10 Cloverfield Lane Movie Review – Better Than the First, but That's Not Saying Much

Runtime: 104 minutes

Release Date: March 11, 2016

Rating: PG-13

Director: Dan Trachtenberg

I am not a fan of Cloverfield. At all. In fact, I'm still angry at so many people for recommending that flick to me and that I actually spent money to buy a copy before seeing it. Watching the trailers for 10 Cloverfield Lane made me think that it would be a lot better. While it was better than the original, that's not saying much.

Michelle is driving through Louisiana after a fight with her fiance when she hears radio reports of blockades going up in major areas. Before she can give it much thought, someone forces her car off the road. She's knocked unconscious in the crash. When she wakes up, she finds herself chained inside a concrete room that looks more like a cell than a room. She eventually gains enough freedom to find that she's in an underground bunker with two other men.

Howard is the man who created the bunker and the man who saved her from the wreck. Emmett saw what was happening outside and ran to Howard for help because he always heard that he was prepared for the apocalypse. Howard refuses to tell her exactly what happened but explains that it was bad and that she couldn't survive outside. He also warns her not to escape. Though she agrees, she later finds his keys and manages to get all the way to the last door. She then sees a woman begging for help, but she then goes crazy and reveals the lesions all over her skin, which makes Michelle realize that Howard was right all along.

Though the three live together for a number of days, Michelle eventually begins thinking that Howard abducted and killed a young girl. Emmett agrees with her, and the two work together to create a suit that will help them survive outside. Once Howard uncovers their deception though and makes steps to stop them, the film amps up the action and leads to us discovering what actually happened outside.

The best thing about 10 Cloverfield Lane was John Goodman. As someone who still watches Roseanne on a regular basis, I can see why people thought he might get a Golden Globe or even Oscar nod for this film. He's the perfect amount of creepy and loving at the same time, which will leave you wondering if he's a good guy or a bad guy. As the movie progresses, he does a good job of transitioning from one side to the other.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who I usually love, wasn't her best in this one. Michelle is a pretty terribly written character, and I had a hard time rooting for her or even wanting her to escape. She comes across as this really petty girl who isn't happy with anything, which made it hard to believe her transition in the end.

Many of the reviews I read kept the ending a secret, which I appreciated, but I actually felt like the ending wasn't needed. It felt like two completely different scripts. There was one script about three people trapped in a cellar and a second flick that takes place during the last 10 minutes or so. I much prefer the first script to the second. That ending was just bad. So bad that I actually laughed out loud during the very last scene. 10 Cloverfield Lane would have been better as a film about the cellar itself.

Area 51 – Aliens and Found Footage, All in One Package!

Runtime: 91 minutes

Release Date: May 15, 2015

Rating: R

Director: Oren Peli

Given that I grew up near and still live close to Wright Patterson Air Force Base, one of the bases at the center of the alien stories in America, I have a fascination with all things extraterrestrial. It only took one watching of the Area 51 trailer to know that I had to add it to my watch list.

As Area 51 is a found footage style movie, it picks up with someone interviewing a group of people regarding the disappearances of three people. Reid, Darren, and Ben were three best friends who always spent a lot of time together before they up and disappeared. Those interviewed mention that something happened in the recent past that made Reid begin acting weird.

The film then jumps to the three friends on their way to a party. After having some fun, Reid loses consciousness and disappears. They later find him standing in the middle of the road. Though he says he's fine, he can't remember what happened to him and really doesn't seem fine. Reid then becomes obsessed with the idea of extraterrestrial life and that there are aliens out there.

He eventually reveals that he believes aliens abducted him that night and that there are others who experienced similar things. Reid convinces his friends that they should go to the base and investigate things for themselves. They first meet up with a friend he met online. Jelena tells them that her dad once worked there and was fired for being too curious, but her father gave her all his secret files and just enough information that they think they can break into the base. Once they finally make it to Area 51, it becomes clear why the military and government moved the base underground.

Did you guess by my synopsis that this was an action packed movie with lots of aliens? You would guess wrong. While there are some strange things that happen and some aliens, it takes a long time to really get going. I understand the importance of setting up the backstory and explaining what happened to Reid, but it really did feel like half the movie or more was just backstory with nothing really happening. Even after they got to Nevada, it was more exposition. They had to meet Jelena, find someone who worked at the base, gather up everything they needed, check out the base, come back to the base, and so on.

The trailer for Area 51 made it seem like it was a movie about people breaking into the base and finding proof of alien beings. While that eventually happened, it took a long time to get there. More of the movie dealt with why Reid started acting weird and what they needed to do to get in the base. I would have preferred if the film started with them actually in the base and flashed back to all the other stuff later on. By the time Area 51 finally hit me with the scenes from the trailer, I had pretty much given up on it already.

Extraterrestrial Movie Review – Don't Go in the Woods, Seriously, Just Don't

Runtime: 101 minutes

Release Date: October 17, 2014

Rating: NR

Director: Colin Minihan

Extraterrestrial opens with an unnamed woman sobbing and running through the streets to reach a phone booth. Just as she gets inside, she disappears without a trace.

Cut to April, your stereotypical girl who is about to leave the small town and her small town boyfriend behind for life in the big city. The boyfriend, Kyle, decided to surprise her in a terrible way by turning their weekend cabin getaway into a miniature party with their friends Seth, Lex, and Melanie. Before they even get there, a local cop pulls them over because Seth tried to launch fireworks out of the car.

Things get even worse when they get to the cabin. Kyle takes the opportunity to propose to her and seems heartbroken when she turns him down, though honestly, it kind of seems like she isn't even sure why she turned him down. After seeing something in the woods, they realize it's a UFO and rush back to barricade themselves inside the cabin.

The small town cop, who is actually the sheriff, then arrives. Though his deputy doesn't believe their story and points out all the alcohol and drugs littering the cabin, the sheriff believes them because he thinks aliens abducted his wife, who is still missing. Before they can do anything, one of the aliens appears and makes the sheriff shoot both his deputy and himself. Even as they try to save themselves, it quickly becomes clear that no one escapes from these aliens.

What do you say about a movie that features Michael Ironside as a pothead? He plays Travis, a local man who grows and sells his own weed. April and her friend uncover his stash and almost wind up with bullets in their brains until Travis recognizes her from when she was a kid. He's also the only person who believes them. It's a little confusing though. Given everything that likely happened out there in the woods, why did the aliens never attack or take him before?

There were a few things I really liked about Extraterrestrial. If you haven't seen the movie and don't want to see it, just stop reading now.

One thing I liked is when they actually got on the ship. Seth's death scene made my roommate wince so much that I thought he might actually get up and leave the room. The director and set designers also did a good job of decorating and designing a space that actually felt like a spaceship. However, I'm not a big fan of April and Kyle finding each other, the aliens letting them go for no explained reason, and them just dying, nor did I like how they had to have her put the ring on before she died. Yup, because their love meet nothing until she agreed to marry him. On the other hand, how can you not like a science fiction film that includes a blatant reference to the Cigarette Smoking Man at the end?

Extraterrestrial got some extremely poor reviews when it came out, but I definitely liked it. It's currently on Netflix for those interested.

Dark Skies Movie Review – Fear the Dark

Length: 97 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: February 22, 2013

Director: Scott Stewart

Daniel is quite possibly the worst husband of all time. He and his wife Lacy (Keri Russell) are struggling with bills because he lost his job. Though he goes on a few interviews, nothing happens, and he lies to his wife, telling her that he thinks he landed a job. Lacy tries to overlook things and focuses on selling homes as a real estate agent.

One night, she finds food sitting in the kitchen floor and the refrigerator door open. She finds more odd things like furniture rearranged, food stacked up again, and the alarm going off in their home. They talk to the police, who never find anything and insinuate that it's her son Jesse causing the problems. Their youngest son Sammy starts acting out too, screaming in front of his friends and wetting his pants, which he hasn't done in years. After Lacy passes out in the middle of a house showing and a group of birds attack their house, she begins investigating the possibility that something dark is following her family.

I was so excited to see "Dark Skies," and I was lucky that our drive-in theater got it after it left the regular theaters around Dayton. Instead of being a slightly dark and entertaining film, it was the type of movie that left me checking my watch and wondering how much time was left, which is especially sad given its short length.

It's hard to explain exactly what the problem is, but it did feel like the film was short on action. Something big would happen, and the film would then spend 20 minutes explaining it or showing the parents fighting. It got to the point where I just wanted to scream at the screen and tell her to leave his ass already. There was so much backstory about his lack of a job and how it affected the family that I assumed there would be some sort of payout later but that never happened. The end of the movie just kind of showed them downsizing and moving on.

It didn't help that they brought it the great and talented J.K. Simmons. Simmons plays a man who knows all about "The Grays" and has experience with them. Lacy convinces her husband to talk to him, they do, and her husband then wants to just storm off instead of listening to him. He gets one scene and pops up for a few seconds later and that's it.

As a big fan of Russell, I can't believe that she did this film. I also can't believe the interviews she gave where she discussed how scary the movie was and how her kids probably wouldn't see it. If "Dark Skies" is scary, I'm the Queen of England.

The Fourth Kind Movie Review – In the End, What You Believe is Yours to Decide

Length: 98 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: November 6, 2009

Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

Milla Jovovich ("Resident Evil") opens "The Fourth Kind," telling the audience that the film is based on true events that happened in Nome, Alaska. Jovovich plays Dr. Abigail Tyler, a woman left to raise her two children alone after someone murders her husband. Tyler tapes sessions with her patients, and she begins noticing that many of her patients tell her similar stories.

After multiple sessions, she decides to use hypnotherapy. Two of her patients tell her stories about seeing a dark and scary creature enter their homes, and one of the men kills his family after a session. As she digs a little deeper into their stories, she begins experiencing similar things at home, leading up to the disappearance of her daughter.

I cannot believe that I managed to sit through "The Fourth Kind" twice in my life because this film is painful to watch. It was one of the first faux documentary films in the sci-fi genre, but it shows that found footage themes aren't always the best idea. When I watch a movie, I want to get caught up in the story and the characters, which is hard to do with films of this type.

The best found footage films are the ones that show you characters and let you believe that these actors are the real people. With "The Fourth Kind," we see Jovovich playing Tyler, and then we see another actress playing Tyler in the supposedly real footage. It doesn't help that Jovovich introduces the film and says that she's playing the doctor. As soon as you start to believe Jovovich in the role, it shows the "true" footage and takes you right back out of the film. Luckily, I only wasted time watching the movie on Netflix and didn't waste any of my own money.

"Storage 24" Movie Review – Will Their First Contact be Their Last?

Rating: R

Length: 87 minutes

Release Date: June 29, 2012

Director: Johannes Roberts

Charlie can't believe that his girlfriend Shelley dumped him after years together. His best friend Mark agrees to drive him to the storage unit they shared so that he can get some of his belongings. Charlie is so heartbroken that all he wants to do is talk about his relationship, and they completely miss an airplane crashing right over London. "Storage 24" lets us know that things aren't right by showing us something attacking several people in the front of the storage facility.

While walking through the facility, they hear a few voices and discover that Shelley had the same idea. She's there with her own friends Nikki and Chris, but she almost immediately comes across as a bitch by joking about his taste in furniture. Charlie thinks that they'll finally have the chance to talk about things, but Shelley just wants to finish things up so they can both move on with their lives.

As this is a sci-fi/horror film, it needs to get to the action. Once the group discovers that aliens are invading the city and found a way into the facility, they need to figure out a way to get out. Unfortunately, the doors are locked and it doesn't look like there is any way to escape. Charlie elects himself as the leader, hoping that by finding a way out, he can repair his relationship with Shelley.

"Storage 24" does a good job of combining two different stores. The main story is the attacking aliens, but it also focuses a good portion of the story on Charlie and Shelley. Not long after running into each other, we learn that the reason Shelley dumped him is because she started dating his friend Mark. Putting off that twist until later in the film might have been smarter than introducing it so soon.

By telling us that the two are together, it makes it hard for viewers to root for any of the characters. We don't want to see Mark survive because he broke the bros before hos code, and we don't want Shelley to make it out because she's a cheating bitch. It even makes it hard to root for Charlie because he makes it clear that if it weren't for Shelley, he'd probably give up and let the aliens win.

The best thing about the film is that it doesn't go the typical route. It would be so easy to fill this film with a bunch of characters who jump at the slightest sound or whine throughout the film, but we actually get a few strong characters. Chris is a little whiny at times, and Mark turns out to be a huge douchebag, but the other characters are pretty great. Shelley is probably the worst of the group because even when Mark makes it clear that he only cares about himself, she still follows him and ignores Charlie.

The actors playing Charlie and Nikki have really great chemistry. I found myself hoping that he would at least acknowledge it if not make a move on her, but he's more content just to moon over Shelley. Even after he discovers the reason behind their breakup, he still goes the extra step to save both her and her lover.

"Storage 24" wasn't a well receive movie, and I find it hard to understand why. It's not easy to make a film that takes place in a confined space, but the actors and director did a great job. Though the majority of the movie takes place in a storage facility, I barely noticed because I was so caught up in the film.