Splice (2010)
[7] Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley throw moral caution to the wind by creating the first animal-human hybrid, a creature they call Dren. Of course, once they open their genetic can of worms, things begin to go very badly. Dren,…
The Road (2009)
[7] Viggo Mortensen travels with his young son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) across a post-apocalyptic wasteland in this bleak drama based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. The premise is intriguing, far more than the movie dares explore, even with an R-rating.…
Push (2009)
[3] Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning star as supernaturally gifted people on the run from a government agency that wants to control their powers. Think X-Men, but way watered down and not nearly as cool. There's some mediocre action in…
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
[8] Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) directs his second installment of the prequel trilogy to the famous sci-fi franchise. War isn't as epic and enthralling as the spectacular Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, but it's still a damn fine…
Them! (1954)
[6] Often regarded the best of the atomic age 'giant critter' flicks, Them! is best in the beginning, during two police officers' discovery of a little girl roaming the desert in a catatonic state. Looking for her family, they come…
Alien: Covenant (2017)
[5] Ridley Scott returns to the franchise he created with Alien: Covenant, which is equal parts Alien remake, Alien prequel, and Prometheus sequel. The plot is a retread of both the original 1979 film and the 2012 prequel: a group…
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
[4] Rogue One is the first of what is sure to be many stand-alone or spin-off Star Wars movies over the next few decades. This maiden venture focuses on the events leading directly into Episode IV: A New Hope, with…
Arrival (2016)
[7] Amy Adams plays a linguist recruited by the military after aliens (the space kind) make first contact with human beings in twelve separate locations across the globe. Eric Heisserer's non-linear screenplay (based on a story by Ted Chiang) and…
Island of Lost Souls (1932)
[7] Charles Laughton plays H.G. Wells' mad scientist in the first film version of The Island of Dr Moreau. It's a reasonably faithful adaptation until the halfway point, where it gets as loose as the Demi Moore version of The…
RoboCop 2 (1990)
[7] Directed by Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back) and written by comic book legend Frank Miller, you'd think that RoboCop 2 would be vastly better and more interesting than it is. But for just another inferior sequel, it's not…