January 26 & 27, 2013 |
← Previous | IAP 2013 schedule | Next → |
The 35th Annual Science Fiction Marathon
Admission is $8, and drops to $5 after Looper.The 2013 Marathon features four full-length films, one surprise hour-long feature, many short subjects, and a special selection of refreshments! Pizza pre-orders will be taken between WALL-E and Looper for pickup at midnight, and breakfast foods will be available after The Andromeda Strain. |
|
Rated G
format: 35mm |
WALL-E (2008)January 26, 2013 at 7:00 pm in 26-100Disney and Pixar join forces for this computer-animated tale about a wide-eyed robot who travels to the deepest reaches of outer space in search of a newfound friend. The year is 2700, and planet Earth has long been uninhabitable. For hundreds of years, WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) has been taking out the trash, and collecting precious knick-knacks in order to stave off the boredom of his dreary routine. Little does WALL-E realize that he has recently stumbled onto a secret that could save planet Earth, and once again make the ravaged planet safe for all humankind. When highly advanced search robot EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) makes friends with WALL-E and realizes the value of his remarkable discovery, she excitedly races back to let the humans know that there's hope for their home planet after all. But after centuries alone in space, WALL-E can't stand the thought of losing the only friend he's ever known, and eagerly follows her into the deepest reaches of space on the adventure of a lifetime. Along the way, the friendly trash-collecting robot who has always known what he was made for gradually begins to understand what he was meant for. Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton returns to the helm for this family-friendly sci-fi adventure featuring the voices of Fred Willard, Jeff Garlin, and Ben Burtt. [allmovie.com] No movie can be a downer that fills you with pure exhilaration. You leave WALL-E with a feeling of the rarest kind: that you've just enjoyed a close encounter with an enduring classic. |
Rated R
format: 35mm |
Looper (2012)January 26, 2013 at 9:30 pm in 26-100A hired gun from the future discovers that his greatest adversary is himself in this twisting sci-fi mindbender starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and directed by Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom). In the year 2047 time travel has yet to be invented. Thirty years later, however, it has. Though immediately outlawed, time-travel technology is quickly appropriated by the mob, and used to cleanly dispose of anyone deemed a threat. The process is simple: When the mob wants someone to disappear, they simply send them back to the year 2047, where an assassin known as a "looper" quickly carries out the hit, and disposes of the body. Joe Simmons (Gordon-Levitt) is one of the most respected loopers around. Each kill earns him a big payday, and he's got big plans to retire to France. Then, one day, as Joe patiently awaits the appearance of his next target near the edge of a remote corn field, he's shocked to come face-to-face with his future self (Bruce Willis). When the younger Joe hesitates, the older Joe makes a daring escape. Now, in order to avoid the wrath of his underworld boss (Jeff Daniels), young Joe must "close the loop" and kill his older counterpart. Meanwhile, the revelation that a powerful crime boss in the future has set the underworld ablaze pits the two Joes on a violent collision course, with the fate of a devoted mother (Emily Blunt) and her young son hanging in the balance. Paul Dano and Piper Perabo co-star. [allrovi.com] Call it the coolest, most complex sci-fi of 2012 and the best movie of its kind since "Inception." Pow! What a ride! |
|
unrated format: 16mm |
A Special Surprise! (1967)January 27, 2013 at 12:30 am in 26-100 |
Rated G
format: 35mm |
The Andromeda Strain (1971)January 27, 2013 at 1:30 am in 26-100A space-age disaster occurs when the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico foolishly retrieve and open an off-course satellite. Something the capsule picked up in outer space kills everyone in town within minutes. The military activates Project Wildfire, a vastly expensive secret desert lab built specifically to fight the danger of contamination from extraterrestrial organisms, and scrambles to assemble its top personnel. Dr. Jeremy Stone (Arthur Hill) and Dr. Mark Hall (James Olson) enter Piedmont in isolation suits, locate the capsule and discover that whatever it carries turns human blood into a fine dry powder very quickly. Even crazier, there are two unaffected survivors: a drunken old man, and a crying baby. Can Wildfire isolate and identify the alien organism, and concoct a medical defense against a contagion like nothing ever seen before? Based on the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton. [dvdtalk.com] Wise (and Crichton) concoct the most absorbing, riveting take on science fiction tempered with science fact. |
Rated PG
format: 35mm |
Galaxy Quest (1999)January 27, 2013 at 4:00 am in 26-100For four years, the crew of the NSEA Protector donned their uniforms and set off on thrilling and often dangerous missions in space--then their series was canceled. Twenty years later, the five stars of the classic '70s TV series Galaxy Quest are still in costume, making appearances at science fiction conventions for their legions of die-hard fans. But some of those fans are a little more far out than the actors could ever have imagined. A group of aliens who have mistaken intercepted television transmissions for "historical documents" arrive at a convention and whisk "Commander Peter Quincy Taggart" (Tim Allen) and his crew into space to help them in their all-too-real war against a deadly adversary. With no script, no director, and no clue about real interstellar travel, the make-believe crew of the Protector has to turn in the performances of their lives to become the heroes the aliens believe them to be. [rottentomatoes.com] A cleverly written spoof-adventure that more than rises to the occasion. Not only are the jokes dead-on, but the story and characters actually work as a decent sci-fi movie, complete with superior special effects, a grisly villain and even romance. |
Copyright © 1996-2024 MIT Lecture Series Committee
Subscribe