2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Daisy, Daisy,
Give me your answer do!
I'm half crazy,
All for the love of you!
It won't be a stylish marriage,
I can't afford a carriage
But you'll look sweet upon the seat
Of a bicycle made for two.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Klaatu barada nikto.

A movie with a message. Will we Earthlings be able listen to Klaatu's message and change our violent ways so that we can escape destruction and join the galactic community? Ahhh, a movie that is able to deliver its message without showing us the slaughter of millions of people. Four stars. If you have seen the new version with Keanu, know that it is a VERY different movie, and you must go and see the original NOW.

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

Here is a movie so unbelievably wonderfully bad that I have had to re-watch large portions of it two times in under a month to share it with my dad and my boyfriend.  All lovers of bad science fiction MUST see this movie.  I've just learned that this was in fact used in an episode of Mystery Science Theater! Perfect.

Oh, where to begin?

The children of Mars have no real childhood.  From the time they are born, information is piped into their little heads, so that they are really like mini-adults, seemingly with no emotion (although that could have been due to the quality of acting).  When we first meet the Martians, we learn that the children, in need of childhood as they are, have become addicted to Earth tv, especially to broadcasts about Santa Claus.  Concerned Martian leader, Kimar, calls together the Martian council and goes off to talk to the wise and creaky elder Chochem.  Once Chochem explains the detrimental effect of not having a true childhood, the council decides that the thing to do is... go to Earth and kidnap Santa Claus!

I should take this moment to mention that the photo above is indeed of Martian children.  Green face paint and antenna on your helmet designate you a martian in this movie.

When the Martians land on Earth they meet and capture young Betty and Billy Foster, who tell them that Santa lives at the North Pole.  The children try to escape to warn Santa, and much drama ensues, involving terrible acting by the Foster children, silly antics of the Martian Dropo (their resident idiot?), a narrow escape from a man wearing a really bad polar bear costume (meant to be a polar bear), and a final capture by the cardboard robot pictured below.

Santa is captured and brought to Mars, along with Betty and Billy, where he immediately inspires the Martian children and begins to manufacture toys in a factory made for him by the Martians.  Santa chuckles a lot.  Dropo continues to be silly.
Conflict boils over, however, when the evil Voldar, who has been grumpy about the plan to bring Santa to Mars all along (grumpy to the point of having made an attempt on the lives of poor Santa, Betty, and Billy!) sabotages the toy factory and tries to kidnap Santa.  See how angry he is below?

I will go ahead and ruin the ending for you.  All works out well, the Earthlings get to go home, and Dropo becomes the Martian Santa Claus.

One star for my favorite scene involving Santa Claus's brilliant escape from an airlock on-board the martian ship.  It is worth seeing the movie just for this scene.  I am sure that I will someday see this movie again in its entirety, and there are so many people in my life who may soon need to be subjected to at least a few scenes.  So convenient that it is an "instant" movie on Netflix!

Invaders from Mars (1953)

Here is a movie that terrified my Dad as a little boy. I wish I had known that before I called him up afterwards and said something along the lines of, "That was one of the funniest movies I've ever seen! What was with the aliens with the zip-up fur?"

At the beginning of the movie, our young hero David sees something land in the hills behind his house. When his dad returns from investigating, it is clear to David that something is wrong. His dad has become grumpy! One by one, adults in the film go up the hill, get sucked into the ground by the aliens that have landed there, and return grumpy, brainwashed, and controlled, ready to do the aliens' bidding. There is also one poor little girl who gets used by the aliens, with a tragic twist. After burning down her own house, her little brain explodes. Apparently when the aliens no longer need you, they pop your brain. David, no longer able to trust his parents, must find new, un-brainwashed adults who believe his story and can help him to fight against the alien invaders, who are of course here to take over the Earth.

One of my favorite moments in the movie was watching the zipped up teletubby-like aliens lumber through underground caves after our heroes. Was I supposed to be worried? Oh, and the head alien...

How could you not love an evil, rubber, many-legged head suspended in a glass globe? Especially if this creature can control its teletubby minions with only the power of its mind?

Sorry Dad, one star, but this movie is definitely worth seeing. And I can definitely make myself see how this could have been a scary movie to a seven-year old in the fifties.