3022 (2019) – Low-key but intriguing space station drama. Halfway through their ten-year posting to a refueling satellite halfway to Europa, just when they realize that their mental health may not be up to the rest of their term, the four-person crew is suddenly cut off from all Earth communication — and the long-range scanner shows nothing but debris where the Earth should be.
It takes forever to understand what the title refers to (no, it’s not the year — that’s 2189), and there’s some nonlinear storytelling that’s more confusing than it needs to be, but it’s an engaging feature that balances personal drama with extinction-level events.
The Frankenstein Syndrome (aka The Prometheus Project) (2010) – Tiffany Shepis started out as a B-movie scream queen, but she was never content to be just a B-movie scream queen. This movie, in which she stars and is one of the co-producers, is a sign of that. Shepis plays a biochemical engineer who has been recruited into a not-entirely-legal biotech project by a reclusive millionaire who wants to discover what he can about regenerating damaged tissue and circumventing death. With their work almost ready for a human trial, the perfect guinea pig drops into their lap: Their own security guard who tried to blackmail the illegal project and got a bullet through the head in response. Can their project regenerate his lost gray matter and sustain his life?
It’s a nifty little sideways take on Frankenstein, marred only by a few cutesy touches (the whole movie is told by Shepis in flashback as she’s interviewed by FBI agents “Godwin” and “Wollstonecraft,” le sigh).
The Warrant (2020) – Civil War veteran turned local sheriff John Breaker is tapped by his son, Civil War veteran turned U.S, Marshal, to help track down “the Saint” (Casper Van Dien), Civil War veteran turned post-war vigilante who now blows up and kills any Union reconstruction efforts. It’s nicely shot and well acted, even though hindsight shows the plot to have been pretty thin. As usual, though, Van Dien works very well as a charismatic but slightly insane guy.
Abandoned movies:
Diary of the Dead (2007) – I don’t care if it is Romero; it’s yet another feature about the beginnings of the zombie apocalypse shot in cinema verite style. The world doesn’t need more of those.
Don’t Speak (2020) – How many slow setpieces in a row does a movie need before getting to the actual story?
First Signal (2021) – If your story starts with a bunch of expository dialogue, that’s bad. If it’s delivered by a bunch of bad actors, that’s much worse.
Pale Blue Moon (2002) – One good actor, playing a homeless insane man who insists the aliens are coming, surrounded by a bunch of bargain-basement players who can’t keep up.
While recovering from a surgery a month ago, I watched a number of space station films, including LOVE, LIFE and CLOVERFIELD PARADOX. They have similar premises to this 3022 you saw, although take it in different directions.