Noomi Rapace, Logan Marshall-Green and Michael Fassbender in the Ridley Scott movie ‘Prometheus’

In kicking off the new year in proper dimension, we choose the path of the science fiction stylings of Ridley Scott. June marks the 10-year anniversary of the first prequel movie to Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979). Today we look into another adventure mystery named Prometheus (2012).

(From left, Logan Marshall-Green as Charlie Holloway, Noomi Rapace as Elizabeth Shaw and Michael Fassbender as David in the Ridley Scott movie Prometheus).

The movie Prometheus begins with a notion of a humanoid alien drinking an iridescent liquid. The humanoid seemingly dies, dissolves, and cascades into a waterfall that later recombines. Archaeologists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway, as portrayed by Noomi Rapace and Logan Marshall-Green, discover an ancient star chart in Scotland in the year 2089. This map matches star charts from other ancient civilizations in geographically dispersed, suggesting that the opening scene was part of an engineered DNA planting of humanity on Earth in the distant past by a pre-existing alien race.

(Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland in the Ridley Scott movie Prometheus).

Shaw and Holloway consider the star maps to be evidence of an invitation from humanity’s forerunners to visit the point in space where the maps align. Peter Weyland, the elderly CEO of Weyland Corporation, funds an expedition to follow the map to the distant moon LV-223. The trip to the distant moon takes four years, with the humans aboard traveling in stasis with the android named David monitoring the well-being of the journey. Michael Fassbender portrays David. Guy Pearce portrays Peter Wayland.

(From left, Charlize Theron as Meredith Vickers and Idris Elba as Janek in the Ridley Scott movie Prometheus).

The vessel that Elizabeth Shaw, Charlie Holloway, Peter Wayland and David travel on includes Weyland Corporation employee Meredith Vickers to monitor the expedition. Janek serves as the captain of the vessel flying the crew, which carries the name Prometheus. A geologist named Fifield and a geologist named Millburn add depth to the crew. Charlize Theron, Idris Elba, Sean Harris and Rafe Spall portray Vickers, Janek, Fifield and Millburn, respectively.

(From left, Kate Dickie as Ford, Sean Harris as Fifield and Rafe Spall as Millburn in the Ridley Scott movie Prometheus).

Kate Dickie as Ford, the ship’s medic joins Emun Elliott and Benedict Wong as ship pilots Chance and Ravel, respectively.  Ian Whyte and Daniel James portray members of the origin race of so-called “Engineers” that sparks the religious curiosity of Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway, in addition to some wonderful questions of adventure and mystery when landing on the surface of the LV-223 moon. Patrick Wilson portrayed Elizabeth Shaw’s father.

(From left, director Ridley Scott and actress Noomi Rapace in the Ridley Scott movie Prometheus).

The storytelling of Prometheus does wonders for planting many curiosities for the origin of the alien creatures that simply were in the movies Alien, Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992) and Alien: Resurrection (1997). The choice of questions addressed with Prometheus were really interesting, as was the strength of the role within the narrative offered with the character portraits of Michael Fassbender and Noomi Rapace. Given the creative direction taken by Ridley Scott with the film, I grant the movie Prometheus 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, January 1, 2022

The Year 2021 in Movies

Continuing with the final part of our year in review, Matt Lynn Digital invites you to look back at the last year in reviews of books, movies, music and television. We look at these with individual categories, one per day through today. Today we share the sixty-eight (68) movies reviewed across ten (10) decades by Matt Lynn Digital in 2021.

(The 1941 movie Citizen Kane is one of seven movies that Matt Lynn Digital gave 4.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5).

Citizen Kane (1941) was written by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles. The Michael Curtiz directed film Casablanca (1942) also earned 4.5-stars, as did the Alfred Hitchcock directed film Psycho (1960).

(The 1961 movie The Hustler starred Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason).

The Robert Rossen directed film The Hustler (1961) is joined by the Martin Scorsese film Taxi Driver (1976), the James Cameron directed movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and the David Fincher movie Se7en (1995) as also having earned 4.5-stars by Matt Lynn Digital in 2021.

(Several films by Alfred Hitchcock made their way into the Matt Lynn Digital reviews in 2021. North by Northwest and Strangers on a Train were a couple of favorites).

The Shop Around the Corner (1940) as directed by Ernst Lubitsch is one of eleven movies having earned 4.25-stars in 2021. The Alfred Hitchcock movie Strangers on a Train (1951) joins the Hitchcock film North by Northwest (1959) in the same category.

(Martin Scorsese movies are well received by Matt Lynn Digital. The 1995 movie Casino received 4.25-stars).

A Christmas Story (1983) as directed by Bob Clark has consistently hit me in a warm spot. The Richard Donner directed Lethal Weapon (1987) offers comedic action at a solid pace.  The Rob Reiner directed movie Misery (1990) juxtaposes mystery against the sweet storytelling of the Harold Ramis movie Groundhog Day (1993). Casino (1995) by director Martin Scorsese is the second film in our reviews to pair Scorsese with actor Robert De Niro. The Sixth Sense (1999) as directed by M. Night Shyamalan also earned our rating of 4.25-stars.

(The 2003 Ridley Scott movie Matchstick Men dips our toes into the 21st century of cinema).

The Ridley Scott movie Matchstick Men (2003) earned 4.25-stars, as did the David Fincher movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).

(The clean-cut reputation of the actor James Stewart is put to the test in his portrayal of Paul Biegler is the 1959 Otto Preminger movie Anatomy of a Murder).

Frankenstein (1931) as directed by James Whale received 4-stars as an origin tale into the more frightening side of cinema. The movie Saboteur (1942), the movie Rope (1948) and the movie Dial M for Murder (1954), as directed by Alfred Hitchcock, all earned similar ratings. The Otto Preminger directed movie Anatomy of a Murder (1959) closed out the three decades of cinema rated at this level.

(The 1974 Mel Brooks movie Young Frankenstein comedically poked fun of the 1931 James Whale movie Frankenstein).

The Mel Brooks directed movie Young Frankenstein (1974) worked on a level equal to the film that inspired it. Richard Donner succeeded in the horror movie genre with The Omen (1976) while John Carpenter delivered a similar 4-star rated movie with Halloween (1978). The Hugh Hudson directed film Chariots of Fire (1981) won four Academy Awards while the James Cameron sequel movie Aliens (1986) won a pair of awards.

(Seven Academy Awards and 4-stars from Matt Lynn Digital awaited the Kevin Costner‘s directorial debut movie, Dances with Wolves).

The epic Western Dances with Wolves (1990) as directed by Kevin Costner earned 4-stars, as did the Steven Spielberg movie Jurassic Park (1993), the movie Jumanji (1995) starring Robin Williams and the Tony Scott directed movie Enemy of the State (1998).

(The adventure of The Polar Express centers around the experience of finding joy in the notion of Christmas. Matt Lynn Digital granted the movie 4-stars).

The Stephen Frears movie High Fidelity (2000), the Paul Haggis directed movie Crash (2004), the Robert Zemeckis movie The Polar Express (2004), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) starring Gary Oldman and the Jake Kasdan directed movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) all earned four stars.

(John Ford directed the western named Stagecoach. The movie starring John Wayne was granted 3.75-stars).

Alfred Hitchcock directed two separate movies based on the same source material twice. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) as well as The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) each earned 3.75-stars from Matt Lynn Digital. The John Ford directed movie Stagecoach (1939), starring John Wayne, is accompanied by Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt (1943), John Ford’s The Quiet Man (1952), and both The Trouble with Harry (1955) and The Wrong Man (1956) by Alfred Hitchcock.

(The 1962 Stanley Kubrick movie Lolita is often misunderstood yet tells a morally difficult story for those that can stick with it for understanding).

Stanley Kubrick directed the movie Lolita (1962), which is one of twenty-seven movies granted 3.75-stars by Matt Lynn Digital. Alfred Hitchcock‘s movie Torn Curtain (1966), Brian De Palma‘s movie Sisters (1972), the Don Siegel directed movie Escape from Alcatraz (1979), the John Hughes directed movie Sixteen Candles (1984), Ron Howard‘s movie Cocoon (1985) and the David Cronenberg directed movie The Fly (1986) each received a similar 3.75-stars.

(The 1992 movie Reservoir Dogs as directed by Quentin Tarantino received 3.75-stars from Matt Lynn Digital).

Total Recall (1990) starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone are joined by the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs (1992), the Brian De Palma movie Carlito’s Way (1993), the Jan de Bont directed movie Speed (1994), The Santa Clause (1994) starring Tim Allen and the Kevin Smith directed movies Clerks (1994) and Chasing Amy (1997).

(The 2002 movie Insomnia from director Christopher Nolan offered a character focused with less abstraction focus in earning 3.75-stars).

The Howard Deutch sports comedy movie The Replacements (2000) introduced a string of movies, including the Christopher Nolan movie Insomnia (2002), the Gavin O’Connor movie Miracle (2004), the Tim Burton directed movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), the Clint Eastwood directed movie Richard Jewell (2019) and the Christopher Nolan movie Tenet (2020), that offered quality movie making rated at 3.75-stars.

(The 2003 movie Timeline as directed by Richard Donner is one of three movies to earn 3.5-stars by Matt Lynn Digital).

Sylvester Stallone stars in the movie Cliffhanger (1993), which stands beside the Wolfgang Petersen directed movie Outbreak (1995) and the Richard Donner directed movie Timeline (2003) as receiving 3.5-stars.

(Brian De Palma‘s 1990 movie The Bonfire of the Vanities received 3-stars on a scale of 1-to-5 from Matt Lynn Digital).

The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) as directed by Brian De Palma was not a commercial success, earning a 3-star rating from Matt Lynn Digital. The movie lost over $31 million, despite a reasonably strong cast.

Matt Lynn Digital appreciates your continued interest in the content we offer. Should you have albums that you’d like us to review, or similar work to that mentioned above, please be sure to let us know.

Matt – Friday, December 31, 2021

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick and the James Cameron movie ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’

James Cameron‘s sequel to his movie The Terminator (1984) offers an example of a film revisited with another story Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) of similar or better quality as the first. Cameron had accomplished a similar outcome in revisiting the Ridley Scott movie Alien (1979) with Aliens (1986). To accomplish two outstanding sequels in close succession, while additionally offering three superior films in less than ten years, really cemented a solid place for the director we review today with Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

(From left, Edward Furlong as John Connor, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator in the James Cameron movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day).

Terminator 2: Judgment Day picks up slightly more than ten years after The Terminator, which had offered the viewers a sense that time travel was possible, killer robots and people could be selectively sent back in time, and that Sarah Connor’s son, John Connor, would lead a human war against intelligent machines called Terminators. Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator reprised their roles from the original film. John Connor, as the son of Sarah Connor, was born after the timeline of the original movie, as shared with us. John Connor was portrayed by Edward Furlong.

(From left, Earl Boen (in tie) as Dr. Silberman and Ken Gibbel (in glasses) as Douglas in the James Cameron movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day).

The Terminator returns at roughly the same time, about 10-years after the original movie, in southern California. The more advanced T-1000 Terminator, as portrayed by Robert Patrick, also returns. Sarah Connor is locked up in a mental hospital under the care of Dr. Silberman, as reprised by Earl Boen from the original film. It takes a bit of time to connect the motivations of the two competing terminators, as well as to bring together the necessary relationships of Sarah and her son, John. John Connor had been in foster care.

(Robert Patrick as the T-1000 Terminator in the James Cameron movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day).

A really intelligent brand of storytelling for the second movie was to revisit the relationships from the original film, introduce some of the origin story for how the notion of intelligent machines developed in the first place, and to continue things to a point of confrontation spoken of in The Terminator movie. It is in this space that we learn more of the backstory for what had happened between John and Sarah over the 10 years we missed, plus we learned why we should care about Miles Dyson and Tarissa Dyson, as portrayed by Joe Morton and S. Epatha Merkerson, respectively.

(From left, Joe Morton as Miles Dyson and S. Epatha Merkerson as Tarissa Dyson in the James Cameron movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day).

The graphic scope of the tale for the first two movies, with an origin story so completely relevant to the very real political climate that existed in the era that began with the first movie, made for compelling cinema by itself. That a compelling science fiction accounting for the fears that were afloat in a way that delivered a punch made for a compelling sequel movie that stood-up every bit as well as the original film. The offering of a sequel that could and did engage the audience with quality cinema was quite the accomplishment.

(From left, actress Linda Hamilton, director James Cameron, actor Joe Morton and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger in the James Cameron movie Terminator 2: Judgement Day).

The James Cameron movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day receives 4.5-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, September 18, 2021

Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn and Paul Reiser in the James Cameron film ‘Aliens’

It was about a year ago that Matt Lynn Digital reviewed the Ridley Scott horror movie Alien (1979). The James Cameron sequel Aliens (1986) offers a sequel that met the positive reception given the original with Academy Award wins for sound effects editing (Don Sharpe) and visual effects (Robert Skotak, Stan Winston, John Richardson and Suzanne Benson).

(From left, Al Matthews as Sergeant Apone, Paul Reiser as Carter J. Burke, William Hope as Lieutenant Gorman and Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in the James Cameron movie Aliens).

Aliens occurs in a distant future to the current day and a fair time after the fictional time after the movie it follows, namely Alien. The story of Aliens flows from the original with the notion that Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley experienced the misfortune of drifting aboard her ship from the original film, the Nostromo, in cryogenic sleep. The launching off point for Aliens gives us this context, along with a story for heading back to the moon where the first movie took place. Carter J. Burke, as portrayed by Paul Reiser, serves up the story.

(From left, Bill Paxton as Private Hudson, Michael Biehn as Corporal Dwayne Hicks and Jenette Goldstein as Private Vasquez in the James Cameron movie Aliens).

Michael Biehn as Corporal Dwayne Hicks, Bill Paxton as Private Hudson and Jenette Goldstein as Private Vasquez are part of a colonial marine contingent tasked with fighting the alien manifestation feared when the moon from the Nostromo mission has stopped communicating with Earth. This crew would offer much of the aid in facing the aliens the crew seems bound to engage from the beginning of the movie.

(From left, Carrie Henn as Rebecca ‘Newt’ Jorden and Lance Henriksen as Bishop in the James Cameron movie Aliens).

Once aboard ship and brought from cryogenic sleep, Ripley is less than happy to learn that Bishop, an android aboard the ship Sulaco has accompanied the party seeking to engage the aliens. A motherly effect ensues for Ripley when she encounters Rebecca ‘Newt’ Jordan on the moon, an unlikely survivor on a moon where many others were less fortunate. The story of Aliens needs both of these for the emotional appeal that the movie holds for me. Lance Henriksen portrays Bishop. Carrie Henn portrays Jorden.

(Director James Cameron on the set of the James Cameron movie Aliens).

Aliens was released on the heals of James Cameron‘s breakthrough hit The Terminator (1984). The popularity of the first may have been the success needed for Cameron to land another film, with Aliens being the film owing to production considerations described in this Screen Rant article by Michael Kennedy. The style of movie that resulted moved in the direction of a science fiction and action movie. The result is one I liked, reflected in my giving Aliens as directed by James Cameron 4-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Top 20 Movie “The Terminator.”

Canadian-born director, producer, and writer James Cameron has directed 13-movies to date with a total worldwide box office estimated at more than 6.2-billion United States Dollars by The Numbers, a website established to project and ultimately track movie sales and box office revenue in a systematic way. Cameron won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing Oscars for Titanic (1997), a film that does not appear in the Matt Lynn Digital listing of Top 20 Movies.

The sole James Cameron movie to break into the Top 20 listing is The Terminator (1984), a film that stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. As actors, each is known for this movie franchise more than any other, though Schwarzenegger had success before and after that eclipsed that of the other two. The Terminator also is the movie that brought Cameron the prominence that would allow for Avatar (2009), Titanic (1997), and Aliens (1986).

As articulated in the Internet Movie Database summary, The Terminator offers an original premise of time travel, a nebulous cause and effect premise that works for this film, and a science-fiction premise with intrigue that allowed an entry into a sequel that makes for a dynamic two-movie punch.

As pertains strictly to The Terminator, you get:

A seemingly indestructible humanoid cyborg is sent from 2029 to 1984 to assassinate a waitress, whose unborn son will lead humanity in a war against the machines, while a soldier from that war is sent to protect her at all costs.

As indicated above, the movie takes place mainly in 1984 … in the city of Los Angeles. Schwarzenegger is a cyborg assassin called a “Terminator,” and his mission is to prevent the birth of human resistance fighter John Connor from ever being born. His mission in accomplishing that outcome is to kill Sarah Connor (played by Linda Hamilton), though the Terminator does not know which Sarah Connor of Los Angeles will become John Connor’s mother.

Soon after The Terminator arrives, Kyle Reese (played by Michael Biehn) arrives to carry out a mission of his own on behalf of humanity. Reese gets to the ever important Sarah Connor moments before the cyborg intent on killing her, and a pursuit ensues that ultimately carries the viewer through 1-hour and 47-minutes of exciting movie.

The Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus tells us that The Terminator is an influence for both Science Fiction and Action movies alike:

With its impressive action sequences, taut economic direction, and relentlessly fast pace, it’s clear why The Terminator continues to be an influence on sci-fi and action flicks.

In 2008, The Terminator was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress in the National Film Registry. If action, loud noises, good pacing, and a pop-culture line to rival many a line isn’t enough for you, then maybe these reviews aren’t for you. However, there is a chance after this review that “[You’ll] be back.”

Matt – Monday, January 30, 2017