The Good Ol’ Boys and Girls Are Feuding in Alien Country, It’s Just A Hoot and a Hollar!

When Utah is more known for its barren landscape than its lush pine forests, this state can be Alien Country for those UAPs often seen high in the sky.

Alien Country Movie PosterNow available on VOD (Google Play, YouTube)

It should come as no surprise that UFOs seen in the State of Utah are more visible than elsewhere. It should be known as Alien Central than Alien Country–the title of this film. Whether that’s because it’s where free famous ecological landmarks converge–The Rocky Mountains, the Great Basin, and the Colorado Plateau–or something else, it seems the fictional town of Blue River is the focus. In this film directed by Boston McConnaughey, I get the sense he wanted to deal more with the rednecks drama going on here than the aliens, which are often kept away at arms length until those moments matter.

That’s because of the drama that’s happening between Jimmy (K.C. Clyde) and Everly (co-writer Renny Grames), whose on-again/off-again relationship is very front and centre. She’s pregnant, and he can’t figure out what she wants. When she wants to make it big as a singer-songwriter, all he cares about is to survive the next crash and burn. Also, he has abandonment issues. His father disappeared when he was young.

These days, he’s a demolition derby driver and considering he’s putting his life at risk every-day, I’m sure his girlfriend wants him to change careers. It took a while for me to get invested in their drama, but once that’s in place, that’s when the fun starts. They accidentally open a portal to some world, and when the aliens come busting out, it’s up to them to save their town from this invasion! Continue reading “The Good Ol’ Boys and Girls Are Feuding in Alien Country, It’s Just A Hoot and a Hollar!”

When Crazy Rich Asians is All About A Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Crazy Rich Asians Movie PosterSpoiler Alert

Not every Asian is that rich, and nor are they members of the social elite. In Kevin Kwan‘s novel, Crazy Rich Asians, he is out to satirize that culture. The film of the same name certainly glamorizes what is, and how filthy, stinking rich some can become when they come into positions of power. When they are well connected, these people can advance far, and these nuances show up in the book trilogy. When they do not, just where they sit in this chaste society can either be in the lower echelons or high up.

Ultimately, this movie is more of a romantic comedy than a send-up of a who’s who of Singapore. The cultural notes are well placed and they offer nothing new to those who have studied this region. With the soundtrack, I believe it’s a foregone conclusion that in entertainment, the same old set of tunes are used over and over again instead of producers offering new scores to use. I recognized most of the tunes as I regularly heard them in my household back in the day. The fact they are still popular is scary!

Continue reading “When Crazy Rich Asians is All About A Crazy Little Thing Called Love”