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The philosopher Plato once posed the Allegory of the Cave in his work, The Republic. He thought that, if prisoners spent all of their lives chained in a cave and facing a wall, their only experience would be watching the shadows on that wall. They never understand that there are things beyond that wall. The philosopher, however, is freed from that cave and can begin to understand the nature of actual reality. This may look like stoned sophomoric wonderings with some bragging tacked on at the end, but it laid the groundwork for a lot of science fiction premises. There are plenty of minor conspiracies and cover-ups in the world, but some go beyond minor plots and conceal the fabric of reality. Have a look at all the agencies, societies, guilds, and collections of friends that like people to be kept chained up in a cave. More »
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It's the ultimate terror: The number of people with Alzheimer's and other age-related dementia will double in the next 20 years. And we're starting to see more horrific tales about forgetting, or people losing their personalities. Welcome to Alzheimer's horror. More »
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Nicolas Cage's apocalyptic movie Knowing brings a lot of surprises, says director Alex Proyas. He explained to us how he crafted a widescreen action-adventure, with a spooky family drama at its core. Spoilers below... More »
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This week's X-Files 2 release will have everyone wanting to believe in vast government conspiracies. But Cigarette-Smoking Man isn't the only shadowy villain by far. Authors like Philip K. Dick and Margaret Atwood were feeding us conspiracies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner before The X-Files was even on the air. We've collected some of the best conspiracy stories in science fiction, just in case you find yourself hungry for more after your dose of X-Files tonight. More »
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Here's an exclusive clip from the new "director's cut" DVD of classic dark scifi Dark City, which is coming out July 29. In addition to never-before-seen footage, the DVD includes three commentary tracks, an introduction by director Alex Proyas, Neil Gaiman's review of the film, an "Architecture of Dreams" featurette, a production gallery, and a making-of featurette. [Warner Bros.] More »
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Never mind the quality, dig the visuals. That's the sentiment being expressed over at Warren Ellis's Whitechapel message board, where fans are talking about the films that may not be very good, but are still very watchable. What are their suggestions for what looks great but ultimately tastes less so? More »
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Nicolas Cage will be starring in Knowing, where he apparently has knowledge about the future, and Tourette's syndrome. Alex Proyas, who also directed Dark City (yay!) and I, Robot (meh) will direct this flick about a man who digs up a time capsule and finds information inside that he and his son might be responsible for the destruction of the world. Whoops. Not sure where the Tourette's fits in, but I guess we'll find out. [Variety] More »
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Bad weather has trapped you in the house, and it's getting darker outside every day. You're feeling depressed and crazy. What you need is a dose of dystopian cinema that's all about how the dark world you inhabit is just the product of some AI's fevered imagination. io9 always wants to make you feel worse, so we've put together a triple bill of surreal techno-schizo flicks to serve as your Yule Log of dispair. You've probably seen The Matrix, but have you seen its smarter, more obscure step-sisters? More »
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