2015: the Search for Interesting Hollywood Aliens

...ya, but now they're cyborg spiders!

Last year, in 2014, my Search for Interesting Hollywood Aliens (SIHA) came up empty and I gave the SIHA best alien award to an independent film. Will things turn out any different this year?

2015 Nominations
 Jupiter Ascending - nominated because alien zoo Keepers watch over we Earthlings and keep us fat, happy and ready for harvest.
 Aliens: Zone-X - nominated for the "cyborg spiders".
 Area 51 - nominated for the "Most Stereotypical Aliens" award.

The Skyline Trilogy: Skyline,
Beyond Skyline and Skylines.

ancient alien: Maz Kanata

The Force Awakens - is Maz Kanata an interesting alien or just a Yoda reboot?
 Beyond Skyline - nominated because any flick with brain-harvesting aliens can't be all bad. Right?

Karellen

 Childhood's End - nominated because Arthur C. Clarke. Clarke's alien "Overlords" and the Overmind are classics of science fiction. The question is, can anyone in Hollywood successfully translate Clarke's vision of aliens into a video format?
 The Whispers - nominated because Ray Bradbury.

Thumbs Down

Stone-faced actor award
winner: Mila Kunis

I've taken a careful look at Jupiter Ascending because in that 2015 film the backstory includes the idea that we Earthlings are kept ignorant of the existence of people who live on distant worlds and travel between the stars.

However, the aliens in Jupiter Ascending are not important for the story. Worse than that, the plot is built around the idea that we Earthlings only exist as bioreactors for the production of some magical molecule that can extend life and rejuvenate people.

SIHA

Go to Hell.

OK...I admit, the real question behind my Search for Interesting Hollywood aliens is: can Hollywood make a science fiction movie that I would pay $ to watch?

This is a difficult challenge because, as a reader of science fiction, I'm generally appalled by what typically gets marketed as science fiction by the Hollywood Ca$h-O-Matic industry.

And the Winner Is....

Welcome your Overlords. There's no need to be afraid.

(after waiting until December)
And waiting for Monday. And waiting through commercials (Oh, I paid, baby). I'm giving the 2015 SIHA award to Clarke's "Overlords".
Had Childhood's End been a 90 minute movie in theaters, I would have been tempted to pay to watch it. However, I seldom go to a theater, so I probably would have waited for it to arrive on television. See my comments on Syfy's adaptation of this Arthur C. Clarke classic Sci Fi story. I congratulate Syfy for actually going to the trouble to bring Clarke's story to the attention of television watchers. Hopefully 1 or 2 of them will now read Clarke's book, or maybe Goggle it.

Related Reading:
Absolutely Anything

Search for Interesting Hollywood Aliens (SIHA)
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Concept art by Emmanuel Shiu

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