Yes, the shorter one is better. Some superfluous stuff in the longer one.
For Scott’s film the longer theatrical one is also the recommended one.
And I really should watch now the DC of Fincher’s Alien³
It’s not really a DC (Alien3), Fincher refused to cooperate, he disowned the who thing, so they made a so-called Assembly Cut without him. It runs longer and feels more like a ‘real’ Alien movie, but it’s not necessarily better than the theatrical cut. I think that theatrical cut wasn’t really bad, there are good things in it and the atmosphere is great, it just is not a great ‘Alien movie’.
Yes never really get into Alien 3…just seemed a bit flat after Aliens. The British actors in the film add to the flatness aswell for me.
It’s defenitely a step back compared to the first two movies, doesn’t really work as a horror movie. I watched the Assembly Cut a while ago and am now watching the theatrical cut again.
Alien (Scott, 1979) is my favourite movie of all time. I would guess that I watch it half a dozen times a year, at least. I loved Aliens (Cameron, 1986) as a sixteen year-old lad - maybe even preferred it - but I’ve come to like it less over the years. That’s not to say I dislike it by any means; I still enjoy it. But for me now, I probably marginally prefer Alien³ (Fincher, 1992), not least because of the Assembly Cut of the latter, which I think is terrific.
I’m unsure as to what it is about Aliens that has faded for me; I think it’s partly because that one feels the most “of” the time it was made (as Scherp says in his review, it’s very much an “eighties” pic) which dates it, which I feel within the futuristic/sci-fi context of the story, can be quite a fundamental flaw. It’s certainly to a degree because of my feelings towards James Cameron himself; the more I see of him in interviews, behind-the-scenes features etc., the less I like him. This of course is an unreasonable criticism of Aliens itself, but there it is nonetheless.
Great review btw, Scherp. I’ll be interested to read your take on Jean Pierre Jeunet’s installment.
At the moment I’m restudying Alien3. I liked Jeunet’s installment when I saw it in cinema, probably because I strongly disliked Aliens3 back then. It seemed a step up, also felt more like a ‘real Alien movie’
I’d like to add my support for Alien3, hopefully to make scherp more sympathetic towards it in the next article. To me it is only slightly weaker then the first two, maybe even equal to the second.
I have watched Alien recently in cinema, and this time it came to me that it is actually a typical slasher movie, set in space (with extraordinary visuals). The way Alien kills the victims is similar to slasher’s knife, with all the sexual subcontext that comes with it, and the way the cast is offed one by one until only the most pure and virtuous character (heroine, of course) is left alive is 100% slasher.
I have to watch fourth sequel again, I have watched it only once and didn’t like it back then.
I won’t bother with 3 and 4 anymore. I recently watched them again, 3 was as crappy as I remembered, fourth was so bad I didn’t finish it.
The Road (2009)
Faithful adaptation of a fantastic book.
The Way Back (2010)
Decent adventure movie from Peter Weir, that is over-saturated with its superficial political agenda. Every Russian character in a movie is either lowlife criminal or coward, while all the non-Russian escapees from Gulag (and that is the majority of them, which is unlikely in the first place) are innocent men, political prisoners. There is also obligatory female character forced in the movie. Contrast between “free world” and eastern block is illustrated in a plastic way when they reach “free” India. While no person our heroes meet on the Soviet side smiles, India is shown as utopia were colors are brighter and where friendly and happy farmers live (image that is ironically similar to typical agitprop posters). Finally, there is an epilogue that is akin to worst Spielberg’s schmaltz. I was hoping for a movie were the emphasis would be more on a details of incredible escape and survival, but although it had its moments, it was not particularly fulfilling in that department.
Last couple of days, I’ve been looking over Arrow’s new blu-ray release of Russ Meyer’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970). My juicy spillages on the subject here:
Saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2nd time) this weekend and took my almost 5 year boys (yes twins) and they loved it. I enjoyed more the 2nd time around because they really loved it. I know people bash movies for this reason and that reason but being able to enjoy one with your kids is a real treat.
1 Like
That’s absolutely true, sir. Over the last decade I’ve engaged in treats from Pixar to Peppa Pig, and re-engaged in pursuits from my own youth such as WWE and of course Star Wars, all thanks to my son. He’s almost twelve now so I’m sure he’ll be taking interests in music and subcultures I find to be utter dogs#it soon enough, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts. 
Well said. I may not get back into WWE but my kids love all the cool things about being a kid and enjoy being a kid.
One of my sons enjoys making things out of Legos for me and it is very sweet because one day that will all end. I enjoy it as much as a I can now,
I recently got Paths of Glory as a late Christmas present. I put it on late last night. First off I want to say I have not seen Kirk Douglas in much but I enjoy good Anti-war movies and stuff by Stanley Kubrick.
I could not believe how amazing this movie was from the acting to the sets to the pacing of the movie. Kirk Douglas was absolutely brilliant and everyone else from George MacReady (he was downright amazing), Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, and Timothy Carey and everyone else were spot on. The battle scene was just jaw dropping and the callous nature of the generals is depicted perfectly. Kirk is one of the best actors of a by gone generation. This to me was a perfect movie from start to finish.
1.Bridge of Spies (2015)- Although this was very talkative and not as suspenseful as i expected it to be, it still is a good movie though and Tom Hanks is quite good in his role.
2.Black Mass (2015)- I really liked this Crime/Drama film. Johnny Depp does an excellent acting job as the menacing crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger. Too bad he wasn’t nominated for an Oscar.
3.Interstellar (2014)- Meah!..this sci-fi hocus pocus was a bit much to digest and overlong, but it did manage to entertain somewhat and the Visuals was great. The Martian was a better movie than this one.
4.Birdman (2014)- I fell asleep!
THE INTRUDERS (2015)
An average - very average - horror-thriller starring former child star Miranda Cosgrove. Who is Miranda Cosgrove? I knew I had seen that face before, but needed to google the name to find out when and where: she was one of the two girls (the dark one) appearing in the popular teen sitcom ICarly (2007-2012). Wiki tells me she has been struggling to give her career a new direction at adult age. This movie won’t help her: it went straight to DVD and VOD.
Cosgrove plays a 20-year old college student from California, Rose, who recently lost her mother. Her father took her up North (all the way to Canada!) because he thought the change of air and climate would do her good. Rose is taking medication, so nobody believes her when she says the new house is haunted by the ghost of a girl who lived there (and was probably killed there).
The Intruders does a few things right but most things wrong; the old house with its slamming doors and creaky stairs is magnificent, but the script hardly offers any real scares. For one thing we don’t know what it is until very late into the movie: is it a supernatural horror story or a straightforward thriller (and are we therefore supposed to look for the killer?). If you don’t know what to expect, you can’t be surprised, so when they finally come up with a solution for all the strange things happening, we simply say, with a shrug of the shoulders: „Oh well, is that it?“
It was. Luckily the whole thing didn’t cost me a dime: it was a free movie for being a loyal customer of a special service. Skip if you don’t get it for free.
2 out of 5
Re-watched Captain America: The First Avenger last night. One of my favorites in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with plenty of good action scenes and Hugo Weaving plays my favorite villain the Red Skull. Loads of fun this makes me enjoy going to the movies again.
LEVIATHAN (1989, George Pan Cosmatos)
While re-studying the Alien franchise, it looked like a good idea to watch a few clones as well. This one is not set in space, but under water. An abandoned Russian submarine is discovered at the bottom of the sea by the crew of a deep sea mining facility; it transpires that the Russians were experimenting with genetic engineering and deliberately sank the submarine to save themselves (or humanity, as one crew member puts it).
This clone has a decent cast but no real surprises; there’s the ethnically mixed crew and the representative of the evil company who thinks the crew is expendable; the studio sets on which the whole thing was filmed look impressive but the monster is laughable and the gross shock effects provoke disgust rather than terror. It’s still called 'one of the best Alien clones’ by some (which probably says a lot about the other members of the clone family).
1,5 out of 5
Yep, I really like both of the Captain America movies. The first one was a bit of a pleasant surprise, though. I had no prior interest in the Cap, I thought he was going to be the dullest character and the hardest around whom to build a franchise. Wrong! Conversely, I was really looking forward to Thor (Branagh, 2011), brought to us by Kenneth Branagh, no less! Meh, it was a bit of a let-down, really; the 2013 sequel was even worse.
Still, I’ve just begun a mini-mission to re-watch all the movies in the MCU in order (I watched 2008’s Iron Man yesterday), so maybe I’ll see them in a better light this time around.