Review - Alien: Covenant 6.5/10 QUICK REVIEW

Alien: Covenant was a good movie visually, but in terms of storytelling, it fell short. The film was meant to expand upon what its predecessor Prometheus established. The engineers, the deacon, the origin of the xenomorphs, all things that Prometheus set up were seemingly dropped in favour of an action packed science fiction blockbuster. I don't hate Prometheus as much as other people, I actually don't think it's that bad. It's a superior movie to Covenant. I just hope that the third entry in this new series of Alien films will tie it all together to make Covenant a better film than it currently is.

It Comes at Night - Review - 7.7/10 *SPOILERS*

I managed to watch It Comes at Night last night when I should have been sleeping (school's rough). I thoroughly enjoyed it, as it was highly praised by classmates of mine. It was my understanding that most people who saw it last year had a lot of negative reactions to it, so I didn't really bother. However, after seeing it on Netflix, I can honestly say, it did not deserve the hate that it received. The problem that led to it's generally negative response was the marketing. It was marketed as a generic horror movie, when in reality it is a psychological thriller with a few elements of horror. It takes place in a world where an unknown illness that has been implied to have wiped out much of the human race. That isn't the point though, the sickness isn't the focus of the story. It is a smaller and well contained story surrounding two families that end up having to share a house and work together to make a life in this new world. Travis, played by Kelvin Harrison Jr., is the 17 year old who is arguably the main protagonist of the film. He's plagued by nightmares that form metaphors for events going on in the real world, and these visions he has help to progress the story by giving a sneak peak into upcoming events. The movie has an excellent story, a solid cast, and really cool ideas presented to the thriller genre, but ultimately, it's downfall came from the false marketing of what the movie was, subverting audiences expectations for what kind of film they were going to see. I give the movie a 7.7, a win in my books.

Review - Arrival 4.5/5 *SPOILERS*

               Arrival is far from your average science fiction alien movie. This is a film that calls into question how we as a race deal with potential threats, and how we would and should react in the event of an extraterrestrial threat. It bears witness to stellar performances by Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker. All I can say is that I believe this movie landed a spot in my top 30 movies of all time for sure. It was the best movie of the year so far, in my opinion. I have yet to see Hacksaw Ridge, but I think Arrival definitely takes the cake.
               What I really liked about this movie, was how simple it was kept. If you're looking for an action-packed, high octane war movie about an alien invasion, look elsewhere. This is an alien movie for scholarly folk. The aliens are referred to as "Heptapods" due to their seven legs. twelve ships manned by these tentacled creatures show up as different places around the world. Nothing is known about them at first, they simply float in the skies above the countries they decided to reside over. A global investigation ensues to figure out what these ships are, how they got there, but most importantly, what is their purpose on Earth.
                Amy Adams plays the linguistics professor, Dr. Louise Banks. She was brought in by the U.S. Government to attempt communication with the aliens by boarding a ship every 18 hours through a hole that opened up. She is joined by Jeremy Renner's Ian Donnelly, a mathematician who will try and figure out technicalities of the alien ship and learn more about their technology. They form a close friendship over the course of the film.
                The cinematography and score of this movie is truly spectacular. Some of the best shots in an alien invasion film I have ever seen were done for this. This movie moved me emotionally. The music and feelings are felt by Louise, as most of the film is from her perspective and her motivations drive the plot. This movie managed to entertain and hold my attention, as well as be a beautiful peace of art, which is rare for me. I get bored easy.
                Director, Denis Villeneuve outdid himself with this. Another piece of his work is Prisoners, another favourite of mine, and you can really feel the same emotions in both films. It was scored by Jóhann Jóhannsson and he did a truly outstanding job. Absolutely the movie of the year.
                So did this movie fit my two most important categories? In both writing, adapted from Story of your Life by Eric Heisserer, and entertainment viability, this movie earns two thumbs up from me. Sci-fi fans and average movie goers alike NEED to see this film.

Arrival - 4.5/5