RSS Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 In this huge episode of Dread Media, Desmond Reddick celebrates a theme of threes as Darryll joins him for reviews of both Exorcist III and Alien 3. Desmond carries the theme through with a review of the bizarre nunsploitation film The Three Trials. There's reviews of Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead from Radical Comics, and Damaged: A Series of Short Writings by Steve Wands and r.h.s.. And DW contributes a review of Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Director's Cut for the Xbox. Check out some three-themed terror tunes: "Room 13" by Corey Taylor, "Three Times" by The Haunted, "Chamber Spins Three" by Biohazard, "Three Nil" by Slipknot, "Story at Three" by AFI, "Three for Flinching (Revenge of the Porno Clowns)" by Dillinger Escape Plan and "Three Nights" by Black Flag. [ 2:04:08 || 57.0 MB ] The above is from: http://www.earth-2.net/podcasts/dreadmedia...admedia_078.mp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slothian Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Whaddya know? I made it to the end in one sitting! I keep hearing how Alien 3 pissed a lot of fans off, so it was good to get some insight into why that might be. And a director's cut that doesn't neccessarily improve upon the original film? Gosh! I almost wish I had a voicemail line so that my brother could called FYEO whilst plastered, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavros Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 I like Alien 3 quite a bit. It was the first one I'd ever seen, so there's the nostalgia thing but I also think its well constructed, directed and acted. Looking forward to the review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted February 23, 2009 Report Share Posted February 23, 2009 Two thrids of the scenes in the Director's Cut have "added material." It is more than 40 minutes longer. Those forty minutes completely derail any tension or plot involved. I need to revisit the theatrical cut but man was I ever upset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavros Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Its the nicest forum I've ever been a part of. Aww shucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted February 24, 2009 Report Share Posted February 24, 2009 Ah, yes. The free download of Damaged is here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stavros Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 Hey, just listening to the rest of the show now. By the way, Zodiac is well worth checking out. Its a mystery, it has the obsession of the various detectives (professional or otherwise) and it has a real world fright aspect. I really liked it because its almost the anti-Se7en. I like Se7en but its very narrative by nature and it really tries to outright disgust you in a lot of places. Zodiac twists and winds and there is a natural story there but it doesn't provide that sort of driven hollywood story progression. As for Alien3 this was actually the first Alien film I ever saw. I agree that the basis for the whole film is weaker than the previous installments but I do have to champion the effects used. This was the first time the Alien looked like more than a man in a suit. The model-based effects (motion captured puppets were used to create a lot of the movement of the Alien) are far superior to the previous films, and frankly astonishing for a film in 1992. I think it actually looks more unsettling than any of the incarnations since just because those cgi movements are far too smooth. The look of the film is also a step up, and remember that Fincher directed this at the age of 27 attempting to follow Ridley Scott and James Cameron. My problems with this film are almost entirely script-based. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted February 25, 2009 Report Share Posted February 25, 2009 My problems with this film are almost entirely script-based. It can't solely be that. He took a long and rambling script and made a long and rambling film out of it. There was no pacing and zero tension in a story about a prison planet being beset by violent aliens. That is a sin. It looked beautiful at the beginning but fell into the muck right off the bat. Yes he was following up two great films and tried to make something new out of it, as was the series' MO, but it didn't work. It's even more upsetting knowing what kind of brilliance Fincher is capable of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-Man Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Greetings I am the D-Man, otherwise known as Darryll, occasional guest on Dread Media. I thought it was about time I brought my relentless campaign of terror to these boards if I ever hope to claim the title of Desmond's Number One Stalker. Des, I know where you live, man. As a matter of fact, look outside right now. See me? Right there, under the street light. Yeah, you see me. Don't worry, I'll be here all night, keeping you company. Yeah. all night. I got no place else ta' go...'sniff.' Regarding Alien III: Yeah, the Director's cut or Application Cut or whatever is way slower than the theatrical cut. And yeah, the studio was right to cut all that extraneous bull- (what's the word on swearing around these parts?) footage but that didn't make Fincher wrong for filming all that extra dialogue and trying his damnedest to develop as much story as possible. His job, as I suspect he saw it at the time, was to present to the studio as much material as humanly possible so that his producers could make the best, most informed decisions about where they wanted this film to go, narratively speaking. I'm pretty sure Fincher knew that a large portion of his coverage of the inmates was going to get tossed in favor of focusing on Ripley's story. And that's as it should be. This is Ripley's tale and, in the theatrical cut at least, it's kind of a poignant and fitting end to her dramatic arc. It made her presence in future Alien pictures totally unwarranted. My only regret was the loss of the oxen in the theatrical cut. I really liked them. They served as a direct counterpoint to the high tech gadgetry of the previous films. They grounded the inmates in an earthy, low tech, physical existence that I found appealing. A team of oxen dragging a space pod across the final leg of it's journey between planets was a unique image and one I was glad I saw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted February 26, 2009 Report Share Posted February 26, 2009 Oh shit. Darryll's here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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