I am working on something a bit more substantive, but for now I couldn’t resist grabbing the “Alphabet of Obscure Science Fiction Classics” Meme from SF Signal. Here are the rules:

“You know the drill. Copy the list and make titles for movies you’ve seen appear in bold.”

And now for the list, with my boldings and a few comments:

1. Alphaville [1965]
   I know a New Wave band back in the ’80s took their name from this movie, but beyond that…

2. Brainstorm [1983]
   Natalie Wood’s infamous last film, and arguably a precursor to the some of the “post-human”/singularity ideas that are currently in vogue in print SF, as it involves a machine that can record a person’s experiences in all their sensory detail and then play them back for another person so faithfully that it feels as if they are having those experiences. I’ve not seen this in decades, but I remember it being a pretty good movie — somebody ends up recording their own death experience as they’re having a heart attack, and there is much drama over what to do with that record — with some really interesting visuals when the device is in use. I remember one particular scene where an older gentleman is compulsively playing a recording of someone having sex over and over, with the implication that virtual-reality porn is going to be a big addiction problem. And kind of icky. A lot of interesting ideas in this movie.

3. Charly [1968]
   A film version of the classic short story “Flowers for Algernon,” starring Cliff Robertson as a mentally handicapped man who becomes a super-genius through an experimental surgery, only to have it all slip away from him again. I saw it in college and thought it was heart-breaking.

4. Destination Moon [1950]
   Nearly 20 years before the actual first moon landing, sci-fi grandmaster Robert Heinlein wrote a movie that depicted the first landing with a high degree of accuracy, as least according to what was known at that time. Haven’t seen this one since middle school, probably, but I recall it as taut and realistic, considering when it was made.

5. Enemy Mine [1985]
   One of the lesser-known movies from that Golden Age of SF cinema I mentioned the other day, and that’s a shame because this low-budget space opera boasts some fabulous performances by Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett, Jr., as a human and a reptilian alien forced to put aside their differences and learn to co-exist so they can survive after being stranded in a hostile environment. Also notable for being one of the few SF films to discuss religion in any substantial way.

6. Frau im Mond [1929]
   Haven’t heard of this one.

7. Gold [1934]
   Or this one.

8. Harrison Bergeron [1995]
   I haven’t seen it, but I know of it… Sean Astin plays the title character in an adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s short story.

9. The Incredible Shrinking Man [1957]
   I just saw this for the first time about a year ago and thought it was very good. Many of the special effects hold up fairly well (and some do not — you just have to overlook the bad ones), and the story is effective and moving, with a really mind-bending denouement.

10. Just Imagine [1930]
    Know of it, haven’t seen it. From what I understand, it’s similar to the better-known Things to Come.

11. Krakatit [1947]
    Haven’t heard of it.

12. Lifeforce [1985]
    I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this — I know the premise, and I have a copy of the novel it was based on somewhere in the basement — but honestly I don’t know if I’ve actually seen it or just think I have. I’m going to say “yes,” and put it in the Netflix queue to refresh my memory…

13. The Man in the White Suit [1951]
    A delightful and very British movie about a gentle, naive man (played by a pre-Obi Wan Alec Guinness) who invents an indestructible fabric and throws the entire textile industry into a panic. I saw this years ago on that Big Money Movie show I’ve discussed before, and the premise has always stayed with me, along with an overall taste of sweetness. I need to see this again.

14. Night of the Comet [1984]
    One of the few cult films of the ’80s I’ve somehow missed… again, I know what it is, but haven’t actually seen it.

15. On Your Mark [1995]
    Haven’t heard of it.

16. Panic in Year Zero! [1962]
    I know the title, but not much else about this one.

17. Quatermass and the Pit [1968, a.k.a. Five Million Years to Earth]
    A Ray Harryhausen classic, but not one I’ve seen. It’s in my Netflix queue.

18. Robinson Crusoe on Mars [1964]
    Another I think I’ve seen, but I’m less sure of this than Lifeforce, so I’ll leave it unbolded.

19. Soylent Green [1973]
    Can this one really be considered obscure, given all the references we hear to the infamous final scene? Or is it just that one line that people know, and nobody’s actually seen the movie? In any event, I’ve seen it.

20. Them! [1954]
    My dad has told me this is one of the few movies that ever really scared him, and I can understand why. It’s still pretty creepy in places. It also has the distinction of containing the most Wilhelm screams of any movie I’ve ever seen.

21. The Ultimate Warrior [1975]
    Don’t know this one.

22. Village of the Damned [1960]
    I need to see this one.

23. The War Game [1965]
    Haven’t heard of it.

24. X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes [1963]
    A nifty thriller from B-movie god Roger Corman, about a guy who uses experimental eye drops to give himself X-ray vision only to lose control of the effect. I understand this one is on the remake list… naturally.

25. Yosei Gorasu [1962]
    Haven’t heard of it.

26. Zardoz [1974]
    Ah, the flick that Sean Connery wishes everyone would forget, I’m sure. The problem is, once you’ve seen the outrageous publicity still, you can never forget… Zardoz! It’s in the Netflix queue, waiting for a night when I’ve got a fresh bottle of whiskey at the ready.