"Hercules" (2014)

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Rufus Sewell and John Hurt
Written by Ryan J. Condal and Evan Spiliotopoulos
Directed by Brett Ratner
Rated PG-13 — Violence, language, brief nudity
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Trailer

The legendary Hercules (Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson) is leader of a band of mercenaries. They make their way by frightening their enemies with embellished tales of Hercules' victories against incredible monsters. Along with Autolycus (Rufus Sewell), Tydeus (Aksel Hennie), Atalanta (Ingrid Berdal), Iolaus (Reece Ritchie) and Amphiaraus (Ian McShane), Hercules is hired by King Cotys (John Hurt) to help defend the land of Thrace from a vicious enemy — the army of Rhesus (Tobias Santelmann).

But while Hercules and his cohorts attempt to keep their deception about Hercules' exploits from Cotys and his men, especially the skeptical General Sitacles (Peter Mullan), so do they suspect that Cotys is also keeping something from them. And all the while, Hercules himself is still tormented by his greatest failure: to stop the murder of his wife and children, the event that banished him from Athens and led him to the lonely life of a wandering warrior.

"The Frozen Ground" (2013)

Starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and Vanessa Hudgens
Written and directed by Scott Walker
Rated R - Language, violence, drug use, nudity
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Trailer

In Anchorage, Alaska, in 1983, a young prostitute named Cindy (Vanessa Hudgens) claims that Robert Hansen (John Cusack) abducted, raped and held her captive in his home. But since Hansen is an upstanding member of the community with a wife and kids, the police won't even bother investigating him. One officer, however, thinks more is going on here than meets the eye and hands the case over to the Alaska State Police, catching the attention of Jack Halcombe (Nicolas Cage) who is investigating a series of bodies found strewn throughout the Alaskan wilderness.

Halcombe begins to suspect that Hansen might be a serial killer, and attempts to connect him to more than a dozen murders across more than a decade. Even as the evidence mounts, however, Halcombe discovers that it may not be enough to catch the meticulous and overly-cautious Hansen. And when Hansen discovers that Cindy is helping the police, she becomes his next target -- the one that got away.

'Falling Skies' Season Three (2013)

Starring Noah Wyle, Will Patton and Moon Bloodgood
Created by Robert Rodat
Trailer

Life has changed considerably at the rebel camp of Charleston, SC. The surviving humans, now led by former history professor Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), have allied themselves with a group of rebel alien Skitters as well as another race from the stars, the Volm. Over the past seven months since the arrival of the Volm, the three groups have run joint missions attacking Skitter posts and liberating the Skitters' slave labor force - Earth's children.

Commander of the 2nd Mass, Dan Weaver (Will Patton) is now a high-ranking military official. He doesn't quite trust the Volm, and that finds him oddly in agreement with Pope (Colin Cunningham) who has taken to joining rebel raids as well as running his own bar and trading post in the revived Charleston. But Tom has struck up a friendship with the leader of the Volm, nicknamed Cochise (Doug Jones), and the two have begun construction of a weapon the Volm promise will strike a decisive blow against the Skitters.

But all the while, something is wrong with Tom's son, Hal (Drew Roy). He's having strange nightmares of an affair with Karen (Jessy Schram), the new overlord of the Skitters' east coast operations. And there's a mole hidden somewhere within Charleston, a murderer and saboteur no one can identify. Hal thinks he might be the mole, and worse, he's not sure if he can stop himself.

'Falling Skies' Season Two (2012)

Starring Noah Wyle, Will Patton and Moon Bloodgood
Created by Robert Rodat
Trailer

Three months after the failed attack on the alien structure in Boston, former history professor Tom Mason (Noah Wyle) mysteriously reappears. Unfortunately for his friends in the 2nd Mass, this is not quite the happy reunion, less so when they discover some kind of tracking device buried in his skull.

But Captain Dan Weaver (Will Patton) does welcome him back, just as his sons Hal (Drew Roy), Ben (Connor Jessup) and Matt (Maxim Knight). Over the last three months, Ben's strange powers have grown. Despite his efforts to fight alongside the 2nd Mass, many still don't trust him. Now they don't trust his father, either.

Forced to leave Boston, the 2nd Mass receives word of a human encampment and a growing army in Charleston, South Carolina. The road along the way will not be easy: the alien Skitters are hunting the 2nd Mass all along the way. But there's a new ripple: some of the Skitters have declared rebellion against their overlords. The only problem is, the humans aren't sure they can be trusted.

'Falling Skies' Season One (2011)

Starring Noah Wylie, Moon Bloodgood and Will Patton
Created by Robert Rodat
Trailer

Aliens have arrived. And they are not friendly. The first wave of attacks was devastating, knocking out machines and electronics all over the world. The second wave targeted the cities and military. In less than six months, humanity has fallen.

History professor Tom Mason (Noah Wylie) is a resistance fighter with the 2nd Massachusetts after Earth was invaded by the malevolent aliens the humans call "skitters." He fights to keep his two young sons Hal (Drew Roy) and Matt (Maxim Knight) safe, though Hal is now old enough to be a fighter himself.

The 2nd Mass is led by Captain Dan Weaver (Will Patton), and after being run out of Boston by the skitters, takes refuge in an abandoned high school in Acton. From there, they prepare for a guerrilla strike against the skitters, who have been capturing human children and attaching strange bio-mechanical devices to their spines. Removing these harnesses kills the children, until a resistance doctor figures out the secret to getting them off safely.

Tom's third son, Ben (Connor Jessup) has been taken by the skitters and fitted with a harness. When Ben is found working as a slave in a hospital not too far from the 2nd Mass' camp, Tom and the others make a bold move to rescue them. But Ben and the other children aren't quite the same after their rescue. Ben displays enhanced strength and stamina, while his friend Rick (Daniyah Ysrail) shows more sinister characteristics. Whose side is he on? Will his secret derail the resistance's plan to strike a major blow against the skitters in the heart of Boston?

'Star Trek: The Next Generation' Season 6 [Blu-Ray] (1992)

Starring Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner
Created by Gene Roddenberry
Executive Producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller

The starship Enterprise continues its adventures patrolling the outer reaches of space, safeguarding the Federation and discovering strange new lifeforms. This sixth season contains some true high points, such as the second of the two-part episode "Chain of Command," but also some real lows - like the Troi-centric and painfully bad "Man of the People."

The first season produced entirely after the death of series creator Gene Roddenberry, Season Six shows the writers breaking out into some new territories that they had been forbidden to approach previously. A few familiar faces return, including John De Lancie's trickster Q in two episodes, Robert O'Reilly as Gowron, as well as Data's twin brother, Lore (Brent Spiner).

Though there are a few episodes that aren't up to snuff, the show is still firing hard when it gets going. Episodes like "Tapestry," "Chain of Command, Part II," "Starship Mine," "Lessons," "The Chase," and "Face of the Enemy" are examples of a show that, even six years in, still knows how to craft a top-notch hour of television... even if it is uneven, as a whole.

"Godzilla Raids Again" (1955)

Starring Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama and Minoru Chiaki
Written by Shigeaka Hidaka and Takeo Murata
Directed by Motoyoshi Oda
Not Rated - Violence, peril
Running Time: 82 Minutes
Trailer

Note: This is a review of the US version of the film, which features a number of differences from the original Japanese version, detailed here. 

 Two pilots, Tsukioka (Hiroshi Koizumi) and Kobayashi (Minoru Chiaki) are forced to make an emergency landing on a mysterious island near Osaka, Japan, after Kobayashi's plane suffers a malfunction. While resting themselves on the beach, they are witness to an incredible sight: a fight between two gigantic monsters.

The two pilots make their way back to civilization and tell the tale, and once again, Japan is gripped with fear over the kaiju menace. An archaeologist, Dr. Yamane (Takashi Shimura), explains that millions of years ago, fire creatures roamed the earth. They were of the Anguiris family, and now slumber only to be awoken by radioactive fallout.

Soon enough, though the government prepares as best it can, the creature they're calling "Gigantis" makes its way ashore in Osaka and proceeds to wreck up the place. Now Tsukioka and Kobayashi join a fleet of fighter pilots to concoct a desperate plan to destroy Gigantis and save Japan once more.

'Stargate SG-1' - Season 1 (1997)

Starring Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping
Developed by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner
See Also: Stargate reviews

A year after the events of the "Stargate" film, the alien transportation device remains inactive in a US Air Force base in Colorado. But one day it activates, and alien invaders step through. The invaders kill several of the guards standing watch over the stargate, and kidnap another. The man now in charge of the base, General George Hammond (Don S. Davis) brings Colonel Jack O'Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) out of retirement in his search for answers.

O'Neill reveals that, despite his report to the contrary, he left Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) alive on the alien world Abydos a year earlier instead of having detonated a massive nuclear device that was supposed to wipe the planet clean of the threat to Earth. Now, searching for their kidnapped colleague, O'Neill leads a team back to Abydos. He's joined by Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping), one of the Air Force's most brilliant astrophysicists and a leading expert on the stargate technology.

On Abydos, Jackson reveals to O'Neill and Carter that Ra was not the only alien posing as an ancient Egyptian god. There are a whole race of beings known as Goa'uld, parasites who take human hosts and subjugate worlds across the entire galaxy.

Not long after their arrival on Abydos and reunion with Jackson, the Goa'uld's alien warriors, known as Jaffa, arrive once more. This time, they kidnap Jackson's wife Sha're (Vaitiare Bandera) and her brother Skaara (Alexis Cruz). Jackson begs to join O'Neill in the search, and Hammond allows the team to follow the aliens back to their homeworld. There, they encounter a Jaffa named Teal'c (Christopher Judge) who believes that the Goa'uld are, in fact, not gods as they claim. Teal'c helps O'Neill and the others escape, but they are unable to recover Sha're and Skaara.

Under the leadership of Hammond, a number of teams are created with the purpose of traveling through the stargate to explore alien worlds, find alien technology and allies to help defend Earth against the Goa'uld. O'Neill, Jackson, Carter and Teal'c are the front line team, SG-1, defending our world in secret from certain doom.