Science Fiction

[6] Sigourney Weaver returns in this fourth chapter of the Alien franchise, this time as an alien/human hybrid clone of her iconic Ripley character. It’s a refreshing change of pace for the character, invigorated by a curious connection to her former foes and a new devil-may-care attitude toward living or dying. In the script credited to Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Toy Story), Ripley …

[6] After surviving two rounds with the xenomorphs, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) crash-lands on a planet where a few dozen convicts have found God in an abandoned mining facility. But God can’t save them from the alien that stowed away with Ripley, especially after Ripley learns she herself is impregnated with the next alien queen. Alien 3 was doomed to become the cautionary example of how …

[7] Walter Pidgeon and Leslie Nielsen star in this glossy MGM production about a starship crew investigating a planet where a colony of humans has gone mysteriously quiet. Once there, they discover most of the colonists were killed by a mysterious force. But a scientist (Pidgeon) and his daughter (Anne Francis) appear to be immune to the dangerous entity. Pidgeon shares with the team’s captain …

[8] Writer/director Gareth Edwards (Godzilla, Rogue One) serves up an authentic-feeling monster movie that takes place in the near-future, after NASA accidentally releases an alien life form in the sky over Mexico. The enormous tentacled creatures begin destroying cities and towns, causing mass casualties — but after a few years, the country (and the world) adapt to this new reality. Monster sightings become like tornado …

[6] Lily Tomlin stars in this gender-bent retelling of Richard Matheson’s short story. Tomlin plays Pat Kramer, who after being exposed to a combination of myriad household chemicals, begins to physically shrink. As she becomes a reluctant worldwide celebrity and her family tries to adjust to her ever-changing size, an evil corporation plans to kidnap her and use her ailment as a weapon of warfare. …

[7] Steven Spielberg passes the directorial reigns of the Jurassic Park franchise to the superbly capable Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Captain America: The First Avenger) for this second dino sequel. Sam Neill returns as Dr. Alan Grant, coerced by a wealthy couple (Téa Leoni and William H. Macy) to return to the prehistoric island for a personal guided airplane tour. But the wealthy couple turn …

[7] Jeff Goldblum and director Steven Spielberg return for the first Jurassic Park sequel. Goldblum’s character first scoffs at John Hammond’s (Richard Attenborough) request to catalog and study the flourishing dinosaurs at a second ‘Site B’ island. But when he discovers his paleontologist girlfriend (Julianne Moore) is already there, Goldblum launches a rescue mission. Once on the island, our heroes discover Hammond’s desire to preserve …

[7] Tom Hardy stars as an investigative reporter who becomes the unwilling host body for a gloppy alien creature — named Venom — that gives him superhuman powers. At first the possession experience is scary, with Venom being very much in charge. But eventually Hardy and his counterpart negotiate a relationship as they seek to stop an rich, evil scientist from bringing more dangerous aliens …

[8] Joaquin Phoenix stars in writer/director Spike Jonze’s sci-fi romance about a divorced man who falls in love with a computer operating system. Her takes place in a not-so-distant future in which society has become increasingly reliant on technology to fulfill our emotional needs. Phoenix’s operating system, named Samantha and voiced by Scarlett Johansson, is constantly evolving. Like a human being, she learns from trial …

[6] Virginia Bruce, John Barrymore, and John Howard star in this second, decidedly more comic installment of what would become Universal’s Invisible Man franchise. Howard plays a rich playboy looking to settle down with the right woman, while Barrymore plays the inventor who lives next door, benefiting from Howard’s financial generosity. When he’s ready for a test subject in his invisibility experiment, Barrymore puts an …

1 2 3 4 5 6 20