149. ALIEN COUNTRY (2024) dir. Boston McConaughey

Please rate & review The Movies on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you listen to the show!---Before we get started, no, I don't believe there's any relation to Matthew.Boston McConaughey is the director of ALIEN COUNTRY, a sci-fi horror comedy he co-produced and co-wrote with Renny Grames to kick off their production company.It follows Everly (Grames), an aspiring singer who's just discovered she's pregnant. First instinct? Get out of Dodge. Her small Utah town seems only conducive to raising shitkickers, Clint Eastwood wannabes and man-children. The third bracket is where her baby daddy Jimmy (K.C. Clyde) firmly resides.On the way out, though, Everly's car breaks down, and Jimmy's the one to spot her hitchhiking on the side of the road: a double-whammy that normally would seal her fate to spend her life as a bar-crooning stay-at-home mom. But shenanigans place a glowing orb in the couple's possession. When tampered with (because of course they would), a portal to another world opens, which lets loose a couple of tentacled insect-dog aliens into their small town. Via rules of "you let em out, you put em in," we have a movie!This is a cartoon, for better and worse, firmly devoted to its influences: ALIEN, THE WORLD'S END, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, SIGNS, WAR OF THE WORLDS - the list goes on. It's got drones, a demolition derby, purple blood splatters, swaths of neon, motorcycle chases - all achieving a similar effect to waving keys in front of a baby to keep their attention.I can't say I wasn't sufficiently distracted nor failed to crack a single grin but I can't also find myself recommending or remembering this movie two weeks from now.ALIEN COUNTRY is available now to watch on VOD and in select theaters.---Follow The Movies on ⁠⁠Instagram ⁠⁠& ⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠Financially support the podcast via the ⁠⁠tip jar!