I researched movie awards in Sci Fi genre and uncovered a significant void. Outside of the Saturn award, there is not much. Plus, the way I see it, Saturn does not have a clear criteria, which movies really belong to the genre. In it’s respective year, Avatar won the crown, and so did the Interstellar. Both movies are deserving, but if the Interstellar is a true die-hard Sci Fi, the Avatar is the borderline fantasy/Sci Fi.

Fear not, my friends! Jalapeño Fiction award is going to address this problem. I am going to discuss the process of qualification for the award on this web site prior to reviewing the movie.

Someone might think, it’s a lot of hubris for one person to establish a whole award on her behalf. However, I consider myself qualified for the job. The amount of hours I dedicated to these movies probably would amount to a college DhD in Sci Fi. Plus, I am open to any kind of contribution and discussion from other enthusiasts, like myself. I often feel so sorry for the great Sci Fi ideas that get ruined by poor production, wacky acting, and, quite frankly, half-baked plot lines. But when the movie is done well, so that the non- Sci Fi folk and real scientists alike ‘thumbs up’ the movie, I feel that my passion is vindicated.

However, tonight I had a misfortune to watch 2 Sci Fi movies deserving all the rotten tomatoes they can get. One of them was the Videodrome (1983), futuristic tale in Orwellian Big Brother style, except the true villain was not the government, but the TV industry (or the screen). Other than the premise sounds interesting, the movie itself is a mix of edgy SM scenes with terrible makeup and props. Good lead actor (James Woods) did not help the movie much. Another movie aired in 2015, and will be reviewed separately for the Jalapeño Fiction Nomination. And God help me if there is much more of that produced in 2015.