#GAfilm Review: "The 5th Wave" (**)

Editor's note: I'm happy to introduce a new contributor! Jamie Traner's perspective on films is every bit as unique as she is. I know readers will enjoy her articles, and what a better way to start than with a #GAfilm! -CM

Chloe Grace Moretz stars in "The 5th Wave."

Released last weekend, "The 5th Wave" stars Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson and Liev Schreiber. Filmed in Georgia, including some lovely scenery from the Macon area, "The 5th Wave" is based on the novel of the same name by Rick Yancey. The story revolves around a post-apocalyptic world run by alien-type beings known as 'Others.' The Earth has been attacked in the titled ‘waves’—1. a signal sent to short all electronics, 2. earthquakes and global tidal waves, 3. Avian flu, 4. the 'Others' inhabit human hosts and 5. an impending, unknown plan to eliminate the remaining humans.

#GAfilm Floods January Box Office

Ice Cube and Kevin Hart return to star in the Georgia-lensed "Ride Along 2."

#GAfilm has flooded the January box office. Two Georgia productions, "Dirty Grandpa" and "The Fifth Wave" made their debut this past weekend, opening in the fourth and sixth positions respectively. They join Atlanta-filmed "Ride Along 2,” which dropped to third place behind "The Revenant" and the record-breaking "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" after its #1 debut the weekend prior.

From downtown Atlanta to Tybee Island, filming for these three #GAfilm productions have taken place all throughout our Camera Ready state. Find out their specific filming locations below and stay tuned to the end for a list of upcoming #GAfilm releases!

Review: "Laggies" (**½)

Chloe Grace Moretz and Keira Knightley star in "Laggies"

Lynn Shelton has created one of my most favorite movies of all time. Now I haven’t seen all the movies in the history of all time, so that first statement isn’t entirely accurate, but of all the movies I have seen, Lynn Shelton has captured me. But not with “Laggies,” her most recent directorial venture, but with “Your Sister’s Sister.”

I saw “Your Sister’s Sister” three years go, and this is the only time I’ve done this, but once the credits rolled, I immediately played the movie again in its entirety (I was watching it OnDemand). This isn’t the best movie ever made, it’s not even among the best, but this movie, it reached inside my chest, worked around my breastbone, and squeezed my heart until I felt nearly ready to burst. I loved its honesty, its sincerity, its small, freehanded charm. Everything about it, to me, is gorgeous. And since watching “Your Sister’s Sister,” I’ve followed Lynn Shelton’s career with a magnifying glass and a fine-tooth comb. I have a Google Alert set for her name. So when “Laggies” headlines started filling my inbox, as you can imagine, my excitement started to boil.