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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Astronaut's Wife (1999) in Movies
Feb 26, 2018
Turgid obstetric-horror SF movie from the days before Johnny Depp rode his Keith Richards impersonation to global superstardom. Depp goes off into space, comes back (maybe) possessed by aliens; on his return Theron is unsettled by his odd behaviour, especially when it turns out she has been impregnated by this guy.
Basically Quatermass meets Rosemary's Baby, only not as good as that sounds. Not very much happens for long periods of time, apart from regular close-ups of Theron's toes; vague atmosphere of stately menace doesn't make up for the lack of real scares, thrills, or ideas. Charlize Theron, at the age of 24, carries the movie as well as can be expected in the circumstances, Depp is all over the place. In the end the plot turns out to be a cigarette paper's width away from being total gibberish; the DVD has two alternate endings, neither of which is much cop. Gynaecologists with an interest in foot fetishism will probably love it - everyone else, not so much.
Basically Quatermass meets Rosemary's Baby, only not as good as that sounds. Not very much happens for long periods of time, apart from regular close-ups of Theron's toes; vague atmosphere of stately menace doesn't make up for the lack of real scares, thrills, or ideas. Charlize Theron, at the age of 24, carries the movie as well as can be expected in the circumstances, Depp is all over the place. In the end the plot turns out to be a cigarette paper's width away from being total gibberish; the DVD has two alternate endings, neither of which is much cop. Gynaecologists with an interest in foot fetishism will probably love it - everyone else, not so much.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) in Movies
Feb 13, 2018
Superior first-wave Star Wars cash-in from Roger Corman, recycling the plot of The Magnificent Seven (et al); writer John Sayles shows he knows his stuff by including all the requisite space battles and funny aliens, but also references to Kurosawa, whose films originally inspired George Lucas.
Peaceful alien yokels known as the Akira (told you so) are menaced by galactic despot on a tight timetable; farm boy is dispatched to recruit space mercenaries to help fend him off when he comes back. Ropy model-work courtesy of a young James Cameron is the film's biggest weakness (the best special effect is probably Sybil Danning's costume); rousing score from a young James Horner is a major plus. Robert Vaughn's performance here is just as good as the one in The Magnificent One - makes sense, as it's essentially the same one. Film has a lovely adventurous tone about it, isn't afraid to treat the audience with intelligence; much better than many other more prestigious sci-fi films of this period.
Peaceful alien yokels known as the Akira (told you so) are menaced by galactic despot on a tight timetable; farm boy is dispatched to recruit space mercenaries to help fend him off when he comes back. Ropy model-work courtesy of a young James Cameron is the film's biggest weakness (the best special effect is probably Sybil Danning's costume); rousing score from a young James Horner is a major plus. Robert Vaughn's performance here is just as good as the one in The Magnificent One - makes sense, as it's essentially the same one. Film has a lovely adventurous tone about it, isn't afraid to treat the audience with intelligence; much better than many other more prestigious sci-fi films of this period.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Godzilla Vs Gigan (1972) in Movies
Jun 13, 2018
Scraping-the-barrel Godzilla movie would be unbelievably silly and weird by the standards of any other franchise, but following Godzilla vs Hedorah it feels relatively restrained. Aliens invade again, monsters show up, blah blah blah. All the stuff that makes it distinctive is mad and inappropriate: Godzilla and Anguirus get dialogue together, for crying out loud, gory fight scenes show an unexpected Sam Peckinpah influence, villains are defeated when hippies carry large boxes clearly labelled TNT into their secret base, 'Everything was going so well!' cries a dying giant cockroach as its plans come undone.
But this is a Godzilla movie, and if you're watching this movie you'd probably expect no less. What is less forgivable than the unbridled strangeness is the cheap-ass nature of the fight scenes - one suspects Anguirus and Ghidorah are only in this film to allow lengthy clips from Destroy All Monsters to be included to pad things out. Probably a bit of a low point when it comes to giant radioactive dinosaurs on film.
But this is a Godzilla movie, and if you're watching this movie you'd probably expect no less. What is less forgivable than the unbridled strangeness is the cheap-ass nature of the fight scenes - one suspects Anguirus and Ghidorah are only in this film to allow lengthy clips from Destroy All Monsters to be included to pad things out. Probably a bit of a low point when it comes to giant radioactive dinosaurs on film.
Kelli Curran (5 KP) rated A Quiet Place (2018) in Movies
Jul 20, 2018
John Krasinski directing. (1 more)
Something new to be worried about when aliens invade.
Some parts felt drug out too much. (1 more)
That baby crib though!
Silence is not golden.
I wanted to see this in the theaters when it came out but who really has that kind of money these days? Redbox is the best option for seeing all the new movies as soon as you can afford to in my opinion. This movie is a classic sci fi thriller. You kind of know what's going to happen just from the premise but it does manage to throw you a few curve balls and jump scares along the way. I can't say that I've ever seen an alien movie quite like this one so I enjoyed it's originality. The use of ASL was much appreciated as it is very rarely utilized in films. Some moments made me want to scream in annoyance but then ... I'd be dead if it was real, wouldn't I? I fully recommend watching this film if sci fi thrillers are your thing and even if they aren't.
David McK (3185 KP) rated I am Number Four (Lorien Legacies #1) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
In the early-00s (well, 2001 - 2011), there was a TV show called 'Smallville' aka - and unofficially - also known as 'Superman: The Teenage Years', in which a large part of the early runs were to do with Clark Kent discovering his powers.
Now, take the same basic idea - that of an alien developing powers on Earth, and change it slightly so that there's nine of them, all teenagers growing up seperately, all refugees from a planet that has itself been invaded/destroyed by *other* aliens and most with their own flesh-and-blood protector with them, and you more or less have the plot for this.
I'd seen the movie a while back and, while it wasn't great, I still thought I would give the source material a shot.
It's not great either.
I don't know whether it the insipid romance between the central characters of John and Sarah, the clunky dialogue or the fact that the writer seems to follow a 'tell, don't show' method of writing (instead of the opposite), but this just did not do it for me at all :-(
Now, take the same basic idea - that of an alien developing powers on Earth, and change it slightly so that there's nine of them, all teenagers growing up seperately, all refugees from a planet that has itself been invaded/destroyed by *other* aliens and most with their own flesh-and-blood protector with them, and you more or less have the plot for this.
I'd seen the movie a while back and, while it wasn't great, I still thought I would give the source material a shot.
It's not great either.
I don't know whether it the insipid romance between the central characters of John and Sarah, the clunky dialogue or the fact that the writer seems to follow a 'tell, don't show' method of writing (instead of the opposite), but this just did not do it for me at all :-(
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Trollenberg Terror (1958) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Jun 22, 2019)
Independent sci-fi movie has the inevitable hokeyness of films of its period but shows flashes of intelligence, until the climax at least. Vaguely Lovecraftian alien creatures take up residence atop a Swiss mountain, rip the heads off passing mountaineers, turn other people into zombies to eliminate nosey psychics, and so on. Fearing the world supply of cuckoo clocks, cheese with holes in it, and multi-purpose knives may be in peril, a group of assorted boffins attempt to sort things out.
Well, at least it's original, if not always in the best of ways. Things proceed in a relatively effective way until the aliens decide to come down the mountain and attack in person, at which point they are revealed to be tentacled monocular blobs entirely beyond the budget of the film to convincingly realise. The same could be said of many alien invasion and monster movies of the 50s and 60s and this is neither the best nor the worst example of the genre from that period.
Well, at least it's original, if not always in the best of ways. Things proceed in a relatively effective way until the aliens decide to come down the mountain and attack in person, at which point they are revealed to be tentacled monocular blobs entirely beyond the budget of the film to convincingly realise. The same could be said of many alien invasion and monster movies of the 50s and 60s and this is neither the best nor the worst example of the genre from that period.
Peter G. (247 KP) rated Near Dark (1987) in Movies
Oct 30, 2019
Quite ingeniously keeping a large chunk of the actors carried over from the movie 'Aliens' this was one of the better modern day vampire movies.
One thing that you will notice straight off the bat and that's the budget which is incredibly low and it shows mainly through its lack of locations and lots of reasonably well written dialogue, what I dont get is this films rise to classic status.... it's ok at best considering its cast and i remember having watched it not being able work out if i liked it as much as others who raved about it.
I am and was a big fan of Bill Paxton however I felt he overcooked his role a little and went from hugely intimidating to a parody of most of the characters he has played over the years.
Adrian Pasdar who I believe is a versatile actor was the best thing in the movie.
I understand this movie has somewhat of a following, it's not one I find myself revisiting however, and Bigelow has gone on to create some very good films.
One thing that you will notice straight off the bat and that's the budget which is incredibly low and it shows mainly through its lack of locations and lots of reasonably well written dialogue, what I dont get is this films rise to classic status.... it's ok at best considering its cast and i remember having watched it not being able work out if i liked it as much as others who raved about it.
I am and was a big fan of Bill Paxton however I felt he overcooked his role a little and went from hugely intimidating to a parody of most of the characters he has played over the years.
Adrian Pasdar who I believe is a versatile actor was the best thing in the movie.
I understand this movie has somewhat of a following, it's not one I find myself revisiting however, and Bigelow has gone on to create some very good films.
Charlie (37 KP) rated Stitch! The Movie (2003) in Movies
Oct 16, 2019 (Updated Oct 16, 2019)
My go to film if I ever want to feel better
I first watched it on my 9th birthday, really upset because me and my family travelled for hours to go to a theme park only to find it closed due to a bad storm. From the very start of the film, I was cheered right up.
I love Stitch from the very start and I felt like I could relate to Lilo when I was a kid.
The tells you that you can always find people who will love you and you can always break expectations others hold on you. It has a wide variety of characters from the mad scientist, to the secret agent pretending to be a social worker. The animation is smooth and the designs of the characters are great, completely different to other Disney films, which I love. Plus it's about aliens and I am all for that!
Now that I have rambled about it, it's reminded me that I need to rewatch it!
I love Stitch from the very start and I felt like I could relate to Lilo when I was a kid.
The tells you that you can always find people who will love you and you can always break expectations others hold on you. It has a wide variety of characters from the mad scientist, to the secret agent pretending to be a social worker. The animation is smooth and the designs of the characters are great, completely different to other Disney films, which I love. Plus it's about aliens and I am all for that!
Now that I have rambled about it, it's reminded me that I need to rewatch it!
Rodney Barnes (472 KP) rated Transmorphers (2007) in Movies
Jan 23, 2020 (Updated Jan 23, 2020)
What the What?
I understand that this is a low budget somewhat of a rip off of Transformers, but I have seen similar movies like this and some of them are pretty good. Transmorphers however is not one of them. I think this movie is more of a showcase for modeling off the actors. The women were very attractive in this movie and some of the guys were pretty boys. The plot is aliens in robots trying to take over the world😒. A group if military personnel get together to try and stop them. They enlist the help of a disgraced solider named Warren Mitchell to help stop them. I will say this that it was pretty cool that Mitchell finds out he is an android with human feelings. If this type of movie is your thing, you may like this movie. But as a big sci fi fan, I did not like this movie. Big thumbs down from me
Awix (3310 KP) rated They Came from Beyond Space (1967) in Movies
Jan 8, 2020
No they didn't, and don't be silly. Hugely derivative British pulp SF movie is unsuccessful in hiding any of its influences and just ends up looking like a random slap-together of bits from Gerry Anderson, Quatermass, Dr Who, The Avengers (the TV show), and much more. Aliens stage a stealthy (and cheap) invasion of England via meteorite, possess the boffins sent to investigate, and cause all sorts of trouble. Imported American boffin Robert Hutton proves immune due to the metal plate in his head and fights back. Michael Gough turns up briefly to chew the scenery as the Master of the Moon.
Almost entirely absurd, but rattles along and never actually gets dull. Performances are mostly lousy with the exception of Bernard Kay, who is actually not bad. Fun can always be had spotting the influences, the props recycled from Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD, and the sight of Zia Mohyeddin with an anti-mind control colander on his head. Daft, but fun, and certainly more entertaining than The Terrornauts (but then so is giving yourself a tonsilectomy).
Almost entirely absurd, but rattles along and never actually gets dull. Performances are mostly lousy with the exception of Bernard Kay, who is actually not bad. Fun can always be had spotting the influences, the props recycled from Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150 AD, and the sight of Zia Mohyeddin with an anti-mind control colander on his head. Daft, but fun, and certainly more entertaining than The Terrornauts (but then so is giving yourself a tonsilectomy).