At the end of the month, the Milwaukee Public Museum will celebrate the fall – as well as its current "Alien Worlds and Androids" exhibit – with a Sci-Fi Film Fest. Every Thursday and Saturday (save for Thanksgiving) from Oct. 23 through Nov. 29, the museum will screen a sci-fi flick in the Dome Theater.
This past summer, fans were asked to vote for five of the six sci-fi selections. The votes have finally been tallied, and today the museum announced the festival's lineup. It appears the fest will begin with a roar (and several Goldblum-ian uhs) with Steven Spielberg's classic "Jurassic Park" as its opening feature on Thursday, Oct. 23 and Saturday, Oct. 25.
The rest of the strong fan-voted lineup is made up of equally beloved and celebrated sci-fi staples (nice job, fans!). Following "Jurassic Park" will be another Spielberg classic "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" and then Stanley Kubrick's heavily influential masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey." For those left wanting a bit more monkey suit action after Kubrick's trip-tacular epic, the museum is showing "Planet of the Apes" (the good one, not that Burton garbage with Marky Mark and the Monkey Bunch).
The lineup, as currently announced, ends with "Back to the Future," but there's still one last film to be announced for the festival's final weekend, and the MPM wants the fans' help one more time. After picking five sci-fi hall of famers, the museum wants voters to pick out a legendary turkey (because Thanksgiving) for the last showing on Nov. 29.
There are plenty of great godawful choices to pick from to unleash your inner "MST3K" spirit. Matt Wild of Milwaukee Record wisely nominated M. Night Shyamalan's man-versus-breeze "horror" spectacular "The Happening," an excellent pick if only for the joys of watching a horrified Marky Mark attempt to make pleasant conversation with a tree.
If we're keeping with the classics theme, there's, of course, the notorious "Plan 9 From Outer Space." For those still demanding more monkey action, you could place your vote for the '90s CG monstrosity that was Blarp (what is that!? Kill it with fire!) in the Matt LeBlanc rendition of "Lost in Space." Plus, you'd get bonus evil spider Gary Oldman, comatose William Hurt and a pre-"Mad Men" Jared Harris!
The options are endless, but I think I'd place my vote for "Battlefield Earth." More people need to witness the magic of watching John Travolta as a Rastafalien with nose plugs and platform shoes, eating the scenery with the glee of a termite on a Red Bull-and-cocaine high and not quite understanding the concept of leverage. It's "The Wicker Man"-level movie magic.
The museum will be taking suggestions at the Dome Theater and online between Oct. 23 and Nov. 6. The winning "turkey" will then be announced on Nov. 8.
Tickets for the Sci-Fi Film Fest are $5 at either the MPM box office, by phone at (414)-278-2728 or online at the MPM's website. Soft drinks, beer, cocktails, snacks and souvenirs will be available for purchase throughout as well. And God help me, if "The Happening" does end up winning the vote, hot dogs and lemon drink better be on the menu.
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.
