In a recent interview with Sky Movies, Neill Blomkamp went into more detail about his next film, which will be a new Alien film. Like many folks, Blomkamp wasn’t a fan of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection, and is planning for his film to take place after Aliens, effectively ignoring half of the series. This is an interesting approach, and it has stirred up a lot of debate online. Many fans are upset that the canon is being disregarded so flippantly, others are happy to see an alternate take on where Ripley’s story could go. I’m not married to the idea of “canon,” and we live in a world where stories are rebooted all the time. While this movie could definitely turn out poorly, I don’t think we need to cling so preciously to the concept of “canon.” If it’s good, then great! If not, then oh well! We already have some wonderful Alien films we can always re-watch any time. Read more…
Hans Ruedi Giger, a Swiss artist responsible for much of the design of Alien, Prometheus, and many other films, has passed away at age 74, due to injuries caused by a fall. H.R. Giger was most well-known for his biomechanical art, which combined living and mechanical elements in horrifying fashion. One of his paintings, Necronom IV, was reused by the artist as the template from which Alien‘s xenomorph was designed. It’s impossible to sum up this man’s artist accomplishments beyond Alien, but a good place to start would be checking out collections of his art like Necronomicon. It’s sure to give you nightmares. Read more…
We still don’t know if the game Alien: Isolation will be any good, but at the very least the developers seem to have their hearts in the right place. In this recent developer diary, they go over their love for the original Alien film and how they’re working to preserve the “lo-fi sci-fi” feel it had. They also state that they refused to make anything that couldn’t have been built on the original set, which is a bit of a stretch, but I appreciate the care and thought they’re putting into it. According to this, they also ran UI elements through VHS tapes to give them that “rough” and “fuzzy” feeling. I hope it all pays off! The video is embedded below. Read more…
It seems that the intriguing Rain World won’t be limited to PC, Mac, and Linux. As I had hoped, the indie game about a lovable “slugcat” exploring the ruins of an ancient civilization will be coming to other platforms. Thanks to Adult Swim Games, Rain World will be released on PSN (which could be either PS3 or PS4), PS Vita, “and well beyond”. Ideally the game will hit Xbox One and Wii U, but even if it just hits some PlayStation platforms, I’ll be happy. I want to plug my PS4 into some good speakers and hear that wonderful music fill my living room. Read more…
Everyone knows Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs’s story of a boy who was raised by apes. As usual, Hollywood is running out of things to remake and reboot, so Constantin Films is dipping even further back for another Tarzan movie. It’s a CGI motion-capture animated film, and god do the faces look creepy. But more importantly is the new subplot of why modern man is going into the jungle and meeting Tarzan. Instead of hunting for gorillas, they’re hunting for a mysterious power source left behind by aliens many years ago. As if that wasn’t enough, you can also see Tarzan fighting some sort of tentacle monster in the film. Read more…
The Zygons haven’t been truly featured since their debut story, Terror of the Zygons, a 1975 Doctor Who serial featuring the Fourth Doctor. Sure, they have been in a few newer episodes, and there have been in a few books released since then, including one with the Tenth Doctor, but those don’t count as much as being the main villains for a story. The BBC just tweeted this photo though, confirming that the Zygons will fully return in the 50th Anniversary Special! Read more…
Looking for something to wash that awful taste out of your mouth now that Aliens: Colonial Marines is out and apparently sucks? Let’s return to the days when the Alien franchise was always good, specifically the original Aliens. In a “Hey dawg, we heard you like Aliens, so we put Aliens in your Aliens” move, Annapurna Pictures has recreated the Aliens movie poster with images from the film. Read more…
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 9, 2012 in Science, Tech
You know all those people who swear they saw a flying saucer or UFOs in the middle of the 20th century? Well, they could have actually been onto something, as the US government has just declassified documents that show that the Air Force was developing a flying saucer in 1956. “Project 1974” was intended to hover through the air at supersonic speeds. Wow! Read more…
Normally, when two powerful forces meet, you only need to worry about which of them wins. But as we’ve learned with the Alien vs. Predator films, whoever wins, we lose. But could you survive a clash of these extraterrestrial titans? This handy infographic from Stephen Taubman helps you figure out your chances. It also gives helpful advice if you end up running into either side, like curling into the fetal position and peeing all over yourself if you meet a Predator. Good advice! Unfortunately, given the rest of the infographic, your odds aren’t so good even if you follow all proper protocol. Game over, man! Game over! Read more…
So that’s pretty much that. Ridley Scott announced today that his planned Alien prequel is dead, but he’s making a new film with ideas from the abandoned project. The new film, titled Prometheus, is being penned by Scott and Damon Lindelof, and Scott extolls its “unique, large and provocative” ideas. According to Scott, the film has “Alien DNA,” though he means in terms of concept and scope, not that actual xenomorph DNA will figure into the plot somehow. Fox, to their credit, has backed Scott’s plan and given the film a March 9th, 2012 release date.
Posted by Michael Sacco on Dec 10, 2010 in Cinema, Horror
Word was that Ridley Scott’s long-planned prequel to the sci-fi classic Alien had been pushed back to 2013 or 2014 at best, or shelved at worst. But it looks like it’s finally happening, with production slated to begin in March and a promise of old-school claustrophobia and horror. There’s even casting going on, with some notable hopefuls, including Michelle Yeoh. Sounds good so far! The only weird thing is the actual title, which is “Paradise,” though we’re not sure if it’s just Paradise or whether it’ll be called Alien: Paradise or something along those lines. Kind of an odd name for an Alien movie, but maybe it’s supposed to be ironic. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 30, 2010 in Cinema, Horror
So you want to be a bald space marine? If that’s the case, you’ll need one of these — that, and the $900 it’ll cost you to buy it. Sounds like a bit much, but when it comes to faithful replicas of our favorite hollywood props, it usually is. This particular prop happens to be a replica of the M41-A pulse rifle from the sci-fi classic Aliens. Of course, you won’t stand a chance against a real alien, let alone one that bleeds acid, but at least you’d look pretty awesome carrying one of these around. Weighing in at a solid 15 pounds, it features a collapsible shoulder stock, pump action underbarrel, and a working LCD ammo display that requires some AA batteries. You’d think for $900 they’d make it a lithium battery, but I guess that’d be asking too much. At least it comes with a nice mount and plaque for when you’re done playing with it. If you’re crazy enough to drop the cash for this, ThinkGeek currently has them in stock.
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 17, 2010 in Science
Not too long ago Stephen Hawking caused quite a stir by stating that contacting aliens was a bad idea as they may not be friendly — I guess you can call that the “It’s a Cookbook!” school of thought. However defending the aliens in this clip is Neuroscientist Gary Lynch who feels that a higher level of intelligence would have a more benevolent view of humans (more of a Spielberg approach with Close Encounters of the Third Kind or E.T.).
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 29, 2010 in Science
This interesting video clip author Wade Davis attempts to answer the question of what would alien anthropologists think of humans? His answer is that they might be impressed with our technology but not with our social structures. Actually my guess is that they might also see us a technologically backwards as a species that could achieve interstellar space travel would be eons ahead of what we think of as cutting edge.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jan 27, 2010 in Science
I think an octopus is about as different as you can get from being a human — eight legs, lives underwater and a hard beak at the center. Yet this video shows clear evidence that they’re quite bright creatures who are quite capable of using tools. This makes me realize that as humans we might have a bias towards thinking that only humanoid creatures have intelligence — and often the worst offenders I see are science fiction films. Read more…
Update: My apologies! I was looking at the 1:30 mark and they seemed to be UFO hunting (i.e. “We’re investigating a meteor!”) by well informedsources tell me that there were no aliens in the comic book that the film is based upon. Read more…
Speck and Spock is a conjoined alien created by Lindsey Banker — I really love the sense of humor in her work, I’d love to see these creatures turned into puppets. Her store on Etsy is called Adopt An Alien, and each of Lindsey’s critters comes with a birth certificate: Read more…
I’ve seen so many tin toy robot sin my day so it’s a nice break to see a retro plaything that’s based on War of the Worlds for a change. This Martian Invader tin wind-up toy is available from zerotoys.com and harkens back to yesteryear with a fanboy affordable price of $13.95. Found via nerdapproved.com.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 17, 2008 in Science
When most scientists thought of the one place in our solar system outside Earth that may support life the common favorite was Titan, but now that honor may go to the Europa the other sister moon of Jupiter. Astronomers feel that underneath it’s icy surface may lurk energetic oceans which due to the gravity from Jupiter would feature tides — a key ingredient to making life possible: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 15, 2008 in Science
Stephen Hawking is predicting that one day we’ll discover alien life, although what’s interesting is that he feels that it may not be a carbon based life form which is what makes his statement so interesting. Hawking also went back to the Carl Sagan idea that one danger for any intelligent life form may be destroying itself with nuclear weapons, although as time goes on I wonder if the real danger is a species not developing a strategy to protect itself from a natural catastrophe be it an asteroid hit or change in climate. In the past Hawking has advocated human leaving the Earth to better guarantee survival of our species, in that respect I wish NASA would act on what he’s saying and get aggressive above going to Mars: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 26, 2008 in Science
Astronomers have just found a region of our galaxy where the sugar module Glycolaldehyde which is linked to the origin of life is available. This is great news in the search for extraterrestrials as it may help scientists discover the location of earth like planets that support life:
