Ymir Fear in Roma

Many of you have probably heard of, and may be watching, HBO’s stellar hit show, Westworld. An intriguing premise to say the least, quite a few people do not realize that it is actually based on a 1973 movie of the same name, written and directed by famed novelist Michael Crichton – his first foray into the world of film making. Set in the not so distant future, this sci fi flick is infused with a classic western twist, as guests head to an amusement park to live out their fantasies in one of three worlds (Roman World, Medieval World and of course, Westworld). With a hint of being a precursor to a dystopic world, we are introduced to our two leads, first time attendee Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) and his more experienced friend – at least, in relation to the very realistic park, John Blane (James Brolin), in a spacious, futuristic plane on their way to the locale.

We like to think of things in our lives as fitting into a nice square box. Everything has an order, with the structured days of the week to our routines fitting into this comforting perspective. We do not want to think of life as being random, chaotic and lacking a straightforward linear form – as it reminds us that things are not truly in our control. It is this linear way of thinking that is questioned in the 2016 cerebral science fiction film Arrival. Eric Heisserer adapts the text "The Story of Your Life" (written by Ted Chiang), placing it in the hands of talented French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve. Having a twofold narrative, the main portion follows the landing of twelve spacecrafts in random places around the world. With people beginning to panic and riot (as no indication has been made, either peaceful or otherwise), the government attempts to make some sense out of the unorthodox and exceptional arrival. Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) reaches out to linguist Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams), a woman with immense knowledge of numerous dialects and written languages (and military clearance to boot). She leads a team along with physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner), the Colonel, and several other military men who will record the data after they enter the hull of the dark, kidney-shaped foreign craft located in Montana.

Revelling in the mysterious aura that it builds, Jeff Nichols’ Midnight Special is a love letter to the science fiction films of the 1970s and 80s. Bringing to mind motion pictures like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, the story begins in earnest as we join Roy (Michael Shannon) and Lucas (Joel Edgerton) – the pair have kidnapped Roy’s son Alton (Jaeden Lieberher) and are now being chased by a number of spooks. Roy has nabbed the boy out of the long clutches of his adoptive father, Calvin Meyer (Sam Shepard), the leader of The Ranch – a cultish group of religious individuals who have spun their lives around the happenings of the mystifying Alton. Meyer has sent two of his most trusted underlings to recapture the boy.

The first stand-alone film in the Star Wars universe, Rogue One bridges the gap between episodes 3 (2005's Revenge of the Sith) and 4 (the original 1977 motion picture); it is also a movie that lives in the grey zone more than any other in the operatic space saga – depicting the complexity of the actions executed by the Rebel forces that are our protagonists. What we see is a complicated universe filled with spies, traitors and extremists – a place where no decision is an easy one. Our lead character, Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), is a perfect example of this, for when she was young, her father, Galen (Mads Mikkelsen), a weapons developer, was forcibly taken by Imperial baddie Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) to finish work on the Death Star (the planet killer from A New Hope). This leaves the impressionable girl in the hands of a radical, ultra dangerous Rebel fighter by the name of Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), who deserts her at the age of sixteen.

While watching the sci-fi mystery drama Moon, I was thinking that this was going to be it. . . the first Sam Rockwell movie I’ve seen where he does not bust into a dance routine. But alas, no, he meets his quota once again in this flick, similar to his performances in Charlie’s Angels, Iron Man 2 or The Way Way Back, to name but a few. It is not that I dislike his spontaneous groove moves, they are usually highly entertaining; it is simply something that I hawkishly look for each and every time I view a Rockwell movie – feel free to join the cause.