From Elsewhere…

Auric Goldfinger

Goldfinger

Gerte Frobbe was overweight, balding and didn’t even speak English. Yet he remains the single most quoted Bond baddie (you know what I’m talking about.) But he did give us a valuable lesson in the dangers of cabin depressurization.

Talks the Talk: “No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die!”

Read the rest of the best Bond villains at The List Universe

#9 – Sin City: Jackie Boy gets a headache

Miho slices up Jackie Boys entire gang after chopping off his hand with a ninja star. Then, after blocking the barrel in his gun, he goes to shoot Dwight but instead gets a backfire straight into his skull. Miho then finishes him off with a slash across his throat. Nice.

27 Of The Greatest Movie Kill Scenes Ever Made | Just A Guy Thing

#2: Hostel: Part II

Castration Performed By: Garden Pruners Eli Roth gave new meaning to critics’ “gornography” nickname for his ultra-gory Hostel series in the second to final scene of his sequel. In this completely unexpected moment, the soon-to-be tortured Beth gains the upper hand when she unflinchingly severs the penis of her torturer with a pair of garden pruners in full view of the camera. But the suffering doesn’t stop there–Beth then plucks the amputated man meat from its former owner and feeds it to an attack dog! I’ll never be able to buy my dog Kibbles ‘n Bits without thinking of this scene.

Read the rest at The Blog of the Living Dead

10. 2001: A Space Odyssey

Released: 1968 | Set in the year: 2001

Clarke’s biggest contribution to science—the concept of placing satellites in geosynchronous orbit—makes the briefest of cameos in 2001. Despite its place in cinematic history, this movie is a particularly easy target. Once our own timeline slipped past the year 2001, it became obvious that, as measured and bleak as the film’s technology seemed at the time, it was a work of strange optimism. Artificial intelligence is still far too dumb to achieve psychosis and getting to the moon—much less Jupiter—seems like as much of a challenge now as it was when Apollo 11 landed there, a year after the movie was released. Still, Clarke and Stanley Kubrick nailed the feel of space travel, and its eventual commercialization, in a way that still resonates today. And HAL 9000′s calculated mutiny is plausible enough to ring in any NASA administrator’s head, when the time comes—and it will—to consider the role of truly autonomous systems in manned missions.

Hits
Space tourism: The image is as indelible as those cavemen worshipping at the foot of the monolith: an elegant but strangely familiar-looking craft gliding through space. This was not a muscular rocket ship, but a space plane bearing Pan American’s logo, like a jetliner that simply flew higher than the rest. (Clarke and Kubrick’s business acumen was far less predictive. Pan Am went under in 1991 and Virgin Airways—much less Virgin Galactic—hadn’t yet formulated as an idea in 19-year-old Richard Branson’s brain in 1969). The inside of the craft, from the rows of empty seats to the weightless flight attendants, reinforced the feeling of uneventful, commercial air travel. In the year 2008, space tourism is far from casual, but 2001′s prediction that one day flying to an orbital space station would require zero training or preparation—and the corresponding outlook Clarke offered PM last year—is gradually coming true.

Misses
Artificial intelligence: HAL 9000 may be too smart for his own good. He’s also too smart, period. In the 60′s many AI researchers were extremely optimistic, predicting full machine sentience by the end of the millennium. And HAL’s purpose is valid—since much of the crew of Discovery One is in cryogenic sleep during the long trip to Jupiter, an AI could be instrumental to keeping the ship in working order. But in the 40 years since the movie’s release, artificial intelligence has been a major disappointment. And any time an autonomous system has the power to kill, such as an armed unmanned vehicle, roboticists are careful to require an authorized human operator to actually pull the trigger, or, in HAL’s case, turn off the crew’s life support.

Manned space exploration: The workings of the various spacecraft in 2001 are ambiguous, but until more efficient propulsion systems can be developed, none of the spaceward jaunts in the film are possible. And if getting to Mars seems like the biggest challenge of the century, imagine planning a trip to Jupiter.

Undecided
Videophones: We have the technology to turn almost every phone on the planet into a full-fledged videophone. But, as it turns out, most people don’t want to put on pants to answer the phone. A two-way video feed means devoting your full attention to the conversation, and sacrificing nearly any kind of multitasking, including simply walking down the street. It’s possible, though, that video will become a standard option for existing phones, allowing for occasional, but highly optional face-to-face conversations. In other words, users might agree to opt into video, as opposed to constantly opting out. Speculation aside, videophones aren’t in high demand now, and probably never will be.

Read about the other nine at Popular Mechanics

Strange Days (1995)

Lenny Nero sells dreams and hustles nightmares, dealing in real-life experiences through a new technology that makes every sensation immediate. But on the eve of the new millennium, Lenny and his street-savvy friend and conscience, Mace, are suddenly caught in a deadly fantasy of conspiracy, murder and betrayal–plunging them into the bleak heart of the nightworld he has always inhabited. (Directed by Kathryn Bigelow)

Escape from New York (1981)

The island of Manhattan has been turned into the world’s largest maximum security prison, a place where the worst of humanity is sent to rot. The U.S. Government finds itself in a major crisis when the president’s plane crash lands in New York only days before a vital peace summit between major warring nations is to take place. Only war hero turned felon Snake Plissken can save the day, and he is offered a simple deal for his work: save the president and live, fail to save him and die. (Directed by John Carpenter)

Children of Men (2006)

A futuristic society faces extinction when no children are born and the human race has lost the ability to reproduce. England has descended into chaos, until an iron-handed warden is brought in to institute martial law. The warden’s ability to keep order is threatened when a woman finds that she is pregnant with what would be the first child born in 27 years. (Directed by Alfonso Cuarón)
FauxNixon Review of Children of Men

FauxNixon Reviews of others on the list:

• Equilibrium (2002)
• Dark City (1998)
• The City of Lost Children (1995)
• Twelve Monkeys (1995)

Read the rest of the list at the Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time