It was doomed, in a way. Having weathered the Grand Guignol misfire of 1997's Alien Resurrection, and ran the gauntlet of the insipid (non-canon) Alien vs Predator movies of the mid-2000s, xenomorph fans needed something to believe in. Word that the Godfather of Alien himself - Ridley Scott - was returning to the series set … Continue reading What About… Prometheus
Today I saw Ridley Scott's Alien on the big screen for the first time. I've seen it countless times before, but this was the first as it's supposed to be seen, making the screening a small personal landmark for me. It's one of my all time favourite films. That it was the theatrical cut pleased me … Continue reading Minutiae: The Curled Collars of Alien
Director: Alex Garland Stars: Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson Alex Garland's second (credited) feature as director is the first true victim of what I'm coming to think of as The Netflix Problem. Produced by Paramount, who are increasingly showing their cowardice toward new and original concepts, the film has been granted a scant … Continue reading Review: Annihilation
Director: Amat Escalante Stars: Ruth Ramos, Simone Bucio, Jesús Meza The strange mysteries and preoccupations of our biology as human beings are investigated through this striking familial drama from Mexican director Amat Escalante; a film which has gained a level of notoriety for how this is achieved by integrating an unusual and perverse alien influence … Continue reading Review: The Untamed
Director: Ridley Scott Stars: Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, Billy Crudup Its time for Ridley Scott to stop. The man's earned it. Now on the cusp of his 80th birthday, the acclaimed director has shown an admirable and inexhaustible work ethic, but there also comes a time when it's probably best to step away. At least, from the things … Continue reading Review: Alien Covenant
Director: Daniel Espinosa Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson If there's an unnecessary element of modern pop cinema that has started to get my goat, it's the post-credits sting. Marvel movies use these most often, demanding that an already bum-numbed audience shuffle uncomfortably for anything up to a further ten minutes as every single … Continue reading Review: Life
Let us continue then. Compiling this list hammered home for me the diverse nature of the beast at hand. Horror has so many subcategories. Vampire pictures. Zombie pictures. Portmanteau films. Found footage. And horror arrives at different tempos. There are the zany comedies. The restrained chillers. The gonzo gorefests. The brutally nihilistic. And, as in … Continue reading List: 50 Greatest Horror Films (25-1)
First of all may I start by saying how I love both of these franchises as separate entities, especially the Alien franchise. I've said it before, I'll say it again; it's my Star Wars. I love the aesthetics, from HR Giger's perverse xenomorph designs to the workman like industrial feel of this vision of space travel forefronted … Continue reading Pretty Vacancy: Is AVP: Requiem The Worst Film Of All Time?
Day Five. The top 20. My desert island films. I could watch pretty much any of these films any time. The reasons for their appeal vary; I'll get into that a little bit. But these are the ones that, for whatever reason, stir my spaghetti. Okay, enough prerequisite preamble. Let's just do this! 20. The … Continue reading List: My 301 Favourite Movies (20-1)
Year: 1979 Director: Ridley Scott Stars: Sigourney Weaver (Ripley), Tom Skerritt (Dallas), Ian Holm (Ash), John Hurt (Kane), Yaphet Kotto (Parker), Veronica Cartwright (Lambert), Harry Dean Stanton (Brett). Genre: Science Fiction / Horror I recently had the pleasure of introducing a couple that I know to the film Alien. For whatever ridiculous reason, they'd never … Continue reading Why I Love… #46: Alien
***originally written 2 June 2012*** ***THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. BIG ONES*** Still here? Okay. Hype. Hype and expectation can be funny things in the film industry. They can make or break a film. Creating them is the master craft of the marketing department. Product placement. Trailers. Tie-in promotions. Journo exclusives. And in the modern world, … Continue reading Review: Prometheus
