Milla Jovovich

I'm not sure exactly what quality it is that real people possess and actors lack, but any time a film pretends to document real behavior, either literally or as a reenactment, something is almost always missing. Sometimes the problem is a deliberate decision to enhance events with artificial emphasis or drama, and sometimes it's simply too great a sense of self-awareness in the actor, who knows he or she is performing. But while there are a precious few movies that nail that authenticity, notably the recent underdog-blockbuster Paranormal Activity, such is certainly the case in The Fourth Kind, a film that purports to build an argument for alien abductions using "actual" footage from case studies.

While much of the movie's so-called source material carries the convincing roughness and deficiencies of homemade, handheld recording, too much of it seems far too calculated, both in its technical proficiency and the performances contributed by its "real" people. Further, its accompanying reenactments by recognizable actors undermine the possibility that audiences can take its case seriously, all of which adds up to thriller that unravels easily even if it nevertheless occasionally qualifies as a scary good time.

Read the rest over at Cinematical

Empire has released its yearly list counting down the 100 sexiest movie stars in Hollywood. Since Jason already pointed you to Inside TV's list of hot chicks in sci-fi, I decided to comb through the Empire tally to see if any of our favorite genre-friendly actresses made the cut. I was doing research, you see. It's my job. Really.

I wasn't surprised to learn that seven fantasy/sci-fi starlets topped this year's list, with Transformers' Megan Fox landing the number one spot, followed by Angelina Jolie (Wanted), Emma Watson (Harry Potter), Scarlett Johansson (The Spirit, Iron Man 2), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek), Natalie Portman (Star Wars), and Kristen Stewart (Twilight).

The full list, ranked by Empire readers, is lousy with babes known for steaming up the big screen in sci-fi flicks. Head after the jump to see some of our favorite vote getters.

It's been nearly unavoidable. Even if the movie doesn't live up to the hype, Jennifer's Body has burned a new image into our subconscious: the murderous Megan Fox in a bloody white blouse, eager for more boys to kill. In the sci-fi realm, it's much more common to encounter men who murder than their homicidal female counterparts. When women kill on screen, it tends to be downplayed.

Thus, we have Carrie-Anne Moss in The Matrix, who identifies more strongly as a great action fighter and/or great and cool intellectual, rather than a murderous vixen. Likewise with Famke Janssen in X-Men: The Last Stand, who only wants to kill when she is transformed into the Dark Phoenix, and even then her homicidal inclinations seem less important than the outfit she's wearing. In honor of the intentionally wanton murderers, here's a list of my top ten killer sci-fi chicks.

1. Mathilda May as Space Girl in Lifeforce
If you call her nothing more than a space vampire, you've only hinted at her power. First is her power to distract, which is a given when you're talking about a beautiful woman who has a great body and is always naked. Next, though, is her power to desiccate, sucking more than blood from everyone she meets, or, at least, everyone she manages to grab hold of to give them the shock of their lives. And she refuses to stop! Unlike normal vampires, who just want a pint or two of blood before heading back to their coffins, Space Girl wants nothing less than everything -- which is why she's the #1 killer sci-fi chick in my book.

The Fourth Kind is a new film from Universal presenting itself as a dramatized account of a purportedly real string of stories from the isolated town of Nome, Alaska. A town that inexplicably has a hard time keeping its residents safe on Earth. An excerpt from the official synopsis:

"Here in this remote region, psychologist Dr. Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich) began videotaping sessions with traumatized patients and unwittingly discovered some of the most disturbing evidence of alien abduction ever documented.

Using never-before-seen archival footage that is integrated into the film, The Fourth Kind exposes the terrified revelations of multiple witnesses. Their accounts of being visited by alien figures all share disturbingly identical details, the validity of which is investigated throughout the film."

Now when something is marketed with that much confidence it's only begging to be picked apart. Though I think that particular brand of cynicism should be reserved until after you've seen the trailer, which Sci Fi Wire unveiled recently.