First a confession: I’m a bit of a romantic and long for the days of yore when the alien was simply a bad-ass space dragon hell-bent for leather. We know, since Prometheus, that it’s really a weaponized life-form genetically engineered to annihilate planets. Oh, well, the blush is off the rose. That said, Ridley Scott has demonstrated that there’s still (alien)life left in the franchise.

Alien Covenant is closer to the original Alien than to the rather tepid Prometheus, and for my money, a far better film. Set ten years after the conclusion of Prometheus, it focuses on the crew of the starship Covenant, with its cryosleep pods full of earthlings eager to colonize another world. Alas, an emergency awakens the crew, who then succumb to that old alien trope of responding to a signal they intercept from another planet. This planet is much like earth and is also far closer than their original destination. Why not go down and check it out? Of course, this is akin to the plot device in slasher films, when the audience is screaming to the scantily-clad teenagers not to go down into the darkened basement. But adolescents never learn, nor do starship flight crews.

Michael Fassbender, scene-stealer that he is, reprises his Prometheus role of David, perhaps the creepiest android in cinema. He is joined by his technically superior upgrade Walter, a match made in hell.

Overall, the movie is quite stunning to watch, with its intricate sets and superb computer graphics. Scott includes some winks at the earlier films: the perpetual-motion drinking bird from Alien makes a cameo appearance, and Fassbender, using a recorder-like flute, plays the theme from Prometheus. But make no mistake about it–this is a horror movie and a pretty bloody one at that. Definitely not for the squeamish. Would you like to increase your heart rate and respirations without a boring workout at the gym? Alien Covenant will have your heart pounding and adrenaline pumping with its dizzying action sequences and its sometimes terrifying encounters with the creature that refuses to die. Add a plot twist or two and you have a recipe for a welcome escape from the heat of summer into the air-conditioned multiplex. I’ll give it four out of five stars–well worth the price of admission. I may take my sons and go see it again.

I wanted to let my friends know that I will be reading from my short stories and my latest novel and signing copies at Santiam Wine & Bistro on Saturday, May 13, from noon  to 3:00. The shop is located at 1555 12th Street SE in Salem. The owner, Debbie Rios, will have some yummy selections for tasting. What better way to start a weekend than a sip of wine and a good book? I hope to see you there.

That said, what about The Fate of the Furious? OK. If you didn’t enjoy any of the previous films in the franchise, then don’t go to see this one. If you did enjoy them, then run out and buy a ticket today. But let’s be clear. This isn’t rocket science, nor is it War and Peace. It’s a testosterone-fueled, car-chase-and-explosion-packed film probably aimed at an audience of adolescent boys. But what’s wrong with that? You were young once, weren’t you? So park your brain at the door and ramp up your willing suspension of disbelief to astronomic proportions. Then take out a personal loan so you can afford the popcorn and bask in the cinematic mayhem. But by all means, fasten your seat belt!

I have it on good authority (my son, son-in-law, and adult grandson) that The Wolverine in Logan is truer to the original character in Marvel Comics than in his previous theatrical outings. Apparently, he was a fairly nasty, hard-to-like kind of guy. He is indeed that in this movie, spouting f-bombs like the bullets from an automatic weapon, severing heads and limbs with reckless abandon. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 93% from the critics and a 94% from the people who actually went and saw it. Is it a good movie? A qualified yes. It has complex characters, a compelling plot, and it is hard to take your eyes from the screen. My reservation shows my age: I like my superhero movies to be fun. Logan is anything but that. It is a grim, humorless paean to intense violence and dystopia. That said, if you’re a fan of the John Wick movies, you’ll love it. But please don’t bring your kids.

The Shack was a revelation to me. I went in not expecting much. I admit I was suspicious about the Rotten Tomatoes ratings: the critics gave it 16% and the people who went to the theater gave it 88%. That kind of discrepancy is a dead giveaway of pre-formed opinions: I think Rotten Tomatoes critics just don’t like Christian movies. I worried the film might be a sentimental, watered-down version of the book, but it is not. It confronts head-on parents’ absolutely worst nightmare: the murder of their young daughter by a vicious serial killer. The girl’s father, played wonderfully by Sam Worthington of Avatar fame, is consumed by grief, guilt, and bitterness. He rages against God for allowing such a heinous crime. And God invites him to the shack where the murder was committed to talk about it. What follows is a profound exploration of grief, love, and the presence of evil in the world. I saw the film with a friend who describes himself as being “spiritual” but denies being a Christian. He liked the film also. Be prepared for a heart-wrenching journey of faith and redemption. And bring Kleenex.