts' />Cut to Hell. In Hell all the devils are interpretive dancers, spinning around wildly like theyve got a bottle rockets jammed in the buttocks. Wow Here I was thinking this was going to be a sugar coated, white washing but this movie really nails Hell. Thankfully, after only a few seconds, Lucifer has had enough and calls an end to this dancing tomfoolery, sending all the demons away in a flash, that is, all but Pitch, his chief demon. Lucifer has a special job for Pitch. He is to go up to Earth to cause a mother loving ruckus, Wu Tang Style. Should he fail again how exactly is he chief demon if he fails all the time he will not have hot coals for dinner, he will be served ice creamchocolate ice cream. Ah, GAWD The devil truly is vile. Cut to Earth, Mexico City. A cackling animatronic Santa Claus gyrates in a store window, outside of which is a throng of people, mostly children, staring in at all the wonderful things they are too poor to afford. Among the unwashed mass are five children of particular interest Good Little Boy, whose daddy is rich but negligent, Lupita, whose mother is poor but loving, and three rude boys, the Bad Brothers, whose parents are Pitch magically produces three rocks from the ground and gives one to each of the Bad Brothers. Without any prompting, and despite the large crowd to witness them, the hooligans throw their rocks through the store window. One hits the animatronic Santa, another slices and hits a Salvation Army bell ringer, the third goes so far off the mark it breaks the Earths atmosphere, rockets to Santas palace, ultimately hitting Santa in the forehead. Cut to Magic Observatory. Santas Magic Observatory houses the specialized spy gear he uses to look and listen in on anyone on Earth the Ear o scope, the Teletalker which knows everything, the Cosmic Telescope, and the Master Eye. First Santa checks on Lupita. Shes wandering around the market with her mother taking in the festivities, dreaming about a dolly of her very own. As luck would have it, one of the vendors is selling dolls, and as she picks one up to hug, squeeze, and love, the vendor is swarmed by customers. Lupita starts to walk away with the doll but before she walks too far off she returns it. Santa is pleased and the narrator remarks, If youre good, somehow youll be rewarded. Ah, theres the sugar sweet reality Cut to Good Little Rich Boys House. Next Santa invades the dream of Good Little Rich Boy with the Dream o scope. Good Little Rich Boy is dreaming of his Xmas presents. Huge gifts so big they dwarf the Xmas tree. Rich people get extravagant presents so naturally Good Little Rich Boys gifts are his PARENTS Awww. Good Little Rich Boy only wants their love, not more things. Youre such a good little Good Little Rich Boy Again, Santa is pleased, though a little sad. He sighs, A dream is a wish that the heart makes. Ugh. The movie is laying on the sweet so bit thick my cavities were hurting. The touchy feels do not last too long, because before Santas helpers could roll their eyes, Santa turns his gaze to Lupita. Cut to Lupitas One Room Shack. Lupita is lying on the bed, shivering. Her family is so poor they dont know how to use the blanket. After watching Lupita twitch uncomfortably for a while, Poor Father finally covers Lupita with his jacket. Pitch appears bedside and blows on the sleeping girl, one hopes to influence her dreams. Although I know this film was made in a simpler time, watching a man in red tights blow on a small girl trying to sleep triggered me something fierce. In her dream Lupita is the center of a nightmare world thick with smoke machine fog and populated with creepy adult sized, dual faced dancing dolls. The dolls swirl around Lupita. If this is Pitchs idea of tempting Lupita to steal a doll its not working. She can hardly see what is happening her head is only slightly above the smoke. If she were able to see what was happening it would scare her off of dolls for good. Cut to Under a Bed. Santa turns his attention to the Bad Brothers. Theyre speaking so softly he has to employ the Ear o scope, which in the preceding scenes was the Dream o scope, but whatever. They are making nefarious plans which include breaking their neighbors window in order to steal his toys. They could be good and get toys from Santa legitimately, but theres no fun in that. Instead, they decide to write Santa a letter and lie, saying theyve been good so they can get presents. What they dont realize is Santa is snooping on them. Disgusted by what he hears, Santa uses the Cosmic Telescope to amplify his voice so he can tell them that he has heard theyre scheming. Cut to Montage of Children Writing Letters. Good Little Rich Boy is writing a letter to Santa asking for time with Mama and Papa. Another boy wants a little brother although hes sitting at the dinner table with three other boys and two girls. A third boy, in bed in the orphanage, wants a Papa, or maybe a Mama. Movies Lists Netflix Paste. Gone are the days when the best science fiction movies on Netflix included a Tarkovsky gem or Re Animator or a Star Trek joint or during the true halcyon beginnings of the streaming service Blade Runner. Today, much of Netflixs Sci fi library is filled with recently released to VOD micro budget titles with the exception of a classic or two. In other words, Sci fi isnt exactly a strong point in the realm of what Netflix has for genre offerings, but there is still plenty to pick from if you feel like bemoaning the destiny of our technological world. Though weve avoided superhero movies and fantasy first filmsto be included in future listsweve picked the best of what remains, which still provides plenty to wreck your every conception of reality and human potential, from medieval alien grotesquerie to a 1. For other genres and types, check out Pastes many, many Best Movies lists, and then make your way through the following. Whatever the future holds, for the time being check out our choices for the 2. Sci fi movies on Netflix. Fire in the Sky Year 1. Director Robert Lieberman. Travis Walton D. B. Sweeney may or may not be a rambling loon who said he was abducted by aliens in 1. Fire in the Sky out of it. Robert Patrick appears against type as a guy who isnt a liquid metal killer robot from the future, in a role that probably set him up for a permanent spot on The X Files. You can call it a mystery, in a vaguely Twin Peaks like fashion, but theres also a pretty deep vein of existential horror in Fire in the Sky, amplified by the truly terrifying probing scenes with the aliens, which are presented in graphic detail. Its a film about our powerlessness and insignificance on a cosmic scale, made only worse by our indifference toward the buried pain of our friends and neighbors. Jim Vorel. 24. Europa Report Year 2. Director Sebastian Cordero. With echoes of 2. Sebastian Corderos innovatively structured thriller enthralls with not only its apparent scientific accuracy, but the passion it portrays among a class of people historically characterized by pocket protectors, taped eyewear and social awkwardness. Aboard the Europa One Kubricks vessel was called the Discovery One, the six scientists bound for Europa, one of Jupiters moons HAL and his crew were headed for the gas giant itself, are living, breathing human beings, with families and fears, ambition and emotions. Theyre also just smarter than most of us and on a mission more significant than any of us will experience ever in our lives. The stakes are high in this mock docfaux found footage mystery, in which the privately funded space exploration company Europa Ventures issues a documentary on the fate of its first manned mission to investigate the possibility of alien life within our solar system. The sacrifices may be steep, but Europa Report is convincedand wants to convince youthat this is what it will take to explore such frontiers. Annlee Ellingson. Home Year 2. 01. Director Tim Johnson Home is a hammy, intro to colonialism flick for kids, the precursor to Disneys 2. Zootopia. But Homes goofy, hyperbolic melodrama works in its favor, in large part because said goofy, hyperbolic melodrama is couched within the parameters of animated childrens fare, and is more palatable as a result. If youre the parent of young kids, and if you want to introduce them to the joys of science fiction, Home is a fine place to start, where Oh Jim Parsons, an endearingly loquacious member of the alien race known as the Boovs, befriends Tip Rihanna, a teenager searching for her mother in Australia. On paper youd think Parsons and Rihannad go together like peanut butter and pickles, but theyre utterly charming as a team. Why Australia Because thats where the Boovs relocate all of humanity following a friendly invasion of Earth, which they deem a suitable planet to call their new home after escaping their enemies, the Gorg. Its a bit basic, but basic works in Homes favor, allowing its darker subtext to shine without feeling overwhelming for kids or dishonest for adults. Andy Crump. 22. Death Race 2. Year 2. 01. 6 Director G. J. Echternkamp. The first official sequel to Paul Bertels Death Race 2. One Piece: The Movie Online more. Death Race 2. 05. Its dumb, and it knows its dumbknows that it should be dumbbut it doesnt actually want to be dumb, which is probably where it goes from sci fi action romp to dour thriller and pushes to a climax that literally burns everything to the ground. Just as our country deserves. Still, director G. J. Echternkampwhos on Netflix five times, twice as the director of the documentary and the film based on the documentary about his dysfunctional parentsknows how to squeeze every drop of insanity from an already strangled budget, which makes the scope of Death Race 2. Its a big dumb movie about a future cross country race in which killing innocent people is rewarded and mass destruction a given, but its also a Marxist screed against a dystopic future in which the means of labor are taken from us and society is subdued by virtual reality fantasy, as well as the best representation in over a decade of Malcolm Mc. Dowell at his purest puerile, pompous and entirely game for whatever. Dom Sinacola. 21. Perfect Sense Year 2. Director David Mackenzie. Great romantic dramas with a sci fi twist arent the kind of thing that come along on a regular basis, which is just one reason that David Mackenzies Hell or High Water Perfect Sense should have received both more attention and acclaim. Starring Ewan Mc. Gregor and Eva Green, its got the star power and gravitas to pull off an ambitious, unique, highly emotional story about how mankind deals with loss. As a mysterious pandemic sweeps the globe, everyone begins to lose specific senses, one after another. First, the entire world loses its sense of smell, and life must adapt accordingly. Then, taste is lost, and once again life must find a way to go on. Mc. Gregor and Green play lovers just beginning a relationship as the world begins to collapse around them, and the film meanders its way through their shifting of priorities. Uncompromising in its vision and consequences, Perfect Sense can be a bit dire, but its always beautiful. J. V. 2. 0. The Road Year 2. Director John Hillcoat The Road, like any Cormac Mc. Carthy adaptation, isnt a picnic. Whats remarkable about the film is that its both softer and harsher than Mc. Carthys original novel at the same timea tad more sentimental, but by virtue of its medium its also more confrontational and visceral, which makes the experience of watching it soul sucking as only cinema about the apocalypse can be. But consider the director, John Hillcoat, who made 2. The Proposition prior to The Road. In The Road, as in The Proposition, Hillcoat imagines the world around us as a blasted landscape, though here he has traded out his hellish portrait of the Australian outback for a desolate, ash coated post American landscape where trusting strangers is a death sentence and constant paranoia the key to survival. He also shot on location in Oregon, Pennsylvania and Louisiana. The most succor youll find in The Road is in leading performances from Kodi Smit Mc. Phee and Viggo Mortensen, playing a father son duo making their way to the coast across a devastated nation. They give the film a heart that its scenery and action wholly lack. A. C. 1. 9. Robinson Crusoe on Mars Year 1. Directors Byron Haskin. In which the most useless astronaut in the universe gets away with calling an alien retarded and forms a semi functional love affair with his space monkey, Mona. Dopey sci fi fairy tale, Robinson Crusoe on Mars is a relic of its time, but its still worth revisiting to appreciate the obvious care director Byron Haskin sunk into his visuals.