The Astronaut

Posted on July 22, 2026 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I have dreamed about being an astronaut when I was a child.

Vampire Bat: You became a vampire hundreds of years ago. So that would have been long ago.

Vampire Owl: Considering in vampire years, I am still not that old.

Vampire Bat: That explains you being a child even when space travel started its job.

Vampire Owl: I was never thinking about human space travel.

Vampire Bat: You are looking forward to being teleported other realms?

Vampire Owl: Yes, Dr. Frankenstein has created a magical space vessel.

Vampire Bat: You should remember that nothing made by Mr. Frankenstein actually works.

Vampire Owl: It is a wrong accusation by his mortal enemies. He travelled back in time last week and brought proof from another period of time. Even aliens approve of him.

Vampire Bat: I am quite sure that he brought back that ancient thing from a museum and not from the past. It is his time machine that looks more pre-historical than that thing.

[Gets a poori masala and three cups of Wayanad tea].

What is the movie about? :: Sam Walker (Kate Mara) is the daughter of General William Harris (Laurence Fishburne) a veteran military officer who has worked in collaboration with NASA space travel, and has Sam going on another space journey in relation to communicating with extraterrestrial beings if there are any. But as she comes back from the International Space Station, some debris leads to her crash-landing back on Earth. After floating somewhere in the middle of sea, she is finally rescued by the United States Coast Guard and taken to the nearby hospital for recovery, even though not taken out of quarantine for some days. Her fellow astronauts and doctors keep visiting her at the hospital, while William assures her that he is incredibly happy for her, and hopes that she will get well soon for the next mission, with NASA and Pentagon working very closely together in making significant discoveries which would change the world as they know it. She feels that things are just okay as she only got a few bruises.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Sam does not remember most of the incidents in space, and continues in quarantine for decontamination. She is visited by her husband, Mark Walker (Gabriel Luna) and daughter, Izzy Walker (Scarlett Holmes). But for her own safety, Sam is confined alone to a rural cottage somewhere in Virginia, where diplomats and very important people are supposed to stay in secret when there is some danger with their lives, or just to stay away from media. It is seen that the next house or shop is kilometres away, and the place only has woods on all sides and some meadows in between, with almost no traffic at the closest road passing around. As Sam adjusts to her new lonely situation, she also goes through a series of medical tests to make sure that her mental and physical fitness are okay, with a new journey to the space station coming up. Sam and Mark are having some difficulties trying to cope as a family, due to her frequent journeys to space and the quarantine that comes before and after that. It is revealed that the child is also adopted, as they hoped that it would make things better between them.

And what more can happen here as there seems to be some mystery to be resolved? :: While walking outside and close to the nearby woods, Sam notices that the entire premises have some hidden cameras, most of them directed right towards the home. This makes her wonder about her location, as she had already felt that somebody did open the door and enter during last night, thus also making the floor a little messy. William shows her that the hidden cameras are linked to a certain underground bunker in the house, from where the whole place can be watched in detail. If anyone try to breach the property, it could be known with ease, and there could also be a lockdown which would prevent anyone from getting in. Strange occurrences continue, and later that night, the power is cut off, and the alarm system is triggered, locking her inside the house. A dark creature seems to have entered the home, forcing her to lock herself inside the bunker. Now, it is to be seen if she can survive these nights, and with nothing on the cameras, will people believe her theory that something followed her from back to Earth from space?

The defence of The Astronaut :: The twists in the movie are pretty much unexpected, even though not that interesting, and that surprise takes the movie to a higher level, even though slowly and steadily. The film builds on with a tense, eerie mood with its quiet, minimalist approach to horror, that seems to work for most of the time. The combination of psychological thriller, science fiction and paranormal horror got the arrangement right, as we look at it. The isolated safe house with dark woods all around and continuing psychological tension are effective with the possibility of twists always being present. Kate Mara has things in control here with emotional weight as she moves forward in a world of conflicts. Morgan–Fantastic Four actress seems to have changed a lot, and maybe it is we all ageing together. Her movement to the twists in the end works so well that we even hope for the world to be extended in a sequel at that moment. Laurence Fishburne is a big strong presence here, and his roles like this have remained too good in the past.

The claws of flaw :: The movie drags in between even in a one and half hour movie which deals with aliens – it would not have been that difficult to deal with such a safe topic during normal circumstances of Earth and space. The struggle with pacing feels so much, especially in the second half when it seems to try too much, and yet the narrative keeps its trouble going through. Some of these narrative changes and interesting developments come too fast and leave unanswered questions, as the science fiction elements continue to stay in the background without that much of a detailed happenings on the screen. One keeps wondering why it immediately took that deviation, even though it was the twist that came quickly – there could have been other ways to bring the same to keep on with the route of the overall movie. Sometimes, one would wonder if the combination could have been kept better coherent at all times. The predictability is also present in between, even though not with the final twist.

How it finishes :: This is one of those movies which were less known, and surprisingly, in spite of staying close to the genre, I never really knew about this movie’s existence. Despite losing the pace in between, and narrative also making that struggle, the movie maintains a level, not losing it on the way completely even when there seemed to be the chance. This would mean that the mixed reviews are quite justified, and its journey through Amazon Prime Video might also be complex. For a quiet, atmospheric psychological science fiction with strong leading cast performances and high-level tension coming out of the mood and atmosphere with dark woods ready to pounce upon the terror, this would be the right choice. There is no questioning that kind of an ability around here. But one can see that there are no clear explanations of these alien elements, and the lack of traditional horror thrills would continue to affect the interest of people. Otherwise, this would nicely work for a smooth, slow and steady journey with something coming in the background.

Release date: 17th October 2025
Running time: 91 minutes
Directed by: Jess Varley
Starring: Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Luna, Ivana Miličević, Macy Gray, Scarlett Holmes, Reza Diako, Daniel Quirke, Daiana Madeira, Christine Abernathy, Ezrael MacTire, Erin Gill, Gareth Battersby, Aidan O’Sullivan

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Morgan

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I thought that this title was Morgue.

Vampire Bat: From how you usually think, I am not surprised at all. You could have even thought “Graveyard”.

Vampire Owl: Well, I am the one who found this as the movie to watch.

Vampire Bat: You just made a random guess about it, nothing more.

Vampire Owl: I guess well, and I also do choose well.

Vampire Bat: What you need is a better choice of words.

Vampire Owl: I think that you could be the protagonist of this movie.

Vampire Bat: I am not even going to comment on that.

Vampire Owl: Well, after watching this movie, you will comment.

Vampire Bat: Lets see. I am in need of a science fiction movie right now.

[Gets three cups of masala tea with vegetable puffs].

What is the movie about? :: Lee Weathers (Kate Mara) works as a risk management specialist for a genetic engineering company. Firm in her actions and thoughts, she is given a new assignment, which she is expected to complete without giving any chance for errors. It is concerning the company’s latest experiment, with a genetically engineering human called Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy) who has displayed acts of aggression all of a sudden due to which injuries have happened. This person is a lot smarter than humans, and has an advanced growth rate, looking like an adult, but is only five years old in reality. This girl had suddenly become violent and stabbed a scientist Kathy Grieff (Jennifer Jason Leigh) in the left eye. It is revealed that there was another incident earlier at Helsinki which the main scientists Lui Cheng (Michelle Yeoh) and Simon Ziegler (Toby Jones) acknowledges.

So, what happens next? :: It is Amy Menser (Rose Leslie) who is considered to be closest to Morgan, as she used to take her outside. Morgan also considers her as her best friend, and the one whom she loves the most in the world. After the psychologist Alan Shapiro (Paul Giamatti) has an evaluation of Morgan and pushes her to the limits, she attacks and kills him, which leads to Lee taking the decision that Morgan as well as the whole experiment is a threat and need to be terminated. But most of the scientists don’t approve of the same due to their emotional attachment to the subject, and Morgan is certainly not keen to get killed by the humans who are both intellectually and physically inferior to her. Lee reasserts that it is her job to make sure that the subject is terminated, but others feel that she is fighting an unnecessary, lone battle. The question remains about what Morgan thinks about the same with her superior intellect.

The defence of Morgan :: There is one nice twist awaiting you at the end of Morgan, and it can also make way to bring another movie to follow this one – something which could be even better as a sequel, keeping that core idea alive to be explored further. Morgan does make sure that there is a lot of action in there too, as we see the close combat scenes to be very interesting, making it the science fiction action movie that a good number of people had missed. The second half of the movie is more intense, and we are left with a number of questions about being human – and it might be the emotions that make one more human, but what kind of emotions will make one really human? There is also that twist in the end which works well, and that also provides an answer which many people would have wanted while going through the movie.

The claws of flaw :: The most possible comparisons of this movie would be to Ex Machina, which will certainly leave Morgan at a disadvantage. As this one goes for action instead of developing its interesting core ideas into something amazing, the audience does doubt what all it could have achieved otherwise – maybe even with some scares, this could have gone through another path. More fights and less dialogues might be the key for more than one character here, and it is surely more than many people would have liked. There could have been more interesting moments in the beginning stages too, and the predictability in between should have also been shown the door to the outside. When the opportunity to be complex is there, I would say that all science fiction movies should take it, but Morgan just hesitates in doing so.

Performers of the soul :: Kate Mara looks really good as the determined character, and there are moments when you feel that things get even better – the hairstyle as well as the clothing supports the effectiveness of the character a lot. She has been one of my favourite actresses on a list which goes long, along with Rooney Mara too. Anya Taylor-Joy comes up with another impressive performance after The Witch, and here, we see her getting right into a character that shares not much in common with her work in that special horror movie. There is a certain amount of balance in her character, as we love this particular creation as well as hate it, and see it with sympathetic eyes while seeing the same thing as creepy and dangerous. Rose Leslie is there in a role that does her not much justice, but it is good to see her again.

How it finishes :: Morgan is directed by the son of Ridley Scott, Luke Scott. He has worked as the second unit director on Exodus: Gods and Kings and The Martian, both directed by his father. Even though he has directed a science fiction short film Loom, this is his directorial debut with a full-length movie, and it works very nicely indeed. There is even scope for a possible sequel with this one, as we look at how things finish. Morgan is the kind of movie which is thrilling, and at the same time delivers a message, despite not being fully an idea which is not seen before. With the twist right where it needs to be, Morgan might be the flick that most of you haven’t heard about much, but will need to give a try because it is smart science fiction, and there is more to it for thinking about; more than what immediately meets the eye. When you need more of smart entertainment, choose Morgan.

Release date: 2nd September 2016
Running time: 92 minutes
Directed by: Luke Scott
Starring: Kate Mara, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rose Leslie, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Paul Giamatti, Michael Yare, Chris Sullivan, Vinette Robinson, Crispian Belfrage, Luke Whoriskey, Jonathan Aris, Brian Cox, Courtney Caldwell, Amybeth McNulty

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Martian

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I have always wanted to have a pact with the Martians. The Earthlings are too evil for our taste.

Vampire Bat: Well, Dejah Thoris has been a fine Martian.

Vampire Owl: I hope that the presence of an Earthling on Mars will mean that he is free of the ambitions of Earth.

Vampire Bat: It shall be so, as there is no real need for money and power on Mars as of now.

[Gets the tickets and cheese popcorn].

✠ This was recently posted by me at Kiagia.com: http://www.kiagia.com/index.php/current-film-releases-movie/1115-the-martian-movie-review

Based on Andy Weir’s novel of the same name from 2011, The Martian is a much awaited movie which has already received a lot of positive opinions. The stories of survival outside the planet Earth has had the attention of the audience with Gravity and Interstellar, and The Martian tries to make further impact in the same area during this weekend. Directed by Ridley Scott and having Matt Damon in the lead, the movie is sure to attract the audience of all types, as the trailer did manage to catch the attention, bringing it to a large number of screens on this October 2nd.

A human mission to Mars goes terribly wrong and the astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is presumed to be dead and left on the planet as commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) has to make the choice not to risk the return of the whole crew for searching for him. But he is alive and has become the first lone man on a planet seemingly without life. The first and the best option for the astronaut would be to wait for death considering how difficult or rather near impossible it should be to survive in Mars without any contact with Earth and possessing not enough supplies until the next mission can arrive. But Mark decides to try, and make that attempt not to die.

As Mark is a botanist, he finds a way to grow some potatoes inside, after creating a favourable atmosphere for the plants. The chances of survival still remain too low, until NASA engineers Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Mindy Park (Mackenzie Davis) find out from the photos of the Mars station taken, that he is alive. They communicate using a Mars Pathfinder which Mark finds on the planet, and NASA begins the programs to send him supplies and get him home. But it is not that easy, as the probe which they sends explode and Mark himself has his own disasters at his place decreasing his chances of survival by many days.

Matt Damon is the man to look out for. He was also there in the last year’s space movie Interstellar, in a role which included being rescued from a planet too. But it never really had much there, and the planet sequence itself was more like a need to have a human character that is somewhat closer to the villainy. But here, there are no heroes and villains, and there is just the need for survival, that too in a fair way. The movie focuses on him, and so do the viewers, and he delivers an outstanding performance as the lone man who fights to survive where a normal person would have lost all hope. He has the most screen time, and makes a very fine use of the same.

The Martian remains ahead of both Interstellar and Gravity in many ways, making things more entertaining for the audience. The 3D of this movie might not be that heavy, but with the other aspects, The Martian clearly rises high. The environment is also a joy to watch. There is a perfect blend of emotional, intellectual and funny side here, the final side which was completely absent in Interstellar. The Martian is also straight to the point, but it never really fails to touch the audience. The movie knows where to stop being too much scientific and weird. It is the strength of the movie that the main character of the movie always remains someone whom the audience can connect with, instead of being someone special.

There is a strong, inspirational message in The Martian, and it is something which never lets go. It is the adventure that inspires the viewers never to lose hope, and it is also the kind of path which Interstellar could have followed. Another interesting thing about the protagonist of this movie is that he finds a lot more than just hope – he takes the opportunity to take the optimism to another level and even have some fun with his situation. The Martian has laughter, and that too when facing the possibility of death in a world far away from Earth. It is an adventure without any trace of pessimism, and almost everyone associated with it believes in their optimism, and this is a strange fact as the present world clearly lacks it, with so much of evil prevailing around the wars, terrorism, racial and religious hatred along with the other terrible things.

The Martian clearly has what it takes to be the big winner, and this is a good weekend to score among the viewers. This battle for escape from Mars is something that the fans of science fiction and survivor movies shouldn’t dare to miss. This has enough entertainment; some nice intelligent ideas and philosophy, along with making sure that the common man can easily understand the science here, as well as avoid whatever scientific term which they needn’t follow. The Martian is that kind of a movie, and by being the same, it will be a better, smooth experience for the brain and the heart than Interstellar, and easily overtakes the previous movie from Ridley Scott, Exodus: Gods and Kings.

Release date: 2nd October 2015
Running time: 141 minutes
Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Mackenzie Davis, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Donald Glover, Benedict Wong, Naomi Scott, Lili Bordán, Nick Mohammed

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Fantastic Four

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl :: I will miss Chris Evans and Jessica Alba while watching this new version.

Vampire Bat :: Chris Evans is Captain America. You won’t miss him. If he returns as the Human Torch, you will miss the Captain a lot more and might even make the decision to skip Marvel forever.

Vampire Owl :: I will just miss Jessica Alba then.

Vampire Bat :: Well, it is fair, because I miss her too.

[Gets the tickets and cheese popcorn].

✠ This review was recently posted by me at Kiagia.com: http://kiagia.com/index.php/current-film-releases-movie/986-fantastic-four-movie-review.html

Having the history of an unreleased film in 1994 and adding another reboot and a sequel in 2005 and 2007 which had not much critical appreciation, Fantastic Four doesn’t really have history going in its favour. At least, the two movies could come up strong at the box-office. But one has to feel very strange about this new movie which currently has neither the support of the critics or the audience. With the movie clearly underperforming at the United States box-office, it is yet to be seen how it performs in some other territories, as it released on August 21st, the Friday in India.

Reed Richards (Miles Teller) and Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) have been best friends from childhood, and have worked on building a teleporter for a very long time. Reed has been the brain of this idea which was consistently rejected by their science teachers, until Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) finds the ability in him, as he was already working on this same idea. His adopted daughter Susan Storm (Kate Mara) and his own son Johnny Storm (Michael B. Jordan), along with Victor von Doom (Toby Kebbell) work with Reed on developing a giant teleporter called the Quantum Gate which would connect the human world to another dimension.

They are successful in creating the path to this dimension, but when the head of the facility Allen (Tim Blake Nelson) decides to send a group of astronauts from NASA to explore the new world, the scientists decide to become the first people to reach the new world, just like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were on the Moon. But as they reach this new dimension, the place is full of strange materials and Victor is absorbed into its source of energy. The rest escape, but four of them undergo big changes. They wake up in government custody, and Reed runs away while others are trained to control their powers. But the connection with the other world won’t cease to exist.

This 2015 version is not as bad as most of the reviews suggest, but it is not that good either. People will surely find the earlier version a lot better than this one. It had many advantages over this one, and the most significant one being the actors. The cast which involved Jessica Alba and Chris Evans was a joy to watch, but the same is not the case here. Except for Jamie Bell as The Thing, nobody really makes a big impact in this version. Kate Mara looks very good in that suit, and has her moments. Michael B. Jordan is no Chris Evans, and Miles Teller is not really there either. Toby Kebbell makes an impact much later, only with the mask on him.

The movie also takes a lot of time to get to the interesting part. The first half is more like a stretch which moves slowly towards the possible destination. It struggles to get to the point right through the beginning to the middle. Even after that, the story is not completely there. The beginning of the second half is that point at which the movie should have reached within half an hour. It would have been okay if the beginning was rather interesting, but it couldn’t manage to be so. This goes different and still it is predictable. The action only happens when the movie is close to the finish, and by the time the origins are established, it has ended.

The movie chooses inter-dimensional travel, which is a bold move and a welcome change, even though it is not that well implemented. The special effects are nice, even though there are limitations. There are not much of the superpowers used to display these effects. Still, the power to entertain is there, and the villain does make a better impact in this avatar which is superior to the 2005 version. The villain looks like a true challenge to the four right from the moment his other side is awakened. This version is also darker, which is a positive change. With the consistent struggles and only having the interesting moments here and there, may be this origins story can bring a better sequel.

This Fantastic Four reboot will have a tough time making an impact considering the fine quality which has been maintained by the superhero movies in the past. Even the earlier two movies featuring Fantastic Four were much ahead of this one. So the expectations were a lot higher here with hope to bring something to remember. This is not really a movie that go terrible, but just something that doesn’t go big enough. It can be considered mostly average, but the situation demanded more. In the end, there is something about which the audience can be sure about; it is the fact that among the Marvel comics based superheroes, this one is clearly a level down.

Release date: 21st August 2015 (India); 7th August 2015 (USA)
Running time: 100 minutes
Directed by: Josh Trank
Starring: Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell, Reg E. Cathey, Tim Blake Nelson, Dan Castellaneta, Tim Heidecker