Daniel Myrick knows a thing or two about portraying a fictional story as something real. As one half of the duo that made 1999’s “The Blair Witch Project” and fundamentally altered the course of horror cinema, he has some experience with presenting fiction as reality.

His new movie “Skyman” isn’t quite the same thing – styled as a full-on faux documentary rather than found footage – but it does capture some of the same energy. It’s a look at a man whose life has been spent chasing an obsession, springing from an encounter with an alien that took place in his childhood. The time since has been spent quietly trying to make sense of that moment, even as most people around him express wary skepticism. It’s about the ideas that take hold of us and simply refuse to let go. It’s about what happens when the world views as false something you absolutely know to be true.

And with a cast of relative unknowns and a documentarian’s stylings, “Skyman” reads as the real thing (or close enough to allow us to embrace the conceit anyway).

Are we alone in the universe?

Simple math would seem to indicate that we are not; what are the odds that Earth is alone among an infinite number of planets in producing intelligent life? And yet, we have yet to encounter these other intelligences in any verifiable way.

So … where is everyone?

That’s part of the question being tackled by Keith Cooper’s new book “The Contact Paradox: Challenging our Assumptions in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence” (Bloomsbury Sigma, $28). It’s a look at the decades-long history of SETI – the Search for Extraterrestrial Life – and a deep dive into some of the presuppositions that we as humans have placed on that search. Through conversations with leading experts and long digressions into not just hard science, but fields such as sociology, anthropology and psychology, Cooper considers what it means to want to talk to the stars – and what it might mean were they ever to talk back.

As Hollywood studios continue to clamor for viable franchises to turn into nine-figure blockbusters, there are going to be … let’s call them miscalculations. For every successful series that breeds summer hits, a half-dozen very expensive failures will land on screens with a thud before quietly (and quickly) disappearing.

Unfortunately, the latest effort in that vein “Men in Black: International” – the fourth movie in the “MIB” series and the first without stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones – falls into the latter category; the new film has its moments but is largely lacking the spirit of its predecessors.

It’s not an outright failure (well, creatively speaking – the initial box office estimates do not speak well of its commercial viability), but director F. Gary Gray never quite figures out how best to utilize the clear and present chemistry of his two leads; Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson are dynamite together – the MCU has proven that a couple of times – but while their dynamics are a major highlight, the relationship isn’t enough to elevate the film beyond its myriad narrative shortcomings.

BANGOR – This is a city built on secrets.

We’re not talking about the typical everyday mundane secrets, the little things that you’ll find in any city. No, we’re talking about the deep-down secrets. The weird secrets. Secrets like ancient crowns with mysterious social powers or a cohort of prominent figures who are probably robots.

Those secrets.

We here at The Maine Edge have never been ones for what you’d call “real journalism” – that’s never really been our beat. As a rule, we like to stay in our lane as far as that goes. But longtime readers know that every once in a while, we’re swept up into the whirlwind of a story that won’t let us go until we reach its (almost-certainly strange) ending.

This is one such story.

PTC production offers weird, wild trip to the Florida swamps

BANGOR We are not alone in the universe at least, not according to some eccentrics living in the swamps of Florida.

That's part of the story behind 'The Sugar Bean Sisters,' a play by Nathan Sanders. Penobscot Theatre Company is presenting their production of the show a Maine premiere through Feb. 17 at the Bangor Opera House.

It's the tale of the Nettles sisters, two spinsters living out their days in their deceased father's shack in the town of Sugar Bean, Florida. There's Willie May (Irene Dennis), a born-again Mormon who supports their little family by way of her 'grapefruit fortune,' a settlement for an injury she received while working at a citrus plant. And then there's Faye Clementine (A.J. Mooney), a woman whose main claim to fame is an appearance on the cover of 'The Weekly World News' after a UFO sighting 20 years ago.

Ridley Scott prequel lives up to the hype

Ridley Scott is a master of creating atmosphere. His films always have a lush visual aesthetic that elevates them. He's also got some wonderful horror sensibilities; the first 'Alien' mined epic scares with cardboard cutouts and lighting tricks. His bromance with Russell Crowe has gotten to be a bit much as of late, so it was probably time for Ridley get some alone time.

So we get 'Prometheus.' Scott is returning to the near-future universe of 'Alien' only this time with a multimillion studio budget. Would the money enhance what Scott already brings to the table? Or would he get bogged down by the budget's temptations and expectations?

Turns out it's the former.

Sci-fi action film flawed and formulaic

Sometimes when we go to the movies, we're looking for complex stories about the sorts of trials and tribulations we encounter in real life. They're dramatized of course, but at their core, these are stories that could have happened to us in some way, shape or form.

And sometimes, we just want to see some stuff blow up. Guess which category 'Battleship' falls under? Surprise the movie based on a board game isn't overly invested in character development!

The film is centered around Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch, 'John Carter'), a ne'er-do-well troublemaker whose latest scrape with the law finally pushes his brother Stone (Alexander Skarsgard, TV's 'True Blood') to demand that Alex join the Navy. Flash forward a few years and Alex is progressing through the ranks, though he's never quite shed his inability to be bound by The Man's rules. He's also dating the lovely Samantha (Brooklyn Decker, 'What to Expect When You're Expecting'), a smart, tough woman who just happens to be the daughter of Alex's superior officer Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson, 'The Grey'). Because that's just how things work in movies like this.

What intrigued me from the word go about 'Cowboys and Aliens' was the simple honesty of the name. It's a movie about cowboys and aliens no need to dress it up in any way. That basic juxtaposition is all that is needed to attract a sizable audience.

It got me.

'Cowboys and Aliens' begins with a mysterious man (Daniel Craig, 'Quantum of Solace') waking up in the middle of nowhere. He has no memory of who he is or where he came from; just a photograph and a strange metal band on his wrist. He makes his way to the nearby town of Absolution, a tiny town ruled by local cattleman Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford, 'Morning Glory'). The man is arrested and about to be delivered into federal custody when surprise! aliens show up and start blowing stuff up and abducting the heck out of everyone.

Honestly? That's about everything you need to know.

The best part about the whole thing is the fact that, to my surprise, the movie was actually pretty good. You know, no award winner, but just a solid popcorn-muncher of a summer blockbuster.

Most of the credit for that has to go to Craig and Ford. The two of them have more than enough charisma to carry the film through its brisk two hours. Thankfully, the bulk of the action is handled by Craig watching Harrison Ford geriatrically struggle through a stunt sequence would be too heartbreaking for words. Still, the two of them are unmistakably movie stars, to the film's great benefit.

That's not to say that they do it all alone. Sam Rockwell ('Iron Man 2') has a nice turn as Doc, the town's doctor/saloonkeeper, for instance. The entire supporting cast is strong, featuring a veritable who's who of 'that guy's, those actors that you always recognize and usually like, but whose names you never remember. The one weak link felt like Olivia Wilde, whose performance wasn't terrible per se, but rather two-dimensional. There was a flatness to her that stood out.

Director Jon Favreau has officially established his big-budget blockbuster bona fides by now, after helming the two 'Iron Man' films before this one. 'Cowboys and Aliens' works because it plays everything honestly. This isn't some sort of kitschy wink at the audience; the film takes itself seriously. That genuineness of intent is what makes the whole thing work.

And it does work. The effects are prevalent without being distracting. The action sequences are exciting and well-made, although there's a tendency toward quick cuts that can make things feel a little too chaotic and tough to follow. Again, the performances are good. And it's a surprisingly engaging story a bit thin perhaps, but still interesting enough to keep me wanting to know what would happen next.

'Cowboys and Aliens' delivers what it promises cowboys and aliens. And really, what more can you ask for from your summertime movies?

[3 out of 5]