Movie thoughts and fiction updates.
A $100 million epic that probably should have been made for significantly less considering the subject matter, Ridley Scott's The Last Duel is a hard-edged Rashomon-like look at a rape in Medieval France and the ensuing legal duel, sanctioned by Charles VI, the last in France's history. I'm going to be honest, I'm not surprised… Continue reading The Last Duel
This would make a really interesting lower half of a double bill with Terrence Malick's The New World. They're pretty explicitly about the same theme, finding paradise on Earth only for it to slip through the characters' fingers as they reach out to reclaim it, but the idea is approached very differently across the two… Continue reading 1492: Conquest of Paradise
#4 in my Ranking of the Alien Franchise. This feels like two movies in one. One is fine, technically proficient, and somewhat effective. The other I love. Ridley Scott was caught in a bit of a bind after Prometheus. A lot of people weren't happy with what he had done, how it was only tenuously connected… Continue reading Alien: Covenant
#3 in my Ranking of the Alien Franchise. Out of all the opinions I've expressed about film, my love of Ridley Scott's Prometheus is probably the one that I receive the most grief over, and I do not care. I've seen this movie seven times now, and I love it as much after the seventh viewing… Continue reading Prometheus
#1 in my Ranking of the Alien Franchise. The title to this movie is so utterly perfect, much like the rest of the film. In terms of straight entertainment, I find Alien to be a pinnacle of tension building terror in film. It's one of the most thoroughly entertaining horror movies ever made. I love Ridley… Continue reading Alien
David Vining, Author 