10. “2046” (2004)
Wong Kar Wai followed his mannered, yearning romance “In the Mood for Love” with what is, for Wong, a surprisingly direct sequel. Tony Leung Chiu-wai appears again as Chow, mourning his relationship failure by remaking his own image, and holed up in a hotel where he falls in love anew and pens science fiction tales, visualized gloriously for us, about a dystopian future where, maybe, lost memories can be found. So it’s about science fiction, kind of, but is the film itself sci-fi? Yes, if more in the manner of “La Jetee” and “Alphaville” than “Star Trek.” The director’s collision of intuition and perfectionism fostered an extended, fluid production. The result is a remix of the pains of love and regret so masterfully depicted in “In the Mood for Love,” but one that seems to be remaking itself as it goes along, melodrama as a self-aware system striving to replicate feelings rather than thought.
9. “Quatermass and the Pit” (1967)
Excavation in the London Underground reveals ancient human remains and the wreckage of a five million-year old alien craft, complete with strange passengers like giant mummified locusts. What emerges via these discoveries has ties to human evolution and religion, as uncovered by Andrew Kier as Professor Bernard Quatermass, gently bearish in tweed. Hammer Films is best known for its run of ’50s horror; that run began with a sci-fi/horror hybrid adapting groundbreaking 1953 TV series “The Quatermass Experiment.” Try to keep track: that original TV series had two sequel series, each of which was adapted into a feature film version. “Quatermass and the Pit,” aka “Five Million Years to Earth” in the U.S., adapted the third series as a blend of science fiction, folk horror, and pulp drama, pitched perfectly to appeal to “Twilight Zone” acolytes. The “Quatermass” series, despite revival attempts in the U.K., remains relatively undiscovered in the U.S., but this film is the best entry point to a collection of stories that deserve a lot more attention. (BBC America has announced a new “Quatermass” remake for television, so perhaps the professor’s time has come round again.)