Onmovies magazine Issue 4 March 2015

n movies

Issue 4 l March 2015

news and reviews

www.onmovies.co.uk

Alien 5

Return of the chest burster confirmed p06

Godzilla

King of monsters comes to small screen p16

Guardians of the Galaxy

Marvel’s greatest success p20

Gentlemen, please

Life lessons from an upstanding Chappie p12

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WELCOME

n movies YOUR MONTHLY DIGITAL MAGAZINE FOR MOVIE NEWS, REVIEWS AND MORE

Issue 4 March 2015 Editor & Designer Tom Carpenter tom.carpenter@onmovies.co.uk Deputy Editor Robert Hutchins robert.hutchins@onmovies.co.uk Contributors John Conway, Charlie Green, Tabatha Smalls Advertising ads@onmovies.co.uk Cover image courtesy of Universal Pictures. © On movies 2015. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior premission of the copyright owners. On movies cannot take responsiblity for any mistakes or omissions or the views of our contributors or advertisers. All information enclosed is correct at the time of being published, however release dates are subject to change.

is an independent publisher.

March 2015

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comment We always told ourselves that should we reach over 50 On movies followers, we would start taking this project a bit more seriously.

And that is why, as we find ourselves on the brink of achieving 70 beautiful, charming, funny, intelligent and well refined regular readers, we kick-off our fourth ever issue with this, the obligatory ‘editor’s comment.’

Musicians often lament of the difficult second album syndrome, a creative block that will often times see them stick a good looking human on the front cover, in a bid to mask the banality within and help shift a few extra copies.

But we at On movies would never dream of such transparent tactics, and that Angelina Jolie cover was a coincidence, and nothing more. The blatant promise of a spot of BDSM in the third instalment is another issue entirely.

“

This month, if it’s about Alien, we’ve been on it like John Hurt on a breakfast table. That is to say, all over it.

By the fourth release, history dictates the musician will contemplate the concept album, and this is where we will hold our hands up. We’re not suggesting that if you read this magazine backwards while watching The Wizard of Oz, you’ll discover a hidden truth of life, but if you squint hard enough, you may just spot a theme to this month’s copy.

OK, it’s sci-fi. Alright, in particular it’s Sigourney Weaver. More specifically, it’s South African director Neill Blomkamp and Sigourney Weaver. Whispers, hints, rumours, half truths, appearances on Jonathon Ross, you name it; if it has Alien attached to it, we have been on it like John Hurt on a breakfast table.

That is to say, all over it.

Last week saw the passing of iconic cult hero, Leonard Nimoy and this month we pay tribute to the man who brought Spock to life, the term Vulcan Nerve Pinch to TV and the editor to tears when he found it actually wasn’t called a Vulcan Death Grip. Aged 83, Nimoy created a legacy that will travel with him in this life and the next.

And that’s where we will let you read on, because without letting you into too many secrets, we feel we have waffled on enough to fill this page rather nicely.

Thanks to our contributors and reviewers for their words and opinions, and to you readers for giving us a platform to shout from. Without you, we’re all just nutters babbling on about a moving picture.

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CONTENTS 10

12

NEWS 06 NEILL BLOMKAMP IS ON BOARD

New Alien 5 proposed as a bridge between the franchise’s flagship title and its sequel, Aliens.

08 2015 OSCARS

THE BIG SCREEN 12 CHAPPIE

Artificial intelligence with the ability to think and feel like a human, yet powerful and destructive and a danger to mankind and order.

And the winners are...

SKY MOVIES

10 THE FINAL FRONTIER Tribute to Leonard Nimoy,

16 GODZILLA (2014)

who has died aged 83

22

NEW THIS MONTH 14 COMING TO THE BIG SCREEN The must see films this month at your local cinema.

22 COMING TO YOUR SOFA Get comfortable and enjoy films at your fingertips.

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24

Get ready to engage in some ‘edge of the seat’ tension building, monster on monster action and Heisenberg.

ONE FROM THE VAULT

20 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

24 MUSCLE SHOALS

BOX SET

HAVE YOUR SAY

26 ALIEN

28 CHARLIE GREEN SAYS...

The finest pop artists of the 70s, thrown in with intergalactic crime and you have a sci-fi movie that delivers above and beyond.

Tense, gruesome, violent and oozing with action. What better way to spend a weekend in.

Rick Hall, a man who overcame crushing poverty and tragedies to bring black and white together in the name of music.

…Only Lovers Left Alive is a simplistic tale of a romantic and timeless relationship.

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NEWS

ALIEN RESURRECTED (AGAIN) The flesh-lusting, chest-bursting Alien is set to make its return as District 9 director takes the helm on project, Alien 5 District 9 director, Neill Blomkamp is on board to helm a fifth Alien movie, proposed to act as a bridge between 1979’s original Alien and its 1986 sequel, Aliens.

From the man that brought intergalactic life to the South African suburbs in 2009, the director has now confirmed his involvement in reviving the Alien franchise that fell flat way back in 1997.

Since the emergence of early concept

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art, depicting the iconic Xenomorphic beast, Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley and Michael Biehn’s Cpl. Dwayne Hicks last month, speculation over the movie’s position in the Alien timeline has been rife.

The reappearance of Hicks – a character mercilessly killed off in 1992’s Alien 3 – has left fans wondering if Blomkamp’s installment would plan to write off all plot developments from the third title onwards.

However, the South African director has put the record straight, deflating the Alien 3 naysayers in the process, to reveal that his project will not undo the events following Aliens, but bridge the original with its sequel.

While Weaver has offered her endorsement to Blomkamp’s project distinctly separate from Ridley Scott’s Prometheus 2 - its scheduled release date of 2017 means our star will be knocking on 70.

But we bet she still looks good.

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2015 OSCARS: THE WINNERS Alejandro González Iñárritu

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Eddie Redmayne

J. K. Simmons

Paweł Pawlikowski

Julianne Moore

Patricia Arquette

Common & John Legend

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87TH ACADEMY AWARDS: THE WINNERS Best Picture 2015 Birdman

Best Original Screenplay 2015 - Alejandro González Iñárritu

Birdman

- Alejandro González Iñárritu

Best Director 2015

Best Adapted Screenplay 2015

Alejandro González Iñárritu - Birdman

The Imitation Game

Best Actor 2015

Best Animated Feature Film 2015

Eddie Redmayne

- The Theory of Everything

Best Actress 2015 Julianne Moore

Big Hero 6

- Graham Moore

- Don Hall & Chris Williams

Best Foreign Language Film 2015 - Still Alice

Ida (Poland) in Polish

- Paweł Pawlikowski

Best Supporting Actor 2015

Best Feature Documentary 2015

J. K. Simmons

Citizenfour

- Whiplash

- Laura Poitras

Best Supporting Actress 2015

Best Film Editing 2015

Patricia Arquette

Whiplash

- Boyhood

- Tom Cross

Best Visual Effects 2015 Interstellar

- Paul Franklin

Best Original Score 2015 The Grand Budapest Hotel - Alexandre Desplat

Best Original Song 2015 “Glory”

- Selma

Best Production Design 2015 The Grand Budapest Hotel - Adam Stockhausen

Best Cinematography 2015 Birdman

- Emmanuel Lubezki

Graham Moore March 2015

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TRIBUTE

BOLDLY GONE Leonard Nimoy, who has died aged 83, was an obscure character actor in films and television before taking on the role that sealed his position as cult celebrity as the emotionless and logical Mr. Spock in the 1960s TV series, Star Trek.

Before the days when being half-Vulcan and half-human were a thing, Nimoy began his career in his early twenties, teaching acting classes in Hollywood.

Originally plugged as a minor character in the sci-fi series, Nimoy not only reshaped the role of Spock, but rallied such a following for the character that, when Paramount Studios killed him off in the second Star Trek feature film, the public demanded his return.

Spock’s demise in fact nearly brought Paramount to its knees, when the studio’s stock fell on Wall Street as a result. Nimoy’s character was regenerated in The Search for Spock, and six further films followed.

Nimoy gave life to the role with inspired passion and was responsible for the concept of the now iconic Vulcan Nerve Pinch as a more sophisticated way of rendering enemies and assailants unconcscious.

But away from the screen, Nimoy poured passion into further projects and was a published author, poet, singer and photographer as well as the director behind films such as Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) and Three Men and a Baby (1987), the highest grossing film of the year.

Leonard Nimoy is survived by his second wife Susan Bay, whom he married in 1990 and the son and daughter of his first marriage.

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LEONARD NIMOY 1931 – 2015

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THE BIG SCREEN

CHAPPIE 15 Neill Blomkamp’s 2015 sci-fi saga Chappie could just reveal why he is the go to name for all things alien or robot.

At the risk of beginning to sound like Blomkamp’s PR team, it appears his is the name of the moment within Hollywood sci-fi circles.

The man behind 2009’s District 9 and 2013’s Elysium is now leaving his mark on 2015, and not only by being at the centre of a new Alien uprising, but with the premiere of a sci-fi saga that questions the morality of a future of artificial intelligence, Chappie.

An expansion of his short 2003 title, Tetra Val, Chappie finds Blomkamp take us to the near future, where crime is patrolled by an oppressive mechanised police force. But now, the people are fighting back.

When one police droid, Chappie is stolen by a pair of gangsters (Ninja and Yolandi Visser) and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself.

However, powerful and destructive forces (and from what the trailer

hints, that’s namely the power-packed Sigourney Weaver and the mulletsporting Hugh Jackman) begin to see Chappie as a danger to mankind and order and will stop at nothing to maintain the status quo and ensure that the robot is the last of his kind.

Hitting cinemas from March 6th , and written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (who previously worked with Blomkamp on the screenplay for District 9), Sony Pictures Entertainment presents the film billed to ‘change the way the world looks at robots and humans forever.’

Sharlto Copley voices the robotic hero in a cast boasting the talents of Dev Patel, Ninja and Yolandi Visser, Jose Pablo Cantillo, Sigourney Weaver and Hugh Jackman.

While trailers for the film that surfaces in cinemas this Friday may be few, the aesthetic quality heavily resembles that which made the likes of District 9 and Elysium a success, so we are certainly keeping our hopes up that Blomkamp’s good fortune will continue.

After all, we need an omen for the director’s stab at the Alien franchise in 2017.

In Cinemas: 6 March 2015 Running Time: 120 minutes Director: Neill Blomkamp Starring: Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Ninja, Watkin Tudor Jones, Yolandi Visser, Jose Pablo Cantillo

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THE BIG SCREEN

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PG SHORT CIRCUIT 1986

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12 X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST 2014 March 2015

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NEW THIS MONTH: IN CINEMAS

THE DIVERGENT SERIES: INSURGENT 12A In a world left devastated by war, Chicago is divided into five factions: Erudite (intelligence), Dauntless (bravery), Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (friendship) and Candour (honesty). But Tris (Shailene Woodley) is a rare Divergent, with

multiple aptitudes. Now on the run with her Dauntless lover, Four (Theo James) from the evil Erudite leader, Jeanine (Kate Winslet), she faces one impossible challenge after another as she unlocks the truth about the past and ultimately, the future of her world.

In Cinemas: 20 March 2015 Running Time: 125 minutes Director: Robert Schwentke Starring: Shailene Woodley, Kate Winslet, Theo James, Miles Teller, Jai Courtney, Zoe Kravitz, Ansel Elgort, Ray Stevenson, Maggie Q, Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer

GET HARD 15

CINDERELLA U

SEVENTH SON 12A

Millionaire James King (Ferrell) lives a life of luxury until he’s convicted of fraud and embezzlement. Before starting a ten year stretch in jail he turns to Darnell Lewis (Hart) to transform him from a white collar criminal into a fearsome thug to survive life inside.

Disney’s sparkling live-action version of the fairy tale about an ordinary girl who wins the heart of a prince. Although in this modern take of the 1950 animated adaptation, Cinderella and the Prince meet prior to the fateful ball, telling her he’s simply a palace employee.

Grizzled veteran John Gregory is one of the last witch-hunting knights. But when shape-shifting witch queen Mother Malkin, his old nemesis escapes from captivity, he must locate the seventh son of a seventh son to help defeat her and save humanity.

In Cinemas: 27 March 2015 Running Time: 100 minutes

In Cinemas: 27 March 2015 Running Time: 113 minutes

In Cinemas: 27 March 2015 Running Time: 102 minutes

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SKY MOVIES: PREMIERE

GODZILLA (2014) 12

By John Conway

Godzilla really needs to get himself a better agent.

Because despite his name being plastered all over the posters for this film, the poor, misguided ‘king of monsters’ really surmounts to very little more than ‘bit part’ in the motion movie spectacular that was meant to be all about, well, Godzilla.

It was most likely the mention of Bryan Cranston, fresh from the success of Breaking Bad that lured the giant towards the film, so no one blames Godzilla for being optimistic. Maybe the film would see Cranston engage in some ‘edge of the seat’ dialogue with the tyrant. Yet it turns out he was duped.

And by the way the trailer made it look like the two of them would be carrying the film together, it turns out, so were we.

Disappointing Heisenberg fans across the globe, Cranston’s role is not as big as the trailer hints. Oh, and neither is Godzilla’s.

For half an hour of the film’s 120 minutes, Cranston delivers the controlled mania all Breaking Bad fans have come to expect. Then, he goes away.

Enter Godzilla, right? Not quite. We see his back, sometimes his thighs. We even get to hear the odd roar. It’s hardly compelling viewing. In fact, never has

an audience been so fervently denied its viewing pleasure since Mr Blonde’s torture scene in Reservoir Dogs.

Like a transatlantic camera panning, every time Godzilla is about to engage in some, any action, we are whisked away to something the other side of the globe.

That said, stick it out. Because the last 15 minutes will have you revelling in enough monster on monster action to almost make you forget the admission price.

Tension building is a wonderful tool, but Godzilla takes it right to the edge of reason. I mean, picture a Terminator film in which the titular cyborg only appeared for five minutes. It’s unheard of.

Sky Movies: 6 March 2015 Running Time: 118 minutes Director: Gareth Edwards Starring: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn

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SKY MOVIES: PREMIERE

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SKY MOVIES: PREMIERE

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 12 Make no mistake, Guardians of the Galaxy is an intergalactic space romp oozing the tired clichés of its genre, from the roguish, self-absorbed lead, to the scorned princess in search of retribution and the warrior on the path of self-destruction.

There’s even the genetically enhanced raccoon, his giant alien tree companion and a cracking soundtrack boasting some of the finest pop artists of the 70s including Bowie, Elvin Bishop and Blue Swede.

And that is what makes this cocktail of action, hilarity, sentiment, deception and companionship one of Marvel’s greatest successes to date.

Peter Quill (Chris Pratt – Parks and Recreation, The LEGO Movie, Jurassic World) is a human abducted from earth after witnessing the death of his mother. Years of space travel see him grow up into an intergalactic thief who unwittingly takes possession of an extremely powerful Orb. Genocidal maniac, Ronan (Pace) meanwhile, will stop at nothing to possess the Orb, and sends alien assassin Gamora (Saldana) to take

Quill out. However, Gamora has her own agenda, and when she and Quill find themselves trapped in a maximum security prison, they team with the sarcastic raccoon, Rocket (voiced by Cooper), the tree-like Groot (Vin Diesel) and the vengeance-minded Drax The Destroyer (Bautista) to escape.

And thus adventure unfolds.

Directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy is unmistakably, a busy film with strands of storyline weaving throughout a beautifully colourful and funny visual narrative. For instance, we never really understand Ronan’s need to destroy the galaxy, nor do we know the extent of Thanos’ (Brolin) importance on plot development, and just what the hell The Collector (Del Toro) has to do with anything, your guess is as good as mine.

But the charm of Marvel is that it is always aware of these complications, and is ready to compensate by the bucketload.

And compensation doesn’t arrive better than Guardians of the Galaxy, that, laced with humour throughout, delivers above and beyond its sci-fi movie counterparts.

Sky Movies: 27 March 2015 Running Time: 116 minutes Director: James Gunn Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper

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SKY MOVIES: PREMIERE

March 2015

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NEW THIS MONTH: ON SKY MOVIES

EDGE OF TOMORROW: LIVE.DIE.REPEAT 12 Military media relations officer Bill Cage (Tom Cruise) is thrown on to the frontline when an extraterrestrial enemy who can reset the day and know the future launches an attack on Earth.

Within minutes Cage is wiped out.

But when he’s enabled with the same time loop power so that he can improve his fighting skills, he teams up with Special Forces warrior, Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) and soon realises he’s destined to re-enter battle until he can win the war.

Sky Movies: 20 March 2015 Running Time: 109 minutes Director: Doug Liman Starring: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Tony Way, Jonas Armstrong, Kick Gurry, Franz Drameh, Dragomir Mrsic, Charlotte Riley

BRICK MANSIONS 15

BLENDED 12

THE LONGEST WEEK 15

Paul Walker plays an undercover cop who hooks up with a free-running rebel (David Belle) to take on a Detroit crime lord (RZA) plotting to detonate a neutron bomb.

This remake of the French thriller District 13 serves up action and heart-stopping parkour.

After a disastrous blind date, Jim (Sandler) and Lauren (Barrymore) are glad to see the back of each other. But when they find themselves stuck together at a family resort in Africa, their attraction grows and they discover that previously missing spark.

Forty-year-old playboy Conrad Valmont lives a life of leisure in his parents’ prestigious Manhattan Hotel. When forced to move in with his old friend Dylan after being cut off, he finds himself falling for Dylan’s enchanting new girlfriend Beatrice.

Sky Movies: 6 March 2015 Running Time: 91 minutes

Sky Movies: 13 March 2015 Running Time: 114 minutes

Sky Movies: 27 March 2015 Running Time: 83 minutes

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ONE FROM THE VAULT

MUSCLE SHOALS PG

By Tabatha Smalls

Legend has it that the Tennessee River sings. And not just an inebriated slur, induced by its iconic Bourbon, but a soulful, compelling melody that predates the spirituality of its native american ancestors.

That is of course, if the story of Muscle Shoals is to be believed.

Set alongside the majestic river, among the cotton fields of Alabama, Muscle Shoals tells the tale of an area widely recognised as the breeding ground for some of America’s most creative and defiant music, following the journeys of its recording studios, producers and of course musicians, responsible for delivering some of the most important songs of not only the late 60s, but of all time.

From Aretha Franklin and Etta James to the likes of The Rolling Stones and Alicia Keys, Muscle Shoals lays claim to it all, documenting the rise and rise of some of the world’s biggest music legends.

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ONE FROM THE VAULT

But beneath its grandiose titles, is a simple and often harrowing storytelling. At the heart of the Muscle Shoals movement is Rick Hall, founder of FAME Studios. Hall’s story gives this documentary heart, telling of a man who overcame crushing poverty and heart wrenching tragedies to bring black and white together in the name of music.

With a soulful sound flowing throughout, Muscle Shoals portrays humanity, humility, ego and funk, from the musicianship of FAMES’s original house band The Swampers (an unlikely quartet of white musicians, responsible for creating the sounds of Percy Sledge’s When A Man Loves A Woman, Franklin’s I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You and ‘some of the funkiest tracks this side of the Tennessee’) to the sobering life stories surrounding the musical movement.

Directed by Greg ‘Freddy’ Camalier, this 2013 feature not only sings through its storytelling, but its cinematography, too, offering a visual feast of some of Alabama’s most breath-taking scenery. Muscle Shoals is not a film solely for the music fans, but a work of art for anyone with a thirst for nature’s spiritual beauty.

On BLU-RAY & DVD: Now Running Time: 111 minutes Director: Greg ‘Freddy’ Camalier Starring: Aretha Franklin, Jerry Carrigan, Alicia Keys, Jerry Phillips, Barry Becket, Jerry Wexler, Bono, Jesse Boyce, Bryan Owings, Jimmy Cliff, Candi Staton, Stephen Badger, Percy Sledge, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, Rick Hall, Etta James

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BOX SET: ALIEN

THE MOTHER LOAD This month, On movies sits down to watch the series that spawned a new sci-fi generation We’ll admit that a few laps grew considerably wetter here at On movies Offices, when we heard that District 9’s Neill Blomkamp was helming the project for the meantime titled, Alien 5.

Seriously, it was either that or a chest bursting gag...we opted for the lesser.

Over the course of its 20 year respawning, the Alien franchise has seen its fair share of triumph and disaster, as some of Hollywood’s most prolific directors attempted to leave their mark on the iconic Ellen Ripley timeline.

From Ridley Scott’s flawlessly tense Alien (1979) to Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s climactic birthing of a Xenomorphic-human hybrid in Alien: Resurrection (1997), the catalogue has never failed to shock, stun and divide an audience.

And we bloody love to stir the pot, so we decided to sit down with the Alien box set and explore some of the franchise’s most memorable moments: Alien (1979): Tense, gruesome, violent and oozing with suspense, Ridley Scott’s award-winning Alien had audiences looking over their shoulder and checking their handbags for face-hugging blighters for weeks following.

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When the crew of the Nostromo intercept a distress signal, they unwittingly unearth an Alien species that, hell bent on survival by any means possible, attaches itself to a host before impregnating them with a chest-bursting Xenomorph.

Not only did this 1979 classic launch the career of Sigourney Weaver, but the onslaught of a series of blood-lusting monsters, evolved to live within a human host before scattering them across the room, walls and breakfast table.

With the acting talents of John Hurt and Ian Holm, a sociopathic robotic scientist in tow, Alien has consistently topped lists as one of the most important sci-fi films of all time.

Best bits: Far too many to choose, but suffice to say: John Hurt’s iconic tabletop chest-bursting scene has gone down in history as one of the most likely to put you off inter-species relationships for life.

Aliens (1986): James Cameron presents a balls-to-the-wall action flick, with questionable narrative and even more questionable acting.

When a human colony reawakens a nest of Xenomorphic Aliens; a mysterious corporation known as The Company enlists Ripley to lead a platoon of Space Marines (Bill Paxton, Michael Biehn) to end the Alien plight once and for all. But with one too many corporate suits on the team, Ripley soon discovers a plot to preserve Alien samples for testing.

Despite its tonal shift from Horror to action,

Aliens achieved critical and commercial success worldwide. While the action is hard and heavy, we believe it was solely the film’s graphic detailing of a Queen Alien’s gestation period that captivated audiences of the late 80s.

Best bits: In his role as the android Bishop, Lance Henrikson’s knife between the fingers stunt had audiences on the edge of their seats. It was also solely responsible for the immediate rise in school playground pen-inflicted hand wounds of 1986. (Not verified).

Alien 3 (1992): Regarded as the most inferior of the franchise, Alien 3 will at least always serve as the reminder ‘that too many cooks, produce a really crap film.’

It’s the movie that director, David Fincher publicly disowned, blaming a bleak script and too much interference from studio executives.

And it is clear that somewhere in the midst of the late 80s, Alien lost its way.

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BOX SET: ALIEN Ripley’s escape pod crash lands on a prison-run oil refinery, killing everyone except herself and a stowaway face-hugger.

It’s clear early on that while in transit, Ripley’s face has in fact been hugged, and from that moment on, her fate is sealed.

Luckily, Charles Dance is on hand to help Weaver bring some credibility to an otherwise daft picture that reduces its cast of Alien gore-fodder prisoners, to little more than a Dickensian gaggle of cockney toerags.

Best bits: The image of Ripley clutching a Xenomorph to her own erupted chest, as she plunges into a firey abyss offers a poetic ending to a heartbreakingly dismal picture. Not a good poem, of course, more like a limerick.

sample found among the wreckage of her crash-landed escape pod from the previous film. Oh, she was brought back as a host for the Queen Alien that is surgically removed from her body. Oh yes, she’s pretty upset about the whole thing.

At least she would be, were she not battling the further dilemma of actually being half Alien, half human.

Written by Joss Whedon, Alien: Resurrection almost manages to recapture the substance that beguiled audiences in 1979 and 1986, with Ron Perlman and Winona Ryder doing their best to help.

But then a Queen Alien gives birth to a Xenomorphic-human hybrid, somehow resembling Ripley and we’re all supposed to sit back and clap.

Best bits: When Ripley enters a room of previous failed attempts at cloning, our hero responds to her existential crisis with a flamethrower. It’s a courtesy we are not afforded when we later ask ourselves ‘what the hell am I still doing here?’ during the film’s birthing scene.

Alien: Resurrection (1997): Jean-Pierre Jeunet manages to claw back some dignity for the Alien franchise in the fourth instalment, set 200 years after the death of Ripley.

And guess what, Ripley’s back. Oh, it’s because she was cloned using a blood

March 2015

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HAVE YOUR SAY

ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE

15

By Charlie Green

Only Lovers Left Alive is a simplistic tale of two people ensnared in a romantic and timeless relationship, the only twist being: they are both vampires.

But, despite its premise, you’ll find no angst-ridden, teen melodrama or gore-hungry, throat-slashing here, because this sensitive telling presents us with a film that is altogether, something a bit bloody unique.

Like a cross between Hamlet and Nick Cave, Tom Hiddleston presents a poetic, soulful and sad individual, whose need for blood has him paying hospital workers for packets of the donated life-juice.

Yes, in the 21st century, neck-biting is done away with and Hiddleston’s character Adam, finds himself living a life of solitude

in rural Detroit, where as a music junkie, he and his one human companion, Ian (Anton Yelchin) sell songs for bands to claim as their own.

Across the globe and Adam’s wife Eve (yes, really) lives a similar life under the Tangier sun. Vampiric in looks at the best of times, Tilda Swinton plays the role perfectly.

Having braved plagues and world wars, Adam and Eve have been estranged for 87 years, but when finally reunited, decide to visit an old friend, played by John Hurt.

Suitably done up in 4th Century attire, Hurt looks on the brink of collapse. He also provides much of the film’s humour, dropping numerous historical clangers.

Possessing the power of foresight, all three vampires get ‘visions’, allowing them

to foresee disasters. It’s a surprise then, that none foresaw the downward turn the film would take upon the arrival Eve’s sister, Ava (Mia Wasikowska).

Here, Only Lovers Left Alive begins to flounder under the weight of a family frenzy-oriented drama, slowing pace and ambition and raising many issues of style over substance.

That said, the preceding storyline ironically feels alive and fresh, daubed with melancholy and offering something vastly different to that we have seen before.

Writer and director, Jim Jarmusch has a firm grip on unique vampire tale that delivers mood and atmosphere that could just set this on the way to a future cult classic.

Sky Movies: 6 March 2015 Running Time: 118 minutes Director: Jim Jarmusch Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton, Mia Wasikowska, Anton Yelchin, Jeffrey Wright, John Hurt, Slimane Dazi

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