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1. In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: David Sington
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” was the phrase that echoed around the galaxy in July of 1969, when American astronauts emerged from Apollo 11 and took their first steps on the surface of the moon. In 2007, In the Shadow of the Moon, a British documentary premiered at Sundance, chronicling this history-making achievement and digging into the story behind the Apollo program through interviews with 10 astronauts from across the program’s many missions. Featuring never before released footage, archival news reports, and the perspectives of some of the only people to see Earth from this remarkable vantage point, In the Shadow of the Moon is stranger than science fiction because it’s completely true.
2, Oxygen (2021)
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Alexandre Aja
Cast: Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, Malik Zidi
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A nightmare come to life for claustrophobics everywhere, Oxygen is a French language sci-fi film that thinks outside the box in terms of action. At the genesis, an unidentified woman (Mélanie Laurent) awakens in an airtight medical unit, unsure of who or where she is. Interactions with the system’s AI — dubbed M.I.L.O. (Medical Interface Liaison Officer) — provide some clarity as to her identity, but no matter what she tries, she cannot escape her prison. As she seeks to understand who placed her in the box and why, truths about her personal life and the current state of the world come into focus — but her search for context is actually a race to outwit the slowly depleting oxygen levels.
3. Project Power (2020)
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jamie Foxx, Dominique Fishback, Machine Gun Kelly, Rodrigo Santoro, Courtney B. Vance, Amy Landecker
What do a New Orleans police officer (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a soldier in search of his daughter (Jamie Foxx), and a rapping drug dealer (Dominique Fishback, The Deuce) have in common? They’re all working to rid the streets of Power, a new drug that gives users five minutes of superhero abilities, at the risk of killing them with one hit. A science fiction action film produced by Netflix, Project Power invites audiences into a city still suffering the after-effects of Katrina, even decades after the hurricane hit. Populated by morally murky characters — like Gordon-Levitt’s Detective Frank Shaver, a cop who uses the drug to level the playing field against the city’s criminals, or Fishback’s teenage Robin Reilly, who knows she needs to deal to get ahead in this world, but is too smart to partake of her own product — the film finds room for cultural context amidst the action sequences.
4. See You Yesterday (2019)
Director: Stefon Bristol
Talent: Eden Duncan-Smith, Danté Crichlow, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Brian “Stro” Bradley
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The best way to live life with no regrets is to build a time machine — which is exactly what happens in Netflix’s Spike Lee-produced sci-fi adventure film, See You Yesterday. After best friends and high school science prodigies C.J. and Sebastian unlock the secrets to time travel, they’re forced to use their newfound invention in an attempt to save C.J.’s brother Calvin from a fatal encounter with the police. A modern take on Back to the Future — also featuring an appearance by the original time traveler, Michael J. Fox — the film grapples with highly relevant cultural issues like police brutality while still having fun with high school tropes and time loops. See You Yesterday might not have gotten the attention it deserved when it first premiered on the platform back in 2019.
5. Starship Troopers (1997)
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Cast: Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Muldoon, Michael Ironside
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Fascist imagery and thudding allusions to World War II-era propaganda films permeate Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers, but because the provocative Dutch filmmaker didn’t explicitly spell out his satire, it went over the heads of many upon its release. But time has been kind to the action-comedy, perhaps because its gleefully cynical portrait of nationalism and a war-hungry populace would resonate that much more in the years following 9/11 and the Iraq War. That said, those interested in the simpler pleasures of watching bugs go splat will also find plenty to like, from its gnarly, goo-slinging action set pieces to CGI effects that stand up to today’s technology.
