These SXSW Trailers Just Keep Getting Better!
Just found this one over at QuietEarth about two minutes ago, Clay Liford’s new film Earthling. Let me start by quoting their brief synopsis of the film from it’s facebook page, and then I’ll rant about how excited I am for it.
After a mysterious atmospheric event aboard the International Space Station, a small group of people wake up to realize that their entire lives have been a lie. They are in fact aliens disguised as humans. Now they have to make a choice. Live amongst men, or try to find a way back home
Wait…. what?! Are you kidding me?! This is the most insanely awesome concept I’ve heard for a sci fi flick in a long, long time. This is the kind of science fiction that gets me on the edge of my seat in anticipation. This is the kind of science fiction that gets my brain working over time, considering the potential of all the concepts presented before me. This is the kind of science fiction that makes you feel small and insignificant in the grand scheme of everything the universe has to offer. This is what science fiction should be, and honestly, it’s not surprising to me at all that it’s coming from an independent filmmaker.
Over the last year alone, independent writers and directors almost single handedly brought on a new wave of incredibly intelligent science fiction. Films like Moon and District 9 finally broke the mold of formulaic, cliched, and overly action-oriented sci fi films of the past few years, and actually made their way into thousands of theaters. It’s unfortunate that they were both quickly over shadowed by James Cameron formulaic, cliched, and overly action-oriented Avatar, but it paved the way for a new brand of intellectual and smart filmmaking. Thanks to directors like Clay Liford, and recent underground films like Phasma Ex Machine (check out my prior article here), or Re-Wire, I really want to believe that we are at the dawn of something incredible. Sci fi fans are finally starting to speak out against the mind numbing crap that Hollywood feeds us each and every year, and it’s those fans who are now starting to make their own films.
So check out the trailer for Earthling below. I’m absolutely stoked about this one, it looks utterly amazing, with a soundtrack and visuals that evoke an emotion and tone the likes of which are rarely felt in cinema today. Hopefully audiences everywhere we’ll get a chance to see this flick very soon. Well done Mr. Liford.
-William Gutheil
