In interviews and various other press materials leading up to the release of Alien Covenant, Ridley Scott was adamant in proclaiming that the film would be more a return to its horror roots than the introspective look at the origin of man which was known as Prometheus. So knowing that -and that only- I went into Alien Covenant with a complete open mind. And the mixture of emotions towards the previous film felt by all three hosts of this very podcast -I loved Prometheus, Moreno kind of liked Prometheus, and Valley couldn’t stand Prometheus– really made this film and ensuing podcast an interesting way to end this already past my expectations retrospective.
Join Moreno, Valley, and myself, as we dissect the hell out of the film, and proclaim whether we love it, or if Ridley Scott has in fact lost it. If you listened a couple BingeCasts ago, you know how Valley feels. But how do I, a die hard fan of the series, and Moreno, a relative newcomer to the series, feel about it? What could possibly be next for the Alien series? And what’s next for the Aftertaste?
All these questions and more are answered below. So what are you waiting for, a personal invitation from a xenomorph? Download below!
This column will introduce you to the most popular movies that are coming out in theaters this weekend.
What movie will you see?
Alien: Covenant
This is an Alien movie. Space, crew, spaceships, running down corridors, jump scares, fire, an eating scene, guns, sweating, and aliens will all make an appearance in this flick. The cast includes, Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, and Demián Bichir (The Hateful Eight). Ridley Scott re-enters space to direct this prequel/sequel (whichever way you look at it). If you love this franchise, then definitely check this out this weekend.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul
During the Heffley’s road trip to attend their grandmothers 90th, Greg(wimpy kid), is messing up everyone’s plans by scheming to get himself to a video game convention. Starring in this family film franchise are Alicia Silverstone and Tom Everett Scott (That Thing You Do). Writing and directing this wimpy kid is David Bowers. Bowers has directed 2 other Wimpy Kid movies, Flushed Away, and Astro Boy. Don’t be a wimp. Go see this flick.
Everything, Everything
This tweeny drama romance flick is about a girl who is sheltered due to her allergies toward everything. She then falls in love with the boy who moves next door. This cast includes Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games), Nick Robinson (Jurassic World), Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls), and Ana de la Reguera (Nacho Libre). Stella Meghie is the director of this movie. I hope I told you everything you need to know about Everything, Everything. Hopefully this is everything you want in a movie.
Five years after Fox cashed in on the appeal of Aliens clashing with Predators, director Ridley Scott made it clear that he was ready to return to the science fiction world which put him on the map. He had a meeting with writer Jon Spaihts, and together they mapped out a prequel of sorts to one of the most highly regarded movies of all time.
But a more contemporary approach was not what Scott was looking for. And, in a controversial move, Fox brought in Lost‘s Damon Lindelof to add an extra outside dimension to the answers fans were looking for. The resulting film Prometheus is still debated by film goers -and the hosts of this very podcast- for what exactly it adds to the universe it was claiming to be a part of.
Join me, Jack Valley, and Johnny Moreno as we engage in what is probably the most debate heavy podcast that’s been had since I started sprinkling in the retrospective format. And then gear up, as we get ready to ride the Alien wave straight into Alien Covenant, to be reviewed the week following its release.
There are film series. And then there is the Alien series.
There may never be a more different set of films than the Alien films. A series where the first four entries only similarity is Sigourney Weaver’s character of Ellen Ripley. The second set is looked at by many as a wasted opportunity, and the original’s director comes back over thirty years later to tell the philosophy filled backstory. Moods contained in the films change, as do directors behind the scenes. But will we adapt to them all the further we go along?
I have been looking for an excuse to do a retrospective on for the almost two years I have been injecting this format into the Binge Aftertaste. And with Alien Covenant rolling right around the corner (a review of which will end this series of podcasts), could there be a bigger reason?
Actually yes, as Johnny/Alyx Moreno has not seen the majority of the films. What will he think? How is Aliens to him after being told to watch it at least twice a year since him and Jim Law have been on the air? Will the hype get to him?
I am really looking forward to this series. So download the first episode below and listen to me, Jack Valley, and Johnny/Alyx Moreno journey through space. And beer.
No matter how you feel about Deadpool -and if you heard this week’s Binge Cast you know exactly how I feel- there is no arguing that the success of Ryan Reynolds’ starring comic book film means a brand new awakening for the future of comic book filmmaking. The perseverance Reynolds displayed in getting Deadpool made has to be commended, and there will come a time in the next decade or so, much like we currently do with 2008’s Iron Man, that we will point to February of 2016 as the month ‘it all changed.’ There is no question that the box office results of Deadpool make for a hell of a success story. Reynolds fell on his ass so many times for the twelve plus years he took in getting it made, that I am not going to put him down for finally succeeding in his goals. That is a story which cannot be written if you tried, and I have all the respect in the world for him.
But it didn’t take long for its wave of success to cause word of Wolverine 3, supposedly the very final time Hugh Jackman dawns the iron fisted claws, now specifically aiming for an R rating. Fans of the character can be heard jumping for joy every which way you go. And this site’s very own Jackie Boy recently posted a well written article about comic book adaptations he would like to see slapped an R rating as well. Look. It’s great to be a ground breaker, and I think I have been fair enough in my praise of Deadpool‘s ability to be as much. Even if PLENTY of successful R rated comic book adaptions have been released in the years leading up to this one.
Interestingly, that leads right into my topic of this article. I decided to do some major digging, and research just what films in years past started trends, and how said trends keep going through the distillation machine that Hollywood is so very well known as having.
5) Space Movies
Yes, there had been Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and 2001: A Space Odyssey to fill our hearts and heads with enough space imagery to last a lifetime. But it wasn’t until George Lucas’s 1977 space opera Star Wars was released to massive success that they started becoming a Hollywood trend. Legend has it the sole reason for Ridley Scott’s Alien being greenlit was because it was the only other space script in 20th Century Fox’s offices at the time. But that wasn’t the only movie trying to capitalize on a trend. Enter The Black Hole, Enemy Mine, Solarbabies, Dune. And my favorite, James Bond’s very own Moonraker.
All of these were met with varying degrees of artistic and box office success, and the Hollywood machine keeps cranking them out to this day. Where’s a Bill Pullman motivational speech when we need one?
4) ‘Found Footage’ Films
Now, it can be argued that 1999’s The Blair Witch Project was the first film to put this genre in the widest of stratospheres (no, The Last Broadcast does NOT count), and there had been sporadic ‘found footage’ movies like 2007’s Rec beforehand. But 2009’s Paranormal Activity created what can only be described as a phenomenon. To put its success in perspective, there have been 397 found footage movies released since Paranormal Activity was released six years ago, and only 113 released before then.
Hatred is generally spewed at these films. Every once in awhile, a Cloverfield comes along to knock us on our asses. But for every Cloverfield, there are four or five Apollo 18s.
3) Gladiator Movies
Airplane captain Captain Oveur must have been living on cloud nine in the 2000s. After Ridley Scott’s Gladiator won five Academy Awards, earning over $450 million in the process, we saw more and more ‘sword and sandal epics’ hit the circuit with no abandon to spare. Movies like Kingdom of Heaven, Pathfinder, 300, and Scott’s own telling of Robin Hood came and went with barely a whimper. The only one I REALLY enjoyed from this time was Wolfgang Peterson’s 2004 Brad Pitt starring epic Troy. And even that was released to mixed reviews. Despite this, Troy would go on to make close to $500 million.
2) Die Hard on a (blank)
Anyone who grew up on the late 80s – early 90s remembers this trend. In fact, if you count recent films like Olympus Has Fallen, the trend is still going strong. After the Bruce Willis starring Die Hard was released to propulsive box office thunder in 1988, studios found another formula to mix into their money making medicine. Before long, Speed wasn’t Speed. It was ‘Die Hard on a Bus.’ Under Siege wasn’t Under Siege. It was ‘Die Hard on a Ship. Awakenings wasn’t just Awakenings. Ok, that one stuck.
There is no question about it. Die Hard remains one of the most influential films -not just ‘action’ films- ever made. With the perfect mix of violence and salty one liners, John McClane stepped into movie immortality. Yippee Kii Yayy is right.
1) 3D Movies
Ahhh, hello Avatar. One thing about Deadpool‘s success that seems to be getting overlooked in all the shock & awe over its opening weekend take, is how the movie took the film going public by storm –without the advent of its audience having to put on a pair of dirty recycled 3D glasses. This can only be a good thing, as the 3D experience has very rarely been anything of the sort, and is just an added incentive by studios to get audiences out of their houses and into theaters. Let me make clear: I see nothing wrong with that. But the problem is that 3D, with the exception of the aforementioned Avatar, adds absolutely nothing to the experience.
Immediately following Avatar‘s massive success, movies like Alice In Wonderland, 2010’s Clash of the Titans, almost the entire Marvel Universe, etc etc jumped on the bandwagon. Hell, even The Force Awakens didn’t turn down the opportunity to capitalize on the trend. Despite all of this, I have a feeling that if James Cameron doesn’t get off his ass and put Avatar 2 on the release board within the next couple years, executives are going to look mighty close at that little non 3D factor in Deadpool‘s success.
Let me reiterate here. I, in no way, feel these or any of the other trends in movie history are necessarily bad. I also understand that all of the examples I have mentioned above had examples of such before them. But there was always one which stuck out head and shoulders above the rest, planting itself in cinematic history. And Deadpool is one of those films. But I think James Gunn beautifully outlined the dangers of the lessons learned from the surprise $150 million take of Deadpool in its opening weekend. Wolverine 3 would already seem to be the trickle effect Gunn was talking about. And yes, as long as there are angry teenage boys, there will always be an audience for an ultra violent yuk-fest like Deadpool. But the danger of watering down your product to the point of obscurity hovers like a black cloud. A character like Superman does NOT warrant slapping an R rating on his movie just…because. Even when movies like Alien vs Predator and Terminator Salvation were getting PG-13 ratings, the incentives that drove so-called ‘outcries’ over the movies before they were even released never bothered me. A movie is never good based on its rating. Its rating is an organic off shoot of the film itself. With this in mind, I wish all filmmakers luck with the new current trend. Let’s hope it’s Die Hard by nature of lasting ability.
Some things are just a part of life. Air is what we breathe, barbers will always have return business and Hollywood is going to keep producing remakes. While a small percentage of remakes are good, I’d like to turn our attention to some films that acutally could benefit from being remade. Constantly there are reminders of the failure of Hollywood remakes, from Black Christmas to Arthur, but here’s a list of ten films that I think could and should be improved upon.
300 – 300 was and continues to be a fairly popular film and there is precedent for that. Without straying from the source material, 300 was a retelling of the Frank Miller graphic novel that gained a lot of traction due to the success of Sin City before it. Zack Snyder, a guy who I do not particularly like as a filmmaker, does an adequate job here making one of the great “hoo-rah” pump-up movies of the past few years, and films like this will always have a place with a certain audience. For me, 300 was a massive let down, but it was my own fault for letting the hype get to me. The trailers are still phenomenal, but the movie around them is incredibly one-dimensional and anti-climactic. The real tragedy is that the real story behind the 300 Spartans is MUCH MORE EPIC than what was put to page here. For example, did you know that the Spartans actually fought off the Persian army for three days AFTER Leonidas was killed, just to recover his body? There’s a really great action-drama in the vein of Apocalypto waiting to be made here and it is a shame that we haven’t gotten it yet. If ever there was a story that needs a fresh take on the big screen, I think it’s this one. Possible Directors – Peter Jackson, Mel Gibson, George Miller
Fire In The Sky – When your movie is famous for a terrifying alien probe scene you know you have something special. The unfortunate reality of Fire in the Sky is that outside of that one horrifying scene the movie suffers from being pretty average. There is not a surplus of great alien horror films out there from the perspective of people being abducted and in the right filmmaker’s hands this could be a modern classic, almost like the anti-Close Encounters.
Slaughterhouse-Five – One of the strangest time-travel stories ever, the movie simply struggles to capture what the book conveys so well. Without spoiling the story, Slaughterhouse-Five is about a man caught in time named Billy Pilgrim. Pilgrim seems to experience all moments of his life at once, only pausing occasionally in different times of self-awareness. Time travel is a tricky subject and especially so when you have a concept as abstract as this one, but intelligent science fiction is not too common so I think there is a place for this in the cinematic landscape. Possible Directors – Terry Gilliam, David Lynch, Shane Carruth
Soylent Green – There have been a ton of suggested gritty reboots over the past few years but Soylent Green is one that needs to happen. The entire idea of this film is ripe with social commentary, and like Slaughterhouse-Five could be the next great science-fiction concept. While the original film is a classic product of the 70’s, the themes of this film could be expanded upon and made into something even more meaningful and special with some quality writing.
Spawn – At some point, Spawn is coming back, so maybe this is an easy target. That being said, Spawn was always a really dark and intriguing character to me. A guy who dies and sells his soul to the devil in exchange to see his wife again is something that is pretty primal and ridiculous. The Michael Jai White film was largely a failure due to timing and execution. In a world where Deadpool is getting a fair shake, I think the odds of seeing a good Spawn film are higher now than ever before.
Star Trek The Final Frontier – I think we all have certain films that no matter how bad they are we just don’t care. For me, Star Trek The Final Frontier is one of those films, most likely due to the fact that I saw it so young. Despite that, the search for God is something that Star Trek is uniquely positioned to examine, it just seems that Shatner was not the guy to pull it off whatsoever. While Abrams was abjectly wrong for trying to remake The Wrath of Khan, my vote would have been to rework this story and run with it.
Super Mario Brothers – Let’s face it, Super Mario Brothers doesn’t have much in the way of redeeming qualities. In fact, I don’t know the name of the director who could have done this justice, but I do know who could knock this out of the park: Pixar. Whether it’s Pete Docter or any of the other phenomenal talent they have, I’d vote Pixar on this all day. While the licensing might be a challenge it would be well worth the investment.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – Superhero team-ups are all the rage these days so I think now is as good a time as any to take another crack at this one. Granted, Alan Moore is not kind to anyone who adapts his work, but I don’t think his approval is needed to make something great out of this. Who wouldn’t want to see an R-rated superhero team-up with famous literary characters? The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a must-remake if ever there was one.
The Odyssey – This movie is largely the entire reason why I created this article. To date, no one has made an effective or competent cinematic version of The Odyssey. The Hallmark channel Armand Assante production was ok, but it’s nowhere near as expansive or adult as I believe the story calls for. Greek mythology has not fared too well in recent years with there being an interesting opportunity for something innovative to be done. The Odyssey is one of the world’s oldest stories and I think it’s high time someone gives us a take on the material.
The Stunt Man – One of the coolest movie plots I know of, The Stunt Man is a criminally underseen film about a convinct on the run from the police who stumbles onto a movie set. The director hires him on the spot to use as a stunt man in the film he is directing and the stunts get more and more deadly as the shoot goes on. Peter O’Toole absolutely kills it here but this is an often overlooked film in the pantheon of 70’s thrillers. This is the kind of concept that is so wacky you can take it in a bunch of different directions, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed that someday we get an update.
Ever see a movie and think “This movie was just like that other one because of X, Y and Z”? I feel that way too, and for better or worse almost every movie is a product of what has come before it. I believe that most movies can be explained by comparing them to other films, so I break down the top three films that I believe contain the crucial elements that make up the film in question. This week’s entry is The Martian.
The Martian was a pretty big critical success, raking in a worldwide total of $319,197,016 so far. The film still has legs and audiences have responded positively to the sci-fi drama. When releasing a film, timing has a lot to do with how it is received, both in terms of the time of year and even the era in which it was released. The Martian has definitely benefited from a gap in quality theatrical releases, and as such is getting a ton of fans saying it’s an original and new type of film. While the film is really solid and possibly one of the year’s best, it definitely wears it’s influences on its sleeve. So how do you make The Martian? The recipe calls for three parts:
Cast Away was a big movie back in 2000 and it still stands as one of the acting pinnacles of Tom Hanks’ career. With director Robert Zemeckis, the story of Chuck Noland’s fight to survive was filled with raw emotion, talent and centered around the main character’s intelligence and will to survive. Sound familiar? The Martian borrowed heavily from Cast Away in terms of writing and acting. Replace the volleyball Wilson with Watney’s video diaries and you start to see the similarities even further. The fact that Scott’s film borrows from Zemeckis’ only cements both stories as solid pieces of entertainment.
Noticing a theme here? By no fault of his own, the indirect influence of Tom Hanks is all over The Martian. Apollo 13, the based-on-a-true story account of the ill-fated NASA mission to the moon is, much like Cast Away, another brilliant piece of acting from Hanks. This time with Ron Howard at the helm, the film does a really great job of conveying the triumph of scientific achievement in the face of overwhelming adversity. Through their communication with NASA and the resourcefulness of the astronauts, the men made it home safe. Despite the fact that Apollo 13 is a true story and that this event actually happened, the sequence of events is eerily similar to Watney’s experience. It’s easy to see that, again, whether it was Mark Waid’s source novel or Drew Goddard’s script, they went with the “if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it” approach and reworked this plot for new audiences.
The more perceptive of you could probably see this one coming, but make no mistake; Saving Private Ryan has a critical element of the mix. To quote the goddamn poster, “This time, the mission is a man.” There is no The Martian without a stranded Mark Watney, and as such Matt Damon proves he will always need saving. There’s something about Damon that makes him seem like a survivor, and for whatever reason we buy him in that role. Between this movie, The Martian and Interstellar, Damon is Hollywood’s go-to “man-sel in distress” these days.
So there you have it. The awkward love-child of Cast Away, Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan gives you The Martian. We’re not saying that Matt Damon is taking over for Tom Hanks but it kinda seems like Matt Damon is taking over for Tom Hanks. I can’t decide if that’s douche chilly or cool as hell. At this pace I wouldn’t be surprised if Damon’s next is a Bachelor Party/Toy Story/Turner and Hooch animated erotic murder mystery. Fingers crossed.
We’re looking for feedback on this article, so let us know what you think by commenting below. Thanks and Binge On!
Last week, I mentioned that I had two some would say unusual film viewing holiday traditions. One is watching all of the Superman films. While I proceeded to defend the much maligned Superman III in that instance, here there will be no defending. Do not ask me how it started, but each and every Christmas from about 2008 on, I have watched all the films starring the one and only character of Hannibal Lecter. Maybe it’s because it goes against anything that Christmas is traditionally about. Maybe it’s because two of my all time favorite directors -Ridley Scott and Michael Mann- are responsible for two films of the series. Or maybe it’s because one December I woke up with a hangover and saw the Silence of the Lambs box sitting next to me and thought, ‘I should make this a tradition.’ No matter the case, every December I feel the need to watch all five films. And every December I dread the moment I put Hannibal on.
Before I lace into the movie itself, let me go into a theory as to where I feel this movie’s source material stems from. Before Hannibal‘s incarnation, author and former newspaper reporter Thomas Harris had already written two books, with his infamous character playing a vital part in both. One was Red Dragon. Made into a feature called Manhunter by director Michael Mann and released to little fanfare in the mid 80s, producer Dino de Laurentiis sold the rights to Orion, who proceeded to make the much more successful and multi Oscar-winning feature Silence of the Lambs. Starring Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, the cat and mouse game between the two stars still makes for one of the most brutally captivating films to ever be released. Of special note is the film’s screenplay. Written by Ted Tally, the script does an excellent job of filtering out and condensing the book’s manuscript to a lean, mean two hours.
After this success, de Laurentiis got the rights back and started pressuring Harris to do another book starring the character so he could make another movie (ie more dollars). Eight years later the novel Hannibal was released. To say the book was a departure and massive mindfuck would be an understatement. In rereading the material fairly recently, I am here to say that the goings on in this book are nothing short of ridiculous. You have a character who was raped by her brother as a child grow up to be a lesbian bodybuilder who wants nothing more than to harvest some of her brother’s sperm in order to fulfill a clause in her father’s will. You have Hannibal and Clarice moving off into the sunset. You have wild boars causing slasher-inspired havoc. My theory is that Harris himself did not want to do this book, and did it out of spite for the character that Hollywood was putting pressure on him to resurrect. About the only stuff that works are the scenes that involve Hannibal being pursued in Italy by a money hungry investigator. Hannibal, now wearing a new face due to plastic surgery, is found out. But of course, him being Hannibal, gets away. I actually found these scenes, along with Harris’s vivid descriptions of Italy, fascinating, and it felt almost like a fictional journal entry from Harris himself describing how much he loved the country. The rest of the book, however, is an almost travesty of fiction.
Which is why is was not surprising when Jodie Foster and Jonathan Demme both gave the sequel the finger and turned down the opportunity to make, as Foster stated in interviews, ‘the most money (they) would ever see in their lives’ in order to keep the character of Clarice Starling the way she remembered it. The book itself is exactly as Foster describes it. It is a flat-out betrayal of the character. And while I have always maintained that Michelle Pfeiffer turning down the role was a real shot in the arm to who that character could have been, Foster played it very good and to the seams. She accomplished the toughest thing to do in acting: she made a character both strong and weak at the same time.
The role eventually went to Julianne Moore. Now, I have absolutely nothing negative to say about Moore as an actress. I think she was the only thing that made 2013’s Carrie remake remotely watchable, and she can definitely captivate the screen when given a chance. But she is really bad in Hannibal. Her accent goes in and out many times. When she tries to be strong it is almost laughable. And her scenes with Hannibal in this film are nothing short of cringe worthy. Again, not a complete knock on Moore, as the source material was far from the best. If anything, the way Moore plays Starling proves Foster to be completely right on the nose: Hannibal was a betrayal to the character, and no one, not even Pfeiffer, could have saved it.
Which leads me to the behind the scenes principles in the film. Steve Zaillian has proven time and again that he is a fantastic screenwriter. How he tried to condense this material into something nearly watchable has to be commended. But I do not feel even Tally -who also turned down the chance to come back- could have made the film that much better. When Demme turned down the directorial job, de Laurentiis turned to a proven -and by the time Hannibal‘s filming ended Oscar winning- director of films such as Alien and Gladiator. I have nothing but respect for Scott as a director. But no decision he makes here feels like the right one. From the cheesy opening titles, which consists of pigeons forming the face of Hannibal, to a boring shoot-out (a few shot soda cans and hastily put together car crash do NOT make for exciting to me), Scott really drops the ball here.
Yet, in an ironic way I feel what makes me most angry about Hannibal is all that I have described should have been avoided. You can put down Moore’s performance. You can put down Scott’s directing. You can put down the lack of condensing. But the simple truth is Thomas Harris’s book was not worth making in the first place. Wait, let me rephrase. The movie ended up making $362 million, so that is not true. What is true is that the material was not good. About the only wise choices made were not including Margot Verger -the character I described above- and keeping the suspense of when Clarice & Hannibal finally meet an edge of your seat experience. But even then, I do not like him stroking her hair. It felt cheesy and unnecessary. All of which describes the making and result of this film.