Doing NaNoWriMo sort of

Well, I'm not aiming for 50,000 words or starting a new novel. But November is a great month to get motivated about writing considering the droves of folks gearing up to write, write, write. So, currently the novel-I'm-not-talking-about is around 32,000 words. It's been sitting in the corner lately, waiting for me to do something with it (clean thoughts, people!).

Between comics and reviews and the writing of other short stories, I do not believe I can devote everything to the beast. My daily goal will be 500 words, which, if completed, will net me a solid 15,000 words by the end of the month. And that will put me over my third marker where I get to talk about the novel a bit. I think this is both doable and enough to keep me sane.

So, yeah. I've already started a new short tonight and will eventually be re-writing "Firefoot" from the ground up. I know there's a story in it, and thanks to some great crits I know what needs to go and what can stay and party. November shall no longer be NaNoWriMo to me. It'll just be WriMo.

"She Brings the Light"

New words: 264
Total words: 264
Pages: Not even a page yet
Deadline: None
Reason for stopping: Switching projects
Stimulants: Vanilla chai tea mmm
Songs played loudly: "Big Casino" by Jimmy Eat World
Exercise: Avoiding trick-or-treaters should count for something
Mail: A form rejection from Noctem Aeternus Magazine
Darling du jour: Mothers sending soldier-sons smut, and everyone seemed to understand the world.
Other writing-related work: Reviewing the novel outline, blah blah blah
Random thought: Pushing Daisies is a great television show! I might even call it the c-word one day!

Heroes, what the eff

Oh, Heroes. You're turning into that kid in high school that surprised us all by graduating on time with strong marks only to drop out of college by the second semester. You started so strong--and I'm talking about Season One here--and then somewhere along the line you decided you'd rather focus on 7th Heaven cheerleader drama and whiny angst-laden characters that makes me want to brown-bag vodka at every meal. And way to strip Hiro of everything that made him watchable. I actually keep hoping for the best during the feudal Japan scenes, but it's becoming ever so bland...even with tonight's twist. See? I don't care, Heroes! You lost me. Not in the truest sense; I'm still going to watch every Monday, but you could kill everyone but Peter off and I'd be somewhat okay with that decision. That's never a good thing so, yeah, in that sense I'm gone.

The show's biggest fault is that they introduced too many characters and plots without fulfilling previous ones. And this has bogged the pace down considerably. The Wonder Twins have been running since the season started: boring. The Mimic Girl has done some mimicking while mainly being uninteresting: boring. Kristen Bell showed up looking all sassy and stuff to kill an Irish lad: okay, that wasn't boring, but she is one of the new "heroes" so she gets a mention. Oh, and Claire's creepy boyfriend. If I was interested in teen dramatics, I'd watch reruns of Gilmore Girls. It's just all such a letdown from the comic-themed, comic-paced awesomeness that was Season One, with a GREAT villain and a simple message of saving a cheerleader. Here, I don't even know what the focus is on. Parkman's father? The cure? The remaining paintings? Alcohol on school premises? SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME!

And if I see one more Bee Movie crapisode I'm going to drown myself in a vat of honey. Bee that, NBC. Bee that.

A new short at first draft

Finished up a short story this weekend. I actually started it nearly a year ago and got stuck in the middle. Inspiration finally came, and now the little dark urban fantasy thingy is at first draft. Around 4,200 words. I'm looking for first reader reactions because I don't know if it even works. Anyone up to read it? I'll gladly return the favor.

If so, e-mail me at pdabbamondi[at]gmail[dot]com.

A review beyond play

Check out my review for The City Beyond Play by Philip José Farmer and Danny Adams over at the Fix.

Good interview with Kristen Britain

Some weeks I feel like I post like a madman here. Others, erm...notsomuch.

Just been busy with reading, drawing, sleeping, some writing, and thinking. But I am surfacing to point-and-click you in the direction of this nicely done interview with Kristen Britain. The third book in her Green Rider series, The High King's Tomb, finally comes out next month, and I for one am looking forward to it.

Maybe more later. Keyword being maybe...

Page proofs pwned

This morning I read over the proofs of my short story "The Sport of Kings" for Sporty Spec: Games of the Fantastic edited by Karen A. Romanko.

I generally like this step a lot, mostly because by the time it gets to me I've been away from the work for long enough to not remember every little detail. To me, it's like reading somebody else's work. Weird, I know. Anyways, I'm happy to announce that I still like the piece. It's also one that might surprise some people; yes, I write about other things than supernatural horrors and robots.

Oh, wait. There's robotic horses in this.

Ah, whatever. Robots never get old (and if they do, it's time for an upgrade, I say).

I believe the book is going to the printer today. Neat-o.

Trunked like an elephant

Tonight I trunked 29 stories.

Trunking, for the unaware, is the process of putting a story hidden away for an indefinite amount of time--the idea of it being forever, of course. There is always a moment though that happens years down the line where one might consider pulling the dusty metaphoric trunk out, popping it open, and seeing if anything good inside is salvageable.

Anyways, most of these pieces have just been sitting around. They haven't gone out to a market in some time, represent my struggles with writing, and just aren't anything I'm overly concerned with getting out there. I am fairly content with my done stories at the moment, and I'm sure newer, hopefully better works will be materializing at some point.

So, yeah. Trunking.

Unless any of you can think of a perfect place to send a dialogue-only story involving two old men discussing the pros and cons of vampires over afternoon tea? I still kinda like that one.

Progress finally

The Waterways Novel

30,214 / 80,000 words. 38% done!

So, I've crossed my second stop sign where I'm allowing myself to talk a bit about the novel-in-progress. For those playing at home, the rest stops are at these marks: 15K, 30K, 45K, 60K, 75K, and then whenever the irascible thing is dead and done.

That said, I am at the point where I think everything I've written is crap. My characters are whiny and meandering passive souls that make me wonder what I'm trying to do here. Bits of the city are interesting--to me, of course--while others don't feel quite natural. Useless secondary characters pop up like poles; I suspect some killing of them later on. A post today on Neil Gaiman's blog made me feel a tad better about the whole thing, and here is where I pause to quote a master:

You don't live there always when you write. Mostly it's a long hard walk. Sometimes it's a trudge through fog and you're scared you've lost your way and can't remember why you set out in the first place.

But sometimes you fly, and that pays for everything.

Right. So it's foggy here at the moment, and only about 500 words back did I realize something that I want to implement but will have to wait for the rewrite. So I made a note. I find myself making a lot of notes, both in the manuscript and on miscellaneous scraps of paper. My Word file is littered with [name] and [action scene] and [dirty stuff]. Keeping these things together and organized is like juggling sunburned babies. But really, having turned my editor off in me, I find myself at least moving forward. That's pretty important when it comes to such a big project. You can't edit what you don't finish.

I don't work on this every day though. Seeing that NaNoWriMo is coming up soon, I'll probably be even more turned off to work on it daily. I tried that before, and while I got words out it wasn't good. I struggle with being somewhat of a perfectionist, and when I write I'd like the first draft to be more solid than not. I'm not opposed to re-writing this sucker once it's finished, but I'd like for a lot of it to be minimal touchups. You know, the cosmetics.

Oh, and now I need to figure out how to get a certain dead fellow out of the water and upland so he can cause some trouble. Thinking, thinking, thinking. Well, that's it for now, really. See you at 45K, people. Remember: you can't edit what you don't finish.

The Fix is live!

Well, I think this is something I forgot to mention before, but I'm no longer reviewing for Tangent Online. I have, however, devotedly followed Eugie Foster over to The Fix, which used to be a print magazine from the publisher of Interzone that focused on reviewing short fiction. It is now online, looking all shiny and easy to navigate, and there's plenty more covered on the site such as poetry, podcasts, and a column from James Van Pelt. You can check out my first review of Analog's December 2007 issue if you'd like.

Here's some thingies

Finished reading Isaac Asimov's The Gods Themselves. This is now the fifth Hugo-winning novel I've read and, well, I liked it so-so. The book is divided into three sections, and each reads like a standalone novelette. This probably because each was published as a single story before being compiled into a novel.

Regardless, the plot deals with a race of aliens living in a parallel universe, or para-Universe as Asimov calls it, that plan to turn Earth's sun into a supernova, reaping energy from it once it's been destroyed. Section one is about scientists and their slow discovery of the para-Universe and the endless source of energy dubbed the Electron Pump. Kind of boring, and only made interesting because Asmiov choose to start things off further ahead than necessary.

The second section shows us the alien race; a fascinating culture, built on triads and the obsession for melting, we follow a trio of three immature aliens. One is a Rational, one is a Parental, and one, Tritt, is an Emotional. She's different than other "mids" in that she wants to learn, a desire only found in Rationals. This is where The Gods Themselves shine, here with the aliens, where Asimov fully explores a civilization where gender roles are tossed to the wayside (much like Le Guin does in The Left Hand of Darkness). Amazing stuff, and the surprise revelation at the end of what the triad really is--or rather who--caught me by complete surprise. I can see myself going back and re-reading this section alone: it's that good.

The final section has us on the Moon, where a purely functional society of Lunarites live. A somewhat cynical physicist named Denison has come to the moon to put into effect a theory he has that will both stop the sun from exploding while helping humanity even greater. He meets Selene, a woman born on the Moon, a native so-to-speak, and together they work toward a common goal. Some of this section was pretty interesting; mainly common stuff, like how a human from Earth would adjust to living on the Moon much differently than someone born there. The ending, while complete and fulfilling, felt a bit out of left field. As with anything that deals with para-worlds or time-traveling, some of it had me scratching my head, but otherwise it was a decent read. The aliens make it worth it for me.

--

I watched Saw III the other night. Eh. More "games" were played, this time with no hope for redemption. People talk about films like Hostel being goreporn, but no one dares say a word against this franchise. Sure, the first one was pretty original when it came out, but now I have to wonder what's happened to the magic. Is the purpose just to torture folks? I see there's a fourth one coming out. Spoiler alert! Spoiler alert! Jigsaw is dead. Gee, I wonder if it'll be a Jigsaw wannabe and that there will be more bloody games to play and that no one will really learn anything throughout the experience but limbs will be lost and guns will be shot and the average consumer will feel cheap, dirty, and dumb. I will not watch Saw IV. Ever.

--

Two rejections this weekend. One called my story "charming," which is a new one for me.

--

And yes, I picked up The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. It's quite fun, and makes me want to break out my SNES and ol' Link to the Past cartridge. The graphics are solid, but it's the gameplay that's damn addicting. Hack and slash and cuttin' grass! Bring on the rupees, baby. The sailing though is going to get tiresome, I predict.

I CAN HAZ ZELDA

Woo! Phantom Hourglass! IT'S MIIIIINE.

A multiple choice question

1. I am currently not blogging a whole bunch because I am doing a lot of...

A. Reading
B. Writing
C. Drawing
D. Sleeping
E. All of the above

Things I've finished lately

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. This was good. Very, very good. A heavy read, and I'm still absorbing a lot of it. I think I enjoyed the myths of Winter and the Ekumen far more than the actually relationship between Genly and Estraven. The whole gender-changing race was quite interesting, and I can see how it would've impacted the field so effectively nearly thirty years ago. I'm glad I finally read this--though it's not the first work in the Ekumen series I've tried--and now I can say I've read four Hugo-winning novels.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I picked this up for the PS2 a few months back, but never got around to finishing it up. The combat system is fun, but lacking in variety of attacks and enemies. The game was more frustrating than not, but after dropping to my death five times in a row I'd figure out the solution. Still, the end level/boss was complete crap and totally disappointing. I know this is the first in the series, which gives me hope that the later entries got better, but this one wasn't too great.

A new short story. Tis called "More's the Pity," and it clocks in at a chomping 2,500 words. I still need to give it a second read through, but otherwise I'm pretty pleased with it. Yet again I find myself writing about a neurotic journalist in the near-future that goes to parties where it is clear he doesn't fit in. Write what you know, they say, write what you know...

22 Most Awful Moments in SF

The 22 Most Awful Moments in Science Fiction brought to you by, not surprisingly, Something Awful.

Pushing Daisies tonight

Pushing Daisies is a show I've been very interested in seeing. It is looking to be a dark comedy/drama about a man with the ability to both bring back the dead to life and then kill them again--all with just a single touch. The show comes from Bryan Fuller, who created Dead Like Me, one of my top favorite TV shows...hmm, ever. The irony I'm sure will run wild once the show gets its legs, and I'm definitely drawn to the whole Gambit-Rogue love story between Ned and the (un)dead girl from his childhood. It's on tonight, people, so check your local listings and give the show a chance, I say.

Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress 22 - Review

I have four titles from Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress series gracing my bookshelf: XIII, XVI, XVIII, and now XXII. Not the greatest collection to refer back to, but hey, I just started nabbing them a few months back. I'm positive the used bookstore down the road from me has more, and I'll be hunting for others in the near future as it is seemingly harder and harder to satisfactorily fill the genre stepchild that is sword and sorcery. For now, the latest edition of the fantasy anthology that started back in the 1980s as an answer to a lack of strong female protagonists in the S&S subgenre has turned out to be quite enjoyable despite some quibbles.

The anthology opens with "Edra's Arrow" by Esther M. Friesner, a somewhat stereotypical sword and sorcery tale set in a magical land now void of animal life. Edra, a huntress, which her sister Jir believes to be the reason the gods are upset and cursed their people, has taken on the task to discover where all the forest's game has gone. Along her journey she is visited by the spirit of a dead shaman who gives her a gift and a choice. While I thought the choice was both obvious and rather trite, Edra's actions and the ultimate outcome surprised me. A sound story, replete with beautiful imagery and a lead woman that seems to be everything MZB looked for in a protagonist.

"A Nose for Trouble" by Patricia B. Cirone had a lot of different ideas in it, but the story's plot and its reveals were far too neat and tidy for my taste and did not justify the mystery's length. It opens with Marina returning late from her mam's to Madame Fertaglio's to half-witness a murder. Now she's worried sick that the sniffers are going to discover her and place the blame on her, but that's far from the truth. Soon, both the living and the dead will come to her for help. Cirone's world-building is pretty strong, offering a locale somewhat different from what one might expect in a sword and sorcery tale of magic, mystery, and manifestations. I just didn't find the solution to the Peacemaker's murder satisfying, and it's quite clear that Marina is beyond passive. This could've been so much more.

Anshazhe, hired assassins, are attacking the unbeknownst siblings Lin Mei and Biao Mei in Kendar in "Night Watches" by Catherine Soto. Luckily, both of them are skilled enough to defend themselves. Lin Mei has been having bad dreams as of late, is concerned about the kittens her brother and her saved from a caravan, and grows more and more suspicious of everyone within the city's walls. I really enjoyed this intricate story. It has several moments of tense, well-written action, and I found myself examining every character Lin Mei came across just as scrutinizing as she was; the problem of the deadly killers is only one of two that the sister and brother duo have to deal with, the latter being the far more intriguing difficulty. And I'm still thinking about those portentous cats—what's up with them, anyways? From Soto's bio I see that there's other stories centered on Lin Mei and Biao Mei, which is like music to my ears.

"Vanishing Village" by Margaret L. Carter let me down. The story is that of Liriel and Bertrice, a duo of mage companions that stumble upon the vanishing village of Meadowmill in search of the Duke's son who'd gone missing some time back. They get in, but can't get out—not until they deal with the powerful mage in complete control of everything happening within the village's boundaries. This includes the weather, the repair of necessities, and the creation of food. The two are impressed and nervous, but confident in their skills. Upon meeting the mage keeping everyone locked in they…talk it out. In a world where mages "cast an invisibility spell" I was expecting a bit more of a showdown at the end. Even though the magic system didn't work for me—I like deeper, intricate spells over simple ones—I still wanted a battle of magic come the end. Some might like this sort of thing, but the story just didn't resolve effectively enough for me to be glad to have read it.

"Pearl of Fire" by Deborah J. Ross is one of my top favorites in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress XXII. Rayzel's Great-grandfather passes along a family heirloom—the Pearl—to her before he dies, mistaking her for Devron, its rightful owner. The magical necklace sort of, kind of works like the One Ring in that epic fantasy book…hmm…what was it called again? Lord of the Rings? Yeah, that's it. As long as Rayzel wears the Pearl around her neck, she cannot be harmed. A sword cannot cut her, a fire cannot burn her—she's unstoppable. And just like anyone might expect this gift quickly becomes a curse, but not just for Rayzel. I enjoyed the story well enough, but couldn't fight this lingering feeling that it's been done many times before.

As an author's first published story, "The Ironwood Box" by Kimberly L. Maughan is astounding. It concerns three sisters, two of whom are magically gifted. That third is Pansy, or rather Persal ne-Marit, who has been having terrible dreams lately about the ironwood box that she is to look over but not open. Feeling useless, she flees—a dangerous decision given the circumstances. Head Queen Iril is after all three of them, wanting what they have internally, wanting it for pure and selfish reasons. A battle ensues, and with it the truth of Pansy's purpose is revealed. Hopefully, there'll be more from Maughan in the future.

One of the anthology's longest entry, "Bearing Shadows" by Dave Smeds is the saddening tale of Aerise, a woman exiled from all that she knows after it is discovered that her baby has been ill-conceived. She seeks sanctuary with the Cursed Folk, and there she meets the father of her child along with a fate that will test time itself. Smeds' use of language and dirty, almost surreal visuals of the Cursed Folk are beautifully done. There's a rather poignant moment at the end of Aerise's journey where she reacquaints herself with someone from her past. It had potential to not work, to even ruin everything Smeds had been building up to, but it did better than work—it made everything worth it, even the hard times and the pain Aerise went through with her pregnancy. This would be my favorite story in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress XXII.

"Black Ghost, Red Ghost" by Jonathan Moeller is, simply put, a fun story. Caina, an Emperor's Ghost, is on a secret mission to discover if Druzen, the Governor, is guilty of supporting a slaving gang operating in the province. If so, it then is her task to kill him, and to kill him like a ghost might—undetected, swift, and cold. While sneaking around undercover in Druzen's ballroom, Caina meets a magus named Ryther, who, seemingly, has the same intentions of her. Or is there more to his story?

This is a story full of mystery and magic, its action scenes heavy and brimming with tension, its world both interesting and unexpected. Caina is a strong heroine, capable of both containing herself and solving the numerous problems that pop up to block her path. I enjoyed the twist at the end the best, how she reacted to it, and the problem's solution—the actually ending itself could've been more abrupt, but I still found myself having a good time, all while thinking of Moeller's work as a holy mixture of an episode of Firefly, an adventure akin to something Mercedes Lackey might storm up, and an explosion of fantastical espionage.

"The Decisive Princess" by Catherine Mintz is a short, very descriptive piece of alternate history. To say much more of the story would ruin its effect, and I'd just recommend anyone reading the anthology to not skip this one lightly; it's a strong story, deeply built with a scenario that forces a princess to make a hard decision. Mintz writes very well, and I enjoyed the subtleness of "The Decisive Princess," especially the way it is still popping up in my head days after I've read it. Now that's the mark of an excellent story.

"Child of the Father" by Alanna Morland is a hard story to talk about for many reasons: it's complicated, faster than a fireball, and just mentioning some of the characters and who they are can ruin the truly deviously set twist at the tale's end. I will say this much: the piece is well-written, with engaging dialogue and believable heroines, and the danger they face is both creepy and captivating.

First, there is death. "Child of Ice, Child of Flame" by Marian Allen opens on a grim scene: Casilda stands triumphantly over the town's slain champion, waiting to receive her prize for defeating such a warrior. Will it be jewels? Land? Or power? The prize she's given is certainly unexpected and has its own stout tale to tell. Allen manages to pack a lot into this short story, balancing both the history of the townspeople's culture and the plight of Casilda's choices rather well. It never feels like too much is happening when, clearly, a lot actually is going down.

"Skin and Bones" by Heather Rose Jones focuses on Ashóli, a Kaltaoven witch otherwise known as a skinchanger. The Marchalt of Wilentelu has chosen her to find the nearest village of skin-singers and bargain with them for his sake. She does, but soon finds herself bargaining for those she cares most about. I found myself a bit confused at exactly what skinchangers were in Jones' world, and suspect that previous Skins stories might clear that up. Ashóli is another strong example of the type of female protagonist that exemplifies a refreshingly ample amount of humility and heart. What the story lacks in terms of action it more than makes up in characterization. An excellent read, and now I must find others in the same universe to devour.

I find the inclusion of "Crosswort Puzzle" by Michael Spence and Elisabeth Waters to be a bit bothersome here. For one, it's half-written by the anthology's editor, raising (half) a red flag on its merit immediately. Second, from what I've gathered the Sword and Sorceress series has always prided itself on publishing both old and new authors, always eager to find fresh new voices in its slushpiles and make them heard loud and clear. So, er, yeah…I don't know. This, at first glance, just feels wrong.

With that said, let's move on to what it's actually about. Laurel and her colleagues are trying to solve the crosswort problem. See, crosswort treats melancholia, but it can also have the opposite effect and turn folks suicidal. Turns out the Royal Guard just ordered a huge shipment of the herb, whether they know its bad effects or not. So the question is: what can be done now? The story works well enough as a problem/solution archetype, and I liked a lot of the world-building. Magic is done subtly, and there's a lot of mystery in the beginning which is cleared up in no time at all. It definitely felt different than what I was expecting, and now after reading all the stories this one most certainly stands out like a wizard's tower in a grassy field. I'm not sure what that actually means in the long run, but it seemed worth mentioning.

And one last thing, which really has nothing to do with the story, but I have trouble reading the name Melisande as any other character other than that demon-laboring sorceress in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. Everyone else just pales in comparison to her.

"Fairy Debt" by T. Borregaard does indeed have a fairy being in debt to a human king. Unfortunately for our fairy protagonist, her mother (who originally owed the debt) died and left the task to her. And the second unfortunate problem would be that she does not have working means, which as anyone knows means she does not have working magic. Her Aunt Twill offers her the only viable solution: working the debt back the tough way, with honest-to-fairy servitude. Borregaard's writing reminding me a lot of Terry Pratchett, in that it's both serious and silly; of course, it leans more to the silliness at times, but that's not a problem in a world where fairies go swimming in a rather dramatic river. This is an amusing story, and probably would've been a better choice to end the anthology on.

"Tontine" by Robert E. Vardeman is the type of dark sword and sorcery work that I absolutely love. Captain Jonna el-MMarran has returned to the tavern that, thirty years prior, her friends and her had given their essences (so to speak) to a bottle of wine. This is a magical pact, a tontine, one where the last surviving member of the group has to drink the bottle's entire contents. By doing so, they are not only drinking to their dead friend's memories, but vividly reliving them. The death of her three friends are dolefully experienced, and there's still a sense of accordance as Jonna finishes off the bottle and exits into the night. Dark, abnormal, and ruthless—overall, a story I'd highly recommend.

It's been a recurring crux that each entry in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress series ends on a short piece of humorous fiction. Thus, "The Menagerie" by Sarah Dozier, a tale of two kingdoms at war and the assassin being asked by both sides to help out. It's a quick history lesson, peppered with some sneaky tricks and magical creatures. The problem lies in that humor is more often than not subjective. I didn't necessarily find anything funny about the story, but I still liked it regardless.

I do hope the series continues on as there were some definitive standouts in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress XXII. The anthology covers a lot of topics and ideas, and bounces from one female lead to another with little transition. Still, each story stands on its own merits, making this easy to read and even easier to enjoy. Start with "Bearing Shadows" though; I promise you it's that good.

The latest to-do-list

Things to do that probably should be done more soonish than later:

• Review Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress 22
• Review The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
  
• Review Analog, December 2007 for The Fix
  
• Draw Friday's comic for MyLifeComics

Things to do that probably have no rush on them. No, scratch that. They have no rush on them:

• Cross the 30K mark on the novel
• Review Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
• Review Killswitch by Joel Shepherd (but I should probably read the second book first before tackling this third one, eh?)
• Rewrite "Pigment"
• Rewrite "Nineteen and a Half Cats"
  

Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time?

I stole this one from Rob, who I'm pretty sure stole it from somebody else. What can I say? We're all a bunch of greedy, bloggin' blackguards.

Anyways, it's easy to play along. Just copy the list and BOLD the movies you have seen. Don't be surprised to see that I haven't seen some of the more, er, popular SF films. I'll preface this with the fact that I've asked for Blade Runner on DVD for Christmas--so don't yell at me and call me names!

1. Metropolis (1927)
2. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
3. Brazil (1985)
4. Wings of Desire (1987)
5. Blade Runner (1982)
6. Children of Men (2006)
7. The Matrix (1999)
8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
9. Minority Report (2002)
10. Delicatessen (1991)
11. Sleeper (1973)
12. The Trial (1962)
13. Alphaville (1965)
14. Twelve Monkeys (1995)
15. Serenity (2005)
16. Pleasantville (1998)
17. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
18. Battle Royale (2000)
19. RoboCop (1987)
20. Akira (1988)
21. The City of Lost Children (1995)
22. Planet of the Apes (1968)
23. V for Vendetta (2005)
24. Metropolis (2001)
25. Gattaca (1997)
26. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
27. On The Beach (1959)
28. Mad Max (1979)
29. Total Recall (1990)
30. Dark City (1998)
31. War Of the Worlds (1953)
32. District 13 (2004)
33. They Live (1988)
34. THX 1138 (1971)
35. Escape from New York (1981)
36. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
37. Silent Running (1972)
38. Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
39. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
40. A Boy and His Dog (1975)
41. Soylent Green (1973)
42. I Robot (2004)
43. Logan's Run (1976)
44. Strange Days (1995)
45. Idiocracy (2006)
46. Death Race 2000 (1975)
47. Rollerball (1975)
48. Starship Troopers (1997)
49. One Point O (2004)
50. Equilibrium (2002)