A good setting and cast but weak growth in “Alien: Harvest”
Benjamin Howdeshell, “Alien: Harvest” (2019) It had stunning CGI visuals, a scary setting in a failing spaceship, a willing cast and a lot of tension ……
Hollywood Films
Haunted (green) house horror plot with a twist in “Alien: Specimen”
Kelsey Taylor, “Alien: Specimen” (2019)A suspenseful little short, more haunted-house horror than sci-fi, “… Specimen” gets points from me for using its setting, cinematography and especially…
Too many Alien references contained in “Alien: Containment”
Chris Reading, “Alien: Containment” (2019) For me, this nine-minute work was a rushed piece that crammed perhaps too many references to Ridley Scott’s original “Alien” and…
A darkly comic and tender story of love and companionship in “Alien: Alone”
Noah Miller, “Alien: Alone” (2019) After seeing all six short films made in 2019 to mark the 40th anniversary of the cinematic release of Ridley Scott’s…
Worker solidarity to save the day and a mining colony in “Alien: Ore”
Kailey and Sam Spear, “Alien: Ore” (2019) To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi horror film “Alien”, the film production company 20th Century Fox…
Murder on the Orient Express (dir. Sidney Lumet): a pedestrian treatment of a murder mystery
Sidney Lumet, “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974) Initially beginning as a lavish drama set in an exotic 1930s Istanbul, Sidney Lumet’s “Murder on the Orient…
British Films, North American Films
The World Is Not Enough: this film is just not enough
Michael Apted, “The World Is Not Enough” (1999) Sent to protect a wealthy oil heiress after her father is killed by explosives in money delivered to…
British Films, North American Films
Tomorrow Never Dies: satire on the power and influence of media trapped in a formula that never dies
Roger Spottiswoode, “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997) The second of four films that Irish actor Pierce Brosnan starred in as British wonder spy James Bond for EON…
British Films, North American Films
Live and Let Die: as it says, live and let this film die
Guy Hamilton, “Live and Let Die” (1973) Cashing in on the blaxploitation film genre that was popular in the early 1970s, this instalment in the James…
You Only Live Twice: tired and formulaic film shouldn’t have lived even once
Lewis Gilbert, “You Only Live Twice” (1967) By the time this, the fifth film in the James Bond spy movie franchise, came along for the blockbuster…