The random witterings of Jonathan Morris, writer.

Saturday 4 September 2021

D'Yer Wanna Be A Spaceman?

 An updated updated updated list of every SF film I’ve seen and haven’t seen.


 Note: I don’t count superhero films and manga as SF, they are their own marvellous genres, and where variant titles exist, I use one of them.

 
1926
Metropolis
1929
Woman in the Moon
1930
Just Imagine
1933
King Kong
1936
Things to Come
1950
Destination Moon
1951
The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Man in the White Suit, The Thing, When Worlds Collide
1953
Invaders from Mars, It Came from Outer Space, War of the Worlds
1954
20,000 Leagues under the Sea, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Them!
1955
The Day The World Ended, It Came From Beneath the Sea, The Quatermass Xperiment, This Island Earth
1956
1984, Earth versus the Flying Saucers, Forbidden Planet, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Plan 9 from Outer Space, X The Unknown
1957
The Abominable Snowman, The Incredible Shrinking Man, Quatermass 2
1958
The Fly
1959
Journey to the Centre of the Earth, On The Beach, Return of the Fly
1960
The Last Woman On Earth, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Time Machine, Village of the Damned
1961
The Day the Earth Caught Fire, The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, Mysterious Island, Night Tide
1962
Doctor No, The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
1963
The Birds, The Damned, The Day of the Triffids, La Jetee, The Mind Benders, Unearthly Stranger, Voyage to the End of the Universe
1964
Children of the Damned, Doctor Strangelove, The Earth Dies Screaming, Fail Safe, The First Men in the Moon, Goldfinger, It Happened Here, The Last Man on Earth, Robinson Crusoe on Mars, The Time Travelers
1965
The 10th Victim, Alphaville, Crack in the World, The Curse Of The Fly, Dr Who and the Daleks, Thunderball, The War Game
1966
Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 AD, Fahrenheit 451, Fantastic Voyage, Seconds
1967
Barbarella, Casino Royale, Jules Verne's Rocket ot the Moon, Privilege, Quatermass and the Pit, The Terrornauts, They Came From Beyond Space, You Only Live Twice
1968
2001-A Space Odyssey, Charly, Countdown, Planet of the Apes
1969
The Bed Sitting Room, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, The Body Stealers, A Case For A Rookie Hangman, Doppelgänger, Marooned, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Zeta One
1970
The Andromeda Strain, Colossus: The Forbin Project, No Blade of Grass, Toomorrow
1971
A Clockwork Orange, Diamonds are Forever, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, The Omega Man, Percy, Quest for Love, Silent Running, Solaris, THX 1138
1972
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Doomwatch, Slaughterhouse Five
1973
Battle for the Planet of the Apes, The Day Of The Dolphin, Fantastic Planet, The Final Programme, Phase IV, Sleeper, Soylent Green, Westworld, World on a Wire, Zardoz
1974
The Cars That Ate Paris, Dark Star, It's Alive, The Land That Time Forgot, The Little Prince, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Stepford Wives, The Terminal Man, Young Frankenstein
1975
A Boy and His Dog, Death Race 2000, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Rollerball
1976
At the Earth’s Core, The Big Bus, Futureworld, The Killer Bees, Logan’s Run, The Man Who Fell to Earth
1977
Capricorn One, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Demon Seed, Empire of the Ants, The Island of Dr Moreau, The Glitterball, The People That Time Forgot, The Spy Who Loved Me, Star Wars
1978
The Bermuda Triangle, The Boys from Brazil, Coma, A Hitch in Time, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Pirahna, Superman, The Swarm, Warlords of Atlantis
1979
Alien, The Black Hole, The China Syndrome, Mad Max, Meteor, Moonraker, Ravagers, Stalker, Star Trek, Starcrash, Time After Time
1980
Altered States, The Apple, Battle Beyond The Stars, The Empire Strikes Back, The Final Countdown, Flash Gordon, Monster,  Saturn 3, Scanners, Somewhere in Time, Superman II
1981
Escape from New York, Galaxy of Terror, Looker, Mad Max 2, Outland, Piranha II, Time Bandits
1982
Airplane II, Blade Runner, Britannia Hospital, ET, Forbidden World, Halloween III, The Thing, Tron, Videodrome, The Wrath of Khan  
1983
Krull, The Man With Two Brains, Never Say Never Again, Return of the Jedi, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, Superman III, Testament, Wargames
1984
1984, 2010, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, The Brother from Another Planet, Dreamscape, Dune, Electric Dreams, Ghostbusters, Gremlins, The Last Starfighter, Night of the Comet, The Philadelphia Experiment, Repo Man, Runaway, Search for Spock, Starman, Terminator, Trancers
1985
Back to the Future, Brazil, Cocoon, Creature, DARYL, Enemy Mine, Lifeforce, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Morons from Outer Space, The Quiet Earth, Weird Science
1986
Aliens, Biggles: Adventures in Time, Critters, Flight of the Navigator, The Fly, Howard the Duck, Invaders from Mars, Peggy Sue Got Married, Short Circuit, Star Trek IV, Whoops Apocalypse
1987
Batteries Not Included, The Hidden, Innerspace, Predator, RoboCop, The Running Man, Spaceballs, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
1988
Akira, Alien Nation, Earth Girls Are Easy, Moonwalker,  Short Circuit II, They Live
1989
The Abyss, Back to the Future II, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Fly II, Ghostbusters II, Millennium, Slipstream, Star Trek V
1990
Back to the Future III, Gremlins II, The Handmaid’s Tale, Hardware, Moon 44, Total Recall
1991
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Naked Lunch, The Rocketeer, Star Trek VI, Terminator II, Wedlock
1992
Alien 3, Freejack, The Lawnmower Man, Split Second
1993
Coneheads, Demolition Man, Les Visiteurs, Jurassic Park
1994
Stargate, Star Trek Generations, Timecop
1995
12 Monkeys, The City of Lost Children, Congo, GoldenEye, Johnny Mnemonic, Judge Dredd, Screamers, Species, Strange Days, Tank Girl, Waterworld
1996
The Arrival, Barb Wire, Crash, Independence Day, Mars Attacks!, Star Trek: First Contact
1997
Contact, Cube, Event Horizon, The Fifth Element, Gattaca, The Lost World, Men in Black, The Postman, Starship Troopers
1998
Armageddon, Dark City, Deep Impact, Phantoms, Pi, Run Lola Run, Sphere, Star Trek: Insurrection,
The X-Files
1999
Bicentennial Man, eXistenZ, Galaxy Quest, The Iron Giant, The Matrix, Muppets from Space, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
2000
Frequency, Mission to Mars, Pitch Black, Red Planet, Unbreakable
2001
AI, Donnie Darko, Evolution, Ghosts of Mars, Jurassic Park III, Planet of the Apes
2002
28 Days Later, Equilibrium, Impostor, Minority Report, Solaris, Spider-Man, Star Trek: Nemesis, Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Signs, The Time Machine
2003
The Core, Paycheck, Riverworld, Terminator III, Timeline
2004
The Butterfly Effect, The Day After Tomorrow, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I, Robot, Primer
2005
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Island, Robots, Serenity, A Sound Of Thunder, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, War of the Worlds, Zarutha
2006
Children of Men, Deja Vu, The Fountain, The Host, A Scanner Darkly, Southland Tales, Superman Returns, V for Vendetta
2007
28 Weeks Later, I Am Legend, The Invasion, Premonition, The Mist, Next, Sunshine, Timecrimes
2008
Cloverfield, The Happening, Iron Man, Jumper, Outlander, WALL-E
2009
2012, Avatar, District 9, Frequently Asked Question About Time Travel, Land of the Lost, Lockout, Moon, Mr Nobody, The Road, Star Trek, The Time Traveler’s Wife
2010
Despicable Me, Hot Tub Time Machine, Monsters, Never Let Me Go, Tron Legacy
2011
The Adjustment Bureau, Attack the Block, Cowboys vs Aliens, In Time, Limitless, Love, Midnight in Paris, Paul, Perfect Sense, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Source Code, Super 8, Thor
2012
Cloud Atlas, Dredd, The Hunger Games, John Carter, Looper, Mine Games, Prometheus, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Total Recall, Upside Down
2013
About Time, Continuum, Elysium, Ender’s Game Gravity, Her, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Last Days On Mars, Oblivion, Pacific Rim, Snowpiercer, Star Trek Into Darkness, The World’s End, Under the Skin, The Zero Theorem
2014
The Anomaly, Coherence, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Divergent, Edge of Tomorrow, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Giver, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 1, Interstellar, Left Behind, Lucy, The Maze Runner, Noah, Mr Peabody & Sherman, Predestination, Space Station 76, Time Lapse, Transcendence
2015
Advantageous, Insurgent, EX Machina, High Rise, Hot Tub Time Machine 2, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay 2, Jupiter Ascending, Jurassic World, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, The Signal, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Tomorrowland
2016
10 Cloverfield Lane, Allegiant, ARQ, Arrival, Ghostbusters, Ghost in the Shell, Independence Day: Midnight Special, Resurgence, Passengers, Star Wars: Rogue One, Star Trek Beyond
2017
Anti Matter, Blade Runner 2049, Curvature, Geostorm, The Humanity Bureau, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Time Trap, War for the Planet of the Apes
2018
2036 Origin Unknown, A Quiet Place, Annihilation, Await Further Instructions, The Cloverfield Paradox, High Life, Mortal Engines, Mute, Prospect, Ready Player One, The Shape of Water, Star Wars: Solo, The Titan
2019
Ad Astra, Color Out Of Space, Farmageddon, Io, Paradise Hills, See You Yesterday, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Synchronic, Vivarium, The Wandering Earth, Yesterday
2020
Bill and Ted Face The Music, Last and First Men, Love and Monsters, The Midnight Sky, Palm Springs, Possessor, Sputnik, Tenet
2021
Awake, Space Sweepers, Stowaway, The Tomorrow War
 
 
Still left to see:
  
1953
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms 
1955
The Conquest of Space
1957
The Invisible Boy
1958
The Blob, Teenage Caveman, Terror in the Midnight Sun
1959
Teenagers from Outer Space
1961
Gorgo, The Phantom Planet 
1964
Dogora
1968
Je T’aime Je T’aime
1969
The Gladiators, Moon Zero Two
1970
Gas-s-s-s
1971
City Beneath The Sea, Punishment Park
1972
The Mind Snatchers
1974
Where Have All The People Gone?
1977
Tomorrow I'll Get Up And Scald Myself With Tea
1979
The Spaceman and King Arthur
1980
The Island 
1981
Condorman
1983
The Being, Brainstorm, Xtro
1984
Caravan of Courage, Supergirl
1987
Bad Taste, Friendship's Death
1988
Cocoon: The Return, Hell Comes To Frogtown, Mac And Me, Salute Of The Jugger
1989
Communion, Deep Star Six
1990
Meet the Applegates, Prayer Of The Rollerboys, Robocop II, Spaced Invaders
1991
Until The End Of The World
1992
Timescape, Universal Soldier
1993
Bodysnatchers , Robocop III
1996
Space Truckers 
1998
Soldier
2001
Vanilla Sky
2002
The Adventures of Pluto Nash
2003
The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions
2005
Sky High 
2006
Earthstorm
2008
Death Race, Doomsday, The X-Files: I Want To Believe, Triangle
2009
9, , The Fourth Kind, Pandorum, Splice, Triangle
2011
Apollo 18, Cold Fusion, The Collapsed, Dimensions
2012
Earth's Final Hours, Robert & Frank, Safety Not Guaranteed
2013
After Earth, The Colony, The Congress, Europa Report
2014 
After, Debug, The History of Time Travel, The Last Invasion, Robocop, Survivor
2015
Chappie, Circle, Evolution, Dark Planet, Evolution, Infini, Rotor DR1, Turbo Kid
2016
Capsule, The Darkest Dawn, Morgan, Paradox, Spectral
2017
Beyond Skyline, The Discovery, The Endless, iBoy, Life, Orbiter 9, Revolt, Stasis
2018
Abduction, Aniara, Anon, Attraction, Await Further Instructions, The Beyond, Bumblebee, Curvature, Extinction, How It Ends, Kin, Level 16, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, Occupation, Parallel, Replicas, Solis, Tau, White Chamber, Zoe
2019
Countdown, Cosmos, Enhanced, Encounter, I Am Mother, Jurassic Galaxy, Prospect, Proxima, The Mandela Effect, White Space
2020
2067, 3022, AI Rising, Archive, Anti Life, Black Box, Chronical 2067, G-Loc, Greenland, Monster Hunter, Monsters Of Men, Portal, Possessor, Sea Fever, Skylines, Underwater, Variant
2021
2149: The Aftermath, Assimilate, Bios, Chaos Walking, Dune, Infinite, Infinitum Subject Unknown, The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud, The Mitchells vs the Machines, Out Of Time, Oxygen, Reminiscence

Saturday 7 August 2021

The Director Never Yelled 'Cut'

New things!

Out now, the latest special edition of Doctor Who Magazine, all about Directing Doctor Who, for which I’ve written half a dozen articles. There’s a piece about how to read a camera script – what the various acronyms and terminologies mean – along with five pieces where I take a close look at the direction of specific episodes. And when I say a close look, I mean a close look, a look closer than has been looked before. The episodes in question are An Unearthly Child, episode four of The Seeds of Death, episode two of Terror of the Autons, part three of Earthshock and The Parting of the Ways.

 

For each of these episodes, I spent far too long going through the whole thing, shot by shot, comparing it against the camera script or shooting script. And along the way I discovered a few things that surprised me. A very clever and ambitious shot in The Seeds of Death that doesn’t quite work. Why those scenes with Mrs Farrell in the CSO kitchen were added. And the fact that someone in the studio control room was calling for extra unscripted close ups of Beryl Reid. It’s amazing what you can find out, and I had lots of fun doing it. I could probably do a similar article about every episode.

Over in the regular Doctor Who Magazine I attempt to justify the ‘holiday’ theme of the latest issue by including a list of Doctor Who related holiday destinations. It’s not intended as a serious location-visitor’s guide, just a light-hearted piece. That said, it is important to update it with the facts that Ed’s Diner in Cardiff has now closed, and that you can only visit the interior of the Temple of Peace by prior appointment, and that there’s not much to see there even if you do have an appointment. 

 

I also take a look at the character of Dodo, as played by Jackie Lane. While the issue also contains a tribute to the recently-departed actress, I look more at the character she played in Doctor Who, and how she brought consistency and personality to a pretty inconsistently-written and under-thought character. As ‘research’ I watched or listened to all her episodes in one day (skipping all the scenes without her) which really brought that home. 

 

Meanwhile, over at Big Finish, there’s another one of my stories hoving into view across the pre-release horizon.  It’s part three of The War Doctor Begins: Warbringer, an episode called Saviour. I’m very proud of this one, the script just popped with drama, and I look forward to hearing Jonathan Carley performing my words as the War Doctor. Excitingly, this also means that I have sort-of written for all the Doctors Who in some shape or form (given that I refer to Doctor thirteen in The Library of Time, which I understand counts in the eyes of fandom at large). However, I still have unfinished business! I have yet to write a story for David Bradley’s first Doctor or Tim Treloar’s third Doctor. And I still haven’t written a story with the Cybermen. And there are loads of companions still to be crossed off the list (I don’t have a list).

So, anyway, yes, pre-order Warbringer here.


Looking over this blog, I realise I've neglected to mention a few other pieces I've had in Doctor Who Magazine recently; in isue 563 (April 2021) I had a piece on the ninth Doctor, It's About Nine, while in Doctor Who Chronicles: 1975 I had three pieces; Pages of History, taking a look at the 1976 annual (published in 1975), Tales OF Terror, taking a look at the 1976 Dalek annual (also published in 1975) and Fantastic Beasts, taking a look at one of my favourite things ever, the Doctor Who Monster Book.

I may blog about writing them in due course but I probably won't, because I keep forgetting to update this blog as it is (particularly since Blogger made the whole thing more fiddly), and I'm not sure anyone still reads it! Suffice it to say I take a fascinating, analytical approach to the annuals' authorship, and wallow in a jacuzzi of warm nostalgia for the Monster Book.