Aliens

Predator: Life and Death isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel, here. (A group of trigger-happy, battle-hardened military types touching down on a far-off planet, totally unprepared for the alien predators they’ll find lurking there? You’d be forgive if you feel like you’ve seen this movie once or twice or six times.) But I’m encouraged by the total competence with which this creative team checks all the boxes of a good Predator adventure. And with three issues left in this arc–and with sixteen parts left in Dark Horse’s new Xenoverse story cycle–there’s plenty of time left to stop checking boxes and do something outside the box.

If you’ve seen a film montage in the last 10 years, then you’ve been witness to at least one of the scenes mentioned on this list: the vibrating water glass from Jurassic Park signaling the T-Rex prowling nearby. It’s the perfect type of image to tell the audience: something is coming. These flashes of exhilaration …

A good fight scene is built into the fabric of an action film such that you can sense it coming like a storm on the horizon. It’s in the details of the opponents: the cracking of knuckles, the puffing of chests, the staredowns that say, “It’s about to go down.” A good fight scene makes …

If you’re an action hero, pulling off daring rescues and badass escapes is just another day at the office. The rescue has been the prototypical action scene since humans have been able to put pen to paper. From Tarzan swinging in on a vine to Iron Man flying in on his jets, a hero isn’t …

In his not-quite seminal but still very good 1998 essay “F/X Porn,” David Foster Wallace dissects the lasting legacy of James Cameron’s mega-blockbuster Terminator 2: Judgment Day. (Well, more accurately, he examines the enduring stain left by Cameron’s film on the modern action movie, but whatever.) The essay doesn’t offer much in the way of …

  In the golden age of cinema, a movie could stand on its own. Old Hollywood was all about the films and nothing else. Stars were the commodities and movies were the products – the industry began and ended with what was put on the silver screen. However, the blockbuster culture of the 1980s repositioned …

The 1980s were a time in which the science fiction and adventure film genres reigned supreme. Films like Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), and Back to the Future (1985) are three of strong examples of classic 80s films that expanded their respective universes to further installments. The sequel, while a sometimes surefire …

Humankind’s collision with otherworldly life forms can make for unforgettable cinema. This article will highlight the best of live-action human vs. alien films.  The creatures may be from other planets or may be non-demonic entities from other dimensions. Excluded from consideration were giant monster films as the diakaiju genre would make a great subject for …

Godzilla Written by Max Borenstein Directed by Gareth Edwards USA, 2014 It’s been almost 16 years to the day since Roland Emmerich attempted and failed to bring Godzilla to a wider American audience, a mistake almost as gargantuan as the monster itself was an accident of nuclear radiation and mutation. Surprisingly, the concept of making …

Conceptually, a horror film should seem like a self-contained endeavor. One brainstorms for a neat idea to pull off a few scares on the audience through a tale filled with some ghouls, goblins, and other various ghastly figures that go bump in the night, the end. Film history and the ever-pervasive reality of box office …

Morality in videogames is something that has been explored in various forms. My first experience with a morality system was from the Fable series. In the Fable games your character’s appearance changes based on how good or bad you are and each route has its own benefits. Another game that springs to mind is Black …

Prometheus Directed by Ridley Scott Written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof USA, 2012 Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green are scientists who find a pictograph in the isle of Skye, Scotland; the same pictograph of giant men pointing up to the same constellation of stars as other ancient dead societies. Reading this to be an …

A great little video has been lead to my attention exploring the mystery of THE CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN DEVIL. Friends Rob, Matt and a nameless guy behind a camera, decide to take this creatures mystery to their advantage and try and scare their friend, Chad. This video has a great twist that you don’t even see …