The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Dir. Robert Wise

Amid giant irradiated crabs and attacking UFOs, American post-war science-fiction cinema in the 1950s produced some genuine classics. The Day the Earth Stood Still is one of the very best.

The intelligent script covers a wide spectrum of social concerns, while the contrasts between the military response to an alien visitation and the scientific response (i.e. between men of war and men of reasoning + logic) couldn't be clearer.

Alongside that are more subtle but no less powerful parallels, including an evil among us that looks like us and a determined saviour with a powerful message for the entire world.

Bernard Herrmann's futuristic-sounding score, using electric strings and the wacky theremin, conceptualises the eeriness of another world.

Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I – IV (2008)

Nine Inch Nails: Ghosts I – IV (2008)

The sixth NIN studio album is almost entirely instrumental. It's a work that needs abstract analogies to define it.

I'm respectfully not going to attempt to provide any such things because they'll likely be different for everyone who hears it. Whether intentional or not, the music is like a soundtrack to whatever fleeting thought a subject's mind conjures when it's given free rein to do so. As you listen to it play, you'll create the meaning yourself.

It's split into four parts with nine tracks apiece. There's a specific mood to each of the four parts but they're malleable and can be made to fit the listener's own ideals and anxieties.

The A-Team: War Stories (2010)

The A-Team: War Stories (2010)

Authors: Chuck Dixon / Erik Burnham | Illustrators: Hugo Petrus / Casey Maloney / Guiu Vilanova / Alberto Muriel | Page Count: 104

"And, no I don't see it as unrealistic. Maybe impractical. but impractical just takes a little longer..."

Four individual stories, one for each member of The A-Team, collected together into a handy TPB. It's a prequel, so they aren't technically The A-Team herein, but the essence of each character as we'll come to know them later in their life is present and identifiable.

They're all set during the Gulf War but aren't connected in any way, and there's no crossover shenanigans, so you're free to read them in whichever order you choose.

I started with Hannibal's, then moved onto B.A, then Murdock, and finally Face. Structurally, they give each man a single objective or goal, which in three of the four cases is to retrieve/extract something from a potential war zone. The fourth is similar, except it's to procure something, an item that's almost impossible to find at short notice. Neither operation goes exactly to plan, of course, but thanks to the participants' skills and ingenuity things tend to work out in the end.

Jeffrey Lewis: 12 Crass Songs (2007)

Jeffrey Lewis: 12 Crass Songs (2007)

Anarchic British punk band CRASS covered by an American in a mostly acoustic indie (anti)folk style. It's an odd paring but it works well, probably in part because punk is a feeling as much as a genre of music. Acoustic guitar, vocals, bongo drums and piano married to punk sensibilities and scathing lyrics make it one of the more unique albums in my collection.

There are times when it reminds me of primary school sing-a-longs, but that just adds to the experience - picturing the songs in an educational setting makes a kind of sense, and suggests an extra layer of unity.

The songs are the same, you'll recognise them instantly if you're at all familiar with the originals. There's an occasional lyric change but nothing disrespectful.

The Incredible Hulk: Original Movie Collection (2018)

The Incredible Hulk:
Original Movie Collection (2018)

Dirs. Nicholas Corea / Bill Bixby | 3 Films, approx 272 mins (total)

The 2018 date given above refers to the three-disc DVD box-set released by Fabulous Films in that year, but the three films themselves are from much earlier (1988-90). They're set after The Incredible Hulk TV series (1977-82) that starred Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno as scientist David Banner and his alter-ego, respectively.

The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988)

Dir. Nicholas Corea

It's been two years since David Banner burst his shirt and trousers in a green rage. He's in a stable relationship and working on a gamma transponder that could potentially rid him of his alter ego forever, but a face from his past upsets the apple cart, and pesky reporter Jack McGee (Jack Colvin) is back on Banner's trail again.

Life on Mars: The Complete Collection (2006–07)

Life on Mars: The Complete Collection (2006–07)

Dirs: Various | Seasons: 2 (16 episodes, approx 60 mins each)

While it does fit comfortably into the wider science fiction genre, Life on Mars isn't set on the red planet. It's set in Manchester, North West England in the years 2006 and 1973.

Present in both times is DCI Sam Tyler (John Simm). Sam gets injured in the line of duty, knocked unconscious while chasing a suspect in 2006, he wakes up in 1973, discombobulated and dressed in period clothes, but with his instincts intact - he's still a detective.

There's a level of ambiguity, so we're never really sure if Sam has jumped back in time thirty-three years or if his consciousness is inventing the scenario, perhaps as a means to work though some personal issues or trauma while his real self lies unconscious in 2006.