Prometheus

Well my thoughts on Prometheus are a little varied. As a stand alone film I love it, as part of the Alien franchise, I struggle to reconcile it.

The following contains spoilers... you have been warned!

Ok lets start with a quick run down of the creation of the alien, and the involvement of the "Engineers".

In the opening scene we see a lone Engineer performing some form of ritual on earth... by ingesting the black goo the engineer de-constructs (at a DNA level we are shown) with the result that he kick starts the creation of life on earth (we'll overlook the fact he fell into water as splitting ovum, and just accept that proto-life evolved from there).

This sets up the fact that (big leap of faith here) the Engineers consider themselves some sort of life creating gods, and perform self sacrifice in there "holy mission" to create life on different planets (self sacrifice is necessary to fulfil the law of conservation of energy).

Later when the crew discover the cannisters of black goo we note that there are worms in the ground. When the cannisters leak their DNA is what gives rise to the "white worm" aliens.

When Shaw is impregnated by her infected husband the squid like alien takes its DNA from a gamete, hence it's requirement to impregnate a host.

However this is where I struggle to reconcile the remainder of the film.

• Why does the impregnated alien take on the "alien" form?
• Why do the white worms attack and essentially zombiefy it's prey?
• Why do they have acid for blood?
• Why were the Engineers running away? (I don't buy the bio-weapon theory)?
• Why did the Engineers direct us to the planet?    

So in summary my theory behind the film is that it's all an accident caused by these Engineers being over complacent in their "holy mission" to seed the universe, which accidentally created monsters by using the wrong DNA.  

Won't somebody think of The Owls?

I'd seen a few trailers for it and even played the demo of the game on the PS3 but the "Legends Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" was a total mystery to me. And it didn't let me down on expectations... it is a very beautifully rendered CGI film, with exquisite attention to detail (the feathers ruffled when the wind blew). One scene immediately springs to mind where they're flying through a storm in slow motion, the 3D rendered CGI raindrops and the "wet bedraggled look" of the owls was beyond description... if it's still on where you are go see it!



This was our first outing with the Unlimited cards from Cineworld, and hopefully the first of many, as the more you use them the better value they become. It was a really good experience being able to just pick the film hand over our passes and only pay a token £1.50 each for the privilege of a 3D film. The only thing that besmirched the experience was a member of the audience.

Where we decided to sit (which being late was a very quick selection) was roughly in the middle, and directly in front of a father and his 2 sons. Aside from them and us there was probably another 4 people in the cinema (owing mainly to the early performance and the fact the film was at the end of its run). As with all cinemas (at least when you're not in outrageously priced "first class" seats) the seats are far too close together and the inevitable fidgeting results in the person in front getting jostled, this is par for the course, and by and large I overlook it. If it becomes a regular occurrence, a quick look around is usually enough to shame the offender into staying still. Sadly in this instance it wasn't... I come to the conclusion the guy behind me was blissfully ignorant to the fact his son (who at the age of ~8 years old was sitting on his lap) was frequently banging the back of Nomis chair. So after a couple of jostles in rapid succession I turned around and exclaimed "seriously mate, please could you stop kicking the chair" to which he replied something along the lines of "why don't you move?". Thinking this was enough to point out what was occurring and he'd have the decency to either sit his son on a seat properly (of which there were hundreds) I turned around and resumed watching the film... only to feel yet another nudge in the back of Nomi's chair. Quickly spinning around I said "Why don't you move" to which he replied "we were here first"... now seriously am I in the wrong here? Shouldn't the offending party in something like this move away, not the victim? He knew what was going on and that it was his fault yet was refusing to do anything about it. So I stood up and said "fine" and promptly sat behind him and rather childishly (although not entirely deliberately) gently kicked the back of his chair :-) Oh what a feeling as he stomped off to get the manager :-) Eventually when he came back with the manager in tow I explained the situation calmly to the manager (who was very calm and collected) whist the other guy ranted and raved. Eventually after hearing my side of the story the manager advocated that "you're both here to enjoy the film, so can we all just sit down?" to which I replied "certainly... and I (emphasis on the I) promise not to kick the back of your chair mate". The rest of the film went on with us sitting behind him, and without incident. When we left after watching all the credits we bumped into the manager I had spoken to earlier, and apologised for the display and that how I was amazed at how idiotic some people could be. Thankfully he agreed with me.

Dalek

We've got two new composters to facilitate Nomis vegetable growing. Of course given their shape I now need to attach a sink plunger to them :)

Predators

Ah the movie I've been waiting for... or at least I hope. Fingers crossed when it comes out on the 8th July that I'm not disappointed. Only time will tell.

I bought a copy of SFX magazine specifically to read an article on Predators (See if you can spot the error with the picture). And I'm pleased to say what it said sounded very positive, a return to the old slow reveal (Tension building till you jump out of your skin) of movie monsters of the 80s, rather than the quick action packed scare the audience through making them jump of the 00's. And using SFX rather than CGI.

I hope it lives up to the original two... but lets face it as long as it's better than AvP I won't mind.

PS The errors the fact that the shoulder cannon has the classic 3 lasers targeting system on it, when in fact it's mounted on the side of the helmet.

Winchester Film Festival

Winchester Film Festival

Organised by a very good friend of mine, and showing such films as:

• Dog Soldiers
• The Wicker Man
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Blair Witch Project (Held in a cemetery... how cool)

Not to mention such fine guests as

• Terry Jones
• Don Letts
• Neil Marshall
• Matt Berry

Should be awesome... can't wait... watch this space.

AvP the Game

AvP... the new game... Although it's just simply called Aliens vs Predator, it's in fact the 3rd game of the franchise (The other 2 being released long before the films). I've played the original 2 on the PC, and it's made me a little sad to buy this on the PS3 as it marks a milestone in my life where I've moved from PC gaming to console gaming. But without a serious amount of money I'd not be able to do this game justice... as it's gorgeous!

I'll get the comparisons with the PC versions that were this games forbearer over quickly, as I'm probably being over critical... scratch that I know I am, it's a different era in gaming now from then (only 10 years ago tho,but that's an eon in gaming). Anyway... there's a couple of things that I'm sad to see missing from the new game, the first being the fact that you start as a fully grown Alien... not a chestburster, I thought that was a nice touch, having to "break free" and run off so I could feed and then grow to full size. The second being the view modes for the Predator, IR and normal only? come on, in Predator 2 it was established that there's several viewing modes to the helmet, OK so perhaps it was too easy to see Aliens in the first two, but it's impossible in the new game. ok now that's off my chest I'll continue to look at the game as new, as in fairness it's a re-imagining of the franchise.

I ordered the Hunters Edition, which is the Special Edition of the game... it was expensive, but well worth it, it came with a steel artbox for the game, a 1/3rd size Facehugger:



A 3D postcard:



And a Weyland Yutani embroidered badge (What I would have done for one of those as a kid!):



I pre-ordered it from HMV, and I have to say it arrived on time at least... my friend Matt received his (A standard edition) the day before. After starting to get a bit apprehensive to it arriving (I booked the day off to play it... sad I know), I was ecstatic when it arrived at lunchtime.

Many hours of gameplay later, I can safely say that I love it! The controls are a little different to other 1st person shooters, and will take a while to master, but they do make sense given the complexity of the weapons and "senses" involved in the Alien and Predator species, the Marine is just like other games of its kind.

The Predator and Alien lock on feature makes for very fluid melee combat, and although the game uses the "Chronicles of Riddick" style wobbly camera during melee combat, it actually doesn't make me feel disorientated, and actually adds to the immersiveness of the game... dare I say I love the camera work!

I can't pass comment on the storyline, as I've not completed it yet (I'm some 30% of the way through it now on "Normal"), but what I've seen so far I like, simple yet engaging.

So in summary buy it! along with some Redbull and a Pizza, then sit back relax and be the Hunter the Prey or the Survivor.

Not The Messiah

Me and Nomi went to see "Not the Messiah" at the Royal Albert Hall as a early Christmas present. I should really read up more on what I plan on going to see... as it was a total surprise to me that it was an oratorio and not a play. Not that I was disappointed, far from it I was really excited, I've seen plays, and musicals before. But never seen an Opera before... yes I know the difference, this wasn't an Opera, but it's close enough for an uncultured swine like me ;-)

During the opening few scenes I had quite a difficulty discerning the storyline from the "music" (The reason I say "music" is because I tend to let everything... instruments and vocals merge into one.... which is why I like foreign music, despite the fact I can't understand what they're saying... the singing is like another musical instrument to me). Thankfully Nomi pointed out that the program contained the words as well... so I spent the rest of the performance with my own personal subtitles :-)

After the show I just was elated... I'd seen Monty Python live... not actors playing parts, but some of the actual Pythons themselves. It was a shame that John Cleese didn't make a guest appearance given it was the 40th anniversary. I only hope they make a 50th anniversary performance now... I can't wait until then :-)

Edited 28/11/09

And of course not to forget the unexpected encore of the "Lumberjack" song performed by Michael Palin. I think Nomi would have quite happily died at that moment :-)

40 year old virgin

I wonder which came first... The shop in the show or in Lowerstoft? It's a cool concept for the technophobic... Must make money tho otherwise it wouldn't still be there?

Tatanka

Come on... Anyone who's seen Dances With Wolves must have done this at a zoo at some point in their lives :)

Carl Erik Rinsch

Carl Erik Rinsch is tipped to be the new director the the upcoming as yet unnamed Aliens film. Judging from his adverts he's going to be doing a lot of very good CGI work... I only hope the script can do it justice.

Here's some of his work:

"Read then Watch" vs "Watch then Read"

It's a double edged sword isn't it. If you watch it then read it... You know the ending before you finish. Read it first, and inevitably you find the film lacking. There are few exceptions to this rule. So how do you do both the book and the film justice? I guess there isn't a way... Short of making good film adaptations. But that's just crazy talk.

Whitstable Native

I've just started watching "Tipping the Velvet", it's a really good period drama... I'll let you form your own opinion, but i really feel for the main characters naivety. In the opening scene it shows her home town of Whitstable and the Famous Oyster Bars, sadly of the few that were left I couldn't find one open :-(

Albino Bagpuss

Think Bagpuss may be going grey in his old age :-)

Saw V

Awesome is the best single word you could use to describe this film. The Saw franchise is now on its 5th film and showing no signs of getting boring or repetitive. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it... But suffice to say there is going to be a Saw VI and I can't wait :)

The Day The Earth Stood Still

Well finally a role Keanu Reeves can act well in. Or rather act woodenly in :) this film looks like it'll be good... Do like a good disaster movie :)

Star Trek

Boy am I excited about the new Star Trek film... Hopefully they do it justice.

Cloverfield

Finally got around to watching Cloverfield. Somehow I managed to avoid finding anything out about it until I watched it. And I must say not knowing really helped add to the suspense. Kind of like a Sci-Fi Blair Witch :-) only difference being the massive budget. It never looked obvious the CG work combined with the single camera angle worked really well. Only thing I want to know is where they bought that camera... Not only is it indestructible but it has a unlimited battery and a never ending tape. An excellent film... So much so I was compelled to watch all of the special features. Which normally I never do.

Incendiary

My sister and her boyfriend were extras for this film... So I'll definately be going to see it when it comes out. Wonder if she made the final cut? Time to play spot the Wib :)

Amusing or Groanworthy Signs?

Saw these in HMV in Oxford :-) made me laugh :)

Death Race

Oh dear is all I can say... I want this film to work... I do. But it seems like it's going to be a film about extreme banger racing.