COVID-19: The Best Extraterrestrial Intelligence Films

From Worldometer,  COVID-19 new deaths:

           DAY USA   WORLD   Brazil      India   South Africa

June      9     1093    4732        1185      246         82

July       5       251    3572          535       421       173

             7       993    5504        1312       479       192

           12       380    4118          659       500       108

           15     1001    5760        1261       614       107

           19       412    4606          715       675         85

           22     1205    7128        1293     1120        572

           26       450    4307         556       715        114
Aug      1    1462     6429       1191       765        193
            3       467     4430         514       514        213

            5     1362     6292       1394       849        345

          10       534     4813         593     1013        198
          12     1504     6556       1242       835        130
          16       522     4525         582       961        162
          18     1358     6312        1365    1089        282
          21     1170     6062        1031      953        225
          22       974     5349          823      918        144
          23       430     4247          495      846          72

          24       510     4356          679      854        100

          25     1290     5856        1215    1066        149

          26     1289     6341        1090    1017        194

Summary:  Certainly not getting better.

Hawaii is in minor turmoil with a lot more COVID-19 cases, even though all we did was open up the economy.  From best in the nation to now only #45 in cases/capita, although we still have the fewest deaths/capita.  So today, Honolulu is back to essentially another lockdown, for two weeks.  With much of the nation, we are, for the first time, mass testing, essentially for free.  Except that the White House apparently again influenced the CDC to backtrack on testing.  The nation is again confused, again caused by that idiot who runs the country, considering this necessary step to restore the economy as an impediment to his re-election.  Plus, it could also be that there are not enough test kits to go around because of his attitude.  The matter of asymptomatic cases is further confounding any attempt to control this virus.  So the USA rolls along with continuing unnecessary deaths.

Today is day 3 of my alien series, ending with the best SETI films.  I've been fascinated with extraterrestrial intelligence all my life.  When young, it was flying saucers, for there was a period when this notion actually had some credibility.

Later on, especially after spending some time at the NASA Ames Research Center on a Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project, I learned that these scientists were serious, and distanced themselves from the view the general public had on aliens from saucers.  I of course fell in line and became totally skeptical of what I had previously believed.

But movies are different.  You can imagine all you want.  Here is a list of the best 10 extraterrestial  intelligence films from Metacritic (but you got to wonder why those Star Wars productions were not included):

• #1     Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, Rotten Tomatoes 94/87):  good movie, but I don't quite think alien abductions has any credibility.  Looks to me that the film was misnamed, for it should have been Fifth Kind.  For those new to this, here are the kinds of encounters:
• First Kind:  sighting
• Second Kind:  some effect experienced
• Third Kind:  interaction with alien
• Fourth Kind:  human abduction
• Fifth Kind:  direct communication
• Sixth Kind:  death caused by a UFO
• Seventh Kind:  creation of a human/alien hybrid

• #2  E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982, RT 98/72):  too whimsical for me.
• #3  Aliens (1986, RT 97/94):  interesting that the sequel was rated higher.
• #4  Alien (1979, RT 98/94):  good original.
• #5  Avatar (2009, RT 82/82):  entertaining but hardly believable.
• #6  A Quiet Place (2018, RT 96/83):  walked out, too boring.
• #6  Arrival (2016, RT 94/82):  enjoyed this one.

• #6  Star Trek Beyond (2016, RT 86/80)  you're kidding me.  Could never identify with this effort.
• Rotten Tomatoes has reviewed 20 different Star Trek films and TV series.
• The original in 1979 only got a 43% rating.
• Star Trek V - The Final Frontier in 1989 got 21%.
• Star Trek in 2009 received 94% as the highest.
• #9  The World's End (2013, RT 89/71):  Liked this one.  Whimsical, goofy, but entertaining.
• #9  District 9 (2009, RT 90/82):  somewhat realistic if this ever happened.

Esquire had their top ten, and included Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978, RT 98/85--1978, RT 93/81), The Thing (I remember Phil Harris' The Thing from 1950, but, unrelated, the films were released in 1982, RT 84/92, and 2011, RT 35/42), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951, RT 95/87, and 2008, RT 21/27),  Predator (1987, RT 81/87, but the 2018 version, The Predator only got 32/33), Edge of Tomorrow (2014, RT 91/90), Signs (2002, RT 74/67) and War of the Worlds (1953, RT 88/71, 2005, RT 75/42), plus some of the above.  Ranker did the same, had a similar list and added the Fifth Element (1997, RT 70/86).  TimeOut came out with their 100 best sci-fi movies.

About Star Wars, there were twelve of them, and Rotten Tomatoes gave the first, A New Hope, in 1976, 92/96 ratings.  That was 36 years ago! The second, The Empire Strikes Back, got 94/97.  The Clone Wars, which was animated, in 2008, received 18%.  However the animated series, The Clone Wars, continued on for 7 seasons, receiving an average score of 93/92, with seasons 3, 5, 6, and 7 at 100%.  The final one in 2019, The Rise of Skywalker, 51%.  However, the audience gave it 86%.

But those above films glorify the subject and are largely unbelievable.  I recently watched two on Netflix that seemed real:

• Cosmos, (2019, RT ?/69)which I reviewed here.  Somewhat simple, but, for me, worthwhile.
• The Vast of Night (2020, RT 92/64).  Likewise, this was pleasantly interesting.

Even Forbes chimed in with The World's 8 Best Places to Hunt for Extraterrestrials and Search for UFO's.

Hurricane Laura came and went with swift suddenness.  Making landfall over Cameron Parish at 150 MPH just south of Lake Charles.  So far, four dead and all kinds of local problems.  It was 15 years ago this month that Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed New Orleans, killing 1200 and causing $125 million damages.  And it was only three years ago in August that Hurricane Harvey hovered over Houston, killing 107 and also resulting in $125 million of destruction.  

As Laura eased between these two cities, even though she was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in Louisiana since the mid 1850's, the damage should be much less.  I lived in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for almost four years and never experienced a hurricane.

My first water lily blossom of the season:

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