The 10 Best Science Fiction Movies Since 2000

I recently challenged Ian Sales* to name 10 films since 2000 that were better than Interstellar (2014).  OK, that's not entirely true.  I challenged him to create a top 10 list of the best SF flicks since 2000; for Ian, they're basically the same thing. He's already released his list here.  It contains some interesting choices, to say the least.  While I disagree quite strongly with some of his selections, I do have to give him credit for not creating another boring "usual suspects" top 10 list; sadly, I'm probably going to disappoint people on that front.

My list will only contain feature length productions, as short films should probably be discussed on their own.  I've made no other distinctions with regards to format (live action, animated, adaptation, etc.) or delivery method (theater or straight-to-DVD).

Alright, here goes:

Top 10 Science Fiction and Fantasy Anime Movies

I've been sitting on this list for months because I didn't think I'd seen enough anime movies to warrant the creation of a list.  Turns out I was wrong.  When I did a bit of searching, I discovered I'd seen quite a lot of anime films, many of them viewed at 1 AM on some random satellite station my grandma had a decade ago.  I still don't know which station played anime at 1 AM, nor do I remember all of the films I saw (Black Magic M-66, which does not appear on the list below because it's not that great, is one for which I am particularly nostalgic).

So here I am with a list of 10.  Don't hesitate to tell me what you think in the comments (or share your own lists).  Here goes (in no particular order):

Star Trek: a Worf TV Show? (Some Thoughts)

A few weeks ago, the Huffington Post released an interview with Wil Wheaton and Michael Dorn, who played Wesley Crusher and Worf (respectively) on Star Trek:  the Next Generation.  I recommend reading the whole thing, but for now, I'm only concerned with one quote from Dorn:

Business things got in the way in terms of the JJ Abrams movie coming out and CBS/Paramount and their relationship with JJ Abrams. I don't think they wanted to step on his toes by putting a new series on, but it's not dead yet. I've finished the script and hopefully someone will take a look at this and say "we can do this."

Basically, we're not that far off from seeing a Captain Worf TV show.  Let me say that again:  a Captain Worf TV show.  By "not far off," of course, I don't mean "next year."  This is Hollywood, after all, and even getting into talks with the studios still means you're about as far from production as we are from going to Mars.  Still, in production terms, that's a lot closer than "I've got the rights" or "I wrote something" or "someone answered my phone call."  In other words, yeah, we're really not that far off from a possible show.

The big questions are these:

Top 10 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies Since 2010 (Thus Far)

This is just the beginning.  I'm going to make an announcement about this very topic after I pass my PhD candidacy exams in September.  For now, however, I'd like to offer a list of films I consider to be "the best" in the SF/F category for the years 2010-2013 (thus far).  By "the best," I mean "films I think are good movies as movies."  A lot of these films were quite popular when they were in theaters, but I'm not concerned by popularity here.  I'm only concerned with what I think are well-written and/or well-produced films.  A film with a thin plot can still be great if it does something more than just throw lots of action at the audience to hide its flaws (this is why you will see no Michael Bay films on the list).

And on that note, I will shut up.

The following are the top 10 SF/F movies released since 2010...for now (this list will change as I start to watch things I missed):

Star Trek Movies and TV Shows: Ranked by Me

On August 11th, Badass Digest released a Trekkie-voted ranked list of all the Star Trek movies to date (plus Galaxy Quest, for some reason).  It's a strange list, to say the least.  Why is Galaxy Quest on there?  Other than the fact that it's a mostly-direct parody of Star Trek, it isn't actually a Star Trek movie.  And why did they stick Star Trek Into Darkness at the end, when it's obviously not the worst film on the list?

OK, so I have a good answer for that last question.  We talked about this a little in a recent Shoot the WISB episode.  Basically, the reversal of the Khan narrative probably came off as a slap in the face to Trekkies.  I even think it smelled disgusting, even though I kind of like the idea of switching things around.  After all, Spock isn't supposed to be an emotional man, so the idea that he'd break down after the supposed death of Kirk adds some weight to the moment.  But...it wasn't handled well.  There wasn't enough character development; the death of Kirk was handled in the way you'd expect a comic book to handle it:  he's dead...wait, no, not really, here's some magic *poof.*  At least in Wrath of Khan, Spock died.  He was dead dead dead.  The film never says "hey, we'll magic him into existence...right at the end."  If you've never seen Search for Spock, you really do think the guy has friggin died.  And that's a big deal.  The audience sometimes needs that slap in the face.

But I digress.  Prepare to be pissed off.  The following is my ranked list of Star Trek movies, minus Galaxy Quest:

Infographic: Ray Bradbury Predictions Fulfilled

Admit it -- this is pretty damn awesome.

Now they just need to do that for all the other great SF writers...