by Linda Holmes

In the new movie District 9, it appears that we have been peacefully living with space aliens for more than 25 years when suddenly, we manage to provoke a violent confrontation. Why are we so bad at dealing with space aliens? Why can't we learn the basics, after so many years of (totally fictional) experience?

Does this look like a guy whose lease you want to terminate prematurely? (Columbia TriStar Pictures)

1. Do not try to evict giant spidery creatures that can fly and/or eat you. In the trailer above, the bureaucrat who's serving the "eviction notice" comes up to the armpit of the "tenant," and the "tenant" appears to be a lizard with a metal exoskeleton, or thereabouts. If you have convinced a bunch of super-powerful lizard-people who can leap from one building to another to live peacefully in what certainly looks to be the poor part of town, leave them alone.

The rest of the list, after the jump...

Continue reading "Five Ways Movie Governments Could Respond More Effectively To Alien Invasions" >

Bonnie Bedelia: She can help you decipher the trickiest movie plots. Getty Images

 

by Linda Holmes

This entry will spoil the ending of Presumed Innocent, a so-so Harrison Ford movie from 1990, as well as the conclusion of last night's episode of ABC's Castle. (I realize that seems impossible. I assure you, it is not.)

Most Excellent UPDATE (thanks to Kim from NPR): Okay. So I watched that episode and distinctly heard them say both "WD-40" and "motor oil," and I was totally confused, because I didn't think WD-40 was motor oil, but that's what they said, so I went with it. Except they didn't, of course, say that; they said "10W-40." And that IS motor oil. Thank you for your indulgence, those of you who tolerated my bafflement. I apologize profusely. As Kim pointed out, it would have been quite the devoted murderer spraying a little bottle of WD-40 into a bathtub until it was full. Oh, television.

Last night, while enjoying an episode of ABC's banter-heavy crime procedural Castle in the company of my parents, I found myself explaining something called the Bonnie Bedelia Rule.

In this episode, a woman was drowned in a bathtub full of motor oil (I don't think anyone who makes 10W-40 paid for that particular product placement), and one of the witnesses who was interviewed early was played by Susan Ruttan, who once played Roxanne on L.A. Law. Ruttan had about three lines, and then the story moved on.

"Now," I said, "she is going to turn out to be the killer, according to the Bonnie Bedelia Rule."

The rule, after the jump...

Continue reading "Fundamental Plot Truths: Spoilers And The Bonnie Bedelia Rule" >