Allison Janney | A Screenwriters Perspective: Current and Past Movies.

There are numerous issues with the new movie “The Dog Stars”, starting with how strange it is that a director with the clout of Ridley Scott would read this script and agree to make this film. The title of this film also makes little sense; yes, there is a dog, and at times they do look at the stars. This phrase refers to Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, which is commonly called the “Dog Star.” Despite all of this, this story is about a virus that almost wipes out the human population. The Dog Stars is not a good title for this movie.

One of the few good points is that this time around, the virus that almost wipes out the population of the world does not turn people into flesh-eating zombies, for a refreshing new idea about a virus. We have all seen enough zombie movies, both on television and in movie theaters. Enough already.

This story takes place in a bombed-out, disaster-stricken Denver, Colorado, in the year 2035, ten years after the Pandemic. The main character is Hig (Jacob Elordi), a pilot who lives with a friend and mentor, Bangley (Josh Brolin), in a broken-down house/garage, where Bangley is frequently sitting at the top of a tower, shooting anyone who comes close to their shelter with a high-powered rifle. Most impressive is the number of burned-out, broken cars and planes that are constantly littered throughout all the scenes, accounting for most of the production costs. The other remarkable thing about this movie is how thin the action is, with very little happening, making this movie somewhat like the television series Seinfeld (the show about nothing).

Due to restlessness, Hig flies his plane into a new area of Colorado, has major engine problems, is barely able to land the plane, and then runs into a father and daughter, Pops and Cima, who are trying to survive in the middle of nowhere. What follows is very little story and then another bout of restlessness where the three of them somehow are able to fix the plane (never explained), clear the land for a runway, and wind up at an airport where it seems that everybody is crazy. The head of this insane airport is Darline (Allison Janey) – another well-known actor who read the script and agreed to act in this movie, forcing all of us to wonder why.

The ending is very anticlimactic and boring, like too much of this story, with an abrupt ending that was a good thing, because the movie was finally over.

The Rotten Tomatoes rating for this mostly bad movie is a correct 40%, making this movie, considering all the well-known people involved, a big miss.

On Wednesday, September 13, 2023, the leaders of all the major tech companies testified to the United States Senate about their concerns to regulate and control AI technology. These leaders included the CEO of Microsoft, Tesla and Google. Some of the comments after the 3 hour meeting included, “The consequences of getting AI wrong are severe.”, from Elon Musk. Bill Gates spoke of AI’s potential to feed the hungry. Satya Nadella from Microsoft said “When it comes to AI, we shouldn’t be thinking about autopilot. You need to have copilots.” Someone always has to be overseeing AI to make sure it does not fall into the wrong hands, or go haywire.

AI has been one of the most important topics of conversation for over a year now, it is the new reality of the world. It was obvious that given the possibilties that will follow AI that tens of thousands of screenwriters around the world have started screenplays and there will be many AI movies in our future.

Unfortunately one of the first AI movies is the new movie “The Creator”. The story is basically about an ongoing war between AI-created machines and humanity. After a software error, according to the AI robots humans created a massive nuclear explosion, destroying the city of Los Angeles. The story starts from the aftermath of this nuclear accident and different battles between humans and robots, but not much else. There is nothing new in this story, other than a few well-done special effects. With something as interesting and new as AI, one would expect a much more imaginative script.

The movie stars John David Washington as the main character Joshua, who is a soldier who loses and then tries to find his wife Maya played by Gemma Chan. Joshua also befriends a young child robot Alphie played by Madeleine Yuna Voyles, a story line that seems more about chase scenes and explosions than any interesting story. The story of this film is all over the place, with many disconnected scenes, that also include lead soldier Colonel Howell, played by Allison Janney.

Unfortunately the first of what will probably be a string of AI movies that will follow, is a big miss. The Rotten Tomatoes ratings are a low 68%, with my rating 60% and a recommendation to miss this film.