Alien at the Movies

Fear Street: Prom Queen

Knives, axes, & cleavers… oh my!

Fear Street is back to ask… Who’s killing the prom queen candidates at Shadyside High in 1988?

Well, if your blood thirst wasn’t quenched after their first trilogy spanning some 300 years, it looks like they have created another chapter. Think “Mean Girls” minus the humor & pile on the blood & gore. Once again, it’s the innocent good girl, Lori, being bullied by her classmates for some unproven family drama. There is the popular alpha bitch,Tiffany, & her toadies dominating everyone at school. Then, there is the mystery slasher masked & dressed in hooded red. As prom night approaches, people fall one by one like 10 Little Indians…classic. It’s typical stabbed, axed, dismembered, beheaded, & electrocuted. Can you guess the killer before the unmasking? Nothing really new here that hasn’t been done before. If you are a fan, you’ll likely have a good time.

Alien gives it 2½ “tiara” stars out of 4.

The Fire Inside 

Move over “Rocky”… here comes another boxing underdog story… except, this one is a true story.

Claressa Shields is a young black girl from the hood in Flint, Michigan. She is poor, hunger, & angry. She finds herself visiting a local boxing gym across town. She wants to learn, but trainer/coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry) says he don’t train females. But due to her persistence, he gives her a try mainly to shut her up. However, when she shows promise, he agrees to train her but by his rules. Hard work & tough love gets 17-year-old Shields to Nationals, just one step from the Olympic trials in China. Jason becomes her mentor/coach/father figure. “Ressa” valiantly trains & fights hard with Gold Medal dreams & hopefully bringing her some fame & fortune. Even with her successes, the signs of the times are not kind to her & she becomes frustrated by how things have turned out. This is an emotional struggle for these two main characters giving their all to the game they love. There is more battles to this story than what’s happening in the ring. As she suffers through her disappointment, she realizes her future & her happiness. Look for summaries, photos, footage of the real Claressa Shields at the movie’s end.

Alien gives it 3 “T-Rex” stars out of 4.

Meet Cute in Manhattan

Jason is a struggling actor needing a partner for a dating app commercial audition. Nora is an aspiring architect/barista. They accidentally bump into each other at a coffee shop & he spills his coffee all over his jersey. He invites her to be his audition partner. They both already have their own girlfriend & boyfriend. The audition is meant for actual partners, so they improvise & fake it. Their commercial becomes a big hit & leads to more “Meet Cute” commercial ads. Of course, this being a rom/com, they develop a real friendship & deep feelings for each other although neither can admit it to each other. This film actually becomes a movie within a movie commenting on rom/coms & featuring other rom/com movie moments. If you are addicted to romantic comedies, you’ll enjoy this one about chance meetings, crossed paths, & destiny. It has humor, heart, & chemistry.

Alien gives it 3 “seeing from a new perspective in Grand Central” stars out of 4.

Trigger Happy 

This is a dark comedy about 2 couples in their unhappy marriages. George is married to Annie. He is a pathetic loser working at a demeaning job & saddled with crushing debts. She is the breadwinner, an insurance broker, & an aspiring actress trying out for an infomercial part. Annie’s best friend is Gemma who is married to unemployed entrepreneur Mikey. Gemma is having an affair. Mikey is focused on his pies. George dreams of escaping his miserable life & jetting off to the Bahamas. Frustrated, George hatches a plan to murder his wife to collect on the insurance policy money. However, in this wild, way over-the-top film, a lot goes wrong. It’s a comedy of errors as passive aggressive behavior, mistrust, & suspicion leads them all on a collision course. Black comedies have a harder time reaching their audience with that same quirky sense of humor. In too many, they appear far too silly & ridiculous to be entertaining .

Alien gives it 2 “ WOW sponges” stars out of 4.

Final Destination: Bloodlines

Death is back for the 6th time since 2000. He just refuses to be cheated. It’s great balls of fire & bloody hell at the grand opening of the Skyview Restaurant tower (think Seattle’s Space Needle) in 1968 when a deadly structural failure kills hundreds… or did it? If you’ve seen one or all five of previous Final Destination disaster films, you’ll know the premise. A premonition saves lives but Death returns to hunt down the escapees one by one in a timely fashion following its own set of rules. College student Stephani has this recurring nightmare that sends her home to check on her family.’s safety. It seems that her maternal grandmother Iris had cheated Death & is cautiously hiding in her fortress while detailing Death’s omens & chronologically charting Death’s kill list. Once Death takes Iris, he’ll follow after her bloodline since they never should have existed. If you enjoy this genre, you’ll have a fun time as the death hints are laid out right in front of the audience to anticipate what diabolically tragic death will happen next. But Death here marches to the beats of some popular songs & Death may fool you sometimes with the story’s twists & turns. You got to keep audiences guessing when they think they can see what’s coming. Look some homage nods to past FD films. Who will survive? If any? How can you cheat Death? Will there be a seventh film?

Alien gives it 3 “Poison Penny” stars out of 4.

Nonnas

While still grieving over his mother’s death, Joe (Vince Vaughn) decides to invest the insurance money into opening an authentic Italian restaurant in Staton Island. Reminiscing about his childhood memories with his mom & nonna (grandma) preparing those delicious Sunday suppers, he wants to recreate those memories for his new restaurant. He hires 4 actual nonnas (Lorraine Branco, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro, & Susan Sarandon) as his kitchen staff/chefs. This movie is based on a true story. With the help of his best friend Bruno (Joe Manganiello), they open Enoteca Maria, named after his mother. This is a charming film about Joe’s struggle to fulfill his dream. Linda Cardellini plays his prom date from his past. This sweet & delicious Italian treat is about friends & family. Look for mid credit footage of the real nonnas.

Alien gives it 3 “Sunday gravy” stars out of 4.

Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning (IMAX)

And now for the follow up to the 2023 “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning  Part 1”. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) & his IMF team are back to stop Gabriel (Esai Morales) & the Entity from world domination or annihilation. It’s intense action with twists & turns. Just as you start seeing things go bad, it just gets worse. It’s sitting on the edge of your seat gripping your arm chair tightly stressful excitement. I’m not sure why any insurance company would allow Cruise to hang on to the outside of planes for all of those thrilling hair raising aerial stunts. He is such an adrenaline junkie. Also, look for more skin shown than Cruise usually reveals in his movies. You got to be in shape to pull off his amazing stunts. What is in the mystery box? Who will live & who will die? How close to nuclear warfare will the world be pushed to? With Part 1, I️ already saw the beginnings of changes to Hunt’s team. And here, I️ see possible new team member faces. They do some quick visual flashbacks to past missions. Some key team members face life threatening situations. A returning old faces will surprise you. The movie’s title also includes the word final. I started to get the feeling that this was a subtle look back at the journey to get here & maybe this was a hint to a new IMF future. Will there be more impossible missions? Is Cruise being phased out for a new leader?

Alien gives it 3½ “May 22, 1996…We will figure it out… This message will self destruct in 5 seconds” stars out of 4.

Sister Midnight

An Indian arranged marriage, a sudden death, & a woman asking her neighbor for a few favors… could this be India’s version of “A Simple Favor” or the sequel “Another Simple Favor”? I️ think not. It’s quite bizarre & hard to tell where this story was going. At first, I️ thought it was going to be some comedy satire on the exaggerated difficulties of an unhappy arranged marriage. Then the plot veers off to stranger events. It’s black comedy that takes kind of a horroresque bend with lots of deadpan humor awkwardness. This film may be too weird for most. But maybe something is lost in translation… Indian/Hindi humor that I️ don’t get. I️ did enjoy seeing the Indian way of life & culture. The scenes were picturesque & kind of reminded me of Wes Anderson’s film style. I️ did like the lead character Uma, although she was weird. The film was visually stimulating but it did not feel like it was going anywhere even though things were happening. By the end, I️ just wondered… huh?

Alien gives it 2 “goats & birds” stars out of 4.

Watch The Skies

Do you believe in extraterrestrial life?

Denise is a rebellious teenager who believes that her missing-for-years father was abducted by aliens. He was a member of a quirky UFO club trying to uncover government secrets related extraterrestrials & get to the truth. She used to accompany him on his fact finding missions until one day he vanished. Years later after noticing strange phenomena possibly connected to her dad, she teams up with his club members to investigate further. It’s quite a journey she experiences trying to find her dad, especially when many don’t believe her theories. Will she find her dad? Does she really know what she is talking about? The Swedish film “UFO Sweden” used artificial intelligence to dub it in English & was retitled “Watch the Skies”. I️t gives off a “X-Files” vibe. 

Alien gives it 2½ “4th dimension” stars out of 4.

Aa lovechild and they called it UFO SWEDEN!

Clown in a Cornfield

Shotguns, chainsaws, & cattle prods… oh my!

It's “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” meets “Founders Day” meets “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” in this latest entry into the teenage slasher horror genre. A single dad/doctor & his 17-year-old daughter Quinn move to the small midwestern town of Kettle Springs for a fresh start. It’s the city girl feeling out of place trying to fit in. On Quinn’s first day at school, she meets & starts hanging out with some new friends. However, her new buds are pranksters causing minor incidents so the locals have it out for them. On Founders Day, their prank ruins the parade featuring the town mascot, Frendo the Clown. They are also being unjustly blamed for burning down the Baypen Maple Syrup Factory. They have been posting fake videos of Frendo being a serial killer terrorizing teens. Well, it seems like these kids have really irritated someone because a Frendo dressed clown begins to stalk & kill these teens one by one. Who is this clown? Who will die & who will survive? If you enjoy this genre, you may have a good time. I️ find it more cheesy predictable stupid. At certain scenes, I️ almost wanted to wince & laugh. The story felt very contrived & I️ never would have suspected the Midwest was so full of assholes & clowns?

Alien gives it 2 “telescopic tactical baton” stars out of 4.

Adult Best Friends

Katie & Delaney have been BFFs since they were 12-year-old, but now Katie’s boyfriend, John, has proposed & they are now engaged. Katie is thrilled & excited but doesn’t know how to tell Delaney. Katie plans a beach getaway with Delaney to one of their favorite spots in order to soften the anticipated blow. Of course, it’s a comedy of errors & nothing seems to go right. This is the story about two besties who seem to be on different paths in life as they grow older but they still love & care for each other deeply. Katie Corwin & Delaney Buffett happen to star as Katie & Delaney as well as being producers & writers along with Delaney directing. Zachery Quinto costars as Katie’s brother. This film is funny & emotional.

Alien gives it 3 “love finds a way” stars out of 4.