Steven Spielberg’s career began with extraterrestrial investigation with 1964’s Firelight, and the narrative has followed him throughout his career. Close Encounters, E.T, War of the Worlds, and even Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull would go on to gross millions in Spielberg’s entourage of intergalactic science fiction flicks. Disclosure Day being a return to the narrative was big for many cinemagoers, but how does the final film stack up against his previous work in the same vain?

The gap in release windows between Disclosure Day and Spielberg’s previous film, 2022’s The Fabelmans, is one of the director’s biggest in a while (since 1993 and 1997, though Spielberg released two films both years). The time and effort spent on the film is on display from the first act, with the narrative being so meticulously crafted to lead the viewer certain paths without outright revealing its key twists and plotpoints right out the gate.

Something unexpected that I found myself captivated by was how some shots and plotpoints mirrored that of the posters released for the film. I loved realizing in real-time what Spielberg meant by some of these posters, and how their composition ended up coming together to—again—shine light on some significant plotpoints without giving too much away. The key visuals released leading up to the film’s premiere were something I always found striking; the eye and Emily Blunt standing alongside a canary feel so right for this story. I always felt myself drawn to these brilliant displays of cool light in the composition, much as those shown in UAP footage seem to be by the light show they witness.

This is the second extraterrestrial thriller Spielberg has worked together with screenwriter David Koepp on, following 2005’s War of the Worlds which Koepp co-wrote with Josh Friedman. While the story of Disclosure Day are much less action-packed than the display in WotW, the action scenes in the film still feel very tense and help hike the stakes by the end of each one.

I don’t think these sequences would have worked as well as they did without the excellent acting of Emily Blunt and Josh O’Connor as Margaret Fairchild and Daniel Kellner respectively. Their dynamic feels so grounded and realistic, two people who know their importance despite having just met each other. O’Connor portrays a neurotic, cautious yet passionate Daniel to perfection, but Emily Blunt’s performance as Margaret is one of the best I’ve seen in both her career and Spielberg’s filmography. The emotion her character holds and the weight she has to carry, whether keeping it inside or letting it out, Blunt sells this role better than anyone else could have. Her performance is easily the highlight of this film, a highlight of her career, and one I’m confident will lead the talks for actress Oscars in the coming months.

Disclosure Day grossed over $90 million worldwide in its opening weekend, going above and beyond projected box office numbers. Spielberg’s still got it, both in terms of filmmaking and keeping an audience coming back. It’s a captivating story with some of its actors’ best performances in their careers, and John Williams nails it on the soundtrack as always.

Disclosure Day is now playing in theaters worldwide. Wanna explore more alien movies? Check out The Brother from Another Planet and Wow Signal over on our sister site, Galxy!

When Mattel launched its film division in 2018, the two films initially slated for production were Barbie and Masters of the Universe. Barbie needs no introduction, releasing in 2023 to a meteoric box office of nearly $1.5 billion. The film was directed by the legendary Greta Gerwig and touted an ensemble cast including (but not limited to) Margot Robbie, Issa Rae, Ryan Gosling, Will Ferrell, Michael Cera, and Dua Lipa. Masters of the Universe has some big star power too, directed by Laika’s Travis Knight and starring Nicholas Galitzine, Alison Brie, Kristen Wiig, Jared Leto, and Idris Elba among many others. However, the film isn’t experiencing nearly the same success as the former, currently having earned only $62 million against its $170-200 million production budget since opening last Friday.

This is actually Nicholas Galitzine’s second blockbuster this year after last month’s The Sheep Detectives—another Amazon MGM Studios outing that I actually thought he did pretty good in. That’s not to say he’s bad in Masters, far from it. In fact, I would argue the passion Galitzine injects into Prince Adam’s narrative really helps sell what brought so many comfort in the Masters series in the first place. Life’s purpose isn’t just about finding where you belong and setting things the way you’ve been told, but making it your own in the process. In the process of finding belonging, you cannot lose yourself.

An unexpected hit in this film for me was Skeletor (Jared Leto). In the trailers leading up to Masters‘ release, I wasn’t a fan of Leto’s take on the character since it sounded like too far of a cry from the Skeletor I’d been familiar with from the original Masters of the Universe animated series. I promise you, this is just how the marketing paints him a lot of the time. In the movie, Skeletor is as hateful and menacing as he is hilarious and quirky, as he should be.

The film’s poor box office returns so far do disappoint me because I see as much potential in this as I remember seeing in Barbie. The sheer amount of properties Mattel has brought to the market have a near infinite amount of possibilities in countless genres and styles of filmmaking. A lot of their greenlit productions following the founding of their film division I think are great ideas, but if they perform the same as Masters currently is, I fear we won’t have a summer as fun as Barbenheimer again anytime soon.

The desire from the filmmakers to expand Masters into a wider cinematic universe is clear, as seen in the post-credits scenes and Mattel’s general business strategy with film right now. I’d really like to see more of these characters on the big screen, because the performances I saw last night aren’t just forgettable portrayals. I loved Adam’s struggle finding his sense of self throughout his mission, and Man-at-Arms’ struggle to get clean and reconnect with his daughter. I loved the classic sense of being evil for the love of the game every time Skeletor showed up, and the chemistry between the team members on either side of the fight. Everyone felt so layered, and yet the movie kept a fun air about its subject matter, a similar sense of wonder to a kid playing with Masters action figures or watching the show in the 80s. I want more films to feel this way, not afraid to have fun but with a world and characters that feel developed enough that they don’t talk down to the audience.

Masters of the Universe is now playing in theaters worldwide. If you’re in the mood for more Mattel, check out Extreme Dinosaurs now streaming on our sister site, Galxy!

This month on our sister site Galxy, we’ve got a brand new slate of movies for all our readers (and viewers) to check out, spotlighted from June 1st. Our Cinepride collection highlights captivating stories such as Cherry Grove Stories, as well as our Juneteenth collection with films such as the inspirational A Walk in Her Shoes. Here’s a list with some of what we’ve got lined up!

A Walk in Her Shoes

Selina Garcia’s A Walk in Her Shoes tells the story of personal trainer and author Metra Lundy’s trip from Maryland to Canada, retracing the steps taken by Harriet Tubman as a part of the Underground Railroad. On this journey where she learns more about herself and the history of the path, Lundy shakes hands with many new faces on a trek hundreds of miles long, yet ever-expansively important.

Baseball and the Ballerina

Following the death of his wife, a professional baseball player finds himself struggling to raise his daughter alone. As she struggles with baseball practice, his daughter expresses interest in what she believes is her true calling, ballet. Will King sway towards his own passion, or let his daughter explore her own?

Dementia 13

The feature film debut of The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, Dementia 13 is a horror movie that leads with death. When widow Louise Haloran (Luana Anders) fears her late husband John (Peter Read) may not leave her a fortune in the will, she begins plotting on his own plot of land. However, Louise is far from alone, as an axe murderer soon makes themself known on the premises.

Cherry Grove Stories

This documentary takes place on Fire Island, New York during the 20th century, long before any federal legislation allowed much of the freedom gay Americans would have today. Cherry Grove Stories shows the community of queer folks Fire Island would come to foster a safe and welcoming space for, as well as anecdotes of how the area got to this point.

The Street Fighter

This classic 1974 martial arts film was the first of its kind to land an X-rating in cinemas on the basis of its graphic violent content alone! Assassin Terry Tsurugi intercepts a plan to kidnap the daughter of a late oil tycoon, opting to protect her from members of the Yakuza and mafia who hatched said plan.

Master of the Flying Guillotine

Yes, that is the titular master and his flying guillotine in the image above. A follow-up to The One-Armed Boxer, again directed by and starring Jimmy Wang Yu, a blind lama seeks revenge after his peers were killed by Yu Tien-lung (Jimmy Wang Yu) in the previous film.

Ganja & Hess

When Dr. Hess Green (Duane Jones) is stabbed with a cursed dagger by his assistant, he finds himself caught in the paranormal when he finds he’s become a vampire. Meeting with his assistant’s now widow Ganja (Marlene Clark) as she searches for her husband, Hess finds himself drawn to the woman, not just for her blood, but her heart.

Phenomena

A serial killer lurks the halls of a Swiss boarding school, targeting its pupils. Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly) is one such student at the school, though she harbors a dark secret: she has a psychic link with any insects in her vicinity. Jennifer uses these powers to her advantage as she tracks down and targets the perpetrator.

The Brother from Another Planet

Joe Morton plays The Brother, an alien escaped from the planet he was enslaved on. Using nothing but expressions, body language, and gestures, The Brother tries his best to navigate a strange new world while making a few friends and enemies along the way.

Brotherly Love

Director Anthony J. Caruso stars in this religious romance film as Vito Fortunato, a Brother of the Catholic Church. When his true feelings come forth for one of his friends, Brother Vito finds himself having to choose between what his faith and their fate feel is best.

My Big Gay Italian Wedding

Based on the off-Broadway play of the same name, this film tells the story of Antonio and Paolo, a happy couple residing in Berlin. In the process of getting married, the two land in a small village in Italy where Antonio’s family resides, unaware of his relationship with Paolo.

These spotlighted films for the month of June and more can all be viewed now on Galxy. Safe travels!

Already having crossed its production budget 14 times over, Kane Parsons’ Backrooms marks another meteoric success for indie low-budget horror films in theaters following Curry Barker’s Obsession. Watching Backrooms take off the way it has is like witnessing history, with Parsons now being the youngest director to hit #1 at the box office. The $118 million in its opening weekend made this the highest ever opening for an A24 film, with the film set to soon pass Everything Everywhere All at Once and Marty Supreme‘s worldwide earnings. Domestically, Backrooms is already A24’s most successful film ever released. The studio made a great choice taking a chance on Parsons as a young filmmaker more familiar with the mythos of the Backrooms than anyone. With a whole industrial career now possible for him at such a young age, where could Parsons take audiences next?

Parsons recently talked to Variety about what’s next for him after the film, revealing how he felt drawn back to his internet presence and work ethic during the release cycle. “[T]here’s a lot of projects that I could just never do outside of Youtube, or outside of a more free-form internet multimedia container.” Kane explained to Variety’s William Earl last Friday. “I wouldn’t limit myself to just one spot[.]”

The extent of Kane’s technical knowledge and involvement in his own films speaks to their adaptivity regardless of platform. Doing layout work in Blender and music composition for both his internet and A24-published work, the only limit to Kane’s work is his own imagination.

Backrooms is now playing in theaters worldwide.

In today’s Galxy movie spotlight, we’re taking a look at Emmett Callinan’s Dark Space from 2013. Another indie space horror like last month’s It!, though with more of a focus on the survival horror aspect of the situation. A young crew is on their way to vacation out into the far reaches of the cosmos. However, the inexperienced group of friends bite off more than they can chew with their complex spaceship they rent. Before they know it, the crew has crash landed on the uncharted planet of Centari Five, though not uninhabited. With military units on their tail and mysterious native dangers in tow, the crew now must fight to survive as their only hope out in space.

Dark Space features a large cast including (but not limited to) Keith Raey, Steve West, Alana Dietze, Tonya Kay, Joseph Darden, and Avital Ash as the group of friends setting off on a soon-marooned vacation in space. Emmett Calinan himself does not cameo, though his role in the film is impressive as its sole director, writer, and editor.

The part that fascinates me about the crew in this space horror is their rapport and reactions being such a stark contrast from the usual professionalism that even still can slightly shine through in other space horrors. There’s no captains, engineers, or officers, it quite literally is just six friends who wanted to rent the ship like an AirBNB. I found that take on the premise unique from the getgo, and we hope you do too, all the way through!

Dark Space is now available to stream on Galxy.

This past weekend, Curry Barker’s Obsession opened in theaters to critical acclaim and box office success, already grossing over $23 million over a budget of < $1 million. The writing’s been on the wall that 2026 is a big year for horror—even May alone with hits like Hokum and soon Backrooms—and the release of Obsession has only strengthened that projection for many theatregoers. Director Curry Barker has long been creating sketches on YouTube with co-star Cooper Tomlinson (who stars in Obsession as Ian) on their channel “that’s a bad idea”, making his feature directorial debut with 2024’s Milk & Serial. The following year, he would shoot and premiere Obsession at TIFF where Focus Features would acquire the distribution rights.

Though Obsession is shot like a traditional narrative film, it thrives off the same realism in its writing and performances found in Milk & Serial. Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette star alongside each other as Baron “Bear” Bailey and Nikki Freeman respectively, two childhood friends who work at a local record store owned by their friend Sarah’s (Megan Lawless) father, played by Andy Richter. When Bear discovers the One Wish Willow while browsing a crystal shop for a gift to Nikki, his wish that she’d love him more than anyone in the world brings more than he’d bargained for. As their lives spiral out of control, the one constant remains that the two are together through it all, whether they truly want to be or not.

The concept of the film, while fairly easy to simplify in explanation, only gets more harrowing as the film drags on. I could feel myself getting tense as the entire audience, like we had to walk on eggshells for every cut the film would make at a certain point. With how grounded in reality as the writing of the film often is, the graphic nature of the film as it goes on caught me all the more off guard. Even when such a scene came to be, the atmosphere would remain tense as no one trusted this was as far as it would go.

Director Curry Barker has already gone on record about what’s next after Obsession: he’s already hard at work editing the footage for it. The Hollywood Reporter has a few early details on Barker’s Anything But Ghosts, in which Barker himself stars and writes alongside Cooper Tomlinson. The film seems more in the vain of Milk & Serial, but Focus Features will return for distribution. Barker and Tomlinson will play two ghost-hunting con artists whose careers spiral out of control once confronted with real spirits.

Obsession is now playing in theaters nationwide. If you want more films about sudden possession, check out 13/13/13 over on our sister site, Galxy!