40th Anniverary of Ridley Scott’s ground-breaking science fiction movie, Alien:

Follow the link below to read the article in Variety:

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/alien-40-anniverary-ridley-scott-1203223989/

Alien Trading Cards:

During the '80s, these trading cards were part of my collection of movie merchandise and memorabilia.

The movie poster also adorned my wall when I was a teenager …

I eventually got rid of my memorabilia when my hobby became dangerously close to hoarding.

Now I just hoard books …

… and it’s not classed as hoarding if it’s books.

Then and now:

Gary Lockwood (left) & Keir Dullea (right), who played astronauts Dr. Frank Poole & Dr. David Bowman, in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi classic: 2001: A Space Odyssey:

Two great minds:

Behind the scenes photograph of one of the greatest collaborations.

Director, Stanley Kubrick, and author, Arthur C. Clarke, working on 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

Photographer unknown.

Let The Fire Fall, by Jim Burns, (1977):

Ghost in the Shell (2017):

I’m a harsh critic when it comes to remakes, especially when I love the original work.

Unless the remake/reimagining has something that adds to it, making it exceptional, I’m a purist to the source material.

I’ve been a fan of Mamoru Oshii’s original Ghost in the Shell ever since I saw it on its release in 1995.

In 2008, he revamped and improved upon the movie with new CGI and released it again as Ghost in the Shell 2.0.

I recommend anyone who appreciates intelligent science fiction stories, especially those, like Blade Runner, that focus on the clash between humans and A.I., to watch Ghost in the Shell 2.0.

For me, the bar was set very high with Rupert Sanders’ live-action version of Ghost in the Shell.

I was pleasantly surprised: I love it!

The original story has been tweaked and characters have been expanded upon, but it’s a minor difference.

This is a faithful retelling, with improvements to character and plot development, an excellent soundtrack, and brilliant effects.

Many of the visuals were shot-for-shot for the original Manga version.

I’ll happily add this one to my movie collection.

I’ll be posting a more in-depth blog on both the anime and live-action versions of Ghost in the Shell at a later date.

It can only be attributable to human error …

Sadly, to the date of this writing, author Arthur C. Clarke’s classic science fiction quartet is an Odyssey half-filmed: 2001: A Space Odyssey was directed in 1968, by Stanley Kubrick. 2010 in 1984, by Peter Hyams.

The epic evolved from Arthur C. Clarke’s short story, The Sentinel:

… to: 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010: Odyssey Two, 2061: Odyssey Three, and 3001: The Final Odyssey:

I love the full picture artwork for 2010 and 2061, by Michael Whelan:

This is an alien contact story that goes for realism rather than spectacle … until the Star Gate sequence. Evolution is the main theme: of humans, from ape-men to space pioneers, along with technology and artificial intelligence. What set it apart and made it admirable, for me, was the concept of the enigmatic Monoliths and the unseen alien intelligence behind them, the use of classical music, slow and deliberate pacing, accurate representation of space travel, and minimalist dialogue.

There is also a good subject for discussion in the strand of the plot dealing with what happens when man puts too much reliance on artificial intelligence, and then faces disaster when conflicting orders cause the A.I. to malfunction, with tragic results; the reason made clear in the sequel: 2010. This is a technology turning on mankind theme that would later be explored in movies like Westworld, Demon Seed, The Terminator, I Robot, Tron … and many others.

A timeless classic and easily one of the greatest science fiction movies ever made.

Sun, Earth and Moon in perfect alignment:

Dawn of Man and the push towards evolution:

The bone-to-satellite jump-shot to the year 2001:

The space station:

Deflection:

Zero-gravity:

Heywood Floyd and the second monolith:

Discovery and the mission to Jupiter:

HAL 9000:

"I don’t think there is any question about it. It can only be attributable to human error. This sort of thing has cropped up before, and it has always been due to human error."

In error of predicting the fault:

 

Suspicion, paranoia and murder:

Disconnection:

The journey through the Star Gate:

Frozen moments in time:

Neoclassic containment cell:

Age, death and rebirth:

Quite a journey!