Generally, I think fanboys are ridiculous.
There they are. All worked up over something. Me? I’m a cool 25% hipster who has the right perspective on stuff, not getting caught up in all that. Sure, I’ve seen Avengers twice in the theatres and might go a third time, not because I have 20,000 comic books in a storage unit, but because it’s a quality product.
Last week, my wife and I had an argument, an actual argument involving anger and frustration, because we disagree over Prometheus. She kept pointing out problems with plotting, character, story, and all kinds of things while I just shrugged and said, “sure, but that didn’t bother me.” We eventually stopped talking about it and now we are mildly amused by “the incident” but, a nagging thought crept into my mind. Could it be that I am a fanboy?
Let’s be clear: Riddly Scott has directed many, many films that have not resonated with me. Gladiator, for example, is a huge disaster is not to my taste. Does that mean that I am, unbeknownst to my conscious mind, an Alien fanboy?
Well, I do own the box set. But! I don’t watch them often. People (my wife) have remarked with bewilderment upon how I feel about he individual films: I like 1, 3, & 4, but 2 is slow, boring, and makes my feet fall asleep (and I thought Alien Vs. Predator was okay, but ultimately disappointing and I don’t intend to see the second one). Worse yet, I saw 4 in the theatre three time. What? It was directed by the guy from City of Lost Children and scripted by Joss Whedon. Okay, the ending was unfortunate, but the rest of it was good! I said it, Alien Resurrection is not suck!
Now, Prometheus is without a doubt a prequel. The visuals are great, the direction solid, the acting is mostly on point. But the story… Well… It’s not entirely… But that’s not the point! I don’t need the story to be awesome, I just want… Hmmmm. I wonder. Am I?
Do you have a pristine collection of the Burger King(TM) Alien(TM) Big Slurp(TM) cups? Alien(TM) pyjammas?
I don’t think I ever had any swag. I do keep hoping for a good Alien video game that gets a better than dumb review.
whahhhh? you didn’t like 2?? Aliens ties with Wrath of Khan for being the BEST sequel EVER made! but I’ll high five you for seeing 4 in the theatres more than once, that one is hella fun.
Prometheus didn’t do it for me. yeah, it was pretty, but the plotting issues really, really bothered me.
if you’re a fanboy, then I’m a fangirl. Is that BK Alien Big Slurp cup on e-bay? Cuz I’d totally pay some big bucks for that.
Come on? Best sequel ever made? Better than The Godfather: Part 2? Better than Empire? Better than The Dark Knight? And let’s be fair, it’s okay for people to dislike popular movies. I HATE The Big Lebowski. I’ve tried watching it two and a half times now, and I just don’t like it. Do I get made fun of? Yes!
And we’re all fanboys/fangirls about weird things. If it’s possible to be a John Waters fanboy, I’m one of them!
meh, i’m not a Lebowski fan either. or much of a Dark Knight fan. there. I said it. I don’t care for the new Batman flicks, I”m all about the old school Tim Burton/Michael Keaton versions.
Boo! Anything with Christian Bale is *perfect*.
What darkcargo says. We share a bit of the Christian Bale fanaticism as well.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen the Burton films but I did just listen to the Now Playing retrospective (I recommend this podcast).
http://www.nowplayingpodcast.com/archives.htm#Batman
I still don’t have a read on Christian Bale. What’s that guy about?
Try Empire of the Sun and The Machinist for Christian Bale intro.
Thanks for the podcast link, I’ve got them downloaded and will listen to them this weekend.
And don’t forget The Prestige. If you like musicals, Newsies! Oooh, also Little Women. Oh! And American Psycho (amazing) and Velvet Goldmine (if you like glam rock).
Oh, fond Christian Bale memories…
Having just finished watching Alien and Aliens for the first time evah, I am comfortable taking the role of self-declared expert on this subject matter and am martyring myself for the cause of objective intervention on this bitter debate.
Aliens is a total rehash of Alien. Alien is def a “Perfect Film”. Aliens gets lumped into “meh” due to its point-for-point re-plot of the first film, its dippy “Marine Brotherhood” nonsense and the fakexican lady Vasquez.
I will be sure to let you all know what I think of Aliens 3 and Alien Resurrection ASAP.
Heh! I like it because I like it, ok?
I don’t know if enjoying something just for the sake of enjoying it makes a person an empty-headed rabid fan…person. There are some things that I love just because they give me some inexplicable sense of joy. Taking it apart and analyzing it six ways from sunday in order to justify why I enjoy Thus-and-Such kills that experience. It irritates the snot out of me when people rain on my parade. I like it because it makes me smile, and that’s enough for me.
Christian Bale’s Reign of Fire, Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland, S. L. Viehl’s StarDoc series, Fable II… I mean seriously, I’m expected to justify a B-film about fighting off dragons or dippy stories about Romance in Space? please.
Look. You can’t seriously tell me that Alice and Wonderland and Fable II aren’t things EVERYONE loves. I mean come on, I read Alice in Wonderland like a bazillion times as a kid. And Fable II is way better than Fable I or Fable III (although I like both of them too).
Yes I can. There are plenty of Alice/Carroll dashers and smashers out there. I’ve got a whole list of reasons why any sane adult isn’t supposed to like Alice in Wonderland.
Boo! I’m a (mostly) sane adult and I still love reading Alice in Wonderland every once in awhile.
I liked Prometheus, despite the fact that upon reflection, it had plot holes you could fly the titular spaceship through sideways. It looked really nice, too. The production design felt right: futuristic, yet practical and lived in (which is always what I liked about Alien anyway).
Oh, and best sequel ever? No contest: Grease 2
I liked Prometheus, despite the fact that upon reflection, it had plot holes you could fly the titular spaceship through sideways. It looked really nice, too. The production design felt right: futuristic, yet practical and lived in (which is always what I liked about Alien anyway).
Oh, and best sequel ever? No contest: Grease 2
GREASE 2! Some of the best music ever. Cool Rider? The Calendar Girls? The Luau song? We’re Gonna Score Tonight? Let’s Do It For Our Country?
Wow, i need to watch that movie again.
Me and the Riddick movies. There. I said it in a public forum. I was sucked in by Pitch Black and went and saw The Riddick Chronicles in the movie theatre and have the inbetween animated bit also. I even read the move tie in book written by Alan Dean Foster (a fave author). But no Riddick plushy. Sorry.
I watched Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection .
Alien 3, very moving. Excellent.
Alien: Resurrection I cry at the end. Why? “Guess it’s a chick thing.”
Definitely I can see Joss Whedon’s Firefly characters in A:R. Am I imaging this, viewing all these films retrospectively?
Can I watch Prometheus now?
Ok. So I watched them all. I agree with Jonah’s assessment, y’all can keep #2. But I have a question– Where does Jonah get off claiming that he’s not a fan of Space Opera? Alien = Space Opera.