RIP Gena Rowlands

John Cassavetes' muse (and wife and partner) is gone now at 94...

Gena Rowlands

Gloria ...A Woman Under the Influence...Minnie (& Moskovitz)

Alien: Romulus (2024)

"ANDY: Did you hear about the claustrophobic astronaut?... He needed a little space."

In Space no one hears you laugh. Or sneeze. Or does it?

Now finally out in theaters (it was first to premiere on streaming on Hulu). Saw it last night on the avan-premiere. The lighting, sound, sound fx, music, design, all it's super well done, on an A budget (shot on the Origo studios in Budapest). But too many references and beaten paths, a lot of plants but no payoffs, and a shorter running time (15 minutes easily less instead of 119) would've helped the pacing. I would've dropped the last act-or the final bit of the third act- in setting that for another film, also the premise on the Jackson colony planet, gritty and grim, with rain, poverty and darkness reminded me of the colony in Outland (1981) or the Mars environment in Total Recall (1990).  That could've been used more imo.

Alien: Romulus is a reboot, a sequel, set on the timeline between Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), and functioning on the mythology of the Prometheus (my thoughts here) and Alien: Covenant (my thoughts here), these two movies existing now in the Alien universe before the original Alien.

Weyland-Yutani are everywhere, as is the Romulus/Remus theme (children Raised by Wolves), another theme Ridley introduced in his 2020 series that were mixing the Blade Runner android themes with the Alien Synthetic beings-that being and remaining Ridley's obsession-"More Human Than Human" (Tyrell being in the same universe as Peter Weyland's "Building better Worlds").

Uruguayan Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead 2013 remake, Don't Breathe), a good choice for directing, was chosen by Ridley who supervised the film and gave him notes. Alvarez and his buddy, Rodo Sayages (also director of Don't Breathe 2) wrote the script but took their notes and nods to all the franchise tropes.

The characters though are like pawns, younger actors, some annoying, ready to be sacrificed for the more important Directive, the WY priority. Just think of the original Alien cast and weep...Obvious cue, Rain (Cailee Spaeny from Civil War) is all and all from Ripley. 

The Andy Android (David Jonsson) is a step (& color) forward, instead of good/bad you get two chips, different sides of the same coin.

Another link to THE Alien (the 1979 film that is) is the Rook character, based on Ash, due to the Ian Holm regeneration on CGI & AI symbiosis. 

The music score, (key word: Pounding!) by Benjamin Wallfisch (partner of Hans Zimmer on Dunkirk & Blade Runner 2049, solo on It and The Flash) has the most references to the iconic score of Jerry Goldsmith for Alien, then James Horner for Aliens and Hans Gregson-Williams for Prometheus, plus a rendition of The Rheingold/Valkyrie Richard Wagner's anthem used in Alien: Covenant. 

“Dear Fede, Good luck. Good health. Good hunting. Don’t f–k up. Very best wishes, Ridley Scott.”

A great conversation between Ridley and Fede Alvarez here. Very cool.

But this is no longer (sir) Ridley's toy, neither is Fox's, its boss being now Disney (where the Alien films can now be streamed, on +!!!)  and that's Weyland-Yutani Industries in the Real world making Science Fiction just science 1.0.1. And horror tru. But No One hears whoever Scream. 

So, Romulus it's not innovative cinema but it's well done, some good practical FX, as opposed to only CGI, nice camerawork, claustrophobic widescreen (2.39: 1), Galo Olivares' 1st major credit, he did Gretel & Hansel for Osgood Perkins in 2000), and as I said lights & strobes, shadows, colors, flashes, fast movements- effective filmmaking. I reckon it will be a box office tie, at 80 million $ budget plus marketing and publicity costs this should make at least $300 mill to get a sequel.

But hey, we got one coming up ! The Alien Hulu F/X series led by Noah Hawley (the creator of Fargo series, so there's some hope ;). Streaming in 2025. 

3 out of 5, 6 out of 10 (for the qualities mentioned above). 

At least it's Rated R ;) Also, it's been Seven long years (und a Pandemic) since the last Alien film on the big screen. 

-also to be seen on the big screen. Full sound and scope. 

Crime and Passion / Ace Up My Sleeve (1976)

Ace Up My Sleeve (1975) aka Crime and Passion, a more commercial but dumber and more banal title, released in the US as an AIP release. Rated R no less ;)

Omar Sharif, Karen Black, Joseph Buttoms,  Bernhard Wicki in an Euro-Trash picture that kind of nobody saw or cares about...

It made me curios because of the cast in checking Ivan Passer's filmography, which I rechecked due to Cutter's Way And then I found it on you tube in its entirety, widescreen and with German titles (they called the film Frankenstein's Spukschloss -Horror Castle of Frankenstein !!!). I guess it'll stay there, and here's the link. It's a real curio. Shot in Austria, in the winter on the ski slopes it features some great ski sequences, some car chases and crashes, weird and kinky sex & sweets/pastry eating (Karen Black tops it ;), Sharif's character Andre Ferren is a sex nut...

Anyway (s;), you gotta see this as I won't spoil stuff as the plot goes bonkers and further in the snows, act 3 is chaos itself, especially the ending -even a Shining resemblance.

Co-written by 5 people (not at the same time;), including Passer & William Richert (Winter Kills) the film says it's based on James Hadley Chase's novel Ace Up My Sleeve, but it seems it bares no resemblance at all. Some interesting details about the changes here !

Music by Vangelis of all people...does not fit the film at all...great score tho...it has all the Vangelis DNA. The music can be heard here

The reviews are delightful: 

"Crime and Passion" is not only one of the silliest films ever made but one of the most inexplicable"

Robert Ebert in 1976

min 57.50 "-naughty naughty massage, sir? "

Omar Sharif in Top Secret mode !!!

She'll be wearing silk pajamas when she comes...

Cutter's Way (1981)

 Out of the Past....comes Cutter's Way (1981). Thought about it for a while...

Saw this when I bought the DVD 20 years back or so...through the grapevine it came through the Coen bros' Big Lebowski, as it's one of the influences for the film.

Revisited now...

As we stand today probably the best known Ivan Passer film (my tops go to Born to Win -1971, best ever George Segal performance, as in Cutter, John Heard as Alex Cutter is his career best and a unique performance)

Based on the 1976 novel "Cutter and Bone" by Newton Thornburg. Title was changed in order to avoid a confusion on a film comey about two surgeons (!!!)

Passer wasn't the 1st choice to direct as neither Bridges and Heard were to act in it. But the Gods of Cinema found a way...

Uncanny& unsetting music by Jack Nitzsche, in the style of the one he did for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, featuring glass harmonica and zither. 

“The film moves with an easy uncoerced swing: moment by moment, scene by scene, we are unsure what to think or where we are going. It is a fascinating, organically grown drama.”
 – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“[Heard] is one of America's great lost actors.”
 – Antonia Quirke, The Financial Times