For my money, both Sir Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant” were worth the price of admission as the famed director dared to take this franchise he began back in 1979 in a different direction as they both dealt what happened before the events of the original. But regardless of Scott’s intentions, audiences were very critical of both films as many were expecting something along the lines of what they got before. After watching the teaser trailer for the upcoming “Alien: Romulus,” I get the feeling they will get what they want, but are we also charting our way back into familiar territory?
The start of this trailer features familiar visuals as we visit a spaceship which looks very much like the Nostromo. From there, we see a couple of capsules which I assume the humans hibernated in, and one is quite the bloody sight. From there, we see characters running through corridors, we see a female getting something very long and possibly deadly being pulled out of her throat and mouth. It all culminates with Caliee Spaeny wielding an “Aliens” looking weapon as she carefully traverses the corridor, terrified of what might be waiting for her around the corridor. Looking at the way she is dressed and the weapon she has in her hands, it is very clear Spaeny is being introduced as the Ellen Ripley of this franchise installment.
Looking at this first trailer, it has me wondering if 20th Century Studios (formerly 20th Century Fox) was adamant that it look like something which stoked the nostalgia of the “Alien” franchise’s most die-hard fans. Clearly, they feel the need to give the fans something they want after the commercial under-performance of “Alien: Covenant.” But if that is the studio executives’ intention, can they succeed in doing so as nothing can ever compare to the original? Moreover, there is no guarantee that the fans will be accepting of the same old thing when they get it.
For what it is worth, however, the image of those numerous facehuggers galloping out of a certain room to land on the faces of the unsuspecting is quite the sight. It gives new meaning to the term, “I want some head.”
What really gets me excited about this particular “Alien” installment is what I have read about it thus far. It is directed by Fede Alvarez who directed the “Evil Dead” remake which I was lukewarm about, but he also made the 2016 film “Don’t Breathe” which proved to be an excellent thriller and a great exercise in handling suspense in a motion picture. If Alvarez can make “Alien: Romulus” every bit as unnerving as “Don’t Breathe,” then we are in for quite the cinematic ride.
Also, this film is a interquel, a sidequel and a prequel as it takes place between the events portrayed in “Alien” and “Aliens.” Furthermore, it has the sincere approval of the directors of those two classic movies, Ridley Scott and James Cameron. Scott has been quoted as saying the rough cut he has seen is “fucking great,” and Cameron has praised the same cut as well. If that is not the best endorsement a filmmaker can get, what is?
While I am obligated to keep any expectations I have for “Alien: Romulus” in check as I do with most movies, I do look forward to checking it out when it arrives in theaters on August 16, 2024. Please feel free to check out the trailer below.
While at the Days of the Dead convention held in Los Angeles, California in late August of 2023, I got to attend the “Aliens” panel which featured several actors from the classic film. An audience member told the cast how this is one of the most quotable motion pictures of all time and asked if they ever get their famous lines of dialogue yelled back at them on a daily basis. Indeed, there are a plethora of memorable lines throughout which stay with the viewer long after they watch this film. Whether it is Sigourney Weaver saying, “get away from her you bitch” or the late Bill Paxton yelling out “we’re on an express elevator to hell, going down,” there is no forgetting what is said onscreen. This is saying a lot as James Cameron, who wrote and directed this sequel, is not always known for giving his actors great dialogue to work with. Then again, it is far better than the dialogue George Lucas gave us in those “Star Wars” prequels.
There is no doubt that actors will often find themselves faced with fans yelling lines of dialogue at them as they love what was said, and they always want to see if they can get a reaction out of those particular thespians. I remember interviewing Pierce Brosnan once about his movie “The November Man,” and I walked in to see him pouring himself a cup of coffee and mixing in some milk and sure. To this, I could not help but bring up a famous line he and several other actors have utter throughout history, but with a certain twist:
“Ah, stirred but not shaken!”
Thank goodness Brosnan had a great sense of humor about it.
When it comes to the cast of “Aliens,” their memories of their most well-known dialogue remain very vivid to them, and this provided some of the most entertaining moments during this Q&A session.
Daniel Kash (Private Spunkmeyer): I was in Florida once, and while I was there, someone said, “Nice pet you have there, Bishop.” That was right out of the blue. It was such an average line that no one cares about.
Carrie Henn (Newt): So, there was a line in the movie that, at the time, I asked why I am even saying this. And I know everybody says to me I know you hate the line, but you said it anyway. I learned to love it. The word “mostly,” it is amazing how many times that comes up. People will say it, and my friends will text it to me and they will say, “While I mostly saw this…” And then they always send me a second text saying “mostly.” People, I will be walking by them, and they will say it, and someone will then say “mostly.” If they only knew who was walking next to them. But yeah, it is the weirdest line, but it sticks.
Ricco Ross (Private Frost): This was maybe five years after the movie was made, and I had done a music video with Whitney Houston called “Saving All My Love for You.” I was the guy she was saving her love for. I remember walking in the hood one day and, this is a true story, a guy shouts out, “Hey Mr. Whitney Houston, how’s that Arcturian poontang?”
Cynthia Scott (Corporal Dietrich): I had a next-door neighbor in London, and he would come home from the pup every night three sheets to the wind. If I happened to be entering the house at the same time he’d go, “Oy, say that line again! Say your line!” And I would go, “Borderline malnutrition, but I don’t think there’s any permanent damage.”
Jenette Goldstein (Private Vasquez): People will yell “let’s rock” at me a lot.
William Hope (Lieutenant Gorman): You know, it’s just like, nice to meet you. You always were an asshole. And this happened in a swimming pool!
For myself, I would love to know if Sigourney Weaver ever gets anyone quoting one of Ellen Ripley’s best lines to her,
“Burke, I don’t know which species is worse. You don’t see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage.”
Whatever you may think of Cameron’s talent for dialogue, this remains one of the best things he has ever written.
On August 26, 2023, I found the time to attend the Days of The Dead convention which was held at the Hilton Hotel outside of LAX airport. The main highlight of the day for me was sitting in on the panel for “Aliens,” James Cameron’s classic film from the year 1986 which remains as exciting now as it was when first released. This brought many of the talent who worked in front of and behind the camera, and they were very enthusiastic to be here to discuss a motion picture you would think they have been asked every conceivable question about before this point.
One of the questions asked of everyone was about the biggest challenge everyone faced on set. The first to answer was Tom Woodruff Jr. He is best known as a special effects supervisor who studied under the tutelage of Stan Winston, and he later, along with Alec Gillis, founded Amalgamated Dynamics, an American special effects company specializing in animatronics and prosthetic make-up. “Aliens” was one of Tom’s earliest projects, and he was very direct with the audience about what he dealt with in this science fiction classic.
Tom Woodruff Jr.: For me, the biggest challenge was being on set with James Cameron (audience laughs). He was very specific. He’s a rare guy. He knows exactly what he wants, and he knows exactly what parts you don’t understand. The first time we had the aliens on set, it was a scene where there were a lot of fire throwers going on, and the alien was supposed to be hidden up in the wall and crawls out and reveals itself. We did a run through, and Cameron stopped the whole thing and he said, “Why is this alien brown and the rest of him is black?!” The answer I knew in my head was, I didn’t check it out. I remember he just grabbed a can of black spray paint, shook it up and sprayed it on the head. I also realized at that point we wasted a lot of time painting alien heads when we could have just grabbed a can of spray paint.
For Carrie Henn who plays the orphaned Newt, she had no prior acting experience when she was cast in “Aliens.” Her career as an actress did not last long as she later decided to become a schoolteacher after earning a degree in liberal studies and child development from California State University, Stanislaus. Her response to question given proved to be quite surprising.
Carrie Henn: One of the challenging things was actually being scared of it (the aliens) because, I mean, look at it. Everyone was in the suits at some point, but then they would turn around or I would see them outside of the suit completely or their head would be off. So, I would try to act like I was scared of it, when in reality I knew it was my friend. I was scared of dogs and still am because I have been bitten by many, so I used to just pretend that it was a dog chasing after me.
Ricco Ross portrays Private Ross in “Aliens,” and his most memorable lines of dialogue include “guess she doesn’t like the cornbread either” and “what are we supposed to use, harsh language?” He ended up turning down the opportunity to act in Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket” in order to appear in this film. Since “Aliens,” he has remained a busy actor in both movies and television and does not look to be lacking in work. This would still be the case were it not for the SAG/AFTRA and WGA strike which still rages on as I write this article.
Ricco Ross: The marines would have lunch and hang out in one area and the aliens would hang out in another area, and we didn’t kick it together. But I remember walking by one day and one of the aliens had his head under his arm and smoking a cigarette, and this was before iPhones, and I wish I had a camera because it was an amazing kind of classic photograph.
Cynthia Scott, also known as Cynthia Dale Scott, portrayed Corporal Dietrich in “Aliens,” and her other credits include “Rush” which stars Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh. She has long since left acting behind her and now dedicates her life to working in the visual arts. Her answer to this question reminded me of perhaps her most famous line in this film which is, “Maybe they don’t show up on infrared at all.”
Cynthia Scott: I think I am the only one that was grabbed by the alien, and it was extremely challenging because I did half of my own stunt. If you recall, I was taken straight up in the air, and we were so old school that the stunt was achieved with a gigantic sea saw. It was operated by a bunch of crew members. So, I was standing on the downside, and I say my line and the stuntman in the alien suit landed behind me, grabbed me, and simultaneously the crew members pulled down really fast on the other end and we go shooting up in the air so our whole center of gravity changes. And simultaneously I am lowering my live flamethrower and using it ostensibly on my friend Ricco (audience laughs). The first three or four takes, I fell off. I was so terrified of James Cameron that I thought I would be fired today. I’m telling you; it was really hard.
William Hope portrays Gorman, the inexperienced commanding officer of the Marines who would have been best to listen Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) if he had been quick to think about it. Like Ricco Ross, he turned down a role in “Full Metal Jacket” to appear in “Aliens.” Since then, he has given memorable performances in such movies as “Hellbound: Hellraiser II,” “Shining Through,” the cinematic version of the television show “The Saint,” “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Dark Shadows,” and the recent reboot of a sequel to “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” His words about James Cameron rang very true.
William Hope: Jim in those days was cutting his teeth in more ways than one because he knew everybody’s job better than they did apart from the actors. So, I was just obsessed with don’t screw this up. We knew the script was just something of a masterpiece. We knew it was very, very special. As for you guys (the alien actors), the only direct contact that I had was when the aliens come through the roof. It was just the most exciting scene to play. The big challenge was getting it right and Jim saying, “Good, okay, move on.”
Mark Rolston portrayed Drake, a close friend to fellow badass marine Vasquez who was played by Jenette Goldstein. His other credits include playing Hans in “Lethal Weapon 2,” Stef in “Robocop 2,” and Bogs Diamond in “The Shawshank Redemption.” He also acted in “The Departed” which earned its director, Martin Scorsese, his first ever Academy Award, and co-starred in “Saw V” and Saw VI” as Dan Erickson. On television, he portrayed Gordie Liman on “The Shield.”
Mark Rolston: The thing I remember was the creature creation. I actually came back to set to watch the entrance of the queen alien. It is seared in my memory because she was like a two-story puppet which was controlled by guys on the crew. The smallest guy on Tom (Woodruff Jr.’s) crew was the guy who gets stationed in the head, and his sole job, aside from being dressed in black and trying to hide, was to push the queen alien goo out the tail. Cameron at one moment said, “There’s too much goo! Too much goo! You are pushing on the wrong tube!” I was giggling my ass over that one, but it was such an impressive shot. You look at the film and you believe this is a living monster, but onstage you see it’s just a puppet. Such masterful filmmaking.
We are getting closer to the 40th anniversary of “Aliens,” and this sequel still holds up all these years later. Some of us got to see when it debuted in theaters back in 1986, and others like myself watched on VHS. But even on the small screen, this still proved to be one of the greatest cinematic roller coaster rides we ever went on, and it is so great to see new generations of movie buffs feel the same from one new year to the next.
On this week’s edition of yes, this movie really is that old, we have Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Released back in 1977, it is now being re-released in a new 4K remastered version in honor of its 40th anniversary. I first watched it on laserdisc at a friend’s house back in the 80’s, and I remember being somewhat traumatized by it as there were scenes which proved to be quite scary. I have since watched the film several times, but this 40th anniversary re-release allowed me to see it on the big screen for the first time. Suffice to say, this is the way you should view this particular Spielberg classic.
The film begins with strange discoveries being made in various parts of the world which include the appearance of Army airplanes reported to have gone missing back in the 1940’s, a lost cargo ship which has reappeared in the Gobi Desert for no discernable reason, and witnesses living in India are found singing a five-tone musical phrase which is revealed to be the distinctive sounds of UFO’s. Meanwhile, out in Indiana, Ray Neary a blue-collar worker, husband and father to three very loud kids, is working late at night after a large-scale power outage takes place, and he finds himself having a very close encounter with a UFO, one which lightly burns his face with its bright lights. From there, he becomes obsessed with finding out more about these alien visitors to where he gets left with subliminal messages he is desperate to find answers for.
Throughout the decades, there have been countless movies dealing with human beings and their first contact with extra-terrestrials, many of which feature the last remnants of humanity fighting off an alien invasion determined to wipe them out with extreme prejudice. As I got older, I came to realize how rare it is to have a science fiction movie which deals with aliens in a highly intelligent way. Among them are Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” Robert Zemeckis’ “Contact,” Spielberg’s “E.T.,” and Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival” which was one of the very best movies of 2016. Even rarer these days is the motion picture which leaves you in an extended state of wonder and awe from start to finish and even after you leave the theater.
Even 40 years after its release, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” still has an immense power to enthrall us as its characters come into contact with something they have longed to see. There is nothing about it which comes across as unintentionally laughable, and while technology has evolved to a whole other level since the 1970’s, this movie feels timeless in its exploration of possibilities and discoveries. It also works on many different levels in that it is funny, scary, thrilling, and deeply emotional.
This film is especially unique on Spielberg’s resume as it is one he directed and also wrote the screenplay for. It would also mark the last time he would direct his own screenplay until he made “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” in 2001. As a result, there should be no doubt of just how personal this film is to him. It turns out he wanted to make this one before “Jaws,” but he didn’t have the commercial clout at the time to get the budget he wanted. Of course, when “Jaws” came out, this changed forever.
Spielberg has said “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” is not actually a science fiction film, and watching it again has me agreeing with him completely. Yes, it does feature aliens and UFO’s, but they are not really the point. Also, this film takes place in a reality we all know and relate to. “Close Encounters” does not take place in some future dystopian world, but instead one we all inhabit as the main characters are regular people working regular jobs and supporting their families. They don’t want to see UFO’s, but they did, and now they cannot and will not deny their existence. Throughout this movie, we remain in the human universe and we never enter an alien one, and this is very important to point out here.
“Close Encounters” also deals with stories which would become a hallmark of future Spielberg films and productions such as “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial” and “Poltergeist” among others. Seeing the government conspire to keep this alien visitation a secret is presented in a way which feels not only realistic, but also very possible to pull off back in the 1970’s. But he also shows how the truth of things cannot be kept a secret forever, and, like Ray Neary, we want to see this all the way to the end because we won’t stop and until we get answers to fulfill our curiosities.
When it comes to the actors, Spielberg really just lets them loose here. He doesn’t direct them as much as he lets them run wild, and I don’t just mean the kids who are a noisy bunch as presented here. Richard Dreyfuss is perfectly cast as Ray Neary as he brings a crazed and enthusiastic energy to the role of a man who has seen things he wasn’t supposed to see, and he is not in a position to unlearn what he has learned. Even as Ray’s actions increasingly alienate him from his wife and kids, Dreyfuss makes us empathize with his plight as he is caught up in something he cannot turn his back on.
Melinda Dillon is equally wonderful as Jillian Guiler, another character who, along with her fearless son Barry (Cary Guffey), experiences a close encounter of her own. She also suffers the indignity of her son being kidnapped by aliens, but she is eventually reunited with him in the movie’s last half. It may sound like I’m giving plot points away here, but I’m not because Dillon’s performance is such an emotionally fulfilling one to witness as she takes Jillian through the stages of fright, grief, desolation, and eventually joy and happiness. She makes you experience these emotions with her, and seeing her smile when Barry reappears is a moment of pure elation.
Spielberg’s casting of filmmaker Francois Truffaut as Claude Lacombe, a French government scientist, was truly inspired. Along with Bob Balaban who plays David Laughlin, Lacombe’s assistant and interpreter, he portrays a government official who brings sanity to a situation which has other government officials responding to in a panic to where the quick answer is cover everything up and keep the number of witnesses to a bare minimum. Truffaut brings a strong level of thoughtfulness and wonderment to his character as Lacombe shows an openness to first contact others would not be quick to embrace. While military officers are eager to keep Ray and Jillian out of the area, Lacombe tries to make them see they were invited to be here.
Many images from “Close Encounters” will forever remain burned into my consciousness. The most prominent image of all is when young Barry opens the front door where an alien ship hovers outside, waiting to make contact with someone, anyone. This is still the defining image of who he not just as a filmmaker, but as a human being. Spielberg’s eagerness to make contact with aliens from another galaxy is no secret, and here’s hoping a UFO does make contact with him in his lifetime. Better they meet him than a certain person who is currently occupying the White House.
I think people these days who are seeing “Close Encounters” for the first time might say it takes too long to get to the last half where humans finally get to communicate with aliens. But like Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” this film is more about the journey than the final destination. Spielberg wants us to question what we believe and how far we will go to get answers to questions which have plagued us for an infinite amount of time, and we share the awe of the characters once those answers are delivered to us here. And it’s not just that the characters get answers here, they truly earn them as well.
This is also one of those films its director couldn’t stop tinkering with over the years. Ridley Scott couldn’t leave “Blade Runner” alone years after its release, and Oliver Stone continued to tinker with his dream project “Alexander” to where the final cut he gave us still doesn’t feel final. As Spielberg was finishing up “Close Encounters,” Columbia Pictures was in dire straits financially and begged the filmmaker to release his pet project sooner rather than later. What came out in 1977 wasn’t his complete vision, and he eventually got to make a special edition of the film which was released in 1980. The 4K restoration of “Close Encounters” is essentially a combination of both versions, but the scenes with Ray Neary exploring the inside of the mothership have been cut out. Spielberg has said over and over he never should have taken us inside the ship, and I completely agree. While Spielberg provides the characters with many answers, there are still some things better left to the imagination.
Seeing “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” at the Cinerama Dome afforded me the opportunity to see the movie in its most desirable format. The audience I saw it with was left spellbound at what unfolded, and this says so much about this movie’s staying power. Just when I think I have become so jaded and embittered a filmgoer as studios continue in their desperate search for the next big franchise, a motion picture like this comes along to remind us filmmakers still have the power to leave us in a state of sheer wonderment. It feels like we have had an overabundance of movie anniversaries lately to where these celebrations feel more like a ploy to get more money out of our pockets. But this particular anniversary is one worth acknowledging as it continually reaffirms the power of cinema to truly transport to another time and place and, in the process, rescue us from the real world even if it’s only for a temporary time.
The only thing which bugs me about “Close Encounters” these days is Ray’s decision to leave his family behind and travel with the aliens. Essentially, he is presented with the same question Captain Decker is faced with in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture;” Would you leave everything and everyone you have ever known behind just to explore another world and dimension? Seeing Ray getting on board the ship made me wonder how his family would have reacted to this decision, and it plagues my mind long after the end credits have finished. Then again, Spielberg did make this film before he had any kids of his own. Had he made it after he became a father, there’s no doubt Ray would have made a different decision. Still, one could not blame Spielberg or Ray for being tempted to go. I certainly would be tempted.
David Cronenberg’s remake of “The Fly” was released in 1986, a year filled with everlasting cinematic classics like “Aliens,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” “Platoon,” and “Top Gun.” More importantly, it came out during a time where remakes were very rare compared to today, and also when remakes were actually worth watching. Whereas remakes these days serve to capitalize on a known quantity or are being exploited for the sake of some potential franchise, “The Fly” is one where the director took what came before and made it completely his own.
You should all know the story by now. Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) is a brilliant and eccentric scientist who has invented a set of telepods which allow objects to travel instantaneously from one pod to another. Seth shares the story of his invention with science journalist Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) as he attempts to test teleportation on living subjects. Eventually, Seth decides to test it on himself, but he doesn’t realize a common housefly has entered the telepod with him, and the computer gets confused and ends up merging the two lifeforms at a molecular-genetic level. Seth believes the teleportation has purified his body as he discovers a strength he didn’t previously have, but it’s all a build up for a transformation which becomes all the more horrifying as “The Fly” reaches its gruesome climax.
What I love about “The Fly” is its slow build as Cronenberg makes Seth’s transformation into “Brundlefly” all the more unnerving by taking it one step at a time. We first see him engaging in an extraordinary set of gymnastics we would all love to be capable of, and then we watch as he puts an enormous amount of sugar into his coffee at a local diner. This leads Veronica to ask him, “Do you normally take coffee with your sugar?” While I expected a reply along the lines of Christian Slater’s in “True Romance” where he said, “I’m not satisfied until the spoon is standing straight up,” it is immediately clear that Seth is too involved in his own process to see the damage it is doing to his body.
Seth’s face comes to look like it is riddled with severe acne scars, and this brought about a number of PTSD flashbacks for me of when I dealt with my own acne outbreaks back in high school. But the key moment doesn’t come when Seth snaps a guy’s arm in half during an arm wrestle contest (it’s always painful to see a bone sticking out of a person’s body), but instead when he finds himself pulling out his own fingernails. Just the idea of pulling out your own fingernails is painful in itself, but seeing Seth pulling his out to where a great deal of puss explodes from his fingers proves to be even more painful than watching George Clooney getting his fingernails pulled out with a pair of plyers in “Syriana.”
At this point, I want to point out one of “The Fly’s” biggest stars which is Chris Walas. Walas won an Academy Award for Best Makeup for his work here, and it should go without saying just how much he deserved it. As Seth’s body continues to deteriorate in the midst of an unwanted, let alone unexpected, transformation, Walas makes each moment sting with a thankfulness we are not going through what this misguided scientist is. He also gives you the assurance that he and his colleagues have researched all there is to know about this kind of metamorphosis, and this makes Seth’s transformation all the more horrifying. Walas makes you believe something like this could actually happen to where you cannot help but react strongly to everything unfolding before you.
1986 was a big year in science fiction as Sigourney Weaver not only had the lead role in “Aliens,” back when it was rare for an actress to have such a role in a movie, but she also scored an Oscar nomination for her performance which was well-deserved. It’s a shame Goldblum didn’t get the same respect from the Academy as his performance is truly brilliant and wholly original. Just as Weaver dominated all those special effects in “Aliens,” Goldblum makes it clear the makeup is not doing all the acting for him as he fully inhabits Seth Brundle at every stage of his transformation. For the actor, the makeup becomes a costume which comes to inform his character throughout, and Goldblum is fearless in portraying this scientist’s descent into an unwanted fate.
Scientists in movies tend to be either over the top or exceedingly modest and timid, but Goldblum gives us one whose eccentricities make him more alluring than the average one. The actor even sells us on a wonderful moment where he explains why he wears the same suit, shirt and tie each day, and seeing his closet reminded me of a number of movie spoofs where this same situation was used for sheer comedic effect. Even as Seth becomes increasingly unpredictable, let alone unlikable, to be around, Goldblum seduces us deeply into his strange plight which brings about a change he never saw coming.
But let’s not leave out Geena Davis who shares a strong chemistry with Goldblum throughout, and this only makes sense as they were a couple at the time and were briefly married. As Veronica Quaife, Davis creates a complex character whom is eager to take advantage of Seth’s invention for the story of the century, but she soon finds herself falling for him to where she cannot tear herself away from his hideous transformation. The scene where she hugs him after getting her first glimpse at the horrific changes his body is going through brought about a loud gasp of disgust from the audience I watched this movie with at New Beverly Cinema, but it shows just how powerful her performance is. Veronica is at once mortified at how bad things are getting for Seth, and yet she can’t tear herself away from him because she is too emotionally involved to just give up on him. Davis’ commitment to her performance shows the range which would eventually earn her an Academy Award for her work in “The Accidental Tourist.”
Many see Cronenberg as a filmmaker who makes nothing more than gross-out horror movies, but they neglect to see the intelligence and thought he puts into each movie he makes. Whether it’s “The Fly” or “Rabid” or “Scanners” or “Dead Ringers” or “eXistenZ,” Cronenberg has fearlessly explored the phobias we all have of bodily transformation and disease to unforgettable effect. His movies are not designed to make you throw up, but instead to confront how our bodies deteriorate in one way or another. His remake of “The Fly” is one of his most unforgettable motion pictures as we can’t take our eyes off the screen even as Seth Brundle’s transformation becomes all the more disgusting. Its power comes from how it draws you in emotionally more than anything else, and we have as much luck at disconnecting ourselves from Seth’s unnerving plight as Veronica does.
Watching “The Fly” again, it is clearer than ever that this movie is about a tragic romance more than anything else. Heck, Shakespeare would have been proud to have written a tragedy like the one presented here. While much of the attention on this remake is forever directed at the makeup design which still grosses audiences out to this very day, it is the romance between Seth and Veronica which drives the story more than anything else. The two of them want to tear themselves away from one another, but deep down neither of them can truly bare to do so, and they are the kind of couple U2 sang their song “With or Without You” about.
If there’s anything wrong with “The Fly,” it’s the ending as things are resolved in a way which is not altogether satisfying. We are left with questions which would not be answered until “The Fly II,” and while that sequel had its moments, it’s no surprise how it paled in comparison to Cronenberg’s remake.
Horror movie remakes are a dime a dozen these days, but Cronenberg’s “The Fly” remains one of the best and most visceral. It is still the director’s biggest commercial hit to date, and I prefer to see this as proof of how his unique style of filmmaking can reach a wider audience than we typically realize. All these years later, Cronenberg remains one of the most original filmmakers working today, and we eagerly await his next cinematic opus with great anticipation.
In regards to horror movies, “John Carpenter’s The Thing” ranks highest on the list of my all-time favorite movies in general. However, if you were to ask me what I consider to be the scariest movie ever, the first that quickly comes to mind is Ridley Scott’s “Alien.” Now considered a classic haunted house kind of movie, it freaked me out far more than I had expected it to. These days, if I come across someone who hasn’t seen “Alien,” I would be desperate to take the time and watch it with them just to see the look on their face. What may seem like a harmless old science fiction movie still has the power to unnerve and creep up on its audience when they least expect it.
Now when I say that this movie freaked me out more than I expected it to, there are a number of reasons why: I ended up seeing James Cameron’s sequel “Aliens” beforehand, so I already knew Ellen Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver) was the sole survivor from the original. When I watched “Alien” for the very first time, it was back in the days of VCR’s and VHS tapes, and the one I obtained from my favorite video store was a fairly old copy which showed a bit of wear and tear. When it came to watching it, I got consigned to my parents’ bedroom as they had already called dibs on the big television in the family room which was connected to a “super cool” stereo system. The TV set in their bedroom was tiny by today’s standards. As I remember, it was a 13-inch set which was already on its last legs after years of use. This one didn’t have any surround sound system to enhance the experience, so I just tried to be happy I had a TV to view it on at all.
Having said all this, “Alien” still had my hairs standing on end throughout. Even though I knew who would live and die, the suspense and tension were extreme throughout, and you never ever felt safe on board the spaceship Nostromo. I can still remember hiding my eyes and would be turning the volume down at certain points because my heart threatened to stop beating a few times. Imagine if I had watched it for the first time on a big screen TV with surround system, or better yet, in a movie theater when it originally came out! I wouldn’t have slept for days! Some movies play better on the silver screen than on your television, but “Alien” appears to work on either format with the same degree of success.
There are many different reasons why Scott’s film remains such an effective sci-fi horror classic to this day. For me, it starts with the characters and how down to earth they are. While other outer space movies have characters who revel in the wonder of what’s out there, all the workers on the Nostromo treat their dark habitat as just another office job they take to get by. When we meet up with them, they are on their way back to Earth and just want to be home already. The writers also gave the actors dialogue which was never too heavy on the technobabble and hearing the characters talk about how they deserve full shares for the work they did defines them as blue collar workers. These are not brilliant scientists looking to discover new planets; they’re just people working for the man. The time Scott takes in introducing all these individuals pays off by the time we are given a visceral introduction to the alien of the movie’s title.
Now let’s talk about this alien which was designed by H.R. Geiger, a Swiss surrealist artist. I can’t really compare it to other movie creatures I’ve seen in the slightest because it looks so frighteningly unique in its construction. Its mouth hides an additional set of jaws that lunges out at unsuspecting victims as if they are “faster than a speeding bullet.” Furthermore, there is something quite phallic about that jaw in how it juts out at you without warning or of any thought of the damage it is about to inflict. Its lethal penetration is highly unnerving in how it reminds the viewer of what we all agree constitutes a serious and unconscionable violation to the human body.
But one of Ridley’s most brilliant moves with “Alien” was in not showing the creature fully. We only got glimpses of it throughout the film until the end, and even then we weren’t entirely sure of all that we saw. It was all up to our imaginations to figure out what kind of a threat this creature is. This added immeasurably to the film’s infinite suspense and unending tension. Plus, with the spaceship Nostromo designed to look all dark and shabby with not much light to be found in certain sections, this made it easier for the creature to hide. When it leaped up at the cast member about to meet his maker, it was completely unexpected and defined the jump out of your seat moment for me.
As the movie goes on, we get to an even more frightening aspect; of how corporations can put profits above their workers so coldly. When Ripley discovers the Nostromo crew was made to pick up an alien organism to bring back for further study and that they were expendable, it only further demonstrates just how much alone everyone is on the ship. To realize the company which has employed you couldn’t care less about your existence makes you fully aware of your immediate surroundings, and the instinct to survive becomes stronger than ever. Of course, are cynicism today has us expecting this from any corporation we work with, so we’re more prepared for this than the Nostromo crew was.
A lot of credit also goes to the late Jerry Goldsmith for creating a music score which adds subtly to the action, or at least until the film’s last half hour when the realm of outer space feels even smaller than before. His music touches on the tension inherent in each character without becoming melodramatic, and at times it sounds like invisible ghosts hovering over the unprepared crew waiting to strike. Also, the use of silence in certain scenes makes it even more frightening as we are reminded of how unsettling things can be when our surroundings become far too quiet for comfort.
All of this leads to one of the most intense climaxes in cinema history as we are fully aware of time running out. Just when you think the movie’s over, there’s still another horrendous challenge to overcome. It’s in the movie’s last minute where you can finally breathe a much-needed sigh of relief. Even if you know how of this movie will end, it is still an intensely riveting experience that never lets up for a second. The look in Ripley’s eyes as she makes her way to the escape shuttle perfectly mirrors our own emotions as she is forced into a situation which leaves her with no other options to consider.
I still have very vivid memories of seeing this movie on that unspectacular little television set in my parents’ bedroom while they enjoyed something on Masterpiece Theater with more advanced technology. As the beginning credits began to roll, I was convinced that sitting through this would be a piece of cake. Coincidentally, I also felt the same way about the original version of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” when I rented it through Netflix. “Alien” remains one of the most truly terrifying experiences I have ever had watching a movie either on the big screen or the small one. To this day, it remains an effectively scary movie which has lost none of its power. Now if 20th Century Fox had fully realized how all these elements had added to make such a great movie, those hopelessly pathetic “Alien vs. Predator” films might have actually been worth watching.
It was a huge shock to learn Bill Paxton just passed away at the age of 61 due to complications following heart surgery. He was an actor who was always working and never seemed to be lacking for jobs in front of or behind the camera. His sudden passing sent shock waves through Hollywood and movie fans everywhere, and we are all mourning the actor who was unforgettable in “Aliens,” “Apollo 13,” and the HBO series “Big Love.” The following article is one I wrote after I attended a screening of vampire movie he was gleefully fantastic in, “Near Dark.”
Bill Paxton and Jenette Goldstein stopped by New Beverly Cinema on Thursday, May 6, 2010, to introduce a screening of “Near Dark.” The cult classic was a vampire western horror hybrid made back in 1987 by Kathryn Bigelow, and it was being shown as a double feature with her Oscar-winning triumph, “The Hurt Locker.” It was not a sold-out screening, but this ended up making it all the more intimate for those who showed up. Paxton looked especially happy to be there as he was astonished there was actually a print of this movie still in existence.
When Paxton and Goldstein made “Near Dark,” they were just coming off of James Cameron’s “Aliens.” Paxton played Hudson, the soldier who thought he was so bad ass, and later turned into perhaps the single most annoying coward in cinematic history. Goldstein played Private Jenette Vasquez, one of the fiercest soldiers you could ever hope to meet and who, unlike Hudson, remained just as fierce when things got worse. Bigelow, who would later marry and divorce Cameron, called him to ask if it was okay to use some of his “Aliens” actors for “Near Dark.” Clearly, he said yes, so Paxton and Goldstein, along with Lance Henriksen, got parts in Bigelow’s movie. Paxton even said in one scene from “Near Dark,” the man who ends up sticking his hand out the car and giving him the finger was Cameron himself.
Having gone through what Paxton described as the “baptism of fire” with Cameron on “Aliens,” he, Goldstein and Henriksen formed a strong family unit as a result which made the making of “Near Dark” feel like a homecoming. When someone asked what the difference was in directing styles between Cameron and Bigelow, Paxton said bluntly, “No one else is like Cameron.”
As for Bigelow, Paxton described her as the prettiest director he has ever worked with. According to him, she absolutely loves actors and encouraged them to come up with stuff for their characters throughout the shoot. Goldstein went on to talk about how the actors did an improvisation on how they would block out the sun in the car while driving around town in broad daylight. They came up with the idea of putting aluminum foil on the windows which blocked out the rays that would have immediately broiled their fragile skin and reflected them away so they could live on to do what they did best, suck the blood out of clueless human beings. The way Paxton saw it, most of “Near Dark” was improvised, and he said it was great to work with a director who was so excited to work with actors.
In regards to Henriksen, Paxton described him as “a guy you could never really read.” Back then, Henriksen had these intense finger nails which he had to cut off as Paxton described it, and Paxton even went on to talk about the time he and Henriksen were driving down the highway and got pulled over by the police. As the police officer was getting out of his patrol car, Paxton said Henriksen looked at him and said, “Should we take this guy out?”
Actually, that led to Paxton telling a story which Henriksen just loves to tell about “Near Dark.” During the times they were shooting at night, Paxton, who was made up in his gory vampire makeup as though half his face was chopped off, kept going up to people driving through town, telling them he had just been in a horrible car accident. This little prank always ended with Henriksen saying, “If you think he looks bad, you should see the other guy!”
Paxton said he saw “Near Dark” as a “Bonnie & Clyde” vampire movie. Tangerine Dream composed the movie’s score which is fantastic, and the movie is filled with other memorable musical selections. There was a great cover of “Fever” by The Cramps which was used in the pivotal bar scene where everything gets turned into a bloodbath. But Paxton said his favorite piece of music used was “Naughty, Naughty” by John Parr as it really sets the scene for when the vampires end up depriving a saloon in the middle of nowhere of its customers and employees. Apparently, Bigelow ended up paying for the rights to the song out of her own pocket.
One audience member asked Paxton and Goldstein if they had any Tim Thomerson stories to tell us. Thomerson played Caleb’s father in “Near Dark,” but he is best known for portraying Jack Deth in “Trancers” and its numerous sequels. Both actors said they had many great stories about Thomerson to tell us but basically summed him up as a great guy to hang out with who did so many great impersonations, his best being of John Wayne forcing himself on Walter Brennan.
In regards to character, Paxton saw his character of Severen as a Billy the Kid kind of vampire, wild and reckless in how he conducted business. He also said “Near Dark” owes a great debt to Anne Rice and her Vampire Chronicles which includes the books “Interview with A Vampire” and “Queen of The Damned.” To get into character, Paxton said he read Rice’s books throughout the shoot.
Goldstein said she saw her character of Diamondback as someone out of the Depression era or “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” someone who got by and survived any which way she could. She was perfectly cast in the role as very few actresses back then were allowed to play tough female characters who didn’t need a man to defend them at all.
Another audience member told Paxton he was a big fan of “Frailty,” his directorial debut from a few years back, and wanted to know if he was planning to direct again. Looking back on “Frailty,” Paxton said he had a great experience making it and would love to direct again if he can ever get out of “this damn show” he’s on (you may have heard of it – “Big Love” on HBO). Currently, he is looking over a few projects he is interested in helming and hopes to work behind the camera again really soon.
It was great to see Paxton and Goldstein come out and speak with the fans. Surprisingly, a large portion of the audience had never seen “Near Dark” before, so neither of them wanted to keep the audience waiting too long to see it on the big screen. “Near Dark” may not have been a big hit when first released, but it has more than earned its cult following especially in light of Bigelow’s deserved Oscar win, something which was a long time coming.
Actually, my favorite moment of the evening happened as Paxton and Goldstein were on their way out of the theater when an audience member brought up the subject of another HBO show, to which Bill replied, “Fuck ‘True Blood!’ We were doing this 20 years ago!”
The Ultimate Rabbit 