Okay, we had my top 10, (ahem), love films of all time. So, I thought it was about time to man-up a bit and post – what I think – are the 10 best Sci-fi movies of all time – ever. To infinity and back.
Now, you may beg to differ with my chosen cinematic behemoths. And, if you do, you’d be wrong. However, feel free to enlighten me to any classics I’ve missed.
Cop hunts robots. Falls in love with robot. He might be a robot.
“Open the pod bay doors, Al.” A classic from Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. “Open ‘em yourself, yer lazy get.”
Epic empirical wars over life-giving spice [oil].
Things go frustratingly awry for Sam in this bureaucratic dystopia.
Man goes back in time to protect mother of future leader of resistance against robots. Pursued by Terminator, our hero ends up being the dad of the future leader. Eh? So, if he didn’t go back in the, oh forget it.
Rescue ship finds missing spaceship that can create black holes. Unfortunately, the black hole it created led to hell.
I’m still biting my nails over this deep-space thriller.
Who says sci-fi can’t be funny? Worth a view just for the orgasmatron.
Well, I liked it. No nasty aliens. No blood and guts. Just ethical questions about god and science.
Nothing is real, you know. Should be a documentary rather than a movie.
Filed under Comedy, Film, Ideas, Inspiration, Screenplays
True, it may not be as ambitious and world-changing as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s. But it’s a dream nonetheless.
To be honest, I wasn’t going to post about it until I felt I was in more of a position to realise this dream. But short of winning the Euro Millions Lottery, it aint going to happen without some serious philanthropic backer.
So, what is my dream?
Well, it’s to build a School of Arts for under-privileged kids.
Kids from low socioeconomic backgrounds in large inner-city estates. Kids who might not ordinarily get the opportunity to explore the more creative aspects of their nature.
What good would that do society? We’re in a depression, don’t you know!
Problems in every field of human endeavour are virtually always solved by creative thinking. Even the great Albert Einstein said so himself. Creativity allows us to look at problems from different angles and apply new thinking to solve problems.
Moreover, I don’t see it as a school that produces an unprecedented amount of artists. But an unprecedented amount of creative thinkers – whichever vocation they choose to pursue later in life. Whether it be mathematics, science, business, computers, product design, or economics.
And yes, a few more more artists too. And what’s wrong with that? Art is seen as a dirty word in this country. If I tell people I write poetry, they shift uneasily in their seats. If I said I write poetry in Ireland the response would be a polite smile and a nod toward the back of the queue.
Do you think the first rocket flight to the moon was dreamed up by a scientist?
Sure, scientists and engineers made it a reality. But it is creative people who come up with the ideas and the original solutions of how they can be achieved.
What will the kids do?
The school will develop and encourage creative thinking and self-expression.
It will foster, nurture and encourage exploration of the arts in all its many and varied forms including: painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, poetry, literature, screenplays, theatre, drama, dance, music, design, digital arts, film, photography, humanities, languages, and the classics.
Where is this school?
I quite fancy the idea of transforming a derelict Victorian mill. There’s something quite ironic about that. Though it certainly wouldn’t be a prerequisite. (Salts Mill in Bradford is a good example.)
Initially, an inner-city campus close to urban populations that have a high level of low socioeconomic families. Basically, anywhere across the Manchester – Huddersfield – Halifax – Leeds belt. It’s also sufficiently ‘central’ enough to accommodate children from further afield.
It would also be good to have a rural retreat – somewhere like the Lake District, Peak District or the Yorkshire Dales, where children can attend week-long courses/classes which double up as a holiday.
I would also like to open an international sister school in India or Sri Lanka where people from distinctly different cultures can share ideas. These schools could also participate in exchange programmes. (Then subsequently, even further afield: China, South America, South Asia.)
What about science subjects?
This school wouldn’t be a replacement for existing schools and their curricula – more of an extension to them.
Would it exclude people from non low socioeconomic backgrounds?
Not at all. But opportunities for middle-class families in other schools are much more accessible, regardless of ability.
Intake for low income kids would be based as much on desire and enthusiasm to participate rather than ability. There would be a limited number of places for more affluent children. Sort of like Eton – in reverse.
What kind of courses will it run?
Day-long workshops for visiting schools.
After-school classes.
Week-long courses. (Which would include accommodation for traveling students.)
Weekend classes.
Full-time sixth form courses. (A-levels.)
Masters and PhD courses.
What ages are we talking about?
Key Stage 3, up to, and including, sixth form.
Undergraduate, Masters and PhD courses.
What else does the school have?
Apart from studios and classrooms?
There’d be accommodation for students who are visiting from further afield.
Cafe / restaurant.
Gallery to promote and sell students’ work.
Gallery featuring independent contemporary and traditional art.
Masterclasses from guest lecturers.
State of the art library. (Both on and off-line.)
Book shop.
Art-house cinema.
Who will pay for it?
Well, that’s the biggest question of all.
A like-minded philanthropist would be nice.
Arts Council grant.
Lottery funding.
A percentage of Masters and PhD students’ tuition fees could go towards funding.
Sales from restaurant and galleries.
Fundraising / donations.
An Ideal World School of Arts.
Salts Mill, Bradford.
David Hockney at Salts Mill.
Salts Mill interior.
Studio space?
Any constructive criticism and advice about how to get something like this funded and off the ground would be greatly appreciated.
Filed under Advertising, Animation, Architecture, Art, Books, Brand, Cartoons, Ceramics, Children, Children's books, Children's stories, Classical music, Comedy, community, Contemporary Arts, Creativity, Dance, Design, Digital, Disability, Economy, Education, Film, Haiku, Ideas, Illustration, Innovation, Inspiration, Inventions, Literature, Music, Philosophy, Photography, Poetry, Radio, Screenplays, Sculpture, Short stories, Writing
Okay, call me an old softy.
Here’s my top ten. ‘Twas a tough decision. A few classics didn’t make the cut.
If there are any you haven’t seen, check them out, you won’t be disappointed.
Have I missed your favourite? Feel free to participate.
#1 My all-time favourite by Wim Wenders
about an Angel who falls in love with a trapeze artist.
#2 Betty Blue. About a laid back wannabe writer
who falls in love with a complete fruit cake.
#3 Ralph goes to extraordinary lengths to get back to his injured lover.
(Even doing a deal with the enemy.)
#4 Dad-dancing Antoine has a bit of a fetish for hairdressers.
#5 by the late Tony Scott. Clarence takes us on a whirlwind romance across the States.
Full of gangsters, pimps, drugs, blood and bullets.
#6 Juliette Binoche at her finest. Vagrants fall in love too, you know.
#7 A postie enlists the help of poet, Pablo Neruda, to woo the girl of his dreams.
#8 Who could forget the innocent magic of Audrey Tautou?
#9 A princess in disguise takes to the streets of Rome
guided by a trickster journalist.
#10 Yes, you read it right. The charming trash collecting robot falls for hi-tech probe, Eve. Bit like your 1987 Nokia falling in love with an iPhone 5.
Addendum: A friend reminded me of this one. Another brilliant movie by Wim Wenders, starring Harry Dean Stanton and Natasha Kinski. I know that makes 11. But it’s my blog and if you can’t do what you want in your own world then I don’t know where you can.
10a, the only movie where the soundtrack (Ry Cooder) is as good as the film.
Dagnabbit. I forgot about The Piano by Jane Campion. Okay, I’ll swap Roman Holiday for this one.
10b. Perhaps the only other movie to feature a soundtrack (Michael Nyman) as good as the film itself.
Filed under Art, Contemporary Arts, Creativity, Film, Ideas, Innovation, Inspiration, Screenplays, Writing
Luncheon of the Boating Party, 1881. By Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
The Boating Party is a brand new feature on my blog. It’s a series of interviews with writers, artists, photographers, filmmakers and the like.
In times of economic hardship the Arts are usually the first things to be axed. But, in my view, the Arts are the most important aspect of our civilisation. Without the arts, we have no culture. Without culture, we have no society. Without society, we have no civilisation. And without civilisation, we have anarchy. Which, in itself, is paradoxical, because so many artists view themselves as rebels to society.
Artists aren’t rebels, they are pioneers.
And perhaps, most importantly; without the Arts, where’s the creativity that will solve the world’s problems? Including economic and scientific ones?
I hope a brief glimpse into their lives is as inspiring to you as it is to me.
First up, Irish writer, Patrick Chapman. Poet, screenwriter, short story writer and all round raconteur. Not only is Patrick a great friend, he’s been a constant source of encouragement and inspiration, for my own writing.
Patrick Chapman
What’s your greatest personal or career achievement?
I hesitate to nominate a ‘greatest personal achievement’. As a person, I’m not entirely sure I’ve achieved anything apart from not dying. As a writer, I could nominate working with the Daleks on a Doctor Who audio play – but that’d be just the most fun. It’d have to be my New & Selected Poems, A Promiscuity of Spines, which spans 25 years of work. The book has an elegant cover art-directed by Vaughan Oliver, one of my design heroes. It was a pleasure to be able to commission him and find out that he’s a lovely bloke to work with.
What’s been your greatest sacrifice?
That’s difficult to say, as I live in the so-called First world. Someone takes away my iPad and I cite the Geneva Convention. You could say I’ve sacrificed having a regular life in order to be a writer – which to me isn’t a sacrifice.
To whom do you owe a debt of gratitude?
Too many people to list them all. There was Macdara Woods, a venerable Irish poet who, 25 years ago, gave me vital encouragement starting off. Before that, my teacher of English, Paddy Nangle, let me write short stories instead of essays.
Who and what inspire you?
People who don’t think they can write but who really can. I taught budding writers a couple of years ago and was struck by the quiet ones in the class – they hesitated and even resisted reading in front of the others but when they did, their work shone. Quiet geniuses inspire me. As for what rather than who? Everything and anything. I tend to get obsessed by a thought or an idea that won’t let go until I’ve wrestled it into a poem. Happiness, therefore, is a blank screen filled.
What was the last thing that inspired you?
It was Steven Shainberg’s film, Fur, which is an imaginary portrait of Diane Arbus. Not at all biographical in the conventional sense. Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr are both superb in it. The poster for Fur showed Downey without all the hair – for most of that film he looks like a Wookiee but the marketing department, presumably, didn’t want it to come across as a sequel to Beauty and the Beast.
What makes you unhappy?
Right now it’s the thought that we’re quite possibly heading into a world of six degrees of global warming. That’s not Earth, it’s Venus. Nobody in power wants to think about it and it’s almost too terrible to contemplate, so people carry on regardless.
What makes you smile?
Woody Allen when he’s on form. His early, funny ones still crack me up, especially Take the Money and Run, and Love & Death. Annie Hall and Manhattan are my two favourites. I also have a fondness for his darker films, such as Husbands and Wives and Deconstructing Harry. Cassandra’s Dream was terrible, however.
What are you reading?
The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch. I loved his earlier book, The Fabric of Reality, and this one is as good. I recently finished Wetlands by Charlotte Roche, which was a hoot, especially as I was about to undergo a colonoscopy shortly after reading it.
Who, or what, are you listening to?
Dark Wood, the new e.p. by my current favourite band Abagail Grey, plus the Go-Betweens compilation, Quiet Heart, the Pet Shop Boys album, Elysium, and the David Byrne and St. Vincent record, Love This Giant.
What’s your favourite film?
Blade Runner. For thirty years I’ve loved its melancholy and its pessimism and its art direction, and Sean Young with that hair and those shoulder pads. It’s such a poetic portrait of lost souls in hell, and it’s got a great soundtrack by Vangelis. It’s also Harrison Ford’s finest two hours on film.
What frightens you?
The future. I have no idea how to manipulate it so that I don’t end up dead within the next hundred years.
What can’t you live without?
Apart from the obvious – air, water, coffee, etc – it’s the ability to write. This is what keeps me going. Without writing, I don’t really exist.
What’s your motto?
“The world is not enough.” If it’s good enough for James Bond, it’s good enough for me.
If you could be anyone other than yourself, who would it be?
J.G. Ballard, for his vision but not necessarily for his demons, though the two are inextricable. He gave a very good answer to the Paris Review when asked about his writing schedule: “Two hours in the late morning, two in the early afternoon, followed by a walk along the river to think over the next day. Then at six, Scotch and soda, and oblivion.”
If you only had one year to live what would you do?
Ignore all the warnings.
Up whose arse would you like to stick a rocket, and why?
The Catholic Church. But that’s a lot of rockets and a lot of arses. It would be only part payback, and poetic justice, for their former practice of torturing infidels to death by shoving hot pokers up their bottoms. That said, let’s not even get started on the Catholic Church and bottoms.
Who would you like to be stuck in an elevator with?
Steven Moffat. He’s a writing hero, not just for Doctor Who and Sherlock. I loved Coupling and Jekyll as well. I assume from all of this, plus his former Twitter feed, that he’d be interesting company at close quarters. I’d just let him do all the talking, and would write everything down.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’ve just put the New & Selected Poems to bed and am now turning to a collection of short stories, due out next year. Also, my physique. One of these projects is going better than the other.
Which six people would you invite to your boating party?
You know when you’ve just come down with a sudden, life-threatening illness in public and someone asks ‘Who’s your doctor?’ and you say ‘Tom Baker’? That’s how you know you’re a nerd. I’d ask Tom Baker first, not just because he was ‘my’ Doctor growing up but because I really enjoyed the tales of Soho in his autobiography – getting drunk with Francis Bacon – and his disturbing and brilliant book for children, The Boy Who Kicked Pigs. Jessica Hynes would be on the list too because I’ve admired her work since Spaced. Kate Bush, simply because she’s Kate Bush. Richard Dawkins, because he’s fascinating as a scientist, and I’m in his camp when it comes to religion. Alan Turing, just so I could tell him he’s been vindicated. And Douglas Adams, because he was very, very tall.
What question would you have liked me to ask?
Would you rather be happy than right?
I’d rather not be happy than wrong.
Thank you, Patrick.
A Promiscuity of Spines by Patrick Chapman
Patrick Chapman was born in 1968 and lives in Dublin, Ireland. He is the author of six poetry collections, the latest of which, A Promiscuity of Spines: New & Selected Poems, is published on October 10th by Salmon Poetry. His other collections are Jazztown (1991), The New Pornography (1996), Breaking Hearts and Traffic Lights (2007), A Shopping Mall on Mars (2008), and The Darwin Vampires (2010). He has also written a book of stories, The Wow Signal (2007); an award-winning film, Burning the Bed; episodes of the Cbeebies series Garth & Bev; and a Doctor Who audio play, Fear of the Daleks. In 2010 his work was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Weblink.
http://www.salmonpoetry.com/
Filed under Art, Books, Children, Children's stories, Contemporary Arts, Creativity, Ideas, Inspiration, Literature, Poetry, Screenplays, Short stories, The Boating Party, Writing
Tony Scott, director, 1944 – 2012.
What compels a person to take their own life?
Serious mental illness? A scandal? Depression?
People often talk about suicide victims as being selfish. Particularly if they leave children behind.
But you don’t hear people saying: That selfish bastard went and died of cancer.
The person doesn’t kill themselves – the illness kills them. And depression is an illness. Like it or not. Believe it or not.
Whether the sufferer has a chemical imbalance in the brain or has a genetic predisposition varies from patient to patient.
It’s very difficult for doctors to ascertain what causes mental illness, but what they do know is that it is very real.
Figures suggest that 1 in 4 people will suffer from a mental illness at some stage during their life.
There are numerous treatments available, from antidepressants to cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). For most people, the illness is temporary and they make a full recovery. But for others, it’s a life-long sentence.
I can’t think of anyone who suffers from depression who wants to be in that condition. And I can’t imagine anyone, who’s of a normal state of mind, actually wants to die.
I imagine the reason that a person commits suicide does so because, to them, it is a very real and viable solution to their present problem.
What dark place must they inhabit if there is no other hope?
To a non-sufferer, it seems incomprehensible that suicide could ever be a viable option. Unfortunately, it is these kind of beliefs that perpetuate the stigma surrounding mental illness. And why some sufferers are reluctant to seek help.
It doesn’t matter if you’re rich, successful and appear to have everything, mental illness doesn’t discriminate.
Like many people, I was very saddened to hear about the recent passing away of film director, Tony Scott, who committed suicide by jumping from a bridge. Leaving behind a wife and two children.
Whether he was being treated for mental illness, I don’t know. It is rumoured that he had terminal brain cancer. But this has been denied by his family.
The saddest thing of all, is that whatever his mental state, he felt that ending his own life was the best option he had left.
Christian Slater & Patricia Arquette in True Romance, directed by Tony Scott.
I’ll remember him for making one of my favourite films – True Romance, written by Quentin Tarantino, and starring Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette and whole host of other luminaries such as: Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Penn and James Gandolfini.
Here’s one of my favourite scenes played by Dennis Hopper, (Clarence’s dad), and Christopher Walken, a mafioso.
Hopper knows his time is up, and to prevent being tortured some more and possibly spilling the beans as to his son’s whereabouts, he decides to provoke his captor.
Rest in Peace, Mr Scott.
Here are some other famous people who also felt they had run out of options:
Vincent van Gogh, painter, 1890.
Alan Turing, computer scientist, 1954.
Ernest Hemingway, writer, 1961.
Sylvia Plath, writer, 1963.
Rothko, painter, 1970.
Diane Arbus, photographer, 1971.
Ian Curtis, singer, Joy Division, 1980.
Kurt Cobain, singer, Nirvana, 1994.
Gary Speed, footballer, 2011.
Tony Scott, director, 2012.
And here’s a link for anyone who needs help.
Filed under Creativity, Film, Ideas, Inspiration, Screenplays, Writing
A few days ago I wrote a poem called The Antagonistic Protagonist. Since then, I’ve been pondering the idea and thought it might make for a novel cartoon strip.
The idea being that the key protagonist of the story is quite antagonistic. But his (or her) prickly attitude, gets them nowhere.
The strip is broken down into three acts, as in a screenplay.
Feel free to to click on the image below and download it if you like it.
The Antagonistic Protagonist by David Milligan-Croft
Filed under Cartoons, Comedy, Ideas, Illustration, Screenplays, Writing
I put this short film up on my FB page a few days ago. So apologies to anyone who has already seen this. But I wanted to share it with blog friends too.
It warrants getting as much exposure as possible.
This is quite simply beautiful animation.
A love story in the style of Dali.
Made by the daddy of animation.
My only criticism… and I’m sorry I have one, is the soundtrack.
I love the Mexican/Spanish theme. But then it morphs into English and it sounds a bit naff. Like it should be in Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella.
Filed under Animation, Art, Cartoons, Contemporary Arts, Film, Ideas, Inspiration, Music, Screenplays, Writing
Hadn’t had a really good blub in a while?
Well, your days of sobbing uncontrolably into your pouches are over, my furry little marsupials.
Ponette isn’t a new film. It came out in 1996, but I felt I had to share it with the class.
It tells the story of Ponette – A four year old French girl coping with the death of her mother in a car crash. (In which she was also involved.)
Her father has to go away and work, (like you would leave your daughter at a time like that), so she is sent to stay with her aunt and her children in the French Alps.
The film centres around how Ponette copes, not just with the loss of her mother, but how other children react to her. (Oooh, Kids can be cruel.) She tries everything to get her mother to come back, from magic chants to turning to god.
What I really love about this film is that it is shot predominantly from a child’s POV.
Very rarely do we see an adult in shot unless they are bending down or in a wide shot. (Or Extreme close up.)
It really does help the viewer see things from Ponette’s POV. Played heartbreakingly by Victoire Thivisol. (Apparently, there was a psychologist on set the entire time to make sure she wasn’t suffering any trauma as a result of playing the role.)
So, if you’re into your art house movies, I suggest you get a copy off Amazon.
But make sure you have a family-sized box of Kleenex handy. I defy even a psychopathic autistic savant not to be turned into a quivering mass of tissue and snot after seeing this one.
Directed by Jaques Doillon
Written by Rahul Dodhia
Starring Victoire Thivisol.
Filed under Art, Children, Film, Ideas, Inspiration, Screenplays, Writing
