SIHA 2019: Start Searching

Brewing up some alien tea.

One quarter of the way into 2019 and it is time to begin my Search for Interesting Hollywood Aliens (SIHA) in films from the year 2019. Last year I turned to the film industry in Japan for help in finding an interesting story about aliens (SIHA 2018).

The qualifier "Hollywood" in "SIHA" can now be applied to the "Hollywood of the East", the "Oriental Movie Metropolis" in China.

Hollywood of the East (source)

Maybe 2019 is the year for a film from China to provide Sci Fi fans with an interesting space alien.

Humor

Crazy Aliens

Sometimes science fiction stories can take themselves too seriously. Apparently Crazy Alien will never strike any viewer as being a serious depiction of First Contact. Sadly, I see no hint on the interwebs that Crazy Alien will be made available in the United States any time soon. Apparently there are plenty of jokes about incompetent American government agents in Crazy Alien.

Fearless Leader in China

Given our Fearless Leader's trade war with China, it might be that nobody on this side of the Pacific is willing to market Crazy Alien to Americans.

My big fear about science fiction stories arriving from other countries is that they will be rip-offs and recycling-mashups of old movies that were made in Hollywood. Thus, I start to worry when I see movie posters like the one below (left):

Been there, done that.

Shanghai Fortress

I have no interest in military science fiction and my fantasy is that some other nation, such as China, might be able to tell stories about aliens that do not come to Earth for our coal or our gold. Sadly, films like Shanghai Fortress make me wonder if there is any hope for creativity among science fiction movie makers on this planet. Sci Fi globalization progress: now aliens can go Boom! in Chinese.

Speaking of derivative re-hash, this summer there will be Men in Black: International. Is there any chance that this 4th film in the MIB series will have something interesting to say about aliens? The only goal might be to have fun blasting evil aliens, and maybe nobody will notice if there are no interesting aliens.

Bigger, better: the bunny blaster!

The unlikely comic book evolution of Captain Thunder.

Ms. Marvel
I'm a huge fan of "ancient astronaut" stories in which highly advanced aliens exist on other worlds of the galaxy while we humans bumble along, unaware that aliens often secretly visit Earth. Don't ask me to explain the origins of Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers, Binary and Warbird or how alien Kree DNA is inserted into an innocent human by an explosion -or maybe it is just magic energy from a kablewy star ship engine that transforms Carol into a superbeing... "the most powerful superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe".

red sash

I've never read a comic book nor have I seen a superhero movie. When I was a kid, there was a silly Superman television show that quickly soured me on superheros. Will I be seeing Captain Marvel in 2019? No, but I must ask: does this film have anything interesting to say about aliens or is it just a sorry rehashing of Earthly politics dressed up in absurd comic book fashions?

As someone who has happily ignored superhero pop culture since I was a kid in the 1960s, I also have to ask: why did capes go out of style? If capes are out of style, maybe female superheros of the current millennium only need to wear a strategically placed red sash.

Capel Green

Rendlesham Forest

Capel Green

I have no idea if Capel Green will even deal with space aliens. However, it is fun to have an active UFO industry turning out films, even if aliens are not involved.

2017 SIHA

2018

Related Reading: 2019 SIHA Summary
2017 SIHA winner
2016 SIHA awards
SIHA 2015
SIHA 2014
SIHA 2013
SIHA 2012
2009 retro-SIHA | Retro-SIHA 2002 | 2001 retro-SIHA
Next: Nora's first clone baby

Visit the Gallery of Posters.