Watching: Distant planets and very close zombies
Dear Watchers,For those of you enjoying a nice lazy August, we have some streaming suggestions on this Genre Movie Wednesday to perk things up. One involves an alien rendezvous on a distant planet. The other involves a high-octane combo of martial arts and zombies. Read more of what our trusty sci-fi expert, Elisabeth Vincentelli, has to say about these two gems below, then head here to get a few more of her recommendations. Happy viewing. 'Long Distance'
Where to watch: Stream "Long Distance" on Hulu. Four years ago, a profile of Anthony Ramos ("In the Heights") mentioned that he had an "upcoming" film called "Distant." The title would prove to be prescient. The surprise is not that the movie was shelved, then turned up with little fanfare on Hulu as "Long Distance," but rather that it is an entertaining survival caper. When the mining ship he is traveling on is hit by an asteroid, Andy (Ramos) barely makes it out in an escape pod. He crash-lands, alone, on a planet devoid of oxygen — which the local life-forms don't mind. Unfortunately they are not friendly. Andy spends a good chunk of the movie crossing swaths of treacherous terrain as he chats over his comms with the artificial intelligence assistant LEONARD (voiced by Zachary Quinto) and another survivor of the crash, Naomi (Naomi Scott, from "Aladdin" and "Smile 2"). Much of this banter is comic — the directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck did the Will Ferrell ice-skating triple axel "Blades of Glory" — which, admittedly, can undermine the action scenes. Still, "Long Distance" works as a popcorn flick. Be warned, though, that LEONARD deploys a chime that sounds vaguely familiar, and identifying its source may drive some viewers as crazy as it does Naomi. 'Ziam'
Where to watch: Stream "Ziam" on Netflix. Fittingly for a zombie movie, it helps to unplug your brain when watching Kulp Kaljareuk's "Ziam," which boils down to an extended brawl against voracious hordes. We are in Thailand, which held up relatively well as the rest of the world succumbed to famine created by global warming. Radio announcements praise the heroic achievements of the country, which sounds as if it were ruled by a nationalistic, authoritarian government. The synopsis has a beautiful simplicity and boils down to: martial artist vs. zombies. The plot centers on the efforts of the Muay Thai fighter Singh (Prin Suparat) to rescue his wife, Rin (Nuttanicha Dungwattanawanich), a doctor whose hospital becomes overrun by infected you-know-whats. (Buddy, a small child played by Wanvayla Boonnithipaisit, tags along for good measure, and comic relief.) Fans of the thriving zombie genre should dig a cool variation that "Ziam" brings up toward the end: mutations! The ending is open enough that I found myself wishing for a sequel.
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