Another Earth isn’t a sci-fi film. It’s a drama. While this idea may disappoint some of you, the sci-fi backdrop for the film is purely there for symbolism. Blending the science-fiction element with the core drama, on a structural and tonal level, must not have been an easy task. As director and co-writer Mike Cahill discusses, it wasn’t. It’s difficult to really talk about Another Earth fully without going into spoiler territory, so the conversation I had with Cahill was a revealing one. Once you’ve seen the film, then you’ll know why the ending can’t go un-discussed. Another Earth asks a handful of questions, and the ending raises the biggest and most divisive one. So, of course, beware of Spoiler-y hints. Here’s what Mike Cahill had to say about end theories, finding a cohesive structure, and the similarities between the star and co-writer Brit Marling‘s other feature, Sound of My Voice:

With the entire original run of The Twilight Zone available to watch instantly, we’re partnering with Twitch Film to cover all most half of the show’s 156 episodes. Are you brave enough to watch them all with us? The Twilight Zone (Episode #37): “King Nine Will Not Return” (airdate 9/30/60) The Plot: A WWII bomber pilot wakes up in the middle of the African desert trying to figure out where his crew went. The Goods: Welcome to season 2! We all made it, and we made it together! As with the first season, this new round of episodes opens up with a lone military man trying to understand what’s going on while slowly going crazy. It’s a fascinating parallel because even though Rod Serling was clearly obsessed with the military (being a former fighter himself), it’s telling that he chose to introduce fans to the series and re-introduce a new season of the series using the talents of a single actor breaking down due to guilt and isolation.

A significant portion of the 20th Century Fox Panel was dedicated to the upcoming August release of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a prequel to the popular Apes franchise that focuses on Caesar, a laboratory animal that first gets smart and then gets revenge. The panel started with a “research clip” that showed rebel soldiers in Africa teasing a chimpanzee by mocking it. Aping it, if you will. The chimpanzee got the last laugh, and most of the laughs in between, when he picked up an AK-47 assault rifle and within seconds figured out that pulling the trigger made it go bang, and the bang sound made all the mean men run away like little girls. After the clip played, director Rupert Wyatt came out and discussed animal rights before Caesar himself stole the show.

For Austin residents, The Alamo Drafthouse needs no introduction, I’m sure. For the uninitiated, they’re the movie-loving theater with the strict no talking/texting policy that made waves a little while back when the Intenet got a hold of their in-house PSA that humiliated an ex-customer who was ejected for texting by playing a stupid/obnoxious voicemail that she left after getting thrown out. And they also do other stuff. Not the least of which is put on Fantastic Fest, which is the biggest genre film festival in the United States. Whatever your genre flavor, whether it be horror, sci-fi, fantasy, action, or what have you, Fantastic Fest usually has something that will pique your interest, due to the fact that they bring movies in from all around the globe. In the past they’ve premiered big art films like There Will Be Blood, they’ve brought us cool gems from other lands like Troll Hunter, they’ve made us all aware of disgusting nonsense like The Human Centipede, all while mixing tons of other obscure/weird stuff in as well. Co-creator Tim League says of the festival, “Fantastic Fest is the high-point of my year.  Every year old friends return and strangers become friends. Fantastic Fest is my extended dysfunctional family; each of us completely obsessed by the wildest and weirdest films on earth.” Now doesn’t that sound like something you’d want to be a part of? Then I’d start planning my trip to the festival now.

With the entire original run of The Twilight Zone available to watch instantly, we’re partnering with Twitch Film to cover all of the show’s 156 episodes. Are you brave enough to watch them all with us? The Twilight Zone (Episode #28): “A Nice Place to Visit” (airdate 4/15/60) The Plot: A violent man is killed in a violent way, and he ends up in a place that grants his every wish for the rest of eternity. What could be so terrible about that? The Goods: Rocky Valentine (Larry Blyden) shoots a man, robs a pawn shop, and feels the sting of lead shove itself into his body when the cops take him down. Not the most honorable way to go, but everything seems to work out for the best because Rocky wakes up in a beautiful place with his very own wish fulfillment assistant.

With the entire original run of The Twilight Zone available to watch instantly, we’re partnering with Twitch Film to cover all 156 episodes. Are you brave enough to watch them all with us? The Twilight Zone (Episode #26): “Execution” (airdate 4/1/60) The Plot: An outlaw from the Old West is saved from the noose by a scientist who gets in way over his head. The Goods: The funny thing about time travel is that if you invent it, you want to use it yourself. On the other hand, if it’s untested, you might want to see if you can grab an unwilling volunteer (which is an oxymoron, I know) to make sure people come out the other side with all their parts in the right places. In this episode, Professor Manion (Russell Johnson) uses his time-bending invention to pull a man from the 19th century, and it just so happens that Joe Caswell (Albert Salmi), the unwitting traveler, was a nanosecond away from shuffling off his mortal coil at the end of a rope.

Science Fiction has seen somewhat of a resurgence these past few years, bringing dozens of different aliens to Earth’s surface via cinema screens. Tom Cruise battled aliens in War of the Worlds, aliens broke down in South Africa over District 9, and more recently Transformers waged war on our planet, Los Angeles was invaded, and a subterranean alien was interrogated in a small town, only to escape. No matter what year it happened, one thing is clear: when aliens come in peace, all is well. When they don’t, well, they’re the ones in for an ass whooping. Not that it makes much sense, considering alien species that manage to make it to Earth are often technologically advanced, super strong, intelligent, and sporting a massive boner for our resources, not to mention laser guns. Despite all of this, when have aliens ever managed a successful takeover? Not only that – when have aliens ever managed to not look like completely retarded asshats, who pretty much design their own downfall as if they were Death Star engineers?

With the entire original run of The Twilight Zone available to watch instantly, we’re partnering with Twitch Film to cover all 156 episodes. Are you brave enough to watch them all with us? The Twilight Zone (Episode #20): “Elegy” (airdate 2/19/60) The Plot: A few astronauts land on a planet where no one moves a muscle. The Goods: A spiritual cousin to the very first episode of the series, instead of one man stranded in a world without people, three astronauts land on an Earth-like planet where there are people, places and even farm dogs. Mysteriously, either these common nouns are all tied for Most Realistic Statue or they’re all trying to do their best Marcel Marceau impression. Things look idyllic, but everyone is idle. A woman is perpetually being crowned as a local beauty queen; a bearded gent is forever being named the new mayor; and one man alone sneaks his way through the unmoving masses to spy on our adventurers and to withhold an explanation for what’s going on.

With the entire original run of The Twilight Zone available to watch instantly, we’re partnering with Twitch Film to cover all 156 episodes. Are you brave enough to watch them all with us? The Twilight Zone (Episode #18): “The Last Flight” (airdate 2/5/60) The Plot: A cowardly WWI pilot lands at the right base but at the wrong time – 42 years after he takes off. The Goods: This episode is a true joy to watch because it’s a sci-fi mystery nested in other mysteries that need to be solved. Lt. William Decker (Kenneth Haigh) brings his Nieuport biplane and British stiff upper lip onto a French base that he believes is controlled by, you know, the French. When he lands, he finds it run by the United States, who wasn’t expecting his presence. Of course, Major General Harper (Alexander Scourby) takes him into custody for questioning.

Would you vote for Matt Damon for Congress? The people of fake New York sure seem to be ready to do so, as long as his toothy-grin politician character in The Adjustment Bureau can keep his pants on… and with Emily Blunt running around in high heels, that’s not an easy task. But something tells us that a mysterious force might keep him in check to make that happen. One of this spring’s speculative fiction films comes to DVD and Blu-ray, based on a story by Phillip K. Dick, and we give it a $1000-a-plate treatment with our latest drinking game.

The last time Tom Cruise noticeably left a project, he passed on Salt to do Knight and Day. He was replaced by one of the biggest stars on the planet. This time around, he left Pacific Rim for reasons unknown, and he’s being replaced by a man who should be one of the biggest stars on the planet. Deadline Basin is reporting that Idris Elba will take on the role of Sensi for the project being directed by Guillermo del Toro. As you can imagine, since it was meant for Cruise, it’s a leading role, but there are very little details as to what type of role it is. My guess is forceful badass with a quietly complex soul. There’s no denying that Elba is a force. He’s also a far more exciting presence than Cruise, and this role will give him a shot at becoming a blockbusting leading man. Of course, this verifies earlier rumors that he was out of the running for Tarantino’s Dhango Unchained. For those keeping score, we’ve got an original sci-fi story being brought to life by a visionary director with a hell of a lead actor. Interested yet?

I know very little about this made-for-TV rip-off of Alien, but when Shannon Shea mentions something like this in his column, it’s time to check it out. Fortunately, the trailer sells the hell out of the movie. All that matters is lines like this: “A strange, unknown creature so powerful it lies dormant for centuries surviving for one purpose…to someday return…and rule this land.” Rule this land? Is the creature King Arthur? Probably not, but The Intruder Within looks truly inspired. Wait. Is that Michael Hogan? It is! Why am I not watching this movie right now?

Why Watch? Because it’s the first science fiction film ever made. Co-writing with his brother Gaston, Georges Méliès produced, directed, and starred in this enduringly brilliant short that features clever innovations in special effects and a unique style created by blending live-action with a very specific type of animation. Most know that it was the inspiration for the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight” music video (and my stalker knows it as the inspiration for one of my tattoos), but the most fascinating fact outside the film itself is that it was one of the earliest victims of film piracy. Méliès had already been making short films for years before A Trip to the Moon, and he saw the United States as a ticket to monetary success that would be cashed by this popular, science fiction dream. Unfortunately, Thomas Edison had his cronies make copies of the film in order to play it around the country – severely injuring Méliès’s ability to make money from his own work. The story and the story of Méliès’s life don’t have happy endings. Clearly, stealing movies is just as old as movies themselves. What does it cost? Just 10 minutes of your time. Check out A Trip to the Moon for yourself:

This past weekend, the first of many pieces of sci-fi media with one entity at their center was released. That one entity has a name. It’s Steven Spielberg. Yet while Super 8 was fun, the first television-based Spielberg project of the next six months can be summed up in one word: amazing. That project is the TNT drama Falling Skies. Encompassing everything that makes up the things we expect from the Spielberg brand, like a focus on characters as opposed to events, grand scale world building, and a pinch of awesome action, Falling Skies delivers on the hopes that its advertising has created. The show, which premieres this Sunday on TNT, is a refreshing spectacle to see arrive on the small screen.

With the entire original run of The Twilight Zone available to watch instantly, we’re partnering with Twitch Film to cover all 156 episodes. Are you brave enough to watch them all with us? The Twilight Zone Episode #8 – “Time Enough At Last” (airdate 11/20/59) The Plot: A lover of books can’t get a break. At home, his wife henpecks him for reading, and at work they expect him to work instead of enjoying his hobby. Fortunately, a large explosion is about to give him all the free time in the world. The Goods: It would be difficult to come up with a single episode that encapsulates the themes and skill of this show, but “Time Enough At Last” would undoubtedly make a short list with ease. It is a titan of the series with an unrelentingly pathetic main character played with nuance and vinegar by Burgess Meredith (who is miles away from his cigarette filter, Penguin sneer and his mat-chewing, Rocky-training Mick). It’s a nice reminder that a man remembered for his characters was an Oscar nominee. Meredith disappears into the limp artifice and coke-bottle glasses of Henry Bemis – a man who wants nothing more than a quiet place and a few million hours to enjoy words on a page. Granted, he’s pretty terrible at his job as a bank teller, but he’s still dressed down with gusto by his boss (Vaughn Taylor), and heading home offers no respite because his bitch of a wife (there are more [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

With the “Sunrise” section of Strauss’s “Also sprach Zarathrustra” blasting, the unforgettable marriage of space imagery and classical music comes together with full force. The old meeting something so new it hasn’t been seen yet. Stanley Kubrick trucked in tons and tons of sand to make the moon in this iconic sci-fi masterpiece (that’s not nearly as action-packed as some feel led to believe). He also provided the breathing noises for inside the spacesuits, although it’s debatable which took more effort. Of course, special effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull also claimed that they shot 200 times more footage than made it into the movie, a claim that’s difficult to believe, considering that would mean they shot close to 536 hours of film. Hopefully you enjoy this trailer for its beauty and lack of plot. That’s all for us today. See you next Wednesday.

With the entire original run of The Twilight Zone available to watch instantly, we’re partnering with Twitch Film to cover all 156 episodes. Are you brave enough to watch them all with us? The Twilight Zone Episode #7 – “The Lonely” (airdate 11/13/59) The Plot: An inmate serving his sentence in solitary confinement on a far away asteroid struggles with both his sanity and humanity after receiving a very special gift. A gift… with boobs. The Goods: James Corry (Jack Warden) is four years in to a fifty-year sentence for murder on his own private asteroid, and his only human contact comes every few months in the form of a rocket ship bearing supplies. He counts the days until the next delivery as it means he’ll get precious time talking with the compassionate Captain Allenby (John Dehner). The ship arrives and he rushes around his small shack setting up a chess board and playing cards as this human interaction has to last him several long months. Circumstances dictate the ship make a quick turnaround leaving no time for conversation or games, but Allenby leaves a surprise for Corry as consolation for his pardon review being refused yet again. The gift is a robotic woman named Alicia (Jean Marsh), and her presence will test the depths of Corry’s loneliness and the strength of his desire for human contact. He’s initially disgusted at the idea of a cold, mechanical, human-like machine, but slowly her human traits and displays of real(ish) emotion forces [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Why Watch? Because it’s DIY filmmaking at its finest. This sci-fi short is capable of melting minds just from the production design alone. It’s a detailed, futuristic junkyard, and the camera work is doing everything on screen a thousand favors. It features two friends in a confined space, speaking an alien language (English), and proves that even in the most fantastical of places, simple arguments can get blood pressures rising. The actors do a fine job of emoting – even through their gas masks. The directing from Casey Patrick Tebo is strong enough to beg for a feature opportunity, and the ending gives a little wink to The Twilight Zone. As a bonus, it’s a Green Film that is made entirely of things found at the garbage dump. It’s literally a case of trash being turned into treasure. What does it cost? Just 15 minutes of your time. Check out The Captivus for yourself:

Cartoon Network has a show called Ben 10 that’s ridiculously popular with young boys at the moment. I’ve never heard of it before, but I imagine that some of our readers with children are all too familiar with shelling out big bucks to their grubby little offspring so they can buy all of the latest Ben 10 whosits and whatsits. I mean, when they made a live-action special based on this character, four million people watched. I didn’t even know that many people still watched cable TV in total; this thing has to be huge. And you know what happens any time something becomes a well-known brand name in the world of anything. Hollywood looks to make it the next big summertime franchise. This time it’s legendary producer Joel Silver looking to help Ben 10’s jump from small to big screen happen. I’m sure you’ve heard of him, he produced pretty much every amazing thing ever, like Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Predator, The Matrix, and Hudson Hawk. Okay, so maybe Hudson Hawk isn’t awesome, but point is: Silver has been around the block. For the people behind Ben 10, having him on board to put this project together must be seen as a real coup. As a matter of fact, I have a quote from the chief operating officer of Turner animation Stu Snyder that says as much right here, “I cannot think of anyone better suited than Joel Silver to develop a theatrical action-driven adventure based on our franchise [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Editor’s Note: This article contains words that often arrange themselves into SPOILERS and should not be read by anyone. Cole Abiaus was a bit too kind in his full review of Super 8 and glossed over the disaster that is the film’s third act, but it’s still worth a read for everything he got right, so check it out here. As a response to the review and to start a discussion on some of the film’s secrets, Robert Fure and Rob Hunter have compiled the list below of the things they liked and the things they didn’t. Give it a read and then let us know what you thought of the movie below.