Had a few weeks off Tuesday Film Nights due to holidays and moving house but back on track this week with…
Alien: Resurrection (Jeunet / 1997)
This completed the Alien original 4 for my youngest daughter and it turns out we are both agreed it ranks as our second favourite of the series after the original. A nice mix of action, humour, tension and gross out blood letting with Jeunet’s particular visual aesthetic thrown in for good measure. A solid thumbs up for the whole family.
I’ve never understood why so many fans of the series disliked this movie.
I put it off for years, then it turned out to be nowhere near as bad as I thought.
The Hand of Death. Early John Woo. Sub-par choreography but mildly entertaining and some good characters.
Because only the first two movies are good and then it went downhills? The third movie is already boring and Resurrection while more original is not really much of an improvement.
My two cents on the series:
Alien - I prefer Director’s cut, but also theatrical release is great - 100%
Aliens - I prefer Theatrical release over Director’s cut (I don’t like added scenes with colonists etc) My least favorite of the four films and I could go on and on why I dislike some things in it. - 70%
Alien3 - Prefer Director’s cut over TR. Boring? Not in my book - 100%
Alien Ressurection - Prefer TR over DC, although the latter has a nice scene with Eifel tower. - 80%
Prometheus - Not sure if DC exists. I’m not content with several aspects of this movie but still I consider it great cosmic horror. 80%
Alien Covenant - A disappointment. 60%
Plus some additions:
Alien vs Predator - Great creatures and fights between them, if nothing else. 60%
AvP Requiem - 40%
A3 did the same thing Alien did without being as good. Did anyone really care about the prisoners subplots? After Charles Dance’s death (who was btw brilliantly casted and was the best about the movie) it was only dull. They killed off Hicks which was the most stupid to do, nowadays they would call it “subverting your expectations”. Also originally it was meant to be another action packed movie with Hicks and Ripley fighting Aliens but they changed it to this depressing stuff. Even Fincher himself does not like the movie though it is still well directed.
not sure, if I wanted to see that again
so what, these are not lighthearted movies
sure, I did, same as I cared about subplots in the original and other sequels
For all the Hicks fans, there is an audiobook version of Alien 3 featuring Michael Biehn.
It’s a better movie than the third, directed by Fincher (no less), but I still rank the second, Aliens, a bit higher. But yes, this is a very enjoyable flick.
You have the point here. The atmosphere is pretty damn dark, darkest of them all. Well done. I somewhat liked the movie till the Charles Dance’s death, then it ran out of ideas and I could not cheer for any character. BTW: How noone ever believes Ripley about the alien? Isn’t it a bit peculiar that noone is willing to believe there exists another life form in the entire universe?
I watched Casablanca maybe for maybe the third time or so, last time decades ago, and I find it well played and directed, but with a not so interestering story. The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon definitely entertain me more among Bogart movies, and so do to a lesser degree To Have And Have Not.
I seldom use the term “overrated” but it may fit Casablanca IMO. I would rate it a strong 6 or weak 7/10.
That goes for many films. The now classic film It’s a Wonderful Life unremarkably came and went at the box office but was years later picked up by tv stations around Christmas only because its copyright wasn’t renewed and could be broadcast over and over with no royalties.
I think I have only watched it once many many years ago but I recall it was televised nearly every christmas also in Sweden. I have a only vague slightly positive memory of it.
The second version released on the discs is not an DC, but only some kind of alternative version. Means that in that case the theatrical version is still the DC.
There is no Director’s Cut, and never will be. But the Assembly Cut is well worth watching.
yeah, then I mean that one which has different opening credits and added scene in the end - wouldn’t mind that scene in the end on Earth, but the opening credits scene is just horrible
sure, forgot, that was called Assembly cut, which is a great improvement, yes
Fools’ Paradise
It’s been a while for me here, but here’s some of what I’ve enjoyed the past couple months
Italia a Mano Armata (Italy: Armed and Dangerous/Special Cop in Action) (1976) ****
La Comtesse Noire (The Night Countess/Female Vampire) (1973) ****1/2
Il Miele del Diavolo (The Devil’s Honey) (1986) ****1/2
The Big Clock (1948) *****
La Donna del Lago (The Woman in the Lake/The Possessed) (1965) ****1/2
Bedlam (1946) ****
Le Foto Proibite di una Signora per Bene (The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion) (1970) ****1/2