Alien: Covenant is the second part of a planned 3-part prequel to his classic ALIEN planned by master director Ridley Scott. Unfortunately it looks almost certain that Twentieth Century Fox will never allow Scott to make the third prequel despite ALIEN: COVENANT making money. It seems that it didn't make enough money to please the profiteer executives at Fox. This seems endemic to the company as I had a minor experience with the head executive of Fox Australia when I owned a movie poster shop in Melbourne. This CEO brought me a list of all Fox's films that they had posters for and wanted me to tell him which ones were of value. He wanted this all for nothing, offering no payment under the guise that he was going to sell their stock to me. Naturally it was all BS. He just wanted to know which ones were valuable because he had no idea. These are the kind of people that run film studios, the people that Scott has to deal with to this day. They have no idea about film, no idea about it as an art form, and even no idea what is going to be popular. And that is why the third instalment of Scott's brilliant ALIEN prequels will never be made. Unlike Scott, the people who populate film studios are people with no vision, no artistic integrity, and really no knowledge of their medium at all. They would do better to trust directors and just keep an eye on their budgets while they leave them alone to make the films that make money for them. In this second instalment, the Covenant is a ship like Prometheus seeking new worlds to colonise. On board is Walter, a facsimile of the David robot but now updated, a crew of 14, and 2000 colonisers. The Covenant undergoes a solar storm in transit and decides to pull into a nearby planet from which a John Denver signal is emanating. This happens to be the planet of the Space Jockey race from Alien who in Prometheus we discover have actually created humankind. The story goes on from there, and answers to questions raised in PROMETHEUS are provided. Again, we are witness to amazing things in this second prequel and the art direction is once again fabulous and a treat to watch. The tension begins from the moment the landing craft from Covenant arrives on this newly-discovered planet. And it doesn't let up. Another incredible film from Ridley Scott and his brilliant team and crew.
Reviews
15 Reviews
Prometheus
(I) (2012)
BEST PREQUEL EVER
14 May 2023
PROMETHEUS was the first of 3 connected prequels planned by Ridley Scott. It is a wondrous and philosophical film in itself as we follow David, a synthetic played by Michael Fassbender, and Weyland, his powerful and human creator, seek the potential creators of humankind, thought to be represented by the mummified space jockey's race in ALIEN. It is important to understand that there are two types of Alien fans. First there are the supporters of Ridley Scott and his originating film ALIEN devised and scripted first by Dan O'Bsnnon (who worked with John Carpenter on the student film DARK STAR, an early vehicle for his idea of an invading alien lifeform). And then there are the supporters of James Cameron's sequel ALIENS. These two groups have been at loggerheads ever since and the difference between the first two films is that Scott is asking questions about our place in the universe through a suspense film while Cameron has made an action film primarily. So when Scott returns to the Alien franchise with PROMETHEUS in 2012, there is much criticism from ALIENS fans that Scott has made a lumbering shallow movie from a multiplicity of scripts. Nothing could be further from the truth, and it must be noted that Scott does not make action films, and all films have many script changes in their making. Those action films like Marvel films are largely the shallow and boring movies. James Cameron is capable of making deeper films too - his ALIENS is still a good picture and continues to promote the Ripley character as heroic as well as the controversy surrounding profiteering by Weyland Industries over ethical behaviour but his AVATAR is one of the most boring films ever made - but Scott always has a deeper subtext going on in every film he does. However, with Scott there is a slower unfolding of the story because he wants the audience to think about the issues raised as they watch and he also wants to build the suspense like a symphony. It is not for nothing that Scott often has shower scenes in his films in a subconscious homage to Hitchcock's PSYCHO. Scott won't have an explosion every 10 minutes like Roger Corman's B movies. He wants to develop the characters and the ideas that form the subtextual meaning of his work. I point out the discrepancy in fan valuations of Scott and Cameron in order to say do not be put off by those that criticise Scott's work, because there is much that is thought-provoking in PROMETHEUS. And it is a film that is meant to set the stage for two following related prequels to ALIEN. The film itself is incredible to watch and though much has to be explained to set up the next films, it is once more a battle between Woman and Man, and Woman and Alien just like the original. But it is also much, much more than this. See it with an open mind, the way all movies should be seen.
Memory: The Origins of Alien
(2019)
REVELATORY DOCO ON RIDLEY SCOTT'S ALIEN
12 May 2023
Alexandre Philippe has made a wonderful documentary on the origins and mythology behind Alien, the masterpiece directed by Scott, who went on to explore more of his influences in both PROMETHEUS and ALIEN: COVENANT, the prequels to ALIEN. In part, this documentary is also a tribute to the late Dan O'Bannon, the original creator and writer of ALIEN. Anyone who knows anything about O'Bannon knows that he was not given either full recognition or financial compensation by the producing company Twentieth Century Fox. But at least now O'Bannon has been given full recognition, gracefully and lovingly represented by his wife, Diane O'Bannon. This was most pleasing and it was also pleasing to see that O'Bannon's vision for this project was ably and brilliantly supported by Ridley Scott. Together, and assisted by many others like HR Giger and Terry Rawlings, a masterpiece was born. There is much more presented about the origins and development of ALIEN than I have mentioned here but I don't want to spoil it for future viewers because there is much to consider that is truly thought-provoking about Philippe's documentary. One thing I will say is that there has been considerable criticism of the viewpoint expressed in this documentary that ALIEN is a feminist film. Many males have reacted strongly against this but the fact is that ALIEN is really undeniably feminist. If only just based on that Sigourney Weaver is the sole human survivor as Ripley in the film and was the first heroic female ever in a SF film, i don't think it can be disputed that in part ALIEN has a subtext of female guile defeating masculine aggression. However, there is much, much more than just this to focus on in this work. It is truly a great addition to our understanding of the creation of ALIEN.
The Double Life of Véronique
(1991)
MYSTERIOUS REALISM
29 April 2023
Most of us will have heard the phrase "Magical Realism" most often applied to a form of literature but I think "Mysterious Realism" is more applicable to a director like Krzysztof Kieslowski who strives for a naturalistic realism. In his quest for this kind of realism, Kieslowski used to make documentaries but he doesn't make them anymore. He explained once that some things are too real and cannot be filmed so invasively and so now he prefers to make films about realistic characters by using everything fake because this is the only way to achieve the realism that he pursues. In the process, he hopes that everyone working on his films will bring something of themselves, something personal to them. THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE is about 2 identical women, one Veronika who is Polish and the other Veronique who is French. Somehow they feel each other's connection to the other even though they have never met. This is unlike any realistic premise hitherto seen in cinema (to my knowledge) and yet it reminds me of a work by that other great Polish director, Roman Polanski and his film THE TENANT. In THE TENANT, Polanski (directing himself as a Pole in Paris) moves into an apartment only to take on the character of the previous tenant, a woman. Early in Kieslowski's film, Veronika becomes aware of Veronique when she spots her getting on a tourist bus in Poland but it is not till much later in the film that Veronique becomes aware of Veronika. Veronika is a classical singer of rare talent and we find that Veronique takes singing lessons as well but because of her connection to Veronika decides to give up this pursuit for reasons she doesn't understand. And here we touch on one of the themes of Kieslowski's work which is how we go through life revealing little about who we really are (if we even know at all) because we are always trying to present ourselves as strong, without problems, without showing our emotions or our weaknesses. Kieslowski's earlier films, A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING and A SHORT FILM ABOUT LOVE (both of which are features extended from two of his 10-part television series, DECALOGUE) both touch on this theme but in THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE it becomes a major concern of the film, and even then, obliquely so. This is a film which comes to grip with difficult ideas about the nature of we as individuals acting and reacting upon each other. It is mysterious and also mystifying, demanding several viewings to let the images and its themes sink in to our minds as viewers, its characters reacting with us as well. It's a captivating film, never boring, often because of the beauty and skill of Irene Jacob in the dual lead roles though the other players are also extremely good. There is also some remarkable montage and mise en scenes throughout but that is part of Kieslowski's mastery of the medium as he is always hinting at something, trying to tell us something without being obvious. This film also preceded his incredible THREE COLOURS TRILOGY and is a wonderful precursor to them, and is every bit a masterpiece like BLUE, WHITE, and RED.
FLAWED BUT WORTHWHILE VIEWING
18 April 2023
When I saw this advertised, I was excited to see it because there have been some marvellous women directors including Lois Weber and Ida Lupino to name just two. Certainly many women are finally given some credit over the course of this series of 14 episodes but there were many flaws in the production. The biggest is that many of the films made by women and presented in clips here are not subtitled so you have no idea what is actually happening most of the time. And this is a series that is basically all clips and the majority of the films are not in English. Secondly, we are meant to trust the narrator (and there are a few) that what she is describing is actually what we are seeing but there are many instances that the narrator's assumptions do not look correct often because she is overly effusive and her description of what she says we are seeing can be easily questioned. Lastly, there are many ways the clips (this series is all film clips) are divided into categories but there is no cinematic division of categories. The categories can range for example from Montage to Leave Out (by which is meant someone en scene is left out of the action). So this kind of categorisation, hardly useful at best, seems completely at odds with educating us about film at all regardless of whether they were made by men or women. However, you will still get to see some wonderful clips made by great women directors from all over the world so it is worth persevering for this reason alone. It could have been a much better series but it is at least a start to acknowledge some tremendous and wonderful women directors like Varga and Muratova, and many, many others. And it's definitely not before time! Still worth seeing in its entirety.
Elle
(I) (2016)
YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM
16 April 2023
Paul Verhoeven directed ELLE in 2016 when he was 78 years old. It is a stunning portrait of a woman (Huppert) who has been plagued by her father's killing of 27 people in their street when she was 10 years old. She is middle-aged now and has been used to being abused throughout her life because of her father's terrible actions but she has taken every opportunity to take control of her life when the worse thing that can happen to a woman happens to her. And that's where the film begins. It is a performance from arguably one of the greatest actors ever in Isabelle Huppert who has made a living out of playing women who are survivors. Once again Huppert is brilliantly magnetic. Even when her character's choices are morally imperfect, you cannot help admiring the strength and intelligence of this woman. She runs a computer gaming company and even her employees don't seem to like her, the men anyway, but she is so used to being abused that she doesn't let it get to her. This is her life and she reacts to every situation by taking control no matter how bad it may be. I don't know if the entire film is meant as an ode to women or exactly what Verhoeven intended but it is hard not to think that Huppert represents all women who go through their lives treated badly by men to some degree or other, although usually much less than Huppert's character. This film is an ode to the strength and resilience of women. It is like all Verhoeven's movies, artfully directed and beautifully photographed, a pleasure to watch even though the film is often violent and extremely confronting.
Rogue Heroes
(2022–2024)
Episode 2
7 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
As the second instalment begins in this boys' own adventure, we learn that supposedly the SAS was established by rebellious disengaged servicemen, some on charges, and that their leader is to begin a unit of 60 men on no funds. Of course he tells the commanding authority that they will just steal what they need, first from their own Army! And of course, they are allowed to proceed. (As if!) The captain of the SAS (Special Air Services) brilliant plan is to drop men who have never used parachutes behind Rommel's lines and cut him off from his supplies. But doesn't this sound like British Field Marshal Montgomery's Operation Market Garden plan for part of the D-Day attack? A plan that was to similarly cut the Germans off from their supplies by dropping parachuting commandos behind the Germans as the Allies advanced on them and blow up bridges vital to their continued supply. A plan that failed dismally when the commandos were dropped miles from their targets and were themselves totally cut off behind enemy lines becoming a liability in need of saving. Wild Irishman and SAS member decides to train the men in parachuting by pushing them off the back of moving trucks since they have no planes. Presumably they will steal these in the next episode because this is the way you train people to parachute!. In any case, here we have stupidity on top of stupidity since Monty, the worst commander in any war except possibly the British Commanders in World War 1, and his Operation Market Garden were both a total abject failure. And we are meant to believe all this idiocy is how the SAS actually started! If a schoolboy reading Biggles in the 1950s were reading this in a Biggles novel, he wouldn't accept any of it. Why? Because it's completely and utterly implausible.
Watcher
(I) (2022)
More Than Paranoia
1 April 2023
Chloe Okuno, the director of WATCHER, has made a stylish, atmospheric, stripped-down thriller reminiscent of Polanski's REPULSION and THE TENANT. We find our heroine in Bucharest where she has come accompanying her husband on his new job from New York City. Julia has nothing to do all day, knows no one there, and does not speak Romanian though she is trying to learn via a recording programme. We soon find out two things. First, she is being watched and followed though we are not sure by whom. And two, there is a serial killer labelled The Spider attacking women and cutting off their heads and one of these murders has happened in Julia's neighbourhood vicinity. Julia has trouble convincing her husband of her strong feeling that she is in the web of The Spider and she has no proof beyond coincidences and her strong feeling even though she has an idea of whom is stalking her. The great thing about this film is that Okuno has captured what many women go through every day from men. And of course, the men that love them also do not believe them or even offer comfort to them. This is a film told from a woman's viewpoint, and no it is also about a woman's intuition, a quiet which is often under-valued. At one point, Julia expresses her intuition about this fear to her husband, accusing him of rationalising her fear. Her husband replies that she doesn't wish to look at it rationally. But he has missed her point because rationalising is not the same as being reasonable. He has indeed rationalised her fear and just paranoia, and men constantly do this to women. As a result, Chloe Okuno has made a great feminist thriller adding additional dimension to the genre itself. The cast is particularly good and not just the leads. And for once, we have a film actually filmed where the story takes place, and Bucharest adds immeasurably to the loneliness that Julia is suffering. Excellent film. All.
Huss
(2021– )
Excellent Swedish Police Drama
13 December 2022
This is a clever show centred around a rookie, Katarina Huss, played by Karin Franz Korlov, wherein she grapples with many ethical problems that confront her as a policewoman. The cast is exceptional especially Anders Berg and Filip Berg. I don't think they are related but they are really great actors who play their characters so well. This is a very engrossing series because as a rookie, Katarina has to learn fast and really question her values and her integrity along the way. It never fails to address the hard issues that confront police officers every day in the carrying out of their duties and after watching it, I was more aware of what these difficulties are in being a good, as opposed to a bad, police officer. This is a great addition to the world of televised police dramas.
Unbroken
(2021– )
Gripping police drama
28 October 2022
This excellently-acted drama series with an ever-unfolding plot is surprisingly good. The performances are what carry us along to the point where you may doubt the sanity of the lead female detective who cannot remember how her baby was taken from her womb. As she gets more and more desperate to find her child and solve the mystery, so too does the intensity increase. It would be bad form indeed to say too much about what develops but if you want an unusual and gripping drama, this is one series that should not be overlooked. As an aside, it is also a stylish exigesis about women and childbirth.
Polina
(2016)
ARTISTIC AWAKENING
4 August 2022
This is the best film on artistic integrity ever. It's very cinematic and subtly told but it's an emotional journey also, one you go on firstly with Veronika Zhovnytska as the very young Polina, and then with Anastasia Shevtsova as the teenage and adult Polina. It's her story, her development artistically, that you are fortunate to witness. I don't want to say too much about it because that will ruin it for you but this is one of those films whose images draw you in. Soak yourself in them and luxuriate in them till the end, an end you won't want to come as it's affect grows upon you. This is the best dance film ever but it's also much more than that. Excellent supporting performances throughout as well.
Bête Noire
(2021– )
Brilliant exploration of a difficult topic
5 March 2022
Sophie Deraspe's BETE NOIRE is a brilliantly directed and acted exploration of why a social misfit undertakes mass murder in his high school in French Canada. This is both a police and psychiatric investigation told from the inside specifically through the eyes of the killer's family as well as other victims. The leads are particularly to be commended on their impressive performances always sensitively handled and never overblown. Ms Deraspe's stylish direction has obtained some of the best performances from her cast that you will ever see in a beautifully measured series. It is both emotional and intense to watch but very rewarding in so many ways. There is no other word for this but SUPERB. I came away with new insight into something so seemingly inexplicable. Much intelligence has gone into this work and it casts new light on what has been a significant modern social problem.
Before We Die
(2021– )
Not So Bad
17 December 2021
Watch the original first but this Brit remake is not so bad. There are only 6 episodes, not 7 as IMDB says, but it feels unfinished. And there's probably no reason to finish it either. The essential moral dichotomy about undercover police work is still there but it's not not anything new nor particularly enlightening.
Mystery Road
(2013)
BRILLIANT AUSTRALIAN FILM
6 May 2018
MYSTERY ROAD (2013), written, directed, and photographed by Ivan Sen is up there with Australian classics WAKE IN FRIGHT, THE INTERVIEW, and ANIMAL KINGDOM. The film itself is such a seductive study of a small outback town. It is so beautifully photographed that immediately you are involved and this continues to the end. The story is ostensibly that of a black Australian detective searching to unravel the murder of a black teenage girl but really the film is about trust, and also broken trust. Like most good films where a main character tries to bring justice to the victim, this is also a journey of self-discovery but this is delivered with great finesse so that it is left up to the audience to make of this what it will. The way our detective deals with those around him, white cops and white criminals alike, as well as black relatives and black community members, is like a maze to be transcended, and it maintains our attention and involvement all the way. And this is essentially what makes this film so brilliant. The journey to find the truth is not just real but complex and Sen has created a masterpiece of entertainment. The end was no less surprising or grippingly tense. This is one of the best Australians films you are ever likely to see. The cast is superb from the smallest role through to the main players. Aaron Pedersen plays the detective brilliantly. He is quietly confident but world-weary. He drives the story forward but also the film's subtext in a beautifully measured performance. Other great performances are given by many great Australian actors including Tony Barry and Hugo Weaving to name but two. The cast as a whole is a great joy to discover as the story unfolds. I cannot speak too highly of what Ivan Sen has given us because this is the best of Australian cinema right here.
Dead Bang
(1989)
UNDER-APPRECIATED JOHN FRANKENHEIMER FILM
5 May 2018
This Frankenheimer film is beautifully done. Jerry Beck is a troubled cop whose journey across states after a neo-Nazi killer also becomes a personal journey of self-discovery. The cast, headed by Don Johnson, is wonderfully played by all and even includes Evans Evans, John Frankenheimer's wife and widow, in a chilling performance. (Yes,you read right, her name is really Evans Evans and she was married to JF for 39 years as well as being a terrific character actress mainly through the 1960s and 1970s.) There are many other cast surprises in what is a surprisingly grippingly tense and efficient thriller. This is a great Frankenheimer film, right up there with his best. I cannot speak too highly about Don Johnson and the Nazi villain of the piece. They give this film both tension and comic relief in what are beautifully measured performances. This is an 80s classic by one of cinema's great directors.
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