I sneaked into our local cinema to see Alien when I was 10.... it was a lot easier in those days!! It messed me up quite bad, and gave me nightmares, which served me right!! but it was an excellent film...
I saw Alien again tonight and couldn't stop meself giggling at how wonderful it is. Where has Ridley Scott's creativity gone?? Screw American Gangster.
i have to disagree with you there, partner. I think Scott has become one of the finest refined craftsmen in his industry. His creativity is found in his ability to adapt his epic vision into a coherent and tight package. He has become quite a technical Director...,but not afraid to take risks. There are quite a few movies of his i dislike, but i still acknowledge them to be very well made movies. Why is it that you say he has lost his creativity? Dont you think brought a creative perspective to Black hawk down, matchstick men and kingdom of heaven?
Still not sure why Kingdom of heaven bombed. I thought the theatrical cut was aces and the Directors cut belongs in his master collection.
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There was a reason why I didn't say "screw Gladiator"
Kingdom of Heaven and Black Hawk Down are a mixed bag but at least you can see his directorial mark on them, even if one is a stock historical epic and the other a showcase for Orlando Bloom and Josh Hartnett pretending to act.
Considering his artistic talents, of which I was reminded of when I watched Alien, I feel his work has deteriorated pretty badly if you take American Gangster (I haven't seen Good Year). It looked slick enough, but the grungy palette used just didn't help the film rise out of mediocrity, and in my eyes makes it look like a drab version of Blow (which is an incredibly awful film by the way).
This is the guy who made Blade Runner for christs sake! American Gangster? Just not cricket.
It's his first very sober looking film. I thought it was interesting, lots of focus on character and story.
First time I saw BHD I got lost in the commotion and identically looking soldiers. But seeing it again I found out that THAT was it's strength, taht's what war's all about: lots of nasty sh!t with soldiers that are numbers. There is no identity in an army, but when the sh!t hits the fan, there suddenly is. I thought that was clever and authentic Scott 'layering'.
But if you think AG sucks, don't even go near A Good Year. Just steer clear.
I didn't think it sucked admittedly, that was hyperbole on my behalf. It was a mediocre crime film, but its strengths were the good performances (Josh Brolin the best in my opinion)and a good pot of source material in there. It suffers from alot more, but I don't want to derail the topic completely.
BR rules... I agree.. That is Scott at his best. I am a great Scott fan, but his best work is indeed Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise and Gladiator. The rest is still stunning, AG is getting used to because he refrains entirely from his signature slick look.
Yes, but in that sense, I think it definitely lacks something, perhaps you might disagree but I think it does. And it isn't even the fact that I am expecting a Ridley Scott film at all.
Instead, when I try and look at it simply as a film itself it feels drab and empty. If Ridley Scott was trying to attain to the level of Scorsese or DePalma or Coppola he failed. I think even Mike Newell got a better angle than what was seen in AG with Donnie Brasco. In American Gangster, there is no directorial imprint and the film suffers for it.
Hopefully Scott tries to pretend to be George Lucas in a few months and announces a Directors Cut that puts me thoughts to shame though. I would like to like American Gangster, but I don't.
AvP was horrible because they tried to tie it in with the original Alien movies. It would have been a better movie if they had stuck with the original Dark Horse story.
I haven't seen AvP:2 yet but I've heard it was awful, so I may just wait till it hits the movie channels.
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I thought the first Alien movie was by far the best. It had that vibe, like The Thing, it was more of a horror movie than an action adventure film like the sequels.
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Mar 4th, 2008 05:39 PM
