It's not science fiction if there's no creativity...

I'm not saying that Alfonso Cuaron's new film is not great. On the contrary, I think it is certainly one of the best films of the year. What I am saying is that for it to be considered (and written off) as "Science Fiction," it would have to be imaginative. It would need to possess those qualities of a Philip K. Dick or an Isaac Asimov story -- that seeing far enough into the possibility of our future mixed with a certain element of creativity and fancy.

Children of Men is many things, but it is most certainly not a flight of some author/filmmaker's fancy.

Last year, Paul Haggis' Crash was given the Best Picture Oscar, to many many peoples' chagrin. I agreed with that decision, not only because I thought it was a great film, but because more than any other film, it spoke to the persistent problem of race in this country. In the year of Katrina, that was incredibly and indelibly relevant.

As of today, more American soldiers have been killed in Iraq than Americans died on 9/11. The cold war with Iran is heating up and immigration issues here and abroad show no signs of calming. I have not seen, nor do I expect to see, any film, tv show, nor have I heard of or read any novel, that better responds to the times we live in than Cuaron's Children of Men.

I would not bet against the likelihood of our 2027 looking quite a bit like the 2027 in the film.

Pretty scary.

Great movie.