But, if they did that, then we wouldn't get to participate in America's new national pastime - correcting the AFI's mistakes.  So, both of us (OG and EG to the uninitiated) have cobbled together our own top ten sci-fi film lists.  At first, it should be said, OG was convinced that the lists would differ wildly.  But, as you'll see below, there's a good reason the two of us have joined in bloggy bliss together.  (Ew.  That sounds a little gross.)

Now, we should preface this by saying that lists like these are obviously a pretty personal thing based on your own tastes and interests.  For instance, there are probably precious few sci-fi geeks who would quarrel with the inclusion of "Blade Runner" on the AFI list if not it's placement on it.  But, as you'll see, neither of us has included it.  As he said before, EG doesn't like it.  And, if you've read OG's lists of shame from a month or so ago, then you know that he hadn't seen it.  (Well, he's seen it since then and is working on his review.  He'll only spoil that review a little to say that he liked it okay and might have even loved it if not for the barfy Vangelis score.  Ugh.)  

But, we come not to tear films down.  We come to praise.  And, with that, we'll start at number ten... 

OG's #10:  ROBOCOP

I'll never forget begging my oldest brother to drive me down to the Toledo dollar theater to see this one and riding home in his truck afterwards just giddy, knowing I'd seen something completely new and amazing.  This particular dystopia, while much more grim than the wild west feeling of the Road Warrior pictures, probably hit home even more for me as it was set in a future Detroit that didn't feel like much of a stretch at the time and, frankly, doesn't seem like much of a stretch today.  The gore was probably what got me the most excited back then, but what continues to work for it is the melancholy performance of Peter Weller at its center as well as the hard-edged satire of the script.  (Not to mention "That 70's Show's" Kurtwood Smith in unleashed, foaming-at-the-mouth, maniac mode.  Something awesome to behold.)

EG's #10:  THEY LIVE 

I love this film.  It's social commentary, the limited effects, the fantastic fight scene over putting on a pair of sunglasses, and the fact that my favorite wrestler, Rowdy Roddy Piper, is the star.  It is definitely a throwback in style to the science fiction films of the 50's, cashing in on the paranoia that still lurks just under the surface of modern America.

OG's #9:  THEY LIVE

Heck yeah, I'm with you on this one bro.  Sure, it's got a boat-load of flaws and is no where near as proficiently made a film as some of the titles in my below honorable mentions.  But, I can't help it.  I love this movie like the "mutated puppy-dog left in the woods to die and only found because I was about to pee on it on a hiking trip" that it most certainly is.  "I have come here to chew bubble gum and kick a**, and I'm all out of bubblegum."  Oh, yeah.  One single, perfectly delivered line by our mutually favored kilt-wearing wrestler is all it takes to land yourself on a top ten list.  But, in all seriousness, this not only riffs, as you say, on the sci-fi films of the 50's, it also adds in an extra level of humor and gut-punching action to the paranoia that makes it so much fun to watch and re-watch.

EG's #9:  CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES 

My favorite of the Ape films.  This is the darkest of the films, chronicling the story of Caesar, who rises up to lead the revolt of the enslaved apes against their human masters.  But, it isn't perfect.  The reason it is this low on the list is that it is another film that has a tacked on "happy ending."  The speech given by Caesar at the end of the film wasn't actually part of the original film.  Such a shame to cop out at the end, but the entire rest of it is so good that I can forgive.

OG's #8:  THE MATRIX

Much like Empire Strikes Back, this is a movie that could have quickly dropped off of this list due to the films that have come after it.  But, despite the Wachowski's self-immolation as masters of modern sci-fi, and despite the utter dumbness that pervades the sequels, this original film still stands up as sci-fi greatness.  Yes, it re-invented the modern sci-fi film. Yes, Keanu Reeves really is good in it.  And, yes, it's the greatest Phillip K. Dick story that he never wrote.

EG's #8:  THE MATRIX

I swear, I had my list already done before I looked at yours.  This movie gazed at the current landscape of humanity - the feeling of isolation and being an outcast despite the increased "connection" we all have with each other today - and gave a very science fiction reason for that continuing feeling of disconnect.  We aren't wrong - the world is.  The rise of the machines in this movie, I think, is handled better than in the Terminator films... which is why this made the list and those movies did not.

OG's #7:  JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING / THE FLY (1986)

So, I'm a rotten stinking cheater.  This is the first of two ties that I'm putting on my list.  Yes, I realize that it's shameful.  But, this tie I'm less ashamed of than the one that comes later.  Because these two pictures really are uniquely entwined together for me and I couldn't imagine which film would be above which. 

Both are remakes that outshine the originals, both are directed by men working at the very top of their craft, both are capable of making this jaded gore-hound put his popcorn down this many years later, and both are as much about the psychological breakdown of it's human characters as they are about the evil science (from without and from within respectively) attacking them.  If this were a horror list they'd be in the top five.  But, so strong are they as sci-fi, they easily make this top ten.

EG'S #7:  INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956)

Another great film that blends science fiction and horror.  The majority of the film is flashback to what has led the main character to his current state of mind - nearly stark raving mad.  The idea of near perfect copies of friends and family replacing the originals is more than disturbing, and creates a near perfect atmosphere of paranoia.  As I said previously, though, the power of the film is taken away a little by the tacked on "happy ending."  But, if that is my only real problem with a film, it is one I can overlook.

OG's #6:  THE ROAD WARRIOR

Oft imitated, the Road Warrior films, this one (and, the clunkier, but no less beloved Mad Max before it) in particular, are the gold standard in dystopia for me.  I even perversely enjoy the Tina Turner one.  Now, this film is an action film first, but because of all its imitators and because of its singular vision of a world gone to seed, I couldn't not put this puppy on here.  Mel Gibson can verbally assault a thousand more cops and I'll still love Max and this masterpiece forever.

EG's #6:  THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

One of the finest crafted science fiction films of all time.  And, you know what?  My favorite aspect is something no one talks about - the film is touted as one with a message against the violence of the world... but every time I watch it, I'm struck with the fact that the "paranoid and xenophobic" people of the world are proven right in the film.  The aliens have come to inflict their will upon Earth... and despite the best intentions, it is still oppressive.  Just my thoughts.  Great film.

OG's #5:  ALIEN

Don't get me wrong, I love Aliens as much as any red-blooded American boy should.  But, that's just it.  Even more than "The Road Warrior," I always think of it (and the Terminator films, by the way) as an action film first.  A brilliant, chest-beating action film with great sci-fi madness dripping from the walls.  But, Alien is ultimately the one that sticks out to me as a MUST INCLUDE as I'm assembling my list.  I suppose it's as much a horror film as Aliens is an action film, but I think what supersedes the horror is that Ridley Scott re-invented what space travel could look like in film and gave it a working-class grime that's been copied ad infinitum since he did so.

EG's #5:  ALIEN

See, I said this should be in the top five!  And, after much thinking, I concur that Aliens is more of an action film.  It is amazing, though, how often science fiction combines with elements of horror.  Here, it is done so well, though, that I'm still calling this one science fiction.  It was absolutely cutting edge, and there are many imitators, but they all pale in comparison.

OG's #4:  BRAZIL

As much as it pains me that Gilliam's "12 Monkeys" or "Time Bandits" are just edged out of my final list (definitely in the top 20 for me, though), this is the one that I keep coming back to.  I love the whole bizarre, brain-blending thing.  The first time I got to the end credits I stopped the tape, said "What just happened?" and then immediately re-wound it and watched it again without missing a beat.  I've been watching it over and over ever since.

EG's #4:  STAR TREK II:  THE WRATH OF KHAN

Yeah, I'll say it - I'm a Star Trek fan.  Still, this is the one film in the series that even non-fans look at and say, "Yeah, that's a good movie."  This is the one Star Trek film that all others strive to be... and too often fail.  The characters are written perfectly, the story is tight, and the acting (which, admittedly, might have been over the top in another movie) is perfect.  This movie transformed what was merely an extension of a TV show into the franchise it is today.  As for The Empire Strikes back (that other beloved second film in that other beloved sci-fi franchise) ... I know I'm making enemies here, but it isn't going to crack my top 10 in science fiction.  I still see the original Star Wars films as more fantasy (a retelling of the Arthurian legend) than science fiction.  Still, it is a great movie.  Oh, and Brazil?  Its not making my top 10, either.

OG's #3:  THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK / STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN

This is a cowardly attempt to appease two warring fan groups and I should really be ashamed of myself for not taking a firm stance on the matter.  Go ahead.  Call me a sissy, nancy boy.  But, I refuse to seperate the two, and if I did, how do you think that would make Robocop feel?  (He does feel, you know.  Robot or not.  Don't you remember.  "What's your name, boy?  (dramatic pause) "Murphy."  (score swells)) 

Anyway, despite this tie and the cowardice it reveals in me, if I'm being completely honest, as much as I love Empire, Khan is secretly my preferred film.  (Don't tell my brothers)  Both are the pinnacle of their respective franchises for me.  Both are basically flawless.  But, Khan, man. It's just awesome all the way through, but then the final act comes and the epic conflict between the two Jupiter-sized personalities at the center of it along with the single most moving character death ever filmed just bring the whole enterprise (pardon the pun) up to the level of high art for me.  It's like having popcorn with a nice bottle of chardonnay.  Wait, what?  That sounds disgusting.  But, you get my drift.

EG's #3:  THE ABYSS

This is probably the most divisive film I've got for this list.  I think it a fantastic film.  The special effects are groundbreaking and the acting is top notch - something you don't get often enough in science fiction.  In my head, it is a blend of Close Encounters and The Day the Earth Stood Still, but, even so, it manages to find its own voice.

OG's #2:  CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

EG, you were so right to be incredulous at the AFI's omission of this film.  It's the only one on my personal list that can give an as yet unnamed film a run for its money.  And, while I do ultimately put it at number two, it's nudging right up cozy to that number one slot.  There's maybe just a Gundar's hairs-breadth between them.  (That's my vote for nerdiest sentence of this blog entry, by the way.)

EG's #2:   CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

So much for our lists differing wildly, huh?  AFI not including this one automatically renders their list invalid, in my opinion.  And, we also agree - this is just barely out of that number one slot.  The hard science of then next film just edges it out.  Still, I can watch this one more often, if that counts for anything!

OG's #1:  2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

This was not just the obvious choice for me, but the honest choice.  This movie never stops blowing my mind.  The first sci-fi movie without lasers that I gave the time of day to and the one that pretty much changed me as a film-watcher from that moment on.  I can completely understand why this might not hit your top 5 EG, but I also think that it doesn't need me to sing its praises any more than has already been done by countless fans before me.  (Funny story:  In college I had read about a guy who stayed awake for 5 days straight and had hallucinations.  I decided I would do the same thing.  I was 48 hours into this experiment when I had the brilliant idea of throwing on 2001 for a viewing.  Yeah, I was flat on my face asleep in the center of my dorm room at the first appearance of a man-ape.  College does not make you smarter, kids.)

EG's #1:  2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

2001: A Space Odyssey:  Surprised you, huh OG?  Yeah, me too.  My statement from the AFI posting holds true - not necessarily my favorite, but deserving of the spot.  As a matter of fact, after I posted that, I went and watched the film again (thanks Netflix!), and I couldn't put it any lower.  It is probably the purest science fiction film ever made.  The extrapolation of modern science into a plausible future is amazing, especially when you consider that this film is 40 years old.  It is also a beautiful film to watch - from the early scenes in the wilds, to the docking of a space plane, to the psychedelic "travel" scenes near the end.  It also inspires discussion.  The film is very open ended, and while that loses a lot of people, it allows a lot of speculative dialogue from folks willing to accept that the film DOESN'T answer all the questions.  Now, is this one that I would want to pop in and watch everyday?  No, but if someone had me at gunpoint and demanded I show them the best science fiction film ever made, this one wins.  (OG's NOTE:  I have not stopped crapping my pants from this revelation.  EG putting a Kubrick film at the top of any list!??!  As well as I know you brother, I would never have predicted this in a million years.  And, for this, I now love you with a boundless love that my heart never knew I was capable of!!!!)

And, with that, OG and EG joined hands and frolicked through the aisles of Blockbuster together, agreeing on every film that they laid eyes upon.  Two atoms smashing together to spark the beginning of a new, more perfect universe!

Um, er, this blog is getting uncomfortable.

So, let's end this on a less disturbing, more triumphant note. 

TAKE THAT, AFI!!

We sure showed you!  Yeah, maybe we didn't have the likes of Jessica Alba and Morgan Freeman singing the praises of our choices, but we have the truth on our side.  These are perfect lists and you would be wise to revise yours accordingly.

Oh, we almost forgot.  Here are the films that just missed our lists...

OG's HONORABLE MENTIONS: 

E.T. (kept off due to the same "family film" caveat EG employs), The Day the Earth Stood Still, Planet of the Apes, Delicatessen (don't be scared by the French speaking.  See – This – Now), Children of Men (give it another 10 years and it'll probably creep into the top), Gojira, and Gattaca

EG'S HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Alien Nation (I wanted this one to make the list sooo bad, but I feared my love of the TV show made this one better than it really was), Westworld (would there have ever been a Terminator had there not first been a Gunslinger?), Robocop (Weller was amazing in this movie), Logan's Run, Fantastic Voyage, E.T., and Forbidden Planet.

Not quite the opening line I thought would constitute the first words to my first real attempt at a blog, but there you go. It’s hardly entering into the Blogosphere with a Blaze of Glory is it? Hardly The WordPress Fonz.

But it’s done now. I’ll settle for being an online Richie Cunningham.

I was a geeky sort of kid. The kind of kid that would pray for rain at junior school so he wouldn’t have to play football, or run around the games pitch to determine who would be striker, and who would be in goal. And I was crap at saving goals too. It’s hard to even look interested in catching a ball when you’re scared it’ll knock your glasses off and make you cry. It kinda happened a lot.

Anyway, to a chubby football-phobic 10 year old, the world seemed huge. Indeed, at one time I believed the blocks of flats I could see from my bedroom window were America. The world was full of imagination, bright ideas, creative writing and at least one Barbie colouring-in book bought by my grandmother who didn’t seem to understand the way young boys’ minds worked.

Or maybe she did – it would explain a lot, come to think about it.

To a chubby football-phobic 10 year old, imagination and the dream of a world somehow greater than Mrs Minton’s science class suggested, led to summers of secret bases, of cartoons depicting good vs evil being played out in my back garden, of adventure hiding in the secrets of every undiscovered corner of my house. I had my own personal soundtrack, the danger music which played in my head whenever I imagined myself doing the things so colourfully depicted in the comics my mother faithfully bought me every Saturday morning. The combined epic scores of Star Wars, Superman, ET and Indiana Jones (all of which seemed to sound the same to Little Me) grew in volume and scale as I tackled whatever villain my mind had cooked up that day.

I was thrilled, therefore, that one year on the way to a family holiday in Lowestoft, my mother bought me one of those movie soundtack tapes to play on my little Walkman. At last I could really play those songs in my head as the Suffolk fields raced by. But it wasn't quite the London Philharmonic I had expected, more someone who had left a cheap Casio Keyboard on demo as the batteries ran down. You know the kind of soundtrack tie-in I'm talking about. The kind you buy in Woolworths where you imagine the conductor is winking at you over his frilled satin shirt as Star Wars reaches levels of jazz no one could have conceived possible. But amongst what purported to be John Williams' finest, was a little track called Logan's Run.

I only have distant memories of Logan's Run. But I know of it's place in Sci-Fi History. Logan's Run started off as a novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, it depicts a possible future where, to keep the population in line and balance with the resources they need to survive, the people are killed when they reach the age of 21. I bet they never had the debate over sex education in schools. Nine years later, the book was adapted into a film starring Michael York and Jenny Agutter. The film ended up taking something of an artistic licence to many parts of the book, with one of the main differences being the compulsory culling of the population at 30, instead of 21.

I turned 30 in March this year. Part of me keeps looking round expecting the alarms to go off and for armies of Bebo subscribers to storm through my front door and cart me off to some kind of thirtysomething Grandpa Simpson retirement castle with Duran Duran on the stereo and Supergran on repeat in the corner. I've started to worry already. I have four types of gravy granules in my food cupboard, because it would be wrong to have Beef Bisto with Pork. My blood starts to boil if you're on public transport with cheap tinny earphones turned up to loud, and god help you if you're 14 with a mobile phone. More worryingly, I woke up the other day excited because it was 'Observer Food Monthly Sunday'.

It's like a timer switch went off on my birthday. The Logan Crystal in my palm turned black and at Thirty years old I discovered all the secret bases had people in them who annoyed me. The type of people who jammed their hands in the lift door at work whilst they were closing, and then pressed the button for the first floor. The type of person who, when the train guard makes you put down your paper and get out your ticket, causes him to stop two rows in front of you, and buy a saver return to Aldershot for a week on tuesday while you stare on in rage.

I think the glasses came off and the innocent chubby 10 year old, instead of being killed to save the world's resources 20 years later, suddenly realised that the world around him was full of what he came to term (in pleasant company) Feckwittery. Feckwittery is the state of the world, whose common sense seems sometimes to have left you behind; the state of the world which makes you want to beat people around the head with the wrapped up newspaper. You know the type of thing I mean.

And not only is Feckwittery to be feared, but the realisation the world is full of it is also to be feared. Especially if you're a liberal, supposedly easy going Guardian reader like me.

And so, I suppose this Blog is not only an occasional rant at the Feckwittery of the world, but also an attempt to regain the imagination and the youthful excitement of that football hating ten year old, who's greatest trauma was the 18-month hiatus of Doctor Who. The one who found adventure in every corner, and who went through life with danger music in his head. I'm too young to be a Grumpy Old Man. 30 is not an age to be culled. It's an age to rediscover what keeps me young in the first place.

Because, by god, there's only so much Richie Cunningham I can take. I want to be the Fonz again.

This

I mean, I'm way super-glad that Generation Y has graduated college filled with the starry-eyed notion that they can walk into the workplace and, simply based on who they are (since they are so obviously superior to the rest of us), they will change the world, but c'mon. I was sitting exactly where they are twenty years ago.

And guess what? Nothing's changed.

Work still sucks, and that fact isn't going to change anytime soon. Like death and taxes, there's no getting out of it.

Back in 1987, I went into the workplace with ALL the same starry-eyed notions these kids did. Unlike many of my peers, I was a hard worker and an extremely talented designer, but I was treated like the office gopher, all my talents wasted. It was humiliating every single day. I can't tell you the number of times I heard the phrase, "pay your dues" and wondered how many years that has to happen before my dues were paid (the answer: until someone younger than you shows up, which for me was 5 years). I saw all the mistakes the general workforce was making (still is) and thought "If they'd only listen to me, everything could be so much better!"

This is a lesson in how NOT to treat your twentysomething employees. It serves no purpose. The one good thing is it taught me a lot about dealing with employees with fairness, working WITH talent and not against it. Still, you will always have your hardliners who think they deserve something for nothing—the older folks think they deserve something just because they've been there for 20 years, the younger people think they deserve it because they're more tech savvy. Y'all aren't as smart as you think you are.

Believe it or not, back in the 80's, we had computers too (we had to shoo the dinosaurs away from them, but seriously—we had them!). I was an early adopter of home computing technology, so when the computers finally arrived in their shiny boxes into our offices, I was the first one to complain that my older co-workers weren't taking to the technology quick enough. I mean, duh? How stupid were THEY? Some things NEVER change.

Unproductive meetings? Mentors? Higher starting salaries? No more performance reviews? C'mon kid, do you honestly think those are original ideas? We invented that shit. Doesn't fly, trust me. Didn't then. Doesn't now. Back in the 80's they called it "Total Quality Management" and it was based on Japanese workplace philosophy. Now all the Japanese Gen Y'ers have iPods and refuse to show up for work on time yet still expect to get paid. So much for superior Japanese philosophy, huh?

See, problem is, the vast majority of all fresh-faced young people, whether they were born in 1908 or 2008 don't want to work for anything, especially when things have always come easy for them. Don't y'all get defensive on me either—again, this shit has been going on for a few generations now. Did you ever see "Reality Bites"? Being a slacker is not an original idea. They give the handful of hard-working young people a bad name by proxy.

A couple of years ago, I was a mentor for some young people that wanted to become graphic designers. The number one problem I had with them? Getting them to show up. Yeah—something that simple, and they couldn't do it. Now, I'm not talking about 10 minutes late or something. They just didn't show up at all and couldn't understand why that was a prerequisite—nor did they understand the reason to call and let the office know they wouldn't be in. I have tried, unsuccessfully in most cases, to explain that "what you do impacts our ability to get work done. It's not all about you." I wouldn't mention it except it just... keeps... happening....

This one girl, we'll call her Slacker, asked (nay, begged) to be part of my office mentoring program. She was hired, and I was assigned as her mentor. She had grand desires of being a world-famous graphic designer working on Madison Avenue for the big ad agencies, so I had high hopes that the girl would be pretty self-motivated. Turns out, the problem of not showing up for work became an immediate issue. She had a hundred excuses if she had one. Slacker complained, mostly, that we were working her too hard—that this isn't what she expected. Huh? How can I be working her too hard when she doesn't even show up?

Slacker had to acquire a minimum of 40 hours to qualify for credit for the mentoring program, so I asked her to make out a schedule that she thought she could stick to (which she eventually handed in but never stuck to). When she was actually AT work, I would have to interrupt her cell phone calls or IMing in order to assign her a job, during which she would cluck her tongue and roll her eyes at me and complete the job half-assed if at all just so she could get back to the computer for more instant messaging.

After a few weeks of this, I had enough and went to the Mentoring Program manager and told him I would absolutely not pass her. "I don't expect her to do the best work," I said, "but when the bare minimum is SHOWING UP, and she's not even meeting that, there's nothing more I can do."

I received an email from Slacker's dad—not Slacker herself—a week later, apologizing for the girl's behavior. He explained that Slacker has decided not to be a graphic designer after all since it was too much work, and thanked me for all my help. I was horrified. The girl was too lazy to quit her own job by herself.

About a month after that, I saw Slacker working at the local Rite Aid as a checkout clerk. She was bitching (loudly) to one of her co-workers about how hard they were working her and how unfair it was. I guarantee you, wherever Slacker is today, she's still complaining about how hard she has to work and how awful it is that she has to show up and like, do stuff!

Folks, respect is earned, not given. See, unlike my predecessors, I don't believe in promoting on seniority alone. I think that's a bullshit system. Yes, it should be based on the strength of your performance, not the number of years you've skated by—but (here's the tricky part) you have to perform in order to have that strength. If you do, GREAT—I'll be happy to work with you, no problem. In the last ten years, of all the kids that have come and gone, I've had exactly two employees under 25 that have been worth their salt.

What did they have in common, you might ask?

An eagerness to learn and a lack of ego were what separated the successful Gen Y candidates from the chaff. They were easy to get along with. They were tech-savvy and knew it, but they had no problem teaching when needed, never treated an older coworker like an idiot, and were always WILLING TO LEARN new things. They showed up on time on most days, and sought out work while they were here. They were self-starters, taking on projects and giving themselves assignments when they weren't busy doing mine. Yes, they called on their cell phones and IMed their friends, but they never let it interfere with their work. They smiled a lot, joked around, and had a good time. They were eager to try new things and liked to push the envelope with their designs (I like that quality a lot!). They asked for my help, took criticism on the chin, learned from what they were told, and never took anything for granted.

Funny how that's the same thing I'd expect from ANY new hire, not just a Gen Y person.

Show up on time. Be willing to work some grunt jobs. Don't expect promotions to be handed to you unless you've earned it. Remember that you may have grown up with technology that your older coworkers have not, but they have one thing you do not possess: experience. Everything you think is novel has already been tried. Yes, maybe it's time to try things again.

And frankly, unless you Gen Yers are planning a takeover of the world á la Logan's Run, you're stuck with us old geezers for the duration. Pay attention and get off your cell phones—maybe you'll learn something.

7/10

"Ich hasse dieses "Draußen"! Ich hasse es, ich hasse es!"

In der Zukunft: Logan 5 lebt unter einer gigantischen Kuppel in einer Stadt und arbeitet als Sandmann, eine Art Polizist. Die Menschen leben sorgenfrei und alles ist friedlich, doch mit 30 Jahren ist alles vorbei: Wenn die Lebensuhr in der linken Handfläche anfängt zu blinken, muss man ins Karussell, um "erneuert" zu werden. Als Logans Uhr vier Jahre zu früh anfängt zu blinken und er erkennen muss, dass die Menschen nicht "erneuert", sondern ermordet werden, flieht er zusammen mit Jessica 6 aus der Kuppel in eine ihnen unbekannte Welt...

Nach diesem Film weiß man, woher Michael Bay die Idee für seinen Film "Die Insel" hatte und warum dieser Film zurecht einen Oscar für die Spezialeffekte bekam.
"Logan's Run" ist ein echter Klassiker, der nur leider viel zu unbekannt ist. Sir Peter Ustinov in seiner Rolle als "Alter Mann" ist herrlich schräg, die Effekte wie gesagt für die damalige Zeit hervorragend (z.B. das überwucherte und vergammelte Washington) und immer noch gut.

Der deutsche Titel ist wie so oft ziemlich dämlich, in dem Film flieht niemand in die Zukunft und auch nicht in die Vergangenheit. "Logan's Run" kritisiert den Jugendwahn und spricht die Problematik der Überbevölkerung an, und das schon 1976.

(YouTube)

Und hier die News: 2010 ist geplant, "Logans Run" erneut zu verfilmen, diesmal scheinbar mit mehr Bezug auf die literarische Vorlage. Das heißt, die Leute werden schon mit 21 Jahren eliminiert...

Sexton, who co-wrote Children of Men, recently completed a screenplay for a remake of Logan's Run (1976), scheduled for 2010 release. In this dystopian feature, a death sentence has been mandated for all youth turning 21.

At the time it came out, I can imagine this totally blew everyone's mind.  But now, it's like watching the Game Show Network's Match Game.  It starts out like Austin Powers, moves into The Blue Lagoon, and then becomes Planet of the Apes.  

The concept was funny, and interesting, but I feel like this movie is beyond its time.  So inevitably, this will be remade even more flasher and boobier.  It's all yours, Hollywood. 

You see, the movie was about the survivors of some holecaust being forced to die. Each person on their thirtieth birthday would enter the carousel, an extermination ceremony, where they are promised of being reborn.

Suddenly anybody in real life over 30 was considered over the hill, scorned and ridiculed. Even at 31. Which is when it started for me. Slowly at first. I couldn't do such an such because I was, you know, old. Then it picked up steam.  I began using it as an excuse.  I made it my tagline and mantra.  I used to always consider it a joke, until that awful, heartless day in the summer of my 40th year.

I love playing football.  Some younger friends invited me to join them in a park for an afternoon game.  I caught them snickering. These 20 something sniffel butts making fun of  me. I knew they were laughing behind my back so I was going to show them a thing or two.

Game day came with an explosion of physical contact I hadn't felt in years. I blocked! I tackled! I hit as hard as my "old" body would allow. Nothing was gonna stop me.  10 minutes later I was still going strong then suddenly pow...someone threw  the football to me. Straight into my hands... 

Oh my God! It felt like every bone in my hands was being broken into a billion pieces. My fingers crackled an exploded in pain. Tiny little knives dug into every pain receptor available as the ball dropped aimlessly to the ground. Tears came to my eyes. People slapped me on the back "don't worry you'll catch the next one" they said. "Next one" I shouted to myself!  With what?

5 more minutes into the game and my right knee crumpled.  I felt the ancient flesh tear away from the bone.  Another five minutes, my smoke encrusted lungs were begging for a reprieve. In an hour people were coming up to me and saying what a great game it was. I did great, they wanted me to play again. An hour and a half went by...Finally I was alone, crumpled, white, shattered at the bottom of an old oak tree, praying that my wife would get there before the devil.

The following week I was a bedridden, heavily medicated old man. It didn't seem quite as funny calling myself old any more. From then on I began picking up slices of what it really meant to be old. These slices took up alot of space in my head, in note pads and on the computer.

Then one day I started to read a blog called Stuff White People Like. As I read it, it didn't seem to apply to me. It seemed slanted to the younger generation, whoever they are.

That is when I had an Epiphany(revelation - for you younger generation!) I could do a blog for the rest of us. You know who I mean.  BUT, what to call it? Then I had another Epiphany!

Stuff white people like is kinda catchy but like I said, it did not seem to address me or anyone older than me.  Suddenly, it came to me. I would call my blog Stuff Old White People Like.

Why? They teach you in exposition class to write about what you know and what I know is this: I'm old, I'm white, I know a lot of old people and we all know what we like.

So this brings up the question what is old? I really didn't think I was old until I started getting senior citizen discounts. Heck I'm only 55. But then, I know people in their 70's and 80's that don't think they're old even though they've had these discounts for decades.

So number 1 on my list of Stuff Old White People Like is the "Age" badge. Oldies wear it proudly. They use it to their advantage. When they want to get out of something like work, paying taxes or going to jail. Or when they want to get into something like the head of a line, discounts and retirement centers.

Nothing beats the "Age" badge. Take that you Whipper Snappers!

Wir befinden uns in der Zunkunft ..genauer gesagt , wie der Titel schon verrät im 23. Jahrhundert. In dieser fernen Zunkunft leben die Menschen von der Aussenwelt völlig isoliert in einer gigantischen Glaskuppel , welche sie aber als ihren natürlichen Lebensraums ehen , weil sie es nicht anders kennen. Auch herrschen dort andere Sitten .Monogamie gilt als verpöhnt , Drogen und andere Rauschmittel gibt es überall ...das ganze hat nur einen Haken , niemand in dieser "Stadt" darf älter als 30 Jahre werden . Und um das zu kontrollieren trägt jeder Bewohner einen Lebenskristall in seiner Handfläche ....der in den verschiedenen Jahren die Farbe wechselt , bis er dann anfängt zu blinken ..Wenn dies geschieht , werden die Betroffenen in das "Karussell" gebracht . Alle sehen darin ein religiöses Zentrum , wo sie ,w enn sie eintreten in eine höhere Ebene des Bewusstseins gehoben werden .....doch eigentlich werden sie dort nur unter viel Show hingerichtet ,ohne das es die anderen mitbekommen.

Nun gibt es aber auch ein paar schlaue Köpfe , die hinter dieses System des Karusells gekommen sind , welche als Läufer bezeichnet werden und die das Gerücht in Umlauf bringen , das es ausserhalb der Kuppel eine Zuflucht gibt vor diesem Karussell ...Und dann gibt es die Sandmänner ...welche als Polizei agieren und auf die Läufer angesetzt werden ....Und wie es ja meist dann in solchen Filmen ist , läuft alles gut , bis eine Frau ins Spiel kommt , denn dann bekommt Sandman "Logan5 " den Auftrag herauszufinden , ob an dem Gerücht etwas wahres dran ist , verliebt sich aber und ist dann selber auf der Flucht ...Nach einer sehr aufregenden Flucht finden er und seine Partnerin die Zuflucht und treffen dort auf einen alten Mann ....So einen alten Menschen haben sie natürlich noch nie gesehen , sie bleiben eine Weile bei ihm , bis sie beschliessen die anderen davon zu überzeugen , das man auch ruhig älter 30 werden kann :)

Soviel zum Inhalt , nun zur Bewertung :)

Logans Run ist trotz der stellenweise primitiven Effekte [ hey , er kam 1976 raus ] ein grossartiger Film , die Schauspieler waren zwar alle nicht ursprünglich geplant von den Filmmachern , passten aber perfekt in die Rollen ....[ Michael York als Logan5 ,Jenny Agutter als Jessica 6 und Peter Ustinov als der alte Mann]

Fazit : kann man sich gern immer wieder mal angucken und gehört in die Klassiker Abteilung :)

The 1976 cult film Logan's Run is being remade.  It's slated for release in 2010.

Joseph Kosinski is listed as director but there's no word on the cast as of yet.  Patrick over at UGO says he's read the new script and has posted about it there.

I'm always worried about remakes so we'll see.

SOURCE

It's interesting that I'd find something like THIS considering that I was talking about something like that already.

The internet! Acck, it's like got powers or something right?!!

Sure, the article mentioned up there reads more like a snippet. A quickie about how Americans are more comfortable assessing judgments on objects vs. East Asians and how they better judges of relationships.

I think that's what they were going for...Not so much about bad movies making for bad daters, right?

Well MY idea was less about judging objects/judging films or East Asians and more about how there are a good number of movies that probably shaped the person I am today.

I was an impressionable youth. I still am.

Just right off the bat, the movies that come to mind are (in no particular oder)

Annie Hall

Urban Cowboy

The Goonies

Logan's Run

Gremlins

The Last Star Fighter

Shampoo

So let's get this. Just looking at this list, you're thinking I'm a neurotic Texan set on finding treasure all the while avoiding eating after midnight in case I have to save the planet via my joystick all the while maintaining a number of hair appointments. Close?

No.

Not entirely, but we're getting there.

Alright, let's get this show started shall we?

The Goonies:

Ah, My feel good movie. My dream scenario (And yes, it does include "The Truffle Shuffle")

What's not to enjoy about this straight out of the 80's classic.

Corey wasn't crying over vegatables and Josh Brolin was sizzlin' (We'll refer to this boy hotness in another segment, I promise.)

To this day I can't pass an empty cabin, or box of Rocky Road without some brief Goonie imagery. "That's what I said!"

I remember wishing, shoot, I still wish I could go on an adventure that results in me making friends with a guy named "Sloth" and a bag full of treasure. Most of all, I want a group of friends that'll go on that said adventure to save my house from being torn down.

How many of your friends will take up with a goon, fight off ex cons, find pirate booty and then let you use it?

Uh huh.

The Goonies were also the "uncool" kids(Hello Blog title plug!), and they were a good bunch of kids.

I can only hope to be a Goonie some day...

Huddled below the surface calling out through a well for a bucket and still making wishes...

Makes me think of a really good saying that goes:

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

Goonies R' Good Enough for EVERYTHING!

Logan's Run:

Yeah pretty self explanatory, no? I feel safe in saying that anyone who's viewed the film blows their birthday candles and wonders when their palm will light up.

I remember catching this little gem on the television at a very young age. An age when you still think everything your parents say is true and 30 is light light years away.

You watch it for kicks again in your teens (Again, probably on cable) and mostly you wonder why the guy from Austin Powers (Basil) would have been considered a leading man.

Lately I see it in the bargin bin at Best Buy and keep walking.

I'm not a "Runner" yet!

Actually we'll get to it on our next installment.

Yeah this one is going to be continued ya'll.

Wow, look at OneJeff dance...I guess it's true what they say...

Sandy is HOT!

Sandy doesn't wanna hear it.

Well, at least Immy doesn't have a crush on EVERYONE.

Veilchen is NOT HOT.

Immy goes over to the Coral Bowl and Burger, and asks the guys what he's doing wrong.

You mean I should talk about things SHE likes? Like fashion and stuff? Hmm.

Fun times!

Immy thinks Val is HOT!

Val doesn't wanna hear it.

Logan's Run by George Perez

Here are a few fashionable moments from Logan's Run - lemme know if you find the showdown on youtube ore somewhere!

Logan's Run the classic 1976 movie where everyone over a certain age is eliminated to keep the population under control..is being remade. Multiple news sources (with Reuters being the key) are reporting that the remake is now in full swing.Commercials veteran Joseph Kosinski will make his directorial debut on the sci-fi thriller, which has been in the works at the studio since the mid-'90s.

Sure the pacing of the 1976 movie may be a bit slow by today's standards but Logan's Run is a concept film and it still holds up well to the test of time.

Well the movie does...70's trailer...not so much..but check it out for yourself below:

Now I'm watching the equally cheesy but immensely more entertaining sci-fi movie Logan's Run.

I wouldn't sell.

I have also been accumulating old TV shows that had short runs. I now have every episode of The Prisoner. I was told in order to be a proper geek I have to watch The Prisoner at least once year. I have also begun questing for the short lived television series of Logan's Run. I didn't even know that the movie came from a TV show. I have the following episodes, if anyone knows where I can get the missing episodes, please let me know.

Ep. 1 - Pilot
Ep. 2 - The Collectors
Ep. 3 - Capture
Ep. 4 - The Innocent
Ep. 5 - Man Out of Time
Ep. 6 - Half Life
Ep. 8 - Fear Factor
Ep. 10 - Future Past
Ep. 11 - Carousel
Ep. 14 - Stargate

So if anyone can help me with 7, 9, 12 and 13, please do. I don't want to start watching it until I have them all, because I might enjoy it and I don't want to miss anything. Also, if anyone out there knows of any other short lived TV series like The Prisoner or Logan's Run let me know.