Despite Director Ridely Scott’s claims that his upcoming Prometheus is only vaguely related to his Sci-Fi/Horror classic Alien, the more footage that comes out, the clearer it becomes the films are unmistakably related. Last month we saw the clip of Guy Pierce‘s character ‘Peter Weyland’ giving a speech and hinting towards the technology that would make possible the later space exploration. Now we have an extended look…
So, we have the music from the original, the ship from the original, the space jockey, LV-426, and the Weyland Company.
So I am pretty sure that everyone has heard about Prometheus, the next Ridley Scott joint, which was supposed to be the prequel to Alien, but ended up being branched off into a separate story. That alone makes me excited just because Ridley Scott has always been a great director, and if anyone can actually bring a good story together and make it visually appealing without having to Michael Bay the crap out of it, I’m game.It’s never good when nowadays, you have Spielberg trying to out-Spielberg himself constantly.
I am really excited for this movie because I think if Alien was the most underrated sci-fi flick of all time (mostly due to the superior ‘Aliens’ from Mr. Titanic/Avatar himself). Plus the cast is not one to sneeze at with Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Guy Pearce, Michael Fassbender, Patrick Wilson, Logan Marshall-Green, and Noomi Rapace. So yeah, seeing the teaser, it looked awesome. Plus co-written by one of the creators of Lost (Damon Lindelof and John Spaihts being the other co-writer) it promises to be good times. Below is actually the new international trailer and I have not watched it yet. Shall we do that right now after the break?
So that was a subtle trailer. Just let you know that stuff is about to go down, maybe a face hugger or two, maybe some psychological issues, and some giant ass monumental about to wreck your crap. I’m sold. Even if I can’t tell if it comes off more Alien than Event Horizon…which isn’t a bad thing because Event Horizon still creeps me out. Just sayin’. I just expect raptors to show up and clever girl people when Sam Neill is on the screen.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance easily surpasses it’s predecessor, but not by much. They definitely ignored events of the first one and started from scratch, getting straight to the point with the opening sequence. Given that, it still seemed like the filmmakers were sort of relying on you having seen the first movie so you had a better understanding of what the Rider is even though they explained everything in five minutes. Nicolas Cage is at his quirky best in the film, acting half crazed in several scenes as he struggles to keep Ghost Rider within himself.
The plot of the movie reminded me a lot of the plot from Drive Angry, another Cage starring flick involving a satanic cult attempting to take a child that will be used to bring the devil to our world and create hell on Earth. The premise was the same in Spirit of Vengeance, but the execution was less ridiculous than it was in Drive Angry. The devil himself walks the Earth in Spirit of Vengeance, played by Ciarán Hinds. Hinds, who has most recently appeared in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy seems to be wasted in the role of the devil. (Or Roarke as he is known in the movie) I remember back to when Rome was still on HBO and he played the role of Caesar and just can’t pinpoint why he would accept this role except for the cash. The same could be said for actor Idris Elba, but he seems right at home in the role of Moreau, the French, wine drinking holy man who assists Johnny Blaze in trying to regain his humanity in this installment of Ghost Rider.
Nicolas Cage used to be a great actor, but now he has become a sort of caricature of himself in many ways. It’s known that he had financial troubles in recent years and it’s now common knowledge as to why he releases nearly six movies every other year. I’m not saying I won’t go see any Nicolas Cage movies anymore, I’m just saying he’s no longer the actor he once was, we just can’t expect anything spectacular out of him anymore performance wise.
Even though the movie’s plot was dog crap and typical of many supernatural movies in recent years, the special effects in regard to Ghost Rider himself were excellent. The first time you experience him in the movie he is definitely a creepy sight to behold as his movements as he walks toward a victim are choppy and erratic. His head tilting and screaming were also a bit disconcerting. This wears off later in the movie, but I thought they couldn’t have done a better job with the character who is pretty one dimensional in the comics anyhow. The action sequences weren’t all that bad either and was one of the main things that even kept me awake during the movie. I loved the concept of the Rider being able to change any vehicle he rides into a flame spewing death machine.
*Minor Spoiler*
I never looked much into the origin of Ghost Rider aside from his human host making a deal or being cursed, but in the movie we are treated to one. It turns out the Rider was formerly an Angel called Zarathos, the Spirit of Justice, who was sent to Earth to help mankind. Unfortunately he was driven mad after being captured by the forces of hell and now in his form as Ghost Rider he punishes everyone no matter the severity of their crime. I thought that was an interesting take on the character.
Overall I give Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 2 out of 5 grizzlies.
It wasn’t as good as I expected, but it was definitely better than the first Ghost Rider movie. I honestly hope at this point that they might be done with trying to make Ghost Rider something more than he is. I wouldn’t think they would make yet another movie to attempt correcting the things wrong with this movie, but it is Hollywood so you never know. I think Ghost Rider is in the same boat as Punisher, he has a faithful following but not enough to elevate him into the box office smash hit like Spiderman or Iron Man. It was a nice try for the studio to make up for the first Ghost Rider though.
Not too long ago we took a look at Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, a sci-fi prequel to Alien that looks to be quite epic. Of course, looks isn’t exactly the right word as we haven’t seen anything besides a few Hi-Res images which you can check out here.
For a movie that is allegedly a prequel to the mega popular and for the most part amazing Alien saga, the amount of news we’ve seen is scarce. Compared to the daily updates from movies like The Dark Knight Rises, its surprising that Prometheus has largely stayed off the radar, with the exception of a few pieces of news here and there.
For those of you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, Prometheus started its life as the next installment in the Alien saga, but it grew in the development stage into its very own movie. While still maintaining close ties to the Alien world, it turned into… well… we don’t really know yet. An origin story that needed an origin story, basically. And it all started because of this guy.
Well the second season of the BBC hit Luther(which already aired in the UK) is set to premiere on BBC America tonight, and I can tell you – it’s excellent. If you aren’t familiar with the show, it stars Idris Elba (The Wire) as ‘John Luther’, an English Homicide Detective who often heads up the most gruesome of cases and is dealing with the end of his marriage.
Sounds pretty standard no? Well, it’s not. In fact, it’s extraordinary. The writing, how it’s shot, even the music are all brilliant. And season 1 is available streaming on Netflix. At only 6 episodes, the first season is a quick and easy watch, and it’s one I can’t recommend more highly. I watched it straight though.
So Season 2 makes its American debut tonight, and I meant to get this up sooner so people might have time to get caught up, but I’m a terrible person so here we are. Anyhow, here is some teasers for season 2…
Grizzly Bomb 