Ex_Machina (2014)

There is nothing more human than the will to survive...

Prometheus unbound…

People like to tidy things away in boxes. Take science fiction. I'm immediately thinking dog-eared paperbacks with sassy girls in 50s bikinis, legs astride, standing in desert landscapes with giant double moons against a lurid, purple sky- or weirdos at Los Angeles conventions attending The University of Klingon- or soppy blow-dried couples with ray guns and bacofoil suits running down spare, all-white corridors with sliding doors. Horribly unfair, I know. But isn't science fiction a bit like jazz music? A bit tricky for a newcomer? Where on earth do you start? Where do you begin?

Natasha McElhone in Stephen Soderbergh’s Solaris (2002)

From a film perspective, there's a crop of fabulous sci-fi films, which, I suspect, might appeal as much to people who enjoy independent cinema as the more traditional forms of science fiction. Metropolis (1927), Fritz Lang's German Expressionist silent classic, a dystopian vision of the future, immediately springs to mind, a film we may return to later. I'm also keen on Stephen Soderbergh's Solaris (2002)- a marvellous film- starring Gorgeous George and the equally gorgeous Natasha McElhone, a remake of the original Soviet production from 1972, with psychologist Clooney trapped on a space station with his deceased wife's doppelganger. Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) is another one to revisit, with its creative blend of science-fiction and horror.