The Beguiled

A startling amount of subtle comedy accompanies Colin into the cloistered Confederacy of Dunst’s, where her vampire character has finally grown up but Kidman still treats her wards as others. Simple cinematography and luxurious location add gravitas to an otherwise over-simplified and somewhat soap-operatic look at uncivil love and war.

Blade Runner 2049

Do Holograms Dream of Ephemeral Horses digs deeper into philosophical questions of its predecessor without terminating older model’s ambiguity. Astoundingly beautiful cinematography justifies extended Blade Runtime and occasionally over-obscure plot programming. Smart script runs the blade’s edge of pretension and afFords cast the opportunity to birth life from machination. Interlinked.

Alien: Covenant

Mediocre mixture of space horror clichés and heavy-handed throwback fumbles is impregnated with shockingly deep continuation of promethean questions of ultimate origin story. Unfortunately, this philosophical beast waits ages to burst forth, and is promptly crushed by ridleyculous action, subpar special effects, and cheats alien to the franchise thus far.