Prometheus Movie Review: Ridley Scott Delivers

by iconmatthew1

In Space Nobody Can Hear You Scream. That was the tagline for the famous 1979 film “Alien” directed by Ridley Scott. Over 30 years later he returns to the franchise he created for a prequel. Yes it is a prequel, it happens in the same universe that obviously has tie ins to the original movie. It’s a prequel, to all of those who actually believed Ridley Scott when he said it wasn’t necessarily a prequel you should look up at the ceiling it says gullible. Scott’s “Prometheus” is “Alien” and “Aliens” (which was directed by James Cameron on steroids. Filled with suspense, violence and enough action to satisfy the demographic that likes to see things blow up it is a film it’s one of those movies that you know 30 years from now people will still be watching. I don’t subscribe to the people who try and compare this movie to “Alien”, in terms of quality. Yes, I admit there is a natural comparison to be had since it is by the same director in the same franchise, but they are two very different films. And that is a good thing, there was no way in the world “Prometheus” was going to surpass “Alien” in terms of quality, I knew that, critics knew that Ridley Scott knew that. That being said it’s a wonderfully dark, harsh and thought provoking piece of cinema. One that has stuck with me since viewing it at the midnight premiere.

The virtually spoiler free plot line of “Prometheus” is that it is the fairly distant future. A ship called Prometheus is headed to a never before explored planet. One which Dr. Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Dr. Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) believe may hold the answers to the origins to life on earth. Holloway is an atheist while Shaw is Christian or at least that is implied. There are several other people on the ship: The Captain Janek (Idris Alba), Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) who is the corporate suit on board to ensure the investment made pans out, David (Michael Fassbender) an android and various other crew members. As they go searching for answers things quickly spin out of control and soon everyone’s lives are in danger.

The acting in this movie is outstanding, the best sci-fi ensemble since “Inception”. Fassbender delivers a strong performance as the android David who models himself after Peter O’ Toole in “Lawrence of Arabia.” Theron nearly steals the show in my opinion as the cold and calculating Vickers and Noomi Rapace finally gets to show American audiences how talented of an actress she really is as the main heroine Shaw. Scott’s direction is on point, after the disappointing Robin Hood Scott now seems to be back to form and has created a near unsettling world once again. The tension builds so seemingly effortlessly with him at the helm. The cinematography by Dariusz Wolski is beautiful and haunting. He manages to show some remarkable shots of the alien environment and captures the creepy planet and ship quite well. This isn’t “Star Trek” it’s not made to look sleek and gorgeous with lens flare bouncing off everything imaginable. No it’s industrial, it’s moody, its gray, it’s exactly right for the tone of the movie.

Up ahead are some major spoilers so if you do not want to know anything else about the movie just know that I recommend it and feel that it’s a movie that much like Scott’s other films “Blade Runner” and “Alien” will be talked about for generations to come. Again I cannot stress enough: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD You have been warned.

The Final Cut Episode #79 – Interview with author DCS

by iconmatthew1

DCS

DCS writes novels, scripts and even comics! It’s incredible what one mind can do when motivated and so deeply creative. Make sure to download this latest episode of “The Final Cut” where author DCS talks about; writing, “The Syncarchy Series” including it’s movie adaptation and the differences between writing a novel, script and comic. It’s an episode everyone should enjoy! Be sure to visit the official page of “The Final Cut” to download previous episodes and don’t forget that the show is FREE on itunes. You can also become a fan of “The Final Cut” on facebook.

Listen to internet radio with Matthew Robinson on Blog Talk Radio

The Final Cut Episode #71 – Interview with comedian, writer, actress Eliza Skinner

by iconmatthew1

Eliza Skinner

On this episode of “The Final Cut” I interview stand up comedian, actress and writer Eliza Skinner whose made a name for herself with her hilarious stand up comedy performances, improv work, free style comedy rap and so much more! Eliza while on the program also talks about how she got her start in comedy, what got her interested in the genre and art form. Seriously one of the funniest comedians working today you would be doing yourself a disservice not to check this episode out. Remember you can subscribe to “The Final Cut” on itunes. Also you can visit the official page of “The Final Cut” and don’t forget to ‘like’ the show on facebook.

Listen to internet radio with Matthew Robinson on Blog Talk Radio

Why “Beyond Good & Evil” should be a movie

by iconmatthew1

In 2004 I played what remains one of my favorite and for my money one of  the greatest video games of all time. It is called “Beyond Good and Evil.” Man was this game something else! Developed and published by Ubisoft the game could be found anywhere you ever so pleased. It was available for all the top platforms at the time; Playstation 2, Xbox, Gamecube and the PC. It was released internationally and there were even a few prime time tv spots. But the marketing of the game was a little flat, people didn’t know what the game was about or weren’t pressed enough to care and so this title ended up in the bargain bin fairly quick. Which was a plus for me in my poor high school days as I was able to buy the game for just $15. This is all besides the point, what is important is that “Beyond Good and Evil” offered me one of the most enjoyable video game experiences ever.

Most people agree with me. Though the game was not a success financially, critics and just about everyone who played it loved and admired the game. It dared to be different in a sense, especially with its concept and it remains one of the best storylines ever translated for a console. In my humble opinion few games since this one have been able to match it’s rich dialogue, engaging plot, fun characters, beautiful scenery, soundtrack and or creative blend of gameplay. (This is of course on video game standards I’m not saying Gene Wilder wrote the script I’m just saying its good.) Well the good word of mouth seems to have served the intended franchise well as there are plans to make a sequel. So you may be asking why I feel “Beyond Good and Evil” should be a major motion picture.

Space…The Dying Frontier

by Shaun Maden

 

Be prepared… this is actually a serious musing…

As somebody who is a fan (not overly huge fan like a run-of-the-mill nerd who argue about who shot first, Han or Greedo… oldest joke ever) of science fiction, as well as fantasy film…   One thing that continually drives me crazy (not to mention the fact that the ones currently coming out are entirely awful), is the utter lack of both creativity and maturity.

It seems to me, that science fiction has become a very stagnant genre, basically everything coming out comes from one of three architypes… Firstly, you have the most common one, the Star Wars architype, mixing futuristic technology with fantastical powers in a setting where it’s a group of heroes against an entire empire/corporation/aliens/whatever… In my opinion, the most common one, and don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with that, especially with Star Wars, but seeing it for the umpteenth time in a film, is rather sickening. And segwaying into that, the second architype, Star Trek… I’m sure somebody can explain to me what 327 Mark IV means, but that’s entirely my point, despite myself again being somebody who has enjoyed Star Trek, basically a television show bogged down in the logistic and technology of the future. While Trek is very simple in the sense of its technology, it has inspired other television shows and movies to become very technology heavy, and ultimately caused it to loose potential viewership because the concepts and ideas are too broad for the most mainstream fan. And speaking of mainstream, the concept that has been becoming more and more popular as of late the “Aliens” or “Tremors” type sci-fi movie… basically horror movies in space or earth with monstrous creatures looking to take a bite out of the humans. A broad generalization, I know… but I’m just not a fan…

The problem with this though, and I don’t mean to offend the fans of these great sci-fi movies, basically the whole generation of movies that sprung off these originally great movies is that they’re tedious. There’s no new blood or energy going into it. I would say the same thing about fantasy movies, but the simple fact is the genre was pretty much killed off by these actions, for any movie not deliberately Conan, or anything associated with Conan. I can honestly say the only thing added to this genre was more violence. And honestly, not to be one of those self righteous puritans but is tedious violence really making any of these new movies coming out, like Pathfinder really making it a good movie?

I think the problem with it is, Hollywood, as well as your average movie goer tends to think such films, or television, like this is kid’s stuff, or it can only exist as a horror based camp on the subject. And honestly, that thinking couldn’t be further from the truth… There are millions of books out there that are easily classed as science fiction or fantasy that are deep, thought provoking, mature, sexy, brilliant, lucid, easy to understand and addressing serious problems and conflicts within the universe, and entertainingly figuring out ways to solve them. Not only in books, but this is often in such things like video games, pulp magazines, posted on the internet, pulp magazines like Heavy Metal (though those depictions are often sexualized and in very violent nature), comic books, need I go on? The fact is, the genre could be so much more in such a visual medium like movies or television, but the writers/producers/directors who develop such projects tend to be this three-track-minded mess of homages, ripoffs, and a serious lack of creativity. The network and executive heads seem to be even more entrenched in the fact that such subjects CAN ONLY be appealing to children, unless they’re outright ripping off Aliens.
As much as I love such movies and television like Star Wars, Sliders (a criminally abused and ignored television show, and in no way pertaining to this argument) and Galaxy Quest. I don’t want to see it reverberated for the millionth time, or god forbid tacked on, tedious continuity. (Gee, you think there would be another threat to the Jedi, and possibly the universe) You wonder why millions of people around the world consider themselves to be Aliens fans (except for the 3rd movie) and millions less are District 9 fans… Lack of foresight and imagination…

And I know that both genres can be seriously revolutionized and be made as both serious pieces of film that stay ingrained in the values of it’s genre. Look at Western and Cowboy films… what 20 years ago, the genre was thought to be dead… until The Last of the Mohicans came out. Slowly but surely people started taking the genre seriously, and look where we’re at now… there’s at least one major, financially successful, and serious Western movie coming out like once every other year. All it takes it just babysteps…

While my history may be slightly skewed… you understand my point… Matt can probably fix all this in post.

And what bugs me is that this is science fiction and fantasy… they KEY WORD… FANTASY!!! Anything can possibly happen and be reasonable in such a story. And the fact is, anything can and has happened in other sources (albeit, not as popular sources) of entertainment like books, comics, even video games have gone forth and done these things and have been successful with it… Why not film and television? Why haven’t they let science fiction and fantasy be mature, in more ways than one… I’m not just saying make it deep and meaningful… Why haven’t they made an exciting, sexy, and fantastic piece of fantasy or science fiction that can appeal to adults… Hell, the first Conan movie can easily be said as that. But then they changed the rules, made it for kids, and killed the film series’s credibility. There’s all the proof that I really have to bring up. Mature Science Fiction and Fantasy can, and has been a success being mature, as in deep and thought provoking or mature as in for adults (in more ways than one). Why hasn’t Hollywood pulled the trigger and tried to make money on it yet?

-Shaun

Originally written on the side of the enemy stronghold… in Beta Crypt Three…

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Writers Note-  Ha…  Originally Permalinked as 666…  The Irony…  Another genre to muse about another time…

Sequel Please!: Run Like Hell

by iconmatthew1

Usually I’m pretty critical of sequels, generally a story can generally be told in one installment with the exception of things such as action heroes and comic book films. Still there are some things that just deserve sequels. Whether it be a movie, book or video game some stories just need to be expanded on.

This time I’m talking about a video game developed by Digital Mayhem, Capcom, RenderWare and Interplay. The game was released in 2002 and really flew under the radar. By flew under the radar I mean ended up in the bargain bin pretty quick. Part of the reason was the game as an actual video game ran into issues, there were a lot of problems in development that caused the companies to rush. However the story in this game is simply amazing.

Run Like Hell works like a sci-fi thriller. Think “The Thing” and “Aliens”. I’m not saying the story is as good as these two films (better than the movie I’d like to forget exists “Aliens 3) but still its a really fun game.  So basic run down of the plot: Mining surveyor and former war hero Nicholas Conner returns to his space station to find it overrun by a hostile, previously unknown alien species known simply as The Race. Most of the crew members are dead, Nick’s fiance is trapped on the far side of the base, and Nick discovers the entire outpost is slowly degenerating into an alien hive. Using his war experience Nick must fight the hostile enemies to locate survivors on the outpost who can help him find Samantha.

The game seems simple enough, but there are some interesting elements in the gameplay. Some video game critics wrongfully were too harsh on this game I feel, and its time that Interplay pushes forward and makes a sequel to this. The game was originally meant to be a trilogy but low sales prevented that. I think if the Punisher can get three chances Run Like Hell deserves one more.

Any game that has Clancy Brown (Lex Luthor from Superman the animated series & other Bruce Timm animated works.) Oh and Michael Ironside he’s a voice actor in this game too! Come on MAKE A SEQUEL ALREADY! Below is a trailer for the game.