Hugo thoughts?

[ffutures]

Since I attended last year's worldcon I'm eligible to nominate for this year's Hugo awards, but won't be voting since I haven't joined the 2015 worldcon.

Any particularly worthy SF published last year I should be considering nominating? Also movies, TV, etc.?

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I thought The Martian by Andy Weir was truly superb. I think that came out last year?

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Roz had Resurrections released in 2014 too didn't she?

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed Raising Steam, but it feels more valedictory than groundbreaking.

I thought My Real Children was skillfully written, as almost everything from Walton is, but I found it so unrelievedly grim that I took little pleasure in reading it; it was like reading Tess of the d'Urbervilles or Jane Eyre.

So no, no novels to recommend as "it just totally jumps out at me."

In films, I was very impressed by Captain America: The Winter Soldier, not merely as an action film but for its moral themes, which I find stronger on repeated viewings.

What are the rules for film year of eligibility? Predestination impressed me quite a lot, as the truest film adaptation of Heinlein I've seen or heard of. It was released in the United States in 2015 (and not at all in San Diego; we had to buy it for download to see it!), but I see in Wikipedia that it was released 2014 in Australia and perhaps elsewhere.

I enjoyed Lucy's vision of emergent superhumanity, but its scientific rationale was utterly flimsy; that business of 90% of brain power being unused wasn't good science even when people first started putting it forward.

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

The movie Under the Skin definitely deserves a nod, although it will probably be swept aside by the more commercially savvy Interstellar. I wrote about them both here (http://stevegreen.livejournal.com/781292.html).

Ah, possible problem: Under the Skin wasn't released over here until March 2014, and the USA until April 2014, but there were preview screenings at a couple of festivals in late 2013. Not sure if that puts it out of the frame.

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

Captain America: The Winter Soldier indeed had a refreshing political self-awareness, an element I also noticed intensifying in the first instalment of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay.

[davidbrider.livejournal.com]

In books, I thought The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August was particularly good. FWIW.

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

In film, Guardians of the Galaxy, Dawn the Planet of the Apes, Godzilla, and Captain America were all good.

Lucy? Dear god...what a wretched film!)

[john44444.livejournal.com]

For dramatic presentations:
Coherence for best long, The Quantum Tree for short

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

Sadly, it was self-published earlier, then issued from a major publisher in 2014. So its eligibility for a Hugo has passed. Otherwise it would be on my list!

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

It's already on my list, probably my first choice.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

I found it definitely more enjoyable than Guardians of the Galaxy. But aside from that, I think it has a better claim to be science fiction. GotG was an action/adventure film set in outer space, done in a comedic spirit, but without any real speculative content. Lucy was about a speculative idea: transformative change from humanity to posthumanity and what it might look like. Admittedly the premise about how the change was brought about was an old urban legend of science, but flimsy scientific rationales have characterized science fiction films from The Day the Earth Stood Still to the Star Trek films to The Matrix; and there were some imaginative and interesting ideas about how superhumanity might manifest itself.

So, no, I'm not buying a rating of Lucy as wretched on a scale where GotG gets a pass.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think so - I read a draft earlier, but it's eligible as far as I know.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Ah that's a shame. It would be a hands-down winner for best Sci-Fi novel otherwise.

[filkerdave.livejournal.com]

Oh, GotG made no sense at all but it was fun.

Lucy was just a hot mess. I don't mind that the science was crap (I mean, c'mon, Godzilla is one of my choices) but it was just a bad film with performances so flat that had I not watched it on a transatlantic flight, I'd have walked out.

The CGI apes in "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" had more humanity.

[pauldormer.livejournal.com]

I rather liked the last episode of Warehouse 13. Probably hasn't a chance against GoT, but I'll nominate it.

(And if you want to vote as well as nominate, I can sell you a supporting membership for £25.)