#the covenant review

[agentnico]

Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant (2023) Review

This movie opens with an aerial shot accompanied by the song ‘A Horse with No Name’. The use of that song immediately gains this film extra points. Well played Guy Ritchie!

Plot: Guy Ritchie's The Covenant follows US Army Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Afghan interpreter Ahmed (Dar Salim). After an ambush, Ahmed goes to Herculean lengths to save Kinley's life. When Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage to America as promised, he must repay his debt by returning to the war zone to retrieve them before the Taliban hunts them down first.

I really enjoy Guy Ritchie films - especially his geezer-gangster flicks that feature kinetic high-octane action shots, British dark humour and noir-style chutzpah. It’s only certain directors that you watch their films and you immediately recognise its their film without even needing to know beforehand their involvement. Guy Ritchie’s style is signature to his characteristics, and the recent Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre that came out earlier this year exhibited those qualities with a delightful Statham bang in the middle. However in cometh The Covenant - a strong departure from Ritchie’s prior works. Away with the rough East End and grizzly jokes, and instead what we have is a very reserved and straight-faced war thriller.

The Covenant is very much two films meshed into one. The first half is a solid action war film, as we’ve thrown right into the midst of the Afghan war and the US troops taking down Taliban outposts, with amazing sweeping shots of the desert terrains and the tensions that come between the two sides. It was riveting, suspenseful and interesting, and honestly if that was the whole movie it would have been a very satisfying viewing experience. However the last hour is more so a separate recon and rescue mission mostly undertaken by one soldier - another epic film on its own. That second part is really what makes this film stand out from other war movies, as it really reiterates the central theme of a reality check on bond, pledge and commitment. This is accompanied by very focused non-nonsense directing to the stellar screenwriting (minus a couple of awkward exchanges between Gyllenhaal and his wife played by Emily Beecham - their dialogue during their calls felt as if they were written by a computer AI); excellent cinematography; a steady pace that knew when to take things slow and when to amplify the action in accordance with the story beats; spot-on music score by Christopher Benstead which especially in the final 15 minutes really underlined the emotional journey we’ve just been through; and finally some excellent performances.

The two actors that carry this movie are Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim. The bond between them and the emotion they manage to deliver, something simply through their facial expressions without even saying anything, was truly impeccable. This isn’t the kind of film that will be remembered when the Oscars come around, but honestly both deserve some acting nominations. But both are on top-form, with Salim’s portrayal of Ahmed especially managing to captivate the audience with caring for his character’s fate. Very well written and superbly acted. Appearances by Jonny Lee Miller and Antony Starr work well too.

Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant is a very straightforward story of survival in a war landscape, and there is haunting feeling of knowing that elements of this story are true to many people’s reality. I applaud Ritchie for evidently coming out of his comfort zone and delivering such a serious film with such a heavy subject, but also managing to make it so engaging by getting us to care for these characters. This is a well-made movie, a true army flick, made by real men for men! War is never good, but friendship and valour are always worth of admire.

Overall score: 7/10

[tinyreviews]

Ahmed’s wife and child, though just passive plot devices, really help ratchet up the stakes and tension.

Guy Ritchie's The Covenant (or simply The Covenant) is a 2023 American action thriller film co-written, produced and directed by Guy Ritchie. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim. 

[superectojazzmage]

Just back from Alien Romulus and hoooo boy oh boy. Review/analysis.

Easily the best Alien movie since the first two, which isn't saying much, yeah, but it is legit a really cool and well-made movie, competing with Late Night With The Devil, Longlegs, and Cuckoo for title of my favorite horror movie this year.

In a lot of ways it's about harvesting the few good ideas from the post-2 movies that were squandered and doing them right, plus getting the series back to it's healthier roots, kinda the movie equivalent of someone doing physical therapy to get back in the saddle after an injury. This means it's not quite brand new ground like some may hope for and I've heard some people feel it gets a little derivative at points because of it. I can kinda agree and certainly understand that criticism, but I feel it does what it's aiming for really well and sets things up for future works to go in even crazier directions. Furthermore, it takes a lot of time to try and weld together the disparate post-2 movies in a way that brings the series back to a little coherency.

The atmosphere is really intense and cool, swinging between lovecraftian dread and build-up and high-energy chaos. The aesthetics and special effects are gorgeous, taking full advantage of the progress that technology has made since 2 plus really digging in to the used cassette future vibe of the older films. The characters are likable and actually intelligent (or at least understandable) in behavior like in the first two movies, so you care about what's happening to them instead of just waiting for them to get munched. The action and kills were really cool and creative, the cinematography in general was off-kilter in an awesome way - there's a definite attempt to make the movie feel claustrophobic and intimate. Fede Alvarez did a fantastic job in general, I'd love to see him do more with the series.

It REALLY cranks up the series' psychosexual, freudian, and sexual assault subtext, arguably to a point where it's just plain text. So if you're sensitive to stuff like that or if this is your first go at Alien, be warned for that.

More specific notes go under the header for spoilers. Highly recommend you go in as blind as you can.

Andy and Rain were wonderful leads, their dynamic was fantastic and Calie Spaeny and David Jonsson both turned in great performances. I direly hope they join the first two films' casts as "major" characters for the series going forward.

The effects to make Daniel Betts look like Ian Holms were quite possibly the one and only time the special effects failed. It looks very wonky, which is sad because Betts does a really good job copying Holms' mannerisms for Ash while still making Rook feel like a distinct character.

In addition to the usual themes of sexual unease, genetics, and parenthood, this movie adds in some really interesting themes of familial legacy, the rise of new generations, foundations, etc.. Andy and Rain are like Romulus and Remus of myth, orphaned and left to fend for themselves but growing into founders of a new age - both in-story with their carrying the XX121 substance and evidence of Weyland-Yutani's misdeeds to Yvaga and out-of-story with them being the protagonists of a new era for Alien. Likewise, the Offspring is the first example of an entirely new species, neither human nor alien but taking from the lineages of both through Kay and Big Chap, a Romulus-like founder of it's breed that will later bear fruit in Resurrection with the Ripley clone and Newborn.

I'm really not kidding when I say above that the psychosexual undercurrents are taken to the extreme here. This movie basically sees the ways the original film subtly pin-pricked at those themes, says "fuck that", and deliberately rubs it in your face in a way designed to make sure you can't ignore it. It wants you to be grossed out and to squirm in your chair and it knows exactly how to make it happen.

Alvarez noted in the lead-up to release that he took a lot of influence from Isolation and you can definitely see that in how he depicts the Xenomorphs and the general aura of the film. He further described it as a kind of halfway point between the first and second movies and you can also see that; it has the Lovecraft-style tension and horror of the first, balanced with the energy and action of the second, and it does a really good job finding a middle ground between Ridley Scott and James Cameron's styles while also doing it's own dance.

I mentioned way back at the start how the movie basically harvests the good ideas from 3, Resurrection, Prometheus, and Covenant and gives them the room they deserve while dumping the bad. It does that in both terms of themes/style and continuity/lore. Concepts that those movies bungled like xeno-human hybridism, the black goo, genetic engineering as a focus, and so on are done here more creatively and competently. Themes that those films tried and failed to tackle are handled with significantly more grace. It has the atmosphere and characterization of 3 but none of it's baggage and needlessly depressive tone. It has the body horror and weirdness of Resurrection without taking it to the zany, embarrassing areas that movie went. The effects and creativity of Prometheus and Covenant without any of their awful writing and clumsy messages. Alvarez takes on kind of an Al Ewing-esque "repairman" writing style here.

The Xenomorphs are absolutely deranged in behavior compared to most portrayals, attacking like either cruel sadists or raging chimps and rarely bothering to take hosts. I'm not sure if such a reading was intended, but I got the vibe that the idea is Xenos raised without a queen or hive grow to be basically sociopathic like how real world predatory animals grown without parental figures become feral and dysfunctional. Which would also explain a lot about how the Xeno in the original movie, Big Chap, acts there.

The Offspring's design is fucking wicked and I love it.

One of my few major criticisms is that Big Chap died off-screen instead of getting more to do. What was the point of having him be alive at the start if he wasn't gonna be used beyond a backstory point to set up the main story?

All in all, a very impressive effort and a great return to form for the series that I recommend highly.

[aeternal-nightmare]

Summary of art!!!

I'm happy to see how my art is slowly getting better each year. This one was pretty harsh but also productive. At the end of the year, as I finished the last exams in university (there's only final project left, which will be in may) I'm kinda tired of everything. I don't have much energy even after the month of rest. I WANT to draw, I have tons of ideas, but I'm really not in the mood to do something big, something that will take more than 2-3 hours to make. And that's okay I think, I'll continue drawing as much as I want and what I want, not pushing myself too much. Waiting until I'm fully rested again and ready to create some bangers using everything I've learned from these 6 years. Lol.

REBLOGS HIGHLY APPRECIATED, really :>

[i-nabi]

War is delightful to those who have had no experience of it.

[space-blue]

Some final thoughts on the Acolyte.

I still think the show is flawed in its craft, but not in its core story!

I found it enjoyable, but some weeks had episodes that were weak and felt paded towards a fabricated cliff-hanger instead of a proper advancement of the story.

And in my opinion, it's most likely Disney's fault for not trusting them with more time and more budget. This show should have been longer and have more consistant, character driven story. Maybe an extra episode, definitely closer to 45-1h episodes instead of the 30min rush that some where.

In particular, the Witches and the nature of their relationships with the Jedi was left so undercooked, it was hard for me to get invested in the development of their story. It's hard to sit through scenes where kids "say stuff" that's basically lore dumps unsupported by the world. Then I have to write my own fanfiction in my head to explain away what the witches were doing and why the Jedi disapprove.

It's especially criminal because they have the PERFECT set up for this, in the form of this little buddy :

He's a *padawan* who finds his mission BORING. The discovery of a local coven should be an exciting development. And it's the perfect opportunity for his master to educate him, and through him us, about witches and why they are just a concern.

If the show had time, we would get to build up on Torbin, instead of him needing to speak out his own exposition minutes before having them exploited. This should have been a show's *ARC* not a single episode with hectic jumpcuts.

We could spend time learning WHY the Jedi dislike the witches. Spend time talking about Force Philosophy! Exploring alien lifestyles that the Jedi disprove of! Instead of the vague tone of "god forbid women do anything". Do the Witches have precendent? Bad history with the Jedi? Were they persecuted? Why don't we see, maybe a scene of an elder witch teaching them, and Osha loses attention in class while Mae listens, and we still hear the witch's voice, fainter and fainter, in the background, telling of those acts commited against them.

It would also serve to show Osha's disinterest for their heritage and why she's rather uncritical of the Jedi, so it's a scene of lore info AND character development!

Likewise, there's a critical lore discrepency that makes Osha ring so false in her backstory for me :

When on Brendook has Osha heard about the Jedi?? Where has she heard GOOD stuff about them? They seemingly live in a village radically opposed to them. She's 8 years old and born into a cult. What do you MEAN she wants to be a Jedi or even knows what they are???

I think she should either be completely clueless and be (again, over the course of an entire episode or more) exposed to them for the first time and come to get very hype, or there should be more people around the coven.

Case 1 : She's a kid getting a burst of sudden passion. Here's a new thing that she can throw all of herself into, and seems to offer her with more opportunities to be free than she has at home. The sacrifice of her family could be chalked up to her not really believing in it (she knows her planet's name and she could always come back) or she's just that sort of kid-like clueless and in a young rebellious phase.

Case 2 : The twins are isolated and treated as royalty-like. They are separate from the *other kids* in the Coven (or in the small town around the Coven). These kids are part of Osha's runaway regimen. She's a kid. If she can love going to sit under a tree just to escape her family, she'd go to other kids for sure. This could instill some jealousy or confusion in Mae. More importantly, those kids have heard there are Jedi on the planet, and they know about the Jedi. Their parents don't gatekeep info that much, and so Osha has learned about them and finds them cool, partially because they're forbidden.

This could still work with her and Mae being treated as appart/different and superior, and Osha could crave being equal with other kids and playing and not having to always share with Mae. It also makes the wipeout a bigger tragedy assuming we're not killing just witches but also 5 to 10 kids of all ages.

And that's another thing!! Having more time would mean making the whole last moments of the Coven less... nonsensical. Perhaps we'd have more time to spend into Indara's mind. Maybe we get some freedom to be fucky with it (think of the effects in Dune!)

Maybe we have time to give a shit about Kelnacca and everyone. Also maybe we have time to see Jecki and Sol interacting a little more on Coruscant, a bit of their routine? Maybe Sol's padawan gets more than a single throwaway scene?? Maybe her grief would be a great highlight of how the Jedi are expected to process the death of a master, and contrast with how Osha isn't even trying to process Jecki's death?

I don't think it's a good sign when you establish a coven of all women and a single line by the Sith guy makes everyone think he was present in the all-women coven because why else?? It's not a great misdirection, it's simply the audience having no understanding of the Coven and what it stood for.

Basically I don't think that exploring the lore of the world more in depth would have been detrimental to this show, despite its core of mystery. There are plenty of shows that hinge on twists and mystery that take their time diving down into their characters in greater depth.

The Acolyte is cool and the fights are amazing. The lore is great too, but it's too shallow to drown a squirrel in. It's "please write fanfic about it if you care" levels of shallow, even in the characters. It would have benefited from time to breath. 9 episodes of 40min to 1h is what Severance got, and that's a hell of a mystery based show!

I'm very happy though, in that I have hope that Headland may be given more freedom to do the second season as she pleases, if she gets it greenlit. If only she could be trusted more, and had the freedom to.. take her time... (and perhaps a better editor?) then we could have simply some of the best SW TV on our hands.

That's, of course, my humble opinion. This remains some of the best SW TV I've seen, but IMO besides Andor the bar is in fucking hell so it's not saying as much as I wish it did.

This is of course not a critique of the plot. I think it's sound and the mystery well thought out and the ending satisfying. This, however, makes my other criticism that much more heartfelt. If this same story had been done the way I describe above, (imo) it would be straight up great TV.

[shalom-iamcominghome]

I'm forever obsessed with the ways in which we interpret g-d and what He's up to. This time, our rabbi was mentioning that we study Torah, but g-d studies the commentaries and what we have to say about it and I'm just thinking...

I'm imagining g-d sat at a desk illuminated by candlelight, and it's the middle of the night, and He gets to one part and He snaps His fingers and goes, "tsk! Why didn't I think of that?!" and keeps murmuring to Himself, "now that was a good one"

[franticvampirereads]

This is the graphic novel that I didn’t know I needed in my life! And it’s definitely a contender for my favorite book of the year. The way that religion is discussed, especially in regard to how The Church of Providence is focused on saving human lives at any cost vs. The Great Church’s focus on destroying anything connected to demons regardless of the human casualties, is absolutely fantastic.

I also really appreciated Ezra’s issues with his faith and his belief in god and how that makes his job as an exorcist tougher. I also really loved that this was so explicitly and unapologetically queer! This was also really funny in unexpected ways that had me giggling amidst all the darker scenes. If I could give this more than just five stars I absolutely would. It’s just so fucking good and I can’t wait for the next volume!

[wearethekat]

November Book Reviews: The Moonstone Covenant by Jill Hammer

Acquired from the library new books section. In the city-state of Moonstone, four women navigate the turmoil of the old prince dying—and passing on his rule to the cruel and short-sighted heir, who has vowed to cast out Istehar's people and control the library where Annlynn serves. Not to mention courtesan Vasmine's entanglement in court politics or apothecary Olloise's investigation into the mysterious murder of her parents a decade ago...

Despite the delightfully 1970s cover, this book actually came out November of this year and features four women in a poly marriage with each other. The worldbuilding of the library city-state of Moonstone, with its setting on a handful of river islands, its precarious governance, and its oppression of sorcerers and the tree-speaking Sha'an, was not especially unique for a fantasy setting, but it was distinctly enough drawn to be engaging. I also liked this book's slow and subtle political plot, although perhaps due to the four separate POV characters, it was very slow to come to a boil.

However, I did find that this book lacked a bit of drama and emotional immediacy. The characters' reactions seem muted and not particularly sharply drawn. For example, a character casually drops a reveal that they've seriously betrayed people that they're close to, which does not match with previous depictions of the characters. Especially considering both the flippantness of the reveal and the shallow reaction of the people who've been betrayed. I think Hammer also struggles a bit with depicting the poly marriage with the depth it deserves—that's six separate relationships over four different POV characters in only three hundred and fifty pages, which is a struggle to depict properly.

Recommended for fans of classic fantasy novels who don't mind a slow pace and are looking for a book with a more modern, queer twist.

[whilereadingandwalking]

Queen B is a short novel prequel to the Her Majesty's Royal Coven series by Juno Dawson, revealing the mystery and betrayals that broke open one of the most powerful covens in British history. The story begins with Anne Boleyn's death. Lady Grace Fairfax was always her most loyal subject, and she's determined to avenge her queen. Who in their coven betrayed Anne? And can Grace solve this mystery without the full violence of a patriarchal witch hunt falling on their heads?

Juno Dawson's HMRC series is a recent favorite of mine, and this historical fantasy continues her tradition of strong twists and bold, brutal female characters. We get to see the beginnings of their coven in flashbacks, see a witchy Anne behind the scenes, discover her hopes for her daughter and for their kingdom. This is a quick, fun read of scheming and magic featuring a female-driven alt-history that will delight fans of the Tudor dynasty and its history as well as fans of Dawson's novels.

Content warnings for misogyny, sexual harassment, violence.

[bookshelvesandtealeaves]

✨ DUOLOGY REVIEW ✨

These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[instagram]

This duology was so much fun! (I only own the first book lol)

It took me a little bit to truly get into the first book because all the relationship drama was not my jam, but once the mystery element ramped up things got so interesting and I was hooked.

The plot of this is SO good. So many twists and turns, so much excellent world building, so much love and pain and hope and heartache. It was all just so, so good with such a satisfying ending.

The characters in this are great. I especially loved Cal, Gemma and Archer as side characters. Their personalities shone through so strong.

I loooooved Hannah and Morgan’s relationship. They were just so freaking sweet together and the way they communicated, looked out for each other, trusted each other, was a really fantastic contrast to all the Veronica stuff at the start.

If you’re looking for an exciting, emotional witchy read, I definitely recommend these.

[columprncess]

࿔‧ ֶָ֢˚˖𐦍˖˚ֶָ֢ ‧࿔ wrist cutters: a love story ࿔‧ ֶָ֢˚˖𐦍˖˚ֶָ֢ ‧࿔

⊹ and then there is me, waiting for you ⊹

⊹ she healed her own brokenness ⊹

[wlwbookshelf]

THE SHADOW CABINET - JUNO DAWSON Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

After the cheeky way Juno Dawson ended book one, I was glad to get an ARC for The Shadow Cabinet, the second book in Her Majesty's Royal Coven series. I have been desperate for answers. The book didn’t disappoint, and it was good to reconnect with the coven. 

I genuinely appreciated how the book blended personal dilemmas with more significant, high-stakes conflicts, giving each character a rich complexity that drew me in even more. 

Once again, the ending packed a powerful punch that left me reeling. The unexpected twists throughout the story kept me on my toes, and I found myself utterly absorbed, racing through to see what would happen next. 

The Shadow Cabinet is an easy five stars for me, and I can’t believe I now have to wait for book three!!! Thanks to Penguin for an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

[avoutput]

Something Borrowed || Alien: Romulus

My lord is it hot in Texas. I think its quaint that people used to live in this state without a hint of air conditioning, in full jeans, boots, shirts, frocks, bonnets, hats, and anything else you think they might wear on the range. And then some time passed, people were tired of boiling, and the modern movie theater offered a respite from the terrible burden of the hot August sun. You can sit down and blast off to colder climates, like the north pole, the moon, or the dark reaches of space. You may not know this but many of the Christmas or winter classics we adore today came out in the summer. But today, we are in the cold reaches of space in the grip of an all too familiar monster. I went to today's showing of Alien: Romulus with almost no excitement. Almost. This franchise has burned us all too many times ever since James Cameron put down the camera at the end of the unnecessary and beloved sequel to what could be one of the best films of the 20th century. Alien and Aliens have an undeniable gravity and we are stuck in their orbit. Like the fictional Weyland-Yutani corporation, studios greenlight return trips to these worlds. They know we still can’t turn down the journey, and they can’t leave the chance to profit off visiting these creatures over and over again. But a body with gravity is hard to fell and no film in the franchise has been able to truly kill the beast. Alien: Romulus instead chooses to worship at the feet of the masters in hopes of gaining ground, despite the treacherous nature of standing upon giants. 

There are no spoilers in space. You will see them coming like the story of Star Wars, marked as it flies through space. A quick synopsis: Romulus takes place 20 years after Ripley defeats the original terror in Alien. Miners working for the Weyland-Yutani corporation toil in a mine on the far side of a planet that never sees the sun. Rain (Caliee Spaeny) and Andy (David Jonsson) are two orphans whose parents died of cancer breathing in the fumes in the mine. After finishing her required hours of her contract on the planet, she decides to put in for a transfer to a planet with a sunrise. The corporation decides to double all miners required contract time due to the continued loss of people due to cancer. With nothing left to lose and goaded by other orphaned children, they choose to try and rob an unmanned spaceship that happened to drift into the mine planet's orbit before anyone at the company realizes. The prize? A series of cryopods needed for the 9 year flight to the closest planet outside of the corporation's grasp. But will the cost be worth the price?

In a series that spans hundreds of years, it was quite the surprise that we would land within 20 years of the origin of the franchise. Certainly a bold choice. At this point, it's probably in your best interest to know the timeline. From the earliest in the series timeline to the latest (series year /release year / director): 

Prometheus (2093 / 2012 / Ridley Scott)

Alien Covenant (2104 / 2017 / Ridley Scott)

Alien (2122 / 1979 / Ridley Scott)

Alien Romulus (2142 / 2024 / Fede Alvarez)

Aliens (2179 / 1986 / James Cameron)

Alien 3 (2179 / 1992 / David Fincher)

Alien Resurrection (2381 / 1997 / Jean-Paul Jeunet)

Bold choices, bold rewards. The greatest thing about Alvarez’ turn at the helm is that before anything happens, before the title card runs, we see the wreckage of the Nostromo, as if it were a promise of things to come. Just a day before seeing this film, I asked why the newer films, Prometheus and Covenant, abandoned the now low-tech futurism of the original film? The small tube screens, grainy communications, big mechanical keyboards, switchboards, heavy levers, and basically anything the early 80’s would have used to communicate science fiction future. Ridley Scott himself already perfected the tactile feel of working in space with his origin story, Alien. More than likely, it was simply a stylistic choice of the time. The human future looks different now. Our corridors are stark white, our screens flat, our interfaces button-free. But so much of the grit left the screen when our spacefarers traded buttons that click with finger swipes and hand motions. Romulus returns to form and brings that tactile nature back to the screen, and with it, a real sense that people live and work there. The world is lived in, not designed.

Our characters and their story leave little for our actors to chew on with one standout in David Johnson as Andy. What starts as a one note character doesn’t really grow per say, but like the xenomorph, he grows in you. Out of everyone, he is the one I want to see more work from. Sometimes its not the song, but the pitch perfect note that you remember. As for the film's story, without giving anything away, the forward momentum of the film builds in such a way that the rest of the actors never really get to shine the way the actors did in Alien and Aliens. Sigorney Weaver battles with a lack of control and only succeeds when she takes it. And we get to see her realize this as the people in power fall away. In Romulus, we have a different set of circumstances that you could imagine excuses this absence of growth. With an average age that feels far below any of the other films, Romulus creates an atmosphere of inexperience across the characters, which would be fine, but it doesn’t appear to be of any consequence to the story being told in the film. For instance, there is no other thematic purpose to the characters being orphans other than to chide the churn of human labor in capitalistic imperial enterprises like Weyland-Yutani. As far as I can tell, almost any thematic or metaphorical point born of Romulus is shallow. Worse than that, this single layer is reminiscent of another space franchise and certainly a cause for pause. I couldn’t help but feel a disturbance in the fabric of cinema, a feeling I have not felt since the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But hold your groan folks, unlike the The Force Awakens, Romulus conceals itself better than most. Almost as if it was the Dark Side of The Force.

Under its dark shroud is an entertaining rebuild of both Alien and Aliens. The first half of the film is a homage to Ridley Scott, the back half to James Cameron. Alvarez uses his runtime to create something more unique than anything thought of in J.J. Abrhams turn with Star Wars. But like Abrhams turn, it’s a reconfiguration of the base model. It takes what we already are familiar with and constructs a version with a modern twist. Like the VW Bug of the 60’s and its 2000’s counterpart. There was no new lesson to learn, nothing to expand upon, just beautiful carnage and delicious retro sci-fi ships with interiors to match. The problem is that if this film is successful, will it spawn a spiritual Star Wars sequel? The Last Sith? Probably not, but in so much as this film has no original ideas, it does create a new branch to follow during its runtime.  As much as the characters lack in richness, the inspection of the callous nature of Weyland-Yutani as an entity is much more clear in this film than any other. Specifically because we see both their heavy handed nature and the method of their control over the daily lives of people in their employ. Before this film, the company seemed to loom in the background, like the parent company of a conglomerate full of child companies who have never met their owner, bought from a financial broker before they learned to run. You can almost hear the takeover speech from the c-suite, “We have been bought, but nothing changes”. 

I enjoyed my relief from the Texas sun, sitting aglow in another tale of how the universe is ultimately indifferent to humanity. Put another way, how lucky we are to be alive. Put one more way, how unlucky we are to recognize any of this at all. The dichotomy of being able to look into the abyss only to see it stare back at you is palpable in the Alien pantheon. Alien: Romulus is no different. Where the other films struck out striking out for something new, this film plays it close to home for better or worse. It is immensely entertaining and immediately engrossing, a heavy familiar coat. And while it leaves me with confidence in everyone who made it, I don’t have much confidence in its addition to the legacy that is Alien. This series has more swings for the fences than any other like it, and because of that, even its failures are notable and re-watchable. I re-watch films to see something new I didn’t see the last time, but I feel like that will be exhausted in the next couple of viewings, where films like Prometheus and Covenant will have me re-examining why they failed for years to come. What could they have done differently? Why did they make one choice over another? All of this is clear in Romulus from the first viewing. Because it looked damn good. Because they already know it will make for a good time at the theater. And you while you can blame them for not taking too many chances, you can’t say it wasn’t a good time.

[itsjustlyle]

Long review for Alien: Romulus - It was fun! I give it a 7.5 out of 10

The overall tone is of the OG Alien, with obvious allusions to Aliens. The horror is back, but leans into a more Prometheus style plot so the vibe feels like somewhere between Aliens and Resurrection.

Mostly well written, and acted, with characters you know you're supposed to either like or thoroughly hate. There are a few points though where I was like, literally nobody would do that, and I do feel like it goes just a little overboard on fan service. Like it's fun to see the obvious connections to previous instalments, but sometimes less is more and the implication would've been enough, and there's one line in particular that felt a bit forced and would've worked better if they'd left out a single word. So the film comes off like more of a love letter to the entire series rather than a proper instalment in the franchise, if that makes sense - I'm sure you'll know what I mean when you see it.

Essentially it's the Force Awakens of the Alien universe. I enjoyed it for what it was, but it's the film we didn't really need, and you could watch the entire franchise and skip this one altogether and lose nothing.

There is also one aspect of CGI that sadly did not look great. It doesn't ruin the film but it's pretty hard to ignore, and these small grievances aside, there's a lot here to like. Overall it's a solid flick that doesn't let up on the action much once it starts, and I think it will only grow on me with repeat viewings.

------------------------------------------------------

*** STOP READING HERE TO AVOID SPOILERS ***

If you'd like to discuss please DM me to avoid spoiling it for others.

------------------------------------------------------

...

..

.

What I thought was particularly cool was finally getting to see the pupal/chrysalis stage of the xenomorph's life cycle from chestburster to full-grown. And I'm so glad they went back to the more traditional design for it's adult form, with the somewhat translucent carapace and without the ridiculously elongated middle fingers as seen in Resurrection and AvP.

The only thing I thought really sucked was the CGI on the face of the Ash inspired character, Rook. It's fine when still but pretty bad when he's talking and I found it rather distracting during his scenes. I don't know how the production team decided that was good enough for release as it looks like an early 2000's video game, and I think it would've been easier to simply stick with the guy who did the performance rather than CG Ian Holm's face onto him... especially since it's already established early on that other models of synthetics exist.

[thethirtysomethingreads]

"Thank God that's over..." I flipped through the last pages and I couldn't help but feel relief. Coming in at 736 pages, The Covenant of Water is a hefty read and one of the larger novels I've taken on since the start of my literary journey but I can say, it's worth it.

Abraham Verghese is a New York Times best seller and this recent novel holds a spot as one of Oprah's Book Club Picks.

I wasn't aware of all these details until after the librarian passed the giant novel through the book slot window, a slot in which it almost did not fit, but I was excited to begin. This novel would take me over a month to read and I was finally able to really carve away and untimatley finish during a bout with the flu.

Our story begins with a young bride who leaves her family to take her place as the matriarch of a new family. As she begins finding her place as a new wife, mother and woman, I was immediately drawn in to her story and that of her budding family. After a devestating loss, she learns of The Condition, one that brings fear and death by water to many in her husbands lineage. As her story pauses, and she prays for deliverance from The Condition to heal, another story begins.

Our novel goes back and forth between characters until the ultimate convergence in the end. A though the novel is long, I found interest in all the characters stories and development, and wanted to finish this read. This novel reminded me a lot of “The House of Spirits” in the way it’s organized and how it carries on through generation after generation.

Overall, I don’t know that I would take on this read again but I was happy with the book in the end.

3.8/5