cinema again

greetings

well, how about that. i have made a 4th (fourth) visit to a cinema this year. yes, the very same cinema in each instance, look you see. i would not care to call such a number of visits "unprecedented" entire, but it does somewhat feel like it's the most i have been to one in one singular year so far this century. depending on where i am and what comes along who knows, a fifth is not out of the question. 

but, presumably, you are not interested in the above. quite (as in very) likely you have no interest in anything here, which would prompt the question why read. on the off chance it's to see what i watched and if it was any good, that would be Alien Romulus and yes, it was really good. 

for those who absolutely feel that such should always exist, please note there's a ***WARNING*** in place for the rest of this post. not just for "spoilers" but also a selfie. yes, of moi. 

plot? well, it's an Alien film, so yes, humans (once again) manage to (knowingly or otherwise) let an alien loose amongst them and all mayhem breaks loose. in this instance we find a group of people mining on a planet on behalf of the Weyland-Yutani group, technically "employed" but apparently unable to leave, except via death. unexpectedly a (seemingly) disused space station comes into the oribit of this planet. so, off they go to it to "borrow" cryo chambers which shall enable them to fly considerable distance to unemployment or, if you will, freedom. except the space station is perhaps not as disused or empty as it appeared..........

should some elements of that description sound "a bit" (or a lot) like the original Alien film, well, yes, i got that sense. especially when a "cameo" of sorts happened. to be honest a lot of the first 20 or so minutes of the film felt somewhat pedestrian, until it became clear it more or less existed just to set a premise that made the film not a totes remake. familiar enough to be comfortable and thus avoid any needlessly length set ups of what an alien is, yet more or less its own thing when it gets to the business end. 

once more it was off to the Ealing Project, then. lovely cinema. my hope was to have gone on a Tuesday, as they do a (quasi) half price thing. alas, a Thursday (i think) it was, and i discovered they were having a "September sale", with all tickets £6 (plus booking fee). perhaps i should have shared this somewhat earlier in the month. anyway, i believe a "regular" diet coke zero thing (they did not have regular, or "full fat" as it is now bewilderingly called) and modest (small) popcorn was just south of £9. i could get a specific number, but that would mean looking at my bank account and i have no wish to trouble myself with such things this side of payday. 

in respect (or regards) of how full the (early evening) screening i went to was, it was not. whilst i didn't sit and count i believe there was only another half dozen or so people in. doubtful that this could count as any sort of gauge for "box office", as it was a good three to four weeks after the film was released. so far as i am aware it has been a success, but then more and more are waiting for "streaming" services to show them the films they want to gone done see. 

and that, in this instance, is a great pity. just as Civil War really benefitted from the full tilt cinema sound system, Alien Romulus created one hell of a terrifying, claustrophobic experience on the big screen. at home i imagine this will simply seem "exciting", no matter how good the set up this is. over the course of this last year i have kindly been reminded of just how formidable the cinematic experience really is. well, when one sees "proper" films, and not all just these generic "expanded universe" comic book or superhero ones, all of which seem to be made with a sense of being for home viewing anyway. 

to give some sort of abstract "ranking", this one (Alien Romulus) sits right behind Alien and Aliens, and above Prometheus which to my surprise has aged rather well. indeed Alien 3 in any version shall always remain bottom (or worst); even below any Alien vs Predator complaints. should you be looking for a sort of recommendation, oh yes, see it if you can if you have not already. 

just the one disappointment - they had a trailer for Gladiator 2. it looks absolutely f*****g awful, and it would seem the trailer gives you any twists and all of the ending. should have gone with the Nick Cave idea for it. that said, The Substance with Demi Moore looks boss, hopefully i can see that at the cinema too. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!