Welcome to this weeks Miniatures & Musings!
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This week saw a return to my “to do” pile. I didn’t have a great deal of love for this figure. It is one from Reaper rather than Knuckleduster which might surprise one or two of you. Not entirely sure why I had such a lack of interest, I think he was just a victim of wanting him done to move on. I’m not normally given to such moods when painting, perhaps it’s indicative of the current times.
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Well It Made Me Laugh
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Give Me Five
I thought I would start something new from this week, my top 5 things under whatever category happens to take my fancy. Could be film categories, music, places visited, food I like, books – you name it. To start with I thought I would kick off with something not to random but probably controversial – my top 5 Science Fiction films.
Feel free to agree or disagree or even add your own list. The films are not ranked in any order and of course I have left a great number of fantastic films out. These just happen to be 5 films I can watch again and again and which blew me away at the time of there release. So, in no particular order:
- Blade Runner (1982)
- Alien (1979)
- The Terminator (1984)
- The Thing (1982)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
What no Star Wars? Not even Star Trek? Nope. The longer the list the easier it is to simply pick everything and remove the debate process so that’s why I went for 5 rather than a top 10 or 20.
Even if we all disagree we should at least come up with a great list!
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This week TIM has been listening to …
“Footloose”. I enjoyed both the original film and the remake and loved the title song. This version is an extended one and is a mash up of dancing sequences from movies. I do think the people who put these things together with such perfect timing are very, very clever.
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This week TIM has been watching …
“Broken City” starring Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crown. I seem to be on bit of a role in terms of watching crap at the moment. I like both actors and thought I would be on a winner with this one but sadly not. Maybe it’s just me.
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Remember …
If at frist you don’t succeed try doing it the way your wife told you.
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TIM
The Imperfect Modeller 
figure looks like wyatt earp or doc holiday type chap, well painted again. I agree with the list but would swap blade runner for time machine, a jules verne classic..
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that should be h g wells, i am a prat..
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That’s a good shout, I’ll have to see if I can find it to watch. 🙂
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I like the mini! 🙂 Brainwipe prevents me from coming up with a top five sci-fi films, although Aliens, Predator and the original Star Wars (what is now Episode 4) films would be there (but for me not Close Encounters – felt it was a bit of an anticlimax)!
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Thanks John. I know what you mean about Close Encounters but my love of the film probably has more to do with the girl I went to the cinema to watch it with! 😉
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I think he looks pretty good indeed. Maybe your lack of interest came from the somewhat monotone scheme? The end result is excellent but perhaps the process was rather unexciting.
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I think you may well have hit the nail o the head my friend. 🙂
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That is a surprise to see that Reaper made that one. It is a nice sculpt and you did a nice job on him. I like his black hat for some reason that I can’t explain. Just gives him a bit of character I suppose 🙂
If I had to pick my top 5 Sci-Fi movies, I’d probably pick a lot of modern, conventional ones (probably due to my age because I’ve only seen one of the movies on your list!):
Star Wars: A New Hope
Star Trek (2009)
Star Wars: Rogue One
Blade Runner
Moon or maybe Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (if it can be considered Sci-Fi!).
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Film selection is very much a generation thing I think. The films I chose are to some extent heaped in nostalgia. These days the visual effects are so much better along with some of the story lines and of course then there is the acting.
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That makes perfect sense to me and I think at least in some cases, the movies you see at a certain age are generally destined to become favorites because of the impact they had on you at the time (which in turn creates nostalgia for them). Either way, it was fun to see your thoughts and others on this topic!
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Another good mini Dave. As for top 5 Sci fi films…
In no particular order. Star Wars, Starship Troopers, Coneheads, Silent Running, Aliens
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Leaving out Starship Troopers was tough I must say. Two very attractive women, fantastic aliens and a very cheesy script which oddly really worked.
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Well the end result on that cowboy looks good, but I know all too well what it’s like to lose interest in a miniature before you reach the finish line. It happens to the best of us (well it’s clearly happened to both you and I as that goes without saying).
Loved the magic picture, have already saved it and sent it round the usual suspects. 😀
Good shout on the idea of a top 5 list and some great picks there. I can’t help but notice that the most recent of them was released the same year I was born! 😉 Alien and The Terminator are both excellent – and arguably Blade Runner is the best of the bunch, although there were a few moments that should maybe have ended up on the cutting room floor (that dove that Roy is holding at the end – where the hell did he get it from?!). Haven’t seen Close Encounters or the Thing – although when I very briefly did drama at school we did a bit of ad-lib based on the Thing – both are on my to-watch list though. Some great suggestions from elsewhere in the comments too – Star Wars is great (although secretly I don’t know if it would make my top 5 either, might get burned as a heretic for saying that though), Predator obviously, and Moon is excellent (although it reminded me uncomfortably of a place I used to work…). How about Arrival? Best sci-fi of the last decade at least I would say.
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Not heard of Arrival but will look it out for sure based on your recommendation. Moon to has passed me by as well so another one I will have to look into. Star Wars if I am being honest I just never got into. I will try again now that the nights are closing in. My son has all of the films but oddly they never grabbed me. There is no doubt the series was ground breaking and the first film changed everything. Prior to its release everything was still cowboys and indians with a bit of WW2 thrown in but after the release of Star Wars became the new frontier where no man has gone before (you would think someone could use a line like that wouldn’t you?). Of course advances in special effects made a huge difference and helped catch everyone’s imagination.
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Yea, Moon is great!
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Will check it out.
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Nice work on that figure.
Hard to argue with your choices in your top 5 list either.
Cheers,.
Pete.
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Thanks Pete.
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It’s interesting that artists often do really nice work on stuff they could care less about. Well, not that you could care less about that mini, but sounds like it wasn’t doing it for you. Personally I think he looks great and I’m really surprised to find out he was from Reaper.
Really nice choice on the movies. I have little debate on them. Alien is one of my fave all time movies. I like 2001 as well, though the trippy light sequence can be taxing on the 40th watch. I actually didn’t watch The Thing until early 00s. The FX held up well and it’s an amazing SciFi in its own right. Not to give any spoilers, but the intro is really interesting on. rewatch. I was shouting at the screen, haha! 😉
Always cool to see your paints, and your work on the Western minis is outstanding.
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Cheers mate, really appreciate your comments. 😊
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Man oh man, you are the King of Leather…or painting leather anyways 😜
The movie list is good, here’s my take:
1. Blade Runner
2. The Matrix
3. The Fifth Element
4. Star Wars
5. Star Trek Wrath of Khan
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Oooh, yes, now that Mark’s mentioned it “The Fifth Element” would definitely be on my list!
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I had forgotten the Fifth Element. I must watch that again. 🙂
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Nice mini, nice movie list too! I’d probably have Predator in there somewhere, but I can’t argue with the top 3.
I wouldn’t have Star Wars in my top 5 sci-fi either – there’s no bloody science in it!! I do have it as my favourite fairy tale… A princess to rescue from an evil wizard’s fortress, magic, spirits, rags-to-riches farm boy story… it’s a fairytale that just happens to be in space 🙂
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The more I think about it the more I agree with your take on Star Wars are maybe that’s why it never quite worked for me. 🙂
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Great mini. Love his dawn off shotgun. The Thing is one of my all time favourite science fiction movies. The soundtrack is phenomenal. So basic but really adds to the overall atmosphere of the movie. Geeeeezzzz top five?! Well look Star Wars for me surpasses any list anyway. It’s a category all of its own and in the 2010 census I put my religion down as Jedi haha. So, excluding Star Wars, my list is as follows: NPA
1. Predator (technically it is science fiction)
2. The Thing
3. Aliens (Love Alien but the sequel just gets over the line a little bit more for me).
4. Terminator
5. Outland (Sean Connery)
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No surprise to Predator on your list!
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