Welcome back! This episode, I’m doing a director’s commentary for my new snake-hypno animation Priestess, discussing the tumblr manips of ObeyTheQueens, the epic sci-fi EMC tale Rockhoppers, and also talking mind control in Marvel’s films and tv shows, Alien 3, and more in Part 2 of my conversation with thrall!
1 Comment
Das Flute
First off, just want to say that I’m a huge fan of yours, going back years. Love the podcast, it’s surprising that no one’s done one for the EMC community before. About this episode, two things. One, have you seen the movie From Dusk Till Dawn? I’m assuming the Madison Ivy snake dance is supposed to be an homage to Salma Hayek’s snake dance from that movie.
Second, I just have to be “that guy” and come out in defense of Alien 3. One thing I like about the first three Alien movies is that each one is very much a different style and tone. I think a lot of the reasons Alien 3 isn’t liked is because not only did it go into a more nihilistic tone, but also it was coming out of the standard 80’s action fare of Aliens. There’s a reason that pretty much the entire Alien franchise is culturally dominated by the second movie; I have a feeling if, somehow, Aliens was made first and Alien second, it would probably be a lot less well received than it is now. I don’t think Alien 3 is better than the first two, it has its problems for sure, but I think it’s much closer to being a successor to the original movie in terms of atmosphere and tone than Aliens. And it’s leagues ahead of Alien: Resurrection. Whatever people think of it, Alien 3 does at least have one of the most iconic scenes of the entire series, the xenomorph sniffing next to Ripley’s terrified face. I don’t know anything that people remember from A:R that comes close.
And I also just have to finish by saying I have to challenge your comments near the end (paraphrasing, so I apologize) that Hollywood now is more willing to take a risk than it was then. I actually feel it’s the opposite, mostly for reasons that would be off-topic here, but on the subject of the Alien movies here’s my evidence: Alien 3 begins by killing off Newt and Hicks, it shaves off Sigourney Weaver’s head, it removes the military aspect of the second movie that helped make it so popular. Whether you like those changes or not, I think those were huge risks. The new reboot Alien 3 that Blomkamp is doing is keeping Newt and Hicks and looks like it’s having the military aspect still in it. Those might be more popular to do, but way less risky.
Anyway hope I didn’t come across as too confrontational, but just feel the need to stick up for Alien 3, and again, love your work and the podcast!