Alien: Romulus

Everyone have a favourite film that they can rewatch over and over again. A film that have a very special meaning for you, doesn´t matter what the reason is but you simply love that specific film. Some people love old classics such as the 1972 drama known as The Godfather from Francis Ford Coppola while others love more violent classics such as the 1976 masterpiece known as Taxi Driver from legendary director Martin Scorsese. Now i will admit that Taxi Driver is one of my absolute favourite films of all time and i can´t remember how many times i have seen it. I do remember the first time i saw this film and i must have been 12 years old at that time in 1989. My school friend Nicklas ( who collected all of Clint Eastwoods films on VHS mostly ) bought Taxi Driver on VHS so i borrowed it from him. It´s one of those rare films that have a very powerful story and absoutely fantastic characters. Not only that but this film have some brilliant acting performances as well included, especially Robert De Niro as the insane taxi driver Travis Bickle. If you for some reason have not seen Taxi Driver i highly recommend this film no matter if you watch it on streaming or physical media. One of my other favourite films of all time is the 1986 sci fi horror action film Aliens from director James Cameron. This is honestly one of the films i never get tired of and watch it every year. I really do enjoy the original film from 1979 but to me Aliens is the best film in this franchise. This film have spectacular action scenes, the alien costume design looks fantastic, so many great characters that get screen time and of course Ripley ( played by Sigourney Weaver ) is one of the greatest female characters of all time. I have seen every single Alien film so far in this franchise and most of them i enjoy, while Alien 3 was honestly disappointing. Director Ridley Scott returned to the Alien franchise with 2 films Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. Even though i enjoy these films for different reasons it felt like the Alien franchise needed a different director to give us a different look into this legendary sci fi horror universe. So here we are with the latest film in the franchise known as Alien: Romulus who this time is directed by Fede Álvarez ( director of the really good Evil Dead remake from 2013, a must see ). Since i am always curious  what a new film in this franchise would give the audience of course i had to give Alien: Romulus a chance. Is this a surprisingly good sequel or does this film prove that it is time to stop making more film in this franchise and do something more creative instead?

In 2142, a Weyland-Yutani prob recovers a large cocoon from the wreckage of the USCSS Nostromo. Months later, at the rundown Jackson´s Star colony on the perpeturally dark LV -410. orphaned colonist Rain Carradine ( Cailee Spaeny ) learns that her work has been forcibly extended by Weyland-Yutani. Determined to escape, she joins a plan with her brother Andy ( David Jonsson ) - a malfunctioning android reprogrammed by her father - her ex boyfriend Tyler Harrison ( Archie Renaux ) with a group of other young people. The group commandeers the hauler Corbean IV to reach Renaissance, a Weyland-Yutani  split into the modules Romulus and Remus to steal cryostais equipment. Once they go onboard the Renaissance they will soon find out this station is not abandoned.

I have to say that there is especially three details that we really should appreciate with Alien: Romulus. First of all the set design of all the futuristic buildings. I get the feeling that director Fede Álvarez might have been inspired by the 1982 sci fi classic Blade Runner in some ways, while you can tell he is clearly inspired by James Cameron´s Aliens rather than the original Alien film. The futuristic look of certain locations match well with the story that Alien: Romulus is trying to tell us. I think if you are going to make a film such as this then this is exactly one of the details you should think about, make the spaceship look cool as well as the futuristic buildings. The chemistry between the main characters Rain ( played by actress Cailee Spaeny ) and Andy ( played by actor David Jonsson ) is surprisingly good. Their scenes together give these characters some charming scenes while they also go through rough times together like family members. I especially think David Jonsson manage to act quite well as an adroid. The space scenes are really beautiful and capture the right environment surrounding this spaceshift crew in a very stylish way. Ok so i have to mention some negative details specifically one character i did not like at all. And that is the annoying character known as Bjorn ( played by actor Spike Fearn ), I understand he attacks Andy because his mother was killed by an Android in the past, but the way this character deliver dialouge and show off his personality just don´t work for me. Every time he showed up i just felt annoyed and wished he wasn´t in the crew. I also feel that the story is very similar to other Alien films in the past and i kind of wished they would try something more original with this film like an unexpected twist. With that said this is a great looking action horror film and the practical effects is of course something i really appreciate. The alien design is quite effective as well and reminds me more of the 80´s design. I would probably say that Alien: Romulus is one of the better sequels compared to Alien 3 and Alien: Covenant considering there is a lot of details to appreciate about this film, especially if you love the 1986 film Aliens. Director Fede Álvarez shows once more he knows how to make great horror films and he definetely proves he have passion for this specific genre. If you are a true fan of Alien in general i think you will have a good time with Alien: Romulus.

Rating: DDD

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Whenever i hear a young generation of people discuss films in today´s society i can clearly see that they have no idea what the 1980´s brought the whole world when it comes to iconic films. I remember specifically sitting at a café downtown where a young woman in her early 20´s who works in health care just like myself talked about what films she thought might inspire others such as herself. Her example was that she brought up the original Twilight film from 2008 and she thought that maybe my generation from the 80´s appreciated this film as well. I laughed in her face without being disrespectful and said:- Oh dear, you clearly have not seen The Thing, Big Trouble In Little China or They Live from director John Carpenter. She looked at me and said:- John Carpenter, i have neve heard that name before. When she said that i knew it was up to me to help her learn very important knowledge of film history, after all we all need to experience these classics no matter what age we are. So while we had coffee i showed her pictures of the posters of all of these 3 films and she actually became curious. She had not seen any films from the 80´s that she could remember so i was in one way her guide into the magical time of the 80´s. As we were going through a list of 80´s films we came across a posters of 80´s film she noticed a poster of the film Beetlejuice. She asked me about this film and i told her what the film was about and specifically told her about the director of this film Tim Burton. I don´t know if she saw Beetlejuice but i personally have seen this film several times. It is truly one of the all time classics from director Tim Burton and the film does have a very unique style from start to finish. Not many horror comedies that talks about death in such a way as the film Beetlejuice does and of course the character Betelgeuse ( played by Michael Keaton ) turned out to be very charming. Since this film came out in 1988 it has a very big cult following worldwide for over 30 years and a lot of horror fans consider this to be one of their favourite Tim Burton films. Who would have known that they would actually make a real sequel but here we are in 2024 with the film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice from legendary director Tim Burton. I actually never thought they would make a sequel so of course i simply had to see if this film would be any good. Considering what at classic the original film is, does this sequel manage to capture the magic of the original film or is this just a desperate cash grab just to sell tickets?

In 2024, Lydia Deetz ( Winona Ryder ) hosts the supernatural TV talk show Ghost House. While taping an episode, Lydia halllucinates seeing Betlegeuse, the demon who tried to marry her 36 years earlier, in the audience. Shortly afterwards, Lydia´s stepmother, Delia Deetz ( Catherine O´Hara, informs Lydia that her father Charles, had been eaten by a shark. Since Lydia is no longer close to her daughter Astrid Deetz ( Jenna Ortega ), the loss of Astrid´s father will of course not make the situation any better. They all travel Winter River, Connecticut, for Charles funeral. Lydia finds the attic where the previous owner built a scale model of the town. She also finds a flyer of Betlegeuse ( Michael Keaton ) when Lydia enter to prevent Astrid from saying his name three times. However, things get complicated when a ghost named Jeremy Frazier ( Arthur Conti ) tries to trick Lydia into the Afterlife to use her as a sacrifice to bring himself back into the real world. Lydia have to stop him and have no other option, she have to bring Belegeuse back to save her daughter from being trapped in the underworld.

There is always some big risks to take when you make a sequel to a beloved film from the 80´s and this film could have been a completely disaster ( just look at the sequel to Coming To America known as Coming 2 America, a film that failed completely ). The good news is that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice manage to bring back both some nostalgic feelings while adding some nice surprises, especially in two new characters. So let us talk about what works with this sequel and i have to say the Afterlife world bring some charming scenes in this film and to be honest i actually had more fun here than in the ordinary world. In the Afterlife world there are especially two characters known as Delores ( played by actress Monica Belluci ) and Wolf Jackson ( played by legendary actor Willem Dafoe ) who especially bring out some of the most enjoyable moments of this sequel. Im not saying Michael Keaton is bad in this film as Betelgeuse, he does deliver some great scenes. But the mystery and powers of the character Delores is without a doubt one of my personal highlights of this film. When it comes to other characters we do get to see Lydia back here ( of course played by Winona Ryder ) and we also get to see actress Catherine O´ Hara return as Delia who you remember from the first film. Both of them are just fine in this film but i have to say young actress Jenna Ortega gives this a different approach with her character Astrid. It comes to no surprise that director Tim Burton knows how to do horror and there are some funny scenes here that feels like they belong among dead people in the Afterlife. There is also other throwbacks to the original film while adding some new details as well. So is this film just as funny as the original film? Honestly no, at least not for me personally. I feel that this was a missed oppurtinity since the original film did have some really funny scenes. To be honest i don´t think this film will be as nostalgic as the original film, it´s almost impossible to reach the same level as the 1988 classic. Overall i will say i still had a good time with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice thanks to great characters and the entertaining scenes in the Afterlife. Director Tim Burton knows how to combine horror and comedy and proves this again with his latest film. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a film for true fans of Tim Burton and the original film as well, just don´t expect too much or you might be disappointed.

Rating: DDD