Don't Look Up 2021
the Kimmel comparison point — overwrought satire, not without laughs
The Big Picture · Discussion · Review · Roundtable
The Top 10 Junk Sci-Fi Movies, ‘Moonfall,’ and Michael Mann’s ‘Ferrari’
February 11, 2022/ 79 min/ Sean Fennessy · Chris Ryan
A sequel to their 2020 garbage crime episode: Sean and Chris Ryan argue out the rules of junk sci-fi, then each induct five movies into a ten-film hall of fame, with quick stops for the Oscar nominations, Michael Mann's long-gestating 'Ferrari,' and capsule reviews of 'Moonfall' and 'Kimi.'
71 films across 6 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
The Oscar Nominationson the eve of the 94th Academy Awards
Spider-Man: No Way Home 2021
left off the Best Picture list; the hypothetical snub they keep circling
The Power of the Dog 2021
the grim, serious front-runner
Drive My Car 2021
a Best Picture nominee neither host predicted
The Worst Person in the World 2021
hoping the nomination sends people to see it
CODA 2021
Sean hasn't seen it yet, but the nominations made him want to
Belfast 2021
Branagh's nomination felt inevitable from day one
Michael Mann's 'Ferrari'Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, and Shailene Woodley join a 20-years-gestating passion project
Ferrari 2023
Driver plays Enzo Ferrari; Mann's long-delayed dream project finally has a cast
House of Gucci 2021
Driver stayed in Italy — and in the accent — straight off this one
Ford v Ferrari 2019
once a Michael Mann project before it went to James Mangold
Heat 1995
the movie they say their whole garbage-crime bit flows from
'Moonfall' and 'Kimi'Emmerich's disaster epic vs. Soderbergh's techno-anxiety thriller
Moonfall 2022
bad, per Sean — but a great VOD rental
Kimi 2022
minor Soderbergh, but a fun genre dip; a strong Zoë Kravitz performance
What Counts as Junk Sci-Fithe ground rules, argued out before the list starts
Gattaca 1997
Andrew Niccol's debut — too highfalutin to be garbage
The Truman Show 1998
Niccol wrote it
S1m0ne 2002
Niccol's Al Pacino robot movie — called "Simone" on air
Lord of War 2005
Niccol again, not sci-fi
In Time 2011
Niccol's time-as-currency movie — right on the edge of garbage
Looper 2012
too much of an indie-drama sensibility to be garbage
Chronicle 2012
same verdict, different director — Josh Trank
Midnight Special 2016
Jeff Nichols — too philosophically driven
The Guest 2014
John Carpenter homage, but too A24-cool to be garbage
Network 1976
raised as a satire test case — ruled a masterpiece, not garbage
Dr. Strangelove 1964
same conversation, same verdict
Alien³ 1992
"industrial goth metal sci-fi," not garbage
Alien Resurrection 1997
gloopy, junky, neon-green production design — this one's garbage
Alien: Covenant 2017
has garbage elements but gets pulled into the bigger mythology
Sunshine 2007
beautiful sci-fi for the first half, garbage once the demon shows up
Mission to Mars 2000
junky, but sincere about the search for life — not garbage
Red Planet 2000
junk, unlike its 2000 Mars-movie twin
The Matrix 1999
the test case for how much "terrestrial" sci-fi even counts
Blade Runner 1982
cited as future film noir, not garbage
Strange Days 1995
same lineage as Blade Runner
I, Robot 2004
an Alex Proyas credit up for debate
The Crow 1994
same director, same question mark
Dark City 1998
probably qualifies, despite the Ebert rave
Knowing 2009
same Proyas question mark
Gods of Egypt 2016
same
Starship Troopers 1997
"the most important film in this conversation" — ruled not garbage because the fascism satire was the intent, not a later reading
Total Recall 1990
Verhoeven — an out-and-out classic, not garbage
RoboCop 1987
same Verhoeven defense
The Running Man 1987
allowed in — future dystopia is enough, even light on tech
Aliens 1986
the source of the Paul Reiser corporate-suit archetype they keep referencing
Predator 1987
cited while laying out the genre's beats
Predator 2 1990
preferred over the original as junk sci-fi
The Core 2003
the platonic ideal of the "the" + one noun title
The Cell 2000
wanted to be the new Alien, wasn't
The Island 2005
too good for garbage sci-fi, per both hosts
The Arrival 1996
David Twohy, Charlie Sheen — the garbage one, not to be confused with Villeneuve's film
Arrival 2016
explicitly not garbage — the film they're distinguishing The Arrival from
The Fifth Element 1997
not garbage, but the root of a whole vaudevillian strand of '90s sci-fi costume design
Battlefield Earth 2000
widely derided source material, cited as a genre hallmark
The Butterfly Effect 2004
the titled-after-its-own-phenomenon example
The Junk Sci-Fi Hall of Fame five picks each — Sean and Chris overlapped on only one
Picked by Sean Fennessy & Chris Ryan
Event Horizon 1997
the shared No. 1, "the alpha and the omega" — Sam Neill and Laurence Fishburne anchor a movie that turns fully feral two-thirds through
Picked by Sean Fennessy
Stargate 1994
Kurt Russell and James Spader crack open a portal to another dimension; a $200M hit that's since been half-forgotten
Picked by Chris Ryan
Ghosts of Mars 2001
Rio Bravo in space — Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, and Jason Statham fighting possessed Mars colonists
Picked by Sean Fennessy
Cube 1997
six strangers wake up trapped in a deadly cube on a $350,000 budget
Picked by Chris Ryan
Freejack 1992
Emilio Estevez's soul gets evicted by Anthony Hopkins in a dystopian near-future L.A.
Picked by Chris Ryan
Species 1995
Natasha Henstridge's alien-human hybrid, designed by H.R. Giger, hunting for a mate
Picked by Sean Fennessy
Underwater 2020
Kristen Stewart does Sigourney Weaver eight miles under the ocean
Picked by Sean Fennessy
Congo 1995
Michael Crichton's talking gorillas and a laser-beam shootout in the finale — Sean's favorite on the whole list
Picked by Chris Ryan
Pandorum 2009
Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster wake from deep sleep with amnesia, then the aliens show up
More Junk Sci-Ficlosing honorable mentions
Sphere 1998
another Crichton adaptation — Dustin Hoffman investigating a spacecraft at the bottom of the ocean
Predators 2010
Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Walton Goggins, and Mahershala Ali dropped on a planet to fight Predators
Johnny Mnemonic 1995
a precursor to The Matrix, adapted from beloved source material into a mediocre movie
Judge Dredd 1995
the Stallone version — could've been better
Screamers 1995
Peter Weller vs. underground burrowing robots on a distant mining planet
Timecop 1994
Van Damme's significant entry in the genre
Planet of the Apes 2001
the Tim Burton version — "more trash than sci-fi," and the one that counts here, unlike the original '60s/'70s films or the Matt Reeves trilogy
Leviathan 1989
Peter Weller again — a monster at the bottom of the ocean; Chris's runner-up underwater pick
Supernova 2000
Walter Hill's movie, recut by Francis Ford Coppola after a disastrous test screening
Also mentioned raised along the way
Genre origin points Star WarsAlienBattle Beyond the Stars
In passing Titanic
Roger Donaldson filmography, run down live No Way OutCocktailCadillac ManWhite SandsThe GetawayDante's Peak
Geoff Murphy filmography Young Guns IIUnder Siege 2: Dark Territory
Michael Crichton's other adaptations, mentioned in passing Jurassic ParkThe Andromeda StrainWestworldThe Great Train Robbery
Kristen Stewart films mentioned SpencerClouds of Sils MariaPersonal ShopperSnow White and the HuntsmanHappiest Season
William Eubank's other films The SignalParanormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension
John Carpenter films ruled not garbage Big Trouble in Little ChinaStarmanVampires
Vincenzo Natali's other films CypherNothingSplice
Roland Emmerich's other junk sci-fi Independence DayUniversal SoldierThe Day After Tomorrow
One-word titles, rattled off JumperDaybreakersRollerballSkylinePaycheckLucyPushMimic
Paul W.S. Anderson's other genre films Mortal KombatAlien vs. Predator
Soderbergh's recent run, for comparison No Sudden MoveThe LaundromatHigh Flying BirdLet Them All TalkUnsaneSide EffectsThe Girlfriend Experience
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
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