Alien at the Movies

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

This is 4th film in the recent Planet of the Apes reboot series; following Dawn, War, & Rise of the Planet of Apes. The original 1968 film stunned audiences with its surprise twist ending. This film takes place about 300 years after War. The original Caesar (let’s call him patient zero where the virus first mutated & created this mixed up dystopian world) has long passed. A new tyrannical leader Proximus Caesar has risen to power to lead his gorilla masses & by force, enslave the chimpanzees. He rules by might & corrupts the first elder’s (the original Caesar) words of wisdom towards his own favor. Noa is a chimpanzee & hunter in his village. When Noa’s village gets raided & taken, he sets out to rescue them alone. Along the way, he is aided by an orangutan & a human woman he names Nova. In this battle between good & evil, it’s the rebels against empire with the questions about who can you trust & what motives are the real driving force. Who will end up on top? Will there be another sequel in this reboot Planet of the Apes saga? The special effects & CGI are amazing. The apes are outstanding. They seem so real, selling the story. This almost 2½ hour film seemed to whiz right along in no time.

Alien gives it 3½ “Eagle Clan” stars out of 4.

FOE

A young couple, Henrietta “Hen” (Saoirse Ronan) & Junior (Paul Mescal) are living a quiet isolated life on their Midwest farm until an uninvited visitor Terrance (Aaron Pierre) arrives one late night with a surprising proposal. It’s 2065. Fresh water & habitable land are scarce. Cities are overpopulated, leaving rural areas slowly abandoned. Hen & Junior have been having some marital problems when Junior has been called into service for a 2-year experiment in outer space due the critical conditions on earth. While Junior is away, Hen will get an exact synthetic replacement of Junior to see to her needs, for her protection, & care for her well being. This is an ominous disturbing psychological thriller with a sci-fi backdrop. The film sets up a very uneasy mood. There is something very unsettling about Terrance’s polite demeanor. There’s a strained tension between Hen & Junior. Something just feels so wrong here & suspicions arise. Is there an ulterior motive here hidden under the agenda of saving humanity? Is this couple just caught up in an elaborate lab experiment? I️ could not seeing where this plot was headed as little twists & turns presented themselves. Will there be a happy ending for Hen & Junior by the conclusion? Deep down, this a story about a couple’s struggle to find happiness in their lives. The acting is superb & the atmosphere is bleak. This one is for those looking something challenging odd.

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

 Tarot

A group of seven friends rent a mansion in the Catskills to celebrate one of their’s birthday. When their liquor supply runs dry, they search the premises for any hidden stash of  alcohol… only to find an old wooden box containing a vintage tarot card deck behind a locked door with a keep out sign on it. What could go wrong? This is starting to smell like your typical teenage horror slasher film. The gang unwittingly unleashes something evil trapped within this cursed deck of tarot cards. One by one, they come face to face with their fate as predicted during each of their tarot readings. Are they all doomed? Can they cheat their fate & death?

Alien gives it 2½ “Astrologer’s spirit” stars out of 4.

Turtles All The Way Down

Sixteen year old Aza Holmes struggles with her own demons. She has obsessive-compulsive disorder & anxiety attacks which frequently manifests itself as obsessing about germs & infections. She is in therapy & is on medication. She was traumatized by the death of her father & is being overprotected by her mother. Her BFF is Daisy. They practically do everything together. She becomes reacquainted with Davis, a rich kid she met in summer camp years ago, & romantic feelings for each other begin. She has self doubt issues. Will her mental illness become too much & destroy all of her friendships/relationships? Will it prevent her from finding love & happiness? 

Alien gives it 3 “spiral painting” stars out of 4.

The Idea of You

Age is just a number. Love is intoxicating. Love hurts. People can be cruel.

Solène Marchand (Anne Hathaway) is a 40-year-old single mom with a 16-year-old daughter Izzy & has been divorced from her husband Daniel for 3 years. Izzy loves the boy band August Moon so Daniel manages to get Backstage VIP passes for her to see her band play at Coachella. However, at the last minute, Daniel must leave on a business trip so Solène ends up chaperoning the trip. There, Solène accidentally & awkwardly meets 24-year-old lead singer Hayes Campbell (Nicholas Galitzine) & thus begins a budding romance that neither can resist. They try to hide their romance but eventually the paparazzi exposes their secret & this has a disastrous effect on the couple & those close to them. This romantic comedy is an emotional rollercoaster. Solène & Hayes are a cute & charming couple together that you will want to root for. It is heartbreaking to watch their world collapse around them. Hathaway & Galitzine give amazing performances. Will this have a fairy tale ending or is their breakup inevitable?

Alien gives it 3½ “The Watch” stars out of 4.

The Fall Guy

Based the 1980’s TV series “The Fall Guy” lead character Colt Seavers, this reboot film follows stuntman Seavers (Ryan Gosling) in his behind the scenes work in movie making industry. An unfortunate on-the-job accident injury retires him from his profession & triggers his breakup with girlfriend/camera operator Jody (Emily Blunt). Eighteen months later, Seavers is working as a parking valet when a producer calls him to work as a stuntman on Jody’s directorial debut sci-fi movie in Australia. This action/comedy/romance story then shifts gears when the star actor Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) goes missing & Seaver becomes the fall guy taking the blame in a murder mystery conspiracy. All of this is built around elaborate movie magic stunts designed to dazzle the audience. Featured are many classic stunts. If you love seeing crazy action stunts with some insights to how they are done, this is fun watch. Look some surprise cameos. During the credits, the split screen shows some behind the scenes of the stunt work.

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

Boy Kills World

It’s “Karate Kid” meets “Hunger Games” when a deaf & mute boy (Bill Skarsgård) trains with a mysterious shaman to enact revenge on a family that destroyed his family. Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen) the matriarch of a corrupt totalitarian family that bullies the town & has left the boy orphaned. This is an extremely violent & bloody revenge action story. The entire film is build around the many battle/killing scenes. As the boy commits bloody martial arts mayhem & inflicts much carnage & blood-letting, he constantly has the ghostly spirit of his beloved little sister by the side as his guide. The boy does gain a few allies on his journey to get justice. There is a thinly veiled twist that I️ immediately recognized & then there was the one I️ didn’t see coming. This one hinges of the sibling bond. Who will survive this blood bath? At the end of credits, there is one more Frosty Puffs scene.

Alien gives it 2½ “Five Finger Salute” stars out of 4.

Unsung Hero

When family patriarch David Smallbone suffers financial difficulties, he moves his pregnant wife Helen & 6 kids from Australia to Nashville, Tennessee, seeking a new business opportunity. However, it’s a rough trip for the Smallbone family as they endured many disappointments along the way & David’s job opportunity vanishes. So with no job & little money, the whole must pitch in to make ends meet each day. Neighbors, church, & community take notice & generously step up with donations to ease the pain. David is a proud man & sinks into depression as feels he has failed to provide for his family. Helen is the glue that holds the family together in good spirits. Their amazing story is a true story. It’s a heartbreaking & heartwarming story of faith & family. It turns out the oldest daughter Rebecca has some raw singing talent. At the film’s end, there are comparison photos of the real Smallbone family matched to the character portrayals as well as some summaries. Joel Smallbone directs & plays his father David. Lucas Black & Candice Cameron Burr have small roles.

Alien gives it 3 “Kings & Country” stars out of 4.

Challengers

This is a tale of two boys, Art & Patrick (Mike Faist & Josh O’Connor). They were best buddies, tennis players, & sometimes doubles partners. Then they meet rising tennis phenom Tashi Duncan (Zendaya). She is cool, confident, & controlling. The boys become lovesick puppies fawning & drooling over her but she plays it aloof & pits each guy against the other. This becomes a ménage à trios love story. One day, a severe knee injury ends Tashi’s career in the sport & she must redirect her passion for tennis. Coaching keeps her in the game. Like watching a tennis match with the ball rallying over & over the net, this story is told bouncing from present to past & back again & again feeding the audience just a relationship snippet at time. This film gimmick doesn’t help convey story clearly, just feels more disjointed. The three main characters being unlikeable doesn’t help the movie either. Filmmakers unsuccessfully try to make a seductive & sensual film with its steamy sauna scene, full frontal & butt shots, as well as gratuitous face sucking moments. The drama come down to match point moments in the final game between the boys. It becomes more of a chess match as Art & Patrick strategize & read the signals. This a competition of tennis & love. Who will win? Who will lose? Will there be any winners?

Alien gives it 2 “telltale service” stars out of 4.

Abigail

What starts off as a kidnap/ransom film takes a deadly detour when the kidnappers learned that their 12-year-old kidnap victim, Abigail, isn’t what she appears to be. This team of seven, each with particular skill sets necessary to pull off the heist, was hired by Lambert (fake name). The little girl, with a passion for ballet, appears to be from a rich family. Lambert promises to split the $50 million ransom equally among themselves. They just have to babysit Abigail for a bit. Over third of the film has elapsed & nothing seems unusual except for this creepy old mansion that team are holdup in. They have rules to follow in order to protect their identities in case something goes wrong. If you have seen the trailer or know anything about the film, you likely know already that Abigail is really a vampire & the tables get turned. This apparent reboot of Dracula’s Daughter then shifts gears to horror mode but with a sense of humor as the Scooby Gang tries to figure out how to kill a vampire. Test your knowledge of vampire legend, truth or fiction? The plot starts playing ten little Indians as the crew gets picked off one by one with fear & paranoia running rampant since there is no honor among thieves. Who will survive? Be careful in the bloody splash zone. Surprise plot twists add to the confusion. Will Abigail return for a sequel or will someone drive a wooden stake through her heart? Who wins in this battle between good & evil?

Alien gives it 3 “pinky promise” stars out of 4.