It’s November!
Around here, that means one thing: science fiction month.
November also has my birthday, and if you have a November birthday, you know just how much gets packed into these few weeks.
There are school concerts, tests, meetings, sporting events, work deadlines, election season, debilitating seasonal depression, and the start of holiday preparations with family.
You can keep my birthstone, too. I'll be celebrating my birthday with space operas and existential questions instead of citrine - a gemstone that reminds you of colored mucus in a tissue.
Sorry, citrine enthusiasts, but this burden has weighed on me long enough.
It's my birthstone, which means I've spent decades in a toxic relationship with a rock.
Every article describes it as "golden yellow."
No.
Gold is gold.
Lemons are yellow.
Citrine is the color of a urine chart - labeled "mild dehydration”.
I refuse to celebrate another birthday under the tyranny of pee-colored quartz.
Happy birthday to me.
What do I really want for my birthday? Delicious food and science fiction stories. So now I celebrate by dedicating November to sci-fi. It's my excuse to revisit old favorites, discover new ones, and spend a little time studying the periodization and societal shifts throughout science fiction eras - exploring strange new worlds and big ideas.
This year, I'm keeping track of everything I watch and seeing how many films I can fit in despite a very busy schedule. Consider this my Sci-Fi Month journal: let's see where the journey takes us.
Nov 1st
At times the dialogue is nearly unbearable: relentless profanity, circular arguments, and characters who seem incapable of communicating without volatile conversation. Pair that with the jangly guitar strumming, it becomes an interesting combination.
If you're expecting a lot of organ harvesting in this one, you'll be disappointed. It's mostly about cars. The late '70s and early '80s must have been a thriving era for flying-car finales.
Watching the newer version to compare its style, dialogue, and thematic shifts across film history. Turns out, this is the one about reclaiming artificial organs!
Who knew organ transplants could be so sexually charged, hmm.
Overtly sexual and pointless and stripped all the humor out of the first - it’s a great movie to rearrange living room furniture to.
A highly quotable film that begins as a brilliantly self-aware satire of society, tackling many of the same issues we still struggle with today.
Unfortunatley, as it progresses, its focus shifts toward personal affairs and the relentless pursuit of ratings, revealing how entertainment can eclipse substance.
The first minutes of Colossus are good! Watching an advanced supercomputer interact with humanity feels less like 70s sci-fi and more like a mirror to our current tech situation.
It’s good right up until the story decides to make it about peeping computers then I kinda checked out.
The Andromeda Strain is, hands down, the blueprint for a successful sci-fi film. The pacing is flawless, with precise dialogue and a beautifully crafted mystery. I was on the edge of my seat, eagerly waiting for the scientists to reach the laboratory and descend through each increasingly particular level.
The textures, colors, and production design are unmistakably 1970s, and absolutely gorgeous.
The central mystery is immediately gripping: what happened to these people? An entire town?
The film's segmented, playful framing is both visually striking and incredibly inventive. Every shot feels purposeful, building tension while enhancing the film's clinical, procedural atmosphere. It's a fascinating, suspenseful experience that still feels fresh decades later.
Be back soon.
-Madeline
