Posts Tagged ‘film review’
ALIEN: What Would Ripley Do? A Re-Watch During Covid Quarantine
I sort of missed it and gonna blame that on COVID19, but April 26 is the day the scifi community celebrates the Alien Franchise. Today, a little late, I’m re-watching ALIEN and feel there are some great lessons for the 2020 human host of COVID19
Five Lessons Ripley Can Teach Us About Living with a Hidden Enemy
- Be on guard at all times. The “man” the “government melded with the corporation” is always trying to pull one over on ya…so be wary.
- Take care of your own team (including yourself). The bad guys will infiltrate your team, your mind and your spaceship and they lie real good…they will lull your people into passivity and then STRIKE.
- Let go of sentimentality and fight till the end. Some of your team will fall. Hell, you might even fall, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still fight. Do not give up.
- Kill the demons…never, never, never give them an inch. They feed off you and will take advantage of any weakness you exhibit. They deserve no mercy, so don’t give them any.
- Always keep the goal in mind. Your survival and that of humanity is the goal, do not waver, do not let down your guard
The Parasite
Confession, before I write anything else, I have to say…I love Ripley and not just because Sigourney Weaver graduated from my alma mater and starred gorgeously in the original two Ghost Buster films. I love her for her character in the Alien franchise. I love Ellen Ripley because though she is that suspicious babe you wish would go away most of the time, you def want her on your team when the going gets tough. She always chooses humanity, always chooses moral good, even when it costs her everything.
If you have the stomach for it in this season of quarantine, re-watch the original ALIEN. The creature in the film is modeled after this parasite and not a virus, however, the fear of contagion is palpable and gripping (We can relate).
The ALIEN screenplay, for those who love the genre, resembles the haunted house narrative. Enclosed in a house (in this case, a spaceship) the members of a routine haul (AKA…this crew is made up of blue collar haulers) must battle an enemy determined to consume and hide. Many of the emotions parallel our current quarantine, so if you think it will help you process and release steam, watch Ripley kick ass and conquer.
AD ASTRA, A Review With Minor Spoilers
Why Watch AD ASTRA? Five Reasons…
- Meaningful story that unfolds with a tense, creepy vibe
- More family friendly than a lot of current scifi
- If you happen to be a Brad Pitt fan, he’s pretty much in every scene of this film with a lot of closeups. Has to be on your bucket list.
- The science fiction fan will enjoy a number of zero gravity fist fights, a vehicle chase/ambush on the moon, raging space baboons, and a more gritty portrayal of space travel and space tech for the science geeks.
- Nuanced performance by Pitt. His character is non emotional with flat affect, but this film is about his growth toward engaging his emotions. I thought Pitt pulled it off.
Longer Review…
I recommend AD ASTRA for the whole family. It’s worthy of a watch party. AD ASTRA is rated PG-13, I’m guessing for its few gory scenes. I don’t think the gore will disturb most viewers. If you need warning, write to me via comments section and I can warn you when to walk out of the room.
There are no sexually explicit events in this film and very little offensive language. It’s a quiet film in portions, much of it narrated by Pitt in voice-over journal entries/reports…The vibe felt similar to Space Odyssey, monotone and spare. However, unlike Space Odyssey, AD ASTRA gives its audience a few exceptional action sequences.
AD ASTRA, directed by James Gray, written by Gray and Ethan Gross, follows one character’s odyssey into space to save the world. Major Roy McBride (Pitt) is contacted by SpaceComm, the military’s space command, for a special assignment.
Power surges are wreaking havoc on Earth. These surges seem to be coming from an old space station, the Lima Project, the station run by Roy’s father (Tommy Lee Jones). That station went as far as Neptune. In Roy’s youth, the station stopped communicating with SpaceComm and all its inhabitants were presumed dead. At least this has been the public’s assumption. Roy’s included.
Now, the military reveals they believe Roy’s father is still living on Lima. The want Roy to communicate with his father, but Roy can only do this from an underground Mars station. (For some reason it cannot take place on Earth). Thus begins his odyssey to Mars and beyond.
The audience knows Roy has more than a few daddy issues. He’s serious, non-emotional and disconnected from others. Roy describes himself as someone who compartmentalizes for the sake of survival. Roy does have a wife, Eve (Liv Tyler), but that relationship is failing. They have no children.
So, in saving the world, Roy McBride will journey to save himself and if possible, his father. The interior journey that parallels the exterior journey to salvation is not so subtle in the film, but it is still a fun ride.
INTO THE DARK: NEW YEAR, NEW YOU Review Without Spoilers
Suki Waterhouse as Alexis
Another Delta plane flight, another dive into Hulu’s offerings. I haven’t yet paid for Hulu’s streaming service. Maybe I will. I’ve been impressed with their original productions. What I viewed today, my second INTO THE DARK* episode, this one celebrating New Year’s Day: NEW YEAR, NEW YOU. This film is 84 minutes long, rated R for adult themes and violence, though the gore was not over-the-top. INTO THE DARK was co-written by director, Sophia Takal and Adam Gaines.
MY SHORT REVIEW: 5 Reasons I Recommend
- Compact story, tension ratcheting up with every scene.
- All-female cast of characters, all solid performances
- Surprising turns in the story
- Well done production, including a creepy soundtrack
- Director, Sophia Takal is a talent worth watching and following
LONGER REVIEW
NEW YEAR, NEW YOU is Mean Girls on steroids. Those viewing INTO THE DARK know the genre, so it’s not a giveaway to say that the story opens with flashes a tragedy, the body of a young woman with cuts across her face, floating face up in a swimming pool. It’s a quick and foggy flash and not explained initially. In the next scene the audience attaches to the main character, a young woman named Alexis. Alexis is the nanny for a teen girl. Together they are watching a video of an Instagram/YouTube star: Danielle. Danielle’s screen presence feels part shopping channel, part self-help guru, part inspirational speaker. Based on the enthusiastic fawning of the teen, the audience understands Danielle to be one of those personalities able to drive her fans to buy products (including a line of her own overpriced juices) that promise to deliver the screen-projected happiness she exudes.
Carly Chaikin as Danielle
Alexis is disgusted by Danielle’s image and message. The audience sees this in her face, her attitude, her posture. Alexis is one angry woman. She bears a scar along her jawline, also not explained. Alexis notices it often, touches it, focuses on it as she looks at her face in a mirror at least twice. The audience grows in understanding that Alexis’ old friend and now superstar, Danielle, might have something to do with Alexis’ scar.
In the second set of scenes, Alexis is preparing her house for a New Year’s Eve party, but there is little joy in her preparation.
Point of view shifts briefly to the interior of a car. Two other women, Kayla and Chloe, are driving in a rainstorm on their way to Alexis’ party. Danielle comes up in their dialogue, both her fame and how much money she has been making. Kayla and Chloe wind up with a flat tire a few blocks from Alexis’ home and walk in the rain the remainder of the way.
The two of them are warmly welcomed by Alexis. Danielle, has been invited to the party as well, though these women haven’t seen her in a while and are uncertain whether or not she will come. Danielle finally shows up, a much anticipated moment for the audience. She is alone.
Kayla and Chloe seem excited to see Danielle. Alexis tries to act happy, but she’s not a great faker. The friends proceed to drink and celebrate their evening. Danielle pushes her agenda, wanting to shoot various videos of her friends to promote herself/her lifestyle. Her controlling and shallow presence draws out the worst in Alexis, literally and figuratively. The climax takes place as the women countdown to midnight, at which point all hell breaks loose.
I didn’t come close to predicting all the twists and turns of NEW YEAR, NEW YOU, but it was a pleasure to feel on edge from beginning to end, which is why I consume such tales.
*INTO THE DARK…The series, INTO THE DARK, is a Hulu concept, a horror anthology series in the vein of The Twilight Zone, though each production is as long as a feature film. In the anthology’s first season, Hulu released one episode per month, starting with Halloween and for a total of 12 episodes. All of the episodes were tied thematically to a holiday that falls within that month. NEW YEAR, NEW YOU is the 4th episode in the anthology. It is tied to New Year’s Day.
INTO THE DARK: ALL THAT WE DESTROY, A No Spoiler Review
ALL THAT WE DESTROY is a Hulu original written by Sean Keller and Jim Agnew, directed by Chelsea Stardust.
The series, INTO THE DARK, is a Hulu concept, a horror anthology series in the vein of The Twilight Zone, though each production is as long as a feature film. In the show’s first season, Hulu released one episode per month, for a total of 12 episodes. All of the episodes were tied thematically to a holiday that falls within that month.
The 8th episode was released in May under the title: ALL THAT WE DESTROY. The story is inspired by Mother’s Day.
ALL THAT WE DESTROY is horror, but with a scifi twist. It is a tale in the vein of Ex Machina, the drama unfolding around a brilliant scientist who runs a lab in a remote location. It’s a story as old as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and a trope that will please both the science fiction nut and the horror fan. In other words, this HULU original does not disappoint in terms of revealing a monster or two…
I would rate this film R for violence and language. Trigger warning to those who might be disturbed by violence perpetrated against the vulnerable. This is a monster movie.
Short Review: Four Reasons To Watch INTO THE DARK
- Lots of edge-of-your-seat suspense and mystery.
- The characters surprise, yet for all their weirdness, they are relatable.
- Strong female leads, with themes around motherhood and life-creation.
- The story takes place in a desert hideaway where the sun shines brightly. I found it refreshing to see this setting for such a dark and troubling tale.
Longer Review:
Point of View determines how a story like INTO THE DARK will unfold. In the case of this film, the POV primarily rests with the supposed monster, the creation. In the opening scene, the audience watches her wake up out of a tub of black sludge. The audience learns within the first 20 minutes of the film that this young woman is a clone. The clone is lovingly washed and dressed by the scientist, whose hands the audience sees, but does not meet until later. Instead, we meet the scientist’s son. His mother is the scientist and she is a woman fixated on solving the dilemma of her son. She’s doing this in the only way she knows how, by using her science in what is clearly an unethical way.
The twist in this story, as you might imagine, is that the clone may or may not be the true monster.
Ex Machina was on my mind during much of the viewing of INTO THE DARK
In the case of Ex Machina (which I loved, but still haven’t reviewed on this site), the point of view is mostly held by the visitor who enters the lab. Mystery about what the heck the scientist has created drives the plot, ramping up tension as the visitor discovers (therefore, we the audience discover) the horrors of the scientist’s experiments. This tension culminates as the visitor understands that in order to survive, he will need to escape from the lab before the monster overcomes him. This is where a story such as Ex Machina, science fiction in its vibe, follows the haunted house script. Think Poltergeist, Amityville Horror, The Shining. Survival equals escape. Will the hero make it out?
INTO THE DARK gives the audience a twist on this haunted house trope. The point of view starts with the clone, but moves to the scientist and to the son at various points in the film. The clone is innocent in her birth and clueless about the dangers that lurk. The audience understands those dangers and strongly empathizes with her, is rooting for her.
Part way into the film, a visitor enters the action. It’s a chance meeting, but reveals the vulnerability of the scientist, her son and the ghastly experiment she has been conducting. The finale brings all the characters together. I liked the ending. It was packed with symbolism, but not overdone. A true Mother’s Day tale.
10 Reasons You Want to Watch BLADE RUNNER, The Original
Blade Runner, The Original
I rewatched BLADE RUNNER last night in a friend’s home-theater with a group of folks in their 20s and 30s. For some, it was their first time viewing the film.
I consider myself one of the lucky ones to have seen the original BLADE RUNNER on the big screen during its first weekend release. I was a young highschooler at the time, a huge sci-fi fan and living in Burbank, California. I remember my older brother and I driving west over the Hollywood Hills, as we did often in that era, to make sure we were getting the biggest bang for our buck. Our theater of choice that night was The Egyptian Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.
It’s not easy to describe to a new generation of filmgoers how important this film was at that time. Most folks in the film industry, especially directors point to BLADE RUNNER as ground-breaking. Ridley Scott made BLADE RUNNER after finishing the film, ALIEN. He also made it after his brother had died of cancer. The dark setting of BLADE RUNNER reflects a dark state of mind. Don’t expect cheerfulness here.
YET…you don’t have to be a filmmaker to appreciate BLADE RUNNER.
Here are 10 Reasons Every Sci-Fi Fan Ought to Watch BLADE RUNNER
Oh, and watch the FINAL CUT. 2007 version. There are seven versions of this film. Kind of crazy, I know.
- Cult classics happen for a reason. Following its meh release in 1982, a slow-building respect, awe and cult following emerged.
- BLADE RUNNER influenced the next generation of filmmakers, especially dystopian and sci-fi writers/directors.
- This is a brilliant screenplay (especially once R.Scott took out the clunky voice-over narration), though many fans adore that version of the film.
- Take pleasure in watching a young Harrison Ford perfectly embody the main character, Richard Deckard.
- You like The Man in the High Castle? Philip K. Dick wrote that novel. BLADE RUNNER is an adaptation of his classic novela, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
- You’re a Battlestar Galactica fan? Here is a chance to see Edward James Olmos (Captain Adama) in a role you would not expect.
- Complicated villain. Rutger Hauer…what a performance!
Hauer as Roy Batty
- The sequel is excellent and makes a lot more sense if you watch the original first.
- This is not a movie for the weak, nor is it for the mindless. You will have to think and process the experience after viewing.
- Because of number 9, it’s a great film to see with a group of friends. At the very least, the post-film discussion won’t be boring.
To buy Dick’s novel, click this link Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
If you want to totally nerd out on BLADE RUNNER, I recommend this very long and thorough article in Cinephilia & Beyond
CAPTAIN MARVEL: Female Empowerment and the Superhero
A REVIEW OF THE 2019 FILM AND A FEW OTHER OBSERVATIONS
In the last ten years, the urging of audiences around the globe have pushed the film industry to re-think the way it portrays people of color and women, folks who might not have been featured in stories (especially superhero stories) as headliners.
A number of different types of heroes have emerged victorious: Wonder Woman hit the scene big in 2017, the Black Widow in the Marvel universe has taken an elevated seat (will not spoil, but she plays an essential roll in Avengers: End Game, released this past month), and Black Panther, another Marvel character and storyline that incorporates not only one African character, but an entire culture.
All those films/characters broke open that hunger into full fledged box office $ and now, CAPTAIN MARVEL enters the scene.
Captain Marvel. First of all…I have to say. What fun! I loved this film and I noticed after emerging from the fog of the fictional dream what the credits indicated. I noticed how many women worked on the writing. The WRITING. I cannot emphasize this enough. Women were put into positions of power, able to make decisions about the story.
- Directed by Anna Boden
- Screenplay written by Anna Boden and a dude named Ryan
- Story credits going to Anna Boden, Nicole Perlman, Geneva Roberson-Dworet, Meg Le Fauve, and yes…a dude named Ryan
Ms. Marvel
So…when there was a shouting match in the writer’s room about what the character is thinking and feeling and the actions she is about to take…Ryan might have been “out-shouted” by the women. That was a good thing for audiences everywhere.
Wonder Woman was an amazing film, but women were not in the writing credits. A woman was instrumental in the direction of the film, which is awesome, but women did not “create the character”. Here are the names of the writers:
- Zach Snyder
- Alan Heinberg
- Jason Fuchs
I’m not saying these dudes were bad people, insensitive to female motivation and feminine issues of power and agency, but…they are three dudes and there are zero women in terms of the story creation.
What was it like to be in the writer’s room of CAPTAIN MARVEL versus Wonder Woman. I imagine there was a difference.
And for me, even before I saw the credits, CAPTAIN MARVEL struck a note about women differently than Wonder Woman did. I noticed how the character’s strengths and flaws made sense to me as a woman.
CAPTAIN MARVEL was not a perfect film and there are problems (as an author I foresee them) with how incredibly powerful the creators have made Carol “Captain Marvel”. What is to keep her from showing up every other day and solving the world’s issues? The implication from Avengers: End Game is that she is super dang busy with solving the universe’s problems, so she can’t bail us out every time Earth has an issue.
A problem a lot of great woman face, I suppose. They want to help people, but have too much to do and not enough time on their hands…CAPTAIN MARVEL sounds like any number of Saints in the Catholic Canon. “If there were just more of us…” said one lady saint to another…
Indeed…I hope there will be more female heroes portrayed in the superhero universe in the coming years.
By the way…for those interested…there is a weird subtext to the Wonder Woman mythology. Click here to read an article about the man who conceived of the character: The Creepy Creator of Wonder Woman
But don’t discount this creator/writer too quickly. He is said to have written this in a letter to the publishers of DC Comics:
“Look, if you had a female superhero, her powers could all be about love and truth and beauty, and you could also sell your comic books better to girls,” he said. “And that would be really important and great because she could show girls that they (girls) could do anything.”
ANNIHILATION, Echoes of Ripley and the Alien Franchise…A No-Spoiler Review of the Film
ANNIHILATION is free for Amazon Prime members, or at least it was at the writing of this post. This film is Rated R, some sex and violence, therefore might not be appropriate for teens.
For Educators: An AP Biology “fun watch” with a discussion to follow about the ideas put forward by the author. Do preview to make sure it’s not too sexy or violent for your students.
Five Reasons to Watch ANNIHILATION
- The film puts forward a non-humanoid portrayal of an alien species invading our planet–always a welcome change in sci-fi land.
- Watch it for the tension, mystery and suspense (on par with films like Alien and The Thing).
- Watch it for the dynamic, mostly female cast. Realistic and flawed characters with agency and intelligence.
- Watch it for the beautifully imagined world. The CGI and other effects are a visual feast.
- I also enjoyed the creepy music. I expect it will make your skin crawl as it did mine.
Lena
ANNIHILATION is based on The Southern Reach Trilogy novels by Jeff VanderMeer. Watch the film and read the first book (in particular), also called Annihilation. To read my review of the first novel, click here. The film diverges enough from the novel, spoilers aren’t an issue. Both stand alone and give the consumer something different. The most important commonality in both is the main character: Lena, as named in the film. She is not named in the book, but is only known as the biologist.
Alex Garland wrote the screenplay based on the trilogy, but focused on the first book. He takes that novel told in the first person, a story relayed by the journal entries of the biologist, and creates something that makes sense for the screen.
In one of the film’s earliest scenes, a comet or asteroid hits Earth, near a lighthouse on the North-Eastern coast of the US. Within a few years (we learn later), an anomaly develops in and around the area where the asteroid hit. It becomes circumscribed by what the government people call, the shimmer.
The story of Lena opens with her sitting in a chair in a mostly empty hospital-type viewing room. She is dressed in scrubs, surrounded by men and women in hazmat suits, many of whom watch her through windows. One man is interviewing her about her journey into the shimmer. She is the only survivor who has returned from inside the shimmer out of a 5-person team. As he questions her, the story unfolds.
The casting of ANNIHILATION is strong, with nuanced performances by Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jason Leigh (as the psychologist and expedition leader).
This film was released on a February weekend in 2018, the weekend following the release of Black Panther. While the Marvel masterpiece sucked nearly all of the movie-going public into the theaters to ooh and aah over that story as well as the graphics and the unfolding of a Wakanda power struggle, ANNIHILATION quietly drew its small and eclectic audience. It left the theaters before the Hollywood press had a chance to say much about it. In truth, even without Black Panther as competition for eyeballs, the film was rated “R”, and therefore would not have attracted the masses.
However, similar to a film like Under the Skin, this story is so creepy and alien, it pushes the imagination. The sci-fi fanatic will adore it…as should biologists, who will see their discipline elevated in a way not often witnessed on the big screen without a virus taking over the world.
If you are a DVD watcher, here is a link for purchase.
I end with a favorite quote:
“Was it carbon based? What did it want? It came here for a reason. It came here for a reason. It mutated everything.”
BIRD BOX: A Review with a Couple of Spoilers
Watch and Enjoy. BIRD BOX is an Entertaining Film as Long as you Know that These Images and Themes Have Been Seen Before
BIRD BOX was produced by Netflix and released for public consumption on December, 21, 2018. According to Netflix data, 45 million people watched BIRD BOX in the week before Christmas.
For those who didn’t watch it over Christmas, like me, here’s the review…
This story is a Quiet Place, but without the husband (there is a stand-out dude…Tom, played by Trevante Rhodes…who becomes a stand-in husband and Father, but for a short portion of the film). The story portrays a mother, Sandra Bullock, as Malorie, who gives birth shortly after a catastrophic alien invasion? The film does not make this clear…Is it really aliens? At one point, there is a reference to North Korea and bio warfare…but one can be pretty sure it’s more along the alien invasion spectrum. Creatures are mentioned in one of the early scenes. Most eager scifi fans will swallow yet another apocalyptic scenario and accept the tragedy as instigated by something otherworldly that impacts every person, mostly in a negative way. (99% of the human race does not thrive under its influence…yes, that’s a spoiler of sorts, but then you probably knew this).
There is some challenge in writing a review of this film with zero spoilers, because the narrative is so familiar to so many of us, but I’ll try. 
Here’s the premise…After an alien invasion (I think) every person becomes infected with a psychosis. This is spread from person to person through what they see. What do they see? That remains a mystery, but the results can be seen and they are catastrophic. Those infected figure out ways to kill themselves. Society drifts into destruction. Those who survive either do so by covering their eyes or a few see and don’t kill themselves right away. However, they become crazy people who attempt to get everyone else infected. The aliens are never seen by the audience, though they are heard and they are drawn in charcoal on paper by one survivor (one of the crazies). The aliens appear (in his drawings) as demons or devils. It’s possible this is some kind of bio-tech warfare and the creatures/aliens are all imagined, part of the psychosis. The audience isn’t in the know on that one.
Sandra Bullock finds herself responsible for two children and needs to figure out a way to get them to safety and a place where they can thrive. For that to happen, she needs to float them down a river, blindfolded. The story opens with her getting on the boat after lecturing the two little ones on the dangers of the trip and the importance of never taking off the blindfold, but the real body of the film takes place in backstory.
BIRD BOX portrays what A Quiet Place never did…the immediate aftermath of a catastrophic alien invasion that jacks up humanity. In BIRD BOX, the audience sees the unraveling. In A Quiet Place the viewer needs to imagine that unraveling. However, in BIRD BOX, the audience needs to imagine the villain. In A Quiet Place, the audience gets a clear view, eventually, of the alien that is bent on destroying humanity and by the end, a possible way to defeat it. That “ending” note is missing from BIRD BOX. It does not deliver enough answers about the mystery. Does an unseen villain ruin this film? Not exactly, but if a sequel is ever made, I will expect answers.
Regarding the similarities between the two films…It did strike me right away that in BIRD BOX, covering eyes is important, while in A Quiet Place not speaking is essential…which begs the questions…is this a theme that our current audiences want to explore? What if we had to survive in a post apocalyptic world without our sight or without speaking? Maybe the post apocalyptic universe is too easy…or maybe too familiar? I suppose, the next film of this ilk will explore surviving without hearing, or how about without tasting. Apparently, the public hungers for the answers to these question. I suspect, the quandary has to do with our over-teched and over-connected reality, but maybe there is another yearning I don’t yet comprehend. Another similarity between the films is the prominence of a pregnant mom as a survivor during a horrid moment of human existence.
I will say, the film (free for Netflix users) BIRD BOX is an entertaining jaunt. If you can get past the unknowns that are never explained…watch it and enjoy the drama that can only unfold at the end of the world.
Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse, A Guest Review
Hello audience of All Sci Fi! Welcome to the second guest post. My name is Abby Jensen and I am Susi Pritchett Jensen’s daughter. She raised me with a strong love of good stories and science fiction. I also am lucky enough to be one of the first test readers for many of her stories and her novel. I have been helping my mom set up this site for the past year and am very excited to write my first content for it!
No Spoilers Review:
We have a longstanding tradition in our family of seeing a movie on my mom’s birthday because it’s so close to Christmas. This year she chose SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE. My brother and I had already seen it once, but it is definitely the kind of film you can go back to and enjoy more every time.
SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE is an action-packed, hilarious, and heartwarming story of family told from the perspective of Miles Morales, a Black/Latino middle school boy. Miles faces the standard coming-of-age problems of a mixed-race kid from gentrifying Brooklyn, along with a plethora of classic Spider-Man villains to save not just his universe, but the entire multiverse from collapse. It’s also rated PG and is accessible to kids as young as 7 or 8 (younger if they’re precocious.)
The writers deftly deal with multiple Spiderman comic universes, keeping them accurate, in-character, and interesting for both kids and adults. If you are a nerdy parent looking to introduce your kids to comic books, this film could be an excellent inroad. And even if you aren’t familiar with Marvel Comics, Spiderman, and especially Miles Morales as Spiderman, is incredibly relatable for people of all ages. After all, anyone can wear the mask, which Miles and the Spider gang (from the other universes) discover together. All they need is a persistent willingness to get back up after every hit.
What impressed me more than the well-handled story, was the unique animation style. As a designer, I was dazzled by the ways the visuals connected to narrative elements in the film. High quality 3D computer animation has been around for long enough that it finally seems like studios are willing to experiment with the medium. For SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE, Sony uses animation to its full potential, creating a colorful comic-like universe for Miles. The textures and chaotic 3D effects connected with the disruptions of the multiverse evoke the unknowns of multiple dimensions in a way that is familiar enough that even kids will appreciate it.
3 Reasons You and Your Kids Should See SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE
- The message is inclusive and accessible to kids as young as 7 and as old as me (a 23-year-old kid.)
- The animation is beautiful and artistically adventurous, both of which add to the story.
- Miles Morales, a black/latino middle-school kid, brings one of the most relatable superheroes ever created to 21st century gen-z relevance.
A QUIET PLACE, Film Review with a Slight Spoiler
Science fiction pops up in the darndest places, some of those places are quiet places. Okay, okay…so that’s a bit of a spoiler, but why the heck did it take me so long to hear from someone/anyone that this film was about people surviving an alien invasion. I think some of why is because of the code of mystery that surrounded this film when it came out. Everyone seemed reluctant to tell…
I assumed A QUIET PLACE was horror/suspense. Most of the trailers indicated that this was so. I did not get the chance to see this film in the theater, but I might have tried a lot harder had I known about the scifi underpinnings. At some point, both my kids saw the film and told me with a wink and a nod that I should definitely view it. “It’s really good,” they said, “and not gory like a horror flick.”
That comment from them made me think it was for sure a horror flick, a well done horror flick, but still, horror all the way.
So…I didn’t get it. In fact, I might have missed the film altogether had it not been for a friend spilling the beans recently.
“You’ve seen A QUIET PLACE, haven’t you? There are aliens in this film.”
Okay, so now I know and now you know and it’s not a huge spoiler. The first view of the alien comes by the end of the beginning sequence, about 7 minutes into the film.
However, this story is not alien-centric. It’s family-centric in a really great way. The premise of an alien who hears its prey and only then comes to destroy, but leaves survivors alone if they are silent, now that is a fun and new angle on the alien invasion story.
Five reasons I recommend A QUIET PLACE, directed by the lead actor, John Krasinski
- Superior storytelling, lots of tension and heart. The idea of watching a silent film has been lost to the modern audience. In this creepy portrayal, there are powerful swaths of storytelling in which the visual completely dominates the viewing experience. That feels new and vibrant, in part because the visual story telling in A QUIET PLACE is well done.
- The family unit (not one individual) is the protagonist and each of the members are smartly drawn. A deaf character adds depth to the unfolding drama. We root for all of them. (Dad played by John Krasinski. Mom played by Emily Blunt. Daughter played by Millicent Simmonds, a deaf actress.)
- Powerful and brutal villain(s). Ugly too.
- Inspiring examples of the will to survive and the costs we incur, AKA the suffering we endure, to love one another.
- Juxtaposition of idyllic scenery/cinematography and the unknown, the mystery of that which is not seen, the horror that is waiting to besiege.
The story unfolds in a post-alien invasion rural US (the locale is possibly somewhere East of the Mississippi, maybe Vermont). The aliens, rarely present, including their spaceships are not seen in the film, have come to Earth and have destroyed all living creatures who make noise (even animals that sniff about and snarl). It seems the aliens have no visual acuity, but can hear from very very far away and once they hear, they come to kill almost immediately. Those who survive the invasion are attempting a life in silence, including the protagonist family. The audience meets them initially as they tiptoe through a drug store (they are all barefoot) and scavenge for medicine and goods. The audience deduces, this is one town of millions of towns and this is one family among thousands of surviving groups? One other survivor is seen in the film…Let’s just say, he doesn’t last long.
Imagine your family trying not to make any noise. Imagine trying to communicate, trying to thrive without vocalizing. Imagine feeling pain without crying and playing monopoly without table chatter. Imagine that your life depended on staying silent. Herein lies the tension of the film. Also, there are discoveries to be made about the villain and how to defeat it/them. Might something be unearthed by our protagonists? Perhaps, but at what cost? You’ll have to watch the film to find out. $5.99 to rent on iTunes.