Larry Buchanan

Inspired by a 2007 children's book by "Bloom County" creator Berkeley Breathed, "Mars Needs Moms" — the title is a clever nod to an infamous 1966 sci-fi film, "Mars Needs Women" — finds a young boy, Milo, hitching a ride on a Martian rocket after his mom (Cusack) is abducted by aliens who use a sort of brain zapper to suck out the personality of human mothers so the moms' "discipline" instinct can be transplanted into the Martian nannybots.