Creating the connections between Ridley Scott’s Alien and Prometheus

The Alien mythos is one of the more established science fiction franchises this side of the galaxy, so it comes to no surprise that Ridley Scott’s return to the genre in his upcoming film Prometheus would draw comparisons to his original facehugger baby. The film was originally planned as a prequel but has since separated from the term, but that doesn’t mean they are disconnected. Damon Lindeloff who is currently penning the film brought his two-cents on the subject recently on The Kevin Pollack Chat Show: 

It started as an Alien prequel. That is what everybody wanted it to be. Obviously, Ridley Scott has not made a science fiction movie in 25 years, since Blade Runner, so the idea that he’s returning to this genre is huge. But there is a real issue which is — what is the state of the Alien franchise at this point in our lives? There has been Alien vs. Predator and all these things, and its been completely and totally diluted. I’ve always felt that really good prequels should be original movies. And the sequels to those prequels should not be the movie which already exists because, with all due respect to anyone who makes a prequel, but why would you ruin the greatest twist in the history of cinema, “Luke, I am your father”, by showing me three movies which basically spoil that surprise. You can do movies which take place before Star Wars, but I don’t need to see the story of the Skywalker clan. Show me something else which I can’t guess the possible outcome of. There is no suspense in inevitability. So a true prequel should essentially proceed the events of the original film, but be about something entirely different, feature different characters , have an entirely different theme, although it takes place in that same world. That was my fundamental feeling about what this movie wanted to be.

First Official Images of The Hobbit

The first official images of Peter Jackson’s upcoming epic and adaption of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit have been released to the public. Sure sparks memories of the very first Lord Of The Rings film. The novel is being set to be split into two films, with the first one set on being released sometime in December 2012. Hopefully before the twenty first, because that would suck. You know, with the end of the world and all that jazz. Hopefully John Cusack could prevent it so we can watch this film. Hit the jump for the first official images of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins

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John Carter - Art Revealed

Two pieces of artwork have been released by Disney from the upcoming science fiction epic John Carter (previously known as John Carter of Mars), adapted from the series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I’ve been intrigued by this project ever since I got word that famed Pixar director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) was attached to directing his first live action feature. I later heard that Stanton, fellow Pixar alumni Mark Andrews (who will be directing Pixar’s upcoming “The Brave”) and Pulitzer winning author Michael Chabon would also be penning the script. This artwork is hinting at something good, so at this point all we can do is hope for the best. Cast wise, it should be very familiar to comic book fans, as it seems anyone who has been in a comic book adaptation is in this. Just take a look at it: you have Taylor Kitsch (Gambit/Xmen Origins) as John Carter, William Defoe (Green Goblin/Spider-Man) as Tars Tarkas, Lynn Collins (Silver Fox/Xmen Origins) as Dejah Thoris, Thomas Haden Church (Sandman/Spider-Man 3) as Hajus, Dominic West (Jigsaw/Punisher: War Zone) as Sab Than, and finally Mark Strong (Sinestro/ Green Lantern) as the villain Matai Shang. Thats a whole lot of panels for one movie. 

Interesting side note, heres a quote from Mark Strong on the recent light of the film’s title change: 

“The reason is that he has to earn that title. Again, it’s a franchise or a number of books; a series of books that people may or may not know, but if you call him John Carter of Mars, I think at the very beginning, all the work’s been done and what Andrew wants to do, I think, is introduce people to this first film, and by the end of it, he becomes John Carter of Mars, but not at the beginning. In the beginning he’s John Carter, but by the end of the first film, he’s John Carter of Mars; so he’s earned that title to take it off should it want to go to further storytelling.” 

The Hangover Part II Review

Imagine the craziest booze, sex, and drug induced night of your life. Alright. Now begin to imagine that same event again, but this time smacked in the middle of Bangkok. This is essentially The Hangover Part II. If you were to compare this movie to it’s predecessor, you will not find many differences in terms of plot flow. By this logic, if you loved the first one, then I’m positive that the Wolfpack will be able to keep up with the entertainment in a second go, mainly because they are in a sense the same movie with slightly altered events; however, instead of this being a drawback that has been nit picked by other reviewers, I didn’t mind it as much. Sure, it took away the thrill and surprise that was found in the first one, but at the same time Tod Phillip’s sequel still delivers plenty of laughs in this raunchier sequel more deserving of that R rating. In short, I felt that even though this sequel was a carbon copy, it was still a fun enough ride that it was enjoyable. 

 This time around the bachelor party moves from Las Vegas to Bangkok, and where the previous bachelor Doug (Justin Bartha) went missing two years ago, the search is now on for Stu’s (Ed Helms) soon to be kid brother in-law Teddy (Mason Lee). The chemistry between Alan (Zach Galifianakis), Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu is a little one sided, as the majority of the laughs lean towards Galifianakis’ quirky comedic balance of feeble-mindedness and plain old craziness. Ken Jeong reprises his roll as Mr. Chow, and throughout the film he fluctuates from being incredibly funny to being incredibly annoying. Paul Giamatti has a cameo appearance that is short but I think it was feasible enough to satisfy. But the real breakthrough character was the monkey. Seriously, the monkey who chain smokes and acts as a drug mule for local gangs while wearing a Rolling Stones jean vest. 

Look, this film isn’t exactly “The Godfather Part II” of comedies as was advertised in the first teaser. Far from it. Think of it like a meal: It definitely doesn’t feel as fresh as the first time you had it. Still, its hard to imagine one not having fun while watching this. Even if its the same dish but covered in Sriracha sauce.  

Pro-tip: If you find a little worm poking through several bunched up blankets, its not sashimi