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View Full Version : Dark Skies (Scott Stewart)



Dukefrukem
05-29-2013, 02:35 AM
IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2387433/reference)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9NseNiDfFGU/UWlkriz1rzI/AAAAAAAABYc/KU5p3VZmA48/s1600/Dark+Skies+poster.jpg

Dukefrukem
05-29-2013, 02:36 AM
Loved this. I really needed a Fire in the Sky-esk modern alien movie. This filled my void. Plus with J.K. Simmons.

Rowland
05-29-2013, 06:34 AM
I thought both Legion and Priest were better than their reputations suggested, so I've been hopeful about this. I'll watch it soon.

Dukefrukem
05-29-2013, 01:31 PM
I thought both Legion and Priest were better than their reputations suggested, so I've been hopeful about this. I'll watch it soon.

Legion and Priest were probably the worst mainstream Hollywood movies I've seen in the last 10 years.

Dark Skies, is like he totally reinvented himself.

Granted, the climax is a bit weak... the tension and build is fucking fantastic.

wigwam
05-29-2013, 02:46 PM
:|

Dukefrukem
05-29-2013, 03:13 PM
Ah yes. That's a good comparison. It really feels like Knowing meets Poltergeist in a few ways.

megladon8
05-29-2013, 06:12 PM
The positive word here makes me interested, but it feels like the "twist" is visible just from the trailers.

They're not really aliens!!

wigwam
05-31-2013, 08:18 AM
that's not correct and I don't really think there's any twist as I recall... but this is less about the 3rd act than how great the builds, tone and characters are

plain
06-03-2013, 08:30 PM
found it to be pretty decent, though heavily derivative. the final dinner scene in the dark and callback to child memories felt ripped right out of signs. but in the end, i'm such a sucker for any family thriller/drama with at least the slightest bit of mood and character development (which this has). kerri russell is quite good and i'm always charmed by the inclusion of josh hamilton. also, the key jk simmons scene is really funny in a overtly self-serious way, loved it.

megladon8
06-08-2013, 05:57 PM
Wow, yeah, this was pretty good. Some genuine dread to be found here.

Strong performances, and the ongoing theme of the family trying to stay together but being torn apart by forces out of their control worked well.

I liked that the aliens were used so sparingly, so it was an actual shock to catch a glimpse of one.

J.K. Simmons steals the show with his single scene, which was pretty much expected.

Pretty good stuff. Nothing ground breaking, but it was well made.

Rowland
06-16-2013, 05:25 PM
Yet another engaging but unremarkable almost-there effort by the unjustly maligned Stewart, confirming him as an able craftsman with magpie instincts, as well as some blatantly Conservative leanings, even by the standards of genre filmmaking. Anyone else notice that all three of his films have ended with the exact same scene?

Dukefrukem
06-16-2013, 10:19 PM
No I try not to ever think about Priest and Legion.

Scar
07-15-2013, 12:56 AM
Nice and creepy flick.

Henry Gale
05-19-2014, 05:31 AM
One of the most hilariously goofy dads I've seen in a horror movie in some time. Same with the cop that stops by more than once. The way he talked seemed like he was struggling not to end each sentence with "bro" and disinterested shrugs.

Some visually well-executed scare scenes, and I'm always weirdly taken by this sort of bluish gray night-time suburbia cinematography that have seemingly been a constant in these sort of horror movies since the mid-2000's. And even though it's already been mentioned, J.K. Simmons obligatory, mostly static exposition scene is weirdly the most involvingly creepy segment of the whole movie.

It just didn't do much for me, except a lot of the awkward hilarity that came from the older son's storyline, wankster best friend and all. You could almost read the core subtext here as "Aliens hate porn corrupting our youth!", and that tickles me to no end. Otherwise, it doesn't add up to a whole lot.

It's one of those movies where we learn from a convenient expert (Simmons in this case) that these same occurrences have happened to many families many times before, and I can't help but think, "Do the filmmakers honestly think that this family is the most interesting or important iteration of this?"

** / 4.0