Posts Tagged ‘alien’
Friday at the Movies: Alien Covenant Review
At a certain point, many horror franchises follow a simple formula. This is especially true of the Alien franchise, which has pretty much followed the same key points since the first. Ridley Scott, director of the original, returned with Prometheus in an attempt to break that mold, but many fans were displeased with the fact that it wasn’t really an Alien movie. Well, Scott has done it again. This time, instead of sending you to a movie not marketed as an Alien film but taking place in the same universe, you now get a flat out sequel to Prometheus with the Alien label. Not only that, but this film’s actual plot is basically omitted from the trailers, which is why this review is completely spoiler free.
It’s a delicate balance that Scott manages to dance within both the concept of Prometheus and the cannon of Alien without having to make concessions. That said, for all his clever weaving, Alien Covenant does get trapped into what begins as the basic franchise formula. Sure, it’s not actually that, but you’ll still be forced to watch nearly an hour of setup that tricks you into thinking that’s what is happening. This begs the question, does it really break the formula or merely hide behind it? What results is a tried and true origin story that in areas delves into the philosophical but doesn’t forget you’re here to see a hideous creature rip people to shreds. On that point, it does not disappoint.
Horror 101 Episode 6: Alien (1979)
By listener request (but also because they love the film themselves) Fred and Jam delve deep into the Nostromo to cover Ridley Scott’s Alien from 1979. Plenty of discussion about what separates the film from others in the franchise, why it’s considered a horror movie, and a slew of information from behind the scenes.
Pocast: Licensed Horror Games
Horror video games are definitely abundant, but in the grand scheme they can be seen as somewhat niche. As a child we used to think licenses would enhance games, which most of the time didn’t work out. Fortunately it’s not all bad news for licensed horror games so Fred and Jam tackle the different titles that came out.
Podcast: Survival of the Fiercest
To continue the discussion began in our previous episode In Games No One Can Hear You Scream Fred and Jam delve into the world of the Predator and Aliens vs. Predator games. While you may only think of a couple, there is a robust library of very different games from talented studios.
Podcast: In Games, No One Can Hear You Scream
This week Fred and Jam chat about the wonderful world of Alien licensed games. As one of the few franchises that began at the same time as video games themselves, a mere three years after the initial film’s release there were Alien games. The trend continued across the entire film series run with varied success as each game attempts to be unique, expand the universe, and still be faithful to the original work.
Friday at the Movies: Prometheus Review
So technically this has nothing to do with video games, and in the past I tried to avoid off topic articles, but then I realized I own and maintain this site and can therefore do whatever I want. As a result, here’s a movie review!
Not another prequel. That’s all I could think when I first heard of Prometheus, which started life as a prequel to the movie/series Alien. Don’t get me wrong, I love Alien and the series that followed, but prequels always exploit countless plot holes, look so much better than the originals that supposedly happened after said prequel, and origin stories such as this are doomed to disappoint. Fortunately, this isn’t as much a prequel as it is a separate story that crosses paths with the Alien series and holds its own when considered a standalone film. I need to be very clear when I say this because it seems few who went to the movie this weekend seem to understand it: this is not intended to be a prequel to Alien nor is it part of the Alien series despite having many obvious connections. In fact, this was a great sci-fi romp that is recommended for most film fans other than those seeking an Alien film.
Gaming History 101 