Saw Solaris (2002) at the AMC 1000 tonight with Colin. I didn't know anything about it going in, other than it was based on a well regarded science fiction novel (which I've never read). I enjoyed this film. It turned out to be a slow, pensive piece with some capable performances and beautiful eye candy (the atmosphere of the planet Solaris would make a great screen saver). The sci-fi aspect of the film was mostly background, but that is really how good sci-fi should be, for example these are the manuscript guidelines for Asimov's Science Fiction:
In general, we're looking for "character oriented" stories, those in which the characters, rather than the science, provide the main focus for the reader's interest. Serious, thoughtful, yet accessible fiction will constitute the majority of our purchases, but there's always room for the humorous as well. Borderline fantasy is fine, but no Sword & Sorcery, please. Neither are we interested in explicit sex or violence. A good overview would be to consider that all fiction is written to examine or illuminate some aspect of human existence, but that in science fiction the backdrop you work against is the size of the Universe.
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