Movies
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Interesting (and long) article on the original Blade Runner.
https://cinephiliabeyond.org/blade-runner-a-game-changing-science-fiction-classic/
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I really liked Arrival and Sicario, which were the director Denis Villeneuve's last two films, so I'm reasonably hopeful.
My concern is that it's going to be a retread of the first film. Unless it says something new, it doesn't seem necessary. The original doesn't feel as though it needs a sequel.
Still, I will go to see it, and am looking forward to it.
I liked Arrival and Sicario as well, so I think the new Blade Runner is in good hands with Denis Villeneuve.
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I went to see Alien: Covenant last week. It's nothing like this.
The film feels like a mashup of the original Alien series and Prometheus. I enjoyed it, but the basic plot of people arriving at a distant planet, then getting dismembered by Xenomorphs feels played out.
Ridley Scott has spoken of doing two more films, and the next is already written. The end of Alien: Covenant sets up what could be an interesting sequel, but I'm not going to spoil things here.
Michael Fassbender's David is still the most interesting character, though he does look very like Severus Snape when he shows up. @trail and arrow showed me this a while back, which stops me from taking either seriously as a result.
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How scary are those Japanese Marines appearing out of the mist in the creek?
Re-visited THE THIN RED LINE yesterday. It's af if the actors had a generic warmovie in mind, and the director an artsy, anti-war flick…
It's a great film though, especially if you like Nolte grunting, shouting and spitting (who doesn't?)...
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Watched Dr. Strange last night. Quirky for a Marvel movie and a pretty enjoyable way to pass two hours.
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Wonder Woman is magnificent, Gal Gadot is perhaps the most perfectly cast super hero ever on screen (apart from Christopher Reeve).
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Been seeing a lot of good things about it. Nice that DC might finally be figuring out how to do a decent superhero movie. I'll probably check it out next week, since the family abandoned me.
Oh, and I totally agree with you about the required citywide annihilation, neph.
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After reading all the spoilers for Alien: Covenant I now have no motivation to watch this. think i'll wait for my local library to get a copy in
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After reading all the spoilers for Alien: Covenant I now have no motivation to watch this. think i'll wait for my local library to get a copy in
If you're a fan of the series, I think you should definitely make a point to watch it. I was a little disappointed, but I just can't get past the first two ever made….
I'm such a fan of practical effects, it's just hard for me to get into CGI (especially in the Alien series).
While being slightly disappointed with it, there were some good things in it. Nostalgia being a big one. This can go unnoticed for newer viewers though. I'll watch it more and probably like it more with each viewing (exactly how Prometheus went with me).
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After reading all the spoilers for Alien: Covenant I now have no motivation to watch this. think i'll wait for my local library to get a copy in
If you're a fan of the series, I think you should definitely make a point to watch it. I was a little disappointed, but I just can't get past the first two ever made….
I'm such a fan of practical effects, it's just hard for me to get into CGI (especially in the Alien series).
While being slightly disappointed with it, there were some good things in it. Nostalgia being a big one. This can go unnoticed for newer viewers though. I'll watch it more and probably like it more with each viewing (exactly how Prometheus went with me).
oh i'll watch it eventually, I just can't be bothered to pay to watch it. I'm sure there will be elements that i'll like but now that I know what happens there's a part of me that can't help but feel irritated with how Ridley fleshed out the details of the story.
I, too, prefer practical fx so it seems weird that Ridley would contruct elaborate set pieces but then choose to use cgi for a lot of the creature fx. It simply doesn't have the same feel as Alien/Aliens. CGI creatures simply are not scary. If you've watched Carpenter's The Thing and then compare that with that horrible Thing prequel you'll know what i'm talking about. Carpenter's practical fx scared the crap out of you, whereas, the crappy cgi fx of the prequel ruined everything. Same goes for the original Alien films. Granted, they didn't have cgi technology back then but that's irrelevant. In the end, I care more about the story and the characters and from what i've read, Covenant doesn't off much of either. I've read that Tennesee and David/Walter were the best things about the movie but that's about it.
I still think Blomkamp's film, had it gone through, would've been much better. Based on the concept art he threw out there it almost seemed like his version would've been kinda like a Jurassic World set in space. Except his would've involved Weyland-Yutani trying to bioengineer an alien queen that escapes and kills everyone. Plus, Ridley's not getting any younger so the idea that he has a few more Alien films up his sleeve doesn't bode well, unless he starts churning them out back to back for the next 5 yrs
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After reading all the spoilers for Alien: Covenant I now have no motivation to watch this. think i'll wait for my local library to get a copy in
If you're a fan of the series, I think you should definitely make a point to watch it. I was a little disappointed, but I just can't get past the first two ever made….
I'm such a fan of practical effects, it's just hard for me to get into CGI (especially in the Alien series).
While being slightly disappointed with it, there were some good things in it. Nostalgia being a big one. This can go unnoticed for newer viewers though. I'll watch it more and probably like it more with each viewing (exactly how Prometheus went with me).
oh i'll watch it eventually, I just can't be bothered to pay to watch it. I'm sure there will be elements that i'll like but now that I know what happens there's a part of me that can't help but feel irritated with how Ridley fleshed out the details of the story.
I, too, prefer practical fx so it seems weird that Ridley would contruct elaborate set pieces but then choose to use cgi for a lot of the creature fx. It simply doesn't have the same feel as Alien/Aliens. CGI creatures simply are not scary. If you've watched Carpenter's The Thing and then compare that with that horrible Thing prequel you'll know what i'm talking about. Carpenter's practical fx scared the crap out of you, whereas, the crappy cgi fx of the prequel ruined everything. Same goes for the original Alien films. Granted, they didn't have cgi technology back then but that's irrelevant. In the end, I care more about the story and the characters and from what i've read, Covenant doesn't off much of either. I've read that Tennesee and David/Walter were the best things about the movie but that's about it.
I still think Blomkamp's film, had it gone through, would've been much better. Based on the concept art he threw out there it almost seemed like his version would've been kinda like a Jurassic World set in space. Except his would've involved Weyland-Yutani trying to bioengineer an alien queen that escapes and kills everyone. Plus, Ridley's not getting any younger so the idea that he has a few more Alien films up his sleeve doesn't bode well, unless he starts churning them out back to back for the next 5 yrs
The Thing is a great movie. Always great hearing people say "that looked really good for being such an old movie". Well, they made it, it's not animation…
I firmly believe that's why people always remember those movies (Predator, Alien/Aliens).
Granted I can see how having people in suits or built creatures could limit what you want to do as a film maker, so I can see why practical effects are not used so often now.
I am not a huge fan of where he took the story. Hopefully xenomorphs will never be popping out of hay bails. That's the day it will be done for me.
You just may like it though. It's better than Alien Resurrection and the AvP's at least.
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my understanding is that practical fx aren't as economical as cgi, which is why there's a lot of reliance on it these days.
I saw the first AvP film but not the second. I actually didn't mind Alien Resurrection, with the exception of the hybrid baby. Some of the cgi alien bits sucked but Jean-Pierre Jenet used a lot of practical fx and it was cool to see the alien queen again. I liked the dark tone of the film and the characters. The ending also wasn't that great but I think Resurrection had more strengths as far as originality goes. Alien 3 was a mess though
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Ridley Scott thought that the titular alien was cooked, which is why it didn't turn up in Prometheus. He changed his mind, but I think that his initial intuition is more likely to be correct.
Alien: Covenant doesn't feel entirely dissimilar to the other films in the franchise: Humans arrive on a distant planet, get eaten by alien monsters, before the survivors manage to kill them off. Generally the last xeno is pitched out of an airlock…
I think that the franchise needs to change direction. There were some unused Prometheus 2 concepts that showed mutated dogs and Engineers. Going full David Cronenberg style body horror would be a more interesting angle.
The problem with the Blomkamp film is that it could be more of the same. The artwork looked like a fan film. If the proposed sequel to Covenant follows on directly from that film, we could see variants of the above concepts.
The other thing that I'd like to see would be a major twist to the franchise. For example, what if the Weyland-Yutani Corporation isn't looking to acquire the alien as a bioweapon, but rather as wanting to learn how to exterminate it? If they went from evil to more altruistic, it'd change the existing films.
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The other thing that I'd like to see would be a major twist to the franchise. For example, what if the Weyland-Yutani Corporation isn't looking to acquire the alien as a bioweapon, but rather as wanting to learn how to exterminate it? If they went from evil to more altruistic, it'd change the existing films.
Ridley would have to further retcon the franchise and that would definitely disrupt the continuity. In Alien, the crew of the Nostromo were considered expendable by Weyland-Yutani
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One to watch for- Get Out. It would be interesting to see what foreign that is outside US takes are on this film
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Watched 'Jawbone' a couple of days ago. Dark and gritty British movie, starring Ray Winston. Good movie with a nice score too.
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One to watch for- Get Out. It would be interesting to see what foreign that is outside US takes are on this film
It's brilliant. It doesn't translate that badly to British society as the liberal British middle class share a lot of the double standards with regards to race as the family in the film do.
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Coming Soon - A Japanese Rock & Roll ghost story - what's not to like!
