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CelticPredator posted:I'm guessing it's Billy Crudup. ding ding ding ding ding
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May 11, 2017 07:23
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While today is my birthday, it'd be more accurate to say my life truly began the first time I watched 'Alien'. I was nine, and I'm not sure my parents really understood what they were doing by letting me watch that. While I'm not exactly thrilled with some of the Covenant spoilers I've read, I'm still gonna go see it this weekend and I'm pretty sure I'll have a good time.
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May 11, 2017 07:25
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He looks like an idiot in all the trailers
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May 11, 2017 07:25
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Happy birthday and it's a shame you're not stoked. But as a long time Alien fan, since I was like 5 or so, I dunno. I just love the idea where the aliens came from via spoilers. It doesn't ruin the mythos for me, but enhances it. Then again I never questioned where they came from, so as long as like, Predators didn't create them for sport I'm down with everything really.
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May 11, 2017 07:28
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Also how are you seeing it this weekend? I thought you were based in the USA?
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May 11, 2017 07:30
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Given this is kinda the Prometheus thread anyway, a question that I'm not sure how to Google: Has anyone come forward and explained what the original intent of Prometheus was? Was it supposed to be an Alien movie, covertly or not? It's own thing, just influenced by Alien? The most Alien-direct things in Prometheus felt tacked on, as if nobody was sure what the movie was supposed to be. Hell, even the movie we're getting soon changed its name from Paradise (I think?) to having Alien on the cover.
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May 11, 2017 07:30
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CelticPredator posted:Also how are you seeing it this weekend? I thought you were based in the USA? I thought it was out this weekend, am I just dumb? MisterBibs posted:Given this is kinda the Prometheus thread anyway, a question that I'm not sure how to Google: Xenomrph fucked around with this message at 07:36 on May 11, 2017 |
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May 11, 2017 07:31
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MisterBibs posted:Given this is kinda the Prometheus thread anyway, a question that I'm not sure how to Google: Kinda? We must not be trying hard enough. Also I'm ready for the 3rd best Alien movie!
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May 11, 2017 07:33
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Xenomrph posted:I thought it was out this weekend, am I just dumb? Comes out the 18th, I thought it was out this weekend as well. 
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May 11, 2017 07:35
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wyoming posted:Comes out the 18th, I thought it was out this weekend as well. Well, poo poo. I guess the countdown timer on AvPGalaxy was counting down to the European release.
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May 11, 2017 07:39
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Weird that America is getting it last. We've already got it in Asia, Europe has it in a day... America waits another week and a half? Is there something out stateside they're trying not to compete with?MisterBibs posted:Given this is kinda the Prometheus thread anyway, a question that I'm not sure how to Google: It was an Alien film from the start but one that always was more focused on engineers and xenos. It did still originally included eggs, facehuggers, and a few xenos. Ridley wanted to distance himself from the original so that side of these was rewritten into black goo jars, a snake thing, and a wolfman and squid thing.
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May 11, 2017 07:40
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Xenomrph posted:Well, poo poo. I guess the countdown timer on AvPGalaxy was counting down to the European release. Yeah the site is very European. May 19th is burned into my brain. Going on the 18th though.
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May 11, 2017 07:42
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Bugblatter posted:Weird that America is getting it last. We've already got it in Asia, Europe has it in a day... America waits another week and a half? Is there something out stateside they're trying not to compete with? There were definitelytoo many monsters in Prometheus
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May 11, 2017 07:43
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How can you have too many monsters?
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May 11, 2017 07:47
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Bugblatter posted:How can you have too many monsters? When the ten foot tall, two ton squid thing locked in the med pod isn't a big deal for the rest of the characters, maybe less is more.
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May 11, 2017 07:53
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Bugblatter posted:Weird that America is getting it last. We've already got it in Asia, Europe has it in a day... America waits another week and a half? Is there something out stateside they're trying not to compete with? "Why do you hate us?"
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May 11, 2017 07:56
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Well, I wasn't expecting a blowing and fingering scene involving Michael Fassbender (both of them), but it's a pleasant surprise. The triumphant and joyful music when the first Alien-style xeno is born is also amazing.
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May 11, 2017 09:45
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The MSJ posted:Well, I wasn't expecting a blowing and fingering scene involving Michael Fassbender (both of them), but it's a pleasant surprise. I expect that to be the most divisive scene in the movie. Everyone will either love it or hate it. It's so absurd but so great. Kudos to Ridley and Fassbender for going full camp there.
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May 11, 2017 09:57
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The MSJ posted:Well, I wasn't expecting a blowing and fingering scene involving Michael Fassbender (both of them), but it's a pleasant surprise. Well im glad they didnt forget to put pleasure sensors in the anus
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May 11, 2017 10:01
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Are those original Giger paintings in the movie?
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May 11, 2017 10:38
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I don't think so.
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May 11, 2017 11:16
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No. I'm confident saying Giger never did any charcoal drawings of Noomi Rapace's gruesome destruction and death before he died.
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May 11, 2017 12:24
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I just saw it. Michael Fassbender makes out with himself, then fights himself to the death. It's pretty great. Anyway I need some time to digest, before I get into things.
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May 11, 2017 12:41
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They're definitely inspired by his work, much like the temple in Prometheus was inspired by his DUNE harvester. I think that kinda blows, aping his other non-alien work, but everyone else I've spoken to has told me not to be a cynical rear end in a top hat, so it is what it is.
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May 11, 2017 15:06
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Bugblatter posted:Weird that America is getting it last. We've already got it in Asia, Europe has it in a day... America waits another week and a half? Is there something out stateside they're trying not to compete with? This is a current trend and it makes me very angry. It's supposed to cut down on piracy iirc
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May 11, 2017 15:10
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Wait, did I read right that David makes out with and finger blasts himself? I assume by "himself" it's another Android portrayed by the same actor, but still, what?
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May 11, 2017 15:36
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I think the first immediate question everyone wants answered is how good the film is. I felt that the film was quite enjoyable, and was quite happy that it was able to correct so many of the mistakes made with Prometheus-- There weren’t any moments in Covenant that made me roll my eyes, which was my main complaint about its predecessor. Regardless of whether or not there is a rational explanation for any of the foolish behavior in Prometheus, I don’t find it particularly enjoyable to watch people given the opportunity of a lifetime completely bungle it. That said, I enjoyed the philosophy of Prometheus and liked the film well enough. But back to Covenant, and the rest of this should be considered absolute surprise/movie-ruining spoilers: The pacing of the film was pretty good. The first 30-40 minutes or so are solid world-building helping to establish the setting. Then they touch down on the planet and things quickly begin to escalate. There’s a thrilling segment, then a break for exposition from David, then the thrills pick back up and then there are only a few brief pauses before the film concludes. Things I liked / other bits of info: 1. Interaction/exposition between David and Walter was genuinely interesting, and I think it serves as a good platform for the film to deliver its more philosophical side. 2. I enjoyed that the colonists were clearly well trained and that there were logical protocols in place (Except for the bearded idiot security guard who pokes a little seedling pod on the ground, but it feels way more likely for a security guy to do than an ecologist). When the first security guard gets sick and is brought back to the launcher, the pilot looking over the ship is clearly terrified of the potential of contagion/contamination and her instructions on “not to touch anything,” etc was appreciated. I’ve read some people saying that Oram was an idiot for getting close to the protomorph egg, but I think that’s a dumb stance to take. Tell me any egg from any creature on earth that you’re afraid to go near. Tell me any species that the second it hatches, it violently explodes out of its egg and kills you. That doesn’t ever happen, and there is no reason to ever fear being around an egg unless you’ve watched the alien franchise. Also when Orem got close to the eggs, David had just walked past them all and was standing right next to them, so I can see how it would be believable that they do not pose a threat. 3. The dialog feels natural. It is waaaaaay better than that in Prometheus. Like it or not, Prometheus had some real clunky lines- the worst ones being uttered by Vickers. (When she called Weyland “Father,” or when she speaks aloud “You cut me off”) 4. This is minor, but while they are in the cockpit of the Covenant, there are a few shots where on one of the screens you can see those rectangular flight path boxes like those seen in Alien when they are on approach to LV-426, which was a fun callback. 5. David. Goddamn David is awesome in this film. David is the main reason that so many fans of the series are going to be pissed off by this film. Does David create the xenomorphs? Maybe? But if it wasn’t obvious enough in Prometheus that this is a series about creating, and the capability for our creations to surpass us, then it really gets hammered in in Covenant. Some people aren’t happy about Shaw being killed off-screen, but those people missed the point that Prometheus was about David, not Shaw. 6. Whatever David has created thus far is not a xenomorph, but more like its ancestor. It was really obvious and has been discussed at length in this thread that whatever aliens are in this film are not the same as in the original, which had much more biomechanical features. The aliens in this film (which I’m seeing referred to as neomorphs and protomorphs for the white and black ones, respectively) are much more feral and animalistic in some ways. 7. A couple interesting notes: we actually see a neomorph feeding on one colonist’s corpse, which is a pretty rare sight for this series. Also when the first protomorph hatches out of Oram, its behavior is quite different than what we’ve seen from other xenomorph births. It just stands up in this quite cute way and mimics David. I was actually shocked at how cute it was. Seriously. It’s cute. There’s also a really cool scene where David attempts to tame one of the neomorphs that I enjoyed. 8. The way I interpreted the film, neomorphs came about as a result of David’s biological attack on the engineer civilization. The black goo only affects “meat” as he puts it, and it affected all the fauna on the planet. This is the cause for there to be no sounds of animals as the colonists are exploring the planet. David then collects some samples from the mutated fauna and genetically crossbreeds them to create his protomorph eggs. From what I understood, he mixed the neomorphs with some mutated parasitic wasps that lay eggs in their hosts? 9. Anyway, maybe this plot twist is too much for some fans to handle. I sort of get it. But I think it’s cool. First of all, that the xenomorphs could have been created, by chance, by a product of Weyland without them even intending it is an interesting twist. I also like the idea of humans being obsolete. Call me a pessimist. People don’t like change, and this plot development was unlikely to have been considered by just about anyone. So yeah, people aren’t going to be happy about it. I think the possibilities that it sets up are pretty interesting. 10. Near the end, after they get rid of the protomorph that hatched on the Covenant, I really like the shot of David’s face. It’s a very conflicted look, one that I’m guessing is a bit sad that his “perfect” creation was bested by some humans. But I think it’s also perhaps a look of determination - “I have to make them better.” I dunno, probably need to watch it again and think about it some more. 11. When Daniels kills the first Protomorph by crushing it in the loader’s crane, I definitely said “Holy poo poo” and smiled. That was a great. 12. When David and Shaw arrive on the Engineer home world, all the engineers appeared to be cheering their arrival, or celebrating it or something. It kind of suggested to me that maybe things aren’t going so well for their civilization. I haven’t really spent any time or energy coming up with possibilities, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s something more to it that could be brought up in the next film. It also wouldn’t surprise me if there are still more engineers out there somewhere. I don’t really have any good guesses with how this all connects back to the original derelict in Alien, but I think it can work out in a cool way. I'm also not entirely sure that these people were engineers. They sort of looked like engineers, but not really. Why should we assume they are engineers? We just know that the engineers had been to this world before. Maybe they are how engineers used to be, then they genetically altered themselves to be the more perfect examples we see flying around on the space ships? Who loving knows, but I think it's a plot point that shouldn't be overlooked. 13. I liked how many of the colonists are married. It set it up so they could have strong emotional reactions to the deaths and helped to justify a lot of their behaviors. There are probably still a few instances of behavior that could be interpreted as out of character but nothing is really standing out in my mind. That said I don't really have a good notion for how spouse death + dangerous situation affects someone. They might have been a little quick to get over people dying, but I've never feared for my life so I dunno. 14. I'm just going to keep editing this and adding to it for a little while. I also found it interesting how the engineers built all these monuments to themselves. They are really into building giant depictions of their heads. There's some deeper meaning there but I'm going to let someone else spell it out for me eventually. 15. They have some first-person perspective shots in the alien's vision that were cool. Kind of like in Alien 3 (great fuckin' film) except with some added visual effects. Things I didn’t like: 1. I don’t understand why David calls his creations “perfect organisms.” It could be a callback to Ash from the first film, but there’s still no information from them on why they find them perfect. I can think of a lot of reasons why these organisms aren’t perfect. Maybe I just can’t see it because I’m a human? 2. The fight between Walter and David felt somewhat out of place, but because it was short this isn’t really that big of a deal. I did like that we got to see them display how strong they really are. I also like that the fight can be interpreted philosophically as well. Two different ethical/moral codes battling it out, god-like in comparison to the other humanoids in the film. Which can then lead to some interesting take-aways by the fact that David wins the fight. I also didn’t really care for the fact that they don’t play it straight that David wins the fight. Instead, off screen, David presumably kills Walter, cuts off his own hand, takes all Walter’s clothes and puts them on. I think a scene of David expressing his disappointment in Walter, as Walter’s twitching dying body has its clothes stripped off, etc. - would have worked better here than the short line before they fought. Anyway, it was a super predictable twist that David was going to kill Walter and take his place as soon as he cuts his hair. 3. Too much CGI. The CGI looked good some of the time, but it was obviously CGI. I know we have to keep in mind that the aliens’ actions performed in this film are waaaaay beyond what they did with the man in the suit in the original Alien. Also that the proportions of the aliens in Covenant (very gangly), combined with the shots that they were in (lots of shots of them in wide open spaces), exclude suits and puppetry as real options. That said, there were definitely some shots that looked great, both with CGI and with what I’m guessing were puppets. Also there’s a section with Daniels hanging from a harness while flying through the air that is probably some of the best green screen / compositing work I’ve seen. It looked really really good. 4. The marketing of this film gave way too much away. Because of the marketing I knew there would be a protomorph on the Covenant. This is not a problem specific to only this film, but really all films that have any sort of surprise elements in them. I think the only thing that surprised me from the film is that there were two colonists that became pregnant with neomorphs. We all knew one guy would have one burst out of his back, but the bearded guy getting infected was the only thing that genuinely surprised me. Also it bursts out of his mouth which was kinda gross and cool. 5. One thing I saw another review point out is that there is nothing memorable happening in the film. That is kind of true in the sense that much of what happens in the film has happened before. Chestbursting is chestbursting, ya know? You see one, you've seen them all... and none of them are going to be as good as the first time. The creepy shot of the neomorph silently "staring" at the one woman colonist before it eats her is creepy. The Alien shower scene is creepy. The baby protomorph is cute. Lots of parts are gory, and some will say gross. I wouldn't call any of it iconic though. We might not have another real iconic moment in this franchise. That doesn't mean that the films can't be good and/or enjoyable. 6. All that poo poo I said about their actions being smarter, and protocol seeming more well defined. That is all well and good, but they still went down onto an alien planet without wearing any sort of suits to protect them from biohazards. They knew that a human distress signal was coming from the planet and they believed it to be a habitable planet, but they completed discounted the possibility that there could be airborn pathogens that would kill all of them. That's uh. Well, it's just dumb. Like a mission of this size isn't going to have a problem finding the finding for 20 futuristic biosuits? Had they worn the biosuits, there never would have been a neomorph infection (resulting in 5 deaths), and their lander ship wouldn't have been destroyed. David would have still found them and some sort of fuckery could have still gotten us to the same conclusion. As a side note thrown in at the end, I want to talk about viewing the Alien franchise as a horror franchise. We’ve been exposed to this brand of alien for so many years that I don’t think there’s a chance that one of these creatures is going to actually scare me. I’m okay with it evolving (hehe) into more of a sci-fi thriller series. WTF BEES posted:Wait, did I read right that David makes out with and finger blasts himself? I assume by "himself" it's another Android portrayed by the same actor, but still, what? David uses his fingers to help Walter play a flute-like wind instrument / recorder. There's no penetration using fingers. He does kiss him though. And he kisses someone else too. Not too sure how to interpret it yet since he clearly thinks little of humans. RangerScum fucked around with this message at 17:40 on May 11, 2017 |
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May 11, 2017 16:10
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Bugblatter posted:Weird that America is getting it last. We've already got it in Asia, Europe has it in a day... America waits another week and a half? Is there something out stateside they're trying not to compete with? My best guess with American domestic being such a point of pride for execs, they're allowing as much WOM as there can be before letting it release stateside. Maybe?
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May 11, 2017 16:55
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Hey, at least they're not inserting those dumbshit yellow dots for 3 frames randomly anymore. God did that piss me the gently caress off when it started.MacheteZombie posted:This is a current trend and it makes me very angry. It's supposed to cut down on piracy iirc "BvS went on to make over 1.5 billion worldwide!" 'Meh, it cost $300mil and made a measly 750mil in the U.S. what a failure'
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May 11, 2017 18:38
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RangerScum posted:6. All that poo poo I said about their actions being smarter, and protocol seeming more well defined. That is all well and good, but they still went down onto an alien planet without wearing any sort of suits to protect them from biohazards. They knew that a human distress signal was coming from the planet and they believed it to be a habitable planet, but they completed discounted the possibility that there could be airborn pathogens that would kill all of them. That's uh. Well, it's just dumb. Like a mission of this size isn't going to have a problem finding the finding for 20 futuristic biosuits? Had they worn the biosuits, there never would have been a neomorph infection (resulting in 5 deaths), and their lander ship wouldn't have been destroyed. David would have still found them and some sort of fuckery could have still gotten us to the same conclusion.[/spoiler] I would think that this is done because they want to separate the movie from Prometheus (most of the cast spends a lot of time in biosuits) and also because the Covenant crew think the Engineer planet is within habitable optimum and therefore probably safe, but also are still reeling from the whole "narrowly avoided a grisly death in cryosleep" thing. Thanks for the write-ups from folks who have seen the film. Definitely leaning towards seeing Covenant in theaters.
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May 11, 2017 18:50
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FilthyImp posted:Hey, at least they're not inserting those dumbshit yellow dots for 3 frames randomly anymore. God did that piss me the gently caress off when it started. It has been the rule not the exception that summer tentpoles open earlier around the world than the US for a long while now and was certainly not prompted by BvS, which IIRC premiered in Asia 2 weeks before it did in the US.
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May 11, 2017 18:58
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MacheteZombie posted:It's supposed to cut down on piracy iirc This is precisely the reason. The studios discovered that movies were being sold at the street markets within days of their North American release, particularly in eastern Europe and China, and so they flipped their release schedules around. The US is rather frequently among the last to get a release.
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May 11, 2017 19:56
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Timby posted:This is precisely the reason. The studios discovered that movies were being sold at the street markets within days of their North American release, particularly in eastern Europe and China, and so they flipped their release schedules around. The US is rather frequently among the last to get a release. Assuming you've read up on this, is there a reason given for not doing a simultaneous release? Just wouldn't work as well as the delayed release?
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May 11, 2017 20:47
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I know someone has already said this but it feels like with all the clips they released I feel like I've seen the whole drat movie anyway. Also watch out for that spoiler you quoted.
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May 11, 2017 20:59
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MacheteZombie posted:Assuming you've read up on this, is there a reason given for not doing a simultaneous release? Staggering releases is believed to help with competition.
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May 11, 2017 21:08
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gently caress I shouldn't even be in this thread because of spoilers but I accidentally started reading comments on YouTube for the 'my face' official fox sneak peak and of course first comment is a spoiler.
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May 11, 2017 21:28
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I dont see how people who like the Alien films can like this dumpster fire more than Alien 3. It's as much of a trainwreck as Prometheus was, with even more clinging to the original films, clearly just selling out the franchise; its soundbites, its creatures, its dark and mysterious mythology - everything must be explained!! With surgical precision and in broad daylight. Accepting this trashy "philosophical" blockbuster as canon may ruin the previous installments even further than Prometheus did. How the gently caress am I supposed to feel watching Alien now? I'd agree this is overreacting if it wasnt the man behind Alien himself who wrote this turd. AvP certainly never got in the way of my enjoyment of Aliens, but Covenant sure as poo poo craps all over the whole franchise. Did you hear Scott was already churning out a script for a sequel? God damnit, I'm furious Blomkamp didnt get his shot. I'm concerned by the previous positive comments. Oh well. Alien: Covenant is divisive.
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May 11, 2017 22:59
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s... source your quotes?
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May 11, 2017 23:02
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Kind of a bummer that a lot of the alien scenes are CGI this time, the opposite of Prometheus, but it did not really ruin the movie for me. I expect it's not really easy to make the creatures move convincingly using just suits. One thing I really like about the ending: The climax had the survivors being badass and they were all like "yeehaw, take that you xeno bitch, we are so awesome!!!". It was like Aliens but with more fist-pumping. I also liked that they avoided sacrificing thousands of people still in cryo to save a few people like I thought. Then David reveals himself before Danny can do anything, and he calmly walks among those sleeping colonists with his favorite music in the background, looking at them like a catalog of test subjects.
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May 11, 2017 23:20
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Just got back from an early screening and it's a difficult one, I'm not much of a reviewer but I will say this movie is worth seeing for Fassbender alone, it seemed to move at a breakneck speed to a point that when the final shot came on I thought it was only halfway through and was thinking "awwww yeah here we go" them BAM "credits". I think I need to see it a few more times to fully digest it....
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May 11, 2017 23:27
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