'No One Will Save You' (2023) Movie Review

I think I love the way Brian Duffield’s brain works. Spontaneous is easily one of my favorite and most re-watched movies of the last few years; Love and Monsters, which he wrote but didn’t direct, is great; and now we can add his latest multi-hyphenated endeavor, No One Will Save You, to this pile as it does not disappoint. At a base level, this is an alien-home-invasion story, but the reality is so much stranger and more complicated than that. 

'Kids Vs. Aliens' (2023) Movie Review

All the important bits are right there in the name: Kids vs. Aliens. There are kids, there are aliens, and they fight. That’s the gist of director Jason Eisener’s first feature since 2011’s Hobo with a Shotgun. (If you haven’t checked out his excellent docuseries Dark Side of the Ring, do so, even if you’re not a wrestling fan.) Like his previous endeavor, though in decidedly less brutal fashion, what works best here is a total blast, but at times the thesis statement of the title wears a bit thin stretched out to 75 minutes. (And sans credits, it’s more like 68.)

'Cosmic Dawn' (2022) Movie Review

When cults and horror and sci-fi collide, that’s a sweet spot. Cinematically speaking anyway, it’s probably not so great in real life. Such is the situation for writer/director Jefferson Moneo’s new film, Cosmic Dawn. 

'Captive State' Trailer: Rupert Wyatt's Sci-Fi Feature Has Dystopian Vibes And Aliens

As the kids say (who am I kidding, I have no idea what anyone says), this trailer for Rupert  Wyatt’s upcoming alien invasion flick Captive State is 100% my shit. It has a grim vibe, aliens, a near future that looks all-too-similar to our own present, and a great cast. I’m in. Check it out below:

'The Predator' Trailer Poses A Threat

He didn’t write John McTiernan’s 1987 Predator, but Shane Black appeared in the film. In the years since, he’s become a celebrated writer and director in his own right. And now he’s back to try to breathe some new life into the franchise with The Predator. 20th Century Fox just released the first trailer for the sci-fi actioner. Check it out below.

'Love And Saucers' (2017) Movie Review

Earnest is the best way to describe David Huggins. He’s an affable elder gentleman who works part time in a Hoboken deli, spends his spare time painting, and, oh yeah, lost his virginity to an extraterrestrial. Documentaries are often only as interesting as their subjects, and Brad Abrahams’ Love and Saucers: The Far Out World of David Huggins certainly has an eccentric focus.

Frank Grillo Fights Iko Uwais In This 'Beyond Skyline' Clip

So far, December 15 is shaping up to be the best day of my calendar year. Not only does Star Wars: The Last Jedi open, but Amazon drops the first season of Jean-Claude Van Johnson, and the after-the-fact sci-fi sequel Beyond Skyline also hits. And I might be most excited about that last one. Check out this new clip to see why.

'Alien: Covenant' (2017) Movie Review

In 2012, Ridley Scott ventured back to the site of one of his greatest cinematic triumphs with Prometheus. This sci-fi opus, set in the Alien universe and serving as a precursor to one of the all-time greats, is uneven at best. I’m a staunch defender—it’s ambitious, full of lofty themes, moody and tense and creepy all in a line with the original, not to mention gorgeous—but I understand where the detractors come from.

'Life' (2017) Movie Review

Daniel Espinosa’s sci-fi thriller Life is pure trash; pure, delicious, empty calorie-filled, delightful junk food trash. Not original in any way, and dumb as a box of really stupid rocks, it’s way more fun than it has any right to be. Even the “We were better off alone” tagline practically screams exactly what this movie is.

Meet Michael Fassbender's Eerie Android In This 'Alien: Covenant' Video

Okay, I’m beyond pumped for Alien: Covenant. I’m giddy that we’re just a few months away from a new, Ridley Scott-directed visit to the land of Xenomorphs and Face Huggers. But as jazzed as I am about this whole situation, the marketing has been way hit and miss. The first trailer was okay, bloody shower sex scene and all, but that prologue was whack as shit. Then the latest trailer made me giggle and squeal with vicious delight, but this latest viral video does absolutely nothing. Unless you care about how they make Michael Fassbender’s new android Walter.

Amy Adams Makes First Contact In Full 'Arrival' Trailer [UPDATED]

UPDATED: With an international trailer that's even better. Today is a good day indeed. Check it out at the bottom of the post.

Because we live in a world where even trailers get their own marketing push, we recently saw a short trailer for the trailer for Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming alien invasion drama Arrival. The full trailer is now here to watch, and you should do that at your earliest convenience, like right this moment.

'Alien: Sea Of Sorrows' Book Review

For fans of the world Ridley Scott created in 1979 with Alien, Prometheus left many wanting (I still think it was pretty sweet, flawed certainly, but better than many give it credit for), and Prometheus 2, however that works out, is still a ways off. Later this year we’ll get the video game Alien: Isolation, which looks to capture the tense, claustrophobic, isolated feel of the film, but those among us who aren’t into such distractions are our of luck. While it doesn’t fill this void exactly, James A. Moore’s new official tie-in novel Alien: Sea of Sorrows does a solid job of delivering the thrills you crave.

'Edge Of Tomorrow' Movie Review

It might be premature to call director Doug Liman’s “Edge of Tomorrow” the best film of the summer. But, up to this point, this is the most fun I’ve had at the movies since “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” and I thoroughly enjoyed the likes of “Godzilla,” “Neighbors,” and “Chef.” If nothing else, the alien invasion actioner is easy to go into with no baggage, because this is one of the few big blockbuster style sci-fi movies of the summer that isn’t part of a franchise, some kind of reboot, or focused on pre-existing superheroes. Though this is an adaptation, most of the general movie going public isn’t super familiar with Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s novel “All You Need is Kill,” or the subsequent graphic novel. The fact that we’re talking about something different is refreshing, and when you consider that this also manages to be smart at the same time it kicks ass, all the better.

SIFF '14 Review: 'Mirage Men'

From what sounds like an off-the-wall, wing-nut-inspired concept, Mirage Men delivers a documentary that really gives you something to chew on. The basic premise is that UFOs, the perceived conspiracy surrounding the mystery of their existence, and the entire narrative that continues to this day, is in fact built on an expansive, and continuous, campaign of disinformation from the United States government. This is a fascinating look, not only at the subculture of UFO enthusiasts, but also paranoia, distrust, and the lengths the powers that be are willing to go to in order to protect their secrets and muddy the waters.

'The World's End' Movie Review

 

Everyone has that friend that’s not always easy to get along with, that you don’t see for extended periods, and when you do, you spend most of your time questioning why you still put up with this person. In Edgar Wright’s new film, The World’s End—the close of the so-called Cornetto Trilogy that began with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz—that role is filled by Gary King (Wright’s frequent co-conspirator Simon Pegg). He’s loud and crass, he’s ingested every drug you can name, along with a few you can’t, but most of all he’s stuck in the past, fixated on one glorious night in 1990.

SIFF Review: 'Earthbound'

 

Isn’t what every child wants to hear is that they’re special? That their life means something big and important? That no matter how mundane, humdrum, and otherwise unspectacular their daily existence is, the truth is that they matter? This is the basic premise behind the Irish sci-fi romance Earthbound, which made its world premiere recently at the Seattle International Film Festival. Writer/director Alan Brennan’s debut feature is witty, funny, quixotic, and at times heartbreaking.

SIFF Review: 'Extraterrestrial'

As if waking up after a drunken one-night-stand isn’t awkward enough. There’s the fumbling around to find your clothes that are strewn all over a dark room, trying to pull on your pants in silence, and sneaking towards the door. There’s having to reintroduce yourself, or trying, hungover, to usher an equally haggard stranger out of your own apartment so you can shower away the mistakes of the previous evening. That’s all pretty terrible. But the worst part, the absolute worst, is the inevitable next morning alien invasion.

'Men In Black 3' Movie Review

Watching “Men In Black 3” you’ll notice some things that feel familiar. It is the same aesthetic, the same music, the same sense of humor, and the same chemistry between characters as in the first two movies. That isn’t to say it’s bad, in fact “MIB 3” is moderately entertaining throughout, but it is the exact same formula, and you can’t escape a feeling of redundancy. The first “Men In Black” movie is a fun little sci-fi comedy, but the second, while enjoyable enough, is more of the same. And the third installment is even more, more of the same. “Men In Black 3” is one of those movies that you can watch and never have to think about again.

'Battleship' Movie Review

“Battleship” is terrible by almost every standard used to measure the quality of a movie, but is it also ridiculously fucking entertaining. You can tell that this is director Peter Berg’s (“The Rundown”) chance to play with big boy toys—real life ships and giant robots from space—and you feel how giddy he is as he takes each and every opportunity to live out a child’s dream on a grand scale. That glee runs throughout “Battleship”, and even as you groan about every questionable action and every line they give Liam Neeson in the film, it is infectious.

'The Thing' Movie Review

Antarctica is a great setting for a horror movie. You’re in the most remote, desolate, deadly corner of the planet, where the weather can change moods at the drop of a hat, where you can freeze to death before you know it, and where if something goes wrong you’re just screwed, simple as that. When you see footage of the barren, wind swept landscape it’s easy to imagine why Lovecraft set “At the Mountains of Madness” in such a spot, it’s like an entire continent trying to drive you crazy and murder every living thing besides penguins. It is a landscape rife with an inherent tension, a tension that is largely underused by “The Thing”, director Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.’s new prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 film, oddly enough, also called “The Thing”.