All posts tagged: scifi

Klara and the Sun review – Sci-fi comedy is yet another misfire for Jenna Ortega

Klara and the Sun review – Sci-fi comedy is yet another misfire for Jenna Ortega

Published by Daniella Wilson

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in The prospect of driving a clown car through a novel by Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro sounds fairly doomed from the start. Yet, to writer-director Taika Waititi’s credit, his Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit (2019) took enough of an iconoclastic stance on its (comparatively far darker) source novel, Christine Leunens’ Caging Skies, to confidently mould itself into a Mel Brooks-approved farce about fascist indoctrination. Klara and the Sun, unfortunately, is far more faithful to its source book. As a result, it’s both a betrayal of Ishiguro’s quiet, meditative vision and a poor imitation of Waititi’s own, pre-Marvel work, most notably Boy (2010) and the Sam Neill-fronted Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016). Those films had a New Zealand-dry, witty-but-absurdist sense of humour to them, populated either by broken people laughing off their brokenness or by men with extremely fragile egos. They were funny and sort of sad at the very same time. Klara …

An overlooked sci-fi movie shows how disruption by AI could be positive for society

An overlooked sci-fi movie shows how disruption by AI could be positive for society

Published by Miika Tikkanen

The AI doomsday news cycle plays on anxieties about the future. The media has tended to prioritise sensational takes on the risk at the expense of more thoughtful opinions by, for example, experts in the ethics of AI. Alarmist fantasies of superintelligence – where artificial intelligence surpasses that of the most gifted human minds – are criticised for distracting from real concerns and threats. AI is energy hungry, environmentally damaging, and has prompted urgent calls for legislation relating to a slew of ethical concerns. Apocalyptic AI visions drawn from science fiction engage public interest. One fascinating scenario can be found in the 2018 movie Annihilation, starring Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac. The film is being released in the 4K Ultra HD home media format in the UK and US in October. Annihilation features an “alien intelligence” – a popular analogy for AI among tech leaders – which embeds itself within Earth’s environment. Can such visions be useful to the current real-world doomsday debate? Sci-fi could help reframe the real-world narrative in positive ways. There are …

Ariana Madix Starring in Peacock Sci-Fi Show

Ariana Madix Starring in Peacock Sci-Fi Show

Published by Daniella Wilson

Ariana Madix‘s next TV project will take her to outer space. The Vanderpump Rules alum and Emmy-nominated Love Island USA host will star in a sci-fi series called Future Housewives. The show, created by Brannon Braga (Star Trek: Voyager), is in development at Peacock. Madix will also be an executive producer, as will Seth MacFarlane, who worked with Braga on The Orville. Future Housewives blends science fiction — territory Braga knows well, having worked on several Star Trek series and movies, The Orville and ABC’s Flashforward, among others — and the reality TV world that made Madix a household name. Here’s the logline: “In the decadent asteroid colony of New Beverly Hills, wealthy socialites juggle bioengineered beauty regimens, ruthless rivalries and interplanetary scandals. But when a young, starry-eyed outsider (Madix) unexpectedly upends their glamorous world, it exposes just how far they’ve drifted out of touch in a society evolving beyond superficiality in this sharply satirical yet surprisingly heartfelt reinvention of reality TV.” Braga and Madix (via her Over Fences banner) will executive produce with MacFarlane …

Morgan Spector & Lucy Liu Voice Animated Sci-Fi

Morgan Spector & Lucy Liu Voice Animated Sci-Fi

Published by Daniella Wilson

A study in sadness, loneliness and the quixotic struggle to survive extremes, grayscale animated feature Moonfish offers an eerie, resonant microdrama set five hundred years or so from now. Brooklyn-based artist Daniel Zvereff’s feature debut after some lovely shorts (including Drago and Life Is a Particle Time Is a Wave) offers a deeply dystopian vision of the future wherein pairs of astronauts are little more than indentured servants, sent to mine asteroids with pickaxes, forewarned that if they don’t meet their quota, no one will come to collect them. Morgan Spector and Lucy Liu voice one such ill-fated couple, bringing warmth to material that might otherwise have felt overwhelmingly depressing until a welcome upbeat ending glows up the story with a bit of color. Zvereff’s handmade, extremely spare and minimalist aesthetic, served up in a boxy, claustrophobic 4:3 ratio and featuring bald humans drawn with just a few fine lines, will limit this commercially to arthouses, fests and adventurous streamers. But the talent on display whets the appetite for the multihyphenate’s next projects after this …

5 Scrappy Sci-Fi Books for Everyone Who Loves an Underdog

5 Scrappy Sci-Fi Books for Everyone Who Loves an Underdog

Published by Jenni Sidey

Join over 300,000 readers who get the latest book buzz, smart commentary, and must-read picks delivered straight to their inbox.<\/p>”,”thumbnail_url”:”https:\/\/bookriot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Book-Riot-Newsletter-mock_1000-150×150.jpg”,”category_url”:”https:\/\/bookriot.com\/newsletter\/book-riot-newsletter\/”,”checked”:true},{“name”:”Literary Activism”,”listname”:”BookRiot_LiteraryActivism”,”sfmc_name”:”BookRiot_LiteraryActivism”,”description”:” News you can use plus tips and tools for the fight against censorship and other bookish activism!<\/p>”,”thumbnail_url”:”https:\/\/bookriot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/LiteraryActivism_600x600-150×150.png”,”category_url”:”https:\/\/bookriot.com\/newsletter\/literary-activism\/”,”checked”:true},{“name”:”The Fright Stuff”,”listname”:”BookRiot_TheFrightStuff”,”sfmc_name”:”BookRiot_TheFrightStuff”,”description”:”Ready for some thrills and chills? Sign up to receive the latest and greatest from the world of horror.”,”thumbnail_url”:”https:\/\/bookriot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/TheFrightStuff_600x600-150×150.png”,”category_url”:”https:\/\/bookriot.com\/newsletter\/the-fright-stuff\/”,”checked”:true},{“name”:”Book Deals”,”listname”:”BookRiot_BookDeals”,”sfmc_name”:”BookRiot_BookDeals”,”description”:” Sign up for our Book Deals<\/strong> newsletter and get up to 80% off books you actually want to read.<\/p>”,”thumbnail_url”:”https:\/\/bookriot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/BookDeals_600x600-150×150.png”,”category_url”:”https:\/\/bookriot.com\/newsletter\/book-deals\/”,”checked”:true},{“name”:”Kissing Books”,”listname”:”BookRiot_KissingBooks”,”sfmc_name”:”BookRiot_KissingBooks”,”description”:” Sign up for Kissing Books<\/strong> to receive news, book recommendations, and more for residents of Romancelandia.<\/p>”,”thumbnail_url”:”https:\/\/bookriot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/KissingBooks_600x600-150×150.png”,”category_url”:”https:\/\/bookriot.com\/newsletter\/kissing-books\/”,”checked”:true}]”> Subscribe to Selected No Thanks Source link

Hulu buried one of its smartest sci-fi thrillers inside a sinister Silicon Valley lab

Hulu buried one of its smartest sci-fi thrillers inside a sinister Silicon Valley lab

Published by Miika Tikkanen

I found Devs the way I find most things worth watching now: by accident, scrolling Hulu at 11 at night, looking for something to put on while I did the dishes — looking for another Hulu diamond in the rough. The thumbnail showed a gold Buddha statue standing in a redwood forest next to a glass office building, and that combination alone was strange enough to stop me. Devs came out in 2020, and if you missed it, you had company. It aired on FX and landed on Hulu the same week, which FX was still experimenting with in 2020, and it got buried almost immediately under bigger shows people were actually talking about. Eight episodes, one season, done. Alex Garland wrote, directed, and created every single one of them himself. That kind of one-man control over eight hours of television rarely happens. Related The best supernatural show on TV is on a platform you probably forgot you subscribed to Evil is the best hidden gem on Paramount+. Devs takes place inside one of TV’s …

Silo fans shouldn’t miss these 5 suffocating sci-fi movies

Silo fans shouldn’t miss these 5 suffocating sci-fi movies

Published by Miika Tikkanen

Silo, Apple TV’s dystopian drama, set in an underground bunker, is as claustrophobic as it is riveting. With its gripping mysteries, gradually unraveling plot, and a constant feeling that someone is hiding the truth, it transcends the sci-fi genre while making the walls feel like they’re closing in around you. If you’re a fan of this type of tense, immersive sci-fi, there’s a host of films that also capture the same claustrophobic tension that makes Silo so addictive. And, like Silo, many of them leave you guessing until much later in the game. Related The best new sci-fi shows worth watching right now Shows that just wrapped up, shows that are on right now, and shows coming around the corner. 10 Cloverfield Lane The safest place on Earth might actually be a prison Credit: Paramount Pictures 10 Cloverfield Lane is likely the movie that’s most directly comparable to Silo, as it perfectly recreates the atmosphere of paranoia in a subterranean bunker. In it, a young woman survives a car crash and wakes up confined underground, where …

‘Lanterns’ review: Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre shine bright in DC’s sci-fi mystery

‘Lanterns’ review: Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre shine bright in DC’s sci-fi mystery

Published by Miika Tikkanen

TV is no stranger to odd-couple investigators. Scully and Mulder from The X Files. Cohle and Hart from True Detective. Any iteration of Holmes and Watson. Now, HBO’s Lanterns adds its own twist to this tried-and-true formula, asking, “what if these investigators… were space cops?” SEE ALSO: ‘Lanterns’ trailer: Hal Jordan and John Stewart team up for a Manhunter murder mystery The space cops in question are Green Lantern Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and his trainee John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). Like the rest of the intergalactic Green Lantern Corps, they’re able to manifest glowing green constructs with the help of a Power Ring. However, Lanterns takes a more minimalist approach to these abilities, molding the sci-fi elements of Green Lantern into an earthbound mystery with an irresistible duo at its heart. Lanterns is a thoughtful mystery by way of DC. Aaron Pierre in “Lanterns.” Credit: HBO Max Created by Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof, and Tom King, Lanterns charts the growing pains in the mentor-mentee relationship between Hal and John. Smart-mouthed Hal constantly belittles John, calling …

The Sci-Fi Novel That Predicted 2026

The Sci-Fi Novel That Predicted 2026

Published by Jenni Sidey

The first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur “genius grant” Fellowship, Octavia Butler broke a lot of ground. Her 1993 breakout novel Parable of the Sower, set between 2024-2027, predicted the United States we live in today. Butler imagined a world in which climate change has made food and water scarce and expensive. Paying work is rare; company towns, sex work, and modern slavery are on the rise; and the basic institutions of American life have eroded or collapsed. It’s a rare magic trick to publish a novel about a prophet that itself turns out to be prophetic, and it wasn’t until Butler’s predictions started coming true—nearly 30 years after the book’s original publication—that Parable first hit the bestseller lists. Learn more about this groundbreaking work of science fiction on this episode of Zero to Well-Read, then read on for links and listens for an even deeper dive. Butler at Book Riot Who was Octavia E. Butler? This piece dives deep into her early life, early career, and literary legacy. To say we like …

Thought-Provoking Sci-Fi Books

Thought-Provoking Sci-Fi Books

Published by Jenni Sidey

Matthew Medney is the author of Existence Equation: What is the Price of Humanity?, out now from Gungnir. Below, he recommends three thought-provoking science fiction novels. Leaving you stunned… thinking about what could be… dreaming of a fundamental change to reality… These are the feelings that all great science fiction should leave you with. Wanting more, wanting something to dream about, something to discuss. Science fiction has always been at the forefront of discovery: wild science fiction plots that, when published, seemed out of the realm of possibility, only to become more realistic with each passing day. Today, we are looking at an AI revolution and reigniting exploration to the moon and beyond. These are the areas of interest that sci-fi has been talking about for over 100 years, becoming reality.    Science fiction pulls from what could be and dreams of what can be. My three must-read books that any lover of the future should devour are:   Swords and Spaceships Sign up to Swords and Spaceships to receive news and recommendations from the world of science fiction …