Now Is the Perfect Time to Watch Some Movies Set in 2024

Now that we've made it to the new year, why not enjoy some old visions of it? I at least love to start the first few weeks of a year by going through the films set in the new year, as listed marvellously by Wikipedia.

Because I'm interested in old visions of the now-present, I usually skip movies that were produced in the last ten years. Because these usually don't provide very bold predictions. This criterion leaves the following seven entries for a Get Ready for '24 watchlist:

Beyond the Time Barrier. A 1960 time travel flick. Never heard of it. A quick look at the plot reminds me of Return to the Planet of the Apes. Which I kinda liked for its batshit abstrusity. Anyway, the movie is short and exactly what I'm looking for. So I'll definitely try to somehow get my hands on it.

A Boy and His Dog. This 1975 movie likely is the most notorious of this list. Not sure how well the film has aged, but it has been loitering on my to do list for years now, so the stars are aligned as good as never before.

Highlander II: The Quickening. Very likely to be the worst movie of this list. Haven't seen it yet, I think (or I forgot it after watching). And I haven't heard anything good of it, but at least it tells a story related to climate change. Which is better than nothing, I guess.

The Thirteenth Floor. I absolutely l o v e the German TV movie "World on a Wire", and Thirteenth Floor is a remake of this. I watched it once, but before seeing World on a Wire. So although Thirteenth Floor has only on small bit of its plot actually taking place in 2024, I really look forward to a rewatch of this 1999 production.

.hack//The Movie. A 2011 CGI anime movie. Never heard of it, but why not.

Underworld: Awakening and Underworld: Blood Wars. I remember liking the first Underworld movie, and I don't recall much of the other four films. So I think I'll use the final two installments playing in 2024 as an excuse for a rewatch of the whole series.

Narcopolis. This is a 2015 movie, so my Older Than Ten Years rule technically disqualifies this entry. But I'm quite intrigued by the story of a UK that has all drugs legalized. So I'll give it a watch.

So I just discovered the fanscript for the proposed Sarah Jane Adventures ep 'The Thirteenth Floor' and I am not ok 🥺😭 Clyde and Rani! 🥺🥺

Eagle No. 472, dated 6 April 1991. The Thirteenth Floor cover by Jose Ortiz. The 'Big News' inside was that this was the last weekly issue for Eagle and it was moving to a monthly schedule.

Treasury of British Comics | The Dan Dare Corporation.

Rebellion announces 40 Years of Scream! collection for 2024

Celebrating 40 years since IPC launched its iconic, "horror" anthology, Rebellion has announced 40 Years of Scream!, on sale next April - collecting all of the strips included in the 15-issue run of the short-lived weekly comic

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Smash! #2 by Paul Grist, Jimmy Broxton and Simon Bowland. Cover by Andy Clarke. Out in January 2024.

"The King of Crooks latest heist has gone badly wrong, he has been trapped in Maxwell Towers by the caretaker computer programme running the building and Robot Archie is closing in on capturing the arch-criminal. Forced to face his fears on the nightmare inducing-thirteenth floor and evade the team-up of two AI programmes, this could be the master thief's last stand. This eighties-set thriller is brought to you by Paul Grist (Jack Staff) and Jimmy Broxton (Goldtiger)."

The Thirteenth Floor (1999)

Watched The Thirteenth Floor from 1999. Interesting how a lot of these turn of the century science fiction movies use the trappings of film noir as a basis. And I don't think they're all doing it because Blade Runner did it. Probably something to do with all the mid-century science fiction writers that these movies are either inspired by or adapted from having stints writing detective books to pay the bills. And a murder is a good setup for a story.

Enjoyed it. It losing the Saturn Award for best movie to The Matrix is correct. It's a decent movie, and while it doesn't feel old, The Matrix feels noticeably more modern. Like seeing the way the future would go. Also, even though they cover the same ground, "what if everything were a simulation", they come at it from very different angles. The Thirteenth Floor, "what if you tortured the NPCs in your videogame". The Matrix, "what if *I'm* a simulation??". And The Matrix, I feel, simply mines a richer vein for drama and intrigue. It leans more into the paranoia of the premise. There are actual consequences for the protagonist learning the truth of their world.

And, I can't blame the movie too much, since it's from 1999 and based on a book from the sixties, but it's funny how certain it is that humans will turn to complete monsters if they get to play god over simulated people. I know the book was probably thinking more of the idea that the Nazis turned people into lampshades and soap because the systems they got from IBM for cataloguing people turned their victims into meaningless numbers, and that they were therefore disposable. This idea pops up a lot in post-war American fiction. That modernity and barcodes and ID numbers are going strip away people's humanity and reduce them to a number. In the book, the digital city is set up to model marketing trends, that's why I think that's what it's aiming at. But to modern sensibilities, even from 1999, I would say, the obvious analogue is a videogame. And the idea that everyone who trapped their Sim in a pool and deleted the ladder behind them would turn around and try to do the same to others in real lief is laughable. People definitely did worry about it, in the same way that they worried about TV before that, but it's still very funny.

Could have done without the threat of rape at the end. Again, I understand the thesis of the film. Getting to be lord and master over simulated people unleashes all of man's baser impulses. Still. Felt pretty gross. Felt like a big jump in the level of violence shown by the rest of the film.

Pretty good looking film. Clear distinctions between each layer of the simulation. Although, I noticed a goof. The newspaper at the end says Monday, June 21, 2024, but it's not! Not a Monday, it's a Friday. Even the spellcheck popped up telling me it was wrong. Movie cancelled!

But, yeah, it looks good. I was curious if they were going to show the "real" world, and what they would do if they did. But they kept it fairly subtle. Some modifications to the LA landscape, but other than that everything and everyone looked more or less as they would have when it was filmed. Possibly made easier for themselves, when I was skimming through the movie again, the "current day" of the rest of the film does have a slight 80s look to it, even though the computers clearly don't, nor are they dressed up to be. Whereas, "2024" has a more fashionable, but casual look. Has a very "Garden of Eden" look too. There's all this golden light and natural tones, open airiness with the wind blowing in through open doors and green plants in the background, the wife character in this skin tone satin that moulds to her body in a way that reads as her being naked without having any actual nudity.

Lot of similar visual storytelling used to convey ideas before they come into play in the plot. Like, editing back and forth when the hero first goes into their simulation, so you already have the idea that the simulation he displaces might travel up out of their home simulation. Sometimes this is a little too clearly conveyed? I kind of had the idea that the hero was in a simulation from the way the movie repeated certain elements between "1937" and "present day" in the opening scene. Took some of that intrigue away when the hero reached the edge of the game map, something that The Matrix retained.

But, yeah, I overall recommend it. It's perhaps a little more plain than Dark City, solid but plain, but it's still interesting to watch. I can see why it helped inspire Inception, particularly with the editing between layers of simulation.

(Wtf, it received mostly negative reviews?? It is not that bad. Not spectacular, but mostly what it's missing is some tension. Really not that bad.)

"who give a shit." -Descartes, 1596-1650

I liked the part with the cat.

While it contained elements common to things like The Matrix, The Truman Show, Dark City, and even Blade Runner, The Thirteenth Floor didn't examine any of them as closely or convincingly as they do. By the time its last act rolled around, it wasn't exactly that it was hard to follow, more that it felt needlessly convoluted and fell apart a little.

Craig Bierko gave a very odd lead performance; He wore the same bug-eyed, shocked expression 90% of the time he was on screen, and he sounded eerily similar to Jeff Goldblum whenever he spoke. Something about bleached blonde Vincent D'Onofrio was offputting too. 

Gretchen Mol was alright, but the romance with her developed too late and too suddenly to be truly compelling, which undermined the ending. Similarly, the ultimate villain of the story wasn't even mentioned until moments before showing up for the finale, so there wasn't much to care about there. 

A few characters like Dennis Haysbert's detective were ridiculously quick to understand and accept what would have been truly insane claims about the nature of their reality. As a result, their actions were just too contrived to be taken seriously. Also, for some reason the punch impact sound effects were laughably excessive.

An interesting concept with lacklustre delivery. Good, not great.

Mladen writes: "I can’t tell you if I liked 'The Thirteenth Floor' because I’m not sure I’m the one who watched it. Who is writing this review? Beats me.

That sums up "The Thirteenth Floor," a dip into the metaverse of virtual reality that asks, "Are you sure you are really YOU?"

Read our review here.

Ep92 Craig Bierko's Mother's Day w/ Pat Campbell! (His Mom!)

Happy Mother's Day! And here's a gift for all the Mama's out there: Hollywood hunk/Broadway babe/mommy's boy, Craig Bierko- AND his Mom, Pat! (Say whaaaat?!) *Faints* This week, AW flies solo and is joined by past guest Craig, and his adorable Mom- the artist formally known as Punky Distillator- to check out her namesake band, Distillator (now Cryptosis) with their debut album 'Revolutionary Cells', before Craig shares with us why 'Mame' is such a personal show for him and his mom. Plus, we chat being a stage-mother, the Music Man, injuries, cooking, growing up, raising Craig and his brother, trolling twitter, mentoring, and soooo much more on this extra-EXTRA special Mother's Day edition. Dedicated to darling little Boo! xoxo

Help support Loma Linda University Children's Health - https://lluch.org/ways-give

Craig on socials: https://www.twitter.com/mrcraigbierko -- https://www.cameo.com/boodog?utm_campaign=profile_share

Cult Faction Podcast Ep. 95: The Thirteenth Floor

Directed by Josef Rusnak, and produced by Roland Emmeric, The Thirteenth Floor goes under the spotlight this week. It stars Craig Bierko, Gretchen Mol, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Dennis Haysbert. All that plus our usual bickering, bitching, and blasting! https://cultfaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Episode-95.mp3  

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WORLD ON A WIRE/ WELT AM DRAHT – Part II (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany, 1973)

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