Film Freak Central

Invaders from Mars (1953) - 4K Ultra HD

Please note that all framegrabs are from the 1080p version

***½/**** Image A Sound A Extras A-
starring Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Jimmy Hunt, Leif Erickson
screenplay by Richard Blake
production designed and directed by William Cameron Menzies

by Bill Chambers Predating Jack Finney's novel The Body Snatchers by two years and Don Siegel's seminal film adaptation, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, by three, William Cameron Menzies's Invaders from Mars makes for an apt precursor in featuring a child protagonist and beginning at the dawn of an invasion instead of the usual in media res. When his alarm clock reminds him in the middle of the night to check out "Orion in its zenith," little David MacLean (Jimmy Hunt) accidentally rouses his father, George (Leif Erickson), who is careful not to discourage the curiosity of a fellow "scientist" while tucking his son back into bed. David is awakened again by a commotion outside, and from his bedroom window sees a flying saucer disappear below the horizon. Dad agrees to check it out, which is of course not the wisest idea, yet his respect for his son's intelligence is touching. While a twist ending recontextualizes this moment, suggesting it may have been wishful thinking on David's part, that's touching, too: Here's a movie where the child's fantasy of saving the world isn't about demonstrating feats of heroism beyond his years, but about adults giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Shotgun Wedding (2023) + You People (2023)

SHOTGUN WEDDING
½*/****
starring Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel, Jennifer Coolidge, Lenny Kravitz
written by Mark Hammer
directed by Jason Moore

YOU PEOPLE
***/****
starring Jonah Hill, Lauren London, David Duchovny, Eddie Murphy
written by Jonah Hill & Kenya Barris
directed by Kenya Barris

by Walter Chaw Jennifer Coolidge, 61, plays the mother of 50-year-old Josh Duhamel in Jason "Pitch Perfect" Moore's abominable-in-pretty-much-every-conceivable-way Shotgun Wedding, and her being 11 when she had him isn't even the worst of it. Honestly, this is the kind of movie where it would've been funny if they'd made a joke out of that somehow (like maybe how Steve Coulter, who plays his dad, would've been 12), and Coolidge has exactly the befuddled, oversexed MILF persona to pull it off. I don't know, I didn't write this shit. Coolidge is Carol and Coulter is Larry. Their son Tom is a total loser recently released from a minor-league baseball team, which only makes sense because he's on the AARP mailing list. Has he been trying to make it to "the show" for 30 years? One of these Crash Davis things, I guess. Just kidding: Crash was 33; can Tom even tie his own shoes anymore without getting winded? Because I'm turning 50 this year, and let me tell you, I cannot. Tom is marrying Darcy (Jennifer Lopez), who spends every other sentence mobbing Tom for each of his groomzilla decisions--decisions he has to make, because Darcy is disengaged from the entire process and resents having to have a wedding at all, since one of the first things she said to him when they started dating was that she didn't want a fancy wedding. Tom will eventually apologize for not listening to her, but if the intent is to make this about Tom learning to be a better partner, I must confess I would stop listening to someone as passive-aggressive and monstrously belittling as Darcy. Maybe Tom has a humiliation kink. That would explain why he played minor-league baseball for 30 years and probably votes Republican. It's not my place to judge that, I'm just observing it.