What was the last film you watched?

[woollypigs]

Hmm I enjoyed it, yes a bit slow, not as action packed as Aliens, a bit like Alien as in slow build up. Brilliant escapism for an afternoon/evening. No massive shocks but some great efx's and fight/battle scenes. That monster is just the best thing ever, thanks Hans, you have inspired millions and scared shit less too, you are missed. And I do like the way Mr Scott tells a story with moving pictures.

Yes no patch on Alien and Aliens for sure, but you can't redo brilliance. I do think Alien series suffers from the same thing as the Space Soap Opera. When we saw it the first time about <cough>30+<cough - yes we are that old> years ago it blew our cotton socks off big time. And I'm sure that the wee nippers who saw the new ones for the first time without having see the originals would think that it was/is awesomesauce! Where 30 years of rose tinted glasses made us go a bit meh!

Yes I agree with you WW, that plot twist if you could call it a plot twist could be seen a few million light years away.

[Kim]

You'd think they'd learn to stop making Alien films by now, seeing as it worked so well the last few times.

[woollypigs]

You'd think they'd learn to stop making Alien films by now, seeing as it worked so well the last few times.

http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Alien#tab=summary

Well that is why they keep making it, a nice little earner.

[Pickled Onion]

Turbo Kid

A post-apocolyptic world in a future 1997 where the primary mode of transport is bicycles.

Brilliant, if a bit silly, and rather gory.

[Ruthie]

Repo Man.

A post-apocalyptic pile of old twaddle with that Jude Law.  Decent soundtrack.  Would not watch again.

[red marley]

Not a patch on the classic Alex Cox 1984 film of the same name. Has one of my all-time favourite opening title sequences:

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/repo-man

The first scene's not bad either:

https://youtu.be/HZjZbJuhPAo

[Mr Larrington]

Not a patch on the classic Alex Cox 1984 film of the same name. Has one of my all-time favourite opening title sequences:

http://www.artofthetitle.com/title/repo-man

The first scene's not bad either:

https://youtu.be/HZjZbJuhPAo

AND it has Harry Dean Stanton in it.

[Ruthie]

Just watched that first scene.  It's like, 'When CHiPs goes bad!'   

[Tim Hall]

Their Finest.

Bill Nighy giving it the full Bill Nighy.

I liked it.

[ian]

Alien: Covenant.

I did and survived. It wasn't nearly as bad Prometheus. To be honest, it was OK as a bog-standard space schlocker. As said, it wasn't Alien/Aliens and maybe there is a hint of nostalgia there, but those are still brilliant movies. The less said about the other two Alien movies the better.

(click to show/hide)

They basically dumped all the Prometheus baggage in one big 'bang' (or CGI sequence, very impressive), so I assume all the BS in that movie was for no purpose whatsoever and we've now moved on to David being the bad robot. It's a shame they've put the superb monsters on the back seat for some pseudish rumination on the nature of creation. Space, you'll be reassured to know, is stlll very much populated by human idiots who do the stupidest things just because the plot dictates. Hollywood still really needs to what a neutrino is. The cast, well, there's no Ripley. They die and you don't care because they're disposable from the outset. I think that's where the first two movies succeed, they took the time to build characters you wanted to live even though you knew they probably wouldn't.

Anyway, you get the traditional facehugger eggs and aliens in the end. Though the 'perfect organism' wasn't as cool as the one before which you just had to breathe in 20 minutes later popped messily out of your spine. Some excellent gore, btw. I think they were more perfect than having to snog something with tentacles. Oh and they should have dumped the little dancing alien. Really.

[Wascally Weasel]

Alien: Covenant.

I did and survived. It wasn't nearly as bad Prometheus. To be honest, it was OK as a bog-standard space schlocker. As said, it wasn't Alien/Aliens and maybe there is a hint of nostalgia there, but those are still brilliant movies. The less said about the other two Alien movies the better.

(click to show/hide)

They basically dumped all the Prometheus baggage in one big 'bang' (or CGI sequence, very impressive), so I assume all the BS in that movie was for no purpose whatsoever and we've now moved on to David being the bad robot. It's a shame they've put the superb monsters on the back seat for some pseudish rumination on the nature of creation. Space, you'll be reassured to know, is stlll very much populated by human idiots who do the stupidest things just because the plot dictates. Hollywood still really needs to what a neutrino is. The cast, well, there's no Ripley. They die and you don't care because they're disposable from the outset. I think that's where the first two movies succeed, they took the time to build characters you wanted to live even though you knew they probably wouldn't.

Anyway, you get the traditional facehugger eggs and aliens in the end. Though the 'perfect organism' wasn't as cool as the one before which you just had to breathe in 20 minutes later popped messily out of your spine. Some excellent gore, btw. I think they were more perfect than having to snog something with tentacles. Oh and they should have dumped the little dancing alien. Really.

I suppose there's some interesting commentary on Ridley's thought processes going own - ideas around the creator and search for truth but it's a bit indulgent (mainly because I don't think it works that well).

Motherhood as a concept ran through the first films whereas his own thoughts on religion and as a creator run through the more recent ones.

[ian]

It's all a bit clumsy and delivered with a somewhat laborious exposition. I the whole creation thing but tbh, it was better as a subplot. I want monsters, mazes of corridors, flashing lights, steam, and voice telling me that I have very little time to reach a minimum safe distance.

[citoyen]

(click to show/hide)

It's a shame they've put the superb monsters on the back seat for some pseudish rumination on the nature of creation.

(click to show/hide)

Mark Kermode made a good point in his review on Friday that one of the things that made the original Alien so great was that the scenes where they're sitting around talking, the stuff they're discussing is mundane trivia like when they're going to get paid, rather than portentous nonsense about the meaning of life ect ect. He also compared Alien Covenant to The Da Vinci Code - and not favourably!

[tiermat]

Repo Man.

A post-apocalyptic pile of old twaddle with that Jude Law.  Decent soundtrack.  Would not watch again.

You mean they remade it? Nooooo! The original (as other have mentioned) is cool. It is so bad it is good.

[ian]

(click to show/hide)

It's a shame they've put the superb monsters on the back seat for some pseudish rumination on the nature of creation.

(click to show/hide)

Mark Kermode made a good point in his review on Friday that one of the things that made the original Alien so great was that the scenes where they're sitting around talking, the stuff they're discussing is mundane trivia like when they're going to get paid, rather than portentous nonsense about the meaning of life ect ect. He also compared Alien Covenant to The Da Vinci Code - and not favourably!

(click to show/hide)

Yeah, I didn't read any reviews, but he's spot-on. You cared about the space haulers in Alien, they were people doing a job and despite the fact they were doing it on a giant spaceship they were relatable and you wanted them to survive even though you knew your optimism was in for a rough ride. Same for Aliens, the marines were human and you ended up rooting for them. Except the sleazeball corporate guy (that entire nasty corporation angle seems to have dropped other than a Jobs-esque Weyland) who you wanted to see get his comeuppance. In this one all the crew are just red-shirts, only there to die, and mostly from their own wanton stupidity. And they are reliably stupid, not one of them has a microgram of sense. Honestly, I doubt they would survive a trip to the Coop never mind the other side of the galaxy.

To be honest, the Aliens universe never needed the sludgy backstory, it's a story about what might be lurking in dark corners. Now its all clumsy exposition, which kills any tension and it's not like the backstory makes any particular sense (maybe if it made sense I'd care but it doesn't so I don't, there's some big albino giants and oh well, even Ridley got bored and had David kill them all off just because). No one really needed to know where the aliens come from any more than they needed to know why they're so bitey. They just fucking are and you know what, you have three minutes and fifty four seconds to reach minimum safe distance. Oh, and there's the xenomorph with an attitude problem and poor oral hygiene between you and your escape pod.

The whole David thing is a bit tedious compared to bite-happy xenomorphs particularly he spends three-quarters of his time telling you what his android brain is thinking. And then the twist, which was so obvious they should have played it straight. Scripting and dialogue was leaden too, don't go expecting any 'it's the dry heat' or 'did IQs drop sharply while I was away.'

Like I say, it's watchable, but if they'd stripped the portentous BS, gave us a crew that we could root for, and a brace of xenomorphs intent on confounding that, it would have been far better. Looks pretty on the IMAX though.

[rogerzilla]

Office Space (again).

"I told those fudge-packers I liked Michael Bolton's music!"

[andrewc]

(click to show/hide)

It's a shame they've put the superb monsters on the back seat for some pseudish rumination on the nature of creation.

(click to show/hide)

Mark Kermode made a good point in his review on Friday that one of the things that made the original Alien so great was that the scenes where they're sitting around talking, the stuff they're discussing is mundane trivia like when they're going to get paid, rather than portentous nonsense about the meaning of life ect ect. He also compared Alien Covenant to The Da Vinci Code - and not favourably!

(click to show/hide)

Yeah, I didn't read any reviews, but he's spot-on. You cared about the space haulers in Alien, they were people doing a job and despite the fact they were doing it on a giant spaceship they were relatable and you wanted them to survive even though you knew your optimism was in for a rough ride. Same for Aliens, the marines were human and you ended up rooting for them. Except the sleazeball corporate guy (that entire nasty corporation angle seems to have dropped other than a Jobs-esque Weyland) who you wanted to see get his comeuppance. In this one all the crew are just red-shirts, only there to die, and mostly from their own wanton stupidity. And they are reliably stupid, not one of them has a microgram of sense. Honestly, I doubt they would survive a trip to the Coop never mind the other side of the galaxy.

To be honest, the Aliens universe never needed the sludgy backstory, it's a story about what might be lurking in dark corners. Now its all clumsy exposition, which kills any tension and it's not like the backstory makes any particular sense (maybe if it made sense I'd care but it doesn't so I don't, there's some big albino giants and oh well, even Ridley got bored and had David kill them all off just because). No one really needed to know where the aliens come from any more than they needed to know why they're so bitey. They just fucking are and you know what, you have three minutes and fifty four seconds to reach minimum safe distance. Oh, and there's the xenomorph with an attitude problem and poor oral hygiene between you and your escape pod.

The whole David thing is a bit tedious compared to bite-happy xenomorphs particularly he spends three-quarters of his time telling you what his android brain is thinking. And then the twist, which was so obvious they should have played it straight. Scripting and dialogue was leaden too, don't go expecting any 'it's the dry heat' or 'did IQs drop sharply while I was away.'

Like I say, it's watchable, but if they'd stripped the portentous BS, gave us a crew that we could root for, and a brace of xenomorphs intent on confounding that, it would have been far better. Looks pretty on the IMAX though.

http://www.vulture.com/2017/05/william-gibsons-never-filmed-alien-iii-script-a-history.html


Interesting musings on William Gibson's script for an Alien sequel.  I'd rather he stick to writing novels though, & see he's got a new one coming out in January. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/25/books/sci-fi-writer-william-gibson-reimagines-the-world-after-the-2016-election.html?_r=0

[red marley]

Repo Man.

A post-apocalyptic pile of old twaddle with that Jude Law.  Decent soundtrack.  Would not watch again.

You mean they remade it? Nooooo! The original (as other have mentioned) is cool. It is so bad it is good.

The Jude Law film isn't a remake of the Alex Cox one. It just happens to share the same a similar title (men vs man)

[T42]

Missus went and bought GoT Series N⁵ so we watched first 2 eps last night. Yawn.  I know prop swords shouldn't be able to perform impromptu amputations when they're pretending to fight, but it's depressing to see edges a centimetre thick when they're just waving them slowly.  If you can see the edge, it's not sharp.

Yawn. Yawn. Yawn. Yawn. Yawn. Yawn. Yawn. Yawn. Yawn.

[Torslanda]

Due to incipient pneumonia* I am missing tonight's pub quiz but an ability to remain upright, combined with no longer shivering like a polar bear that's just met a Kiwi sheep shearer, has led me to discover that 'The Hunt For Red October' is being shown on TCM+1.

I haz drugz and Jagermeister, my evening is complete . . .




*That's not the doctor's diagnosis but it sounds better than 'chest infection'

[Torslanda]

By the by, were all 80s Yank submarine officers owls? Or were the huge glasses they wore useful as some kind of impromptu signalling equipment. Marj Proops eat your heart out!

[citoyen]

In Bruges

Not for the first time, I should add. It's a work of total genius that just gets better with age - a bona fide classic, in fact. Something reminded me of it recently and I realised I haven't seen it for a while. It's not available to watch on Netflix or Sky Movies so I bought the Blu-ray for a few quid from Music Magpie - worth every penny and then some. Still by far the best thing Colin Farrell has ever done.

[T42]

+1. Delightful film.

[Wascally Weasel]

In Bruges

Not for the first time, I should add. It's a work of total genius that just gets better with age - a bona fide classic, in fact. Something reminded me of it recently and I realised I haven't seen it for a while. It's not available to watch on Netflix or Sky Movies so I bought the Blu-ray for a few quid from Music Magpie - worth every penny and then some. Still by far the best thing Colin Farrell has ever done.

He's pretty good in Seven Psychopaths too.

[Jakob]

War Machine. Entertaining enough, but a but pointless?