Posts Tagged ‘Mary-Elizabeth Winstead’

It sounds crazy, but the remedy for a so-so prequel just might in fact be a sequel

Dear Universal Pictures,

Just an idea, but maybe you should dare to follow your prequel of The Thing with a sequel to John Carpenter’s The Thing, and make it a follow-up reminiscent of James Cameron’s Aliens.

In my review of Heijningen Jr.’s recently released prequel I note how transparent it is that what he really made was actually more of a remake. And although there is still a rather large cultural resistance to horror remakes (I’m going by fan forums here, not box office numbers), such a fact should not really be held against Heijningen Jr. himself. More appropriately, any hostility towards this truth should be directed at you because it was you who insisted on making a “prequel” that in this particular case couldn’t have been anything else but a remake. One way you could redeem yourself of this misguided decision, though, is by seriously entertaining the above suggestion.

It sounds almost paradoxical for me to suggest that the way to make up for a poorly conceived remake is to base another related story on a film that so many – including myself – consider a classic of such status that to even joke about “tampering” with it might be tantamount to heresy, but hear me out.

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Short Take: Not without intrigue, but flawed in its invention

Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.

Screenwriter: Eric Heisserer; John W. Campbell Jr. (Who Goes There? novella)

Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Eric Christian Olseen, Ulrich Thomsen

Length: 1h 43m

Synopsis: The following story takes place shortly before the events of John Carpenter’s 1982 film of the same title. A great scientific discovery has just been made in the wastelands of Antarctica, and top experts of various kinds are being assembled to research and document it. Paleontologists Kate (Winstead) and Adam (Olseen) are recruited by the venture’s director Dr. Halvorson (Thomsen), but exactly what their tasks will be remains a mystery to them until they’re shown what their dealing with. What the inexplicably curious discovery turns out to be is the remains of a giant alien spacecraft and a frozen specimen suspended in ancient ice. That specimen, they regret to find, is not as inanimate as one would assume. Incredibly, there is still cellular activity, and each cell is capable of imitating any foreign cell it comes into contact with. Before long the abstraction is able to, after killing them, perfectly impersonate whole people. Kate, Adam, and the rest must determine which of their fellow researchers are things, and fight to make sure they don’t reach civilization to infect the rest of the world. With so dangerous and cunning a species, this is far easier said than done.

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Short Take: As entertaining and well-crafted as anything out this year, short of "Inception"

Director: Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead)

Screenwriters: Michael Bacall (Manic), Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead)

Cast: Michael Cera (Youth in Revolt, Superbad), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Live Free or Die Hard), Chris Evans (The Losers, Sunshine), Jason Schwartzman (TV’s Bored to Death, Fantastic Mr. Fox), Alison Pill (Milk), Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air), Kieran Culkin (The Cider House Rules), Ellen Wong, Brandon Routh (Superman Returns), Mark Webber, Johnny Simmons

Length: 1h 52m

Synopsis: Scott Pilgrim (Cera) is a 23 year old who shares a small apartment with his gay roommate Wallace (Culkin) and is the bassist for the garage band Sex Bob-omb. Also in this band are his friends Stephen (Webber) and Neil (Simmons), and one ex-girlfriend named Kim (Pill), all of whom don’t really approve of the fact that Scott has begun dating a 17 year old girl named Knives Chau (Wong) (though they have yet to even hold hands). One day Scott sees a girl at the library that he only saw previously in his dreams – Ramona Flowers (Winstead). After meeting her face to face at a party and working what charm he has, Scott and Ramona start becoming a couple. Upon this development, however, Scott proceeds to be challenged by each of Ramona’s Seven Evil Exes. In order for the two to keep dating Scott must defeat each evil ex he encounters, all of whom combat him in an arcade-like manner. Will Scott survive the tremendous onslaught of enemies? And more importantly, will he eventually be able to date the girl of his dreams? Read the rest of this entry »