Whether you’re trying to avoid the releases this week or augment them with even more movie, Your Alternate Box Office offers some options for movies that would play perfectly alongside of (or instead of) the stuff studios are shoving into the megaplex this weekend.
This week features an alien invasion to steal of our moms, an alien invasion to blow things up all over place, a werewolf invasion courtesy of the MTV generation, and a governess that swears she’s in a classic novel instead of a horror film.
ALIENS (1986)
Double Feature With: BATTLE LOS ANGELES
The Pitch: So you’re in the mood for even more military science fiction in the wake of the destruction of Los Angeles, and you’ve got a few options, but few will do as well as Aliens. It’s the Godfather II of science fiction sequels. Ripley returns, this time with pants on, and when a group of colonists go missing, she heads out with a group of rough and ready Marines to re-live the nightmare.
How to See It: Watch Instantly
MOM AND DAD SAVE THE WORLD (1992)
Double Feature With: MARS NEED MOMS
The Pitch: Because you needed to see Jon Lovitz give the best performance of his career with a bunch of animatronic talking dogs. I really dig the dichotomy between a movie about a son going to save his abducted mother and a movie about a husband going to save his wife.
It also helps that this movie is completely ridiculous, looks like it was made on a five-dollar budget, and finally answered the audience demand to see a member of Monty Python play Kathy Ireland’s father.
How to See It: Requires a rental
HARD CANDY (2005)
Watch Instead Of: RED RIDING HOOD
The Pitch: Honestly, this is probably a bad call because Hard Candy doesn’t have any wolves or baskets or grandma’s houses, but it’s still a loose retelling of the story where Ellen Page scores a break out role as a girl hanging out with an older man she met online. It’s a story about predators all the same, but if you’re really looking for the fairy tale style that Red Riding Hood promised, you’re probably better off watching any of the dozen other straight adaptations of the story. If you’re looking for a great movie, though, this is the best choice of the bunch.
How to See It: Requires a rental
JANE EYRE (1944)
Double Feature With: JANE EYRE (2011)
The Pitch: Here’s another story that has even more adaptations to choose from. Charlotte Bronte’s novel has been mined for its romantic brilliance since 1902. However, there’s only one adaptation that sees Orson Welles playing the iconic Edward Rochester, and the man is a damned force in this movie. Joan Fontaine keeps pace with him at every level, and even steals a lot of scenes, but they make for a beautifully tragic pair in a haunting film.
If seeing the same story twice for comparison isn’t your thing, check out Cary Fukanaga’s first movie, Sin Nombre and discover more of the man’s talent.
How to See It: Watch Instantly
Come back next Friday for more alternative box office tips
Related Topics: Aliens, Box Office
