Movie Review

The Angry Red Planet: #MovieReview #ScienceFiction

Movie Review, Science Fiction Movie / /

What to say about this one… First, I watch these movies so that you don’t have to.

Husband Unit and I both thought the lead actor, Colonel Tom, was annoying and creepy. If I met him in real life, I’d run away. Fast.

The special effects aren’t spectacular, and the storyline could have had some twists. It was a pretty straightforward plot. Rocket returns from Mars, female astronaut is too hysterical to speak, and something green is growing on Tom. We find out what happened on Mars via a flashback. As far as flashbacks go, it was better than most. It was the main story, and it was on Mars, so it wasn’t the boring kind.

What happened on Mars was pretty interesting, once we got past the boring bits of staring out the window a lot. There were some great monsters. I especially enjoyed the bat/rat/crab thing. The Martians then sent the rocket away with a warning not to come back. We had that warning from the Moon in another movie.

The acting was better than usual, the plot would have been better if they had emphasized the interesting bits and gotten rid of the boring parts, and the effects were below average. There was the helmet with no faceplate thing going on, too, and the spacesuits didn’t look like they’d protect anyone from a breeze.

The monsters take this from a 4 beer rating to a 3.5. If there had been more aliens/monsters, or dancing, or funny bits, the rating would be higher. Those cheesy moments were missing, however.

 

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Mars Needs Women: #SciFi #MovieReview

Movie Review, Science Fiction Movie / /

science fiction movie reviewCue dramatic music… “There’s only one thing we can do… wait.”

After watching a loudspeaker for longer than anyone would care to, this was the solution to Mars’s threat to Earth.

And then, the Martians come. After a lengthy speech as to why Earth is dangerous to Martians (mostly the greater gravity, which is accurate) and what they will need, the Martians’ first stop is to a… filling station. Watch out! The Martians have a very effective, Kirk-like karate chop maneuver. And no lock is a match for their air knives.

I really dug the red things over their ears and the painted bodysuits where the paint was gloppy and peeling off.

After the Martians steal some money, a car, and clothes and pick up some slang, they go cruising. There’s dancing! When they end up in a gentleman’s club, there’s a sexy lady dancing in a gown.

The Martians can beam around, so I’m not sure why they needed a car. They can also hypnotize you and make you do what they want. And, I guess the Martians are really scary when looking at you because the women started screaming. The Martian dude was just standing there. What’s scary about that? I must have missed something… maybe I was hypnotized by the loudspeaker.

Women start disappearing, and the Martians are pretty discerning. And what is going on with the Earth defense dudes? They’ve been in a conference all day without even a coffee break! Oh no!

***SPOILER ALERT****

One of the Martians falls in love but leaves his lady behind. The other women are sedated and taken to Mars. It ends with the quote The Earth is the cradle of mankind, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever. Okay. I guess that means it’s okay that women were stolen by Martians.

This wasn’t a horrible watch, but it could have been better. It did make me laugh a few times, and there was dancing. I’m not sure sexy dancing counts as it wasn’t a full-fledged dance number kind of thing that I enjoy most. I would give this a 2 beer rating. You might enjoy it with less, but… all you can do is… wait! Yeah, I watch these movies so you don’t have to.

You can watch it on YouTube, and it’s also streaming on Paramount.

Here’s the trailer:

 

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Killers From Space: #SciFi #MovieReview

Movie Review, Science Fiction Movie / /

science fiction movieScarier than killer aliens were the opening scenes of actual atomic bomb tests. Real stuff. People sitting outside with nothing but protective goggles. Yikes!

Not long after the detonation, there’s a spooky flash. Oh no, the plane is crashing. However, they merely turned the image sideways, as the clouds are vertical.

Doctor Martin is dead. Noo! Never fear! He’s not quite dead yet. He shows up on the street, staggering, barely standing. Yet he has enough strength to check the mail before ambling over to the military base. Mail was uber important back then and especially after surviving a horrific crash.

You look healthy except for that scar on your chest, Dr. Martin.

As it turns out, and we shouldn’t be surprised, Dr. Martin was abducted by aliens.

The aliens travel via an electron bridge. I thought that idea pretty cool. Their planet, Astron Delta, is dying. Their sun went out and they need a new home. Guess what? Earth is it!

Dr. Martin frantically tries to leave the cavern. But it’s guarded by giant spiders. I guess killer aliens weren’t scary enough. There are also giant bugs and lizards. Darn those atomic bombs! A lot of time was spent gawking at ‘giant’ creatures. This made the aliens laugh. Hmm, we share that sense of humor.

The giant creatures will be the army for the aliens. Double darn those atomic bombs! And, no one believes Dr. Martin. They think he’s batsh*t crazy. It doesn’t help that he’s running around in his pajamas. Can Doug stop the alien invasion and save the day? Well, you’ll have to watch.

Here’s the trailer:

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It was more on the entertaining side than boring, but there was no dancing. Bummer. I did really like the electron bridge and the goofy-looking aliens.  So, I give this a 2 beer rating. Yeah, you’ll need more than one.

 

 

 

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Lake Placid: #scifi #MovieReview

Movie Review, Science Fiction Movie / /

At a lake in Maine, roams a creature with a huge appetite and an enormous bite! I love my creature movies, and Lake Placid didn’t disappoint. I’m surprised I hadn’t seen it before.

Don’t expect any major character arcs or drama besides the mega crocodile eating people. Betty White’s character offers a few chuckles. I think they missed an opportunity not making her part bigger.

Pieces of this movie really don’t make sense. But I don’t require that as long as it’s fun. It’s not scary and, there could have been a lot more crocodile.  It could have eaten more people. However, it wasn’t boring, and it left the door wide open for the ensuing sequels.

Because there was a human-munching creature and a mention of dinosaurs, and because it didn’t bore me, I give Lake Placid a 1 beer rating. One is enough to have a fun time, especially if you don’t set your expectations too high. It’s a creature movie. It’s going to eat people.  If you like that, you’ll be happy.

 

 

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The Adam Project: #SciFi #MovieReview

Movie Review, Science Fiction Movie / /

Time-traveling science fiction with a little bit of space action, The Adam Project is an entertaining watch. Ryan Reynolds plays his usual snarky character and goes toe-to-toe with a younger version of himself.

The story is engaging and the acting is very good. The story wasn’t anything new, but it was put together well. There was lots of humor and a few twists. Nothing too surprising, but good enough to keep me watching.

I wasn’t bored and didn’t resort to doing something else while watching, which means I give it a beer is optional rating.  It’s streaming on Netflix if you want to check it out. It’s good to get some decent sci-fi to watch.

Of course, as with any movie or show, it could have been better with people-eating reptiles or a cheesy dance number.

 

 

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#MPaxDimension Report: Dinos, Audio, and Print.

Dimensions Report, Movie Review, Not of this Earth Bookshop, Science Fiction Books, Science Fiction Movie, Space Opera / /

June was a busy month and a rainy one. Cool and rainy every weekend, it was a challenge to get my garden in. I finally did. Many things are growing very well. There are things I still need to learn to do better, though.

The first round of edits on The Afterworlds is still in progress. I’m past the halfway point. The bones are good so far. My notes are mostly about fleshing things out more. That’s a positive.

Besides working on the next release, I’ve been busy researching how to expand. I’ll be venturing back into print and will be offering it direct through my Not of this Earth Bookshop as well as other outlets. On this site, I’ll be offering options for regular print, large print, and special editions not available anywhere else.

I also decided to go ahead and offer my books in audio through digital narration.  I started with The Rifters and have the first one almost done.  I’ll be putting my full catalog into digital narration except for The Backworlds, Stopover at the Backworlds’ Edge, and The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear. Those three titles are still under contract with ACX. I hope to extricate them in the near future.

These expansions mean a renovation of the Not of this Earth Bookshop. I have so much to do, but I’m happy with these decisions and the large heaping of projects on my plate. They’re exciting projects, so stay tuned!

And once The Backworlds series is completed, I will be at work finishing up The Rifters series, then the Hetty Locklear series and Squad 51. After those, I’m already cooking up new stories… my favorite part of the writing process.

I did see Jurassic World: Dominion this month too. I know the critics really didn’t like it much, but I did. I always think more people could have been eaten by the dinosaurs, but that’s always my opinion.

The husband unit liked it too. To me, it had more of a plot than the previous movies, and the references back to movie one were awesome. The addition of the original cast was great too. The major disappointment was the theater had no Cheetos popcorn. I had to get the regular stuff. Yikes!

It was our first trip to the theater since COVID shut everything down, and it was really different. For one, not so many snacks. For two, not much staff.  And, the signs outside the theaters telling you which movie was in which theater weren’t working.

But the 3D dino action was fantastic. It was a fun movie, which is all I expect from a movie with dinos running amok. I would rank this as my second favorite movie of the franchise. In order: 1, 6, 4 and 5, 3… 2 is the movie I don’t like to talk about. That one was a sad, sad disappointment.

Hope you had a good June. I’ll check in again at the end of July!

 

 

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