Alien (1979) ***

I know this is sacrilege, but I have some problems with the movie “Alien”. I hadn't watched it in years, and I remembered it as an absolute classic. RE-watching it now, though, there are some issues. While the movie still shines for its sets and cinematography, the plot and characters leave something to be desired.

Sigourney Weaver plays Ripley, First Mate on a spaceship that is headed home to earth when it gets sidetracked by an automated radio signal. The crew assume it's a distress signal, but Ripley eventually decodes enough of it to figure out it is some kind of warning. It's too late for a warning, though. One of the crew members who went to investigate has been attacked by some kind of alien creature, which has attached itself to his face. They bring the injured crewman back to the ship, where the alien eventually menaces the entire crew.

Out of respect for the 2 people in the entire Free World who haven't seen the film, I will try not to spoil all the surprises. What surprised ME, watching it now in 2018, is how poorly the film has aged. It isn't even really science-fiction. “Alien” is straight up horror, with the typical jump-scares and asinine, wandering-off-alone behavior on the part of the characters that typifies the worst of the genre.

Characters in “Alien” don't do things because they make sense in the context of the story; they do them because the plot demands it. Thus, Ash (Ian Holm), the science officer, lets the landing party, including the guy with the alien on his face, back into the ship without any kind of quarantine or protective measures. They repeatedly enter the infirmary to examine him with no masks or gloves. When the alien falls off his face and he seems to be alright, they don't keep him in the infirmary for observation; they invite him to a meal in the chow hall. This sets up an iconic scene, but it makes no sense. Later, when the suddenly-massive creature is hunting the crew, they repeatedly do the stupidest things possible, the space equivalent of “going down into the basement.”

To be fair, “Alien” is still fun to watch, and scary as hell. It just doesn't qualify as a classic when I compare it to films that came before, like 1975's “Jaws”, or what came after, like 1982's "The Thing". The movie does get credit for introducing a fascinating, new monster and a new hero (Ripley), setting up what I consider to be a superior movie, 1986's "Aliens."

3 stars out of 5

Logan (2017) ****

I had read that the Wolverine spinoff movies from the X-Men universe, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and “The Wolverine” weren't very good, so I haven't seen them. Then “Logan” came along and started getting great reviews. I was pleased at the excuse to watch it, because, really, who doesn't like Wolverine? Turns out the reviews were right. “Logan” is excellent. It's also the most atypical comic book movie I've ever seen.

The story picks up in 2029, a near-future in which mutations have stopped happening, and almost all of the existing mutants have died off. Wolverine, aka Logan (Hugh Jackman), is a physical and mental wreck, arthritic and alcoholic. He survives as a limo driver, and secretly has an aged, demented Professor Xavier hidden away down in Mexico. Logan and an albino, photophobic mutant named Caliban care for Xavier, whose condition is even more heartbreaking than Logan's. Xavier often fails to recognize Logan and is wracked by epileptic seizures during which his psychic powers radiate out uncontrollably. We eventually learn that the first of these seizures killed several civilians and most of the remaining mutants in New York, which is why Logan keeps the Professor out in the middle of nowhere.

It has been years since any mutants were born, or so everyone thinks. Xavier, as befuddled as he is, has made telepathic contact with a child mutant who has a lot in common with Logan. Reluctantly, Logan is drawn into an effort to help this little girl and get her somewhere safe.

“Logan” is the grittiest, saddest, and most real comic-book movie I have ever seen. Logan, the aging warrior, no longer seems the least bit invincible. Based on his fast-healing genetics, Logan seemed potentially immortal, but we see that that is not the case. It took him longer to age, but age he did, and now he faces the fight of his life, with a body that he doesn't recognize. Xavier, of course, is in even worse shape, which puts the remarkable Logan in a very unremarkable position: dealing with his own loss of health while caring for a decrepit parental figure. This is sober stuff for a comic-book movie. It takes the concept of depicting superheroes as real people to a whole new level.

The fight scenes are better, too. Most superhero fights look like carefully choreographed martial-arts katas, and with the outcome never in doubt, the spectacle just becomes numbing. Wolverine is still a badass, but when he fights in “Logan”, it looks real and it looks like he could lose.

“Logan” isn't perfect. The plot is fairly thin, and the story only obliquely explains how the characters wound up in this disorienting, mutant-free world. Still, it's a step or two above the usual comic-book film, and in its depiction of a broken-down warrior, it reminds me of John Wayne's epic final film, "The Shootist".

In depicting a post-X-men future, the film begs the question of whether any of that superhero stuff was worth it, a similar theme to that of 2009's "Watchmen". While the film doesn't tackle this head-on, there is some deep, existentialist food for thought here. The X-men formed, they fought evil, and now they are gone and evil still exists. Perhaps Wolverine, who starts the film wondering what the point is, comes to learn that victory lies not in defeating evil, but in fighting it.

4 stars out of 5

The Big Sick (2017) ****

Kumail Nanjiani is best known for his work on the HBO comedy “Silicon Valley.” He and his wife, writer Emily V. Gordon have created this movie about how they got together, and it's surprisingly good. There is some fictionalization of the story, so I'll describe it as the movie presents it.

Kumail meets Emily at one of his stand-up comedy shows. They hook up and become a couple, but eventually break up when Emily learns that Kumail has been hiding her from his parents, who want him to marry a Pakistani girl. Soon afterwards, Emily becomes ill, and Kumail winds up keeping vigil with his ex-girlfriend’s parents for days on end while she is in a medically-induced coma.

Sounds like a blast, right? Well, believe it or not, it is! Despite the seemingly dark subject, “The Big Sick” is hilarious and fun to watch. It helps that you know that the real Emily survived to become Kumail's wife and co-writer. It also helps that the film has a crackin' cast, including Zoe Kazan as Emily, and Holly Hunter and Ray Romano as her parents. Hunter and Romano especially light up the screen. We get treated to some of Kumail's standup work, but the funniest line in the movie is a joke about 9/11.

Despite featuring stars like Romano and Hunter, “The Big Sick” has an amateur feel to it, which actually works for the film. The movie somehow manages your expectations and then exceeds them, which I attribute to the charm of Nanjiani and Kazan. It's the perfect date movie, and one of the best films of 2017.

4 stars out of 5

Death Race (2008) ***1/2

Sometimes I like to work out by riding a spin bike while watching a movie. For those occasions, the film doesn't really need much in the way of plot or character development: just enough to be tolerable. The important things are fast action and upbeat music. “Death Race” is a perfect work-out movie!

Jason Statham plays Jensen, a factory worker who gets framed for murder. The private, maximum-security prison he is sent to makes money by pitting the inmates against each other in deadly car-races. Driving souped-up, armored vehicles fitted with machine-guns, smoke, oil slicks – basically all the weapons from the old Spy Hunter video game – the inmates race for the chance to win their freedom, and the audience laps it up. Jensen, a former race-car driver, is offered a chance to race, which gets him thinking about what a coincidence it is that an ex-racer would get framed for murder. With help from his pit crew (including Ian McShane, from “American Gods”), Jensen wins a series of races, while figuring out how to get revenge on those who framed him.

As basic as the plot is, “Death Race” actually manages to slip in a few surprises. The cast is also reasonably good. Statham does his normal, Jason Statham, thing. Ian McShane is actually kind of awesome. Joan Allen is a bit too mustache-twirly as the evil warden, but Natalie Martinez is fairly charming as the standard-issue, vaguely-latina hottie-in-a-crop-top. You don't watch “Death Race” for the performances, though, nor for the plot twists. You watch it for high-speed car crashes and gatlin guns, basically racing and death, and the movie delivers both in spades.

If you start googling “Death Race,” you'll find that there are a bunch of these movies. The original 1975 film, “Death Race 2000” is a cult classic. 2008's “Death Race” revived the concept, and there have been a few sequels since.

3.5 stars out of 5