Monsters

Displaced aliens in a mexican safari park

The monsters of the title, huge iridescent cephalopods, only make very brief appearances throughout so it's exciting when they are on screen but this film is concerned with the interaction of the main 2 characters; wealthy tourist Sam and photojournalist Andrew who is charged with escorting her back to the states through alien occupied territory.

Director Gareth Edwards comes from an fx background and like Neil Blomkamp (District 9) he knows how to use cg within it's capabilities and more importantly how to light it.  This is his first feature and it's very impressive considering the low budget.

It's going to be too slow for some viewers and the lack of alien screen time is sure to disappoint people expecting a film like District 9. There's no typical story arc or nicely tied loose ends; not everything is explained and the ending will annoy those who are after all these things but I really enjoyed this and I especially like how the aliens are just messing about doing their own thing in the background.
 
YES - if Terrace Malik directed sci fi he would of made this

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done

This David Lynch presents film by Werner Herzog doesn't actually have anything to do with David (except for $) but Werner seems to have absorbed his directing style for this film inspired by true events.  

Surreal imagery and strange dialogue make for a stilted but mesmerising viewing experience. I liked it mostly because of Michael Shannon with his boggle eyes and giant head (also great in Runaways and Boardwalk Empire) His character Brad is obviously mentally disturbed but the people around him are ignoring the fact or simply don't see it.

Apparently killing your mother with a samurai sword in a religious fugue isn't that uncommon and since this film there has been more occurrences, most recently the actor Michael Brea (from Ugly Betty) who decapitated his mother while trying to kill a "demon inside her"


YES - cold heart canyon