With 2022 well and truly wrapped up we thought we’d take a look back at some of our favourite picks from the last 12 months here at SciFiNow.
January
TV Show
Station Eleven, adapted from the novel of the same name by Emily St. John Mandel landed on Starz Play (now Lionsgate+) to tell a story of a group of survivors following a global pandemic. While it may have been too soon and too close to home for some of us, we loved the performances by stars Mackenzie Davis and Himesh Patel and caught up with the pair to talk about making a show about a pandemic… during a pandemic!
Film
Dune wowed us all in cinemas, and January brought it to Digital Download, Blu-Ray, DVD and VOD. The chance to rewatch Denis Villeneuve’s masterfully faithful depiction of the Frank Herbert classic of interstellar war between ancient houses was something not to be missed. With plenty of awards buzz in the air, we jumped at the chance to speak to soon-to-be oscar winner Greig Fraser before he collected his Academy Award for Cinematography.
Book
The Chosen Twelve from author James Breakwell had us hooked with the opening line ‘God lived in the coffee maker on deck four’! A story of survival and re-populating distant colonies, The Chosen Twelve was a crazy ride filled with humour and big questions like ‘is existing the same as living?’
Special Shout Out
Mother/Android dropped on Netflix without much fanfare but it gave us an intense and heartfelt love story, set in a future robo-pocalypse. A strange hybrid of Terminator and Blue Valentine. We chatted with writer and director Mattson Tomlin and found out how his own adoption story fed into the heart of the movie.
February
TV
Outlander, the time-travelling historical love story arrived with its sixth season in February. Roger and Brianna, set to stay in the 18th Century spent the season tackling motherhood, marriage and the American Revolution. We spoke with stars Sophie Skelton and Richard Rankin to find out how else they might bring “futuristic” ideals to the past.
Film
Veteran director Roland Emmerich took us to moon and back in Moonfall, which saw Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry and John Bradley suiting up and jetting off to space to prevent global catastrophe and stop the Moon colliding with Earth. Filled with the same levels of fun and ambition as any Roland Emmerich disaster movie, we couldn’t resist finding out just what makes the man shoot for the stars.
Book
Now in production as Mickey 17 with Oscar winning director Bong Joon-Ho, we devoured authour Edward Ashton’s Mickey 7.A story about a recyclable astronaut, tasked with only the most dangerous jobs, on an interstellar colonisation mission. Mickey 7 was funny, heartfelt and a poignant study of how we can prevent history from repeating itself. We spoke with Ashton to find out more
Special Shout Out
Filmmaker family The Adams (The Deeper You Dig) returned in 2022 with Hellbender, a witchy coming-of-age story complete with a self-orchestrated hauntingly punk soundtrack. The folk horror was made on a micro budget and we spoke with The Adams to find out how they made the movie out the back of a truck and trailer as they toured across America
March
TV
Following the popularity of the rebooted Suicide Squad, James Gunn produced a TV spin-off no-one expected, Peacemaker. Starring wrestling legend John Cena, we were treated to more violence and silliness as we followed one of DC comics’ most well intentioned dickheads take on his own unique set of daddy issues
Film
March finally gave us a chance to see R-Batz as Robert Pattinson don the cape and cowl in Matt Reeves’ gritty The Batman. The first stand alone Batman film in ten years, we saw the caped crusader take on Paul Dano’s Riddler in an effort to save Gotham. We managed to grab some time with producer Dylan Clark and stars Jeffrey Wright and Paul Dano to talk about continuing the Batman legacy.
Book
March was a bit of a DC heavy month, and we loved picking up the Black Label publication of James Tynion IV’s 12 issue mini series, The Nice House On The Lake. A haunted house tale that throws a high school reunion into the chaos of a post apocalyptic nightmare.
Special Shout Out
Fresh was the surprise horror we didn’t know we needed, but knew we loved. It’s a movie we just had to talk to everyone about, but unfortunately you need to watch if first, as the less you know going in, the better. Fortunately we spoke to director Mimi Cave, so she can give you all the spoiler-free lowdown on the Disney + shocker.
April
TV
Star Trek Prodigy finally landed on UK Paramount+ in April giving us all a chance to watch as Star Trek’s saviour, Alex Kurtzman expand the universe to bring Trek to a younger audience. Starring none other than Captain Kathryn Janeway (voiced by Kate Mulgrew herself), Prodigy was the first foray into making a more kid-friendly show. We spoke with the cast and crew to find out more
Film
Following the success of The Witch and The Lighthouse, writer/director Robert Eggers retuned with his unique and distinctive The Northman to deliver an exhilarating viking revenge saga that outdoes most modern blockbusters in terms of action, while maintaining the strangeness of Eggers’ ourve.
Book
When we asked author Chris Panatier about how he created Stringers, we were most assuredly not expecting him to start down a rabbit hole of bug penises. Yet, the world is strange and we were grateful to read Panatier’s sprawling buddy adventure complete with flesh-robot bounty-hunters, faster than light travel, galactocalpyse, and a surprisingly resilient jar of pickles.
Special Shout Out
When we heard that the entiretly of Farscape was coming back to the Horror Channel, we couldn’t resist revisiting the series and counting down our top ten funniest, craziest and most emotional episodes… In fact, we may start rewatching again now…
May
TV
Well hello there. What’s that? Another new Star Wars series? Oh, go on then. Why not. The galaxy’s favourite hermit Obi-Wan Kenobi returned with his own show on Disney + in May, bringing with it old stars and new. We chatted with director and showrunner Deborah Chow about having Ewan McGregor on board for the Star Wars series…
Film
Just five short months into the year, we had our fragile little minds blown by what might possibly be one of the best films of the year. Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, was jam packed with the kind of multiversal madness that Doctor Strange could only dream of. Not only that but it delivered it with moments of deep loving romance and poignancy right next to scenes of juvenile jokes about having hot dogs for fingers. Starring a plethora of genre legends inlcuding Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis as well as heralding the return of Ke Huy Quan. We can’t get enough of this movie
Book
Authour Joe Abercrombie made a big splash this month with The Wisdom Of Crowds,concluding his acclaimed Age of Madness series. We caught up with the man himself to find out what his favourite sci-fi and fantasy stories were.
Special Shout Out
One of our favourite film festivals, Sci-Fi-London returned to its regular May slot this year and we bounded on down to the Picturehouse cinema in Stratford to have our minds expanded and blown with some absolutely fantastic new slices of genre goodness like The Innocents and Deus as well as revisiting the iconic Soylent Green. Bring on 2023!
June
TV
After three years of delays, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds finally hit our screens in June. With Anson Mount reprising his role from Discovery as Captain Pike. We spoke to Mount, Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn about reprising their role and carrying on the legacy (or prequel legacy) of the original series.
Film
After his brief foray into the mighty Marvel machine, director Scott Derrickson returned to his horror roots with The Black Phone, which saw Ethan Hawke terrifying young children with a haunting tale of abduction. We took the chance to talk to Derrickson about what it is that scares him.
Book
Screenwriting legend David Koepp (Jurassic Park) returned with new novel Aurora, packed with trademark wit and insightful takes on the potential threats of solar storms, asking the question of: ‘Who do you trust when the world goes dark?’ We’re big fans of Koepp, and so it would seem are Netflix who are adapting the story with Kathryn Bigelow at the helm.
Special Shout Out
John Wyndham’s classic sci-fi novel The Midwich Cuckoos was brought into the modern era with a new Sky TV series adaptation that fast became of our favourites here at SciFiTowers. We caught up with the stars and writer to talk about bringing the classic sci-fi novel bang up to date and why its themes feel more relevant than ever
July
TV
The pop culture powerhouse, Stranger Things returned to our screens in June, with the concluding second act of Season Four dropping in July. With the residents of Hawkins facing a brand new threat in the shape of Vecna, we spoke with Barrie Gower, Makeup Effects Department Head about creating the big bad for Stranger Things 4.
Film
The follow up to his game changing Marvel debut, Taika Waititi’s effervescent neon-tinged Thor: Love and Thunder exploded onto our screens with Natalie Potmand and Chris Hemsworth reprising their roles amidst a cast of other familiar faces and some screaming goats.
Book
The prolific Dean Koontz returned in July with The Big Dark Sky, A haunting tale of obsession and complex villains. There was a lot to unpack with this one, so we asked the author himself to do just that… though we may have been slightly sidetracked into talking about his dogs…
Special Shout Out
Taking the time-loop premise to new and unexpected places, The Lazarus Project is a dark, action-packed series that had us hooked and we spoke to its writer Joe Barton to understand more. Not only that though, we also chatted with some of the stars to get their side of the story too.
August
TV
The unfilmable, unadaptable epic Sandman was finally filmed and found its way to Netflix. Remarkably restrained yet cosmically decadent, Sandman is a masterpiece of meandering long-form story telling that works for fans and newcommers alike.
Film
When is Predator, not Predator? When it’s Prey, the brilliant new take on the Eighties action icon. This time around, it’s not all about big biceps and even bigger guns, but about the historic resilience and cunning of native people. We spoke to the cast and crew of Prey about the Comanche people, having a female action hero and continuing the legacy of the Predator…
Book
August saw the announcement of Unquiet Spirits, a collection of essays from Asian women in horror discussing what it is like to live with unquiet spirits—ghosts, demons, witches and vampires. While there’s still a little while to wait for the release, we think it’s worth keeping on your radar and checking out this sneak peek…
Special Shout Out
August Bank Holiday could mean only one thing, FrightFest, and this year SciFiNow hosted its own special screening of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s latest slice of mind bending genre, Something In The Dirt. For those who weren’t able to join us in person, Justin and Aaron took the time to talk with us before the screening to tell you all about their sci-fi thriller.
September
TV
Star Wars returned in force (or should that be with The Force?) to Disney +. This time in the shape of Andor, a prequel to the prequel to the prequel of the original trilogy. Filling in the backstory to Rogue One’s most enigmatic heroes, Andor feels more like a collection of movies than a TV series, it’s so epic. So we just had to talk with the writer and show runner Tony Gilroy to dig a little deeper into the making of the series.
Film
Smile promised to be an all new take on creepy stalker / demon possesssion horror trope and boy did we have fun with it. Definitely creepy and certainly unexpected, we spoke to Smile writer and director Parker Finn and its stars Sosie Bacon and Jessie T. Usher about making the movie.
Book
A time travelling whodunnit story with added dinosaurs and parallel universes? What’s not to love! A.G Riddle’s Lost In Time had delicious twists a-plenty in a book we could just not put down.
Special Shout Out
Although sadly now cancelled, Season Two of Fate: The Winx Saga became a not-so-guilty pleasure for us here at SciFiTowers. The story of Bloom, the fire fairy and her room mates at a magical boarding school kicked up a gear this year, expanding the world into darker places than we expected. We spoke to the cast of the Netflix fantasy about righting the wrongs of Season One with Season Two
October
TV
The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power is perhaps one of the biggest productions ever to hit the small screen and October brought about its epic conclusion. We took five minutes out from having our jaws on the floor to speak to Lloyd Owen who plays Elendil about the show and his battle against Sauron
Film
Another FrightFest favourite, Barbarian finally got its cinematic release in October (it’s now streaming on Disney+) and we couldn’t be happier. An intense horror that loses none of its impact in its catharsis, go into this one knowing as little as possible. Just know it’s going to be batshit and brilliant with lots to talk about after. Curious to know a little more? Then why not read our interview with writer and director Zach Cregger about the horror movie everyone is still talking about…
Book
Creepy woodland horror, The Dark Between The Trees had us gripped in October. A story about strange happenings in the woods, split across two separate timelines, it was the perfect accompaniment to a chilly October. We spoke to its author Fiona Barnett about the book, folktales and what she has coming up next…
Special Shout Out
Significant Other suprised us all here at SciFiTowers with the way it twisted from simple romantic horror to something alltogether… stranger. Think Under the Skin meets The One I Love and that should already have you reaching for the remote to swith to Paramount+. We don’t want to say anymore, except that we spoke to the film’s directing duo who gave us some brilliant insight.
November
TV
The long awaited sequel to Eighties cult hit Willow finally landed on Disney+ in November, giving us a chance to get all nostaligic. If you haven’t fallen in love with it yet, why not have a read of our sneak peek at the characters in the series and our interview with genre legend Warwick Davis.
Film
There aren’t many cannibal romance stories in the world but Bones and All is a pretty brilliant one. So we leapt at the chance to speak to the screenwriter David Kajganich and producer Theresa Park about bringing Camille DeAngeli’s unusual story to life…
Book
An alt-universe cold war story about Russians on the moon and first contact with aliens. M.D. Lachlan’s latest novel, Celestial ticked all the right boxes for us. It gets a little trippy in places, but its a good trip that leaves a pleasant taste for an inquisitive mind.
Special Shout Out
A show that really stood out for us this month was the Netflix fantasy series The Bastard Son And The Devil Himself. An oddly grounded fantasy story about witches, based on the book Half Bad by Sally Green and exec produced by Andy Serkis, we had a chat with the cast about what makes this show special. We’re just sad it’s already been cancelled. Boo Netflix!
December
TV
There’s a new Witcher spin-off in the shape of Blood Origin, which is set 1200 years before Geralt’s adventures. It also has a cameo with Jaskier himself, and we tossed a coin to actor Joey Batey to talk about reprising his role and what to expect when the show lands on Netflix.
Film
How could we get to the end of the year and not mention Avatar: The Way Of Water? James Cameron returns to Pandora and brings us a whole new adventure in the lives of the Na’vi. Which, much like the original is a film, needs to be seen to be believed. Wanting to know more, we had an exclusive chat with Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang about returning to the franchise.
Book
SFF powerhouse Adrian Tchaikovsky brings us a fresh dose of fantasy with City of Last Chances. A story about an occupied population on the brink of rebellion, if only they didn’t have to contend with the un-dead demons who live in the next town over…
Special Shout Out
The Great Grandmaster of Genre, Guillermo del Toro has pulled some strings and worked with co-director Mark Gustafson to create a brand new vision of Pinocchio. We spoke to the pair about creating a dark, provocative adaption of Carlo Collodi’s novel and you can watch it yourself, now on Netflix.
