Alien vs. Predator!

[Oblivion437]

Burke wasn't just slimy and Machiavellian, he was Paul Reiser, and as anyone who saw the suicide cult episode of Family Guy knows, Paul Reiser is not good.

Joking aside, I felt that Alien 3 was limited by the director's own style, which worked well in other downbeat-edged films like Fight Club.

There were two master shots, the first where Hicks and Newt are dropped into the massive furnace, the second when Ripley sends herself down, and the prison is locked up forever. It seems almost like something was after her, and when she finally dies, it's like a sense of overwhelming closure is just leaping from the film. The combination of the music and low-angled cinematography gave the whole scene a layer of emotion that's hard to understand unless you see.

The ending is what really amplifies the downbeat edge, with no victory and no good guy or happy ending, with the whole film building up. Alien: Resurrection was just a plain failure by comparison. At least Alien 3 succeeded artistically, if not so much in terms of entertainment.

Also, whoever likes bleak and hopeless films, try Alan J. Pakula's The Parallax View, a film with the kind of overwhelming hopelessness absolutely timely in the post-investigation failure of Jim Garrison...

[ 05-31-2004, 09:44 PM: Message edited by: Oblivion437 ]

[Barry the Sprout]

I like Alien Resurrection. It has a certain goofy charm about it. And every character actor in Hollywood is in it - Ron Perlman, Brad Dourif, Dan Hedeya, that Duvall chap whose first name I can never remember...

Okay so its not high art like the first two were and the third tried to be, but its worth it for bizzarre exchanges like:

-Jeez... do you put battery acid in this or something?!?
-Only for flavour.

[Oblivion437]

I thought he said, "nah man, just for color."

There was him, and Dan Hedaya, between them was every good moment in the film. Effective comic timing, however, doesn't suit a film of horror dress.

[Barry the Sprout]

You may be right about the quote. Its been a few months since I last saw it.

And I don't know about the comedy, I think it works pretty well in horror films often (and no, I don't mean in stuff like "Scary Movie"). And in Alien Resurrection the comedy is quite surreal, yet also quite understated at the same time as its all done so dead pan. Its a really peculiar film when all is said and done. I'm not so sure that it can be dismissed as a franchise misfire, its more of a misguided attempt at a new style for an old theme. Well intentioned, but ultimately flawed.

[Morgeruat]

*bump*

The movies coming up in a little over a month.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/av...er/medium.html
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/av...ive/large.html
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/avp/featurette2/

[ 06-29-2004, 03:04 PM: Message edited by: Morgeruat ]

[Xen]

Looks great! I`m looking forward to see the film.