zombie84

I just added a working Nintendo Virtual Boy to my collection. Review will be coming soon! I played this a few times in 1995 at the Blockbuster Video demo station and thought it was cool but not as good as the Game Boy, but I mainly like it for the physical design. Came with Mario Tennis, which was the same game I tried out at Blockbuster back in the day, so this is still the only game I have played for it (although I mihght have tried that boxing game as well back then). Looking to pick up the 3D Wario game soon.

I'm here! So, some major stuff got in the way. I feel like I have to say this every month, for one reason or another. This one was technical difficulties plus Demonoid going RIP, plus a few personal things. But by the end of next week, this whole thing should be live, for better or worse, hopefully for the better. I'm probably going to just cheap out and release it with interlaced segments and put a disclaimer to use a de-interlacing filter. It just seems like the fastest way to get this out, all things considering.

Just got the Sega Dreamcast fishing rod accessory with Sega Bass Fishing and Sega Marine Fishing. Hoping to try this out tonight! I was never one to own accessories but the Dreamcast just has so many of them I can't resist.

Why would it be because of over-regulation? That doesn't make much sense. It would probably be due to depletion of natural resources, which Blade Runner seems to be going with.

I think deep space natural resource collection in any scenario would due to scarcity on earth, and not something as random as over-regulation.

Prometheus was designed as a duo of films, depending on if the first one was successful, and the film has been very profitable so far. Prometheus 2 has not been officially green-lit as far as I know, but the wheels certainly seem to be in motion and Scott has talked about it a lot. It depends on Sir Scott's schedule right now more than anything.

That would have worked if it was set on the same planet as Alien (it's not), but then you'd have the implausibility of fossilization occuring in a few decades instead of hundreds of years. Of course, the premise of Prometheus is implausible in the first place so maybe people would let that slide, it's hard to pin down these sorts of technicalities when some are accepted and some seem hard to swallow, personally I feel that would violate the movie's logic somehow, although I probably would not be complaining too loudly if they did go that way.

What interests me more is the fact that the engineer in Alien is of different design and proportions than in Prometheus. It's at least 25% larger, and it's not an astronaut sitting in the chair, the astronaut is the chair. I think this is one of the most overlooked aspects of Giger's design in that he seems to be implying that the being is part of the ship, that the ship itself is alive, which explains all the bone shapes and organic parts to it, and the beings and the ship are basically one and grow into each other using some sort of technology we can't even really grasp. I guess this is similar to the BSG ships that appear to be craft but are actually organic beings. Because even though Dallas says it looks like it has grown on to the chair, it hasn't, the chair design actually overlaps into his body as one cohesive design. In fact, if you look at the proportions, it doesn't even look like his legs could "fit" in the chair, it's like this weird being growing out of some sort of pod on the ship.

I'm sure though that they were originally prepared to ignore that, and the original script certainly seems to have.

I've noticed though that in the scene where David finds the pod cargo hold near the end, the gate he passes through has two enormous guardian statues that hold an uncanny resemblance to that original Alien astronaut, as long as you accept that it wasn't part of the ship itself but a being sitting in the chair. They shrunk down the engineer for Prometheus, changed his design and changed the design of the chair as well as his space suit. But then there are those giant statues that look a bit different. Maybe there are more than one type of Engineer? Would that be related to the giant head in the pod room? It has religious overtones, and the "engineer" artifact in Alien realistically would have been thousands of years old. Lots of interesting questions raised. I think Prometheus 2 may have some additional clues....or maybe they just accepted a few design inconsistencies. Personally I think either possibility is equally likely to be true.

Watched Looper finally.

Good film, but was a bit disappointed. I had heard so many "woah, this film is amazing" hype that I was really expecting something a bit deeper or more interesting, either intellectually or emotionally. The first half was really good though and set up a great premise, and in the second half it was nice to see Bruce Willis covered in blood mowing down scores of henchmen with two machine guns, a direction I didn't think the film would go to. All the actors are good and it's well directed, but the set up seemed to have grander implications than just a bunch of people running around a farm with shotguns in the end. It does make for some decent post-movie discussion, so that's a good sign. I think I was just expecting something more than being mildly above average. But enjoyable nonetheless.

Also, the last time I owned Nintendo hardware was 1990, but as my parents bought me my Gameboy this is the first Nintendo hardware I have actually paid for myself. My Sega consoles are judging me right now...fortunately, I have the Dreamcast fishing rod accessory on my way in the mail with two fishing games.

I originally wanted to buy a broken one on the cheap, just to use as decor. Because for $50-80, it's kind of a cool, futuristric yet cheesy sort of rare thing to have over top of your TV. But when I found a tested and working one that came with the only good game for it(Mario Tennis) for only $40 more, I thought what the hell. Mario Tennis was one of the only games I played for it back in the day, and if it ships broken (these things were made like china ware) then I basically got what I wanted, and if it works then hey, I guess I have 3-4 hours of entertainment ahead of me before I get bored and put it on the mantle to collect dust like I wanted. Considering these normally sell for $300-500, I felt like I got an okay deal. Plus I can still try out that Wario game I never got to play.

I just bought a Virtual Boy...

Everytime I visit eBay I end up a little bit more broke. But it was too good of a deal.

Bingowings said:

Cutting the extended Vickers/Weyland scene was nuts, it completely scuppers a large portion of the final act.

By the looks of things there are more unused material out there (the shot of the Engineer reading a book looked very Mary Shelley).

So anyone else think Fox is double dipping on us?

I agree about the Vickers/Weyland scene. I also felt the more you understood him as a character and saw performance like that, the less distracting the makeup seemed. Between that and the extended Engineer awakening scene, Weyland develops as a character a lot more. I wish they kept at least some of that.

Not having the release yet, is that still shot of the Engineer reading from the book not in the deleted scene? I saw that still and thought what a brilliant moment, would be disappointing if it wasn't at least in the alternate ending.

It seems like half the deleted material is forgetable--no wonder they refilmed and cut so much of Holloway's scenes, he's just enough of an asshole in the final film to prove one of the films points, but he just comes across a complete jerkoff in the original material--while the other half would have likely improved the film if at least part of it was included. With the run-time of the theatrical cut being very, very close to two hours exactly, I'm sure that was a studio thing of "you can make it how you want, just make it two hours." Another ten minutes of breathing room would probably add a little bit more to the film.

I actually still have my VHS tape from "Fox afternoon at the movies" from about 1991 (probably right before T2 came out). However, it has footage that is never seen in most other places, because this aired in the afternoon so there is alternate footage to hide some of the violence that never appeared in the theatrical cut. For instance, the police officer played by the T2 co-writer that gets his head bashed with the door is instead just thrown to the side and we see a new shot of him landing facedown on the concrete. The gun store owner's death also cuts to an outside shot of the building where we hear the gunshot. I'm not sure if there is more, but those are the ones I know of. I've never seen them on Youtube or anything though.

Well since O'Bannon isn't around, it's not really possible to have him write it, is it? Alien, the film, doesn't much reflect his original screenplay anyway, without offense to him I wouldn't want him writing another Alien film. Alien wasn't his baby, it was a collaborative effort that began with his original storyline, but that storyline was pretty different in execution than the film.

Again, I think it's reaching to compare Brandywine to Lucasfilm, just because they are making sequels. The original film was never a one-man-film in the auteur style, and the guy who was in the drivers seat--Scott--was in the drivers seat for this one. It's as close as one could get without bringing Giger back onboard.Comparing it to the prequels is just searching for criticism. There are no Jar Jar dolls and podracing video games here, you can't get a Taco Bell prometheus combo, it isn't being marketed to or pandering to kids, and the marketing scheme they did use is one of the most sophisticated and intelligently done ones in movie history.

So, other than being a prequel--a sort-of prequel--to a film from the 70s, no it's not really at all like the Star Wars prequels, other than the fact that you didn't like both.

Bingowings said:

Yeah, almost as much of a money spinner as those Star Wars prequels.

I don't think that is a very legitimate comparison.

Just for the record, because I found it infuriating as hell when people started saying this film made no money...

An R-rated semi-original sci-fi film without A-list actors and machine guns with a budget of $130 million just crossed the $401 million worldwide theatrical gross.

And theater sales are 50% of a movie's profit margin.

Just saying....

This is one of Fox's bigger success stories in recent years.

That doesn't surprise me that Broadsword was popular in Germany, I think one of the reasons I like it so much is that the sound and the artwork are very heavy metal influenced. Of course, two years or so later, Jethro Tull won for "best metal album" at the American Grammy awards...what were they thinking?? But a very good album nonetheless. I swear, after that for about ten years there must have been metal fans who hated Jethro Tull just based on the fact that they were even included in that category, let alone took it from Metallica.

I think the backlash here is mainly because it is falling into the teal-and-orange trap. Which is a bit unfortunate. Like many 80s movies, the colour palette should be closer to blue-and-red, because that was the teal-and-orange of the 80s. But anyway, in many of the screens so far the new transfer is way better and more accurate than the old one. Rather dramatic differences like the close-up of Reese could have easily been meant to have originally looked like that--but more on the blue-side rather than slightly teal--because that's how all nightime scenes in Cameron films look, and in this case it was probably shot neutral and meant to be timed in post to be blue, but the previous colorist didn't know that and left it raw. This happens all the time in transfers. Frankly the older one looks a bit like shit, the new one just seems a bit too modernized in some places but I think the difference is not gigantic. Overall these look fantastic, with some reservations.

I'm still confused though, is this available in the US and Canada? I've held off buying the film on BD because my DVD looks about the same but this is enough of an improvement to justify spending twenty dollars, and it's one of my favourite films.

DominicCob, I see you are discovering the art house history of foreign cinema. I went through the same marathon when I was about 17 or 18.

AntcuFaalb said:

Bingowings said:

AntcuFaalb said:

Bingowings said:

I wouldn't call myself a fan as such but I do like some of their recordings.

Which one is Jethro again?

Jethro Tull is the name of the band. Ian Anderson is the well-known front-man.

Sorry but you have fallen victim to a running gag.

Argh! >:-O

Owen Wilson at 1:25 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INLo0Zr0_lA

Pretty big Tull fan here. My dad has almost every album that was released on vinyl, and since I now have inherited his collection many years ago that means I am pretty well stocked on Tull. I grew up listening to his music to the point where I couldn't stand Aqualung because I heard it so often. Of course, 17 years later and I can listen to that song on repeat no problem.

Favourite albums:

-Aqualung

-Heavy Horses

-Broadsword and the Beast (why isn't this album better known???)

With a runner up maybe being Songs from the Wood.

True story, in my european history class we actually had part of a lecture on Jethro Tull, the actual man, and whenever my prof would say "Jethro Tull" someone from the balcony would yell out "YEAH!!" and after the third time our prof had to ask what the heck was going on. Apparently he had no idea who Jethro Tull was. The sad part was the man was in his 30s! It's weird to think that there is now a generational gap between teens and early 20-somethings who know Tull from their baby boomer parents and Rock Band, and those in their late 30s who grew up in the 80s and early 90s when Tull was in decline and not well known.

To be honest though, there are so many Jethro Tull albums that I am pretty sure I have about two that I have never even played yet.

Not enough drugs.

When you really break it down that doesn't hold up as strongly as first impression may give though.

The ship is not the same ship as Alien. The Engineer is not the same creature seen in Alien--that creature has a slightly different face, slightly different design and is still about 20% larger. It's also attached to the chair, as in the designs overlap, not just growing onto it from decay. That one also carries alien eggs, never seen in Prometheus. The planet is different. None of the characters are the same--except the Weyland namesake. Even the state of technology seems to be on a different timeline (yes, I relaize it's because in the 1970s that's how it seemed things would go). Plus, the styles of the two films are quie different, other than having sci-fi/horror elements.

But you are right, the design and the set-pieces definitely recall Alien and are clearly intentionally based around the designs from that film.

That's why I say it isn't really isn't a prequel. It's a film that takes the design elements and set-pieces from Alien and re-configures them for a story that is apart. At the most one could say it runs parallel. It's not really a sequel, but yet it's not distinctive enough to be truely seen as it's own thing, so it's that rare category of pseudo-sequel. There are a few historical precedents that have been made similarly, and they have always confused audiences as well. But prequel? That seems too definitive a term. I guess Prometheus 2 could easily turn the tables and tie it in with the Alien series better. But from what Scott has said, Prometheus 2 will be even more disconnected and take the series on it's own unique trajectory that almost completely leaves behind the Alien origins of the storyline. I think if that happens--and it seems to be in motion--people will be able to better frame the series as a parallel or alternate-universe sort of series, which I think will help.

No, she went back to rehab after the movie was filmed as I understand it.

Usually, but I think the reason is that the pinky is used less in everyday life so the longer nail doesn't interfere with things as much and is less conspicuous. But the index would probably be easier for the um, intended usage. And also for women, some women have every nail that long, so it's not a big deal.

I guess this does explain Carrie's slightly worn-out appearance in the film in very direct ways.

georgec said:

An astute redditor noticed something about Carrie's nail in ROTJ.

Holy shit that's a good find! Is that real?