Paradise Lost - Ridley Scott's Alien: Covenant

This week brings us to the end of our look into the Alien franchise with a discussion of Ridley Scott's final journey into the world he introduced audiences to in 1979. 2017's Alien: Covenant did a great deal to explain the origin of the xenomorphs and the space jockey, however an equal number of questions arose. As we await the release of Alien: Romulus in the summer of 2024 it's our duty to look at Ridley Scott's conclusion and discuss this multi-layered and beautifully textured film. From the production design through the cinematography and performances, Alien: Covenant is a wonderful coda to Ridley Scott's direction in this series. Take a listen as we dig deep into this film, Scott's previous film - Prometheus - and our theories on the final film and the series as a whole. It's a good talk. Let us know what you think at gondoramos@yahoo.com. Many Thanks. 

We continue to look to you good and loyal listeners for support. If you have listened and enjoyed our bantering over these nearly eight years please feel free to support us with a monetary contribution. We're not asking for a whole lot. Whatever you can give is appreciated. 2024 is promising to be an incredible year filled with great discussions. Help us make this possible. We appreciate anything You Cheap Bastards can give. Follow the link below to contribute.  Our Continued Thanks.

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F*cked Around and Found Out: Ridley Scott's Prometheus 

It's rare that a director can tell a story, go on to fabulous critical and commercial success, and return to his origins, answering questions that have hovered around a franchise for decades, while doing so in an exciting and innovative way. Ridley Scott's Alien introduced one of the great Science Fiction/Horror creatures. In 2012 Scott would return to the world he created in 1979 with his prequel Prometheus. A film that confused and angered a great many audiences for taking an unexpected direction in storytelling, Scott's prequel would focus on the origin of the "Space Jockey" first seen in the original film. From that jumping point Scott would fashion an exciting and  action-packed narrative rare (for a major studio release) in the questions it would ask regarding human origins and purpose. Take a listen as Mr. Chavez and I go back and forth with our impressions of the film. It's a good talk that we're sure you'll enjoy. As always, we can be reached at gondoramos@yahoo.com. Our Continued Thanks. 

We continue to look to you good and loyal listeners for support. If you have listened and enjoyed our bantering over these nearly eight years please feel free to support us with a monetary contribution. We're not asking for a whole lot. Whatever you can give is appreciated. 2024 is promising to be an incredible year filled with great discussions. Help us make this possible. We appreciate anything You Cheap Bastards can give. Follow the link below to contribute.  Our Continued Thanks.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/watchrickramos

Dead on Arrival: John-Pierre Jeunet's Alien Resurrection

Closing in on the end of the month brings us to the end of the original Alien franchise. 1997s Alien Resurrection is a ridiculous mess of a film that is a final disappointing period to one of the greatest Horror/Sci-Fi franchises in the history of cinema. From a script by Joss Whedon and direction from Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Alien Ressurrection badly fumbles the beauty, intensity, and  legacy of the first two films and the potential of what the third film should (and could) have been. There's a whole lot to get out in this discussion. We hope that you listen with an open mind and an understanding of our mutual disappointment in the final curtain call of Lieutenant First Class, Ellen Louise Ripley. She deserved better. Take a listen and let us know what you think. As always, we can be reached at gondoramos@yahoo.com.

We continue to look to you good and loyal listeners for support. If you have listened and enjoyed our bantering over these nearly eight years please feel free to support us with a monetary contribution. We're not asking for a whole lot. Whatever you can give is appreciated. 2024 is promising to be an incredible year filled with great discussions. Help us make this possible. We appreciate anything You Cheap Bastards can give. Follow the link below to contribute.  Our Continued Thanks.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/watchrickramos

Dragon, Mother, Queen: Not David Fincher’s Alien 3 

Continuing our descent into the world created in 1979's Alien and continued with 1986's Aliens, this week Mr. Chavez & I find ourselves crash landing on Fiorina "Fury" 161 - a foundry and maximum-security planet prison. David Fincher (in his feature directorial debut) takes the helm for 1992's Alien 3. Arguably the most beautifully photographed and intricately detailed entry (production design wise) in the Alien series, Fincher's work in commercials and music videos greatly influenced the look of this film. There's a whole lot going on here and therein lies the problem. Alien 3 is a troubled result of studio interference, Fincher's in-experience as a first-time director, budgetary problems, and a lack of a finished and complete script. There are ideas that are not clearly realized, storylines that are problematically resolved, a theatrical cut and an "assembly cut" (note: not a "director's cut"), cut scenes, and re-shoots that hinder and deviate from Fincher's original vision for the film. It's a film with a troubled history and, yet, one that has developed a following and hinted at the genius that would evolve in Fincher's later films. It's a thrill for Ibrahim & myself to sit down and re-visit this film. Take a listen and let us know what you think. We can be reached at gondoramos@yahoo.com. Thanks for the continued love. 

A New Year brings with it The Same Old Needs . . . We continue to look to you good and loyal listeners for support. If you have listened and enjoyed our bantering over these nearly eight years please feel free to support us with a monetary contribution. We're not asking for a whole lot. Whatever you can give is appreciated. 2024 is promising to be an incredible year filled with great discussions. Help us make this possible. We appreciate anything You Cheap Bastards can give. Follow the link below to contribute.  Our Continued Thanks.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/watchrickramos

Unfinished Business: James Cameron's Aliens 

This week Ibrahim & I return to LV-426. 57 years later - but feeling more like seven - James Cameron takes over the reins for the masterpiece created by Sir Ridley Scott. 1979's Alien would change the Sci-Fi genre. An incredibly influential work of cinema, the film would influence any number of directors, with James Cameron springboarding off of the world created by Scott and moving the genre from Horror/Sci-Fi to Military/Sci-Fi. Analogous to the Vietnam War, Cameron's film is a brutal and unrelenting rollercoaster ride that -although not surpassing the original film - is nonetheless an incredible piece of practical filmmaking, utilizing miniature work, puppetry, animatronics, forced perspective, and rear projection. Thirty-eight years later Aliens continues to captivate, compel, frighten, and entertain. Mr. Chavez and I are thrilled to continue diving into this great Science Fiction series. Tell us what you think - We can be reached at gondoramos@yahoo.com. 

A New Year brings with it The Same Old Needs . . . We continue to look to you good and loyal listeners for support. If you have listened and enjoyed our bantering over these nearly eight years please feel free to support us with a monetary contribution. We're not asking for a whole lot. Whatever you can give is appreciated. 2024 is promising to be an incredible year filled with great discussions. Help us make this possible. We appreciate anything You Cheap Bastards can give. Follow the link below to contribute.  Our Continued Thanks.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/watchrickramos

Crew Expendable: Ridley Scott's Alien 

Might as well not screw around and start 2024 with a bang . . . This month Mr. Chavez and I dive into the world of Ellen Ripley and the Xenomorphs. At this point it's been nearly 45 years since we were first introduced to the crew of the Nostromo: Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, and - in her film debut - Sigourney Weaver. Scott (in his second feature) created a science fiction world unlike anything seen before and rarely equaled since. Taking a Horror staple (monster/haunted house) that could have easily been a cliché-ridden embarassment, Scott crafted a new vision that leaned heavily on the practical and portrayed a future that we could realistically expect. Take a listen as Mr. Chavez and I dive into this six film series (we will be ignoring the Alien vs. Predator embarrassments and any novelizations or comic books). As always, we can be reached at gondoramos@yahoo.com. Many Thanks.

A New Year brings with it The Same Old Needs . . . We continue to look to you good and loyal listeners for support. If you have listened and enjoyed our bantering over these nearly eight years please feel free to support us with a monetary contribution. We're not asking for a whole lot. Whatever you can give is appreciated. 2024 is promising to be an incredible year filled with great discussions. Help us make this possible. We appreciate anything You Cheap Bastards can give. Follow the link below to contribute.  Our Continued Thanks.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/watchrickramos

L.A. After Midnight: Dan Gilroy's Nightcrawler

Finishing December and starting 2024. (Sorry, we're a bit late getting this one out.) A continuation and closing out of Ibrahim Chavez's Los Angeles. We've talked James Ellroy, Charles Bukowski, Thom Andersen, and Paul Schrader's Los Angeles. This week we filter the darkest, most cynical, and bleakest impressions of Los Angeles through the tabloid and exploitative lens of television news in Dan Gilroy's 2014 Nightcrawler. Featuring a powerful and disturbing performance from Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler is one of the great films of the 2010s. Take a listen as Mr. Chavez and I re-visit this film, looking at the role of news reporting in today's world and the power of the image in captivating, intriguing, and frightening audiences. Take a listen and let us know what you think. We can be reached at gondoramos@yahoo.com. 

As always, we continue to look to you good and loyal listeners for support. If you have listened and enjoyed our bantering over these nearly eight years please feel free to support us with a monetary contribution. We're not asking for a whole lot. Whatever you can give is appreciated. The holidays are coming an we could use the help. Stop being cheap bastards and give what you can. Follow the link below to contribute.  Our Continued Thanks.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/watchrickramos

Bukowski's Drunken Streets: Marco Ferreri's Tales of Ordinary Madness

Continuing our exploration of The City of Angels, Mr. Chavez & I dive into the great Los Angeles novelist, short story writer, poet, and "Dirty Old Man" Henry Charles Bukowski (1920 - 1994). Bukowski holds a special place in my heart and memories; Beginning with Notes of a Dirty Old Man and continuing through novels (Women, Ham on Rye), a screenplay (Barfly), and numerous poetry collections (War All the Time: Poems 1981-1984, Septuagenerian Stew: Stories and Poems, The Last Night of the Earth Poems), I have been a fan of Bukowski's work for the better part of three and a half decades. Bukowski's writings depict Los Angeles in a way that few wrtiers are able to match. This week we look at "Bukowski's Los Angeles" as depicted in Marco Ferreri's 1981 adaptation of the short story collection, Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness as Tales of Ordinary Madness featuring Ben Gazarra as Bukowski's alter ego, Henry Chinaski (in the film Charles Serking). A not altogether successful adaptation of Bukowski's work, there is still a great deal to discuss in the failure of Ferreri to capture Bukowski's words, actions, life, and city. Take a listen and let us know what you think. We can be reached at gondoramos@yahoo.com. Many Thanks. 

As always, we continue to look to you good and loyal listeners for support. If you have listened and enjoyed our bantering over these nearly eight years please feel free to support us with a monetary contribution. We're not asking for a whole lot. Whatever you can give is appreciated. The holidays are coming an we could use the help. Stop being cheap bastards and give what you can. Follow the link below to contribute.  Our Continued Thanks.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/watchrickramos

Down These Dark Streets: James Ellroy - Feast of Death

Continuing our travels through Los Angeles, Mr. Chavez & I focus our discussion on the great LA Crime (Historical Crime) Novelist, James Ellroy. Famous for his LA Quartet - including The Black Dahlia, L.A. Confidential, The Big Nowhere, and White Jazz, as well as the autobiographical My Dark Places, Ellroy has written some of the most celebrated and polariizing Los Angeles based novels of the last century. His examination of the L.A. Police Department, criminals, murders, and (fictionalized) historical characters is unlike anything else in modern day fiction. It's a thrill to sit down and discuss this bold, brazen, and difficult writer. Take a listen and let us know what you think. We can still be reached at gondoramos@yahoo.com 

As always, we continue to look to you good and loyal listeners for support. If you have listened and enjoyed our bantering over these nearly eight years please feel free to support us with a monetary contribution. We're not asking for a whole lot. Whatever you can give is appreciated. The holidays are coming an we could use the help. Stop being cheap bastards and give what you can. Follow the link below to contribute.  Our Continued Thanks.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/watchrickramos

Another Lost Angel: Paul Schrader's Hardcore

This week we continue our descent into Ibrahim Chavez's Los Angeles with a look at Taxi Driver screenwriter, Paul Schrader's blunt and brutal examination of the Los Angeles/San Diego/San Francisco sex trade of the late 1970s. Schrader's upbringing in a strict Calvinist environment would shape his social outlook and influence his abandonment of religion and drive towards sexual and cultural freedoms. Much like his screenplay for Taxi Driver, Schrader's Hardcore would take inspiration from John Ford's classic The Searchers, replacing the racism of that film with a difficult and controversial look at the world of pornography and the restrictive worlds that feed into it. Featuring George C. Scott in a powerful - at times sad and other times unlikable - performance of a man searching for his lost (runaway?) daughter, Season Hubley as a sex worker  he employs to lead him into this foreign world, and Peter Boyle as a smarmy, degenerate and exceptionally effective private detective. Schrader's sophomore directorial effort is a wondrous relic of California in the 1970s. Take a listen and give the film a watch. You can always reach us at gondoramos@yahoo.com. We look forward to hearing from you. 

As always, we continue to look to you good and loyal listeners for support. If you have listened and enjoyed our bantering over these nearly eight years please feel free to support us with a monetary contribution. We're not asking for a whole lot. Whatever you can give is appreciated. The holidays are coming an we could use the help. Stop being cheap bastards and give what you can. Follow the link below to contribute.  Our Continued Thanks.

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/watchrickramos