Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of films depicting the future
what will one do with a film like The Happening (2008 film), which has a "Three months later" segment at the end? Is that the future (for that film) because it jumps like that? Animal House, at the end, discusses the future (e.g., Senator Bluto). Some films open with "In the near (or not-too-distant) future..." which basically means that they're in the current present but "This could happen tomorrow"; is that the future? They do use the word 'future', after all. All of these devices do include a mention or appearance of the future, but what the page seems to focus on is actually the 'futuristic' in keeping with its listing of Star Wars, which explicitly tells us that it happened in the distant past. The inclusion of films like Click (film) and Sphere seems to indicate that what the list is addressing is things with a futuristic ''feel'', not things that literally transpire in the future. Same Time Next Year takes place over the course of 24 years. Does that eventually include the future? If not, how is it different from Back to the Future II in that regard? Why is the X-Men (film) series on but not other superhero films? Why is The Stepford Wives (2004 film) on it? I don't recall The Illustrated Man ''stating'' that this was the future, though I could be wrong. Critical analysis of The Fountain (as reflected at that article) is divided on the issue of whether it depicts a true future or whether "its abstract and futuristic elements (seem) to be non-literal representations" of a (possible? imagined?) future. Darren Aronofsky has declined to settle the matter. I find this list too unwieldy. The term 'future' is ill-defined and inconsistently applied. If taken literally it would include most films that cover a nontrivial period of time, I'd think. If not taken literally we're back to  or at least . I think the authors want a list of sci-fi films with "depictions of the future" where the film is depicting a possible future that is clearly 'futuristic' and distinct in noticeable and important ways from the present; they seem to be including films that are set in the present but have strong sci-fi elements or involve technology that isn't publicly available even when it's stated that the technology has been invented in secret and kept quiet (e.g., The Stepford Wives). That's not what this article, as titled and described, is intended to be
— User:JJL, 03:45, 7 September 2008 (UTC)
Stance: comment
Cited policy: WP:OR||WP:SYNTH (Wikipedia:No original research)