People starting the movie Spaceman would be forgiven for thinking that their Netflix had glitched. Yes, we do see Adam Sandler’s character Jakub dressed in a space suit. But he’s not floating through the cosmos. He’s walking through a wooded stream, the greenery of the trees and bushes reflecting off his mask.
What the heck does this have to do with being a space man, one might ask? By the end of the movie, directed by Johan Renck and written by Colby Day (adapting the novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař), Spaceman answers all your questions. Or rather, Jakub’s new friend, an alien spider named Hanuš, explains everything in the gentle, dulcet tones of Paul Dano.
Spaceman‘s strange, but ultimately clear, approach may frustrate some viewers. It may excite others, leaving them wanting to watch more sci-fi movies with a surrealist approach. Regardless of...
What the heck does this have to do with being a space man, one might ask? By the end of the movie, directed by Johan Renck and written by Colby Day (adapting the novel Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař), Spaceman answers all your questions. Or rather, Jakub’s new friend, an alien spider named Hanuš, explains everything in the gentle, dulcet tones of Paul Dano.
Spaceman‘s strange, but ultimately clear, approach may frustrate some viewers. It may excite others, leaving them wanting to watch more sci-fi movies with a surrealist approach. Regardless of...
- 3/4/2024
- by Joe George
- Den of Geek
Tarkovsky’s mysterious epic – a response to the ‘phoniness’ of 2001: A Space Odyssey – draws you into its melancholic dreamworld superbly
See the other classic missed films in this seriesThe best arts and entertainment during self-isolation
At university in the early 90s, friends who were studying philosophy would enthuse about Solaris in the same smoke-filled breath as Hegel and Sartre – neither of whom I had read. But I felt at ease with nerdiness, in a room crowded with techno music and people lying about on the floor. Vicariously I became a purist, without ever watching the 1972 film by Andrei Tarkovsky nor reading the original novel by Stanisław Lem. And when Steven Soderbergh’s slicker, shorter, altogether shinier adaptation, starring George Clooney and Natasha McElhone, was released, I knowingly let it pass me by – why have Hollywood cotton when you could have Soviet silk? So it has taken me more than...
See the other classic missed films in this seriesThe best arts and entertainment during self-isolation
At university in the early 90s, friends who were studying philosophy would enthuse about Solaris in the same smoke-filled breath as Hegel and Sartre – neither of whom I had read. But I felt at ease with nerdiness, in a room crowded with techno music and people lying about on the floor. Vicariously I became a purist, without ever watching the 1972 film by Andrei Tarkovsky nor reading the original novel by Stanisław Lem. And when Steven Soderbergh’s slicker, shorter, altogether shinier adaptation, starring George Clooney and Natasha McElhone, was released, I knowingly let it pass me by – why have Hollywood cotton when you could have Soviet silk? So it has taken me more than...
- 5/1/2020
- by Nick Shave
- The Guardian - Film News
Stars: Donatas Banionis, Natalya Bondarchuk, Anatoli Solonitsyn, Jüri Järvet | Written by Andrei Tarkovsky; Fridrikh Gorenshtein | Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
It’s Will Self’s favourite movie, it spawned a good remake which barely nudged the box office, and it has been described as the Soviet answer to 2001: A Space Odyssey. It combines the laid-back, character-based storytelling of the French New Wave with the trippy impulses of late-60s psychedelia. It is a true cult movie, one which played for decades in Soviet cinemas. But what is Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris actually like to watch? I hesitate to call it a blast – but I would call it beautiful, dense, mesmerising and moving.
On the surface, Kubrick’s 1968 film and Tarkovsky’s 1972 film couldn’t be more different in their approaches (something Tarkovsky himself was keen to point out). While 2001 looks proudly outward, Solaris delves inward, deeply and directly. But what...
It’s Will Self’s favourite movie, it spawned a good remake which barely nudged the box office, and it has been described as the Soviet answer to 2001: A Space Odyssey. It combines the laid-back, character-based storytelling of the French New Wave with the trippy impulses of late-60s psychedelia. It is a true cult movie, one which played for decades in Soviet cinemas. But what is Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris actually like to watch? I hesitate to call it a blast – but I would call it beautiful, dense, mesmerising and moving.
On the surface, Kubrick’s 1968 film and Tarkovsky’s 1972 film couldn’t be more different in their approaches (something Tarkovsky himself was keen to point out). While 2001 looks proudly outward, Solaris delves inward, deeply and directly. But what...
- 4/18/2017
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
This letter is part of "Behind the Celluloid Curtain," a series of correspondences between Scout Tafoya and Veronika Ferdman on the topic of Soviet cinema, with each series organized around a theme. This particular series focuses on love in a time of discontent.Dear Veronika,I’m so glad we picked these movies. I wanted a glimpse into normal Russian life and here are the children of the Ussr listening to vinyl! They’re singing and talking about stuff. Boring stuff, in some cases! “Do you know how many people will die in traffic accidents this year?” I sure don’t! Russians! They’re just like us! July Rain is a most excellent example not only of people just trying to make sense of the minutia of being alive, but of a filmmaker finding his way through a glut of world cinema influences and coming away with something unique. There’s Godard,...
- 10/12/2015
- by Scout Tafoya
- MUBI
A genre constantly overlooked at awards ceremonies, sci-fi cinema is full of stunning performances - like these...
Should we care whether the Academy likes science fiction or not? Does it matter that the genre and its best performances are regularly overlooked by most mainstream awards bodies? Probably not. But consider this: cinema is by now a long-established artform. Movies chart all aspects of the human condition: birth, death, happiness, sadness, ennui, fear, elation, empathy.
The best sci-fi movies arguably achieve the same thing. Where else is the sense of mystery and triumphant discovery felt more keenly than in, say, Solaris? What other genre could explore the nature of addiction with the same humour and pathos as A Scanner Darkly? Could the themes of ageing and disease in The Fly be transposed to a realistic drama and still be as thrilling, bizarre and tragic?
It’s still the case that science...
Should we care whether the Academy likes science fiction or not? Does it matter that the genre and its best performances are regularly overlooked by most mainstream awards bodies? Probably not. But consider this: cinema is by now a long-established artform. Movies chart all aspects of the human condition: birth, death, happiness, sadness, ennui, fear, elation, empathy.
The best sci-fi movies arguably achieve the same thing. Where else is the sense of mystery and triumphant discovery felt more keenly than in, say, Solaris? What other genre could explore the nature of addiction with the same humour and pathos as A Scanner Darkly? Could the themes of ageing and disease in The Fly be transposed to a realistic drama and still be as thrilling, bizarre and tragic?
It’s still the case that science...
- 9/9/2015
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
What’s difficult about making this list is finding a balance between a successful Kubrickian film that either predates or pays homage to Kubrick and, for lack of a better term, is a ripoff. Now that we’ve hit the apex, it’s clear that these are, regardless of influence, quality films. What sets them apart is their ability to evoke Kubrick’s greatness (or inspire it), while delivering a stand-alone masterpiece. If Kubrick took the helm for any of these films, the result wouldn’t delineate too much. Still. Kubrick is a genius because he always kept us guessing.
courtesy of theweeklings.com
10. Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Directed by Werner Herzog
What makes it Kubrickian? It’s a film about extreme obsession and the unreasonable lengths a man will go to when consumed by it. Fitzcarraldo is the story of Brian Sweeny “Fitzcarraldo” Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski) and his entry into the rubber industry.
courtesy of theweeklings.com
10. Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Directed by Werner Herzog
What makes it Kubrickian? It’s a film about extreme obsession and the unreasonable lengths a man will go to when consumed by it. Fitzcarraldo is the story of Brian Sweeny “Fitzcarraldo” Fitzgerald (Klaus Kinski) and his entry into the rubber industry.
- 4/1/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
Back in the U.S.S.R.: Bondarchuk’s Latest a Visual Feast and Narrative Folly
Arriving with a small coterie of distinctive firsts, actor/director Fedor Bondarchuk’s latest directorial effort happens to be the first Russian film to be presented in 3D (one would have assumed Timur Bekmambetov would have nabbed that distinction had he stayed in the motherland), as well as laying claim to number one at the Russian box office and nabbing the honor of being the Foreign Language submission for this year’s Academy Awards.
Digging deeper, Russian cineastes will recognize the famed Bondarchuk name—while Fedor has gone on to make a prolific name for himself as an actor turned director, he is the son of director Sergei Bondarchuk (War & Peace, 1966) and brother to actress Natalya Bondarchuk (star of Tarkovsky’s Solaris, 1972).
With such a rich history behind him, the decision to make...
Arriving with a small coterie of distinctive firsts, actor/director Fedor Bondarchuk’s latest directorial effort happens to be the first Russian film to be presented in 3D (one would have assumed Timur Bekmambetov would have nabbed that distinction had he stayed in the motherland), as well as laying claim to number one at the Russian box office and nabbing the honor of being the Foreign Language submission for this year’s Academy Awards.
Digging deeper, Russian cineastes will recognize the famed Bondarchuk name—while Fedor has gone on to make a prolific name for himself as an actor turned director, he is the son of director Sergei Bondarchuk (War & Peace, 1966) and brother to actress Natalya Bondarchuk (star of Tarkovsky’s Solaris, 1972).
With such a rich history behind him, the decision to make...
- 2/26/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Andrei Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev Andrei Tarkovsky, Audrey Hepburn, Clara Bow Movies: Packard Campus May 2012 Schedule Friday, April 27 (7:30 p.m.) Solaris (Magna, 1972) An alien intelligence infiltrates a space mission. Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. With Natalya Bondarchuk and Donatas Banionis. Sci-fi psychological drama. Black & White and color, 167 min. In Russian and German with English subtitles. Saturday, April 28 (7:30 p.m.) To Kill A Mockingbird (Universal, 1962) A Southern lawyer defends a black man wrongly accused of rape, and tries to explain the proceedings to his children. Directed by Robert Mulligan. With Gregory Peck, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, Brock Peters and Robert Duvall. Drama. Black & white, 129 min. Selected for the National Film Registry in 1995. Thursday, May 3 (7:30 p.m.) The Little Giant (Warner Bros., 1933) A Chicago beer magnate about to lose his business with the repeal of Prohibition, moves to California and tries to join society's upper crust, but his gangster origins prove tough to shake.
- 4/21/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Whether they’re male or female, old or young, they’ve illuminated some classic movies. Here’s our top 50 list of sci-fi heroes and heroines…
On the face of it, compiling a list of truly great sci-fi protagonists should be easy. Pick a load of familiar names from a hat, write some breathlessly adoring drivel beneath them, and head off to the pub to reward a job well done.
Except it was never going to be as simple as that – and compiling lists seldom is. For every character making an appearance in the list below, there were at least two other possible candidates who didn't quite make the cut. Some sci-fi heroes were removed, then quickly reinstated. The order was jiggled around, then reordered again.
At one point, your humble writer realised there were more than 50 entries, and then had the unenviable task of hunting back through to decide which poor soul to eliminate.
On the face of it, compiling a list of truly great sci-fi protagonists should be easy. Pick a load of familiar names from a hat, write some breathlessly adoring drivel beneath them, and head off to the pub to reward a job well done.
Except it was never going to be as simple as that – and compiling lists seldom is. For every character making an appearance in the list below, there were at least two other possible candidates who didn't quite make the cut. Some sci-fi heroes were removed, then quickly reinstated. The order was jiggled around, then reordered again.
At one point, your humble writer realised there were more than 50 entries, and then had the unenviable task of hunting back through to decide which poor soul to eliminate.
- 4/19/2012
- Den of Geek
[Updated with winners.] The Twitch-presented Attack The Bloc series of Cold War era science fiction films from the Eastern Bloc kicks off next week at the Tiff Bell Lightbox with a screening of Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris, January 19th at 9:30 pm.Something has gone wrong on the space station orbiting the mysterious planet Solaris: one member of the crew is dead, while the two survivors are sending strange, nonsensical messages back to Earth. Arriving at the station to investigate, psychologist Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis) makes a startling discovery: Solaris is actually an immense intelligence that is capable of drawing forth one's fears and desires and bringing them to vivid, physical life. Kelvin is soon faced with the "return" of his long-dead wife, Hari (Natalya Bondarchuk) --...
- 1/16/2012
- Screen Anarchy
A genre constantly overlooked at awards ceremonies, sci-fi cinema is full of stunning performances. Here’s a list of 10 that deserved Oscar attention…
There are certain aspects of cinematic storytelling that Oscar judges absolutely love: feel-good dramas in which characters triumph over adversity, sweeping period epics, or films in which a popular Hollywood actor undergoes some startling, uncharacteristic change (see Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, for example, or Ben Kingsley in Ghandi) are a few examples.
Should a film somehow incorporate all three of these features, it will almost certainly walk away with an entire armful of golden statues. It’s a depressing fact, meanwhile, that genre movies are regularly overlooked by almost all mainstream film awards, and not just the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
If you’re an actor in a science fiction film, for example, it’s quite unlikely that you’ll receive much attention for your performance,...
There are certain aspects of cinematic storytelling that Oscar judges absolutely love: feel-good dramas in which characters triumph over adversity, sweeping period epics, or films in which a popular Hollywood actor undergoes some startling, uncharacteristic change (see Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, for example, or Ben Kingsley in Ghandi) are a few examples.
Should a film somehow incorporate all three of these features, it will almost certainly walk away with an entire armful of golden statues. It’s a depressing fact, meanwhile, that genre movies are regularly overlooked by almost all mainstream film awards, and not just the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
If you’re an actor in a science fiction film, for example, it’s quite unlikely that you’ll receive much attention for your performance,...
- 8/23/2011
- Den of Geek
Director: Andre Tarkovsky Writers: Andrei Tarkovsky and Fridrikh Gorenshtein (screenplay), Stanislav Lem (novel) Cinematographer: Vadim Yusov Stars: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Vladislav Dvorzhetsky, Yuri Yarvet Studio/Running Time: Criterion, 166 min. When Solaris was released in the United States at the end of 1976 critics frequently compared it with our own, somewhat more famous science fiction movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. The reasoning for this is obvious: both are long, slow pictures by difficult auteurs that forsake a conventional narrative. But more than that there was also a sort of implicit competition critics brought to the movie’s interpretation as part...
- 6/1/2011
- Pastemagazine.com
Chicago – Modern viewers may be more familiar with Steven Soderbergh & George Clooney’s remake of “Solaris,” a good film on its own merits as it’s so different from its source in tone, but the massively influential original version by the legendary Andrei Tarkovsky holds a far more prominent place in film history. Tarkovsky’s mesmerizing piece of science fiction has been a part of the Criterion Collection for some time but it’s been chosen to get the upgrade to the Blu-ray department of the legendary line of releases and so the standard DVD, which was the only version we could get our hands on, was given a new treatment as well.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
It’s hard to describe “Solaris” accurately. It’s such an unusual movie in that it’s a piece from a genre in which we’ve become accustomed to things like space creatures, but it...
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
It’s hard to describe “Solaris” accurately. It’s such an unusual movie in that it’s a piece from a genre in which we’ve become accustomed to things like space creatures, but it...
- 5/31/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Hitting movie theaters this weekend:
The Hangover Part II – Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms
Kung Fu Panda 2 – Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan
Movie of the Week
The Hangover Part II
The Stars: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms
The Plot: Right after their infamous Las Vegas bachelor party, Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug jet to Thailand for Stu’s wedding. Stu’s plan for a subdued pre-wedding brunch, however, goes seriously awry.
The Buzz: Like many wines and cheeses before him, Hangover II writer/director Todd Phillips has aged well. With Road Trip, his directorial debut, he made a film just funny enough to facilitate the production of his 2nd film, the far superior, Old School. From there Phillips helmed Starsky and Hutch, which was respected well enough, for what it was, before taking a major misstep with School for Scoundrels. Phillips bounced back big-time from his first flop,...
The Hangover Part II – Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms
Kung Fu Panda 2 – Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan
Movie of the Week
The Hangover Part II
The Stars: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms
The Plot: Right after their infamous Las Vegas bachelor party, Phil, Stu, Alan, and Doug jet to Thailand for Stu’s wedding. Stu’s plan for a subdued pre-wedding brunch, however, goes seriously awry.
The Buzz: Like many wines and cheeses before him, Hangover II writer/director Todd Phillips has aged well. With Road Trip, his directorial debut, he made a film just funny enough to facilitate the production of his 2nd film, the far superior, Old School. From there Phillips helmed Starsky and Hutch, which was respected well enough, for what it was, before taking a major misstep with School for Scoundrels. Phillips bounced back big-time from his first flop,...
- 5/25/2011
- by Aaron Ruffcorn
- The Scorecard Review
Steinslaw Lem and Andrei Tarkovsky fans rejoice! The 70s science fiction adaptation, Solaris is finally coming to high-def from the Criterion Collection and we've got art and features for ya.
Synopsis:
Ground control has been receiving strange transmissions from the remaining residents of the Solaris space station. When cosmonaut and psychologist Kris Kelvin is sent to investigate, he experiences the strange phenomena that afflict the Solaris crew, sending him on a voyage into the darkest recesses of his own consciousness. In Solaris, the legendary Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky gives us a brilliantly original science-fiction epic that challenges our conceptions about love, truth, and humanity itself.
Now if only we could get Stalker on Blu-ray... you listening Criterion?
Disc Features
* High-definition digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
* Audio essay by Andrei Tarkovsky scholars Vida Johnson and Graham Petrie, coauthors of The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky: A Visual...
Synopsis:
Ground control has been receiving strange transmissions from the remaining residents of the Solaris space station. When cosmonaut and psychologist Kris Kelvin is sent to investigate, he experiences the strange phenomena that afflict the Solaris crew, sending him on a voyage into the darkest recesses of his own consciousness. In Solaris, the legendary Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky gives us a brilliantly original science-fiction epic that challenges our conceptions about love, truth, and humanity itself.
Now if only we could get Stalker on Blu-ray... you listening Criterion?
Disc Features
* High-definition digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
* Audio essay by Andrei Tarkovsky scholars Vida Johnson and Graham Petrie, coauthors of The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky: A Visual...
- 2/14/2011
- QuietEarth.us
Andrei Tarkovsky, 1972
Andrei Tarkovsky started work on an adaptation of Stanisław Lem's philosophical science-fiction novel in 1968 in an attempt to find a popular cinematic subject. After the usual labyrinthine negotations with the Soviet authorities over the script, what emerged was a space film unlike anything before or since.
Lem's novel posited the existence of solaristics; the study of an outlying star system that had bizarre effects on human psychology. Tarkovsky took this idea, and turned it into a dreamlike interrogation of faith, memory and the transfiguring power of love.
Tarkovsky begins his version of the story with some of the most magically earthbound images ever filmed, as his protagonist, a psychologist called Kelvin (Donatas Banionis), contemplates his garden. He then embarks on a voyage to the space station circling Solaris, there to investigate the reports of eccentric behaviour of previous visitors. Kelvin undergoes an ordeal by memory, as Solaris'...
Andrei Tarkovsky started work on an adaptation of Stanisław Lem's philosophical science-fiction novel in 1968 in an attempt to find a popular cinematic subject. After the usual labyrinthine negotations with the Soviet authorities over the script, what emerged was a space film unlike anything before or since.
Lem's novel posited the existence of solaristics; the study of an outlying star system that had bizarre effects on human psychology. Tarkovsky took this idea, and turned it into a dreamlike interrogation of faith, memory and the transfiguring power of love.
Tarkovsky begins his version of the story with some of the most magically earthbound images ever filmed, as his protagonist, a psychologist called Kelvin (Donatas Banionis), contemplates his garden. He then embarks on a voyage to the space station circling Solaris, there to investigate the reports of eccentric behaviour of previous visitors. Kelvin undergoes an ordeal by memory, as Solaris'...
- 10/21/2010
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
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