16.2.12

Alien vs. Predator (2004)

"Whoever wins... We lose." 

It's easy to imagine why Fox thought it was a good idea to combine their two big monster franchises, the Aliens and the Predators. It's a little more unclear, why anyone would think Paul W.S. Anderson was the guy who could pull it off.

In this new commentary we dive into the 2004 movie Alien vs. Predator. Written and directed by Anderson, starring Sanaa Lathan and Lance Henriksen.

On this track we cover:

- How this relates to the other films in the franchises
- The comic book influence
- The utter lack of logic and research
- Alternative possibilities for the story and the film
- And why Sebastian is the most wrongest character since like forever
- We also trash the Americans, the British, the Italians, and the Scots (sorry, group hug)

DOWNLOAD

Download the mp3 file here. Link.

Subscribe to the commentary podcast in iTunes. Link.

STATS

Participants: David Bjerre and Dennis Rosenfeld.
Day of recording: February 16th, 2012.
Version: Extended Cut - Bluray or NTSC DVD
Movie runtime: 01.48.40

SCREENSHOTS

The satellite actually zooms in on the wrong island.

Beautiful combination of models and CGI.

Model snowmobiles.

The satellite image clearely shows that the pyramid is NOT under the whaling station.

The magical pyramid. Live foreground element and model pyramid.

He's a looker this one, but don't trust a word he says.

Heeeeeere's Johnny!

You?! I thought this was my movie.

History, the Paul Anderson way.

A horde of angry moviegoers demand their money back.

LITERATURE

Aliens vs. Predator, screenplay by Peter Biggs
Aliens vs. Predator: Omnibus, vol. 1 & 2 (Dark Horse)
Cinefex No. 99, October 2004, article by Jody Duncan

AUDIO/VIDEO

DVD special features.

LINKS

IMDb. Links.

Wikipedia. Link.

Differences between theatrical and unrated version. Link.

Peter Brigg's script. Link.

1.2.12

Review: The Thing (2011)

Director Matthijs van Heijningen and producer Eric Newman deliver the commentary for this highly problematic remake-sequel-reboot of John Carpenter's 1982 classic.

It's an enjoyable track, full of interesting production details, and both guys seem very likable, unfortunately they fail to address any of the burning questions a dedicated fan would have. Besides the obvious - Why make the film at all? - they barely mention the controversial CGI effects, or talk about how much they tried to shot practically. They praise Mary Elizabeth Winstead constantly. Apparently she was a sweetheart, and that probably prevents them from noticing how utterly miscast she is.

This track was recorded weeks before the premiere of the film, so they don't yet know how bad it's going to be received. That might have done them some good, because they seem clueless as to how inferior this film is to the original.

Availability: DVD and Blu-ray releases.