John Sayles has a long history in independent American cinema, with his name being well known to the art house crowd even if his films arent. Which sucks, because hes made some really interesting, groundbreaking work: like the politically-charged Brother From Another Planet, where an alien takes the form of a black man in seventies Harlem. Which, really, isnt the best way to stay safe on Planet Earth. The whole thing is a not-particularly-subtle allegory, with The Brother (played by Joe Morton) arriving in Ellis Island, his psychic powers picking up the memories of all the immigrants who arrived in New York there in the past; he, too, is fleeing a homeland he desperately needed to escape. The Brother was a slave on an alien planet, and the whole film is a cat-and-mouse chase where heres pursued by a couple of Men In Black - extraterrestrial slave owners who want him back. Its a little long, but it makes some serious and necessary points whilst also finding plenty of room for humour, a great lead performance, and beautiful shots.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
