Awesome Science Fiction

It’s not the live-action sequel we’ve been hoping for, but this CGI animated feature has plenty of cheesy dialogue, Casper Van Diem, and way more bugs than Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 original. It’s in theaters for a one-night-only showing on 8/21, then hits digital and Blu-ray.

It’s rare that we’re this excited for a sequel, but with Denis Villeneuve directing, Roger Deakins behind the lens, and original screenwriter Hampton Fancher, all under the watchful eye of Ridley Scott, it’s got every chance of being great. Please let it be as good as it looks.

“The human way is violence and death.” Like other excellent examples of fantasy and science fiction, the Planet of the Apes movies urge us to look inward. ScreenPrism points out how the franchise’s movies served as signs of their times.

(PG-13, Gore) Neill Blomkamp’s Oats Studios is back with more outstanding nightmare fuel. Dakota Fanning stars in a story about a Arctic mining colony terrorized by an experiment gone wrong – an assimilating monster that makes the Borg look like Care Bears.

(PG-13: Language) Javier Chillon tense science fiction short film takes place aboard a spaceship packed with human cargo in cryogenic stasis. The ship’s skeleton crew decides to wake a critical team member when the ship’s engines malfunction, and a terrible truth is revealed.

(PG-13: Language/Gore) Animator Sam Barnett follows up his 2013 stop-motion short with another incredible episode about an evil corporation that enslaves and controls its workers with creepy biomechanical parasites. Help fund episode 3 over on Kickstarter.

Simon Stålenhag is back with more retro sci-fi paintings. Set in an alternate ’90s US and centered on a young girl traveling with her robot, The Electric State is a 120-page art book with a supplementary narrative written by Simon as well. More on his site.

Geek kings Penny-Arcade adapted their side webcomic Automata into a episodic series. It’s a sci-fi noir set in an alternate reality 1930’s United States, where advanced robots used to be made. The series is about one such being, a detective, and his partner.

A spectacularly fun book for any Star Wars fan, graphic designer Tim Leong’s lighthearted paperback is packed with infographics, facts, and figures from what each lightsaber color means, to the heights of popular characters, to the Jedi High Council seating chart.

“I refuse to answer a literal call to adventure, Morty. Let it go to voicemail.” The new season brings us Pickle Rick, Morty’s giant arm, some creepy dude smashing heads with a giant piano, and gooey mutants galore in “the darkest year” of their adventures. Episodes kick off 7/30/17.

(Gore, PG-13: Language) The latest short film from director Neill Blomkamp’s Oats Studios is set in an alternate past, in which the CIA and a soldier are trying to hunt down a powerful being called the river god in the midst of the Vietnam War. What a thrill ride.

This featurette for Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 features interviews with the cast and crew about creating a new universe while being faithful to Ridley Scott’s original vision, while also giving us a peak at some of the film’s fantastic scenery and cinematography.

(SPOILERS) “Using an exploration of where we might be, to explore where it seems like we’re heading, in order to reveal exactly where we are.” CineFix compiles their favorite sci-fi films. They chose lots of obvious classics, but they also tipped their hat to many modern films.

(Gore) Sigourney Weaver stars in the first short film from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp’s Oats Studios. Set in 2020, Rakka presents the invasion of Earth by a brutal alien race through different perspectives. You can support Oats by buying their films’ assets on Steam.

Adam Westbrook’s ongoing web series is a faux documentary based on a sci-fi staple called Encyclopedia Galactica. In particular, Parallax. focuses on an advanced extraterrestrial civilization’s analysis of life on Earth. We hope Netflix picks this up.

Science fiction movies, books, and TV shows have certain consistent elements, like humanoid aliens, spaceships, and radio-based communications. Aeon Video reminds us that the reason for this is that extraterrestrials in fiction are often just reflections of ourselves.