I'm with you on the plot for the anime. The idea is absolutely nuts.

The U.S. movie was not the greatest but at least it was better than the Matthew Broderick one. That said, if you want to see a smart Godzilla film, you need to see Shin-Godzilla. It's fantastic and I'm seriously bummed that they've decided not to make a sequel. Instead, Toho is going to attempt some shared universe bullshit when they should just move forward from the end of that movie.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

I'm with you on the plot for the anime. The idea is absolutely nuts.

The U.S. movie was not the greatest but at least it was better than the Matthew Broderick one. That said, if you want to see a smart Godzilla film, you need to see Shin-Godzilla. It's fantastic and I'm seriously bummed that they've decided not to make a sequel. Instead, Toho is going to attempt some shared universe bullshit when they should just move forward from the end of that movie.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

Shin-Godzilla is bonkers as well, but that's because it's made by the dude that wrote Neon Genesis (also Gunbuster, btw, which I referenced earlier in this thread). And to bring it full circle, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is one of my favourite Godzilla movies, AND features time travel/wormhole stuff. So, Godzilla is the Kevin Bacon of smart scifi.

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In space, nobody can hear you ride breakfast goat

I disagree. The Emmerich version, despite being a terrible movie, has a better setup, and better action sequences in New York. The newer one is just a propaganda movie for US military (much like Battle L.A. and Battleship, which all feature a diverse set of army guys vs. aggressors that are non-political).

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In space, nobody can hear you ride breakfast goat

I also love Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah. I'm very excited about Godzilla 2: King of Monsters. The fact that it's being made by someone who knows and loves the original movies gives me a lot of hope that it will be good.

Also, you spelled favorite wrong, weirdo.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

We need a Godzilla emoji.

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Pender will beat off to anything....

I made this for you.

One more for you

Love it!

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

Definitely good stuff. I will have to ping Surf Monkey to put it in the FTP so we can use it.

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Pender will beat off to anything....

A few minor odds and ends I liked. They don't get big recommendations, and I'm not sure any of these fall into the "smart" category, but they're good:

Robot & Frank (2012)

I'm not sure how "smart" this one is, but it's enjoyable.

Frank Weld is a retired jewel thief coping with senility. His children live too far away to care for him, so his son buys him a robot to take care of the house and to serve as a companion. Frank balks at first, until he realizes he can talk the robot into committing one last heist with him.

This is a charming little indie movie that offers a nice twist on some common science fiction themes without ever screaming, "I am a science fiction movie!"

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

Again, not sure that it's "smart" sci-fi -- in fact, you can even make the case that it's not even sci-fi -- but I loved this flick.

Some magazine reporters spot a nutty classified ad from a guy who thinks he can time travel, so in an effort to get out of the office for a few days they decide to seek him out and interview him for a story. It's just an excuse for a paid vacation, but it turns into much more for all of them.

It's a silly hook, but no matter. This is a warm, charming, enthralling movie. Genuinely touching, entirely endearing, completely loveable. Aubrey Plaza is just pitch perfect. Each character has a wonderful arc. Huge thumbs up.

Apollo 18 (2011)

Not great, but since it's a Sf / horror hybrid and since Cary started this thread, I'm listing it as a "maybe think about seeing it maybe" movie.

Unbeknownst to the public, in 1975 one last Apollo mission was done in secret. And what they found there was horrible.

This science fiction horror movie is yet another "found footage" flick, this time purporting to be compiled from footage taken during a secret mission to the moon. Critics absolutely trashed it, but you know what?

I liked it. Sure, the story is thin and like most of these found footage flicks it seems to be filmed with magical cameras, but most of the footage looks authentic, the atmosphere is great, and hey, space program stuff rocks.

Watched it alone at time in a darkened room, and actually found myself pretty creeped out at times.

It's a brisk 86 minutes, too, which is a bonus.

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"Hitler had a pretty good idea there." - Eric

I enjoyed Apollo 18. One of the better found footage films.

I just watched Upgrade. It REALLY tries to be smart. It's okay, but forgettable - basically a twilight zone episode stretched to feature length. Good if you're into cyberpunk stuff.

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In space, nobody can hear you ride breakfast goat

It kind of baffles me how fervent fans of Upgrade are about it, when I found it to be a slick pile of genre clichés. Very well-directed, and certainly entertaining, but I think people were just happy to "discover" it and heaped too much praise on a solid, unpretentious sci-fi B-movie that wasn't part of a multi-million-dollar franchise. I felt the same way about it that I felt about Hotel Artemis, basically they were kind of throwbacks to Pretty Good 80's genre flicks that you thought were better than they actually were because you watched them on HBO fifty times.

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We'll pray. For the last time, we'll pray...