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They Live

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found footage

Sleep, Obey, Consume, and Watch "They Live"

If you want to spend your Friday evening contemplating the joys of alien-based paranoia, plus a little wrestling, then there's nothing better than a nice heaping of They Live. Released in the late 1980s, this ironic-paranoid classic was John Carpenter's giant fuck you to the Reagan Administration and social conformity of all types. Aliens have taken over, and are controlling all of the United States (and perhaps the whole world) by beaming a signal into everybody's mind that masks the true aliens, as well as the "obey" signs they've planted everywhere. In this awesome scene, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper puts on some sunglasses that allow him to see the truth. It's like the "taking the red pill" moment — suddenly the extent of his manipulation becomes clear. More »

6:21 PM on Fri Mar 14 2008
By Annalee Newitz
5,468 views, 57 comments

Latest by n/a: Recommended, too. With the "m." more »

triviagasm

A Brief History of Reality Distortion Fields, Starring Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is the first non-science fiction character to possess a reality distortion field (RDF). Apple's MacWorld 2008 conference kicks off tomorrow with a keynote from Jobs, which leaves gadget lovers and iPod fiends white-knuckled on Tuesday morning as news of the next "insanely great" thing trickles out of Moscone Center in San Francisco. Why does this speech cause such furor (and fury) every year? RDF, of course. We've got the scoop on how Jobs came to posses the RDF, and we've got four other famous RDFs from science fiction for you to contemplate as you await the mind-control ray that will emanate from MacWorld tomorrow. More »

11:00 AM on Mon Jan 14 2008
By Kevin Kelly
10,836 views, 19 comments

Latest by n/a: I think the SEP field generator (somebody else's problem) is more commonly in use, by several multinational corp directors and a good few politicians at least... but its kinda hard to tell of course more »

triviagasm

A Peepshow of the Best Futuristic Vision Systems

Science fiction is terrific at helping you imagine how you'd enhance, hack, and upgrade your own body — especially your eyeballs. Humans have been trying to improve on the sense of sight since 1300, when spectacles were invented. What comes next? Take a look at our list of some of the vision enhancement tools that science fiction has offered up. It goes way beyond seeing more clearly or getting a glimpse of the infrared side of the spectrum. More »

11:00 AM on Fri Jan 4 2008
By Kevin Kelly
13,303 views, 25 comments

Latest by superbryant: all i can say is I was promised x-ray vision many times......WHERE IS IT!!!!!! I bet the Chinese have it lol :] more »

they live

Must See: They Live

Must-see movies are futuristic classics that shouldn't be missed. Of course, not every must-see is perfect. That's why we've rated them 1-5 on the patented "crunchy goodness" scale. Written by Sherilyn Connelly.

Title: John Carpenter's They Live
Date: 1988

Vitals: A hunky drifter discovers that via special sunglasses he can see both the aliens who run the world and the hidden propaganda they use to control humanity. Any parallels to consumer culture and/or the Reagan Administration purely intentional.




More »

2:19 PM on Tue Oct 2 2007
By Annalee Newitz
168 views, Comment