RSNO Sci-Fi Spectacular - Live Review

Tonight the Filibuster team from The Nerd Party were invited to the Usher Hall for the Royal Scottish National Orchestra's Sci-Fi Spectacular show celebrating some of the greatest and most iconic music cues from science fiction cinema.
For the last four years, the RSNO have performed at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, providing live scores to cinematic classics such as Back To The Future, E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Jaws.
These events are always hugely popular and the Sci-Fi Spectacular was no different with a packed audience eager to hear the tunes from their favourite films and it always seems like the orchestra are having as much fun playing them as the audience do listening to them.
If you noticed a theme with the film choices for the live score events, it would be no surprise to learn that the first half of the show was dedicated to the music of John Williams and the Star Wars saga (prequels and originals).
From the Opening Titles of A New Hope (including Fox fanfare) through Across The Stars to Princess Leia's theme, Williams's contribution to the success of the saga is undeniable with the images and soundtrack unseparable in the mind.
In fact, based on tonight's concert, you would be forgiven for thinking that Williams soundtracked the entire genre as the second half also included his suites for Close Encounters Of Third Kind and E.T.
Yet other composers did make an appearance, from James Horner's work on Avatar to Michael Giacchino boldly going where one man had gone before with his rousing reinvention of the Star Trek theme to Jerry Goldsmith's work on Alien.
But there was time for the RSNO to take us back to a galaxy far, far away for an encore of the Imperial March.
Now that's value for money. A trip through the galaxy and time and space and you don't even have to leave your theatre seat.


The RSNO presents Sci-Fi Spectacular plays Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Saturday 26th January, 3.00pm & 7.30pm. For more details visit rsno.org.uk/film. 

Listeners of The Nerd Party can get a 20% discount on tickets for the show by using the code JEDI20.

Extinction - Netflix Originals Review

Extinction is the latest Netflix Originals film to hit the small-to-medium sized screens around the world and of the science fiction films to land on the streaming platform this year (Annihilation, Mute, The Cloverfield Paradox), it certainly feels the most generic and formulaic to begin with.
The ever-dependable Michael Pena plays Peter, a husband and a father, who is plagued by recurring nightmares of an alien invasion. As the frequency of the dreams increases, it causes him to drift further and further from his family.
Persuaded by his friend to visit a clinic to talk about his issues, he meets another patient having the same dreams and convinced of a conspiracy to wipe them of their memories. Is there something larger at work here?
Just when suspicions of a Body Snatchers-style situation are raised, Peter is unsurprisingly proved correct in his visions as aliens invade Earth in a huge action set piece that sees Pena try to escape their apartment building with his daughters and wife played by Lizzy Caplan (no stranger to alien invasion having appeared in Cloverfield and the Marvel One Shot set after the Invasion of New York).
The scope of the action scenes indicate that it was directed for the big screen but ultimately the budget and CGI make it feel more like a straight-to-DVD sci-fi film from the late Nineties.
It is a shame that the movie feels so carbon copy to others that have come before because with a format like Netflix, there is that danger that they could easily switch over to watch something else.
And in doing so, they would potentially miss out on dramatic plot developments in the second and third acts that flip everything on its head and make you question everything that you have seen before.
It is a fascinating twist that succeeds in temporarily elevating the film above its genre roots into something more profound.
While it is certainly no Annihilation, the twist should give Extinction a chance of not dying out on Netflix in the immediate future.

2 stars

Under The Skin - review

Warning, this review discusses some scenes that contain minor spoilers so it is best read with prior knowledge of the film.

The Urban Dictionary definitions for the phrase "under the skin" are as follows:

1. when you meet someone and you're drawn to them. you can't stop thinking about them even when you don't know them. something about them just sparks something down deep. your imagination starts to run wild and you're physically and emotionally altered. they fascinate you

2. someone really pisses you off. they said something and you can't ignore it so you have to say something to defend yourself and your feelings. it makes you mad and almost at a loss for words. some rubs you the wrong way

Both of definitions will be equally applicable to Jonathan Glazer's new film Under The Skin.

There are some who will declare it a masterpiece while others will say it is the worst thing they have ever seen. It will become 2014's Only God Forgives in terms of splitting audience opinion.

My first reaction to the same as the one I had for Only God Forgives which was I wasn't exactly sure what I had just seen but I knew I had to see it again.

So that's exactly what I did.

Initially Under The Skin is a rather undefinable viewing experience.

The film begins with 2001-esque visuals before following Scarlett Johansson driving round Glasgow with hidden cameras as she hunts for young, single men to lure back to her place where Mica Levi's haunting score and siren's call leads them to their demise in a nightmarish sequence.

Sure people use names like Kubrick, Roeg, Lynch to try and explain the use of visuals and surrealism but Glazer has crafted a completely unique piece of filmmaking that turns the ambiguity factor all the way up to 11 and allows for endless theorising about the plot, motives and true nature of Scarlett Johannson's character.

It's upon the second viewing that, ironically, you start to get under the skin of the film.

Is the woman the biker picks up at the beginning of the film Scarlett Johansson's predecessor? Who is the biker? Is he the bodyguard of the female siren? Are they prone to curiosity and empathy?

When the film changes course and the alien goes on a voyage of self-discovery, it was slightly jarring first time round but feels completely natural on repeat viewing.

Where initially all she sees are targets and victims, the longer she carries out her task the more she begins to see life.

There are two montages of people wandering round the city. The first is shot in a cold, harsh manner but the second time round the people slowly give way to a gold shimmering light and from the ugliness of life comes beauty.

They say the eyes are the window to the soul and the eyes play an important role in the film.

Her eyes are initially cold and blank, the "uncanny valley effect" so to speak where CGI is unable to recreate the sparkle and life inside the eye. The biker checks her over at one point and pays close attention to her eyes, perhaps checking for any glimmer of "life", and following her encounter with the man suffering from neurofibromatosis sees something different and new in her eye that sparks the natural evolution of her character and the movie into something completely alien... to her at least.

And this evolution is perfectly realised by Scarlett Johansson in her finest performance to date.

There is a blankness to her gaze and she can shift between fake flattery to cold indifference in the blink of an eye which makes her the perfect spider-like predator as she weaves her seductive web to ensnare horny young Glaswegians.

Later she has a childlike innocence and curiosity as she tries to experience human life which include wonderful moments as tension builds over a mouthful of Black Forest gateau or her utter bemusement at watching Tommy Cooper on TV.

Ultimately Under The Skin is undefinable, utterly unique (unless Captain America The Winter Soldier features a scene where Black Widow and Cap discuss the locations of Asda and Tesco) and completely unforgettable.

Like the title says, this film will get under the skin and stay with you forever.

5 stars