1950s

Update: Sci-fi about the social ramifications of overpopulation, a call for suggestions

/ Joachim Boaz / 9 Comments

    

I need reading suggestions.

After reading John Brunner’s Hugo winning masterpiece Stand on Zanzibar (1968) a few years back I became entranced by science fiction exploring social themes (intelligently) extrapolated from a future Earth condition of extreme overpopulation.  In the recent months I’ve read and reviewed a glut of similarly themed works of uneven quality.  Many of these works were inspired by Paul and Anne Ehrlich’s non-fiction The Population Bomb (1968) which warned of the mass starvation of humans in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of overpopulation. Continue reading →

Update: Recent Science Fiction Acquisitions N. III

/ Joachim Boaz / 2 Comments

1. The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard, J. G. Ballard (2009)

My girlfriend gave me this MASSIVE (1196 pages) newly released volume of all of Ballard’s short stories  (arranged in chronological order) for my birthday.  I’m extremely excited because I enjoyed my first Ballard work, High-Rise (1975).  Does anyone have a particular story which I should start with? Continue reading →

A Film Rumination: Sidney Lumet (June 25, 1924-April 9, 2011) and mini-reviews of the films of his I’ve seen

/ Joachim Boaz / 17 Comments

The great American director Sidney Lumet (1924-2011) passed away today and in honor of his long and productive  career (albeit with brief lulls of average work) here are a few mini-reviews of the films of his I’ve seen in order of preference. I’ve not seen many of his acknowledged masterpieces including Serpico, The Hill, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, The Pawnbroker, etc.

1. Network (1976)

9.5/10 (Masterpiece)

Network (1976) is by far my favorite Sidney Lumet film Continue reading →

A Film Rumination: The Monolith Monsters, John Sherwood (1957)

/ Joachim Boaz / 20 Comments


7/10 (Good)

John Sherwood’s The Monolith Monsters (1957) is by far one of my favorite  B sci-fi (ish) monster movies!  I’m being very generous with rating but, this is a hilariously average (but wonderful) romp with one of the more peculiar “monsters” matched up with some of the best 50s special effects I’ve seen.  The Monolith Monsters is without doubt one of the more interesting films of the 1950s American Realist Science Fiction movement Continue reading →

A Film (documentary) Rumination: The Atomic Cafe, Jayne Loader, Kevin Rafferty (1982)

/ Joachim Boaz / 4 Comments

8/10 (Very Good)

Atomic Cafe (1982) is a scathing documentary on the atomic age created from archival film from the 40s-early 60s.  The scope of the material is extensive: military training films (often the most morbidly hilarious and poorly acted of the bunch), television news, various other government-produced propaganda films Continue reading →