Announcing the Hulu Award for "Best Science Fiction Movie"

Please welcome guest presenter John J. Joex, who helps run the excellent SciFi website Axiom's Edge

And the Hulie goes to...

Men In Black!

Bringing us a menacing alien cockroach, caffeine addicted worms, and the classic (and brilliant) team up of Will Smith and Tommie Lee Jones, Men in Black takes the top honor as the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Movie on Hulu.com. Based on a comic book series by the same name, the movie exploded on big screens in 1997, becoming an instant classic in the genre and spawning a hit sequel in 2002.

The film benefited from a great concept, good script, high-dollar special effects, and expert direction from Barry Sonnenfeld. But what really made this movie soar was the chemistry between its two lead actors. Aping the age-old "buddy cop" formula, Tommy Lee Jones played the grizzled, streetwise veteran with Will Smith doing his best as the brash, upstart rookie. But this was no "buddy cop" movie as they dealt with a myriad of aliens disguised as everyday people (and dogs) while they casually went about their way saving the universe. Men in Black skewers Science Fiction movies and comic books and delivers plenty of laughs in the process.

Interestingly enough, the original ending for the movie had Agent K and the bug engaging in a humorous, existential debate. However this was scrapped as unexciting, in favor of a more action-oriented conclusion. Allegedly, this change perturbed make-up artist Rick Baker because his animatronic bug was replaced with CGI effects because they required more movement from the creature.

Along with its sequel, Men in Black also spun off an animated series that ran for four season (53 episodes) that became a regular part of the Saturday Morning Kid's WB lineup. Unfortunately, it has not made its way to DVD or to Hulu.com yet.

Men in Black grossed over $250 million domestically and is number 47 on the list of top grossing in the United States. On the Rotten Tomatoes movie site, it has a 91% "fresh" rating.

Unfortunately, its time on Hulu has expired so you can't catch it there anymore. But if you've never seen the movie, or just haven't seen it in a while, do yourself a favor and rent a copy from you local video store or buy one from your local megamart.

After 20,000 votes, the audience favorite was... The Fifth Element.

The other Nominees were:

Planet of the Apes

Starship Troopers

The Thing

John's Final Thoughts: I cast my vote for John Carpenter's The Thing in this category, but Men in Black is just as deserving of the award. In fact, if I have not already given MIB the nod for Best Comedy Movie, it would have been a real struggle to pick between the two. Still, I'm guessing that The Thing will take the award in Best Horror Movie, so everybody will be a winner.

The Fifth Element was a decent, if mildly overrated, movie and I can see where it would get the audience vote. Starship Troopers deserved its slot in the finals as it gives us a seminal action-adventure movie with a healthy dose of self deprecation. However, I don't know how Planet of the Apes made it all the way to the finals (this was not the original but the 2001 debacle of a remake) as I cannot find a single person who even thinks that movie even moderately good. Perhaps a large population dialed into the internet from the Bizarro World and cast votes for it . . .