I've not seen the movie, so I can't comment too much, but isn't corporate greed and the consequences of unfettered capitalism one of the main themes of the Alien franchise?
Yeah it is in fact, but some might argue we got the idea after the first umpteen times they went to that trope. Plus, this installment, it kind of reeks of how corporations were characterized in the movie "Avatar" where they're like EFF THIS PLANET AND EVERYTHING ON IT!!! WE NEED OUR 1% BUMP IN SALES!!! As an educated adult in the audience, I was like, huh? Tbh, I thought they'd abandoned the corporate greed thing in Prometheus and Covenant, in lieu of the search for answers and mankind finding his place in the universe, which were much more compelling. Circling back to the corporate greed thing fell flat on its face, but that's just my humble opinion.
Is that the one where Tom Cruise gets killed every few minutes? I'm all for that! We need more movies that kill Tom Cruise as often as possible.
That's the one! It's based on a book, "All You Need is Kill". It's one of those rare movies that is better than the book. It is dramatically better.
But—it also means he keeps coming back. Oh, I get it—that way you get the thrill of seeing him die again and again. Ok, works for me.
It's a good role for him. It's like watching Jerry Maguire storm Omaha beach. I like the death where he rolls under the truck.
This opens tomorrow. I'm trying to find a showtime for it. This story is #5 on my list of the top Pulitzers. The book is absolute genius. I didn't have a lot of hope for it going in because I didn't care for the other Colson Whitehead book I read, but "The Nickel Boys" overcame every concern. I've never had an author do such a 180 for me. I consider it near perfect writing, and the story has a hell of a punch too. It's definitely worth reading before a movie tells the story for you first, though, heck, moviegoers didn't seem to mind. (We like writing here, so I thought I'd mention it.) Anyway, as a synopsis, it's about a young black kid during the time of Martin Luther King Jr. I won't say more than that. I see the movie is highly rated from film festivals. It has a very bizarre 1st-person camera POV, or some variation of it, but nobody called that a weakness. I'm hoping to catch this in theaters somehow. I'm betting that with how tepid movies have been this year, it'll be an Oscar contender. I hope it's not just an Amazon release . . . I like watching movies in theaters. An aside: My favorite movie of the year so far has been "Heretic" with Hugh Grant. His performance should be remembered for reward time, but maybe it was too dark. Maybe.
I started watching "Slacker" for the first time in 30+ years today. I must admit that I was far more sober and not under the influence of Jamacia's best this time around, which is probably why I don't remember (but understand) it this time around. But a great study for off-the-wall lit fic characters.
Rewatched Bridge on the River Kwai last night. I liked the triangular viewpoint it wasn't just Colonel Nicholson vs Colonel Saito there was also Shears. Would love to write something like this.
I started rewatching True Lies last night, first time since the late 90s. I didn't finish it, but I will tonight. I often watch movies in parts these days. Anyway, I wanted to mention something about the intro as it is the perfect example of how agents and publishers want novels to begin now from debut writers. A dive right into the action with compelling characters and stakes. The beginning of this movie is proof that you don't need to explain anything and still make the audience care and get immersed in the material. We don't know who Arnie's character is, or his motivations. All we learn is that he's a kickass spy with amazing espionage skills. We don't know why he's stealing that data drive. We don't know who he's stealing it from, either! And none of it matters! So if you're working on the opening chapter of a novel and get stuck in that mindset where you think you need to explain the background of everything for the reader before the action starts, stop and go watch the beginning of True Lies.
