This week, the gap in quality sci-fi with the word “Star” in the title is briefly filled with a movie that, for all intents and purposes, should have “alien” in the title.

Prometheus opens with big scene and sound space images and goes right to the big-ideas scientists, who discover an ancient space invitation to meet their creators. Quickly, they’re on a ship hurtling towards dark, eerie music.

When we’re introduced to the crew, we find that the scientists may have found the directions, but the company bankrolling the trillion-dollar expedition have ideas of their own. These ideas are hidden behind the tightly wound corporate representative (Charlize Theron) and the suspicious robot (Michael Fassbender), both of whom ooze ulterior motives.

Slow pacing and tense setups start the film with great potential. Then comes a turning point that gleefully throws realism and big ideas out the window and it’s all guns-a-blazin’ to the end. Bonus points for spending blockbuster money on H.R. Giger-inspired sets.

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A Cat In Paris is great for a few reasons but just off the top, it highlights just how fantastic it is to live in a time when we have easy access to Oscar-nominated foreign animated features. This one isn’t for the kiddies; it’s for the teens who are looking for a breath of fresh air. The plot involves a kid, a cat, a burglar, a cop and a mob boss. It’s beautifully animated and its runtime of 68 minutes is absolutely ideal for times when you want a full movie story arc, but have just over an hour to spare.

This and more at Highlands Video the best/last video store on Earth.