Remember that scene from Toy Story, when the kid got Buzz Lightyear (of Star Command) and started to ignore his old pal, Woody, the cowboy? Well western movies are somewhat a thing of the past – not like you see many Rio Bravos or High Noons these days. What you do see, more often than not, are Science Fiction movies. There’s a couple of those a year, more if you count the ones that take place in the not so distant future. And let’s face it, what other film genre allows for such use of the imagination (except fantasy)? What separates many of these movies is not the category it falls under, be it post-apocalyptic, alien invasion, or deep space horror, but the way the idea is approached. And there are only two types of Sci-Fi movies once you get to the core of it: the psychological and the adventure/action. Now, while action Sci-Fi has been known to be quite popular, let’s look at how different movies can form from the same basic idea.

Sunshine vs. The Core

The Idea: A cosmic body is dying and human kind is dying with it. A mission to save the world ensues.

The Action: Planet Earth is dying in The Core, due to some really bad geology. Aaron Eckhart lead a crack team of military personnel and scientists to restart the core with a nuclear device so no more pidgeons will die. The Core doesn’t just leave science at the door, it keeps taunting it for not being able to get in for the whole length of the movie. It focuses on special effects, action and Hilary Swank.

The Psychological: Apparently, a Q-ball has drifted into the Sun and it is dying. A crack team of military personnel and scientists are assembled to deliver a payload into the sun, restarting the dying star. And as difficult to digest as some of the scenes are, the movie had a CERN physicist as an adviser. Hey! a human being can actually survive exposure to the vacuum of space for quite a few seconds, though it is uncomfortable. The film focuses on the crew and the issues that arise due to the stress of the mission, the fascination with the Sun and the claustrophobia that comes with being in a spaceship for more than a year.
Result: In a battle of a half burnt man and Aaron Eckhart in the observation room of the Icarus II, the latter is directly exposed to the Sun’s brightness, turning him into Two-face

Solaris vs. Event Horizon

The idea: A supernatural presence gives the crew of a ship hallucinations and confronts them with aspects of their psyche they need to face. Both in the presence of an imposing cosmic body: Jupiter for Event Horizon and the planet Solaris for likewise titled movie.

The Action: Event Horizon had Sam Neill and Laurence Fishburne investigating a spaceship that had disappeared 7 years ago. The rescuers experience hallucinations of their fears and regrets as they come to realize there is a presence aboard the ship. It’s basically ghosts in space. The classic haunted house but with a spaceship instead. Decent acting makes this more than just your usual horror in space, but it ultimately abandons insight for explosions and fist-fights.

The Psychological: Solaris (whichever you prefer, the Tarkovsky or the Soderbergh) sees a man named Kelvin (Kris in the original, Chris in the 2002 version) arrive on a research station orbiting a bizarre planet. Here the crew is haunted by the manifestations of their memories. The movies use the Science Fiction more as setting and ignition for what is ultimately an exploration of human mind and emotion. The original movie is a classic, and his love for it prompted Soderbergh to introduce a lesser(though still above average) version to new audiences (sarcasm included).
Result: Solaris (the entity) draws the Lewis and Clark(the spaceship from Event Horizon) in its gravitational field and gobbles it up.

Moon vs. The Island

The idea: It’s all about cloning, whether for lonely space labor or organ harvesting. And in both cases clones realize they’re clones (seems to affect them quite a bit, wonder why Star Wars clones never cared about it).

The Action: Well it’s Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson on the run with Michael Bay at the helm. Need I say more? Well, their organs are meant for the unscrupulous rich Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson and they don’t like it, so they run in search of a normal life. It’s got action, explosion, chases, special effects, shout-outs and the thought provoking stuff only lasts for seconds…wait! I can sum it up in two words: Michael Bay.

The Psychological: Sam Rockwell mans an industrial resource mining camp on the Moon. All alone. Except for his close friend, GERTY, the computer. Upon meeting himself after a series of unfortunate events, he realizes he’s but a clone, and all the things he craves for (wife and daughter) are not his. It’s a one man show staring Rockwell, Rockwell and Rockwell that shows us the reaction of the same man at different stages in his life upon the same realization.
Result: The three Rockwells turn fugitives McGregor and Johansson in for a reward and live happily ever after each of them knowing there are always at least two spares when it comes to organs.

Other movies that would fit a confrontation: Alien vs Aliens, A.I.:Artificial Intelligence vs. I, Robot, Dark City vs. The Matrix, Brazil vs. 1984 and more.

  We all want to be one, don’t we? To hold the attention of millions, to receive crazed fan mail, to be stalked by paparazzi and make the front pages of tabloids. We all want that, don’t we?
  I remember (well, to be honest, I can only imagine, as I’ve been born long after) the good old days when celebrity gossip was just that, gossip, something that ran around in some circles, and definitely didn’t make the pages of countless magazines. Days when celebrities could go out in public without manic paparazzi desperate for a single shot hounding them. Days when a celebrity was more than some mindless, irresponsible, spoiled brat. But those were more than celebrities, they were stars, in the true meaning of the word. Stars like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Clark Gable, Ingrid Bergman, and the likes.

  I recall reading once an interview with both Michael Caine and Jude Law, in which Caine said, back in the day, he was never followed by the media, none of the actors, well known actors, were. Then again, he is British, and they haven’t yet reached the level of Americans as far as a “star-systems” go.
  And come to think of it, it’s not really any celebrity’s fault, it’s the media’s fault, for exploiting our very own need for idols. Idols it loves to make and break. Look at Britney, I truly doubt she was that disturbed to begin with. We’ve gotten to a point where our own hunger for celebrity gossip is so engrossing that we don’t care about what it takes to get it or what the results are. Luckily (though I can’t find it in me to call it fortunate) today’s stars seem to be coping with it (at least most of them), dealing with it by embracing it rather than denounce it’s foul stench.
  And despite all that we still want to be a celebrity, don’t we?

My Kingdom for a Horse! Starting off, Will Ferrel, David Beckham and Danica Patrick don’t have a cow, but share a horse.That’s right, the lucky three are equal owners of a racehorse, as part of a gift bag handed out at the Espy Sports Awards in Los Angeles. I wonder if they’ll take turns or ride him all at the same time. Now that I’d pay to see a picture of!

Holy Moly! Sarah Jessica Parker denies rumours of her chin mole removal, after being photographed without it, her representative saying “Nothing has been removed.”. Now I wonder if they added something, maybe chin padding.

Britney has nothing on me! Miley Cyrus/ Hannah Montana (doesn’t that make you laugh everytime you hear it? ) gave a group of paparazzi not one, but both fingers (and no, it wasn’t the sign for peace) while apparently also pulling an angry face (excess baby, excess!!!). She’s just 15 but well on her way to dethrone the current queen of good girls gone insane, Britney. Kind of makes me think of a South Park episode.

J.D. Leaving His Scrubs Behind Zach Braff is set to leave Scrubs after the upcoming 8th season, and yet there is no certainty of the shows cancellation. Show creator Bill Lawrence insists: “You can’t kill this show.”. I respond with “For the love of all that is sacred, kill this show, while there is still a chance to save dignity!”.

Rocky VII:Revenge of the Supermodels Apparently Gisele Bundchen dreams of hitting paparazzi. She has asked for a change in the law so that she may assault the photographers camping outside her New York home. I say change the law, let supermodels kick ass, it’s not like it won’t fuel our fantasies of dominatrix vixens even more.

Totally uninterested and bored, signing off.