Late one night, while cursing my inability to get to sleep and hopelessly roaming the interwebs, I ran across Rotten Tomatoes’ list of the top 100 sci-fi movies. Sitting alone in the dark at 3 in the morning suddenly seemed like a lot more fun. The list was great! Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure snuggled up irreverently with Bladerunner and Star Wars. And defining classics like Metropolis were not left out in the cold. And so, in the dark of night, in the stillness that creeps over the world at witching hour, in the chill blackness that freezes a man’s soul… oh, forgot where I was going for a sec. Ah yes, and so, I had an idea of Greatness.

I convinced Tony, with one of my many phrases that start with, “so, I had this idea…”, that it would be great to see all 100 movies. Tony was in the spirit of things and we decided to throw a party once a month to watch them, starting with number 100. Thus SCI-FI 100 was born!

We don’t let a little thing, like the fact that it’ll take over 8 years to watch all of these movies at a rate of 1 a month, stop us. We’re not easily intimidated! Last night was our inaugural movie, Escape From Planet of the Apes. And to add a little festiveness, we watched it outside, in our backyard with a projector against a carport. It turned out beautifully. Laying outside on blankets and fluffy pillows is definitely the way movies were meant to be watched.

I won’t say anything about the art of storytelling here. Campy 70’s music, crazed gorillas, and a monkey shopping spree in Beverly Hills definitely made this movie a good watch. But it was much more of a laugh than anything of substance. But that is what makes the sci-fi genre great.

So thanks to all who made the first SCI-FI 100 happen! I can’t wait for the next one. And the next. And the next.

Posted in Nifty happenings

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