Peter Daskaloff's 2015 remake of his little seen sex/sci-fi comedy SEX AND THE SINGLE ALIEN

If you missed the 1993 film, Sex and the Single Alien (it was apparently shown back in that era on HBO, Cinemax and the USA network), rest easy. A brand new version of the film, remade by its writer/director Peter Daskaloff, hits theaters (or at least a theater) this week. Nowhere near as goofy and delightful as Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same (the film it maybe most resembles simply in its subject matter of space aliens and sex/romance), SEX AND THE SINGLE ALIEN (2015) is still something of a one-off (actually, a two-off) in that it apparently mimics the earlier movie in just about every way except in its cast and the time period in which it was shot. I suppose you could say it comes somewhat close to that ill-advised, frame-for-frame remake of Psycho -- except that it has nowhere near the starry cast of either version, nor the film-making sophistication.

I am using the word "apparently" above because I have not seen the earlier version of the film and am consequently going only by the press release sent to me regarding both versions of the film -- after the reading of which I viewed the new version. Mr. Daskaloff, shown at right, is a fellow who seems to enjoy -- if his film is any indication of his tastes -- those old TV situation comedies from the 1950-60s. He has made his new film in the style of those sit-coms, from the look of the film to the acting of most of the performers. The only thing very different here is the subject matter: You would not have found sex and the quest for orgasm as part of any sit-com I recall from those far-off days.

In any case, the plot of Sex and the Single Alien has our hero and heroine -- a husband and wife team who jointly own a strip club (weird, but, yes) and are having trouble communicating sexually. He (a sexy but very low-key Alexi Stavrou, above) wants to fuck, while she (a perky-into-oblivion Rachel Alig, below) just wants to track extra-terrestrial activity.

Before you can say, "See a therapist!" the pair visits one, but then, via things that only happen in sit-coms, hubby is indeed abducted by a couple of sit-com aliens (Josiah Black and Albert Minero, Jr., below, left and right, respectively) who speak like Russian immigrants and clown like Milton Berle on a bad day.

Our sleepy hero is then hooked up to a machine that gives him the ability to produce orgasms in women, not to mention one of his own, by simply looking at them, and having sex via, well, I guess you'd call it "transference."

Several women and sexual sessions later (the film is unrated, but never fear, nobody takes off enough clothing to go past the PG level), peace and sexual fulfillment are achieved and everyone goes home happy (more or less), except perhaps viewers were hoping for something more than old-fashioned TV-level entertainment. The best of these sexual sessions takes place between our hunk and a medical intern (Heather Sims, below), during which scientists try to get to the bottom of what is going on.

Can I recommend this movie in good faith? Probably not. My spouse walked out after about five minutes, due to what he referred to as " the low-level acting." I stuck with it due to my mandate to review, which means viewing it all until those end credits close. To be fair, the film lasts only 68 minutes and does offer a few laughs along the way. And to his credit, Mr. Daskaloff has managed to corral his actors into mostly playing as an ensemble in the same "heightened," sit-com style.

As for the pulchritude on view, there is plenty of it, the most of which is provided by an actress -- Roberta Sparta, above -- who plays a character called "Thousand Ways" and is, as you might suspect, something more than she seems on the surface.

Regarding special effects, the movie is low on these, undoubtedly due to its budget, though we do get to see a spacecraft in flight (below), its interior, and even a bit of levitation (above).

From a company called Souvenir Films, Sex and the Single Alien makes its theatrical debut this coming Friday, March 20, in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Noho 7. Elsewhere? There is no mention as yet of any other locales on the film's web site -- which you can access by clicking here.

Anne Renton's THE PERFECT FAMILY gives Kathleen Turner a nice role -- but little else

It's great to see Kathleen Turner up on-screen again, in a leading role that she grabs with gusto, making it her own, while leading us through a set of nicely specific changes in attitude and belief that have taken her character, by movie's end, somewhere quite different than she was at its beginning. A little programmatic (well, a lot, actually), these changes nonetheless present a kind of guidepost as to the direction in which The Catholic Church must move if it has any real desire to serve its flock -- rather than its coffers, the income from which keeps the powerful in place. What? It hasn't? Well, then, never mind.

The first full-length film to be directed by Anne Renton, shown at right, (it was written by Paula Goldberg and Claire V. Riley), THE PERFECT FAMILY is a fantasy/sit-com about the possibility of change. As usually happens in fantasy sitcoms, that change comes all too easily and far too soon. What keeps the movie even somewhat grounded and the viewer's eyes from constantly rolling is Ms Turner's performance as a "good Catholic mother" who is suddenly up for nomination as her local parish's prize designation of the Catholic Woman of the Year.

Because this would mean that not just Eileen (Ms Turner, above) but her entire family will have to be up-to-snuff as "good Catholics," a whitewashing of sorts will have to take place. Rather than go into any detail, we'll let the movie surprise you with the particulars. Suffice it to say that these are not wildly original.

Nor is anything much more than standard-plot-procedure done with the stories and characters of Eileen's son Frank, Jr. (played by Jason Ritter, above) and daughter Shannon (Emily Deschanel -- shown below, left, with Angelique Cabral). This makes it a bit difficult for the actors to "shine" in these roles. They're perfectly OK, but little more. (Fans of Mr. Ritter, myself included, are in store for a simply terrific performance from this fine young actor next week -- when his movie A Bag of Hammers opens.)

The dad of the family gets less notice, but that works better for the character -- a quiet, reformed alcoholic who still loves his wife but is growing less tolerant of her religious ways. As played by Michael McGrady, below, this guy's quiet decency shines through nicely, and his character seems the least sit-comish of the pack --

-- which includes Richard Chamberlain, below, right, welcomely understated as the parish priest,

and Sharon Lawrence, below, as the Eileen's primary competition for the prize. Ms Lawrence is a fine actress, but saddled with this one-note role, she can do little more than hammer the clichés home. She's not allowed a trace of genuine humanity, and while this may make it easier to find fault and have fun at her expense, it only adds to the movie's air of unreality.

Though she cannot hide the obviousness of her role and the film in general, Ms Turner consistently rises above things by letting us see the struggle going on below her surface. The director and her writers give the character enough moments of thoughtfulness and pondering (or perhaps the actress simply grabbed them) that we see her wrestling hard with what is going on -- and accepting, with difficulty, the changes that arrive bit by bit.

It is good to see all these actors at work and doing their best, but despite this, by the finale, you are really wishing the film could have been better. The Perfect Family opens this Friday, May 4, in New York City at the AMC Empire 25, and in the Los Angeles area on Friday, May 11, at the Laemmle's Monica 4-plex, Pasadena Playhouse 7 and Encino Town Center 5, and at
AMC's Burbank Town Center 8.  I am told that you can also view it -- starting this Friday, May 4th -- via VOD.  Check your local TV-reception provider for details.