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aliens

Color Out of Space: Sci-Fi Horror Never Quite Lands

January 24, 2020 by ScreenFish Staff Leave a Comment

By Johnathan Stowe

As a sci-fi horror movie, Color Out of Space has some rough edges and could be looked at by some as a silly and bizarre movie. Is this movie worth seeing? I personally think that it deserves a watch. 

Written and directed by Richard Stanley (The Otherworld), Color Out of Space tells the story of Nathan Gardner (Nicholas Cage) and his family who live in a remote county side area. Nathan lives with his wife Theresa, his oldest sons Benny and Jack, and his daughter Lavinia. Benny really cares for animals and even helps to take care of the Alpacas and other livestock around the farm. His sister, Lavinia, is a rebellious teen who is done with her family, constantly listening to rock music and performing necromancy. The youngest, Jack is a young and mysterious boy who likes to draw. When a meteorite crashes down on the Gardner’s property, it seems to alter time as the kids are frozen from what they are doing and, eventually, acting in bizarre ways. (At one point, the effects of the alien even cause one character to cut their fingers off without realizing it.) 

Color Out of Space speaks to the issue of global warming and climate change. From Ward’s narration in the opening credits to the alien affect on the livestock and drinking water, the film pushes for an interesting discussion on how we should protect our planet before we infect it and destroy everything we love. Because of the alien attack, the damage affected everything from mutated people and animals to the tainting of vegetation. (In fact, even the source of water becomes contaminated, turning everyone that drinks it into mind-controlled slaves.) Though the alien (or the ‘Color’ mentioned in the title) is the infection within the film, the destruction it causes also speaks to the potential for our own ability to ruin our world in the future.

In other movies of this genre, it’s common for the audience to emotionally connect with either the family effected or the ‘lone survivor’ but, unfortunately, Space doesn’t do it. After everything that happens, there simply isn’t much that connects you with the characters. While the movie starts off well, the script becomes a mess halfway through, veering off in ways that confuse the audience. The storyline doesn’t allow the audience to connect with these characters. However, one good thing about the movie is the visuals. Filled with wild images such as mutated people, a hydra-like alpaca and more, the visuals in the film are on point and makes you feel sick to your stomach, which works in a film like this. (It’s also appropriate that a movie called Color Out of Space would feature breathtaking colors and the film’s special effects are also very beautiful.)

Wild and crazy, Color Out of Space is definitely a movie for all Nicolas Cage fans to see. Even though the story doesn’t always work, the visuals are beautiful and disgusting (when they need to be).

Color Out of Space is in theatres now.

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: aliens, horror, HP Lovecraft, Nicolas Cage, Richard Stanley

Against the Fright: 1on1 with Brian Cavallaro (director, AGAINST THE NIGHT)

March 27, 2018 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

http://screenfish.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1on1-with-Brian-Cavallaro-director-AGAINST-THE-NIGHT.mp3

Written and directed by Brian Cavallaro, Against the Night tells the story of nine friends who decide to sneak into an abandoned prison to film their own ‘ghost-hunting’ video. As members of their team begin to disappear, they quickly begin to fear that they may not be alone. Filmed in Philadelphia, Cavallaro believed that the prison setting helped establish an atmosphere of dread from the outset.

“I’m from Philadelphia and, as a kid I took a tour of a penitentiary called Eastern State Penitentiary,” he begins. “I thought it’d be a great place for a genre movie. It’s got unique architecture, decaying walls. All the stuff that makes for a great horror movie. I set out to do that and, as I was on my scouting trips to Eastern State Penitentiary, I found that it would be more like shooting in a museum. They were saying that it was fine to shoot there but we couldn’t have any blood on the walls or run down any hallways and I thought that that doesn’t sound very fun. Then, I found that there were other prisons in the city that look very much like Eastern State Penitentiary that are less protected and that’s how we came upon Holmesberg Prison, which is a great location.”

Although the benefits of filming on location far outweigh the negatives, there are always challenges to overcome. For example, while shooting at Holmesburg, Cavallaro was forced to improvise his techniques in areas without electricity.

“You didn’t see it in the movie but [Holmesberg] is an operating prison,” he clarifies. “So, the yard that we filmed in has inmates out there during the day. Our holding area was sometimes used as a holding area for prisoners and that’s attached to the more condemned area where we filmed. Our holding area was great. We had running water, lights and all the things you need to make something work but, when we actually filmed, we had no electricity. So, that was a bit of a challenge. There was no help to speak of. So, you were out there and, it was pretty creepy.”

Along with the challenges of on-location shooting, Cavallaro also was working with a cast of unknown actors with limited experience. Nevertheless, despite the potential for difficulty, he was very impressed by his cast’s talent and hard work.

“They were great, actually!,” he recalls. “I had a hard time. Obviously, when you’re working with a low budget, you don’t have script supervisors sitting next to me the whole time. The only thing I just tried to keep them on task with the intention of the scene. So, sometimes I kind of liked how things were going in terms of the emotion and then, I’d try to pull back and say ‘Don’t forget. We have to get from this scene to this scene.’ But they were super talented! Half of them were local from Philadelphia and the other half came down from New York. I was very, very happy at how they all worked together.”

While any director is influenced by other artists in their craft, horror is a particularly interesting genre unto itself. Whether it’s the supernatural terror of The Exorcist or the more grounded terror of The Blair Witch Project, every horror film has a different style and emphasis. However, in the creation of Against the Night, Cavallaro says that his greatest influence came from a genre that one might not expect.

Says Cavallaro, “Beyond [any particular] films that have influenced it, I’m also a fan of that genre of reality TV shows. Not necessarily in the believable kind of way but just in the sense that I’ve had to cut my teeth in the industry. I’ve worked on a few [reality shows], learned some of the tricks of the trade and thought that this would be kind of a fun way to approach [our film].”

Interestingly, regardless of their budget or ‘star power’, horror films seem to consistently be the genre that makes money. With this in mind, Cavallaro believes that much of the popularity of the genre stems from our culture’s overall interest in the afterlife.

“I think we must be [fascinated by the paranormal] because of the amount of content that’s out there. And I think that we want to believe that there’s something out there more than us. I think that there’s many different versions of that. I’m always interested in the fact that many Asian cultures see ghosts as a completely positive entity. Obviously, we have different feelings about that. I think, ultimately, we just want to believe that there’s something more than us.”

Furthermore, it still remains somewhat of a mystery as to why we seem to enjoy being scared as an audience. On the surface, fear appears to be an overtly negative feeling… and yet, time and again, we find ourselves drawn into a darkened theatre asking to feel the anxiety and dread of horror. In light of this, Cavallaro believes that much of the appeal lies in our desire to problem-solve.

“I’ve read other interviews and seen other podcasts where other people answer that and I don’t know if I’ve ever had an answer that I buy,” he argues. “But I guess you’re always prescribing yourself to a character to any film you’re watching where you wonder what it’s like to be in that situation or that protagonist. But I think that, in scary movies, you’re allowed to have that experience without any real danger and you’re also can do the problem-solving to figure out how you’d get out of that situation. So, you always hear people in the movie theatres saying, ‘Don’t go in there? Why would you go in there?’ They’re saying it out loud because that’s what they’re thinking. They’re trying to problem-solve themselves out of that situation.”

Given the fact that there’s such a wide variety of styles within the horror genre, there has always been much discussion regarding how one creates the best scares for the audience. Though many have debated this issue with few firm answers, Cavallaro feels that it ultimately comes down to the effectiveness of sound design and music.

“I’m still trying to figure that out,” he confesses. “You’re ensconced in a struggle because there’s things that you see often that kind of get you every time but you also want to do something different that you haven’t seen before. Sometimes it doesn’t work. It’s almost like telling a joke. If you’re telling a joke that you’ve never told before, you’re not really sure how it’s going to land. You really can’t undermine the power of sound design and music, either. I was really lucky in this department as well because there were plenty of times, looking at the rough cuts, where I was like this doesn’t work at all. Then, of course, you get to put a little bit of music behind it and the crescendos made me say ‘hey, that’s not bad’”

 

Against the Night is available on demand as of March 27th.

Filed Under: DVD, Film, Interviews Tagged With: Against the Night, aliens, Brian Cavallaro, ghosts, horror, Supernatural

3.21 Attacking ALIEN: COVENANT

May 28, 2017 by Steve Norton 4 Comments

http://screenfish.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/3.21-Alien-Covenant.mp3

This week, Steve assembles his  Mikey Fissel (Reel World Theology) and Paul Muzzin (director, CHASING ATLANTIS) as they dig into ALIEN: COVENANT, Ridley Scott’s controversial sequel to PROMETHEUS. The film has proven itself divisive amongst fans and critics but has a lot more to say than people think (or does it?).

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.21 Alien Covenant

A special thanks to Mikey (Reel World Theology) and Paul (Chasing Atlantis)

Filed Under: Film, Podcast Tagged With: Alien, Alien Covenant, aliens, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, David Fincher, Demian Bichir, horror, James Cameron, Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, Ridley Scott, SciFi, xenomorph

ARRIVAL: Guess Who’s Coming to Earth?

February 14, 2017 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

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America needs Arrival.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Arrival begins on the day that (the latest) aliens appear over major cities around the world. Resting silently and still above the earth, these objects send the population into a moment of fear as everyone awaits what will happen next. When the military begins the process of communicating with their visitors, they assemble a team led by linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams), theoretical physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), and US Army Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker). As humankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks, Donnelly and Weber take a chance that could threaten their lives, and quite possibly, humanity.

Despite the familiar premise, Arrival is far from your traditional ‘alien invasion’ film. While films of this genre generally play out with intergalactic space battles or wanton destruction (yes, I’m looking at you Independence Day: Resurgence), Arrival carves out it’s own unique and compelling place amongst the very best of science fiction by focusing on the pratfalls of language.

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Caution: Potential spoilers ahead…

Playing out like a sci-fi vision of the Cold War, humans and aliens wait anxiously to see who will make the next move. Will it be an act of aggression? An offer of peace? Unlike other sci-fi entries, the real tension within this film exists in the realities of learning how to communicate with another who you neither understand nor trust. Of course, the obvious implications of this are between human and alien… however, the film reveals that similar issues lie amongst the people of Earth themselves.

Having first seen the film at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, I found myself struck by the boldness of this film. However, to be honest, I could never have predicted how timely it would become. Living in the shadow of the Presidential election, it has become frighteningly clear of the breadth of the divide amongst the American people. As thousands of people protest the election results in rallies across the country, philosophical differences have never been more apparent and anger and fear appear rampant amongst the people. The ability to humble ourselves and have conversation has given way to bitterness and resentment.

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As a pastor, I wonder where ideas like either ‘Judge not, lest ye be judged’ or ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ have gone in a moment like this.

But Arrival hasn’t forgotten.

Here, as military officers increase the pressure to attack their visitors, linguist Banks cries out for patience, even when the communication seems as though it’s gone awry. As the challenges of communication increase, Banks and her team recognize the value in the other and fight for the reality that words matter. They understand that one narrative doesn’t tell the whole story—and that that builds bridges.

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In a time where American culture seems primed to rip itself in two, the notion of seeing beyond our own views and truly listening to one another couldn’t seem more poignant.

In the end, Arrival is a film about risking our lives not for a cause, but for the benefit of others. It’s a film about leaning into suffering for the sake of receiving blessings along the way.

It’s a film that shows that every life matters and that communication requires humility on our behalf to connect us.

America needs Arrival.

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Special features include a look at language (“Xenolinguistics: Understanding Arrival”), sound and score (“Acoustic Signatures: Sound Design”, “Eternal Recurrence”), the editing (“Nonlinear Thinking”), and time (“Principles of Time, Memory & Language”), all the main elements (in addition to Adams) that make the film great. 

Filed Under: Film, Reviews, TIFF Tagged With: aliens, Amy Adams, Arrival, Denis Villeneuve, Forest Whitaker, Independence Day, invasion, Jeremy Renner, science fiction, SciFi, TIFF, TIFF16, Toronto, Toronto International Film Festival

tiff16: ARRIVAL

September 18, 2016 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

arrive

When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team, led by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams), is brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers — and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and, quite possibly, humanity.

With ARRIVAL, Denis Villeneuve takes his first steps into the science fiction genre (he is currently filming the highly-anticipated sequel to BLADE RUNNER) and manages to surprise us in the best of ways.  Rather than succumbing to the temptation to develop the more traditional ‘alien invasion’ piece, Villeneuve opts for a more poignant approach by focusing the story on character development and relationships.  In doing so, Villeneuve creates an atmosphere of tension and intrigue as communication between the alien species and human race unfolds like an intense game of chess with the future of the earth hanging in the balance.

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What’s more, the film is anchored by an incredible performance by Adams as she seamlessly moves between hearts of both courage and emotional trauma.  With strong outings in both ARRIVAL and Tom Ford’s NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, she could very well finally be poised for recognition come Oscar time.  Although it also features solid performances from its supporting cast (Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker), there’s little question that this is Adams’ film and she seizes the opportunity.

Without giving away any spoilers, Villeneuve also has much to say within the film about the nature of language and communication.  Is communication what brings us together or a roadblock?  Or is it possible that truth can get lost in translation?  These questions, in addition to the theme of ‘leaning into fear’ provide more than enough content to  lift ARRIVAL beyond your run-of-the-mill sci-fi piece.

Without question, this was one of my favourite films of the fest this year and could receive significant notoriety come awards season.

Trust me.  The film is not what you expect.

And that is a very good thing.

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Filed Under: Film, Reviews, TIFF Tagged With: aliens, Amy Adams, Arrival, Denis Villeneuve, drama, Future, Jeremy Renner, language, SciFi

Pixels – Video Game Death Match!

November 3, 2015 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

pixels

Alien life forms have interpreted 1980s messages sent into space as a challenge. Now, they have arrived on Earth to ‘play’ through three rounds of attacks to decide whether or not the Earth will be destroyed. Only a group of video game-playing thirty- and forty-year-old slackers can stop them. 

If that sounds wildly entertaining – and you love Adam Sandler movies – then rush out right now to buy Pixels on Blu-ray, DVD, or Digital HD. If it doesn’t – or you hated Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, and Grownups… well, stop reading.

For me, there’s something endearing about a bunch of lovable losers putting it all on the line to save the world. It’s what I’d hope that I would do if it came down to it.

And yes, I love video games, films like The Last Starfighter, and ’80s icons.

Sandler plays Sam Brenner, one-time arcade champ, while Kevin James plays William Cooper, the President of the United States and Brenner’s best friend. Mix in Peter Dinklage as Brenner’s childhood nemesis, Eddie Plant, Josh Gad as Ludlow Lamonsoff, and Michelle Monaghan as the only real soldier on the team, and you have some seriously funny (and stupid) hijinks about how the fate of the world might come down to a duel over Pac-Man, or Donkey Kong.

Special features here on the DVD include a look at Q’Bert, Dojo Quest, and the “Game On” music video by Waka Flocka Flame featuring Good Charlotte. The Blu-ray actually comes with a look at Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Centipede. (For the record, Centipede was my favorite one of the bunch!)

While there might not be much to speak of besides the humor here, I still find myself considering that there’s a parable here about what it means to identify your gifts, and use them for the good of humanity. Sooner of later, one of these movies has to prove my mom wrong: video game skills WILL come in handy!

Filed Under: DVD, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Adam Sandler, aliens, Josh Gad, Kevin James, videogames

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