Episode 527: "Close to You," "Skincare," and "Alien: Romulus" 

This week Megan fills Evan and Dave in one CLOSE TO YOU (1:31). Written and directed by Dominic Savage, with a story by Savage and star Eliot Page, CLOSE TO YOU follows Sam (Page) as he journeys home for his father’s birthday, Sam’s first trip to his hometown since his transition. He bumps into an old flame, and all but one member of his family is supportive. We follow that up with SKINCARE (9:18), a drama starring Elizabeth Banks as Hope, an esthetician with a line of products about to hit the marketplace. Unfortunately, another esthetician opens a location directly across from her, and wouldn’t you know? Someone has stolen Hope’s identity and is messing with her in a way that could tank her product launch. We wish we could say we loved it. (We didn’t.) Finally, Megan and Dave talk about ALIEN: ROMULUS (32:23), the Fede Alvarezd-directed, Cailee Spaeny/David Johnson-starring ALIEN flick that takes the series in a different direction, sorta, if not for all the derivative plot conventions and it lifts from just about every other ALIEN film. It has its moments (and it’s better than Ridley Scott’s last two hack jobs), but it’s a mixed bag. Over on Patreon, we talk about the 1989 film HEATHERS in honor of Shannen Doherty.