ridley scott | the m0vie blog

On Second Thought: Alien³ (The Assembly Cut)

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the release of Prometheus this week, we’ll be taking a look at the other movies in the Alien franchise.

Alien and Aliens are, quite rightly, considered classics of the science-fiction horror subgenre, superbly constructed examinations of the monsters lurking in the darkness. Unfortunately, the two sequels, Alien³ and Alien Resurrection are not so highly regarded. One would imagine that producing a film about a monster in the future really wouldn’t be that difficult, but the films were both dogged by their own pre-production turmoil. In particular, this third film went through several painful iterations before reaching the big screen – and, even then, there was a sense that nobody was especially happy with the result.

However, this series of films has also benefited from a great deal of affection, attention and examination from both creators and fans. As such, it isn’t really a surprise that even the creators have returned to help patch them up from time to time, lovingly repairing and restoring and updating the installments in this landmark franchise. While Alien³: The Assembly Cut is not a literal Director’s Cut, it does afford the viewer a rare insight into what David Fincher’s version of the film might have looked like.

Back against the wall…

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Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: alien, alien 3, alien 3: the assembly cut, Alien³, Celibacy, Clemens, Clerical celibacy, david fincher, Dillon, directors cut, Ellen Ripley, film, Fincher, Health, james cameron, Legion of Christ, People, ridley scott, Ripley, sexuality, Shopping, sigourney weaver, the assembly cut | 12 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Aliens (Theatrical Cut)

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the release of Prometheus this week, we’ll be taking a look at the other movies in the Alien franchise.

I think Aliens might be my favourite James Cameron movie. Of course, the guy has any number of iconic movies vying for that position – The Terminator and Terminator 2 both come to mind, for example – but I can’t help but admire how efficiently the director constructed his first big budget motion picture. Regardless of its place within an iconic science-fiction franchise, Aliens is practically a guidebook on how to effectively construct a movie, from writing the script to directing the action and absolutely everything in between. It’s hard to look at Aliens as anything less than a complete triumph, no matter which angle you examine the film from.

Queen bee…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alien, aliens, avatar, Banquette, bishop, Blu-ray Disc, Burke, Cameron, Christopher Nolan, David Giler, Ellen Ripley, film, hicks, james cameron, List of Alien characters, Marine, Michael Biehn, Movie, non-review review, review, ridley scott, Ripley, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, sigourney weaver, space, terminator, Terraforming, United States, United States Marines | 3 Comments »

On Second Thought: Alien (Director’s Cut)

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Darren

To celebrate the release of Prometheus this week, we’ll be taking a look at the other movies in the Alien franchise.

Alien: The Director’s Cut is a curious beast. It’s more of an alternate cut than a director’s cut of Ridley Scott’s iconic Alien. It actually runs a few seconds shorter than the original theatrical cut of the film, although it contains more than five minutes of different footage. While five minutes of footage can have a significant impact on the final cut of a film, I’d be hard-pressed to argue that they add considerable depth to Scott’s science-fiction masterpiece. Aliens: The Special Edition re-inserted scenes that expanded and developed the themes of Cameron’s sequel, while Alien³: The Assembly Cut offers a glimpse of a movie far different from the one released. In contrast, Alien: The Director’s Cut… doesn’t really do much of anything. It’s just an alternative to the theatrical edition.

Ship shape?

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Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: alien, blade runner, Dallas, directors cut, Ellen Ripley, james cameron, List of Alien characters, Prometheus, Ridley, ridley scott, Ripley, Scott, sigourney weaver | 15 Comments »

Prometheus Second Trailer (& International Trailer)

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Darren

How far would you go to get your answers? What would you be willing to do?

– David

Ridley Scott’s Prometheus is getting gradually closer and the mystery seems to be unfolding a bit. These two trailers give a bit more background information on his latest science-fiction epic, and even hint at the possible link to Alien that the direct (and his cast and crew) have been so coy about. Those wishing to go in completely blind might want to skip them, but they can only raise anticipation. My own anticipation can’t get much higher. It’s my third most anticipated movie of the year (behind The Dark Knight Rises and Django Unchained), so it can’t climb too much further.

Anyway, here’s the second American trailer:

And here’s the international trailer which is a bit slower but has a bit more back story:

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alien, arts, blade runner, charlize theron, Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace, Prometheus, ridley scott, science fiction, trailer | 2 Comments »

Prometheus Unbound: Sir Peter Weyland Speaks…

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Darren

I am looking forward to Prometheus, as are most film geeks out there. Ridley Scott is returning to the shared fictional universe he created with the original Alien to tell an incredibly ambitious science-fiction epic, with a tremendous cast and a huge budget. We don’t know much about it at the moment, and that’s not a bad thing. I’m always a sucker for a clever piece of viral marketing, and this video appeared on-line today. it wasn’t leaked to film sites or geek news. It was published on TED.com, an on-line forum for “ideas worth spreading”, where today’s real-world luminaries share their thoughts on the problems of the day. Sir Peter Weyland, one half of the fictional mega-corporation Weyland-Yutani, has provided us with his own talk, from the year 2023.

Directed by Luke Scott and written by Damon Lindelof, this is a light piece, featuring Guy Pierce and some CGI. However, it very shrewdly does several things. It explains and contextualises the title, even if it wasn’t too much to guess that hubris and ambition would play a major role in a science-fiction film named for the guy who stole fire from the gods. It gives us a glimpse of the film’s universe, and provides connective tissue, explaining how we got from today to the gigantic futuristic universe. It even ties itself to Lawrence of Arabia, no mean feat.

It’s well worth a gander.

And here’s Sir Peter’s official biography, for those looking for a bit more context:

Sir Peter Weyland was born in Mumbai, India at the turn of the Millennium. The progeny of two brilliant parents; His mother, an Oxford Educated Professor of Comparative Mythology, his father, a self-taught software Engineer, it was clear from an early age that Sir Peter’s capabilities would only be eclipsed by his ambition to realize them. By the age of fourteen, he had already registered a dozen patents in a wide range of fields from biotech to robotics, but it would be his dynamic breakthroughs in generating synthetic atmosphere above the polar ice cap that gained him worldwide recognition and spawned an empire.

In less than a decade, Weyland Corporation became a worldwide leader in emerging technologies and launched the first privatized industrial mission to leave the planet Earth. “There are other worlds than this one,” Sir Peter boldly declared, “And if there is no air to breathe, we will simply have to make it.”

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alien, arts, blade runner, damon lindelof, Guy Pearce, Luke Scott, Peter Weyland, Prometheus, ridley scott, TED, Weyland-Yutani | 6 Comments »

Jameson Cult Film Club: Reservoir Dogs & A Talk With Michael Madsen (JDIFF 2012)

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Darren

This event was held as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012.

Last year’s Jameson Dublin International Film Festival served as the launch of the Jameson Cult Film Club, with a screening of The Usual Suspects with Kevin Spacey in attendance. To celebrate the first anniversary of that launch, the guys organised a special treat for movie fans in the capital – a screening of Reservoir Dogs, with Michael Madsen in attendance. It goes almost without saying that the Jameson folks threw one hell of a shindig, converting Dublin’s CHQ into the warehouse from Tarantino’s iconic debut – a film that had hosted its Irish premiere as part of the festival twenty years ago, a screening that host Rick O’Shea remembered fondly. It was a great evening, organised with the same impeccable style as ever.

Note: This is just an article about the wonderful screening held by the Jameson Cult Film Club, including an interview with the man himself, Michael Madsen. I’ll be running a review of Tarantino’s masterpiece sometime next week, when I’ve had a bit more sleep.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: art, cult film, dublin, film, Film festival, jameson dublin international film festival, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2012, kevin spacey, Michael Madsen, Movie, quentin tarantino, Reservoir Dogs, Rick O'Shea, ridley scott, tarantino, United States | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Alien

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Darren

I had the pleasure of attending of the Jameson Cult Film Club’s screening of Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien. It was a great evening for all concerned, and it was great to see a classic film like that projected on a huge screen, blasted out of a superb sound system. The screening seemed to coincide with the build-up to the release of next year’s Prometheus, a sci-fi thriller from Ridley Scott with “strands of Alien DNA”, but Scott’s film is one of those rare pieces of cinema that continues to give, even thirty years after the original release. It’s rare to point to a film that seems to offer new nuance and depth on each viewing, especially within the horror genre. Alien is a movie that’s absolutely fascinating in its complexity.

A bad egg…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1979, alien, alien (1979), Alien (film), Dan O'Bannon, Duellists, feminism, film, Fox, HR Giger, james cameron, Movie, non-review review, Prometheus, review, ridley scott, Scott, sexual violence, sexuality, Stan Winston, The Duellists, xenomorph | 4 Comments »

Jameson Cult Film Club: Alien

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Darren

I had the privilege of attending the Jameson Cult Film Club screening of Alien on Tuesday night, which was a great way of celebrating the release of a whole bunch of images from Ridley Scott’s quasi-Alien-related new film Prometheus. Not that you need an excuse to celebrate Ridley Scott’s Alien, one of the towering accomplishments in the horror and science-fiction genres. I had never seen it on a big screen, and it was an absolute hoot to be invited along. For those Irish readers who aren’t already members of the Jameson Cult Film Club, you can join on their site. I don’t normally do these sorts of endorsements, but they really are the highlight of Ireland’s movie calendar, crafted with remarkable love and enthusiasm for the films that they show.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alien, cult film, dublin, films, jameson, jameson cult film, jameson cult film club, Movies, nostromo, ridley scott | 6 Comments »

The Silicon Chip Inside Her Head Gets Switched to Overload: On-Screen Mania and Off-Screen Motives….

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Darren

And daddy doesn’t understand it
He always said she was good as gold
And he can see no reasons
‘Cos there are no reasons
What reason do you need to be show-ow-ow-ow-own?

– I Don’t Like Mondays, The Boom Town Rats

I have to admit, I have a soft spot in my heart for cheesy horror films. Not necessarily all of them, as there’s a lot of dross out there, but I have to admit that there’s nothing like a well-constructed scary movies. I was watching Scream again, this time with my gran in preparation for Halloween, and I enjoyed it yet again – I think it’s a fascinatingly clever look at the slasher genre, and a movie which is as relevent today as it was when it was released, untouched and unspoilt by the wave of inferior imitations that we’ve seen in the years since. There’s a line towards the climax of the film which got me thinking about these sorts of films, and how they’re scary. Asked to provide a motive, the killer responds, “Did we ever find out why Hannibal Lector liked to eat people? Don’t think so! See, it’s a lot scarier when there’s no motive.” Is the unknowable that much scarier?

Psyche!

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, films, halloween, hannibal, hannibal lecter, horror, Jamie Lee Curtis, Movies, ridley scott, scary, tim burton, unknowable, Unknown | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: The Thing (1982)

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Darren

John Carpenter’s The Thing is almost the perfect late-night Halloween viewing experience. It’s one of those movies that is gloriously trashy entertainment, with any number of visceral thrills, but also more deeply unnerving. Updating the 1951 The Thing From Another World, and arguably remaining truer to the original story, Who Goes There?, John Carpenter’s adaptation perfectly captures the unnerving paranoia of a world where there’s no promise that anybody is exactly what they claim to be. In space, nobody can hear you scream, but your odds aren’t too much better in the white Antarctic tundra.