GUEST POST: Top 5 Underrated Sci-Fi Movies You Need to See Now

I love a good Sci-Fi film, If you're stuck as to which one to watch next then have no fear as guest blogger, Cassie, is here to help with her list of the top 5 underrated Sci-Fi ready to stream now. I hope you enjoy this great post.

Cassie is a blogger and writer who focuses mainly on technology and entertainment. She is a huge Sci-Fi and film fan and hopes that these recommendations will bring some deeper thought and excitement into your life. You can find more of her writing on Secure Thoughts or Culture Coverage. She's also on Twitter: @Cassie_Culture.

Whether we know it or not, science fiction has been the primary influence of most genre films and modern filmmaking. They make up most of our blockbusters, and we are now more than ever able to make our grand dreams reality through the use of computer effects and expert filmmaking.

Some sci-fi films slip through the cracks or are poorly marketed. This does not diminish their quality. Fortunately, however, you can now easily access most movies through streaming websites of one sort or another. There are so many films to get lost in that it’s nearly impossible to know what to watch from a glance.

Here are some movies that you'll want to check out on a rainy day when you want to see some unfamiliar worlds and ideas:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

If you haven’t heard of this movie, then your expectations of Jim Carrey will not be met. In probably his best role, he plays a man who had his mind erased after a relationship turned out poorly and discovers that the woman had the relationship erased from her mind first. The script is from Charlie Kaufman, whose work is some of the best in the film industry in general and who won an Academy Award for this film. This movie simply doesn't get the attention it deserves.

This is a profoundly intellectual movie, and as a film about the corners of the mind, it is about the standard science fiction fare you would expect. Expect to spend some time thinking about the movie long after you've finished watching it. You probably won't look at relationships and memories the same.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

This is not a new film (the one I'm talking about came out in 1951), but it's readily available on streaming websites, still relevant today and yet still contains the charms of a film that came out over 60 years ago. It is likely you’ve heard the plot (or some variation of it) before, in which an alien lands and tells humanity they must be peaceful or be destroyed by other alien races. It speaks to humanity on a grand scale and takes a high-minded approach to the world’s problems.

While the effects and visuals might be hard to bear for some (the movie shows its age at points), one of the main draws of science fiction are the ideas contained within the work. The ideas are the reason this movie has stood the test of time.

Ex Machina

Ex Machina is one of my favorite films of last year, and it just simply gets the release and hype it deserved. It follows a programmer who wins a contest to spend a weekend at the private estate of his company's brilliant CEO. It turns out the true purpose of the weekend is to test the consciousness of a robot the CEO has been working on. A movie small in scope and large in concept, it tackles the divide between machine and man as well as some of the current debates regarding artificial intelligence today.

An extremely philosophical film, people will either love or hate the third act of the movie based on their expectations. That doesn't stop Oscar Isaac from standing out as tech CEO and genius Nathan Bateman. Alicia Vikander also is amazing as Ava, bringing an almost otherworldly presence to the character. Watching it now will be the best part of your day.

Under the Skin

Under the Skin is a film that will mess with your head and a movie some people won't like. You need to see it for yourself, as you simply can’t call it a standard science fiction film. Scarlett Johansson plays an extraterrestrial “woman” who lures men into fatal situations, and it's hard to decide whether the movie feels real or not.

Johansson is amazing in this role, and you can't help but feel intentionally uncomfortable with her character. You aren't certain of her intentions. You don't know what she wants. There are dozens of theories as to how her character and the film, in general, represent women in our culture (I'll leave it to you to create your own theory). The film tries to trick you. It tries to horrify you and then dares you to understand it. You absolutely need to watch this film.

Serenity

If you've intended to watch Joss Whedon’s masterpiece Firefly, you should probably skip this one for now and go watch the series. If you've already seen it, then you absolutely need to find this movie on your favorite streaming service and watch it. 

In many ways, it picks up right after the series left off, but it still manages to contain a story for people who are watching with you who might not be too interested in the series. The fact that Whedon gets a feature film budget to work with means we get some stunning action sequences within this already excellent universe.

There we have it, enough films for a great day’s worth of streaming. While you might prioritize some over others, know that you’ll most likely appreciate these films more than the numbers give them credit for.

Are there any other science fiction films that you think deserve a watch or are underrated? Have there been any films you watched recently that you think are awesome and want to share with your fellow readers? If so, please leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading!

Steve Jobs

It's been a while...

So recently I was able to take time from my busy schedule and go see a film I have been wanting to see for a long time; Steve Jobs. Now I don't have a fascination with the man himself but instead it was the talent behind his biopic that had me intrigued. First we have the amazing writer, Aaron Sorkin who wrote The Social Network and most recently TV series, The Newsroom. Secondly the director, Danny Boyle who is best known for Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire. Fianlly it was the star of the show, Michael Fassbender who is one of my favourite actors, you probably know him most from the latest X-Men films where he played Magneto. If you're reading this blog it probably means you are a film fan and therefore, know why this is a big deal but if not, just know that these three guys are at the top of their league and so this collaboration between them is pretty darn huge and awesome.

The film is not your standard biopic. Instead Sorkin and Boyle decided to go for something different and allow the film to be made from three separate scenes, each the 20-40 minutes before a product launch spanned over twenty years or so. It's a brilliant creative decision that makes this film about Steve Jobs stand out above other biopics and the films about the man that have been done before and likely will be made in the future. It does mean that only certain aspects of Steve's life are brought into the film and explored, not that I am too fussed a lot of people know about his life and I was happy to see the film streamline this down to focus on a few key relationships.

Fassbender is great as Jobs, you can tell he really got into the character and portrays him in a way that is kind of tough but deep down you can feel something for the guy. He's a difficult character to like but I believe Fassbender finds a way to show some humanity beneath the hard shell of a man. The cast around Fassbender are also great, highlights include Kate Winslet (her performance great, however her accent does get strangely stronger after the first time jump...), Seth Rogen (absolutely great at doing a serious role as well as having perfect comedy timing), Jeff Daniels, Michael Stuhlbarg and Katherine Waterstone. Sorkin's fast paced and witty dialogue all sounded great coming out of their mouths.

Due to scenario of the scenes and the amount of story the film wants to portray, some of the scenes come across quite theatrical but not in a bad way. A lot of the film is set in the San Fransisco Opera House and the score can be quite operatic, if anything the theatrical and operatic qualities going on in the background heighten the visuals and give the audience a sense of tension and care that may not usually have for the politics of computing.

The downside to the artistic structure of the film is familiarity, the structure of each act of the film is relatively the same and you know that Steve Jobs is going to have an updated argument with each of the characters we met in the first act, it's not always a bad thing but some of the scenes can drag when you're not as invested in certain storylines compared to others.

Overall though, this film is great, For me it doesn't quite reach the enjoyment I got from watching The Social Network but it is no way a bad film. The lengths the filmmakers have gone to make something different really pay off and we have something quite unique on our hands here with Steve Jobs, and although it may not always portray him as a decent person, I imagine that if he were here today he would be happy with it. I am giving Steve Jobs a rating of 4/5.

Thanks for reading!