Sputnik Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

When “Sputnik” was released last summer, the film earned solid reviews but many wrote it off as just “‘Alien’ in Russia.” Sure, the Russian sci-fi film about an alien that may or may not have taken over the body of a cosmonaut that has returned to Earth after a mission has some “Alien”-esque ideas, but dismissing it as a sort of Ridley Scott rip off is reductive and wrong.

Boldly going where no one has gone before, the crew of the spacecraft in “Sputnik” is bound for new terrain. Surprise! Things don’t go as planned.

Space exploration is terrifying. Not just because, in real life, we’ve seen terrible tragedies and accidents happen as humans attempt to explore what lies beyond our world.

We’ve somehow made it to the end of the summer without the release of any blockbusters or tentpole films in theaters and, all things considered, it was the right decision. Even still, there have been plenty of great films to enjoy or discover regardless of theatrical releases being put on hold, and August offers up the same level of variety through streaming services, virtual theaters, and on-demand offerings.

Monsters of the past never truly go away. The new film, “Sputnik,” explores its own scenarios surrounding human nature and the creatures we try to keep at bay.