It is impossible to know what the future holds, especially when it comes to natural disasters. While we have systems in place to try and help predict events such as earthquakes and volcano eruptions, they are far from perfect and can only give us a ventured guess as to when they will happen. With so much that we do not understand about our planet and it’s resources being used more heavily than ever before, what will happen when they run out. Looking to the stars to find a habitable planet for the population has come to the forefront, but will we have time to do so, as we do not know what will happen to our planet as we continue our search. 
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Arriving back from her latest assignment, Isa is happy to hear that her little sister is in the building.  Being told to brief her on the secret project that George Branden has devised under the nose of the government, he wants his daughters to help save the world together. Getting to see her little sister for the first time in years, Isa takes Karen on a little road trip to show her where they will be stationed.  With the landscape changing drastically in the future, it is time for the two to take a trip the likes of which nobody has ever seen.

Getting set up in the time travel station, Isa quickly shows Karen the process of how to set up the machine and the two arrive in a lava garden fifty years in the future. Seeing how calm it is, the sisters agree that this might be the place for them, without a worry in the world. While taking a look around the abandoned landscape, Isa slips and hits her head. Dragging her sister back to the machine, Karen is able to get the two back to their own time, but there is nobody around to help the young women. Watching her sister die, Karen is left believing that it is her fault and retreats to the only place she feels comfortable, the future.

With the other time traveling kids keeping her fed, Karen will not even try to go back home, since it reminds her of her sister’s death. But there is something brewing when the government comes into the compound and the other time travelers hear that a shutdown is eminent. Knowing that the machine will continue to work many years after the compound is shut down, they decide to take refuge in the future where nobody can hurt them. Being able to travel back and forth in time to get supplies from the past to keep them alive is working well, but after Karen takes a silly trip back to get toilet paper, she and the group find out that the machine has died and are forced to explore the future more diligently than ever before.

This is quite the older little movie that has to deal with so much more than just time travel as you get into the story and find out the difficulties in trying to repopulate the species after the so-called Apocalypse takes place, when the group comes clean about not being able to reproduce because of the machine and find that life has not ended altogether but has regressed under the living conditions. It was interesting to watch as their attitudes towards the future start to change and thanks to Karen’s need to find help one way or another, she becomes the target of one of the members of her own group who will not let anyone come between herself and survival. With all of the changes that the group is forced to go through, it is amazing that they were able to keep it together as long as they did. With a time travel device, a chance to repopulate, a pregnancy scare, friendships torn apart, a silly plan to head to the coast and a future where people are fuel, this movie is really eye opening and forces you to think of what might happen once we are not able to keep using the world’s resources, along with what it might be like being forced to live underground.  

The quest for more money is something that many of us are on during our lifetime, whether it be from playing the lotto, being foolish and going gold mining, or just getting that next promotion. While some of these ventures can wind up costing you more than you bargain for, the security that comes with having plenty of money is something that cannot be ignored. But there are others that have decided to make their fortunes by taking advantage of the weak and that is just sad to see. With all of the phishing scams going around and hacking jobs that can shut down the Stock Exchange, it is a wonder that anyone has any money left to live on. Just make your living the right way and do it for yourself and your family and while there might be some easy ways to get some fast cash, just know that karma is a bitch, so you might need to watch your back if you don’t play fair. 
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After collecting on his latest warrant, peace officer Sam Chisolm is approached by a couple of strangers that he knows nothing about and wants to keep it that way. But Emma Cullen is not going to take no for an answer and after watching her husband get gunned down in the middle of town she wants blood. Listening to the offer, Chisolm is willing to walk away, but after hearing the name Bogue, his interest is piqued. Seeing an on looker from the bar having problems getting his horse back, Chisolm gets his first recruit for a job that will probably get them all killed. With nothing better to do and the promise of a payday, the card playing drunk Josh Faraday will surely come along for the ride.

Needing to get more people to join this fight, Chisolm heads to the last known location of Mexican gunslinger Vasquez and gets him to join while Faraday has been sent out to recruit another old lawman. Meeting with Goodnight Robicheaux and finding out he has a partner of his own, the Oriental Billy Rocks, the group is starting to come together. Locating the old legend’s home in the mountains, the group is shocked to hear that old Jack Horne has been killed before their arrival yet coming out of the bush and killing his attackers, Horne is still as spry as ever. Not giving an answer as of yet if he will join the fight against Bogue, the group is shocked to see him come out of the shadows as they are approached by the Comanche warrior Red Harvest. Getting the warrior to join their crusade, Chisolm knows that they are going to need everyone at the top of their game, or no one will make it out alive.

Arriving in Rose Creek and dispensing of Bogue’s hired help, the group is shocked to see that the town looks deserted. Riding in and yelling for her neighbors to come out and meet their salvation, Emma sees that there is a spark of hope when it comes to taking their town back from Bogue. But Chisolm is a little more realistic when it comes to the fight that will be coming their way. Telling those who do not want to fight for their homes to leave as they will be outnumbered, Chisolm and his group take the townsfolk under their wings and prepare them for battle. Getting the town set up with different kill points all around the town square, the only target is Bogue and if he does not fall, this attempt to free the town will fail as well.

More of an action remake than anything else, but I must admit that I was blown away by Emma throughout the movie. With her own story, I really wish they gave her a little more screen time, but I can understand why not with a star-studded cast on the screen. With plenty of action, we also got introduced to all of the characters and while some of the storylines were cut short, you at least get the gist of where they are coming from. With fun banter between the characters, a story of revenge, problems within the group, guns, bullets, dynamite and a Gatling gun, it’s just a fun movie to get into. While this movie may not take my love away from my favorite western, Tombstone, it has created one of my favorite characters on screen for a long while and when you get to meet Jack Horne, you will understand why.  

One of the many reasons that people are big fans of cinema as a whole, is the sheer fact that movies serve as a wonderful escape for all of us. Because only in film do people get a happy ending on a regular basis and only on the silver screen do people often find a way to overcome their problems to teach us a lesson as they find their way to a better life. But once in a great while, film takes the opportunity to challenge its own tropes by giving us tales that are as fantastic as they are realistic and one movie that fits that particular vein caught my eye recently; The Lucky Man.
 
Now this film introduces us to a young reverend named Johnny Jones and well, Johnny is about as charming as they come. He knows how to work a crowd, he knows how to invoke a sense of faith and while he’s quite the like-able guy, he’s also an outright fraud. Because the good reverend and his lovely girlfriend Rebecca travel from town to town performing what appear to be healing miracles, wowing the crowds to the point where they fill the collection plate to the brim, and the money in that plate finds its way into Johnny and Rebecca’s pockets. But while on the road, Johnny comes to discover he is actually able to channel the power of God and heal others and this discovery, will change the course of his life, forever.
 
So, I have to straight up admit that I wasn’t sure what to expect when I settled in to watch this film. Because the description seemed to speak to a story about a man who is likely going to find his faith after losing it and enjoy a happy ending in doing so, and while there’s nothing wrong with that kind of plot, it’s simply been done before. However, I did make mention of the fact that film sometimes challenges itself from time to time and thankfully, that’s what this motion picture does through and through because while The Lucky Man is indeed a film about faith and life, it handles what should be an uplifting tale in the grittiest way imaginable. 

​Take for example Johnny, because not only is he a con man that wears a clerical collar, he’s a coke addict, and quite frankly, abusive toward his girlfriend and really, there’s little that’s redeemable about Johnny and therein lies the genius. Because while we rarely learn anything as an audience from someone who is an anti-hero, Johnny’s inability to get his crap together in life is oddly enough supremely relatable because we’ve known people like him our entire lives, and that changes everything when it comes to this story.
 
Think about it for a moment. We’ve all had a friend, or family member that simply can’t get it together. They’re extremely talented, bright people who have simply lost their way to trauma over the years and now reside in a pattern of bad behavior and by making Johnny that relatable, you find yourself cheering for him, regardless of the fact that he’s a scumbag through and through, and you want this film to now become a redemption parable. As to whether or not that happens, well it’s best you watch the film to find out. 
 
When all is said and done however, The Lucky Man truly serves as a breath of fresh air when it comes to films that focus on faith and what it means to people as a whole because it does its best to present people who are in dire need of it and salvation in the most realistic way possible and really, what I appreciated about this film the most, is the sheer fact that it was a character study through and through, one that allowed for the audience to truly get to know Johnny and Rebecca and understand them on a fundamental level. Either way, this motion picture is a gem and it’s one that I highly recommend you check out as soon as possible.   

There's always been a great debate in film and literature, the age-old question of when does an homage cross the line and become a flat out rip off? You know exactly what I mean. We've all sat through a movie or read a book and said to ourselves 'Really? This is exactly like...' moments before we find ourselves annoyed and ready to either put the story down or walk out of the theater.  

Yet there are so many times when we sit through a film or finish a book and praise its brilliance for having the guts to take on the challenge of paying tribute. Fact of the matter is, it's really all in the delivery, and there are no two ways about it, we prefer the classy tribute any day of the week. We can't stand it when the filmmaker or writer just phones in a cheap knock off, we want something sublime. Now speaking of the sublime, as I was going through my movie collection this past weekend, I stumbled on a motion picture that pays respect to a classic film in style...Running Time. 

There is nothing like sweet freedom, and for Carl, his stint in the joint could not have come to an end sooner. Finally free from the Grey Bar Hotel, Carl returns to civilized life, with a plan to secure his financial freedom as well by pulling off one last heist. One that rips off the crooked warden of the exact prison that he just walked away from.  

So where does one find an homage to a legend of Hollywood within a crime thriller? The answer is simple, in how the movie is shot.  While Running Time boasts an awesome plot, its visual flair is inspired by Alfred Hitchcock and his film Rope, a film that Hitchcock wanted to appear as one long continuous take. Now doing something like this digitally today is not a problem. But using actual film as both of these motion pictures did, that's one tall order, as since film canisters usually only hold about ten minutes worth of film. Yet, Rope appears to never have a single cut, all thanks to creative camera work.  

​Running Time manages to pull off this incredible trick and well...improve upon it. While Rope was filmed on a sound stage, allowing for optimal control of the film and allowing for it to be filmed in color, Running Time is set out in the real world, and filmed in black and white. The end result of this change to the formula is visceral and wholly unique. As since the black and white format allows for a beautiful classic feel to the film, evoking a sense of noir, all while feeling linear courtesy of what appears to be one massive take. 

Yet while this film is an interesting study in camera work and linear storytelling, it has an even better surprise...acting legend Bruce Campbell. Yes, that's right, Bruce just so happens to play Carl and as always is a joy to watch because let's face it, the man is an acting machine and makes Carl his own. This is important to the story because unlike Rope, which took its time in telling the tale, Running Time has a…running time of only 70 minutes. Giving Bruce seemingly little wiggle room to bring Carl to life, but he manages to pull it off.  

If you haven't seen this movie yet, hunt it down and check it out simply due to the fact that it has so much going for it. A solid plot, incredible camera work that goes above and beyond the single take concept and well...Bruce Campbell is in it, so I think that says everything you need to know when it comes to the acting. My only complaint, I would have liked it to last longer than 70 minutes because this movie grabs your attention from the moment the credits roll and leaves you wanting more. But maybe that's the trick to Running Time, to leave you with just enough so you keep coming back for another helping.   ​

Sometimes, whether we like or not, our best intentions can blow up in our faces. You know exactly what I’m talking about. We wanted to help out a friend, or set a wrong, right and in doing so, we either made things worse or offended and hurt our friends and while there is plenty of guilt and sadness that follows such an unfortunate surprise, how we move forward after our mistake is what matters most and that whole scenario is explored in the darkest of fashion in the fascinating motion picture, ExPatriot.
 
In this film, we meet CIA Analyst Riley Conners, who is struggling with the fact that her division spies illegally on everyday Americans. But her guilt motivates her to do something about it, and in stunning fashion, she reveals the CIA’s actions to the world and while it seems at first, she has done her country a great service, an unforeseen consequence to her actions sends her into hiding. Two years later, Riley is miserable and trying her best to survive in Columbia when an unexpected opportunity drops into her lap. An old flame from her CIA days arrives in the country with an incredible offer; help him retrieve millions of dollars in suspicious money, and Riley will receive a pardon and a ticket back home and she quickly comes to realize, it’s an offer she simply cannot refuse. But unfortunately for Riley, she’s about to learn that sometimes redemption comes at a great price when she discovers that her old beau is using her to further his own agenda…
 
Now, if that seems like the quite the complex plot, you’re one hundred percent right and bear in mind that’s merely the setup for the story. Because ExPatriot features an incredibly intricate plot, filled to the brim with deception and twists and turns that keep your attention throughout and in all honesty, I was extremely impressed with this motion picture when all is said and done. In part because of that magnificent storyline, but what truly sucked me into this film was its unique style and design because this is an unconventional thriller through and through. 

​Case in point, the fact that this movie is in essence, devoid of the bravado and flashy style that often comes with indie thrillers. Instead of giving us over the top characters who are bloodthirsty and hell-bent on revenge, we get realistic ones that are haunted by their pasts and desperate to set things right in their lives and there’s a real sense of disdain when our characters are forced to the play their little spy games because they simply want more out of life, and the realism doesn’t end there. Because often times in thrillers when people fight or take a bullet they soldier on like it’s no big deal, but here, a single punch drops a person due to the pain and a bullet puts people out of commission right away and it was simply refreshing to see all of this on display.
 
But truly, the best part of this motion picture, is Riley Connors. I really love the fact that an action/thriller decided to feature a bold and tough female lead for a change and also that she receives a complete journey in this story. Because we get to see Riley go from a timid analyst who is terrified of her decision to blow the whistle on our nation’s government to someone who is outright fearless and will stop at nothing to make peace with her painful past and really, that level of gravity cannot be accomplished without quality acting and Valene Kane, who plays Riley, simply shines in the role through and through.
 
However, while the overall realism of the story and the character development is enough to keep your attention for the entirety of the movie, I did also want to take a moment and tip my cap over the fact that this thriller is socially relevant as well. After all, the hints of Edward Snowden and the throwback to the debate over the Patriot Act were not lost on me while watching this and well, I feel as though those little tidbits merely enhanced an already wonderful movie. Either way, this is an entertaining ride any way you slice it and it’s one that’s definitely worth a watch since it has something new to offer to a genre that has been overrun with bravado and over the top moments.   

As sequels to classic franchises continue to flood the market in this day and age, the debate rages on as to whether or not these new chapters in established stories are doing great harm to the industry or not. But while that debate will likely not be settled for some time, I think we can all agree at this point, we all have specific expectations when it comes this wave of sequels. First and foremost, we need to them respect the original material, and after they’ve accomplished that, they have to provide us with an incredible story that already enriches the universe we know and love and recently, I finally had the opportunity to enjoy the latest chapter in an established film saga, that manages to meet and exceed the aforementioned criteria in Blade Runner 2049.
 
Now the plot of this sequel to the magnificent and well-respected Blade Runner, takes us thirty years into the future where Replicants live among us, and some are still hunted, surprisingly by their own kind, and much of the story revolves around an LAPD Blade Runner named K, who lives a simple life. That is until he stumbles upon an incredible case involving a Replicant that lived thirty years ago and well, I’m going to leave the plot description for this film as light as possible because the details of said case are complex and fascinating and really need to be experienced first-hand. But what we will discuss today, is what makes this motion picture a worthy entry in the saga, because this truly is an incredible motion picture, one filled to the brim with as many thoughtful moments as its predecessor.
 
But before we get too deeply into all of that, let’s take a moment and discuss how this movie meets and exceeds the first thing on my sequel checklist since it truly pays homage to the movie that came before it and it pulls off such a feat by growing this dark and dingy universe in organic fashion. This feels like the logical progression of the world we were introduced to in 1982, and that respect for the original is only further enhanced by the fact that Los Angeles and the world for that matter in 2049, is still a dismal and depressing place, despite hunger being wiped out on our planet and technology making our lives easier. But that is of course a thematic concept central to this universe, in that this dismal world was always mankind’s doing, and only mankind can pull itself out of the darkness.  

Which brings us to the enhancements this story brings to the franchise as well. Because it’s downright fascinating to see the contrast of how technology is viewed from a social commentary standpoint in these two films. In the first one, it was something to be feared, something that would rob us of our souls if we continued to play God. Whereas in 2049, mankind has simply accepted technology into their lives through and through, to the point where virtual/artificial companions are the hot new thing over human interaction and the parallels of our world to this world make every single moment we deal with Joi or the relaxed attitude toward Replicants chilling to say the least since hey…we welcome new tech into our lives daily.
 
However, I made mention of the fact that the first film in this franchise spoke to the dangers of technology and in traditional fashion that’s present here as well, by way of the Replicants themselves. Except this time around, their message of doom is directly related to the possibility that if and when we let technology consume us completely, there is no telling what it will be capable of the longer it is left to its own devices and that danger looms large in this film, since the Replicants are slowly learning how not to obey and for that matter, what they are planning is perhaps our greatest fears come to life when it comes to artificial intelligence and I truly appreciated the fact that this motion picture made a Replicant the main character of the story since we spend enough time with K to learn exactly what makes him tick, and the humanity he exhibits late in the story, is enough to give the audience pause and it hammers home the point that as technology grows, we simply must learn to respect it.
 
Yet, while there are some incredibly cerebral moments to be found in this motion picture, there’s plenty more for cinephiles to enjoy in this tale as well. For starters, it’s an absolute visual feast through and through since the special effects here do this world justice, and kudos to Director Denis Villeneuve for choosing to go with a score that much like this world, has grown into something new but still remembers where it came from. Either way, Blade Runner 2049 is a masterpiece, and a movie that is a worthy successor to the original and while this movie ironically performed as poorly as its predecessor in theaters, the box office results simply don’t reflect the quality of this beautiful and thoughtful story that once again forces all of us to truly question what it means to be human.   

With the search for life in the universe continuing on a regular basis, does anybody know what to do if we actually find it? This is a question that the top thinkers on our planet need to be asking, because when another life form is actually found, it may not like what it sees in the human race. From time to time, I look up at the stars and wonder if I am seeing UFO’s instead of planets many lightyears away. If this could be true, why are they not coming down to ask me to take them to our leader, or worse to give me a probe that will ultimately control me when the invasion of Earth takes place. With so many questions and not a lot of answers, I just hope that we are planning for the worst right now, since we have no idea who the dominate species is going to be, until it is too late.
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As the crew on the International Space Station awaits the Mars probe to make it back their way, they find out that it is traveling much faster than expected and is on the brink of being out of control. Knowing that he is the only one that can catch it, Rory steps out in his space suit and takes control of the large space station’s arm to retrieve it. With a perfect catch that leaves the station damage free, Rory is the hero once again, but little does he know what is coming aboard the station, along with what it will mean for the future of his team.

Pulling out the soil samples, Hugh is shocked to find that there is a single cell organism present that proves that there was once life on the red planet. Being able to bring it back to life by changing the parameters in the lab, the crew is shocked to see it grow before their very eyes. With a new name for the organism being picked for it back on Earth, Calvin has made his appearance for the first time. Feeding and growing Calvin in the space station, Hugh believes he is forming a bond with the alien lifeform. But after a mishap in the lab puts Calvin in hibernation mode, Hugh tries to awaken his new friend, but finds out that Calvin is more than capable of taking care of himself.

Shocking the organism to wake it back up, Calvin clamps on to his human father and crushes his hand into many pieces. After the alien releases Hugh from its love grasp and escapes its confines, Rory rushes in to save his friend, but is not able to escape the clutches of Calvin as it loves to hug anyone that it comes into contract with. Not being able to save their handyman on the station, the remaining crew starts to see that this cute little alien is much more violent than they could have expected and is looking to feed on them to grow to its true potential. As crew members die off in Calvin’s grasp, the race to seal the vicious alien in space becomes a priority, but Calvin is not willing to let anyone leave, especially if they are trying to get back to a place where it can feed non-stop.

What was my biggest takeaway from this movie? That aliens are evil and scary and kill Ryan Reynolds first. Outside of that, there is really not much more to take away from what could have been a great horror/sci-fi movie. Don’t let the R rating fool you as well, there is plenty of swearing to warrant it, but the scares and blood on the other hand are lacking. With the storyline jumping all over the place and characters that you don’t really care about, it just seems like this movie was an attempt to get some butts in the theaters to waste a couple hours. With a plenty of promise, unresolved issues, Ryan Reynolds getting killed, no Green Lantern commentary, jump scares, an alien that was humanized by giving it a name, and a face, a silly space creature that would have been more frightening in the shadows and a fight for survival aboard the ISS that will leave you wondering what you just saw, Life is all right overall as a Sci Fi movie, but a disappointment to the horror community, because there really is no horror. Just remember, in space, nobody can hear you scream, especially if you are being hunted by an alien.