the m0vie blog

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Jess Dunne, this week with special guest Alex Towers, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This time, David Fincher’s Alien³.

A freak accident on her lifepod sends xenomorph survivor Ellen Ripley off-course. Plunging to the surface of a long-abandoned prison planet inhabited by the inmates so institutionalised that they refused to leave, Ripley finds herself haunted by the possibility that the monster that has taken so much from her is still with her, and that she is trapped inside of a prison of the creature’s making.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Show Notes:

• Recorded 18th August 2024.
• Alien³ at The Internet Movie Database.
• Listen to The Breakout Role Podcast on Soundcloud.
• Follow The Breakout Role Podcast on Twitter.
• Read Jess’ work at Film in Dublin.
• Follow Jess on Twitter.
• Follow Alex on Twitter.
• Listen to When Irish Eyes are Watching on their homepage.
• Follow When Irish Eyes are Watching on Twitter.
• Subscribe to When Irish Eyes are Watching on iTunes.
• Alien³ teaser, 1991.
• Ryan Scott at /film considers Renny Harlin’s proposed version of Alien³, May 2024.
• Padraig Cotter at Den of Geek considers William Gibson’s aborted version of Alien³, August 2018.
• Vincent Ward publishes the storyboards for his aborted version of Alien³ at Vincent Ward Films, 2009.
• Rhett Bartlett at The Hollywood Reporter marks the passing of Terry Rawlings, April 2019.
• Aljean Harmetz at The New York Times looks at what has been an underwhelming summer box office, May 1986.
• Aljean Harmetz at The New York Times reflects on the previous year as the biggest year in movies ever, January 1983.
• Vincent Canby at The New York Times looks at the record-setting success at the summer box office, September 1983.
• Aljean Harmetz at The New York Times looks at a record-setting summer at the American box office, September 1987.
• Vincent Canby at The New York Times considers how the multiplex is changing what and how movies are being seen, January 1987.
• Aljean Harmetz at The New York Times considers the blockbuster summer of 1989, January 1990.
• Larry Rohter at The New York Times reflects on Hollywood’s transition from the blockbusters of the eighties into the nineties, July 1990.
• Geraldine Fabrikant at The New York Times considers Hollywood’s ballooning budgets, December 1990.
• Larry Rohter at The New York Times considers the challenges facing movie theatres and studios, December 1990.
• Richard W. Stevenson at The New York Times considers Hollywood’s reaction to the failures of Havana and Days of Thunder, April 1991.
• Jeanie Kasindorf at New York Magazine reports on the infamous Katzenberg memo, October 1991.
• Bernard Weinraub at The New York Times considers the long tail of the infamous Katzenberg memo, February 1992.
• The Los Angeles Times looks back on the legacy of the infamous Katzenberg memo, February 2011.
• Darren Mooney at Second Wind considers The Killer as a movie about David Fincher’s relationship to auteurism, November 2023.
• Andrew Nayman talks to The Film Stage about David Fincher’s complicated auteurship, November 2021.
• David Fincher talks to GQ Magazine about his plans to make a sequel to World War Z, October 2023.
• Adam Chitwood at Collider reflects on the complicated development history of Mission: Impossible III, November 2023.
• Charles de Lauzirika writes at Strange Shapes about trying to contact David Fincher about the restoration of Alien³, October 2012.
• Kim Masters at The Hollywood Reporter offers an account of the troubled production of World War Z, June 2012.
• Matt Donnelly and Adam B. Vary at Variety reports on James Gunn’s decision to ensure scripts are finished before making movies, January 2023.
• Scout Tafoya at RogerEbert.com considers Alien³ as an “unloved” film, December 2013.
• Darren Mooney at The Escapist considers the grim nihilism of Alien³, April 2020.
• Noah Gitell at The Guardian reflects on the thirtieth anniversary of Alien³, May 2022.
• Ralph Brown talks to Yahoo! about making Alien³, May 2022.
• Ralph Brown writes about the experience of making Alien³ in My Pop Life, October 2016.
• Ralph Brown writes about the experience of making Alien³ in My Pop Life, October 2016.
• Ralph Brown writes about the experience of making Alien³ in My Pop Life, June 2019.
• Holt McCallany talks to Vulture about his collaborations with David Fincher, October 2024.
• Charlotte Colombo at The Digital Fix considers the decision to shave Ripley’s head in Alien³, January 2024.
• Nothing Compares 2 U, January 1990.
• Gerry Cupido at IOL reports on Sinéad O’Connor’s iconic buzzcut, July 2023.
• The Tampa Bay Times reports on Sinéad O’Connor’s victory at the MTV Music Video Awards, September 1990.
• Alien³ Pepsi Commercial, 1992.
• Anthony Black writes at Film Stories about Neil Blomkamp’s long gestating plans to make a sequel to Aliens, February 2024.
• Michael Biehn and Lance Henriksen narrate William Gibson’s Alien³, May 2019.
• Follow The 250 on Twitter.
• Subscribe to The 250 on iTunes.
• Subscribe to The 250 on Stitcher.
• Listen to The 250 on Soundcloud.
• Listen to The 250 on Spotify.
• Browse listening options at pod.link.