Lawless
Brotherly Love – ★★★★½
As far back as I can remember, I always loved gangster movies. Lawless is the latest offering from John Hillcoat, penned by Nick Cave and starring Tom Hardy, Shia LeBeouf and Jessica Chastain. Following the lives of the Bondurant brothers out of Franklin County, Virginia it ticks all the boxes.
Prohibition is in full swing and the Bondurant brothers are making plenty of moonshine. Jack (Shia LeBeouf) narrates the tale of how he and his brothers Howard (Jason Clarke) and Forrest (Tom Hardy) ran a lucrative bootlegging operation not prepared to toe the line or lie down for any man. The main man in particular is special detective Charlie Rakes played by Guy Pearce. Pearce obviously channelled Christopher Lloyd’s Judge Doom character from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, as at times he is a pantomime villain with ticks and accents, while menacing enough in most scenes to give the character credence.
Prometheus
It’s Aliens Jim, but not as we know it – ★★★
Among sci-fi fans the age old debate of which is better Ridley Scott’s Alien or Cameron’s Aliens is set to continue, with Prometheus - the latest offering from Scott – unlikely to dent either classic.
Alien is regarded as the more tense and atmospheric of the two with the alien design by H.R. Giger resulting in one of the most iconic creatures ever created for film. Cameron does what he does best, action, and Aliens is a no holes barred action extravaganza, taking the elements that Scott had in place and cranking them up to eleven. David Fincher took over the baton for Aliens 3 managing to make a film out of the production nightmare surrounding it but his film was seen as the weakest link until number four, 1997′s Alien: Resurrection, came along. We won’t even mention the Alien v Predator nonsense. So when word began circulating that Scott was going to direct a new Alien picture the movie world went a tiny bit ape-shit.
Lockout
Preposterous Pearce - ★★½
Just after the production and studio logos show up, Lockout gives us two on-screen credits.
- Based on an original idea by Luc Besson.
- Washington D.C. – 2079
Now then, if either of those grossly offend you, then it’s probably best you stop reading now.
“We are the Gods now!” – Prometheus TED 2023 talk
| o | - Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland in Prometheus which lands on earth this June.
So we try not to follow the typical pre-release hype cycle that a lot of movie websites indulge in. Every new still or poster getting its own post in the months leading up to blockbuster release, and then once it’s released maybe a quick review, leave your money on the bedside table and out the door, never to be spoken of again.
But this little bit of viral marketing genius for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus that showed up yesterday is a little different…
