Oneshot - Alien: Romulus (2024)

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Welcome to the Lorehounds Oneshot podcasts. We're the Lorehounds, your guides to the cold terror of space.

[00:00:16] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm David and this is our coverage of the 2024 movie Alien Romulus, the seventh film in the Alien franchise.

[00:00:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Assuming that you're counting Prometheus and Covenant in that list as well.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_02]: This Oneshot has been part of our special coverage of all things Alien.

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_02]: We did a two part podcast about the original 1979 movie and one was a special crossover episode with Aisha from every single sci-fi film ever.

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Definitely go check out that podcast. It's great.

[00:00:49] [SPEAKER_02]: I also did two subscriber bonus podcasts where I analyzed the trailers for Romulus.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_02]: The last podcast in this series will be community reactions to the movie where I speak with some of the Lorehounds extended community for their reactions to the film.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_02]: Look for that in the coming weeks.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_02]: With me for this podcast is my fellow Lorehounds host Aisha and co-hosts Jean Junior and Ron Dawson.

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_02]: We're going to start off with our spoiler free hot takes.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_02]: We'll cover some production details and then we're going to take a short break after which we'll get into a detailed spoiler filled discussion about the movie.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_02]: This is your spoiler warning for the whole of the Alien franchise.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_02]: We talk about all the films and some video game content.

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_02]: We'll end with our power rankings for all of the movies and then listener feedback has been woven into the outline.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_02]: So if you send in a comment listen for that as part of the conversation.

[00:01:49] [SPEAKER_02]: As always you can send emails to lorehounds at the lorehounds.com or head over to our website and there you can either use the voicemail feature or the contact form.

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_02]: Also, we'd like to invite you to check out our Discord server.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_02]: This is free and open to everyone.

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_02]: It's a great place to talk about TV movies books music with other like-minded folks from all over the world.

[00:02:13] [SPEAKER_02]: If you're enjoying this and are interested in supporting the lorehounds community check us out on Supercast or Patreon.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Supercast is like Patreon, but it's built a little bit better for podcasters.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Subscribers on either platform get early and ad-free access to all of our content and then a bunch of bonus benefits like second breakfast and our movie club called Elevenzees.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Links for everything are in the show notes below.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_02]: Lastly, I'll have some notes about our upcoming programming schedule at the very end of the podcast.

[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_02]: So stick around if you're curious about what we've got going on and what we're going to be covering in the next couple of months.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER_02]: Quick note Alicia and Jean are going to be covering Agatha full-time and then Alicia is going to be covering Dune Prophecy with me starting in November.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_02]: With all of that out of the way, let's get into our conversation with Alicia, Jean and Ron.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_02]: All right, welcome everybody.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Ron, it's good to see you.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_02]: It's been a minute.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_02]: How have you been?

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I've been busy, but it's good to be back.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Cool.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I figured you were you've been out and about you've been traveling a lot.

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, I'm traveling again next week for work and lots of going at work, but it's all good.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_06]: Been doing my YouTube show that's doing that again.

[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_06]: So that's been a little bit busy.

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_06]: So but it's all good.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_06]: Oh cool.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_06]: I didn't know.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_06]: I didn't know.

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_06]: Alright.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_02]: What's the what's the YouTube show?

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Where can people find it?

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_06]: Dungeons and Durags.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, these are Dungeons and Durags.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_06]: So I get on the mic with my two BFFs, my black BFFs.

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_06]: We just talk about politics and pop culture and they make fun of me on all different types of things.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Right on.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Cool.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't realize that was fired back up.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_02]: So I'll have to check that out.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_02]: That's fine.

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Jean, it's been a minute too.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_02]: I haven't seen you for a while now.

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I'm good.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_02]: How are you?

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm good.

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm good.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_02]: I think we're going to catch up with each other next week.

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to come down.

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_02]: Agatha.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, Agatha too, right?

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh man, the Agatha paw to you and Alicia just did was great.

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_02]: I was so, it was really good and it prepped me for the season really well.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_04]: And I was a complete nerd off.

[00:04:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, it was awesome.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_02]: And I think Jean and Ron, this is your first time together on the mic as well.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it is.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Good to meet you my man.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, man.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_04]: It's going to be a fun time.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Alicia, how are you?

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Doing okay.

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Excited to talk about Alien finally.

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_03]: I have like my brain is a swirl of horror movies right now.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Doing all this spooktober.

[00:04:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Middle of September.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_02]: It's already started.

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Cause it, well, I think pray because we're going to do pray for our subscriber only

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_02]: 11 Z's podcast.

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_02]: And that's kind of horror.

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_02]: I guess you could say.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, I'm definitely classifying it as horror.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a, well, I mean, it's a companion piece to what we're talking about today

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_03]: because it's a predator movie.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_02]: That's a very good point.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Cool.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_02]: So we have a packed outline for the movie today.

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_02]: So we're going to start off with our weather free hot takes.

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Like I mentioned about first, just really quick synopsis to set the scene in 2142.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_02]: A group of downtrodden young space colonists attempt to scavenge a derelict

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_02]: space station where they encounter species XX121 also known as the Xenomorph.

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_02]: So right off the bat Ron, would you rather the Nostromo LV410 Jackson star?

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_02]: These are in story order.

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_02]: LV426, which is the planet Acheron and there we have Hadley's hope as well as the

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_02]: alien ship Fiorina 161, which is aliens three and then the USM Auriga, which

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_02]: is aliens four and you can interpret this question any way you want.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Just would you rather

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_06]: Jackson star.

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_06]: Which one is that again?

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_06]: That's a Romulus.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_06]: That's Romulus.

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_06]: So the planet that they're on right.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah.

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_06]: I would much rather be there.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_06]: Working for the company, working for the company rather work for the company

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_06]: than fighting out of Xenomorphs in a closed space or prison.

[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_04]: John, would you rather?

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm I'm leaning toward Nostromo man.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Going into the nostalgia.

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_04]: Leaning towards Nostromo.

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_04]: I like to know where my environments are, where I'm at.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_04]: I know the layout.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_04]: I can get to where I need to get to hopefully quicker than the crew did.

[00:06:42] [SPEAKER_04]: So yeah, I'm kind of leaning on Nostromo here.

[00:06:45] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm just saying John the crew knew the layout also.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_04]: The crew knew the layout also.

[00:06:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Well enough.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_04]: Just putting that out there.

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_02]: John studied the technical plans.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_04]: It's all up here.

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_04]: It's all that I'm pointing to my head.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_04]: It's all in my brain.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_04]: It's all up here.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_04]: I got it.

[00:07:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Alicia, would you rather?

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, I mean if I can be on the Nostromo before the whole alien encounter,

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_03]: it didn't seem so bad.

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_03]: You can chill.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Apparently the coffee's decent.

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_04]: Fish for coffee.

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_04]: It's the only thing good on this ship.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_02]: The only good damn good thing on the ship.

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_03]: At least you know, you're going home words.

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_03]: I think like Jackson star or assuming Hadley's Hope operated the same way.

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Jackson star did as you know, you are basically an indentured servant.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_03]: I guess at least there you can go out but Nostromo pre-xenomorph is where it's at.

[00:07:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Like you could yeah, you just shoot the shit over breakfast.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_03]: After you're asleep.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Of course you would have a cat with you.

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Of course.

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, Jones is there.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think I would lean to I'd be hanging with Ron.

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_02]: I think we'd be down there.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_02]: I think we'd be getting up some mischief.

[00:07:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe some side hustles going down or something like that.

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_02]: So I think that's the best place with Fury 161.

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_02]: No, thank you.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_02]: I do not need to be on a penal colony.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Well hot takes time Ron.

[00:08:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Why don't you lead us off?

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_02]: What is your spoiler-free hot take for Alien Romulus?

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_06]: I really enjoyed this.

[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_06]: It was a fun romp.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_06]: It touched on some nostalgia from a number of the movies and I'm sure we'll touch on that a little bit later in the spoiler section.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_06]: It was a good it was like a good action horror thriller and it's the kind of horror that I can

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_06]: take.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_06]: I think I've said this on another one that I like I can't do.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_06]: Was it borderline or?

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_06]: No, no, no.

[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_06]: Like I can take this like Aliens the second one.

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_06]: That's like my favorite in the series.

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_06]: I can do the action adventure horror.

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_06]: Can't take creepy women crawling out of a well or spinning heads that kind of stuff just or or creepy cults in the in the New England area.

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_06]: I just can't do those.

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_06]: Zero Morse I can take.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_02]: I think we're doing poltergeist for our spooktober.

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_06]: Yes, I think you're kind of like all time favorites to me.

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_06]: It's kind of like is it the first one?

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, that one didn't freak me out as much as like exorcist or something.

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_06]: But okay.

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, fair fair.

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh man.

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_02]: I want to I'd love to go back and see the original exorcist because that scared the F out of me when I was a kid as a kid.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_06]: I can see that overall though.

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_06]: Like I said, I enjoy this movie.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_06]: I have a few issues but nothing that took away my enjoyment.

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_06]: Jean, what about you?

[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_04]: I really liked it.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_04]: I liked it more than I thought I would.

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_04]: But much more than I thought I would.

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_04]: I went into it with relatively low expectation and I came out of it like wow, this was a really fun movie and telling people to go see it.

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_04]: I did not expect to have that reaction.

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, it's a fun movie.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_03]: I like I love it.

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Cool.

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Alicia.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't want to spoil my rankings that we're going to do at the end of the episode.

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_02]: We're going to do some power rankings at the very, very end.

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, but I'll say this ranks quite high for me in this franchise.

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_03]: I had one problem with so there's we're going to talk about a certain questionable rights issues thing.

[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_03]: But that aside, I had one problem with one callback.

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_03]: We all know what you're talking about.

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_05]: You just got to save it.

[00:10:15] Yeah.

[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_03]: I had one problem with one callback and then later on actually someone pointed out to me that it was set up.

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_03]: So I was like, okay, I withdraw my objection.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_03]: I think it's a good film.

[00:10:25] [SPEAKER_03]: I think it's yeah, it hit on I didn't think I wanted it to bring together the prequel stuff.

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_03]: But I think that it did that well, you know, bringing together the old and the new and the in between.

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_03]: And it felt like a part of this franchise where every movie has felt kind of different,

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_03]: but it felt like it somehow.

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, coalesce them all together.

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_03]: And I forget his name.

[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_03]: The guy from Rye Lane who played the Android was just phenomenal.

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_03]: David Johnson.

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_06]: Phenomenal.

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_06]: Cool.

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_06]: Also in the first season of industry.

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, I haven't watched it yet, but noted it's on the list.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_02]: And industry is getting strong reviews.

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's good.

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_02]: The season and in general as a series.

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, it's pretty good.

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_02]: I am I think I'm pretty much in the same.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_02]: I've been doing some community reactions.

[00:11:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Well talking with some of our listeners and some other folks and I feel like we're all pretty much on the same page,

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_02]: which is it was a really good summer action flick.

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_02]: It scratched that itch of having that fun action horror romp.

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_02]: I thought it's a great reboot for the new generation.

[00:11:24] [SPEAKER_02]: So I think it's going to bring in a whole bunch of new fans.

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_02]: I would say one of the strengths of the original 79 movie is that people could see themselves on screen.

[00:11:32] [SPEAKER_02]: This is just an office place and this is you know,

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_02]: it's a normal working environment in space and then something wild out.

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_02]: And so I think a lot of young people can just see themselves on screen with this cast.

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_02]: And hopefully that'll bring in a whole bunch of new people into the franchise.

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_02]: I think everybody has pointed out is just a massive nostalgia bomb for all of the previous movies.

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_02]: There's just so many little callbacks and scenes.

[00:11:56] [SPEAKER_02]: I kind of felt like the last big set piece section could have just been trimmed.

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't need the whole ending thing.

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_02]: I think we could have left it somewhere else and we can talk about that when we get into it.

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_02]: But I agree that David Johnson stole the show.

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_02]: He was he was really the standout actor and character for the whole thing.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_02]: A question for you all.

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Is the franchise better off for having this movie or worse off for having this movie?

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Well considering what came immediately before I would say this is a market improvement.

[00:12:29] [SPEAKER_04]: It's better off.

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Definitely.

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Much better place.

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, right.

[00:12:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Because I think the last movie we had was The Covenant, right?

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_02]: I believe so.

[00:12:38] [SPEAKER_02]: 2017.

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, Covenant was the last movie we had.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Ron, what do you think?

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Do you think it's done its job?

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah, I absolutely think it did.

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_06]: I think the world building that it created was really good.

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_06]: I like how it built on the company and what's behind the company.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_06]: I like where it left off and I think it can do some good work from here on out.

[00:13:00] [SPEAKER_02]: Right, and it sounds like they're talking maybe Fede Alvarez who's the director.

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_02]: They might be doing some more stuff.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Not a bad idea.

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_06]: It'd be curious to see how it feeds into the television show that Noah Hawley is going to be working on.

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_06]: Alien Earth which is going to be coming out.

[00:13:14] [SPEAKER_06]: Is it Noah Hawley or Noah Wiley?

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's Noah Hawley.

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_06]: You're right.

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_06]: I'm thinking of Noah Wiley from ER.

[00:13:20] Okay.

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_06]: Noah Hawley, yeah.

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_06]: It'd be curious to see how this ties into that creation if there will be any.

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, no.

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_02]: I think Alien Earth from what I understand is going to be set even before the original Alien movie.

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_02]: This is going to ...

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_02]: And I don't think he's taking into account.

[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_02]: I read a fragment of an interview somewhere and I think he's not taking Covenant and Prometheus into account.

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_02]: Good for him.

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_02]: And he's just sticking with the main line universe.

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_02]: All right, well let's just a couple of quick production details just to again cover bases.

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_02]: This was written by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Saegas.

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_02]: They're two writing partners out of Uruguay and it's directed by Fede Alvarez.

[00:14:01] [SPEAKER_02]: He worked and had a lot of conversations with Ridley Scott and they even had some of the original production folks from the original 79 movie on crew

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_02]: and working with them in their designs in the building and stuff like that.

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_02]: The characters are based on creations from Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett and it's starring

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Kaylee Spany, David Johnson, Archie Renaud, Isabel Merced, Spike Fern and Eileen Wu.

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Can I just say that I've been seeing Kaylee Spany in like everything all of a sudden.

[00:14:34] [SPEAKER_03]: I think like so there's this and then I've been watching finally,

[00:14:37] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm the mayor of East town and then I watched the craft legacy for the Will Schiff dust spooked over thing and she's in that too.

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_02]: Like, oh wow.

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_03]: She's all of a sudden all over the place.

[00:14:47] [SPEAKER_03]: But anyway, sorry.

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_02]: And she was in Civil War which was covered.

[00:14:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_02]: So this was released just in August had a budget of 80 million dollars and to date it has made 315 million.

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_02]: That's just under a hundred million in the US and just over 200 million international.

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_02]: So that's what is that 4X?

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_02]: So that's pretty good.

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_02]: That's I would consider that.

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, it's I mean, that's interesting that it's done twice as well internationally as in the US.

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_03]: That's it's really really it shows that it's playing well overseas.

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_03]: I wonder I guess they probably got a China release that often makes a difference there.

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't dive deep into the numbers.

[00:15:29] [SPEAKER_02]: There's several websites that have report on all that kind of stuff.

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_02]: And I think it's more Europe.

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_03]: If I could be wrong, I mean it sure was popular here.

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_03]: I can tell you that it was yeah, right on.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_02]: So on Rotten Tomatoes, it's got an 80% favorable from the critics and 85% of verified popcorn users on Rotten Tomatoes.

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_02]: And they've done like a thing right now where they've for the user reviews.

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_02]: They've separated verified versus unverified and for the all users.

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_02]: It's 82%.

[00:15:59] [SPEAKER_02]: So still holding a pretty good number and on Metacritic.

[00:16:02] [SPEAKER_02]: It's a 64 scores a rank of 64 so a little bit lower for the critics but a 7.3 for the user score.

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_02]: So strong.

[00:16:11] [SPEAKER_02]: I think it's a strong showing.

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Alright, so the next question is big screen small screen John.

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Would you recommend folks see this on the big screen or wait for streaming?

[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm both.

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_04]: That's my answer on both.

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_04]: All right.

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Some people don't necessarily want to be in the theater and that's right.

[00:16:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Right, right on right.

[00:16:32] [SPEAKER_04]: I think however you can watch it.

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_06]: You should be you should watch it wrong big screen small screen.

[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_06]: If you can see this on the big screen, I definitely would do the big screen.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_06]: The cinematography looks great.

[00:16:44] [SPEAKER_06]: Some of the imagery that happens looks especially towards the end.

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_06]: This looks really fantastic on the big screen.

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_06]: So if you can they feel comfortable doing that.

[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_06]: I go for big screen.

[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_06]: Cool, Alicia.

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_03]: All things considered equal.

[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_03]: I would definitely recommend it is one that's worthy.

[00:17:03] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a visual spectacle worthy of a big screen if you have that as an option.

[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_02]: I saw it in a very small town a reasonable sized town in Maine and I saw it the afternoon of Saturday that it came out

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_02]: And it's a it was a beautiful day out Maine summertime and there were one two three four five six six other people in the theater with me and they all sort of you know filtered in sort of at the last minute.

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_02]: So I was kind of surprised.

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_02]: I thought I was going to be in the theater all by myself.

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't see it in IMAX or anything big like that, but I would say first viewing would be definite big screen just to take in the beautiful CGI and the sets that they created.

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_02]: It was pretty.

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_03]: I actually put off watching it for a few days so that I could watch it in a specific theater in Amsterdam called Tyshinsky.

[00:17:53] [SPEAKER_03]: That's it's it's a theater that dates from the I think it was built in the early 20s.

[00:18:00] [SPEAKER_03]: It combines art deco, the style Amsterdam school like combines all these different architecture styles from the time to the point where once it was unveiled after it was unveiled.

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_03]: The city was like, okay from now on we need to approve plans up front because they thought it was so ugly.

[00:18:20] [SPEAKER_03]: But then and then the other World War two happened in the Nazis took it over painted over all of it and it's been fully restored to its original state.

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_03]: So while when you go in there, like I try to take pictures, it has like these butterfly motifs and like all this really complex decor and it was like sitting inside the ship with them.

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_03]: While watching them on the screen almost just the decor around me.

[00:18:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, anybody got any good trailers?

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_02]: I saw Nosferatu Joker 2 and Beetlejuice 2.

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I think I saw three of those as well.

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, yeah, nothing nothing to write home about actually.

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Are you guys excited for Joker Alicia Angel?

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm more so than he is even though I don't love the original but but yeah, they got me with Gaga and singing.

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm like, okay, let's see.

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's see.

[00:19:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:19:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Give it to me show me what you got.

[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Um, yeah.

[00:19:14] [SPEAKER_02]: And Nosferatu are you that looked?

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_03]: I am very yeah, I've been rewatching not only the 20s and the 70s Nosferatu's but also a bunch of of like short films and stuff that were I put together a whole list of films that were part of this German Expresses expressionism movements about yeah, I'm going deep on it.

[00:19:37] [SPEAKER_06]: Okay, as usual.

[00:19:40] [SPEAKER_06]: That would be a hell no for me.

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_06]: Oh, yeah.

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_03]: No vampires for you.

[00:19:46] [SPEAKER_06]: No, I actually like vampires.

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_06]: But again, I saw the trailer.

[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_06]: Not this one.

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_06]: Nope.

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_06]: Funny.

[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_06]: I'm more of a Lost Boys kind of vampire movie.

[00:19:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, that's not even a vampire movie.

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_03]: I like Interview with a Vampire.

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_03]: That's great.

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_06]: That's not bad.

[00:20:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Best show of the year.

[00:20:04] [SPEAKER_06]: I like Bram Stoker's.

[00:20:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Bram Stoker's.

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_06]: Bram Stoker's.

[00:20:11] [SPEAKER_03]: That's the porn version.

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_03]: That's right.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_06]: I have no doubt.

[00:20:15] [SPEAKER_06]: I'm sure that is.

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_06]: There's a Bram Stoker's.

[00:20:17] [SPEAKER_06]: No doubt.

[00:20:19] [SPEAKER_02]: So we usually run through a few of our analytics, the little things that we've sort of made up and adopted over time just for fun, just a way to frame and think about movies.

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_02]: So we have the Pukila Scale for Violence.

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_02]: This is named after our favorite Tolkien scholar, Marilyn R. Pukila.

[00:20:36] [SPEAKER_02]: You can hear her on our Rings of Power coverage.

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_02]: And if we take season one of Rings of Power as a sort of just tolerable violence level, we sort of have an infinite scale of it was this more or less violent than that.

[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_02]: I think I don't think we need to answer this question.

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_02]: I think it's clear that this thing.

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_02]: This is way up there.

[00:20:57] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, it's not the worst thing I've seen recently in that.

[00:21:00] [SPEAKER_03]: No, but it's up there.

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_02]: It's pretty high.

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_04]: It's pretty high.

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_02]: But it's funny because it's only got a few points, but they're so well done and so good that they really are impactful.

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_02]: We have the Sanderson Slider.

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_02]: This sort of measures inspiration versus adaptation.

[00:21:15] [SPEAKER_02]: And I don't really think that this applies directly, but man, it really does incorporate so much of the source material and we'll talk about it later.

[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_02]: So I don't really know how to where to put this on this because it's very, it's very inspired by a lot of things, but it's also adapting a lot of things.

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_03]: So yeah, it would be qualified for an adapted screenplay if they ever considered horror.

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_03]: They ask us, yeah, it's a sequel.

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_03]: So it's not like it's you don't want it to redo the same story.

[00:21:43] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, exactly.

[00:21:45] [SPEAKER_02]: And then we have the Lopez test, which is based on the season four of True Detective.

[00:21:49] [SPEAKER_02]: And this is just, does it fit within the franchise that it's supposed to, you know, or that it's named for?

[00:21:56] [SPEAKER_02]: And I think it clearly passes the Lopez test for being aliens.

[00:22:01] [SPEAKER_02]: And then the last thing is the Shippy Test, which is the medium versus the message.

[00:22:04] [SPEAKER_02]: Does the screen adaptation alter the core message of the original work?

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_02]: But I don't think it applies in this case.

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, even though I think and we'll talk about it more that Fed Alvarez, his close, close study of the all of the original source material.

[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_02]: He really knows what he's doing with when it comes to placing this movie into this universe.

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, so I would say in this regard that aliens, the second one does more to alter the core message than this one does like this one really does feel like an in-between.

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER_03]: And the two movies that it timeline wise is in between.

[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's interesting.

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_02]: We should probably talk about that when we get into a little bit more about what is alien?

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_02]: What is the franchise?

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_02]: What does the franchise mean?

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_02]: And when we go to an aliens movie, what are we?

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_02]: What are we expecting?

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Cool.

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_02]: All right.

[00:22:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, let's take a little break and when we come back, we will get into full spoiler territory.

[00:23:11] [SPEAKER_02]: All right, we are back.

[00:23:14] [SPEAKER_02]: So I wanted to kind of kick off with something and to see where this will lead us because we're going to have a pretty loose flowing conversation, even though we've got a pretty good outline in a bunch of notes.

[00:23:25] [SPEAKER_02]: But I saw a piece of interesting feedback on our discord from layer cake and they say IP sequels truthfully need to copy some tone atmosphere and concepts to even remotely work at a basic level.

[00:23:38] [SPEAKER_02]: But there needs to be substantial effort put in to also creating something new in the process.

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_02]: This is where Romulus didn't work for me.

[00:23:47] [SPEAKER_02]: It looks, sounds and acts like an alien film because it's cloning the DNA of them rather than splicing off fragments for a new breed.

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_02]: I like a lot of the technical qualities of Romulus, but I'm also so awfully tired of quote, I understood that reference close quote cinema.

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_02]: So kind of a lead off question is this slide, the summer slasher movie, a slightly off base blockbuster kind of there's a lot of franchise movies out this year.

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Are we suffering from any sort of franchise fatigue?

[00:24:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Was there too much fan service or not enough in this movie?

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Ron kick off with your thoughts.

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_06]: I think there was an interesting comment that they left because I agree to some extent with the later things that they said towards the end.

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_06]: But the initial thing that they wrote saying that an IP sequel needs to have some DNA of the original.

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER_06]: If you compare alien and aliens, I would say those are two different genres.

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_06]: They feel very different alien is like a space haunted house is one monster aliens.

[00:24:54] [SPEAKER_06]: You have a whole bunch of them coming at you.

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_06]: Like I remember watching alien.

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_06]: I saw aliens before I saw alien and I remember thinking how, how were they not able to kill just one in the first movie?

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_06]: Like they're killing a whole bunch.

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_06]: I know there's the military and everything, but I just remember thinking they kind of elevated or maybe elevate.

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_06]: Maybe it's the wrong word.

[00:25:15] [SPEAKER_06]: I almost ran reverse because that one alien in the first one was so seemed so powerful and so unbeatable.

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_06]: And by the second one you're knocking off a whole bunch.

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_06]: He almost seemed like it was unkillable.

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_06]: So it feels very much like a different movie.

[00:25:31] [SPEAKER_06]: So I hope thinking about an IP sequel have some DNA from the first.

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't know if I 100% agree with but I do like the point about a sequel creating or bringing something new and you know,

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_06]: this kind of I mean you could say suffers from the force awakens syndrome.

[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_02]: That's a good comp.

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_06]: You know, it's a really good comp since that it's kind of like trading where we've gone before.

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER_06]: And on both of the classics alien and aliens.

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_06]: And so I don't necessarily have a problem with that if the storytelling is good.

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_06]: And if it's if it's like I really enjoyed first weekends, I understand the criticism behind it.

[00:26:14] [SPEAKER_06]: It was fun as enjoyable.

[00:26:16] [SPEAKER_06]: This one was too.

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_06]: And so I think lost opportunities.

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_06]: Sometimes I think there are lost opportunities when you don't create something new to a sequel.

[00:26:25] [SPEAKER_06]: But I don't think that in and of itself makes it a bad sequel.

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_02]: John did was this too much fan service for you because I detected every single movie in except excluding the AVP movies, right?

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Including the Predator movies covenant Prometheus 1 2 3 and 4 are all in there for 5.

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Wait, yeah, whatever all the major movies were in there in some way shape or form.

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Was that too much for you or did you vibe with it?

[00:26:52] [SPEAKER_04]: I've had with it.

[00:26:53] [SPEAKER_04]: It didn't take me out of the movie.

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay, I wasn't sitting there saying, oh man, I know what this is from.

[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh man, I know what this is from like I never felt that way.

[00:27:03] [SPEAKER_04]: I watched the movie and I never felt of the movie.

[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_04]: So I kind of disagree with what they said because for me at least the fan service was not overwhelming and didn't you know,

[00:27:17] [SPEAKER_04]: take away or detract from my viewing of the film.

[00:27:21] [SPEAKER_04]: And I kind of feel like they did bring something new to the movie when they're on planet and with on Jackson star.

[00:27:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, and they're going through their daily their daily lives and we're seeing what that entails.

[00:27:34] [SPEAKER_04]: That's something that I don't think was ever truly shown in the previous movies how the regular day to day lives of people are affected by this corporation.

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, totally in control it seems like of everything in the universe in that universe.

[00:27:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.

[00:27:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Making decisions that are, you know, incomprehensible which is interesting.

[00:28:00] [SPEAKER_04]: This is a sidebar.

[00:28:01] [SPEAKER_04]: There's a what if comic about aliens that came out this year.

[00:28:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh really Marvel.

[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Cool.

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_04]: Was it good?

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_04]: It was good.

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_04]: Which shows that side of the court right?

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Where you have people mining and can't get away from the corporation and things of that nature.

[00:28:22] [SPEAKER_04]: So it's interesting that the movie sort of spoke to what this comic was speaking to during the same time period during the same year.

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_04]: So yeah, I didn't feel taken out of the movie and I did feel that they what something new to the series.

[00:28:39] [SPEAKER_02]: Alicia I was making a little scratch list of all of the franchise movies that were out this year.

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_02]: It's a lot.

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_03]: Conservative, conservative corporate thinking.

[00:28:51] Yeah.

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, exactly.

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_02]: Do you feel any kind of franchise fatigue overall or do you feel like it's been a while since we've had an alien movie alien franchise movie.

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_02]: So we're due for one period right?

[00:29:03] [SPEAKER_02]: But was this did this get affected by franchise fever or do you feel like it was its own movie?

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't I don't consider this movie in any way in having you know being related to franchise fatigue.

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_03]: I was going to say that in terms of the fan service side of it.

[00:29:21] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, yeah, because as you said, it's been quite a while and this was like a sort of return to form.

[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_03]: But on the fan service side of it, like I think that you do need a movie like this to tie together the other elements to justify why are we doing another story in the same work.

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, it's like with it's like with and or season two coming up and everyone's like Tony Gilroy doesn't want to do fan service.

[00:29:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, but if they don't some way acknowledge that Leia is a young famous senator at that time then you know, why are we even making a story in this part of the timeline?

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_03]: So I was saying there was one aside from the whole we'll talk about the the person who came back from the dead.

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, you can talk about it now if you want.

[00:30:05] [SPEAKER_02]: We're in.

[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, yeah, but I was going to say that the one thing that bothered me was at the end.

[00:30:11] [SPEAKER_03]: He's like get away from me bitch or whatever.

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_02]: And he says to the alien drone he kills get away from her bitch.

[00:30:21] [SPEAKER_02]: David of future past here in post-production.

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_02]: I pulled up all the you bitch lines from Romulus and aliens and combine them all here.

[00:30:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Bjorn actually calls Andy a bitch twice once on the shuttlecraft when they're about to take off.

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_02]: And once again when he grabs Navarro to head to the shuttle.

[00:30:46] [SPEAKER_02]: I've also included the bitch line that Andy says when he kills the alien drone as well as the original from 1986 with a Ripley and apologies for the audio quality from the Romulus movie.

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_02]: The official P Vod is not out yet.

[00:31:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Get away from her you bitch.

[00:31:29] [SPEAKER_03]: But then somebody pointed out to me that before that said the cousin I forget his name the cousin guy who was the jerk he said to he called Andy a bitch a few times so that's where he got that word from.

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, good pick up.

[00:31:44] [SPEAKER_03]: So that does make sense but then again it's like are we twisting around a plot just to get this one line in there then it's like yeah that's the one point where I was like right the other about this the CGI Bjorn who is the play by Spike Fern.

[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay.

[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_02]: Tyler's cousin.

[00:32:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Right and then for the Android from the dead is that Rook is his name Rook.

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah.

[00:32:10] [SPEAKER_03]: So, okay.

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not even going to tackle the whole ethical side of whether to use the image of an actor who's passed away with the permission of their spouse and blah blah blah that whole issue is very complicated and I'm just going to point that there was bad CGI.

[00:32:28] [SPEAKER_03]: That was my problem with that.

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_02]: There's Ian Holm who played the original.

[00:32:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, why am I blanking the name of that?

[00:32:36] [SPEAKER_02]: Ash right.

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Ash Ash thank you.

[00:32:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I just couldn't think of his name.

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER_03]: But yes someone pointed out to me like there's always another way to do it I understand why they did it and I thought that story wise it didn't make sense and was kind of cool in a story way but someone's like wouldn't have also been powerful if we had another model like Andy.

[00:32:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Who is you know and then Andy sees it literally his own face reflected.

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_02]: Who that be cool.

[00:33:03] [SPEAKER_03]: So there is you know you can make decisions like that so those are the two the one to fan service he thinks I was like everything else I was like no this is this is perfectly.

[00:33:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Woven together mesh together the right balance of the ingredients for me personally.

[00:33:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I didn't realize that Andy had taken the word bitch from what had Bjorn had used it before.

[00:33:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I have to look on that look at when it when I watch it again in the future because for me that line did take me out for a second and I think.

[00:33:37] [SPEAKER_02]: I got back in but never as fully as I did and that's one of the things you know one of the things we like to kind of look at too and when we do our one shots is what worked and what didn't work and for me one of the things that didn't work.

[00:33:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Was the zero gravity scene and I get why and you know all that they set it up nicely and everything but they made a point to say that she had never been in space before so how does she know how to work in zero gravity like zero gravity is like one of the hardest things for human beings that are used to gravity to deal with.

[00:34:09] [SPEAKER_02]: So I was like doesn't quite work for me but that aside that I could accept I could accept that for the sake of the movie but I could not accept the get away from her you bitch line.

[00:34:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay because it felt to me like it and some of the people in my theater enjoyed it and some of the people didn't react at all.

[00:34:27] [SPEAKER_04]: I didn't react was that I didn't react okay you know I don't want it up until you brought it up I didn't even remember that line was in the movie until really that's so funny I wonder if that's why I didn't pull you out because when you said that it didn't nothing pulled you out.

[00:34:43] [SPEAKER_06]: That's the first thing I thought about was for a lot of people that line did pull them out specifically because it was such an iconic line from aliens.

[00:34:53] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah and I was going to comment when she said Alicia regarding the bad CGI of the rook character.

[00:35:00] [SPEAKER_06]: I actually kind of felt like it worked for what he was because he was an Android so that sort of uncanny valley-ness of it all kind of I think worked for what he was and if you were to compare that to the practical effects of the ash when he was torn apart.

[00:35:22] [SPEAKER_03]: The original I honestly think that was better.

[00:35:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Part of that was kind of hurt.

[00:35:32] [SPEAKER_02]: They cut they do a hard cut from his from Ian Holmes real head to this really bad.

[00:35:39] [SPEAKER_06]: Straight in the head and it's like okay that's where they really stuck him under the table and took his head through.

[00:35:45] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean I I complained about a quote unquote when we did the breakdown of that movie recently but for this one I think the thing is like.

[00:35:53] [SPEAKER_03]: It was the CGI was this of a shockingly low level for me given the quality of the rest of the film so that took me out just being like why is this so much worse than the rest of the special effects.

[00:36:05] [SPEAKER_04]: That makes sense.

[00:36:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Was there anything else Alicia that didn't work for you or was there something that was a that really worked for you.

[00:36:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Well actually I was going to say what really worked for me was the zero gravity scene with the acid.

[00:36:18] [SPEAKER_03]: Right on right on okay.

[00:36:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Because I thought it was you know they set it up they had the whole thing that was a cool element of them coming onto the ship and having this annoying gravity thing they kept ship.

[00:36:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah yeah I would like slam them into the ground and so it was like a nice.

[00:36:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Element to thwart them when they first enter the ship and then.

[00:36:40] [SPEAKER_03]: You know that setting that up for this callback and it was just so cool is like I called it like the acid ballet you know just trying to avoid the acid in the air but at some point you're like all this assets going to come down and then it does.

[00:36:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah and it's a nice through line too because even on the in the final set well I can't really call it the final set piece but the final round of action when they're on the shuttlecraft that is all involving zero G there's a bunch of zero G related stuff in there.

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_02]: And I believe Andy says a joke early on about was it an astronaut or something like that falling and.

[00:37:15] [SPEAKER_02]: One of his dad jokes and then she he tells her that joke again when they're sitting there sort of contemplating their doom.

[00:37:30] [SPEAKER_02]: And that's when she clicks she's like haha I know what to do and she goes over and hits the button to you know do the gravity stuff so not only did fed Alvarez.

[00:37:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Set up the whole gravity thing through the entire movie but he also uses Andy's dad jokes as a plot mechanic to be able to give her the keys to unlock the thing that's going to save their lives.

[00:37:56] [SPEAKER_02]: John did the zero gravity ballet work for you it works for me.

[00:38:01] [SPEAKER_04]: The only thing that.

[00:38:05] [SPEAKER_04]: Didn't that that was like huh but then I was just like it didn't take me out of the movie was I'm going to refer to him as the big baby so.

[00:38:13] [SPEAKER_04]: When the big.

[00:38:19] [SPEAKER_04]: So I'm like I'm like all right I don't know what it's gonna look like but it's gonna look like something then this big ass baby came out and I'm like.

[00:38:28] [SPEAKER_04]: Wait a minute.

[00:38:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Now we're dealing with big ass baby right and he got and it's when he was her name the mother the mother.

[00:38:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Right okay Isabella said he finally gets to her I guess he's dragging you he's like.

[00:38:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Vampire her right you know that's what he was doing I didn't get why he was rampiring her.

[00:38:53] [SPEAKER_06]: Right I thought maybe he would like be connected to her like when a protector or something.

[00:38:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah that's yeah the first thing that I thought was like why is he is he empowering her and goes up and sniffs her right it's like he's like hey are you my mom.

[00:39:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Right and then all of it and then next he's like draining her and I'm like why is why is he why is he draining her like I didn't get an explanation for that.

[00:39:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah there was nothing to tell me why big baby was doing that so that's the only thing that I would like like an explanation to why.

[00:39:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Why why does he look like partial engineer and stuff yeah that was I thought though visually was really cool like he looks super scary.

[00:39:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah and I loved that on the visual side that was the part of the movie where I had the most questions about like we so what is this sequence of events of a like are we supposed to ask questions about who the father is she said the father is somebody.

[00:39:49] [SPEAKER_02]: Can you for me was Bjorn was the father.

[00:39:52] [SPEAKER_02]: Because Bjorn is her cousin yeah that's what I thought but hey it's Jackson stars.

[00:39:58] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean they had an interaction that made me think that but then just the fact that they are cousins I was like yeah yeah maybe not you know.

[00:40:08] [SPEAKER_02]: It's out there Ron big baby or did it work not work for you.

[00:40:13] [SPEAKER_06]: It wasn't I mean it wasn't crazy about the big baby like it wasn't like it didn't ruin the movie for me or anything I was as soon as she stuck herself with that needle I was like we knew why why are you doing this.

[00:40:28] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't understand I mean I think they kind of try to sell it that she did it because she was worried for her baby and she felt like the way it was explained like this serum would help.

[00:40:42] [SPEAKER_06]: But it just didn't make sense that she I mean I guess it kind of made sense but not enough since I guess that she would inject herself with this alien fluid that's never been tested she has no idea what it is.

[00:40:59] [SPEAKER_02]: So maybe anyone that maybe was born they they sort of tease fed a sort of teases that the experiment does go wrong right because they cut away to the giant right yeah we see.

[00:41:09] [SPEAKER_02]: I think that's one of the themes to this is a thought when we're thinking of the alien franchise writ large.

[00:41:22] [SPEAKER_02]: That when O'Bannon and and she said originally you know we're conceiving of the storyline.

[00:41:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Ronald she said is the one who came up with the idea for the face hugger to impregnate people and basically was sort of like oh yeah it's you know part I pardon the description here but I believe this is from the documentary about this he says yes fucking your face right it's like.

[00:41:45] [SPEAKER_02]: You got this thing and we see that a couple of times in this in the scene it's like wow but then that goes into the whole gig or psycho sexual artwork.

[00:41:55] [SPEAKER_02]: And in always the alien franchises have something to do with sex and sexuality when.

[00:42:03] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm blanking the name of the woman though the one of the last characters to die in the original movie like the tail comes up underneath her in between her legs right and this kind of stuff and then there's this sort of penetrating you know people are being penetrated by that alien.

[00:42:20] [SPEAKER_06]: And then eggs and and their precious bodily fluids.

[00:42:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I can no longer sit back and allow communist infiltration communist indoctrination communist subversion and the international communist conspiracy to sap and impure if I all of our precious bodily fluids.

[00:42:39] [SPEAKER_02]: Alicia did this movie work on that level for you I mean like what is an alien movie what are you expecting when you go to see an alien movie.

[00:42:47] [SPEAKER_03]: What do you want from the franchise I mean I guess you expect the giga at least giga influence designs which is what has all of that wrapped up in it and definitely it looks like an alien movie to me it looks like something that was.

[00:43:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Gritty space industrialism with with also the sort of.

[00:43:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Covert art deco elements with like the the.

[00:43:15] [SPEAKER_03]: Curvature of the lines like clean lines but then everything just looks a bit roughed up and lived in and so yeah on the design level it absolutely worked for me.

[00:43:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah I mean I guess alien movies are also in some way always about the life cycle of these aliens and putting their choice on it so this definitely takes off that box yeah I guess.

[00:43:40] [SPEAKER_03]: I just wondered.

[00:43:42] [SPEAKER_03]: If I just wonder if with the story of K and her baby here and whatever if this is something that was intentionally left open for a sequel to fill in like I did feel like this ended.

[00:43:56] [SPEAKER_03]: This ended fine it could be its own standalone thing but I did feel like that they were perhaps queuing up a sequel.

[00:44:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Do you think so I was talking with one of our listeners one of our subscribers do 71 for the community feedback podcast and he mentioned that if if the movie had ended.

[00:44:16] [SPEAKER_02]: With rain putting K into the bed.

[00:44:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh and it just a little weird side note if you look at it when they're bringing the sleep pods into the shuttle which was very similar to the way the original pod was brought in from the from the probe.

[00:44:33] [SPEAKER_02]: At the very beginning of the movie so they they mirror that's a nice little thing but they'll the sleep pods is in the shape of a W of the wayland yantii corporation so little fun detail anyway he was.

[00:44:44] [SPEAKER_02]: He would have been fine and I agree with him on this that if they had ended the movie there no we knowing that K had injected herself.

[00:44:55] [SPEAKER_02]: And she goes into stasis and then rain goes into stasis boom sequel prepped right you're ready to go but instead fed a goes into this whole long extended thing with big baby and I don't know that's I was like babies where I need the answers to that's yeah that's what I need.

[00:45:14] [SPEAKER_03]: To address in the sequel.

[00:45:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Right okay Ron I don't know what.

[00:45:19] [SPEAKER_02]: In terms of.

[00:45:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Fulfilling and the promise of alien did this movie work for you on that level.

[00:45:28] [SPEAKER_06]: In terms of like did it feel like it fits into the franchise is that what you mean.

[00:45:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah or go when you go to see an alien movie does it and what what are your expectations you know be a gig or be an alien lifecycle be it you know action adventure horror.

[00:45:43] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah I mean I think we have we have three types of alien movies we have what I call so like the original flavor which I would say it would be the first four movies alien one two three and four you know a xenomorph the company trying fighting them and.

[00:46:04] [SPEAKER_02]: I guess that's part of that let me if I can interject yeah if I can what are the elements of it I think this is good because what are the elements of an alien franchise movie.

[00:46:11] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah like I mean for me like that original flavor element includes fighting the xenomorphs someone worried about being impregnated.

[00:46:21] [SPEAKER_06]: It has more of a thriller or aspect to it I feel like the Prometheus and covenant.

[00:46:30] [SPEAKER_06]: I almost have a different flavor to it in sense of it's more about I feel like it's more about the history of the engineers and who they were and it brings like this introduces you know this new storyline and this new history that plays into it and has some aspects of the other thing as well so you get the xenomorphs and whatnot.

[00:46:56] [SPEAKER_06]: And they have the AVP which are its own separate thing but for me I want to see like I said like I want to see fighting the xenomorphs.

[00:47:10] [SPEAKER_06]: Ideally, for me, I would love to see some type of character development that makes sense.

[00:47:19] [SPEAKER_06]: I feel like some of the decisions made in Prometheus.

[00:47:23] [SPEAKER_06]: It just like why are you putting your face next to a leathery egg that's opening up like I just every time I go to every time I think about seeing I just it just it's infuriating and he's supposed to be a scientist anyway.

[00:47:40] [SPEAKER_02]: We had you and I had originally done some 79 coverage and we decided to let that one go for a variety of technical reasons or whatever but you and I got into a side conversation which I want to re bring back which is the way people doing dumb shit.

[00:47:56] Yes,

[00:47:58] [SPEAKER_06]: I try not to and we probably can't tell from my voice but I'm black.

[00:48:02] [SPEAKER_06]: That's one of the things I get teased about on my show about how black I am or I'm not but one of the things that it is funny though you know it is funny the stereotypes about things that white people do in movies going down into basements and putting your face in leathery eggs that are opening up seem to be tough.

[00:48:27] [SPEAKER_06]: All the while the black people in movies are like the equivalent of red shirts and star trek movies they often times.

[00:48:35] [SPEAKER_06]: But but back to your original question about what I want to see the xenomorphs to fighting I would love to see a good character development get story development.

[00:48:44] [SPEAKER_06]: And I don't know that you get that as much I feel like there were lost opportunities, for instance, in Prometheus with with some aspects of story development and character.

[00:48:55] [SPEAKER_06]: You know Alicia you mentioned a few things that I felt like would have really beefed up the story of this when you know what if instead of having the Android be rook if was David that would be that would be kind of cool they could have played with.

[00:49:11] [SPEAKER_06]: You know, maybe there's a time where you don't know if it's David or if it's this Andy yeah Andy David if it's Andy or a road from the other movie I'm getting them all confused but if Andy.

[00:49:26] [SPEAKER_06]: If rook looked like Andy that would have been cool and then you could have played with you could have played with maybe at some point in the movie they don't know which one is which and maybe she makes a reference to the dad joke and then Rick doesn't know the dad joke it doesn't say that joke.

[00:49:43] [SPEAKER_06]: We can we can backseat script right this.

[00:49:48] [SPEAKER_06]: But so I feel like.

[00:49:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah yeah but overall I feel like this I feel like this had it.

[00:49:56] [SPEAKER_02]: John did something that bugs me that about the last couple of movies is this whole thing of the company or it doesn't even matter that the company's doing it just that the filmmakers want to do it.

[00:50:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Is to crossbreed or speciate the the xenomorph and I find it a little bit disappointing for myself like that they keep going on that but that is one of the things that we kind of keep getting in the franchise is that.

[00:50:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Is that idea of birth and death and then this sort of cross crossing humans and xenomorphs.

[00:50:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Is that something you want from the franchise or what are your opinions on on that particular aspect of the life cycle of the of the xenomorph.

[00:50:38] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm for me they age way too quick man it was and it's happening too fast for me I see this little squirming thing just sliding and running.

[00:50:50] [SPEAKER_04]: You know and then five minutes later is fully grown and chasing me down the hallway this is too much I need more time space between they be xenomorph and fully grown ready to eat me and put me in a cocoon xenomorph.

[00:51:09] [SPEAKER_04]: As far as the the.

[00:51:12] [SPEAKER_04]: Species thing I think that's that works for me because this organism this animal this creature this living thing exists for one purpose only.

[00:51:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Is to reproduce and whatever it comes across is going to use that as a vessel to reproduce into further is speech.

[00:51:38] [SPEAKER_04]: So if it's human if his dog if it's anything any living organism.

[00:51:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Interestingly enough that's one of the converse side conversations about the original alien movie is when the alien regards Jonesy the cat and doesn't do anything to Jonesy.

[00:51:58] [SPEAKER_02]: There's debate about whether the alien was like oh well she's going to come back and get it so I can get her or was the cat a viable host or not anyway that's just a fun little side.

[00:52:08] [SPEAKER_04]: You don't mess with cats no maybe they view maybe they view them as lesser than who knows right you know or or their gods.

[00:52:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah right.

[00:52:19] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah so it works for me all of that stuff works for me the when I when I go to watch an alien movie if I see if I don't see face huggers then what am I doing here right right if I'm if I'm not in some sort of cat and mouse again with.

[00:52:39] [SPEAKER_04]: The cat.

[00:52:42] [SPEAKER_04]: If I'm not in some sort of hide and seek type of situation where you know if I don't hide well enough I'm dead dead right I don't want to be in that movie if it's called alien right has anything to do with with this sort of.

[00:52:58] [SPEAKER_04]: With what the story is so those are the things that I kind of expect to see in a movie that's that sort of vibe.

[00:53:08] [SPEAKER_04]: And this movie in particular did that you know it gave me my my chase scene they gave me my face huggers galore actually you know they killed me with face huggers it was it was great for me to get to witness that and.

[00:53:26] [SPEAKER_04]: If you're doing that in an alien movie I think you're hitting the right notes for me.

[00:53:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Right i'm gonna read this email from one of our subscribers lore master peter oh and he had a long email i sort of broke it up in a couple of parts here so this is one half of it.

[00:53:42] [SPEAKER_02]: I've seen it once i really enjoyed it i'm still mulling over some aspects of the lore contained in the movie.

[00:53:48] [SPEAKER_02]: But all in all it was well it was well worth the price of admission the scene with the cocoon on the wall with something that threw me a little.

[00:53:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Is this a standard part of the xenomorph life cycle i mentally started to nitpick at this why do we never see it in other movies.

[00:54:04] [SPEAKER_02]: I guess i had quite a rigid view of the life cycle a queen lays an eggs the eggs hatch and impregnate a victim a xenomorph burst from the victim and grows rapidly eventually one of the victims will host another queen.

[00:54:17] [SPEAKER_02]: Rinse and repeat but i suppose this is never really been the case in the directors cut of alien we obviously see another variation of the life cycle where an egg can be created from a victim.

[00:54:28] [SPEAKER_02]: And given my defensive prometheus and covenant the versatility of the black goo should not come as a surprise to me.

[00:54:35] [SPEAKER_02]: In a way the creation of the xenomorph represents the ability to destroy humanity there are a myriad of ways to achieve that goal.

[00:54:45] [SPEAKER_02]: I found the introduction of the offspring human xenomorph hybrid a little underwhelming i do think the creature looks a little bit better than the version we saw in resurrection.

[00:54:54] [SPEAKER_02]: I like the use of in homes likeness of a science officer rook and an android in a select and sim okay i can't say it now.

[00:55:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Cretinine yes of a human being and i thought the CGI they used to create cook.

[00:55:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Well gave that vibe you knew you were looking at a real human realizes odds of the older movies where the real actors are portrayed by the androids but I thought it worked well for this film anyway thanks for the excellent coverage interesting discussion on all things in more.

[00:55:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Really enjoyed issues contributions that's isha from every single sci fi film everywhere we did a crossover pod with her and I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on alien earth.

[00:55:30] [SPEAKER_02]: So alicia in terms of the movie bringing something new like we kind of talked about earlier from layer cake like you know their comment about you know it should have dna but it should go forward.

[00:55:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Did the did the new lore but the cocoons aren't new though.

[00:55:48] [SPEAKER_02]: Well that's what I was gonna ask you to do what is a do you feel like the lore that the Romulus has opened up worked for you and added to the world building.

[00:56:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Well I mean I think what it intended to do was ditch together because I think aliens always been wildly inconsistent in its lower especially once you take into account the cut scenes you know so like that one about I think who was it was it's actually really Scott himself he said he didn't.

[00:56:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Or maybe use James Cameron I don't know one of the first two directors was the one who explicitly said nah to that whole thing about turning people into the eggs you know.

[00:56:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay and then there was also cocoon another cut scene and that was like a bigger thing in the video game so I think it was trying to like piece together the very contradictory scraps of the lower that are out there.

[00:56:43] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think where it struggled the most with it was that scene that we've already talked a lot about because also that was the the scene with the big baby because that also is what connected to the prequels which is.

[00:56:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Where the biggest mess in that regard so I didn't really see it as introducing new things as much as trying to grapple with what was already out there and make it more cohesive which I think it did like 70% well.

[00:57:09] [SPEAKER_02]: I think from an evolutionary standpoint I don't know what you think about this but the idea that.

[00:57:16] [SPEAKER_02]: The alien is going to has a number of pathways there's maybe an ideal pathway but there are alternate pathways and that cocoon on the wall that's new right we hadn't seen.

[00:57:26] [SPEAKER_02]: An alien drone burst in that way before literally birth to because it was very it had a particular shape to it right and and it issued forth I don't know did from a lore standpoint are you.

[00:57:39] [SPEAKER_02]: Am I did I like that.

[00:57:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah I mean it was that was that working for you from what they what they did with the way that they're showing the aliens evolving and.

[00:57:47] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah I mean Alicia suggested that there are other IP that suggests that cocoons aren't new that was my first time seeing a coon tie actually thought that was interesting because I never seen that before with regards to.

[00:58:01] [SPEAKER_06]: How alien goes from a baby that comes out of your chest to the giant so I thought that was kind of neat the idea that it cocoons and it would also kind of explain why you always see these weird excretions all over the wall that that kind of are almost.

[00:58:17] [SPEAKER_06]: Grow become organic themselves like maybe they're left over cocoons or maybe that's what creates the cocoons so that's what helps feed the cocoon so I thought that was interesting I like.

[00:58:27] [SPEAKER_02]: Cool I agree with John that it's the cocoon process is too quick yeah yeah in there they're short cutting movies because I think in the original movie the way that they cut the scenes it feels like a long time before they encounter a fully grown drone.

[00:58:42] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah and then there's a scene where they find the shed its skin so it's just that it's kind of grows like a snake.

[00:58:50] [SPEAKER_06]: It should be right right I would say I think there's something to be said that maybe this is kind of along the lines of what Sean was saying that it it like maybe.

[00:59:02] [SPEAKER_06]: They can very well be different species of xenomorph right like just like you have different types of bees different types of ants there could be different types of xenomorphs that grow involved differently who's to say that they all evolve the same way.

[00:59:16] [SPEAKER_03]: I think it also depends on what species are cross breeding with.

[00:59:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Right and I think that's one of the themes of the movie to is is that this is what I was kind of trying to get at before with this idea that filmmakers are constantly trying to breed aliens and humans together.

[00:59:35] [SPEAKER_02]: But the idea that that species speciation can occur, which is these variations based on evolutionary pressures right.

[00:59:43] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh there's a different kind of resource here so i'm going to adapt myself to be able to optimize taking that on.

[00:59:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Whereas I don't think that has anything to do with going from a baby alien to a fully grown drone in five minutes right that's a separate issue from what you were talking about Ron.

[01:00:02] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah one thing that I find interesting is that the design of the phase huggers suggest that it was designed to cross species with a humanoid creature like.

[01:00:16] [SPEAKER_06]: True yeah the weights and it's something that always that always always remarked on it's like it's specific designed to grab around a humanoid face and stick its tentacle it's.

[01:00:28] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't want to be saying.

[01:00:30] [SPEAKER_06]: The thing that I can either it's impregnated down the throat right so.

[01:00:36] [SPEAKER_06]: It's not designed to fit on a cat or dog really the way it the way it's designed and so.

[01:00:42] [SPEAKER_06]: You know that could go back to the how the engineers created it if we're suggesting that engineers are the ones who created this thing, and so I always found that interesting.

[01:00:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Right which would I think goes back to some of the lore about what brittany was trying to do with Prometheus and stuff was that the engineers created.

[01:00:59] [SPEAKER_02]: The xenomorph right to be an efficient exterminator when they wanted to get rid of a planet yeah.

[01:01:08] [SPEAKER_02]: Because one thing i've heard like I don't I don't know.

[01:01:12] [SPEAKER_04]: They in alien.

[01:01:15] [SPEAKER_04]: versus predator wasn't.

[01:01:18] [SPEAKER_04]: Didn't a xenomorph didn't a predator get.

[01:01:23] [SPEAKER_04]: yeah that's not a that's not officially canon I know, but we got a another humanoid species, you know on film getting xenomorph.

[01:01:34] [SPEAKER_04]: Right right right but even the predators are very humanoid so.

[01:01:38] [SPEAKER_04]: yeah that's what i'm saying yeah got another humanoid species exactly getting xenomorph done film right so i've always i've always considered xenomorphs like.

[01:01:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Opportunists whatever around in order to grow our our clan or in order to grow our you know unit that's what we're going to use to grow them.

[01:02:02] [SPEAKER_03]: So maybe they just thought the cat was too small or something.

[01:02:06] [SPEAKER_02]: For the pregnant or.

[01:02:08] [SPEAKER_03]: yeah.

[01:02:10] [SPEAKER_02]: What is the things i've really enjoyed in the movie that were sort of this almost be plot thing that was going on with Andy.

[01:02:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Was two things one there was a whole like laws of robotics like what's my prime directive which is you know whatever is best for rain.

[01:02:29] [SPEAKER_02]: And we were covering the foundation TV series we're talking a lot about the the three laws of robotics you know and then the ones that have been amended and.

[01:02:37] [SPEAKER_02]: How different science fiction authors have used and worked on that but i found it really interesting they just boiled it really down to what's best you know what's best for rain or what's best for the company.

[01:02:48] [SPEAKER_02]: But then that was really the flip side of a coin of identity.

[01:02:52] [SPEAKER_02]: And this idea of what is your identity how is identity formulated and how does identity change and for.

[01:03:03] [SPEAKER_02]: Andy you know he got up you know you get a little thing and we saw a whole different personality and i not only was david johnson's acting phenomenal.

[01:03:12] [SPEAKER_02]: I just thought it was really interesting question when it comes to one of the themes that we got in this movie wrong i don't what did you make of andy's i mean when level is very simple.

[01:03:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Right we just change programming.

[01:03:26] [SPEAKER_02]: But in terms of identity and formulation of identity do you have any thoughts on that.

[01:03:33] [SPEAKER_06]: I think that's an interesting look and take on it because his identity is changed so dramatically with the chip that's implanted and.

[01:03:44] [SPEAKER_06]: I mean I think there's a lot of different ways you could go with it they didn't really other than the fact that it kind of changed how he acted when he was doing with regards to and whether or not we as an audience could trust them that chip in his in his neck.

[01:04:02] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah I think those are I think those are curious those are that would be like a curious theme to explore.

[01:04:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Alicia did you make anything of andy's transformation and.

[01:04:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Well for me his his whole journey was the heart and soul of the movie that was the part that worked for me by far the best also because of his acting but also the writing around that part to just.

[01:04:27] [SPEAKER_03]: I had the idea that even before it was acknowledged you know and he says everything's fine because it's what's best for rain you still feel like.

[01:04:36] [SPEAKER_03]: There's some deep down part that's filing it away for later like you were just lying to me you're gonna leave me.

[01:04:43] [SPEAKER_03]: It really made me think less of rain that she would actually go through with this and do this to him like really made me not on her side.

[01:04:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah I just that that whole journey of identity of what does it mean.

[01:05:00] [SPEAKER_03]: What is my goal in life and then I had the question like how do you interpret goals especially especially coming from you know thinking like an algorithm.

[01:05:11] [SPEAKER_03]: At like at the end she's like our new directive is what is best for us like what does that look like how does one compute that.

[01:05:20] [SPEAKER_02]: So I thought from the laws of robotics thing was really interesting that they sort of distilled it down to you know to this like what is that what is best.

[01:05:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Right but I think it just shows the fact that they're being asked to they're given something a directive that sounds relatively simple but asks for a lot of nuanced intelligent complexity process so.

[01:05:43] [SPEAKER_03]: They are expecting the androids to be human without acknowledging that they are that they you know might have feelings in you know their own personal drives and of course that is something that we saw in the prequels that is one of the things that they did a bit better with you know David and.

[01:06:04] [SPEAKER_03]: His quandary is I don't like where that story went but I liked the questions they were asking and I feel like they asked and addressed those same questions better in this film.

[01:06:14] [SPEAKER_02]: John I didn't really think about this before until just sort of now but there's a there's a big part of the story I didn't realize how big a part of his story is of of the other ring of Andy.

[01:06:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Right he's made fun of and assaulted when the weather on the planet he's rejected and pushed aside by some of the ensemble right a particular.

[01:06:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah yeah.

[01:06:39] [SPEAKER_02]: And there's this conversation about well they're going to this planet called Yvonne where they don't accept androids as you know like we can't have synthetic life forms.

[01:06:48] [SPEAKER_02]: And it's interesting that it's David Johnson who's playing the as the actor who's playing this role did you pick up on any because I don't know that he went in with that opinion but that's that's what we got.

[01:07:02] [SPEAKER_04]: I got that immediately all right all right child of immigrants as a child of Haitian immigrants.

[01:07:09] [SPEAKER_04]: Let's not even talk about what's going on right now in this country right but I got that immediately from the from the film like the immediate other ring of of you know Andy of Andy excuse me.

[01:07:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[01:07:25] [SPEAKER_04]: And the thing is in a lot of sci fi that deals with you know artificial intelligence that is part of the story you story of.

[01:07:37] [SPEAKER_04]: You know robots and androids and synths or whatever you want to call them being other and how do they respond to that other right.

[01:07:46] [SPEAKER_04]: So there's there's a lot of whether intentional or not but there is a lot of that centered in his story about being the outcast and why is your outcast what makes them different.

[01:08:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Why do people view him with such disdain why is he treated as a third class citizen why is he treated as you know something that's disposable easily disposable.

[01:08:17] [SPEAKER_04]: Right because they make a point of him being found on a trash heap and being right and being fixed up.

[01:08:21] [SPEAKER_04]: So these are all you know questions that many people in our society who are in synths question right have again I'm not sure if it was intentional or not but it's definitely there.

[01:08:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Ron I just it's just clicking on me now to the Andy model Rook says to him oh your model.

[01:08:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Was the backbone of the building of our company and how we got out to space.

[01:08:57] [SPEAKER_05]: Andy 255 artificial person your model was once the backbone of our colonization efforts

[01:09:02] [SPEAKER_05]: It's an honor to be in your presence please allow me to introduce myself I'm science officer Rook and I humbly request your services now.

[01:09:11] [SPEAKER_02]: And I can't help but think about chattel slavery now that we're talking about this I thought it was more that you know the the backbone of our country is built on on enslaved people as opposed to.

[01:09:22] [SPEAKER_02]: So there's no I don't think there's any it's subtle but I don't think we can't not talk or think about that as as Andy's model being played by David Johnson.

[01:09:31] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah no that's interesting that's obvious I may remember that line for the movie but.

[01:09:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Now you bring it up when you when Rook is greeting him he said oh you know hey I'm Rook and you're Andy right oh it's great to meet you and he's trying to gaslight him into like hey you know like I need you to help me with my mission.

[01:09:47] [SPEAKER_06]: You know no that's interesting and it will be interesting to see if they do a sequel to what extent.

[01:09:54] [SPEAKER_06]: The other ring and these kind of themes I mean for me the best sci fi is the sci fi that can speak to themes that affect our current day.

[01:10:06] [SPEAKER_06]: Or touch on issues of morality and humanity using sci fi genre those are my favorite types of sci fi and so it'll be interesting to see if they go down that path in the.

[01:10:18] [SPEAKER_04]: And the thing too with the alien franchise the centaurs the androids have always been other.

[01:10:27] [SPEAKER_04]: So.

[01:10:29] [SPEAKER_04]: To say that Andy is being other is not because simply he's black right it's because he's an under share yeah exactly so if you think about any of the alien movies there's always been this derogatory tone taken by some members of the cast.

[01:10:46] [SPEAKER_04]: Some characters in those movies towards the androids treating them and talking to them as less than right so this has been a very clear line in the movie.

[01:11:01] [SPEAKER_04]: This movie just makes it more apparent because he's black right we're trained our minds are trained to pick up on these cues racial.

[01:11:12] [SPEAKER_04]: But in the alien franchise this has always been undercurrent and I would again I say that you know sci fi that deals with or AI robotics whatever always has this this.

[01:11:26] [SPEAKER_04]: underlying theme of.

[01:11:30] [SPEAKER_04]: What makes one less than human.

[01:11:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Even star wars it's a right an important theme yeah.

[01:11:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah with the way attitudes we don't serve their hey we don't serve their kind here what your droids they'll have to wait outside we don't want them here.

[01:11:47] [SPEAKER_06]: We are by the speed we don't want any trouble I agree with you sir right right yeah and I find it interesting that in the alien franchise you know they make a point to say.

[01:11:58] [SPEAKER_06]: That they prefer the term artificial person like one that they have a preference and to that this preference makes them more for lack of a better term human.

[01:12:11] [SPEAKER_06]: purpose in which they want to be called yeah.

[01:12:15] [SPEAKER_02]: Cool let's take a quick break and then when we get back let's talk a little bit about the film making itself in the structure the construction of the film and and some of the more fun CGI aspects and stuff.

[01:12:27] [SPEAKER_02]: And then we'll wrap it up with ranking the character deaths and then doing our power rankings for the films will be right back.

[01:12:46] [SPEAKER_02]: And we're back.

[01:12:49] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay let's start to wrap up a little bit but before we do that I wanted to talk a little bit about the film making itself and the construction of the film and then in the design of the film.

[01:13:00] [SPEAKER_02]: I got a whole bunch of fun notes here and there is stuff that that triggered me but I didn't know what you guys were thinking from I'll see this right off the top.

[01:13:10] [SPEAKER_02]: I loved the fact that the movie didn't waste time we were introduced to the characters they set it up and then we went and then for the whole movie we had a ticking time clock.

[01:13:21] [SPEAKER_02]: That then kicked into gear I think is about minute fifty one where they crash into the fuel tank and then that like they're like oh now we got twenty minutes from from like several hours.

[01:13:32] [SPEAKER_02]: I so I really enjoyed that construction Ron did you have any filmmaker notes so to speak.

[01:13:39] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't think any filmmaker note so to speak other than.

[01:13:45] [SPEAKER_06]: This this the shot of the spaceship.

[01:13:51] [SPEAKER_06]: Crashing through the the rings at the amazing yeah like automatically like seeing that was really cool.

[01:14:01] [SPEAKER_02]: I kind of wish I'd seen it on a much bigger immersive more immersive screen just even for that it was really nice.

[01:14:06] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah it was pretty cool.

[01:14:09] [SPEAKER_02]: John anything stand out for you from the filmmaking side of the story construction or filmmaking.

[01:14:15] [SPEAKER_04]: I I love the ticking time.

[01:14:18] [SPEAKER_04]: That that felt so good to me like I with this is like a heist you know caper.

[01:14:27] [SPEAKER_04]: It is literally right there they're pulling a heist right and.

[01:14:31] [SPEAKER_04]: You know we were not trained I'm not trying to think of the movies in that way so this this time that's clicking we got to get this done.

[01:14:41] [SPEAKER_04]: And then all of a sudden the plans go awry in such a horrific way was really I really enjoyed that visually I thought the movie was did some really stunning things.

[01:14:53] [SPEAKER_04]: The take off from the planet as the ship was rising I thought that was one of my favorite you know really.

[01:15:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah we do like you just seen the ship or when you need to cover your eyes because of the sun or all of that entire sequence of the planet I really really enjoyed it like Ron I that.

[01:15:13] [SPEAKER_04]: Crashing through the the rings the asteroid whatever belt that surrounded the planet was really was really tremendous as well.

[01:15:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Alicia.

[01:15:24] [SPEAKER_03]: It was a well shot gorgeous movie I think I just out of curiosity went back and just looked at what was the review I left on letterbox the day that I saw the movie.

[01:15:36] [SPEAKER_03]: And did I say anything about the visual side and I didn't so I think maybe because.

[01:15:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Alien is such a visual franchise you know because of the gear stuff because of the space stuff because the general aesthetic.

[01:15:54] [SPEAKER_03]: I wouldn't say I say it did it very well in a more modern way you know it's feels like a twenty twenty four movie but not in a way that for me redefined the franchise anyway so my review here is all about the characters.

[01:16:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.

[01:16:09] [SPEAKER_02]: And I did not like the cousin I still don't know that's it that's another question I had did the ensemble work for you did these this group of young actors who are semi known to kind of not known Alicia did they did you think the casting was on point.

[01:16:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah sure I think yeah I mean I think you know we had a Kelly spaniard David Johnson were pulling the doing most of the work as as it should be both.

[01:16:37] [SPEAKER_03]: On top of their game and we are praised David Johnson I think that Kelly's penny I was just talking about her with Catherine for you know our when we were talking about the craft legacy and.

[01:16:50] [SPEAKER_03]: I think she's just like at this every girl quality and maybe that's why she's so popular like she's cute you know and all that and she's a good actress but she's she plays roles that people can slip themselves into if that makes sense.

[01:17:04] [SPEAKER_02]: Does that make sense wrong that Kayleigh spaniard can kind of be an every every woman character.

[01:17:09] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah I mean we were talking earlier about all the different things she's been in this year and how she's coming across and I thought I remember watching it thinking that she looked familiar.

[01:17:22] [SPEAKER_06]: And thinking is that the woman from civil war is thinking this is one of her every now and then especially if someone's coming up.

[01:17:32] [SPEAKER_06]: They have a year where they have so many things come out that just kind of shows that they're on fire washes.

[01:17:40] [SPEAKER_02]: Right so she's having a moment for sure now the question is is David Johnson star gonna rise justice fast I don't know him John did you know David Johnson from anything I don't know if you're not watching industry or.

[01:17:54] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm not watching everybody watch Friday lane.

[01:17:58] [SPEAKER_03]: What is that it's like a before sunrise style romcom I guess you could say but set in London.

[01:18:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And yeah it's sort of like the sort of thing where two people meet and they just end up meandering through the city together and getting to know each other and so it's a character study.

[01:18:24] [SPEAKER_03]: I think his acting was more impressive in alien just because you know he was kind of playing two different roles basically completely and yeah but I but Riley and you can really that's you can watch right lane and walk away from it not liking him you know.

[01:18:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Right I'm feeling like warmth toward him and I think I haven't seen industry yet I know that's doing well and I think he hasn't missed yet right so.

[01:18:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah fingers crossed yeah because his his transformation from the you know from his two programming was a stellar performance an absolute stellar performance.

[01:19:01] [SPEAKER_06]: And to my knowledge for the record I think he's I think he's only in season one of industry of industry yeah if he if he's in season two it's probably very little.

[01:19:12] [SPEAKER_06]: I heard a lot about a lot of good things about season one too like yes he's always great yeah I mean all every season of industry is really good.

[01:19:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Ron I know you and I share a love a deep love for aliens the second movie and for me one of the most iconic parts of that movie is the m forty one a pulse rifle the sound that it makes just it's you know the way it looks and stuff.

[01:19:33] [SPEAKER_02]: How did the f forty four double a pulse rival work for you I got a couple of links in the outline document there if you want to there's some pictures if you want to anybody wants to look I thought that this thing was cool as hell I was really down for it.

[01:19:49] [SPEAKER_06]: What did you like so much about it.

[01:19:51] [SPEAKER_02]: I love that it was its own weapon but that it falls within the technology envelope of the time period and do have a comment about this when I was talking to him.

[01:20:08] [SPEAKER_02]: That this is a research vessel by and large right so whatever security or military forces on it are going to be secondary and they're not going to be primary was like in the fourth movie it was like a military research base station right.

[01:20:22] [SPEAKER_02]: So these are going to be a bunch of you know people who might have minimal weapons training and so the whole idea of the assisted aiming thing I thought was a really cool advancement.

[01:20:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Of the world and the and the lower building and it's all day problem for the movie which is how do you take a kid on a mining planet and give them a pulse rifle and they can actually do anything with it.

[01:20:47] [SPEAKER_02]: What is this like exactly but I thought that they solve the problem in an hour.

[01:20:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah and then it just looks perfect for right it's oh it's a research vessel it's white you know it's you know it all goes.

[01:21:02] [SPEAKER_02]: I think yeah they thought about it and they put something together that was unique for the movie but actually played within the envelope of the technology of the era.

[01:21:11] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh and then what other little comment that I have to make which is I don't know if anybody else caught this but in the ending sequence you know when she's battling big baby she's doing it John McClane style she's doing it barefoot through that whole like final battle because she was going to get into the pod.

[01:21:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh yeah.

[01:21:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Why does that call back to you know they didn't want to do it like with with Sigourney weaver in the original she was in her underwear right so it just showing like the vulnerability but I they turned it down for this which I don't mind.

[01:21:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah not right that was a very 70s perv kind of thing with her yeah but then they did mirror the scene of rain getting into the space suit very similar to really getting in the space suit in the locker there.

[01:21:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Cool anything else anybody wants to talk about about the film I just thought that the the lighting and the sets were on point that everything looks great the aliens looked great I think we got just enough without getting too much John anything else that you've comes to mind.

[01:22:15] [SPEAKER_04]: No no really it's um again the film was enjoyable the visuals were enjoyable to me.

[01:22:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Andy was great yeah.

[01:22:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Yes I'm just good I enjoyed the film.

[01:22:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Alicia anything that you stand out from the filmmaking that you want to wrap up with I thought it was like the coolest chest bursting see we got I only talked about that really yeah it's a shame with the Navarro it's a shame that they spoiled it in the preview but I also like it was the one with the poster.

[01:22:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah yeah even with this right.

[01:22:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Is the thing in the trailer that got me most excited but then when it came to that part this is like the first big moral quandary with with Andy is you know he doesn't want to let.

[01:23:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Are you trying to stop them you know and and we are more on his side immediately because we know like what she does have a chest buster in her because we know from the trailer that there's actually is going to be a light and show that so that was kind of a shame but it was still really cool moment.

[01:23:26] [SPEAKER_02]: That's a really interesting thought line that we didn't take up either which is when David or so I keep because it's David Johnson but it's.

[01:23:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[01:23:38] [SPEAKER_02]: When Andy is like I know I timed the door closing perfectly.

[01:23:43] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm not going to open the door because the alien is setting a trap for us and you know he he does he's he's amazing in that he's like thinking three four steps ahead but then we never got into the moral question of yeah what do you know.

[01:23:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Bjorn trying to take Eileen woo what's the character's name.

[01:24:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Navarro Navarro thanks Navarro off the ship or the fact that when K gets taken.

[01:24:13] [SPEAKER_02]: That they you know there's nothing that they can do about it and I think Rook councils him earlier on right he's like human beings are weak you got to be strong.

[01:24:21] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean there's no ambiguity for me they were all wrong.

[01:24:25] [SPEAKER_04]: Except for.

[01:24:27] [SPEAKER_04]: You know every decision that they made was made was the wrong decision you know I never felt like oh man come on and you give them a break.

[01:24:38] [SPEAKER_04]: Maybe because I know like you said what's going to happen I know there's a bad thing waiting for you in five minutes but I just said no.

[01:24:50] I'm.

[01:24:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Him taking trying to get her off the ship was the height of stupidity and selfishness in that moment right and it really tells us who Bjorn is isn't yes yes absolutely it was totally you know fair to the character.

[01:25:06] [SPEAKER_04]: But I know it wasn't and there was no ambiguity for me and deciding that you know the decisions that they were making were all wrong decisions.

[01:25:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Cool well let's start to wrap up and I thought it might be kind of fun to rank the character deaths and see if we can kind of come up with a collective.

[01:25:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Of of the death scenes in this the on screen order was Navarro Bjorn.

[01:25:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Tyler Rook K and then big baby.

[01:25:39] [SPEAKER_02]: So where where would we put Navarro's death to me it was pretty like it's a chest burst rather the cool part of it was the wand but it was average.

[01:25:49] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean for me because of that I was going to put it at number one oh really it's a number one for you okay I mean it was just like the coolest visually but yeah right right John Ron thoughts on on Navarro's death.

[01:26:03] [SPEAKER_06]: Yeah I mean I would rank it high because of because it is the iconic death scene for it for an right movie.

[01:26:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes so Navarro had the chest burst or Bjorn got dripped on right Tyler got stabbed and then lifted up in a way Rook died in the space station crash.

[01:26:24] [SPEAKER_02]: And K died by being a vampire nurse to death alien baby alien baby fell out the bottom of the ship.

[01:26:34] [SPEAKER_02]: For me Bjorn's death was number one that was cool that's where that's the where that the acid was dripping on him from the cocoon right above and he was watching it on his hands and on his chest.

[01:26:48] [SPEAKER_04]: For me the number one death was K because that big ass baby doing that vampire shit that was that was mind boggling I'm like it's still to me I'm still flabbergasted by this.

[01:27:06] [SPEAKER_06]: It was the creepiest that's for sure.

[01:27:07] [SPEAKER_04]: It was it was absolutely creepy and I want to know why I everything else made sense.

[01:27:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Everything else I kind of expected I I would go with Bjorn as number two because I felt like it was so deliberate by the alien.

[01:27:26] [SPEAKER_04]: You know like yeah you're gonna die and I'm gonna watch you die and this is how you're gonna die and I'm gonna make it happen.

[01:27:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh that's right because he didn't he got dripped on but he got stabbed in the eye first right and then he got dripped on.

[01:27:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah so it felt like the the alien was making a decision to to kill instead of acting on instinct.

[01:27:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Interesting.

[01:27:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Right yeah to murder not even you know to propagate species this was just murder.

[01:27:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Right.

[01:27:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Kill you.

[01:27:58] [SPEAKER_02]: They never seem to.

[01:27:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Well it's because you stuck an electric rod up my.

[01:28:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[01:28:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Back side.

[01:28:03] [SPEAKER_04]: So now you gotta pay the price for that homie you know you're like you're gonna get it and I felt that that was a cool way of of having you know the xenomorph you know take control.

[01:28:16] [SPEAKER_04]: You know what I mean instead of just be a mindless one trick pony like this is the only reason I'm doing this is to you know make sure that you get implanted with an egg.

[01:28:27] [SPEAKER_04]: No the only reason I'm doing this is for vengeance and that was cool I love that.

[01:28:32] [SPEAKER_04]: So those were my top two deaths.

[01:28:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Right I think Rook and the alien baby like they're kind of you know I don't know did anybody like the alien baby's death it just seemed.

[01:28:43] [SPEAKER_02]: Like I was a child.

[01:28:45] [SPEAKER_05]: I liked the alien baby dying.

[01:28:48] [SPEAKER_06]: Well if we're if we're to take anything from the opening because aren't we supposed to assume and then the opening prologue they're somehow they're finding a needle in the haystack and they're finding the original

[01:29:01] [SPEAKER_06]: alien that was ejected.

[01:29:04] [SPEAKER_06]: Yes and I think so yeah.

[01:29:06] [SPEAKER_06]: Pulling it in.

[01:29:07] [SPEAKER_02]: That's actually a good question we had a feedback piece of feedback from Joe on the contact forums as alien rumbius Rook explains that the Nostromo was lost with all hands except for one if this takes place before the second film how does the corporation know that Ripley is still alive and floating in space great film otherwise they say.

[01:29:28] [SPEAKER_02]: So yeah there's a question of like how do they know and how did they send the probe how did they know to look for the alien.

[01:29:33] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't think they did know that Ripley was still in space.

[01:29:37] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't think Romney no I think you're right yeah Romulus doesn't suggest that they know anything about Ripley it suggests that they knew that the alien was there yes so how you would first of all the fact that I saw that explosion that was a pretty.

[01:29:53] [SPEAKER_06]: Comprehensive explosion the fact that there's anything left let alone something that has paint on the side where you can actually see the words in the stroma written but you know I won't pick over that sure you have floating debris.

[01:30:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Hey future future materials you know they are very durable yeah.

[01:30:16] [SPEAKER_06]: But yeah but then being able to find.

[01:30:21] [SPEAKER_06]: Because she blows up the Nostromo flies away who knows how far she flies.

[01:30:27] [SPEAKER_06]: And we don't and then she discovers that the alien is still with her and so I mean that's not even a needle in a haystack that's like an atom and yeah.

[01:30:38] [SPEAKER_02]: In a universe really and so did you guys take away that that cocoon thing was.

[01:30:47] [SPEAKER_02]: The drone that Ripley kicked out of the shuttle craft yeah and got burned but didn't get burned up enough yeah yeah it wasn't destroyed that's right she blew it out the goddamn airline.

[01:31:00] [SPEAKER_01]: We'll go step by step and cut off every bulkhead and every event until we have it cornered and then we'll blow it the fuck out into space is that acceptable to you.

[01:31:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Right so okay so yeah so then that's the question is is how do they how do they know.

[01:31:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah there's some questions there I'm gonna have to go back and see the film that's a good question Joe thanks I just kind of accepted it right I didn't I was like yeah I did it's like headcanon.

[01:31:28] [SPEAKER_02]: And let's keep it moving right so it's gonna be interesting if Noah Hawley's alien earth deals with the way line on T company at all.

[01:31:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Because you have to yeah right there has to be the premise of the series is very much right now about it.

[01:31:50] [SPEAKER_04]: How do they come into contact with the xenomorph what's their rule the entire thing has to be about that.

[01:31:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah that's right what i'm anticipating too right yeah because the company knew that the the craft was there because they they swapped out ash a couple of days before the Nostromo left.

[01:32:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Right so it was it was all all pre-planned for them to go get that thing cool all right.

[01:32:18] [SPEAKER_02]: So what we've got some votes for Navarro for Bjorn and Kay but it looks like Tyler Tyler's death is kind of it's a little bit mundane right.

[01:32:31] [SPEAKER_02]: So he just gets stabbed and hoisted up number three for me yeah okay I think it's cool okay number three.

[01:32:38] [SPEAKER_03]: I think the cool element about rooks death is just like how he is you know he's an android obviously in this there are as much as we talk about the question about their humanity.

[01:32:52] [SPEAKER_03]: There are some fundamental differences and for him you know he's still up until the last moment he's trying to achieve his objective even though he knows he's going down he knows are separated from them he's like what can i still do when i'm just like melted head on a sinking ship.

[01:33:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Like a term later yeah yeah yeah yeah that's a good point.

[01:33:15] [SPEAKER_02]: All right well I don't think we have a consensus so it's fine we didn't we don't have to.

[01:33:20] [SPEAKER_03]: We have a consensus that is that the big baby is the funniest.

[01:33:25] [SPEAKER_04]: That big ass baby boy i'm telling you there's no joke no joke what imagine you see that big ass baby come for you.

[01:33:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh no that was some creepy character design like.

[01:33:38] [SPEAKER_03]: How did you sit through that.

[01:33:40] [SPEAKER_03]: It was weird.

[01:33:45] [SPEAKER_02]: Right on all right movie power rankings ron why don't you lead us off where what's your power ranking that you can include avp doesn't count.

[01:33:56] [SPEAKER_02]: And you can include or not include.

[01:33:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Prometheus and and covenant yeah covenant as you wish well for me I mean I think alien aliens are clearly the two top.

[01:34:08] [SPEAKER_06]: But they're so different it's hard to rank them if I had to keep just one for me it's aliens but I think for.

[01:34:18] [SPEAKER_06]: I think alien has a bigger contribution to cinema history yeah but for me in terms of enjoyment and whatnot aliens is like that's my go to so be aliens and then alien.

[01:34:32] [SPEAKER_06]: For me this would be Romulus would be third for me gotcha fourth or probably Prometheus fifth would be covenant and.

[01:34:42] [SPEAKER_06]: I don't acknowledge the.

[01:34:46] [SPEAKER_06]: Apocryphal as far as i'm concerned.

[01:34:49] [SPEAKER_06]: Don't where you at.

[01:34:51] [SPEAKER_06]: I mean alien three pissed me off because.

[01:34:57] [SPEAKER_06]: Three opens with the two characters we spoil it for you lean.

[01:35:04] [SPEAKER_06]: There's a full spoiler.

[01:35:07] [SPEAKER_06]: It's an opening you know you learn that new dies and that.

[01:35:14] [SPEAKER_06]: The Michael bing character are now dead so.

[01:35:18] [SPEAKER_06]: It can make you feel like everything they went through and aliens was for not so agree that straight up this man right then.

[01:35:27] [SPEAKER_06]: You know alien for gee whiz yeah resurrection right.

[01:35:33] [SPEAKER_06]: yeah yeah and when on a writer was in that one right yes she was yeah yes she was she was she's having somewhat of a year to anyway so that's that those are my.

[01:35:43] [SPEAKER_03]: cool up on a writer john.

[01:35:47] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm number one for me is alien.

[01:35:53] [SPEAKER_04]: That's the I didn't see that in in the movies in the theater I saw her much later in life I saw aliens in the theater right.

[01:36:03] [SPEAKER_04]: That's one of the first movies that I remember my sister taking me to watch because it was because I couldn't get in because I was under age.

[01:36:11] [SPEAKER_04]: So she she took me and I remember being scared shitless.

[01:36:16] [SPEAKER_04]: We did it like just to this day I still remember sitting in that theater with her like grabbing her hand it was it was insane but alien I feel.

[01:36:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Watching it on my TV.

[01:36:34] [SPEAKER_04]: And I was afraid to turn off the lights and go to sleep wow yeah that shit freaked me the hell out.

[01:36:43] [SPEAKER_04]: It freaked me totally out.

[01:36:47] [SPEAKER_04]: And I just felt like the movie itself to mood of the movie because i'm you know i'm a sci fi guy I like my space travel I like all of that and that put into question everything like do I really want to get on a spaceship.

[01:37:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Do I do I want to get off of earth I don't know about this I'm kind of wavering right now so alien will be number one for me aliens would be number two for me Romulus and Prometheus.

[01:37:23] [SPEAKER_04]: I like Prometheus a lot I know.

[01:37:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay cool.

[01:37:28] [SPEAKER_04]: That's something that you know folks have issues with the movie and I have my issues with the movie too as well, but that's a movie that I tend to watch again when it's on.

[01:37:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Okay.

[01:37:41] [SPEAKER_04]: But I feel like this alien movie alien Romulus I will search for it instead of waiting for it to be on if that makes sense.

[01:37:52] [SPEAKER_04]: So it's going to go to number three for me bias whisker over Prometheus then you know I would say the other three is hard to rank those three men.

[01:38:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Is the only reason I would say resurrection is because my guy rock was was who plays what's his name.

[01:38:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Charles.

[01:38:20] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, why can't I remember his name I would get his name but he's in the movie so and I love him as an actor so once it comes to me I'll let you know.

[01:38:29] [SPEAKER_04]: So I would place that ahead of the other three the other two movies.

[01:38:36] [SPEAKER_04]: And resurrection and covenant would share last place because there's no way you can pick one that's worse than the other.

[01:38:45] [SPEAKER_04]: To me.

[01:38:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Alicia.

[01:38:49] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm yes so i'm gonna put alien in first place because that's yeah it's got for me it's the most interesting in terms of the filmmaking and the ideas and the atmosphere and things like that.

[01:39:04] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm actually going to have Romulus second.

[01:39:07] [SPEAKER_03]: What.

[01:39:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[01:39:10] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean I know other people feel the same way i'm not i'm definitely not alone in this.

[01:39:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay there are dozens of us.

[01:39:18] [SPEAKER_03]: Why feel like okay so I feel like I have to explain why I rank aliens third because so aliens I is an iconic movie and.

[01:39:30] [SPEAKER_03]: No problem I mean no problem with it at all like it's a good movie.

[01:39:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Right you're not knocking it because you're putting you're not naked yeah.

[01:39:36] [SPEAKER_03]: It just deviated so far from what I liked about the first one that to me it felt like.

[01:39:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Almost a different genre in the same world and a genre that i'm less interested in which is more of that much he's more action thing yeah and whereas from Romulus it's in between in timeline and for me was also.

[01:39:56] [SPEAKER_03]: I really appreciate the way pulled together different things I thought that the directing acting you know characters were were great.

[01:40:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Not to say that it's a perfect movie we've discussed that at length but anyway yes so those are top three and then.

[01:40:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Space space space give it plenty of space we get to.

[01:40:20] [SPEAKER_03]: I guess I would do Prometheus next because there are.

[01:40:24] [SPEAKER_03]: I don't like how it ended up at their interesting ideas in there and then you know what i'm gonna do covenant right after that for the same reason although it's even more poorly realized and felt like one of those I hate when they do this where they do a film and it's not received well so they're like oh let's just like.

[01:40:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Raise everything like no fix don't don't you know why right right right but i still think you have there at least there were interesting ideas in the prequels and i saw the reason why they were made i just don't necessarily appreciate how they the file yeah yeah.

[01:40:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Where is for three and four i can't really choose between those two i think that.

[01:41:05] [SPEAKER_03]: They are i don't know i just they were they were pure cash grabs and that's what it feels like and they to me add the least to the franchise.

[01:41:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Got it.

[01:41:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Charles s dot in okay that's who else that's the actor i was speaking about gotcha charles s dot.

[01:41:23] [SPEAKER_02]: I am pretty much in line with you wrong and jaune with with the top my top three i will say i'll just jump in quick and say alien three.

[01:41:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Appreciate what he was trying to do but you can really tell that the studio is just fucking with them and they came in hard on him and they overrode so much of his script and what he was trying to do so i feel badly for alien three.

[01:41:49] [SPEAKER_02]: That's it's in four for me but i'm i'm aliens.

[01:41:54] [SPEAKER_02]: What only because of nostalgia as my number one film just because of that time and place and the people and everything that was going on in my life at that time that that movie just hit.

[01:42:05] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm in but alien is a cinematic masterpiece it's such a great piece of storytelling and just did so much for the genre so it's number two but it's like it's tight right it's a it's a tight connection.

[01:42:17] [SPEAKER_02]: Romulus absolutely number three solid solid addition to the franchise actually i think rehabilitates the franchise where resurrection.

[01:42:28] [SPEAKER_02]: What just shadow franchise and just trashed it i can't take.

[01:42:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Prometheus and covenant at all seriously i know there are people that are into the deep ideas that Prometheus brings forward but man.

[01:42:44] [SPEAKER_02]: It was just such a poorly executed movie and characters and i just i can't i can't get to what the good stuff is in Prometheus because of what's on top of it and it sort of drives me nuts.

[01:42:56] [SPEAKER_06]: Prometheus is the one where they don't know how to run a rolling donut right.

[01:43:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Running sideways is something you learn.

[01:43:08] [SPEAKER_03]: If you live on earth.

[01:43:11] [SPEAKER_02]: And the only person with any sort of common sense is Idris Elba and nobody listens to him he's like we gotta get the fuck out of here let's go and.

[01:43:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Hey that feels real.

[01:43:24] [SPEAKER_02]: It's true that's true and then I can't you know we're not ranking a VP but I have to say the oh for the first one was better than the second one the whole thing with.

[01:43:35] [SPEAKER_02]: The you know the way that they built around the cultures and all that stuff was really interesting where two was just trash the second one of them was just complete trash so anyway.

[01:43:48] [SPEAKER_03]: i'm an alien versus predator apologist i'm not saying they're good movies, but they are fun movies.

[01:43:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Did you like the second one.

[01:43:55] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean I don't hate it like i'm like it's a strong word.

[01:44:00] [SPEAKER_06]: I might see that like I haven't seen either of those yet because they seem so bad but avp looks like it would be like a fun watch like you know it's bad but it may be kind of like fun like you described.

[01:44:15] [SPEAKER_03]: invite over some friends have some drinks make fun of it together it's like kind of watch yeah.

[01:44:20] [SPEAKER_04]: it's a fun movie it's so silly and it's but it does do some interesting things around the culture that.

[01:44:28] [SPEAKER_04]: yeah that david is talking about.

[01:44:31] [SPEAKER_02]: The first one I enjoyed because I actually thought about it a little bit more and tried to build the world, a little bit, whereas the second one just felt almost like a.

[01:44:42] [SPEAKER_02]: cw mix up or something like that, where it's there just I can't explain myself here there's just some very simple list stick.

[01:44:54] [SPEAKER_02]: storytelling elements that we see on television and it just felt like they took a cw television show and threw it on the big screen.

[01:45:00] [SPEAKER_03]: I have to defend cw I starts to hurt me that people use it as.

[01:45:07] [SPEAKER_03]: dumpster.

[01:45:09] [SPEAKER_03]: I think there are some good shows that did what they could with their budget not all of them are good, but you know that was a big part of my growing up fair enough fair enough I take the point.

[01:45:20] [SPEAKER_04]: cw black lightning Thank you very much for.

[01:45:25] [SPEAKER_06]: cool run any final thoughts.

[01:45:27] [SPEAKER_06]: I wonder if one of the reasons why I like alien so much is because I saw it I saw in the theater this is going to date me so on the theater with.

[01:45:36] [SPEAKER_06]: We went group of friends, but the person who specifically invited me was the girl that I liked in high school and one point she grabbed she grabbed my arm during scary part so wonder if that didn't implant.

[01:45:49] [SPEAKER_06]: me.

[01:45:51] [SPEAKER_06]: there's definitely some neural neurological connection there there is for sure and I always thought she kind of looked like so corny weaver.

[01:46:00] [SPEAKER_06]: So that was.

[01:46:01] [SPEAKER_04]: This best yeah John.

[01:46:04] [SPEAKER_04]: yeah just some really enjoyable film.

[01:46:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Go really enjoyable film so yeah that's it.

[01:46:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Great Alicia.

[01:46:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Bring on alien earth time all about the prequel now and they get this this film was good to like get me psyched for that again you know cuz you're asking about franchise fatigue earlier and I think it's the opposite that this was like a nice kickstart whereas before I was like.

[01:46:28] [SPEAKER_03]: The last like four movies have been good so now it's like okay now i'm back in where we apparently care again about making these goods so i'm very curious to see what's coming next.

[01:46:40] [SPEAKER_02]: Will let's look forward to alien earth and maybe reconvene this group of folks and we can talk about it depends on how when they release it cuz we got a stacked schedule next year.

[01:46:53] [SPEAKER_02]: we've got last of us and or severance white lotus foundation wheel of time you know like it's gonna be crazy.

[01:47:01] [SPEAKER_03]: yeah we could at least do one shot.

[01:47:03] [SPEAKER_02]: At least even if we did a weekly coverage i'd still want to pull y'all in for a one shot to recap it so.

[01:47:10] [SPEAKER_02]: So cool like a plan all right Ron good to see you thanks very much thanks for having me and always appreciate it yeah John Alicia.

[01:47:18] [SPEAKER_02]: catch you on the dcu side and now i'm gonna go watch pray.

[01:47:23] [SPEAKER_02]: perfect.

[01:47:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Alright everybody see ya.

[01:47:27] [SPEAKER_02]: Be so.

[01:47:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Look at that was a pretty cool conversation hope you enjoyed that I had a lot of fun and it was great to talk to John and Ron and Alicia.

[01:47:39] [SPEAKER_02]: About I think one of our favorite franchises so i've got a lot of programming notes a lot happening with the lorehounds right now through the end of the year.

[01:47:50] [SPEAKER_02]: And we've got some exciting stuff going on so if you're curious about what we've got coming up in the fall and out in the future stick around through this.

[01:47:58] [SPEAKER_02]: First up I gotta remember to plug the blog Brian 8063 our editor in chief has been bugging me is like make sure people remember if you are into writing if you are into reading.

[01:48:11] [SPEAKER_02]: We have a blog on our website we have an open submission policy anybody can submit if you go to the lorehounds.com and you go to the blog link.

[01:48:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Their first post in the blog listing is the submission guidelines and you can get in touch with us and submit something and we'll get it edited and put up so please if that's something you're interested in doing.

[01:48:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Reach out to us there's also a blog channel on our discord so you can hop in there and Brian's monitoring that and so.

[01:48:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Remember that there is one more podcast in the series is going to be community reactions I've talked to a number of our subscribers and hopefully a few other people I can rope in.

[01:48:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Giving their opinions and perspectives on alien Romulus that should be out in the next couple of weeks.

[01:49:00] [SPEAKER_02]: The big news for us is our newest affiliate podcast never mind the music that's mark and Nicole marks a music professor Nicole is a psychology professor.

[01:49:11] [SPEAKER_02]: They are friends and they do this amazing podcast where they will take a song.

[01:49:18] [SPEAKER_02]: And they'll break it down and they'll talk about topics around grief or identity formation and you know psychological traits.

[01:49:26] [SPEAKER_02]: How that relates to the music and how the music relates to that it is fascinating and it's exactly the kind of thing.

[01:49:32] [SPEAKER_02]: That the lorehounds community I think really enjoys the first three episodes are already out you can go and subscribe.

[01:49:39] [SPEAKER_02]: There is a link in the show notes below the first three episodes are that's what you get by paramour and the.

[01:49:49] [SPEAKER_02]: Motivic limbic system if I'm pronouncing that right the next one they have out is the sign by ace of base and youngs collective parallel minor.

[01:49:59] [SPEAKER_02]: And episode number three is the crossroads by bone thugs and harmony and the four rhythms of grief.

[01:50:06] [SPEAKER_02]: So podcasts are coming out every week so they cover a big range of you think oh well that's not my style of music don't worry they cover a wide range of music.

[01:50:17] [SPEAKER_02]: It's a really super well produced podcast it's so interesting indeed please go subscribe check them out for regular coverage the time of this recording we are just about on episode six of the rings of power.

[01:50:31] [SPEAKER_02]: So we're going to be finishing up that eight episode run also starting this week is agatha alicia and john are going to be covering that week to week.

[01:50:41] [SPEAKER_02]: And then in november alicia is going to join me and we're going to cover dune prophecy and that's really exciting fingers crossed for that.

[01:50:51] [SPEAKER_02]: In other comic related news the d.c.u. is dead long live the d.c.u. and else words.

[01:51:00] [SPEAKER_02]: John and alicia have a new podcast they're starting up that's called comics verses and they're going to be looking at comics and the d.c.u.

[01:51:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Cinema universe and the marvel cinema universe and basically talking all things superheroes in comics so that's a great new podcast to kick off that topic.

[01:51:17] [SPEAKER_02]: And then the penguin and joker to are going to be getting some coverage not sure exactly how that's going to go yet so stay tuned for more detail on those.

[01:51:27] [SPEAKER_02]: For some community fun we've got spooktober coming up and we're going to be covering all of the poltergeist movies.

[01:51:33] [SPEAKER_02]: We'll have some special bonus coverage for subscribers and then we'll have some stuff out in the main feeds for everyone.

[01:51:40] [SPEAKER_02]: We also have one shots planned for beeljuice and wicked and i've got a couple of special projects in the works.

[01:51:48] [SPEAKER_02]: One covering the 45th anniversary of star trek the motion picture the 1979 that reboot the whole franchise as well.

[01:51:57] [SPEAKER_02]: It's the 50th anniversary of dungeons and dragons so i'm putting something together for that look for the star trek the motion picture podcast out in december i'll have more news as we get closer to that.

[01:52:11] [SPEAKER_02]: Not sure yet when the dnd 50th is going to drop but i'm working on it.

[01:52:15] [SPEAKER_02]: For subscribers we just had a second breakfast and we talked about bagels and it was a really great conversation stick around to the end of that podcast there is a great little musical flourish that mark from never mind the music.

[01:52:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Put together it's really funny and i love it so much for elevensies our subscriber movie club we just had the for vendetta last month.

[01:52:39] [SPEAKER_02]: And boy did we go deep on that was really interesting we had a lot of fun producing it to dropped in a lot of sound clips and this month we're doing prey which is one of the predator films so that's also very cool.

[01:52:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Over on our affiliates most everyone is taking a break right now but.

[01:52:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Alicia is continuing will shift dust the book club part two of the dust book breakdown and the last part of the final book in the silo trilogy that's coming out very soon i think she's got that edited and she's getting it queued up.

[01:53:10] [SPEAKER_02]: And over on the star wars canon timeline podcast alicia's got part two of canon folklore of the old republic that's a discussion with maryland normally she's covering.

[01:53:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Tolkien content but she's very deep into the star wars world and so alicia and her talk about siss stories even a werewolf story amazing.

[01:53:31] [SPEAKER_02]: So lots going on stay tuned for more but it's pretty exciting time this fall we've got some fun stuff planned for december as well.

[01:53:38] [SPEAKER_02]: So as always we like to shout out our boosters and subscribers to our discord server boosters.

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[01:54:08] [SPEAKER_02]: And to our lore master subscribers are top tier subscribers we depend on you you make our lore home community go round.

[01:54:16] [SPEAKER_02]: I always like to give shout outs at the end of every podcast so some martian michael g michelle e david w brian p.

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[01:54:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Alisa you Fossey you Neil F Ben B Charlotte M and forever last but never least Audrey on thank you all so very much I don't think that my words can convey the depth of our gratitude.

[01:55:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you for your continued support thank you to everyone who listens thank you if you're a subscriber thank you if you are not a subscriber but you listen all of its great and we're just glad that you're here and we will see you on the next one.