Do you know your friends? Do you know what's real? Do you know yourself?

Starring: Emily Baldoni, Maury Sterling, Nicholas Brendon, Lorene Scafaria, Elizabeth Gracen, Hugo Armstrong, Alex Manugian, Lauren Maher, Aqueela Zoll

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"This whole night we've been worrying... there's some dark version of us out there somewhere. What if we're the dark version?" - Mike

Why watch this? This indie gem is Sci-fi Mind-twister 101.

Plot Summary: A group of friends at a dinner party experience strange phenomena, including a power outage, during the passing of a comet. They soon discover that the comet has created an anomaly, causing multiple parallel realities to overlap and intersect with their own, leading to interactions with doppelgängers who have made slightly different life choices. As paranoia and tension escalate, the protagonist, Emily, realizes she is in a "wrong" reality.

Bellanova Films, Ugly Duckling Films;
Oscilloscope Laboratories

Oceans rise. Cities fall. Hope survives.

Starring: Robert Duvall, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood, Robert Duvall, Venessa Redgrave, Morgan Freeman, Maximillian Schell, Rya Kihlstedt, James Cromwell, Jon Favreau

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"Well, look on the bright side. We'll all have high schools named after us." - Astronaut Andrea Baker

Why watch this? This rich film has heart, even in the midst of an epic disaster.

Plot Summary: This science fiction disaster film centers on humanity's response to the discovery of a massive comet on a collision course with Earth. A team of astronauts embarks on a desperate mission to attempt to destroy the comet, while on Earth, individuals and governments grapple with the implications of a potential extinction-level event.

DreamWorks Pict, Amblin Ent., The Manhattan
Project, Zanuck/Brown Prod.; Paramount Pics

1984 (aka Nineteen Eighty-Four, 1984), Director: Michael Radford, rated R for nudity, torture, disturbing scenes

George Orwell's Terrifying Vision Comes To The Screen.

Starring: John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, Cyril Cusack, Gregor Fisher, James Walker, Andrew Wilde, Merelina Kendall, John Boswall, Phyllis Logan (voice only)

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"Obedience is not enough. Power is inflicting pain and humiliation. Otherwise, you cannot be sure. Power is tearing human minds apart and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing." - O'Brien as he tortures Winston

Why watch this? George Orwell's future-vision is a cautionary tale for us all.

Plot Summary: Winston Smith, a low-level government worker living in the totalitarian super-state of Oceania, struggles with his desire for individuality and truth in a world where an omnipresent Party, led by Big Brother, tightly controls information and history. He embarks on a dangerous, forbidden love affair with a woman named Julia, and together they seek to join a secretive resistance movement known as the Brotherhood. Their efforts to rebel against the relentless surveillance and psychological manipulation of the state test the limits of their loyalty and freedom.
 

Dad's Preview: This visceral onslaught is a beautifully bleak tale of a possible future for Earth. Its central themes are extreme propaganda and forced mind-control. Society's worker bees are subjected to constant vocal news feeds and stark visual imagery, all discredit the lies told by a man named Goldstein. The state's goal is to shift focus away from each person's self and toward the prosperity of the collective... the machine. I feel this film channels a future had Germany won World War II. You also can't watch this and not see parallels to today, where a government's sole focus is its own existence. People are merely grease for the cogs of the machine's endless hunger to oppress and subjugate the lowly. I loved the performances by Hurt, Hamilton and Burton, as well as the haunting Eurythmics' soundtrack.

Umbrella-Rosenblum Films; Virgin Films

Fascinating Adventure Into The Unknown!

Starring: Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton, Raymond Bailey, William Schallert, Frank J. Scannell, Diana Darrin, Billy Curtis

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"In my hunt for food I had become the hunted. This time I survived, but I was no longer alone in my universe. I had an enemy, the most terrifying ever beheld by human eyes." – Scott Carey

Why watch this? This classic sci-fi horror film is an amazing watch, still today.

Plot Summary: Scott Carey is exposed to a strange mist and subsequently begins to shrink in size. As he becomes smaller, everyday objects become menacing, and he must adapt to a world where his own home poses incredible dangers.
 

Dad's Preview: The concept is thought-provoking to say the least. The protagonist starts to shrink. First, his wedding band falls off. Next, he's shorter than his wife. He eventually becomes so small, people can no longer see him. The genius in this story is that it doesn't have the patented ending we'd expect. It also makes a larger statement about the significance of man, and mankind, on this planet.

Universal-International Pictures Col, Inc;
Universal Pictures

250,000 miles from home, the hardest thing to face... is yourself.

Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey (voice), Dominique McElligott, Kaya Scodelario, Benedict Wong, Adrienne Shaw, Matt Berry, Malcolm Stewart

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"I'm here to keep you safe, Sam. I want to help you." – GERTY

Why watch this? This film starts out one way, then twists around into something totally new.

Plot Summary: Sam Bell is a lonely astronaut who is nearing the end of his three-year contract working on a lunar mining base. He longs to return to Earth to see his wife and daughter, but as the time for his departure approaches, he begins experiencing strange hallucinations. After a lunar rover accident, Sam awakens to find unsettling truths about his mission and his own identity.

Liberty Films, Xingu Films, Limelight;
Sony Pictures Classics, Stage 6 Films

A Fairy Tale for Troubled Times

Starring: Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, Nick Searcy, Nigel Bennett

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"When he looks at me, the way he looks at me... He does not know, what I lack... Or - how - I am incomplete. He sees me, for what I - am, as I am. He's happy - to see me. Every time. Every day. Now, I can either save him... or let him die" - Giles, interpreting Elisa

Why watch this? It's strange, haunting and a work of extraordinary beauty.

Plot Summary: In 1962 Baltimore, Elisa, a mute cleaning lady working at a high-security government laboratory, leads a lonely, isolated life. Her existence changes forever when she discovers a mysterious, captured humanoid amphibian creature and forms a deep, unique bond with him. To save him from a sadistic colonel, Elisa teams up with her friends to plan a daring escape and set him free.

Double Dare You Prod.; Fox Searchlight Pics

Everything Is Connected

Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Doona Bae, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon, Keith David, James D'Arcy, David Gyasi

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"Our lives and our choices, like quantum trajectories, are understood moment to moment. At each point of intersection, each encounter suggests a new potential direction." - Isaac Sachs

Why watch this? This is a fantastic exploration of life - past, present and future, all connected - and how choices matter.

Plot Summary: This ambitious, time-spanning tale is crammed to the brim with filmdom's top talent, cutting-edge effects and race-altering make-up. Strap on your cranial seatbelts to explore six storylines, some in the past, some in possible futures. Most actors recur in each of the stories and reincarnation is apparent. Most characters, at their core, either evil or good, however, the main characters (Hanks, Berry and Broadbent) are on a journey, progressing. They begin as unlikable beings, displaying cowardice, callousness, even homicidal tendencies. But their paths, over the eras, are heading to a cosmic redemption, based on their growth, love and choices made. Is this not what we all face in real life?

Cloud Atlas Prod., X Filme Creative Pool,
Anarchos Productions; Warner Bros.

The Man Who Made A Monster

Starring: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles, Boris Karloff, Dwight Frye, Edward van Sloan, Frederick Kerr, Lionel Belmore

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"You have created a monster, and it will destroy you!" - Dr. Waldman

Why watch this? It is a landmark in horror cinema history.

Plot Summary: Dr. Henry Frankenstein, obsessed with creating life, pieces together a human body from various sources and successfully brings it to life through electricity. However, the creature, despite its initial innocence, faces fear and rejection from society, leading to tragic consequences. The film explores themes of ambition, the dangers of unchecked scientific advancement, and the impact of isolation and prejudice on both the creator and his creation.

Carl Laemmle Jr.; Universal Pictures

What would you do if you were accused of a murder, you had not committed... yet?

Starring: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow, Neal McDonough, Peter Stormare

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"Don't trust anyone. Just find the Minority Report." – Dr. Iris Henimen

Why watch this? This futuristic thriller is one of Spielberg's many masterpieces.

Plot Summary: In a future where a specialized police unit called PreCrime stops murderers before they can act, Chief John Anderton believes the system is flawless. However, one day he receives a prediction that he himself will commit a murder, leading him to question the system's infallibility. Now a fugitive from the very unit he led, Anderton must try to prove his innocence and uncover a possible conspiracy that could be behind his predicted crime.
 

Dad's Preview: Early on, Tom Cruise was just too cocky for me. This film made me an true fan. Set in a future, utopian Earth, the plot centers on a crime agency that arrests people for future crimes. The dreams of three telepathic triplets (kept in medically-induced comas), called "Pre-Cogs", are recorded and analyzed to predict future murders. The plot is uber-creative and Spielberg makes is exciting. Cruise's character is flawed and complex. It's engaging, fast-paced and full of surprises.

DreamWorks Pics, Amblin Entertainment,
Blue Tulip Prod.; 20th Century Fox

The original nightmare that threatened the world

Starring: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates, King Donovan, Carolyn Jones

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"There's no emotion. None. Just the pretense of it. The words, the gesture, the tone of voice, everything else is the same, but not the feeling." - Wilma Lentz

Why watch this? It's truly terrifying to learn that the human race is being replaced.

Plot Summary: In a small town, a doctor notices a peculiar phenomenon: his patients believe their loved ones are impostors. What initially seems like mass hysteria soon reveals itself to be a sinister alien invasion where humans are replaced by emotionless duplicates grown from pods. As the truth unfolds, the doctor must desperately try to warn others before he too falls victim to the silent takeover.

Walter Wanger Prod.; Allied Artists Pictures

M-G-M Takes You On An Amazing Adventure Into Outer Space...

Starring: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, Richard Anderson, Earl Holliman, Marvin Miller

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"Guilty! Guilty! My evil self is at that door, and I have no power to stop it!" – Dr. Morbius

Why watch this? It really is a great all-around sci-fi film; certainly for 1956.

Plot Summary: A 23rd-century starship crew travels to a distant planet, Altair IV, to investigate a colony that has gone silent. They discover two survivors, Dr. Morbius and his daughter Altaira, along with a powerful robot named Robbie. The crew soon encounters a mysterious and deadly invisible force threatening everyone on the planet, prompting Commander Adams to investigate Morbius and the secrets surrounding a lost civilization that once inhabited Altair IV.

Nicholas Nayfak; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

No children. No future. No hope.

Starring: Clive Owen, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Pam Ferris, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, Peter Mullan, Danny Huston

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. Very odd, what happens in a world without children's voices." - Miriam

Why watch this?  This film shows us a future you might not want to see, but rather need to see.

Plot Summary: The story is set in dystopian 2027, twenty years since the last baby was born due to a mysterious infertility in women. This has led to war, global chaos, and a general sense of dread. England remains an isolated country still holding onto some form of government. It is now a police state, rounding up refugees, deporting them, or worse. Theo Faron, a former activist, is forcibly taken by a group of militants, called the Fishes, led by his ex-wife Julian. They want him to use his connections to acquire transit papers for a young girl named Kee. Theo quickly becomes the only chance Kee has to get her out of a crumbling country.

Strike Ent., Hit and Run Productions,
Toho-Towa; Universal Pictures

A Fantastic And Spectacular Voyage... Through The Human Body... Into The Brain.

Starring: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O’Brien, Donald Pleasence, Arthur O'Connell, William Redfield

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"The medieval philosophers were right. Man is the center of the universe. We stand in the middle of infinity between outer and inner space, and there's no limit to either." – Dr. Peter Duval

Why watch this? The special effects... and its creative plot.

Plot Summary: When a defecting scientist falls into a coma due to a brain clot, a team of specialists embarks on a mission to save him. A submarine carrying the team and their specialized equipment is miniaturized and injected into the scientist's bloodstream. They must navigate the complexities of the human body and perform delicate surgery to remove the clot within a limited time before returning to their normal size.

Saul David; 20th Century Fox

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Director: Stanley Kubrick, rated G

An epic drama of adventure and exploration

Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter, Margaret Tyzack, Robert Beatty, Sean Sullivan, Douglas Rain (voice)

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"Open the pod bay doors, HAL." - Dave Bowman

Why watch this? This slick, conceptual science fiction film influenced the genre and films that followed.

Plot Summary: Following the discovery of a mysterious monolith that influenced prehistoric human evolution, a similar artifact is uncovered on the Moon, emitting a powerful signal aimed toward Jupiter. A crew of astronauts, led by David Bowman and aided by the advanced AI computer HAL 9000, is sent to investigate this alien signal on the spacecraft Discovery One. As HAL begins to malfunction and endanger the crew, Bowman must confront the computer and ultimately face a surreal journey into deepest space.

Stanley Kubrick; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

You can erase someone from your mind. Getting them out of your heart is another story.

Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Tom Wilkinson, Jane Adams, David Cross, Deirdre O'Connell, Thomas Jay Ryan

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

DML Top 50 #7 - Dad's Full (Spoiler) Review and Deep Dive of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

"Meet me in Montauk..." – Clementine

Why watch this? It's the polar opposite of a RomCom, and the greatest movie about real love I have ever seen.

Plot Summary: Joel discovers his former girlfriend, Clementine, has had their relationship erased from her memory following a breakup. Out of despair, Joel decides to undergo the same procedure to erase Clementine from his own mind. However, as his memories are systematically removed, Joel begins to realize the importance of those experiences, even the painful ones. He attempts to resist the erasure process and hold onto the memories of Clementine, leading to a surreal and fragmented journey through his subconscious.

Anonymous Content, This is that;
Focus Features

Watch out! They get you while you're sleeping!

Starring: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"I keep seeing these people, all recognizing each other. Something is passing between them all, some secret. It's a conspiracy, I know it." – Elizabeth Driscoll

Why watch this? The original 1956 film was creepy. This remake is downright terrifying.

Plot Summary: A San Francisco health inspector, Matthew Bennell, and his colleague Elizabeth Driscoll discover that residents are slowly being replaced by alien duplicates. These duplicates appear identical to the humans they replace but are devoid of emotion and empathy. As the alien takeover spreads throughout the city, Bennell and Driscoll, along with two friends, must attempt to survive and warn others of the impending global invasion.

Solofilm; United Artists

She breathes, sees, hears, walks -- but can she love?

Starring: Boris Karloff, Elsa Manchester, Colin Clive, Ernest Thesiger, Valerie Hobson, Gavin Gordon, Douglas Walton, E. E. Clive

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"Yes, I know. Made me from dead. I love dead... hate living." - The Monster

Why watch this? This Universal monster film dared to have a sense of humor. Bravo!

Plot Summary: This sequel Frankenstein (1931) follows Dr. Henry Frankenstein as he attempts to abandon his life-creating experiments. However, he is pressured by his eccentric mentor, Dr. Pretorius, and threatened by his creation, the Monster, into constructing a female companion for the Monster. Frankenstein eventually agrees and embarks on the task of creating the Bride, facing the consequences of his ambition and the Monster's desire for companionship.

Carl Laemmle Jr.; Universal Pictures

Hunted... haunted... wanted... like beasts of prey!

Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, James Daly, Linda Harrison, Lou Wagner, Woodrow Parfrey

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

DML Top 50 #9 - Dad's Full (Spoiler) Review and Deep Dive of Planet of the Apes

"Man is a nuisance. He eats up his food supply in the forest, then migrates to our green belts and ravages our crops. The sooner he is exterminated, the better." – Doctor Zaius

Why watch this? ... it's compelling through-out, but the last scene makes it a legend.

Plot Summary: An astronaut crew crash-lands on a mysterious planet in the distant future, where they discover a highly evolved society of apes has become the dominant species, enslaving primitive humans. As the lone surviving spaceman navigates this new world and seeks to prove his intelligence to his captors, he uncovers the shocking truth about the planet's identity and past.

APJAC Productions; 20th Century Fox

Words can't describe it!  "Metropolis" must be seen!

Starring: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Fritz Rasp, Theodor Loos, Erwin Biswanger, Heinrich George, Heinrich Gotho, Fritz Alberti, Grete Berger

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"Your magnificent city, Father - and you the brain of this city - and all of us in the city's light... and where are the people, father, whose hands built your city...?" - Freder to his father Jon

Why watch this? This masterpiece is ground-zero for sci-fi influence in films.

Plot Summary: This is a morality tale set in a futuristic city dystopia where the wealthy rule and abide in shining skyscrapers above, while the workers live below in concrete squalor. The city's creator and administrator is the cold Jon Fredersen. His privileged, good-hearted son, Freder, by chance, encounters Maria, a saintly woman caring for the underworld's children. This inspires Freder to learn the truth about the oppressed workers, who slave away, operating massive computers, themselves becoming cogs in the brutal machinery. Jon becomes frustrated that the workers are planning to rebel, so he enlists the city's inventor, Rotwang, to covert a female robot into the likeness of Maria, to quell the upstart insurrection.

UFA; Parufamet

He is afraid. He is alone. He is three million light years from home.

Starring: Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, K. C. Martel, Sean Frye, C. Thomas Howell

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"He needs to go home; he's calling his people. And I don't know where they are, but he needs to go home." - Elliott

Why watch this? This is the OG 80's sci-fi movie that created the Stranger Things vibe.

Plot Summary: After an alien is accidentally left behind on Earth, he is discovered by a young boy named Elliott. From the beginning, the two of them share a deep bond. Elliott, along with his siblings, endeavors to keep the alien, whom they dub E.T., a secret from their mother and a determined group of government agents seeking to study the over-worldly being.

Amblin Productions; Universal Pictures

A chilling, bold, mesmerizing, futuristic detective thriller.

Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, M. Emmett Walsh, Daryl Hannah, William Sanderson, Brion James

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"I need ya, Deck. This is a bad one, the worst yet. I need the old blade runner, I need your magic." - Bryant

Why watch this? It's haunting, brooding and dark... and a mesmerizing sci-fi classic.

Plot Summary: In a dystopian future Los Angeles, a burnt-out detective (aka: a "blade runner"), Rick Deckard, is tasked with hunting down and "retiring" a group of advanced androids called replicants, who have escaped from off-world colonies. These replicants seek to find their creator and extend their limited life-spans, while the blade runner wrestles with the complex morality of his job and his growing connection to a beautiful replicant who believes she is human.

The Ladd Co., Shaw Brothers; Warner Bros.