This will only be a short piece, but it’s necessary. You need to watch these films. Really. Unless you have some sort of religious code or physical illness that prevents you from watching light projected on a screen, you must watch Mad Max and Ex Machina.

One was made by a 70 year old man, the other made by a first time director. Both are great films released in 2015. Both are great example of excellent, thought-provoking sci-fi being made by Hollywood in 2015. Mad Max is a frantic, manic action film that is also one of the weirdest ones of the past five years. A lot has already been said about the movie, but don’t let the hype scare you away. Mad Max deserves to be seen in a theater.

Ex Machina wasn’t advertised or hyped like Mad Max, but it also is an excellent piece of science fiction. I don’t want to say too much about it, just that the movie is beautiful and intelligent. What if a mysterious genius created Artificial Intelligence and brought someone in to test the creation? Pretty cool right? Although it’s out of theaters, Ex Machina will be released for homes within the next two months.

Some people have been experiencing a “superhero fatigue.” They believe that Hollywood is making too many superhero movies and not enough “good” and “real” movies like what they used to do. I won’t deny that there are a lot of Marvel and DC properties now being turned into 200-million dollar films, but I object to the idea that good movies aren’t being made. Great movies, genre and non-genre, are still being made both inside and outside of Hollywood. Films like Mad Max and Ex Machina still exist. In fact, these past two years have seen many excellent films (like those documented in my previous posts). You just have to make the effort and support great creative efforts.