aliens

• Artificial Intelligence: A.I. directed by Steven Spielberg (2001)

  [7/10]

  "I appreciate all the interesting moral and philosophical questions Spielberg introduces in A.I., and the movie does manage to keep your interest -- espically visually -- for the almost three-hour running time."

• Captain Underpants and the Invasion of the Incredibly Naughty Cafeteria Ladies from Outer Space (and the Subsequent Assault of the Equally Evil Lunchroom Zomibe Nerds) by Dav Pilkey (1999)

  [7/10]

  "The funniest and most self-referential of the Captain Underpants series."

• Good Boy! directed by John Robert Hoffman (2003)

  [5/10]

  "You can appreciate Liam Aiken's development as an actor, but often the script gives lame dialogue to everyone, making Good Boy! somewhat painful to watch with not enough comedy to offset the pain."

• Invasion, The by K. A. Applegate (1996)

  [6/10]

  "Applegate doesn't try to sugar-coat the dark reality of her story. The kids must face the reality of an alien invasion with their immature understanding of tactics, strategy, and consequences."

• Puppet Masters, The directed by Stuart Orme (1994)

  [6/10]

  "Nothing really stands out in The Puppet Masters, but none of the usual B-movie flaws drag it down ether, which leaves you with a mildly pleasant sci-fi feature."

• War of the Worlds, The directed by Byron Haskin (1953)

  [7/10]

  "By today's standards, The War of the Worlds has pretty unbelievable effects, but you can tell that Haskin took enormous care with the effects available to him at the time. The effects do work well to establish the deadly nature of the Martians and the unbelievable firepower they could produce with even just a single craft."

• War of the Worlds directed by Steven Spielberg (2005)

  [7/10]

  "When a story remains popular for over a hundred years, clearly the elements strike a chord in the human psyche, and who better than Stephen Spielberg to know how to make a movie that resonates that chord in modern audiences."

• Zathura: A Space Adventure by Chris Van Allsburg (2002)

  [5/10]

  "If you have read Jumanji, Zathura offers no real surprises. You already know that the game will alter reality, so we don't experience any shock when a meteor really does crash through the roof. But I find Van Allsburg's illustrations in Zathura inferior to his work in Jumanji."

• Zathura directed by Jon Favreau (2005)

  [6/10]

  "If you've seen Jumanji, then you pretty much have seen Zathura. In essence, a couple of kids find an old game, start to play, and then realize that the game affects reality in quite serious and perilous ways."

  Average score: 6.22