Coming Soon 3/11 - Red Riding Hood, Mars Needs Moms, Battle:LA

This weekend we have three movies, two about aliens and one about the color red.

Red Riding Hood stars Amanda Seyfield and Gary Oldman and appears to be a gritty, dark, and twisted version of the classic fairy tale. From the trailer, the movie seems absolute gorgeous in my opinion. I love the usage of the "red hood", how it is always the brightest color and juxtaposed against the surrounds - especially the snow scene where it is a brilliant red spot and almost symbolizing a loss of purity. The movie seems to be taking on the sexual awakening analysis of the old story and throws in the werewolf. The trailer seems a hodge podge of about three storylines and I'm interested to see how they merge together.

Mars Needs Mom is a Disney movie with Seth Green voicing Milo, a young boy who must save his mother who has been abducted by aliens to raise Martian children. This animated film is going to have to compete against Rango, which released last weekend, and seems to be a pretty hilarious and standard Disney movie. It seems quite entertaining and would be perfect to take children to see.

Battle:Los Angeles is a movie I have wanted to see for a very long time, ever since I first saw a teaser trailer. Alien invasion movies are some of my favorite to see and Battle:La's trailer is really good for a trailer. The concept is, of course, simple. Aliens are attacking Earth to steal it's resources and will destroy all human kind to do so. Michelle Rodriguez is in the film and I am a huge fan of hers. Explosive and riveting, Battle:LA is sure to be better then the last alien invasion film, Skyline, which was highly disappointing. Whether humans win or lose, Battle:LA is a must see this weekend.

Here is an interview from Attack of the Show with Rodriguez. She is certainly a very intelligent woman and talented actress.

Skyline Does Not Deliver

Let’s just be blunt - Skyline was a direct to DVD movie with an exceedingly large special effects budget. The movie probably should not have been on the big screen at theatres across the country.
There have been many movies that showcased the battle for mankind against some extraterrestrial threat. Skyline barely compares to any of them. A large portion of the movie is spent in a high-rise penthouse and any attempt to escape is thwarted by the gigantic alien creatures. Humans can not win. Such a depressing concept, but it has quite the potential. This movie, however, did not use any of the potential that it had. Instead, we get bumbling humans that are impossible to identify with and seem to make stupid decisions one after the other.
One thing the movie has going for it, however, is it’s special effects. Despite the horribly boring story, the blue light the aliens generate and the aliens themselves are a terrifying, haunting beauty. From the flying aliens with multiple tentacles and brain snatching capabilities, to the monstrous walking aliens that leave destruction in their wake, to the massive regenerating spaceships, if there is one think Skyline got right it was their aliens. The controversy* surrounding these visual effects is almost forgivable by seeing them brightly on the big screen.
For such a “short” movie, clocking in at about 100 minutes, it seemed incredibly long and drawn out. As stated before, most of it took place in and around the penthouse which made the entire thing seem to stretch on for hours. A lot of the action sequences were even quite dull, only one scene seems to have actually been interesting.
This review is shorter then intended, but there honestly is nothing else to say about the movie. It was very simple, very boring, and very disappointing. Expectations were high for another, good alien invasion film. Skyline did not deliver and perhaps we better put our faith in the other, Los Angeles based alien movie releasing early next year.

*It is reported that Sony Pictures Entertainment is going to sue the directors of Skyline and Hydralux films because Sony paid Hydralux to create visual effects for Battle: Los Angeles and were not aware they were also creating the visual effects for the similar movie, Skyline.