Karina Wilson

Review by Karina Wilson

Hollywood loves Moms. Because Moms are special. Anyone who's seen The Changeling knows that the very act of squeezing out a puppy somehow makes you wise, wonderful, and better equipped to handle situations than any number of so-called professionals brandishing doctorates or years of experience in the field. Moms don't need licenses. Moms don't need to go to school. As Erin Brockovich says "I have kids. Learned a lot right there." Mother always knows best, right? It's hormonal.

Directed and written by Olatunde Osunsanmi
Featuring Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Corey Johnson

Alien abductions seem to have slipped off the cultural agenda in recent years. Gone are the glory days of the 1990s, when The X-Files inspired everyone and their grandmother to believe that they were beamed into the belly of a spaceship on a nightly basis in order to be violated in the name of alien research (the "fourth kind" of alien encounter). A 2000 poll suggested an eye-popping 52% of Americans actually wanted contact with an ET, although interest - and belief - in alien life forms has since waned. However, as we turn the final corner towards 2012, it seems we can expect the little grey rocketmen to make a re-appearance, at least at our multiplexes, if not actually brandishing their anal probes at the end of our beds. Once again, it seems horror audiences may want to scream at something other than a sociopath in a mask. There's no bad man like a spaceman, right?

Written by: Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, Chad Hayes, Carey Hayes, and Greg Rucka (graphic novel)
Directed by: Dominic Sena
Featuring: Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Tom Skerritt, Columbus Short, Alex O'Loughlin
Review by: Karina Wilson

Whiteout the movie manages to obliterate all that was haunting and sinister about Whiteout the graphic novel, burying the narrative under a drift of bland performances, shortcut storytelling and cheap special effects. The original, edgy concept of 'Antarctica's first homicide' melts under Dominic Sena's over-obvious arclights, leaving nothing but a messy, somewhat tepid puddle. The Thing this ain't. Marketed as a fight for survival with supernatural elements ("You can see your last breath"), it turns out to be a disappointingly cozy detective story, a Miss Marple On Ice.