They say “time is money,” and so it seems filmmaker Andrew Niccol took them too seriously. “In Time” imagines a dystopia in which humans have been genetically modified to stop aging at 25 and at that point receive a year to live as indicated by timers on their forearms. The only way they can prolong [...]

If humans can only access 20 percent of their brains normally and 100 percent while on NZT, the “Limitless” drug of choice, then I would say screenwriter Leslie Dixon and director Neil Burger probably access somewhere around 70 percent of their creative power with regards to bringing Alan Glynn’s novel to the big screen. All [...]

The best science fiction is often the kind that doesn’t feel like science fiction at all. Almost always, the genre’s most lauded stories and films earn that praise for never losing their human qualities in the face of elaborate story structure, futuristic props and set pieces and stylish action. That’s why Hollywood so often returns [...]

We’ve finally reached in age when science fiction doesn’t have to mean action films and where low-budget genre films have become “of interest” to producers and distributors. Although you could hardly call “District 9″ a cheap film compared to Gareth Edwards’ debut feature “Monsters,” Neil Blomkamp’s film was much cheaper than the alien movies that [...]

Like most movie franchises begun in the 20th Century — with a few notable exceptions thanks to James Cameron — the “Predator” series was never better than its 1987 original. The most recent efforts pitting the Predators against their “enemies” the Xenomorphs, the “Alien vs. Predator” films, had reduced a once imaginative and fearsome beast [...]

It only takes a few great cinematic elements to turn a helter-skelter sci-fi fantasy into a cult classic. Russell Mulcahy finds that edge in directing Gregory Widen’s story “Highlander.” Part of it is Christopher Lambert’s hardened hero Connor McLeod as well as Clancy Brown’s exceptionally psychotic performance as the Kurgan, but Mulcahy commands how we [...]

Welcome to Delos, an immersive Disney World for adults featuring three real-life role play worlds: Medieval, Roman and West World. Outfitted with robots, these era-inspired theme parks are there to serve your every desire. You can shoot people, you can have sex with them and you can take their world as seriously as you like [...]

As a fan of science fiction allegory, social experiment, “The Twilight Zone” and the thriller genre –no less all those elements combined — Richard Kelly and his film “The Box” should’ve at least won me over, but it doesn’t. It can’t even decide if it wants to remain completely mysterious or explicitly tell us what’s [...]

Vampirism seems like a disease in Hollywood these days, so “Daybreakers” will fall immediately go under the lens of skepticism. Believe it or not, however, Michael and Peter Spierig’s film separates itself through high concept futuristic science fiction. Although it ultimately spirals into an emotionless bloodbath, kudos to the film-making duo for taking the out-of-control [...]

Filmmaker James Cameron’s constant yen to explore the unknown has taken us to the future, the depths of space and now the deepest caverns of the ocean. “The Abyss” is an underwater survival story with a science-fiction bend. It is a trip into the depths of what we know exists on this planet but can’t [...]

After “Jaws” launched him toward eternal fame in 1975, Steven Spielberg’s follow-up film would tackle a bigger cultural phenomenon: UFOs. “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” was only the beginning of the director/producer’s love affair with the possibility of life on other planets and the first to capture the magnitude of what first contact would [...]

The best thing to say about “Terminator Salvation” is at least they tried. Between the homage paid to the original films, the non-stop action and a myriad of different writers brought in to make the script as strong as possible, the producers really aspired to reinvigorate the Terminator franchise. “Salvation” was not meant to be [...]

The problem with “Knowing” is that it goes too far. It’s a tough act to juggle so many overused story conventions such as decoding numbers, the apocalypse and the supernatural these days. Movies like “Knowing” have become almost a genre of their own thanks to Roland Emmerich and other disaster/end-of-the-world-predicting filmmakers. And with that comes [...]

No matter the premise, a film puts itself at a disadvantage when it calls for a one man show. Sam Rockwell, as talented as he is, cannot generate enough interesting conflict with nothing at his disposal but the skin-tingling monotone voice of Kevin Spacey. In other words, films like “Moon” have to work twice as [...]

Very few films have been made with seniors as the main characters. It seems that Hollywood producers are convinced we prefer to see younger people on the screen — and they’re probably right. “Cocoon” is a rare elderly-focused take on the fountain of youth concept, an ancient motif that’s enough proof in itself that humans [...]