Designed by H.R. Giger and manifested by Oscar-winning special effects puppetry, the unforgettable xenomorph creature that debuted in 1979’s Alien lunged with more menace than suddenness. The acid-dripping extraterrestrial was an overpowering stalker. Fast-forward 38 years to Alien: Covenant, and the CGI-boosted effects capable today have accelerated the monster’s lethal velocity to an unhinged and downright bonkers level. Let me tell you, that’s a dandy of a jolt.
Read More100% of you right now are reading this review via the internet on either a computer or a mobile device. Like it or not, you and I leave digital footprints everywhere we go. The new pseudo-dystopian thriller “The Circle” incites the over-obvious social media and data-mining fears of our present surveillance society of sharing and shines them up into a shiny and engrossing yarn of mainstream entertainment. Fiction or not, it’s the kind of film that may or may not irk you enough to take that Facebook sabbatical you keep saying you’ll do.
Read MoreTo come right out and say it, this is more than a monster movie, and you will relish seeing why. To that degree, so little about “Colossal” is conventional, an appealing and commendable trait in today’s movie landscape. Satire and dark comedy do more damage than any kaiju stomping cities. Vigalondo and company are aiming for creative perversion and subversion of multiple genres. Peculiarity rules over spectacle with minimal loss of entertainment.
Read MoreYou’ve seen bits and pieces of this human buffet and interstellar peril before in the likes of superior films like “Alien,” “Gravity,” and more. To its credit, the dour tone frames “Life” as a straight-shooting creature feature trading camp for tension and thrills, plenty of which elicit sly pleasures. Nonetheless, what separates the spectacular from the mediocre in this science fiction subgenre is the monster and the creative uses by which it is employed. This one goes derivative.
Read MoreCall me a softy or a sunny optimist, but I will take "The Space Between Us" over the next "Percy Jackson and the Hunger Maze Runner City of Bones Games with the 5th Wave of Divergent Mortal Instruments." The YA movie marketplace is overfilled with militarized kid-on-kid peril in the science fiction department. “The Space Between Us” is cheesy, corny, and pretends to be better than it really is, but, gosh darnit, the film has a charming and positive core that is hard to ignore.
Read MoreLags of preparation and mounting conflict aside, there is more than enough big-screen excitement infusing the gravitas that give way to pathos. "Rogue One" smoothly delves into an untold narrative while providing clever and catchy callbacks and nods to the expanded universe we know is on the other side of the horizon. Fleshing out key history, “Rogue One” instantly becomes an indispensable companion piece to “Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope.” Watching this mini saga and seeing the seeds it plants makes one appreciate the fruits of the 39-year-old classic’s triumphs even more.
Read MoreTo reveal more of the emotional and scientific obstacle course would take away from the engrossing experience to be had by “Arrival.” This is the anti-”Independence Day,” so don’t expect a populist romp. Instead, open your mind to a stimulating and provocative mindbender that may require more than one viewing to grasp and appreciate. The trippy events unfolding out of the screenplay tangle the puppeteer’s strings and play with narrative and filmmaking forces few are daring enough, and smart enough, to wield.
Read MoreThe toothpaste is out of the tube, so to speak, for this current “Star Trek” franchise stewarded by J.J. Abrams. Seven years into a reboot of erasure, there’s no going back. This new cast and new timeline is here to stay. If the die-hards haven’t dealt with it by now, they likely never will. Those who arrived in 2009 with wide eyes and a fresh heart have not been disappointed. “Star Trek Beyond” pushes a stellar and steady progression of shiny and modern blockbuster filmmaking with the right salutes to beloved nostalgia that warm from within.
Read MoreIt sure is nice to see a surprise stay a surprise. In today's day and age of instant and nearly universal access to information, news, and buzz, it's very hard to keep anything the size of a movie a secret. The filmmakers of "10 Cloverfield Lane" and its studio have pulled off a marketing stunt that has now paid off as a entertainment coup. "10 Cloverfield Lane" is capricious blast of horror, drama, and science fiction all rolled into one twisty enigma.
Read MoreNo matter where today's "Star Wars" fans come from, all of them want the same thing out of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Everyone wants an inspired, entertaining, and compelling fantasy adventure. They want a return of the emotions, wonder, and heartstrings that stirred and inspired their souls when they first encountered these science fiction fantasies. With great pleasure and a nearly pitch perfect blend of innovation and reminiscence, J.J. Abrams promised, and now has delivered, all that anyone could hope for with "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
Read MoreSimply put, "The Martian" from director Ridley Scott and headlining star Matt Damon, is a great survival film. It strikes all of those aforementioned chords of survival essence and entertainment. Giving it the easy labels of "Castaway in Space," "Robinson Crusoe: Astronaut," "Interstellar without Nolanism," "Apollo 13 on Mars," or "The Next Gravity" sells it too short. "The Martian" doesn't need to borrow anything from those five notable survival film stories and can stand confidently aside, or even above them, as an exemplar all its own in the genre. Meet what is sure to go down as one of 2015's best films.
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