AHITH Film: The Book

Another Hole In The Head, Part 8 Film Festival, is taking place in San Francisco June 2-17 at the Roxie Theater. One of the featured films we recently got to review is: The Book.

Storyline:

Ft. Bragg’s Richard Weiss unspools the futuristic sci-fi thriller THE BOOK. It is the year 2284 and bestselling author Alexis is confronted by look-alike aliens who intend to take over his identity and use it to publish their own book. The aliens' book, a potent instrument of alchemy, automatically neutralizes all negative emotions in whoever reads it. No more greed. No more anger. No more fear. No more war. Harmony on the planet. A formula for Utopia? Not necessarily.

Review:

I'll open by saying the special effects and costumes in this movie would make any old-school Star Trek fan proud. Apparently in the future we all wear metallic clothing and clear plastic bowls on our heads.

The Book had a pretty good sci-fi story in there, but it wasn't without issues. It starts out in a Utopian world where a group of rebels gather to pass on their knowledge of how this new world came to be. What is special about these people isn’t realized until the very end of the movie. It's a nice little twist, actually.

There is even some pretty good suspense built as the aliens take the place of the author and his family. The main gripe I have with this movie is that there was a lot of time wasted watching feet move from one place to another. I probably could have edited out 45 minutes of footage (ha!, pun intended) and nothing significant would be lost from the movie.

I spent a good deal of time laughing and rolling my eyes at the made up words, costumes, and “futuristic” props. But, if you ignore all the silly window dressing and focus on the story, you will be entertained and curious to see what happens in the end.

The Book is showing at the Roxie Theater on Wednesday, June 8th at 5:20pm.

Roxie Theater, 3117 16th Street @ Valencia in San Francisco.

I give this film 2 ½ salad bowl hat wearing Sheep!