The Alien Mythology Eats Itself ~ Cinenus

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As promised, we begin your Monday morning with some of my brief thoughts about Alien: Covenant, which hits theaters at the end of the week. Having seen it last week, I assure you that I’m more than qualified to make the following two proclamations:

1. James Franco is not in that movie.
Some will label this a conspiracy theory, others heresy. But I’m here to tell you that despite the IMDb listing and despite the several confirmations from Fox, James Franco is not actually in Covenant. Also, it’s not a spoiler for our own Jacob Oller to pronounce his fate in the opening line of his review. Frustratingly, hilariously not a spoiler. If that character — named “Branson,” I guess — were played by any unnamed, ruggedly handsome bit player, there’d be no story here. He’s essentially a background character who serves as a vessel for getting the story underway for our real protagonist, Katherine Waterston’s Daniels. The fact that it’s “James Franco” makes no difference. Again, that’s supposing James Franco was on set and the production didn’t use a deleted scene from 127 Hours in a later sequence. You’ll know it when you see it. And you should see it. After all, we’ve come this far with the Alien franchise, what’s one more round?

2. The Alien mythology is eating itself.
There’s an inherent audience divide that appears to exist for the modern segment of the Alien franchise. Ridley Scott’s two nü Alien flicks are wide-open, sprawling sci-fi actioners for the digital age. We’re far afield of the claustrophobic, nasty, dark corners of Scott’s first and James Cameron’s second films. In his latter years, Scott appears to want to go back and explain everything about Ripley’s arch-nemeses. Where did they come from? Who created them? Who created us? Why can’t we teach them to talk or better yet, go vegan? These are questions we’re likely to ask, as humans. We’re obsessed with the “where did it all come from and what does it all mean?” narrative. The vast majority of the history of human storytelling revolves around trying to explain our existence in some way or another. I’m not saying the question is a bad one, but I’d argue that this isn’t a question I want to see answered. There’s something magically daunting about the aliens in Alien. They represent the freakish randomness of nature and the violent, unforgiving potential of finding life elsewhere in the universe. What’s the scariest thing about exploring life out there amongst the stars? It’s not a language barrier; it’s the likelihood that we find a species of killing machines that want to feast upon the corpses of our friends and neighbors. I’ve realized that I don’t care, nor did I want to know, how they came into existence — especially if it involves a bunch of monologues from Michael Fassbenderbots. That said, I’m sure there are people for whom this is a welcome journey. If you want all of this explained to you, it’s likely that you already enjoyed Prometheus and will similarly enjoy Covenant. There’s plenty of xenosplainin’ to go around.

Which isn’t to say that there aren’t solid performances (Hey, Danny McBride!) and big, slick action sequences. Even at the ripe old age of 79, Sir Ridley can still string together action beats to impressive effect. He simply also spends far too long in the weeds, digging up the elder scrolls, and subjecting us to a fireside recounting of the birth of his fiercest cinematic monster. It’s like sitting down for a new Jaws movie, only to have to watch the years the shark spent in a shitty aquarium. Just let the shark be The Shark, I say.

Today in Pop Culture History

Mickey Mouse made his first appearance in the silent film Plane Crazy in 1928. The 6-minute film exists on YouTube here and is a marvel of pronounced sound effects.

Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on this day in 2002. Three years later, George Lucas took Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith to the same festival and for some reason they let him show it.

Chazz Palminteri, known best for his roles in Bronx Tale and The Usual Suspects, was born today in 1952 in — you guessed it — The Bronx, New York.

What You Need to Know Today

Jason Bateman has signed on for another season of Arrested Development, officially. In a tweet, the actor said that it’s probable that he’s “going to put some miles on the Stair Car this summer.”

David Lynch told the Sidney Morning Herald last week that he has no intentions to make another film ever again. He is, however, delivering 18-hours of Twin Peaks this year. So he’s not exactly retired.

The cast of Love Actually got together this year for a Red Nose Day video, and it’s goddamn delightful.

Melissa McCarthy hosted SNL this weekend, and yes, Spicey came back.

ICYMI

Jacob Oller wrote a review of Alien: Covenant, as was rumored above. I would like to go on record that I agree with his take.

In an exhaustive piece, Jake Orthwein found all kinds of filmmaking lessons from Francis Ford Coppola in The Godfather Notebook.

Christopher Campbell put together a list of 12 movies you should see after seeing Snatched. Or instead of Snatched. Either way, get some culture and watch Aguirre, the Wrath of God already.

Shot of the Day

At some point this week, I’m going to tell you all about my love for Justin Simien’s Dear White People. The movie and the new Netflix show. Maybe we can do that tomorrow. Won’t you join me and find out?

DEAR WHITE PEOPLE (2017) DP: Jeffrey Waldron | Director: Justin Simien | Episode: "Chapter I" http://pic.twitter.com/mJXaWG3lsE

— One Perfect Shot (@OnePerfectShot) May 15, 2017

The article The Alien Mythology Eats Itself appeared first on Film School Rejects.

Cinenus

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Monday, 15 May 2017