Memlets

I actively hated this movie, and I'm a gal who tends to cut sci-fi movies a lot of slack because I love them so much, even the bad ones.

But this one -- wow.

The single stupidest and most insulting thing about Annihilation Earth (and of too many sci-fi and disaster movies) is that it gives only one or two scientists -- in the entire world -- the expertise and power to make crucial decisions affecting millions (and possibly billions) of people.

Annihiliation Earth is such a movie, in spades. No involvement with any national or worldwide governmental or scientific body -- just Luke Goss and Marina Sirtis getting all tense with each other.

This nation's already poor science literacy certainly won't be improved with preposterous flicks like this one.

I'm a fifty-something woman who's still impressed by our high-tech world. I love music on CD's, microwave ovens, cable TV, computers, the Internet -- and my DVD player.

These wonderful consumer items were undreamed of when I was growing up, which is why I'm so disgusted by some of the alleged movies that get a DVD release.

And I really hate it when I unwittingly end up renting one them. "Scarecrow," for instance. I guess I'm a fool for a halfway competently designed DVD box, or something.

This flick is an amateur production through and through -- poorly written and acted, boringly predictable. And criminally lame with the jokes -- for instance, one guy is killed when the scarecrow rams an ear of corn in his ear. Get it? Get it?

What a total waste of technology in the 21st century.

This extremely dark comedy is about a depressive, chain-smoking woman, her two equally troubled sons, and what happens at her house on the day she falls out of a moving taxi and has to be hospitalized.

One son, Ronnie, is basically a good-hearted, but thoroughly unmotivated and directionless guy who works at a halfway house for mentally challenged adults. He lives nearby in the shabby guest quarters behind his mom's rundown house.

At the halfway house, Ronnie, who doesn't have a girlfriend (and we suspect he has never had one), happens upon Sara, one of the resident women, who's standing naked in the bathroom.

She's muttering incoherently to herself. Nevertheless, Ronnie is intrigued, so much so that when he later sees her wandering down the street, he brings her to his room with romance on his mind.

Meanwhile, the other son, Keith, comes home from a stint in county jail with his girlfriend in tow. Soon he's joined by a couple of wild, druggy friends.

Ronnie's romantic interlude ends badly, not surprisingly. He ends up having to tie the very disturbed and helpless Sara to the bed to keep her quiet. He's frightened and confused, and he feels just awful about what he's done.

However, because Keith and his pals have decided to party all night in the house, Ronnie has a hard time correcting his mistake with Sara without being detected.

What happens next is a gruesomely amusing tale of bad decisions made by truly stupid people.

Great acting, great suspense -- and the ending is not to be missed. I heartily recommend this film!