Coherence (2013)

Coherence is touted as a science fiction movie but has more in common with Donnie Darko than Star Trek. Writer/director James Ward Byrkit's 2013 film is a fascinating movie with a great script and development back story. Don't read anything about this movie before seeing it although how you'll manage to do that without reading what I wrote before seeing it is certainly a conundrum; maybe Coherence is the missing piece of this three lines puzzle?!

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Alien Trespass (2009)

It's amazing that some one somewhere found the 1957 presumed-destroyed film Alien Trespass and was able to release it in 2009. This pastiche of every 50s science fiction B movie you might have seen before it has not much more than that premise except a charming performance by Eric McCormack ... and color film! The movie is prepended with the newsreel that had been placed before it in 1957 which, coupled with Robert Patrick, gives the whole thing a family feel - although I'm not sure why.

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Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

I popped my Star Trek cherry when I went to see Star Trek Into Darkness. Never having seen anything remotely related to the series, I was most surprised by the script's humor and that I actually liked it! While the quality of the computer-generated imagery was flawless (I don't suffer bad CGI gladly) and the cast was uniformly excellent (Simon Pegg!), the popcorn movie blueprint (action - talk about action - action - talk about action - action - talk about action) did grow wearisome before the movie was over.

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Roswell (1994)

Roswell takes an interesting theory about the government coverup of a flying saucer crash and makes it a bore without shedding any light on the actual incident one way or the other. Kyle MacLachlan, Martin Sheen, Dwight Yoakum and a host of well-known faces (if not names) do their best but the film just has no drama. If this story is, in fact, true a documentary would have been a better outlet.

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...Robocop (1987)

This comic book of a movie (if, in fact, it was based on one) is simple-minded and emotionally dry. Peter Weller and Nancy Allen dive into the 80s look for this fight against good and evil that ends with a whimper. It's not extreme, thrilling, or even worth the three days it took to finish but it gets one star for being a movie.

...Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men is an excellent, post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller with a smart script that doesn't shrink from beginning to end. Clive Owens, Julianne Moore (in a small yet pivotal role), Michael Caine (ditto) and Clare-Hope Ashitey are excellent. This one had me on the edge of my seat.

...Jericho, Season 1 (2006)

Jericho, Season 1, begins as an excellent, post-apocalyptic vision of what happens to a small Kansas town (the eponymous Jericho) after a series of nuclear bombs hits the United States. The script meshes elements of mystery, romance, and fear as well, if not better than, Lost. Unfortunately, much like Lost in season 2, Jericho goes off-balance about two-thirds of the way through season 1 - making me understand why there was no real audience for it.