Dark Tower, Alien news

I do not intend for this to become a news blog with all the latest updates about what's happening in the film world. There are enough websites that excel at breaking news (www.aintitcool.com; www.darkhorizons.com; www.moviecitynews.com). What I will do, on occasion, is highlight some cinematic developments that are of great interest to me personally.

The first story I'd like to mention is the casting of the lead in Ron Howard's adaptation of Stephen King's epic "The Dark Tower". (Yes, Howard is a strange choice for director considering the material.) Earlier this week many sites reported that Christian Bale had been cast as Roland Deschain. Hours later, another story broke that Javier Bardem, Oscar winner for "No Country for Old Men" and currently nominated for "Biutiful", had been officially approached to play the character. I'm interested in how this will play out, since Bale would be a decidely commercial decision based on his association with the hyper successful Batman franchise. I'd be more comfortable with the less conventional and artistically brave Bardem as Deschain. (I hereby choose to ignore his involvement in the misguided adaptation of "Love in a Time of Cholera".)

The second story has to do with one of my favourite franchises, the "Alien" movies. The first film, simply titled "Alien" (1979), was an innovative if not wholly original SF horror directed by Ridley Scott ("Gladiator", "Kingdom of Heaven") while the sequel "Aliens" (1986) remains James Cameron's best film. The two other entries, David Fincher's "Alien 3" (1992) and Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Alien Resurrection" (1997) do not live up to the standards of the first two but are more than worth a watch, even as curiosities of the genre. Since last year there've been rumours about another "Alien" film, a prequel, again directed by Ridley Scott (who has hopefully not lost all the restraint he showed in the first film).

(Image from www.denofgeek.com)

At this stage, it seems as if the prequel, tentatively titled "Prometheus", won't actually be a direct prequel to "Alien", but rather a separate story set in the same universe inhabited by the xenomorphs. The film is set to star Noomi Rapace (aka Lisbeth Salander) and possibly Michael Fassbender (who is not listed as a cast member on the IMDb). Here's hoping that the film will not suffer the fate of "Predators"; but then, the "Predator" franchise as a whole has been quite inferior to the "Alien" films in terms of narrative and conception.

Another reason to check out the "Alien" films - or to revisit them - is to experience HR Giger's legendary designs. Giger is reported to be on board for "Prometheus" as well. Check out some of his work at www.hrgiger.com.

Revisit the Nostromo with this atmospheric original trailer: