Tag Archives: ‘Aliens’

Movie review: ‘A Quiet Place’ elevates horror genre to whole new level


VIDEO: Watch Tim’s review of ‘A Quiet Place’ with Zac Lashway on KARE 11 above.

“A Quiet Place” (PG-13)

Silence has never been so golden as it is in “A Quiet Place,” writer-director John Krasinski’s brilliant horror thriller that elevates the genre to a whole new level. Also starring Krasinski opposite his real-life wife Emily Blunt, the 90-minute film — almost completely void of any dialogue — is a complete nail biter from its shocking beginning until its blast of an ending.

Krasinski and Blunt star as Lee and Evelyn Abbott, a couple in the near future with an uncertain future after what appears to have been an alien attack that has decimated the population on the planet. Picking up 89 days after the perceived invasion, Lee and Evelyn and their young family are rocked to the core when an unspeakable tragedy hits them. There’s no crying out loud in pain, though, because the aliens who have invaded their world, while blind, have a hyper-sensitive sense of hearing and viciously kill their subjects when they are startled by any sudden noises. Because of that, the only way Lee, Evelyn and their young son, Marcus (Noah Jupe) can communicate is through sign language, a skill they acquired because their daughter, Regan (Millicent Simmonds) was born deaf.

John Krasinski, Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds in 'A Quiet Place' (photo: Paramount Pictures)

Jumping ahead about nine months after the invasion, the family has taken refuge in an abandoned farmhouse, which Lee has equipped with several monitors to detect the creatures that hunt them. They’re far from completely safe from the aliens, though, as an upcoming event will present a whole new challenge for their survival: Evelyn is very pregnant and ready to give birth, and with loud cries of pain and hopefully joy in their future, it leaves the family more vulnerable than they’ve ever been with no hope to battle the creatures in sight.

In his third effort at the helm of a feature film (and he’s also directed three episodes of his ensemble comedy alma mater “The Office”), Krasinski shows incredible skill as a filmmaker, and in the unlikeliest of genres, to boot. While he’s done comedy drama before, the actor/filmmaker shows with “A Quiet Place” that he has an incredible handle on horror/suspense filmmaking, a feat made remarkable given the film only contains about three dozen lines of short dialogue in its entirety. And while most communication is done through sign language (with the aid of subtitles), it doesn’t matter whether how the words are delivered, since the film’s quiet desperation is captivating from the very first frame.

Naturally, the most shocking moments in the film come when noises are made and the creatures (which appear to be an arachnid in form, and a cross between xenomorphs from the “Alien” movies and Spider-Man’s foe Venom) attack. The great thing is, Krasinski holds off a full reveal of the creatures until the third act, which goes a long way as the film escalates in tension as we see more and more of the ghastly beings as the film moves along. Of course, the attacks mean nothing if we don’t root for the protagonists, and expressive portrayals by Blunt, Krasinski and their two young co-stars are so subtle and so engaging that you almost feel that you’re right there with them. They may not say much, but their emotions feel real.

Fresh and inventive, “A Quiet Place” is easily one of the best films of 2018 to date, and a horror thriller that has unquestionably raised the bar for what is dangerously becoming a stale genre.

Lammometer: 9 (out of 10)


AUDIO: Hear Tim’s review with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show.”

Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.

Copyright 2018 DirectConversations.com

Tim Burton Book 2
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Q&A: NECA’s Randy Falk talks vintage movie licenses, SDCC exclusives

Founded in New Jersey in 1996, the National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA) has not only long been associated with excellent product, but lauded for its ingenuity to produce action figures for films that didn’t get a toy line when they were released in theaters.

Currently, NECA is preparing for its annual pilgrimage to the San Diego Comic-Con next week to reveal upcoming products and sell exclusives figures from such licenses as “Coraline,” “Aliens” and “Predator.” In the middle of the madness, NECA’s director of product development, Randy Falk, answered a few questions by email about the company’s vintage offerings and SDCC exclusives.

 Tim Lammers: Thanks for your time, Randy. I have to admit, I was so thrilled to hear NECA was going to produce “The Lost Wave” of “Prometheus” figures. What factored into that decision? Was it because of the pending release of “Alien: Covenant” or the continuing success of the your “Alien” line? 

Randy Falk: Thank you! For the “Prometheus” Lost Wave, it was little of both, actually. There was continued interest from a small but vocal fan base that five years on still wanted to see these figures happen, and with the release of “Covenant” on the horizon it felt like the right time to do it. This is really a gift for the loyal fans.

TL: Could this signal the beginning of more “lost waves” being produced? Is there another example of something NECA had in the prototype phase that didn’t make it to store shelves, which you would like to see completed now?

RF: I don’t know if I would go that far… the tooling is the biggest expense in manufacturing figures of this kind, and usually if something does not get produced it’s for a good reason, so it’s tough to justify those costs.

TL: What are the chances of the first waves of “Prometheus” figures being reproduced to compliment the “Lost Wave” of figures?

RF: Slim to none, unfortunately. The audience has not grown much since release and as far as the toys are concerned, the sales were never near the level of our “Alien” line.

MORE: Tim’s articles on NECA for Screen Rant

James Cameron is getting an ‘Aliens’ action figure

Paul Reiser ‘Proud’ of ‘Aliens’ action figure

‘Alien: Covenant’ action figures revealed

TL: I think what separates NECA from so many other toy/collectible companies is their commitment to develop figures on vintage licenses whereas other companies concentrate solely on current releases. What drives that mindset to produce vintage licenses?

RF: Honestly, I would be thrilled to work in what I call the golden era/decade of ’77 – ’87 as much as I could. That 10-year period encompasses all the best in film, music, and video games and the nostalgia factor makes these brands successful 30 to 40 years on, not only with the people who grew up with them but the younger audience that has discovered that greatness on video or Netflix or cable. I love the classics and for the most part there isn’t much in modern entertainment that comes close. There is a reason Jason or Freddy or “Alien” or “Predator” still resonate today, or why a 4-year-old loves Gizmo as much as a 40-year-old who saw “Gremlins” in the theater in 1984.

A Rocky

TL: I’m thrilled that you’ve reissued the “Rocky” figure line (and I especially love the “Rocky IV” Apollo Creed). Given that these figures were popular enough to reissue, is there any desire to expand the line to include Mickey, etc?

RF: Thanks, and these are a lot of fun to create. It is unlikely we would do a Mickey or Adrian because of all the new tooling costs involved, added to their limited appeal compared to Rocky, Apollo, Clubber, etc. We do have a fantastic set of maquettes coming, though, based on the puppets used in an old iced tea commercial. These are great versions of Rocky and Mickey.

TL: Perhaps one of the biggest surprises for exclusives being produced by any company for SDCC is the “Coraline” Display and figure. Is that tied into the 10th anniversary of LAIKA, and, is it possible NECA will be reissuing any of its previous “Coraline” figures?

RF: I can’t elaborate too much on this at the moment, but yes, we are definitely celebrating Laika’s 10th anniversary. We love all of their films and are thrilled to be working with them again. “Kubo and the Two Strings” was one of my favorite movies last year, in fact! We have a lot of things in the planning stage now, but for the moment I can only say there will be new figures and more.

NECA

TL: It’s great to see that NECA is offering the Jungle Briefing Dutch as an exclusive at SDCC. Any chance we’ll get Carl Weathers’ Dillon at some point?

RF: We would absolutely love to produce a Dillon figure and have made many attempts to reach an agreement with Carl for the use of his likeness as Dillon. Fox, which holds the license for “Predator,” does not have any of the likeness rights to the actors within the film. We were able to make a separate agreement with Arnold to include Dutch in the line, but that happened around the 7th series in the “Predator” line, so as you can see it can take a while. This year we celebrate “Predator’s” 30th anniversary, so we have some Dutch figures and classic Jungle Hunter Predator figures back out in the market. We would still love to include Dillon and hope that one day it can happen, but that is still to be negotiated with Carl Weathers.

Copyright 2017 DirectConversations.com.

Tim Burton Book 2
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Interview: Bill Paxton talks ‘Edge of Tomorrow’

Although Bill Paxton has known Tom Cruise in passing over the years, their paths have never crossed on a movie set until he traveled to London last year to work on director Doug Liman’s new sci-fi action thriller “Edge of Tomorrow.” And while Paxton has had his share of physical roles since he career kicked off in the early 1980s, it didn’t take long for the acclaimed actor to realize when you sign up to do a film with Cruise, you hit the ground running — even when it’s in a metal exo-suit.

“When I arrived in London, Doug took me to a sound stage where Tom was trying on one of the exo-suits that the special effects guys built. When he saw me walking across the stage he yelled to me, ‘Hey, Paxton. It’s about time you got here! Are you ready to work out? These things are going to be punishing.’ I was kind of like, ‘Oh, f—,'” Paxton told me, laughing, in a recent interview. “I had already been working out, but these suits were about 70 pounds.”

Paxton said the special effects artists “made the suits as light as they could, but because of what they had to do, there were a lot of metal parts.”

“That was the most challenging part of the role – the physicality of it,” Paxton said. “But Tom loves a challenge and he’s a very physical cat, so he’d just egg all of us on to do what he was doing. You can’t complain when No. 1 isn’t bitching about the suits.”

Bill Paxton in 'Edge of Tomorrow'
Bill Paxton in “Edge of Tomorrow” (photo: Warner Bros.).

Opening in 2D and 3D theaters nationwide Friday, “Edge of the Tomorrow” stars Cruise as Maj. William Cage, a  military officer who recruits soldiers for an international coalition to fight off brutal alien invaders, even though he has never seen a day of combat himself. Cage’s luck runs out, though, when he is suddenly thrust into a suicide mission against his brutal enemies and is killed within minutes — only to instantly wake up at an earlier point in time in his life to discover that he’s been thrown into a mysterious time loop.

Through the help of Special Forces Warrior Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt), Cage learns how he can effectively “re-set” his day by dying. His multiple deaths ultimately give Cage the opportunities to relive the same battle over and over again, but each time learning his enemies’ moves as he develops his own skills and precision — leading him one step closer each time to the key to winning the war.

Paxton stars as Master Sgt. Farrell, a tough-as-nails combat leader who initially holds sway over Cage, only to eventually outsmarted by the soldier since his time-loop secret has only been shared with select people.

“Edge of Tomorrow” is packed with lots of action and stunning visual effects, naturally, but woven within the film is a smart, mind-bending plot laced with lots of wicked humor. It’s the sort of thing Paxton said he craves as an actor.

“The role played to all of my strengths. I love playing these real ramrod characters. I also love that was this real perversity built into it — it had this nice vein of dark humor that runs through all of it from the script. Plus, Doug Liman has great sensibilities as a director as well as an entertainer.”

Working virtually nonstop in both film and TV for the past 30-plus years, Paxton has done it all, from action, comedy and drama, to crime thrillers, horror and science fiction. The 59-year-old actor told me that he’s not necessarily drawn to one particular genre, although he’s glad that directors like James Cameron and Liman have called on for science fiction fare like “Aliens” and “Edge of Tomorrow.”

“It’s a luck of the draw, really. I like science fiction and using my imagination, and love the scale of sci-fi,” Paxton said. “I also love the production design of sci-fi films. You have to remember I started out in the art department on films. That’s how I met Jim Cameron, as a set dresser years ago on the movie ‘Galaxy of Terror.’ The big visions the films have are challenging, physically, but I love to see spectacle. You pay the price, though, because they are painstaking to make. You can spend many endless days just to shoot a three-minute sequence, like on the battlefield of ‘Edge of Tomorrow,’ for example.”

Paxton said he feels blessed to continue getting opportunities to work with directors the ilk of the Cameron and Liman because as effects-heavy as their movies are, the visual tools they use never outweigh the importance of the narrative.

“Jim and Doug are top directors, and as a film actor, you look to see who’s directing the picture before you sign on,” Paxton said. “I’ve been lucky lately to work with some really good directors. Sometimes you take a chance on a new director, but you go in to talk with them and you feel their passion, but it’s a no-brainer when Jim Cameron or Doug Liman calls you up because you know you’re going to be in good hands because they’re really good storytellers — I get just as excited about the director on a film than I do any other aspect of it because it all starts and ends with them.”

That’s not to say Paxton doesn’t appreciate his fellow actors — especially one as enthusiastic as Cruise.

“Tom was super-personable on the film and really encouraged me,” Paxton said. “Early on he said to me, ‘Paxton, you’re killing this part,’ and I said, ‘Tom, we haven’t even shot anything yet!’ Then he, ‘Yeah, but you’re killing it!’ You want to be with good actors like that because they’re going to bring your game up. It’s like a tennis match. The better players you play with, the better your game gets. Tom has a great sense of professionalism and brings a real passion and conviction to whatever’s he’s doing.”

Knifehead - Pacific Rim