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[But]

But.....if you ask me again tomorrow, I'll probably say Alien! It's difficult to choose between the two...

[Alien 3]

The Directors Cut or rather, extended cut of Alien 3 is one of my favourite films. However I would loved to have seen Vincent Ward's version set on a wooden planet filled with monks instead of criminals. Some of the ideas he had were like something out of a Bosch painting, I'm pretty sure it would've looked amazing on screen.

As for my preference for the first two films, my favourite would have to be Aliens, but only by a whisker. I would put it down more to mood and what frame of mind you're in at the time. Ridley Scott's film is really atmospheric, you almost feel you're part of the film at times. Jerry Goldsmith's score is simply breathtaking, as is the production design which has a very Heavy Metal vibe to it. Whereas James Cameron's film is an arse kicking roller coaster ride, full of memorable set pieces and one liners "Game over man!" or "we're in the pipe, 5 by 5" or even "They mewstly come at night, mewstly!"

And the Queen, my god....a thing of terrifying beauty and creation by the late Stan Winston. So Aliens for me is, or has to be my favourite.

Can I add that I also have a soft spot for Alien Resurrection, up until the last 20 minutes or so! It's a really fun film with some barmy ideas and directorial flourishes by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

[The Bodyssey]

The Bodyssey by Richard Corben & Simon Revelstroke. A fun romp - literally in this case!

http://nexuswookie.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/the-bodyssey-by-richard-corben-review/

 

Really looking forward to this! P.J, your artwork in those early snippets look stunning. There's a really great B.P.R.D vibe to them. In fact if all goes according to plan you and Gordon Rennie can become Britain's very own Guy Davis and John Arcudi! 

Or even better! 

 

Watching Time Bandits right now on a spanking new BD from Arrow Video. Its still bloody good stuff.

And so it should be - it was one of my favourite films growing up as a kid in the 80's! Of course stuff like Star Wars and Indiana Jones were my favourite brain food as a child, but there were films such as Time Bandits or Q The Winged Serpent (which I was allowed to watch late at night with my grandparents!) that were real treats at the time. I remember 'The Head' from Time Bandits ("give me the map!") used to scare the bejesus out of me (and probably still does!). 

I'm nearing the end of D.R and Quinch and it's been an absolute blast thus far! Some of the stuff that Alan Moore came up with is just laugh out loud funny! One of the funniest moments were when the duo and their insane war vet friend are trying to break out of prison, the plan their friend devises for escape with the soap gun and the explosives shaped like a soap, is rip roaringly funny! The reaction on. D.R's face says it all!   

And their whole Hollywood shenanigans is also a blast. That incident involving Marlon (Brando) and the oranges was hilarious! Seriously, there should be a health warning on the book because someday someone could end up dying from laughter!

I also want to watch 12 Monkey's again, it's been years. That and Gilliam's other time travelling caper, Time.Bandits. And Brazil too! Those trio of films are Gilliam's best. I wish he would do something in that same vein again.

[Ocean]

I just finished Ocean by Warren Ellis.

Never heard of this Mabs, you've definitely piqued my interest- the objective of this thread!

Glad to have been of assistance, Link! You should definitely check it out, it's well worth your time. :-)

BRILLIANT CG aliens throughout.

This is one of the interesting things about District 9.  Despite having a famously low budget, the CGI aliens are superbly convincing - possibly the most successfully sustained CG screen aliens yet - even though the effects themselves are relatively crude.  Much as with a good man-in-a-suit or latex puppet job, it works because the audience is disposed to believe it's an alien, not because it has sooper-dooper ultra-res refraction-fidelity or somesuch.  I'll take prawns over Gungans or Na'vi any day*.



*Little bit of themed racism there, nudge nudge, bit of politics.

Same here, and Prawn tastes better than smurf and knob put together. Actually that came out wrong!

The Na'vi 'smurfs' looked very photounrealistic at times, and the knob Jar Jar did not look convincing at times. Maybe he was too cartoony in his rendering, sorta like a Warner Bros. cartoon character stuck in a live action film. I much preferred the Ewoks to be honest!

[Ragemoor]

Ragemoor - Richard Corben & Jan Strnad's magnificent horror comic. You can find my review on the link below;

http://nexuswookie.wordpress.com/2013/10/10/ragemoor-by-richard-corben-jan-strnad-review/

[Ocean]

I just finished Ocean by Warren Ellis. Being a huge fan of science-fiction storytelling, I was captivated by the premise of the comic. Ever since I was a young boy I wondered about the solar system, the planets, and in particular Jupiter and Saturn's moons, one in particular was said to have water beneath its icy surface. That moon in question was Europa, which is orbitting the gas giant Jupiter as we speak. Indeed, as is alluded to in the story, if these moons were anywhere else but in Jupiter's grip, it would rightly be considered a planet.

Ocean sets up these tantalising questions and throws us into the future where humans have discovered that there is life in the oceans of Europa, but life not in the manner we expected...

I understand Warren Ellis originally envisioned the premise for Ocean as a film, however it didn't get made and he ended up doing a comic book version, and all the better for it. Indeed, if you look closely at the way the story is set up and the characters esp. the main character Nathan Kane, he looks very much like Denzel Washington, probably that's who Ellis had in mind for the film. As for the story, it was a gripping, grown up science fiction thriller with some wry commentary thrown in for good measure. The premise as I outlined is that man has discovered alien humanoid life form inside thousands of 'coffins' floating in the ocean beneath the ice of Jupiter's moon, Europa. There is also a giant ring like structure in the ocean, we soon learn that it is a device that generates a worm hole, but for what purpose? As the story progresses we start uncovering the answers to this mystery, and the reasons for their being there, and let me say it's nothing to do with the benefit of mankind. Kane and the crew members on the space station, Cold Harbour, face a race against time to stop these beings from waking up, but a dangerous corporation called 'Doors' stands in their way. No doubt, 'Doors' is a thinly veiled allegory for the 'Windows' corporation, with all its human inhabitants onboard their space station deprived of human feelings, thanks (or no thanks) to modification to their personality (something which isn't as far fetched as it sounds). They're like walking zombies (or Borgs) following the every command of their insane superior, 'Mr. Manager'. Ellis' character's are well realised from our protagonist Nathan Kane, to Station Commander Fadia Aziz and others , and the script is very witty and interesting. Chris Sprouse's clear uncluttered artwork also suits the story well.  I also learned a few things reading it such as a theory on Jupiter's asteroid belt which I did not know beforehand. It's the type of comic which makes you think as well as thrill and I really enjoyed it!

Well done! 

Judge Minty is a masterpiece in short film. Everyone connected with it needs a pat on the back!

Thank you Link and B'man! And Link, it'd be quite a sight seeing all your letters from Tharg framed up on the wall, side by side! China might get stretched but you should go ahead and do it IMHO!