ATTACK THE BLOCK is a slambang action comedy from Producer Edgar Wright (SHAUN OF THE DEAD) and first time director Joe Cornish. I went to a sneak preview screening and Wright and Cornish were there in full fanboy mode. Both admitted a fondness for 80s films like THE GOONIES, GREMLINS and THE WARRIORS and the influences show here. I didn't think the whole thing really worked in the end, but the crowd ate it up. Be prepared for some really foul language and a lot of knucklehead behavior.

ANOTHER EARTH is waaay on the other end of the spectrum. It's about the discovery of a second 'Earth' that gets closer and closer to us, and as it does, it proves to be something of a mirror image. But, here, Director Mike Cahill and star Brit Marling (who also co-wrote) turn their focus on an ordinary girl on Earth. Think of all those big apocalyptic SF movies like DAY AFTER TOMORROW, ARMAGEDDON or ON THE BEACH etc. They always have some side story or two about average folks caught up in the big disaster and they pass the time between the big Special effects sequences. ANOTHER EARTH is all about the 'pass the time' subplots! Heck, there are NO big Special effects sequences! There will be folks talking back to the movie and saying, "Hey, they just discovered a sister planet to Earth - the greatest discovery EVER - and we're watching a 5 minute scene of a girl washing the dishes!!! WTF!!?"

And, yet, this thoughtful low key film manages to succeed on its own level as a sort of SF chamber piece. It reminded me a bit of films like this past Marathon's excellent THE QUIET EARTH and the original Russian SOLARIS. Might be a tough sell to the Marathon audience, but is worth seeking out either way. I know Garen is on to this title.

Saw Another Earth at IFFBoston, and found myself in the position of finding it thoroughly average at first and liking it less and less as some of the praise rolled in.  It's got a really nice performance by Brit Marling, but that she suffers guilt so exquisitely really seems to distract people from how many contrivances the story requires, none of it really making a darn bit of sense.  And that's before you get to the awful science, but don't mention that, because caring about the messed-up orbit required (and inevitable tidal effects) gives the movie's defenders a chance to use the "well, you're just too left-brained to appreciate the subtlety in the characterization" excuse.

Bleh.  Attack the Block, at least, is still fun while not quite living up to the hyperbolic praise it's received.

I think it's a matter of both taste and perspective here on ANOTHER EARTH (much like the discussion of DRIVE). Partisans of ANOTHER EARTH (which got some decent reviews and did well on the Festival circuit) would argue that it's not a straight SF film with all the nuts and bolts (or should I say 'gadgets' and 'dials'?). It's an indie drama that uses the form and structure in order to tell a metaphorical story.

My own comparison would be to many TWILIGHT ZONE (in style not quality, Kirok!)episodes which clearly were not hard SF, but used the conventions and archetypes. And, though most of us love it as one of the greatest TV shows ever - face it, as SCIENCE FICTION it often missed the mark.

L.A. Connection wrote on Oct 17^th, 2011 at 8:32pm:

Oh, do they - I can't tell you how many times I've gotten something along the lines of "You're missing the point, you emotionless robot!" when I point out the bad science.  It's an easy (and, to a certain extent, valid) thing to go to, but it obscures how being bad science fiction is far from the movie's only problem; there are large swatches of the "indie drama" part that I find weak and in their own way as ridiculous as the SF parts.

Like David said, the SF aspect is unimportant until the very last minute, and yet without it, I don't think Another Earth is anything but a pretty generic Sundance moper.  Not bad, and Brit Marling is one to keep an eye on - although I hear her other co-written movie at that fest last year was better - but getting praise well beyond its actual quality.


Besides, the bad science does matter.  If every establishing shot makes my brain yell "No! Wrong!", it's getting in the way.

I'll just leave the ANOTHER EARTH discussion by re-iterating that it's an interesting lowfi indie that uses some SF tropes to tell an intimate morality tale.
Again, not comparing it in scope, quality or impact, but The Twilight Zone TV series often came up equally woefully short on SF logic. Rod Serling was a master of metaphor and symbolism - but, Isaac Asimov he wasn't.

P.S. As to it falling into the "black hole", I wouldn't count it as a traditional hole falling movie. It's so low budget and under the radar that it wouldn't be an 'obvious' choice for a film that somehow got overlooked and failed to get booked when it was new. Black hole films right now would include something like IRON MAN, AVATAR or WALL-E should they not get shown in the next coupla marathons.