E' un film cupissimo, girato dal regista che diresse anche Fight Club e Alien 3 (forse il migliore della saga), Seven è un thriller le cui atmosfere difficilmente si dimenticano, un Brad Pitt angosciato e angosciante, un grandissimo Morgan Freeman,  un sorprendente Kevin Spacey e una giovanissima Gweneth Paltrow, ambientato in un luogo imprecisato, mette in scena come tanti quadri gli orribili sette peccati capitali messi in atto dal serial killer a cui dare la caccia.

Sette sono i peccati capitali e sette sono gli omicidi che un assassino psicopatico programma, corredati da torture efferate. Comincia con la gola e l'avarizia, continua con l'accidia. L'ultimo è la lussuria, ma l'intervento di due investigatori, uno anziano e nero, uno giovane e bianco, lo obbliga a modificare il piano. Tra i tanti meriti della sceneggiatura di Andrew Kevin Walker c'è anche quello di aver modificato gli stereotipi della coppia bianco-nero approfondendo i personaggi a livello psicologico e legandoli ai temi principali del film: la presenza del Male nel mondo e l'indifferenza di fronte alla caduta dei valori. Un film dal taglio espressionista (fotografia di Darius Khondji; musica di Howard Shore), ambientato in una città senza nome, ricco di citazioni letterarie che ne sono la minacciosa struttura, senza una scena di violenza di cui sono visibili soltanto le conseguenze. Un bel cast.

trailer

una lunga sequenza

altre scene dal film

La sequenza finale

Aliens

James Cameron's sci-fi masterpiece (forget about the fictional Aquaman). I remember watching this when I was about 12 years old; far too young to be watching an 'R' rated movie like this. Throughout 6th grade me and my best friend were obsessed with this film, giving each other the space-marine character monikers of Hudson and Hicks respectively. As much as I loved this film growing up, watching the special edition for the first time last year brought a new appreciation to the film. This is one of those franchises, for me, that I enjoy to the point of forgiving many of its numerous faults. Alien: one of the scariest films ever. Aliens: not only scary but also packed to the brim with action. Alien 3: A flawed film that suffered from too many revisions; not director David Fincher's fault. Alien Resurrection: forced and unnecessary, but somewhat entertaining. Alien v. Predator: a great concept not executed properly (shoulda drawn from the graphic novels). Alien v. Predator Requiem: Better in action and story, but still a let down; the last film set them up to do the Labyrinth story-line from the graphic novel, yet they went another direction—obviously.

Aliens, on the other hand, is an amazing sci-fi/war movie that keeps a good pace throughout with ample dosage of tense atmosphere. Throw in a tough female lead and a cast of memorable characters (maybe the most memorable ensemble of characters on screen ever). Surprisingly, the film was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, winning 2. An all-around good dark sci-fi; a relief for those tired of high science fiction or space operas. Must see. 10/10.

I have spent my time mainly sleeping but as I have mentioned before, catching up on some old and unwatched DVDs. I have an "Alien" boxset from, I think, 2003 which has new special editions of all four of the films as well as behind the scenes interviews with most of the cast and crew and all of the directors. Well almost all of the directors...

David Fincher (Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac) directed Alien 3 but does not appear in any of the behind the scenes material. Does anyone know why? I can see from the interviews that a hard time was had by all but especially Mr Fincher. He came in as a second choice director at a time when there was no completed final script still as Fox (20th Century) did not like where the first director and his script were going. But I would love to hear his viewpoint on the whole affair too. If anyone knows where I can find an interview with him about it I woud be most grateful!

It is interesting to see how all of the films tie together in their make up though. All were made by Fox but all directed by completely different directors. However, a lot of the "back room" staff actually remain constant, or at least overlap. Especially on the production side and some of the model making teams, and randomly the chief make up supervisor.

Is funny seeing the american guys struggling to work in the "english" conditions at Pinewood studios. With it being "so cold" and such "terrible weather conditions" to work in. But I find the funniest how James Cameron (Aliens (ie Alien 2)) was not happy at all with the english tradition of a tea break in the morning and another in the afternoon. This involved a tea lady walking on set for 15 minutes at a time and all the (english) crew stopping what they were doing to make sure they got what they wanted before she had left.

Was also interesting to note that Ridley Scott commented how, after "Alien" and subsequently "Bladerunner", he will not make another science fiction film as he feels he has defined what these are now and cannot surpass his own work. Conversely he did also say that this was a good thing, as it would have to be a great story to make him want to do it now. Maybe I should put my story under his nose when it is completed, anyone have his contact details? :)

I'm off to watch "Alien: Resurrection" (Alien 4) now, catch you later...

ps I have a second interview tomorrow afternoon, have I mentioned that yet?

    "What kind of a band name is that?" I say. This is the worst band name they have come up with thus far.

    "It's a play on words."

    "What words?"

    "The novel...Gulliver's Travels?"

    "No, it isn't."

    I hear Ruff inhale his roll-up and cough, "Well, it rhymes anyway."

    "Navel does not rhyme with travel. I know you're a budding songwriter with a keen sense of artistic licence, but don't take the piss."

    "Okay. How about 'navvel'?"

    "What the hell is a 'navvel'?"

    "I'm sure it's something...."

    "Google it and get back to me."

    "Yeh, right."

    I hang up and get a bottle of red from the rack. Molly leans on the work surface. She is still having to wear a hat to hide the fact that she had all her hair cut off and then realised she hated it.

    "So," I say, "Randolph didn't like the new Alien 3 look?"

    Molly puts both hands over her face and groans, "What was I thinking?"

    "I quite like it."

    "You do not!"

    "No, really, I do. I was running out of reasons to take the piss out of you and you just came riding to my rescue. That's what I call a real pal."

    "Thanks," she says and pulls her beenie hat down a little tighter. "So...how's it going?"

    As I'm slowly uncorking the wine, I notice Molly grinning at me and winking. I pour us both a generous glass of Pinot.

    "I'm fine, thanks," I say innocently, "everything is fine."

    She carries on grinning, "Reeeeeeeaaaalllly..."

    "Yes," I say, "reeeeeeeaaaaalllllly. Unless, of course, you have heard differently."

    "Well," she says, standing up straight, "as a matter of fact I did hear differently."

    Molly snakes along the work surface and wraps her fingers around the stem of the wine glass.

    "And what did you hear?" I ask, avoiding eye contact.

    "I heard you and Meredith got it on."

    I don't reply. I take my glass and head in to the lounge. As I'm sitting down on the sofa, Molly comes up behind me and slaps me on the forehead. This causes me to accidentally bite the inside of my cheek. And that bloody hurts.

    "What was that for?" I ask, running a finger along the inside of my mouth.

    Molly sits on the arm of the sofa, "Did you have sex with Merry?"

    "Define 'sex'."

    She slides down onto the seat and leans in really close so that our faces are almost touching. I pretend she isn't there and drink my wine in silence. After around half minute she sighs and pulls back.

    "Okay," she says, "don't tell me. But I know you did."

    "Well, so what if I did? What's it got to do with you?"

    "She's a friend of mine, " says Molly. "I have a duty to know these things."

    "Duty schmooty," I say.

    "What was that?"

    "What?"

    "'Duty Schmooty'?"

    "Just a thing people say."

    "No."

    The doorbell goes and Molly gets up to answer it. She comes back with Vance.

    "Hey, Vance," I say.

    "I'm just dropping by to remind you to be in later when the parcel people come with my delivery."

    "Don't worry, " I say, standing up, "I'll be here."

    "Great," says Vance, " Right, I have to love you and leave you."

    He leans in and starts kissing Molly's cheek. She puts her hands up to stop him, "Hey! That's a little too much loving and not enough leaving."

    "Where are you going anyway?" I ask.

    "Didn't I say?"

    I shrug.

    "My little rendezvous?"

    I shrug.

    "I'm going forklift racing."

    "Forklift racing? Where?"

    "You know my friend, Gleeson? His wife Barbara is security at a furniture warehouse. It's high stakes!"

    Vance waves and leaves. Molly and I sit down on the sofa.

    "I don't know what it is about the name Barbara," I say after a while, "but whenever I hear it I always picture it belonging to a woman with lots of curly dark hair. A bit like Jill Gascoine in The Gentle Touch."

     "Forklift racing," Molly says under a sigh.

     "Forklift schmorklift," I say.

     "Don't," says Molly irritably, "don't do that."

    "What?"

    "That Jewish rhyming slang thingy."

    "You don't like it?"

    "It's so not you."

    I finish my wine, "I'm going to Google Jill Gascoine."

Peças de cenário ou vestimenta de filmes famosos irão à venda em Hollywood nesta próxima sexta-feira,dia 1/8/2008, assim leio eu no site da BBC hoje.  Fiquei fascinada em ver alguns dos itens.  Eu me apressei então em fazer um breve sumário do artigo e expandir um pouquinho.

1-   Uma miniatura original do TIE Fighter do filme de George Lucas, Guerra nas estrelas: uma nova esperança, Episódio IV, lançado em 1977 e re-lançado em 1999.  Esta miniatura original foi produzida pela ILM (Industrial Light & Magic), empresa fundada por Lucas, para  preparar os modelos, miniaturas e equipamentos dedicados aos efeitos especiais do filme.

Esta miniatura está cotada a US $150.000,00[cento e cinqüenta mil dólares]

2-      A máscara do Homem Aranha usada por Tobey Maguire traz esperanças de ser vendida por US $55.000,00.

3-    Para comprar o cálice sagrado do Graal, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (lançado em 1989), feito de fibra de vidro e resina e pintado para parecer cerâmica ou terracota você deverá dispor de aproximadamente US $20.000,00-US $25.000,00.

4-  Os fãs de Jack Nicholson ou dos livros de Stephen King provavelmente se engalfinharão para comprar esta machadinha usada no filme O iluminado  (1980), dirigido por Stanley Kubrik baseado no romance de King do mesmo nome.  A machadinha foi usada pelo personagem Jack Torrance para derrubar a porta do hotel nesta rodagem.

4-  Ou quem sabe, todos que suspiram com os longos cílios de George Clooney se interessem em dar lances na máscara-capacete que ele usou como Batman.  Meros US $ 6.000,00 são necessários para o lance inicial.  

Muitos outros itens estarão à venda no dia 1° de agosto; entre eles:  a  roupa de Daredevil de Ben Affleck; bonecos do filme Alien 3.   Não sou fã o suficiente de nenhum destes filmes para ficar tentada em seguir esta parte do leilão.  No entanto, não deixo de me divertir vendo tanta gente interessada.  Ainda bem que nem todos gostam do azul, não é mesmo?  Coitadinho do amarelo.  No entanto, há muitos outros ítens nesta venda de dois dias que são de interesse em outras áreas.  Há por exemplo, os desenhos para o vestuário de filmes, de Rosemary Odell, Vera West, Walter Plunkett e outros nomes dos figurinos de cinema.  Este ítens começam em US$ 200,00 e devem ser vendidos nas redondezas de US$ 400,00. 

Boa sorte! 

Que o lance mais alto vença!

E que ele seja o seu!

Pinta interesante, cuanto menos... aunque con Fincher nunca se sabe xD

Visto en http://www.vayacine.com/

The Quadrilogy box set is the bargain of the week. $46 for 9 DVD's! That's five bucks a DVD... better than the bargain bin at Wal•Mart.

Based on the fact that white men have mismanaged the train wreck that our society and economy has become, I think the country agrees that someone new needs a shot at the least attractive job in the world.

The 3 dubious candidates currently running are most definitely the "B" team at best.

Ripley takes on surly crew members and intensely aggressive female alien creatures without a second of panic.

And she handles high-tech, high-powered weapons with ease and aplomb. Reminds me of my lovely wife! :)

Check out what's in the box... I couldn't even fit it on my kitchen table for this awesome photo!

I recommend a write-in campaign in November. Vote early and often for Ripley. And vote to drill in Anwar for oil, as well as to bring back the nuclear-powered Pinto to release us from the grip of mid-east oil and $9 a gallon gas!

Next up is the utterly lamentable AVP2 or, if you prefer, Aliens Versus Predator: Requiem. Just as a 'rose by any other name would smell as sweet' it doesn't really matter what you call this utter clanger of a movie. It succeeds on absolutely zero levels and can't even get basic human biology right. It is pure drivel and a further tarnishing of one great action movie and four slices of genius (okay three slices but you get the point and Alien 3 is better than most people remember). You can choose between the regular or 'Ultimate Combat' edition but heaven knows why you would want either.

Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium is a Willy Wonka-ish swirl of colour and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is notable solely for giving the excellent John C. Reilly a starring role. Either way you feel like you've seen them done before and done better - although both are still quite enjoyable.

This week's new releases of old films include the excellent Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes Without A Face) which is a fine slice of surgery-based, creepy as heck, horror. The black and white photography is sublime and the performances are universally great in this cinematic classic.

Also out this week are some brilliant low price Film Four DVDs including Local Hero, The Straight Story, Ghost Dog, Bully, Welcome To Sarajevo, Cypher, American Buffalo and Career Girls - all of which are great films but non of which quite match up to Steven Soderbergh's outstanding revenge thriller The Limey. Mixing Get Carter and Point Blank, the film sees Terence Stamp on top form as the English gangster who travels to Los Angeles to find those who might be responsible for his daughter's death. The Limey is a film that requires your brain to be switched on and deserves repeat viewing, as well as a much, much higher profile. It's the Film of the Week, anything less would be crazy.

Comunque mentre lo guardavo ho voluto cercare online se era andato in abbandonware il vecchio Alien Trilogy (vg per PSX e Saturn), un capolavoro all'epoca.. ci passai i mesi sopra e la sensazione di paura che mi dava quel gioco (ero alle medie) non me lo aveva dato nessuno fino ad allora.. Forse solo Resident Evil (ma solo qualche anno dopo).

Ad ogni modo nella wikipedia ho scoperto un gioco sulla saga di cui proprio non ne sapevo l'esistenza, uscito nel 1998. Il suo nome era Aliens Online.. un gioco di ruolo online basato sulla trama e le ambientazioni del secondo Alien e con anche la grafica del trilogy. 

Coincidenza ancora più strana è che il produttore del gioco è stata la Mytich, la stessa che ha fatto il famoso mmorpg DAOC (che giocai su vortinger per tutta la durata del server italiano oramai defunto)

Link alla pagina di descrizione del gioco Aliens Online

Link alla pagina di descrizione del gioco Alien Trilogy

Wow. February the 28^th. Has it really been that long? My apologies for the lack of posts over recent weeks, but I can blame it on several things. Doing a book report about the most mind-numbingly tedious book in the history of the universe. Going to classes. Eh, missing classes for – cough – horribly impromptu, last-minute PES Champions’ League sessions with mates. Oh well…

Anyway, I promise I’ll get back to semi-regular postage over the next week. Until then, may I suggest some recreational videogame reading to wile away the time until the Easter bunny creeps in your bedroom like some risible rabbit thief in the early hours of Sunday morning?

Firstly, buy this month’s copy of PSM3. Along with the usual deluge of excellent previews, news and reviews, you’ll also find a retro piece I wrote for the utterly tragic but brilliantly compelling Shadow of the Colossus. Shameful self-promotion. Is there any better sort of masochism?

Enough of the big words, though. I also suggest you purchase a copy of this month’s official Playstation magazine. Particular highlights include a fantastic GTA4 piece – look out for Nathan Ditum’s article, it’s aces - and a bug-bursting preview of Aliens: Colonial Marines. It’s guaranteed to keep your face hugged to the page. Get it? Face hugged. Groan.

Anyhoo, I’m off. But in the immortal words of Lieutenant Ellen Ripley, ‘you’ve been in my life so long I can’t remember anything else’. Ok, so I’ve only actually been at this blog business for a couple of months. What do you mean you didn’t get the quote? Am I the only person that likes Alien3? Oh…

P.S. I realize this was horribly rambling, so no need to point that out. Cheerio.

and my favourite of all of the Alien movies...

Zodiac was good. It's a bit of a departure for Fincher. While it's a grim and gritty story of a serial killer, it's based on real (and relatively recent) events. This means that in order to be true to what really happened, there's a certain limitation to where the story can go.

That sort of constraint can potentially ruin a promising movie. Fortunately this isn't the case with Zodiac. Fincher has the benefit of an excellent cast featuring Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr and Mark Ruffalo. David makes the most of these actors and their talents, using them to great effect and providing us with three different ways of approaching and understanding the mystery of the Zodiac.

It's fascinating watching these men work at the puzzle, attempting to solve it. Each driven by different professional and personal obsessions. It's also amazing watching the impact that it has on their personal lives. In some ways it's telling that Mark Ruffalo's cop seems to have the most balanced and normal life of the three. After all, crime and investigation is his profession.

I don't want to get into the plot too much, even though it's based on real events I don't want to risk exposing anyone to spoilers. I will say that in real life the killer was never found and this fact can provide a frustrating anticlimax for some film-goers. Even so, I felt that the ending provided enough satisfaction, enough confusion and enough mystery to serve all the demands made of it.

All in all, if you're a movie buff, if you can handle an atypical story with an atypical ending, then you'll probably find Zodiac an enjoyable film. If you're after a simple story that doesn't ask you to pay close attention and follow along, then this one's not for you.