Alien: Romulus (2024)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Welcome to episode 137 of Project Geekology, and I
am one of your hosts, Anthony,and this week I don't have
anything special.
My peak was Prometheus and Bob,and that's it.
No more special intros from me.
Joining us as always is Dakota.

SPEAKER_00 (00:19):
Yeah, we're we're we're not talking Prometheus
anymore, Anthony.
So you have nothing specialgoing on at all.
What about Bob?
But uh do we have any Bobs inthe No, there's no Bob's,
there's no Roberts, there's noneof that in this episode.
Uh we got Andy's though.
Anyway, we're discussing AlienRomulus.
The most the most recent alienfilm from 2024 by Fade Alvarez.

(00:44):
And yeah, I'm one third of yourhost, and I'm joined as always
with Rich, the guy who has noidea what we're doing anymore.

SPEAKER_02 (00:51):
Uh we're just tumbling down this rabbit hole
of Alien, but I'm excited totalk about our pal uh Sid the
Synth.
Uh sorry, Andy the Android.
This is an entry, guys.
I think that I uh I have somethings to share with everybody
out there about our friendRiley.

SPEAKER_00 (01:07):
Anyway, what's fascinating about Alien Romulus?
No Riley in this one, no Rigley.

SPEAKER_02 (01:14):
That's not true.
I conjecture that I believe youare wrong, sir.
I'm gonna continue talking.

SPEAKER_00 (01:19):
Um you can you can conjecture later.
One thing that's fascinatingabout this film is that there
are no recurring characters fromany previous alien movie.
If you think that you've seen arecurring character from a
previous alien movie, you'refooling yourself.
You're just drawing dots fromone film to another.
There's no connection toanything alien previously in

(01:42):
this movie.
So let's let's let's start itthere.
Let's set that groundwork.

SPEAKER_03 (01:48):
Wait, I don't are you guys messing with me again?
I don't understand.
I'm pretty sure I saw someone.
No, Rodney.
Like, I don't understand.
I'm pretty sure I saw somethings.

SPEAKER_00 (02:01):
I'm all right.
We're coming at this a littlesilly.
Episode 137 of Product Ecologywill be about alien Romulus.
There is at least one person whois recurring in this next entry.
And yeah, we will talk aboutthat in short order, but I want
to get into what we've been upto this past week.
I know Rich, you've had a veryexciting weekend last week.

(02:24):
How how was Comic-Con?

SPEAKER_02 (02:26):
Oh, I uh so you know, every year it changes.
I mean, I've been going since2007, 2008, or something like
that.
I I can't don't quote me.
It's one of the first years thatit opened up or something.
The second year, maybe I wentwith my friend, and I've been
going ever since.
You know, I won't lie, there wasa part of the floor that uh I'm
very used to the general layoutof how they have everything.

(02:47):
You know, they have like a lotof smaller, independent guys in
the middle between the two mainhalls.
But at the end of one hall,where normally you have a lot of
rows of comic vendors, they werereplaced by just large displays
and kind of more commercialism.

(03:09):
Look, I know the entire event iscommercial, right?
But I had a joy in like findinga weird comic from my childhood
for a couple bucks by sittingunder a table and going through
some boxes, you know?
And I do feel like a little bitof that is gone.
I do also get slightly likecrowd uh like crowd crazy.

(03:30):
So going down to Artist Alley,now I have to preface this by
reminding you guys that lastyear I went on Thursday.
This year I went on Friday, andI I forgot.
Like I forgot what Friday waslike.
So going down to Artist Alley, Ithink my heart skipped a beat
when I looked down and saw theentire how many people were down
there.
And it was a little hectic.
I found that it was moredifficult to just kind of

(03:51):
meander around and have a goodtime.
But uh, we had a great time inthe costumes.
I went as, of course, the fatherfigure that I am, Vegeta, my
lovely despite what everybodymay have heard on this podcast
about other people beingmentioned, like me dressing as
Bulma, my wife was Bulma, and myson was Strunks.
Alright.
So this is another yeah anotheryear where I'm dressing up, one

(04:13):
year I dressed up as Iroh, whereI don't really know who I am,
like as well, you know, as much.
Like I learned more about Irohafter I dressed up as him.
I vaguely know about Vegeta,like I know you know, and there
was one kid in particular, liketurned the corner, and I was
just like sitting on the floor,like with my son, waiting for my
wife to get out of the bathroom.
And he goes, Oh my goodness,sick Vegeta cosplay, bro.

(04:36):
He's like, Can I take a picture?
Like he was so excited, and Iwas like, Yeah, man, like I
don't care.
Like, if you ask me for apicture, I'm always willing, you
know.
Uh one guy did say, What is uhGoku's like nickname or
something?
It's not Kakarot.
Okay, so someone said, like,tell Kakura I said hi.
And I'm like, is he telling mewhat to say?
I'm like, Kakarot, say hi, andhe was like, What?
And he's just like walked away,shaking his head, and I was

(04:57):
like, I'm sorry, I didn't knowwhat I was talking about.
But I had a really good time,and I think other than that kid
with the picture, my wife, wewere walking through the city,
and she looks at me and shegoes, You know what's crazy is
she's like, you walk around likeyou're not wearing a costume.
Like that, because I had fromthe minute we got out of the
car, I'm like full wig going on,walking through Manhattan, and

(05:17):
she's just like, you don't looklike you're in costume.
Like other people in costume arelike, oh hey, I kind of feel
weird walking down the street,and I'm I was just motoring.

SPEAKER_00 (05:26):
Yeah, everyone kind of looks like a lanky teenager
wearing a costume outside of thecon.

SPEAKER_02 (05:30):
Yep.

SPEAKER_00 (05:31):
As soon as you enter the con, it becomes kind of
okay.
But as soon as you're like onthe streets of New York, there's
something about wearing acostume that you're just like,
don't really look, you know, I'mtrying to be cool.
I'm not actually this person,you know, this is just a
costume.
But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (05:48):
I think they should be normal in New York.
Like, I mean, with the randomthings that happen there, like
the least of your issues issomebody dressing up as Pikachu.

SPEAKER_02 (05:58):
There was a super sick, was it Goku, but it was a
cat or something?
Like someone just came out oflike a double door dressed as it
wasn't, it was like Naruto orsomething.
It was yeah, it was Naruto.
Came out, came out.
It was a Naruto giant cat.
Like, I mean, you guys can't seewhat I'm saying because we're

(06:19):
Fox.

SPEAKER_01 (06:19):
Oh, you're talking about the Fox Karama?

SPEAKER_02 (06:21):
Yep, that sounds like it would be right.
Again, once again, me notknowing the lore, but anyway, I
had it.
Look, the truth is, I as much asI can I can grumpy old man it,
right?
My wife for the first time said,Hey, I love that costume that
couple's wearing.
Can I go ask them for a picture?
And like, because of us beingasked for pictures in years

(06:42):
past, I think she finally waslike, I can do this, you know,
and that that was a cool momentfor me.
And my son did the same thing.
He saw somebody.
There was a very jacked guy fromDragon Ball.
I don't know, he was justwalking around with no shirt on,
really.
And a backpack.
Yes, and then he got so excitedand he ran up to him, he's like,
Can I take a picture with him?
And we're like, Yeah, and hegoes and takes a picture with

(07:02):
him.
And then that guy was like, Yo,by the way, there's like a
Dragon Ball meetup around thecorner.
And Charlie was like, No! So weran around the corner and he got
to meet those people.
So that's cool.
I will keep going until thathappens, right?
Like, even if I'm not gettingthe same joy anymore, seeing him
get it is is all the way.

SPEAKER_00 (07:21):
Yeah, no, that's awesome.
I mean, if you do regularlydress up every year, you should
look up the meetups that arehappening.

SPEAKER_02 (07:28):
Oh, we we went to a meetup well, one year with my
brother, he didn't have acostume, so it was like his
first year going to Comic-Con,and I called my stepmom and I
said, My brother is by the way,like he's like 16, 17 years
older, I mean younger than me.
He's like maybe, I don't know,10 or 11.
I'm like, I call her and I'mlike, hey, do you have a leather
jacket?
She's like, Yeah.
I'm like, he's still got thosesports goggles, right?

(07:49):
She's like, Yep.
I'm like, can you put some redcellophane over them?
She's like, Yeah.
I'm like, okay, let's go.
And we showed up and we'rewalking around and I'm just
wolverine, and people are like,yo, sick Mazden cosplay, like
for Cyclops.
And we went to the meetupbecause someone told us about
it, and they did a video wherethey included him and they kept
like giving him cues to likegrab his like lenses and stuff.

(08:12):
Oh and then they they they sentit to us like months later, and
they actually had put in likethe laser beams.
So like he you know, and theyhad um Magneto holding me up,
like the issue of X-Men 25.

SPEAKER_00 (08:23):
Like, I'm like very crazy, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (08:25):
Yeah, no, that's that's sorry, I was Wolverine
for context.
So uh it's my favorite probablycomic cover comic of all time.

SPEAKER_00 (08:31):
I understand.
You're you're currently you youare still rocking, you know,
even though you played withVegeta, you are still rocking
the Wolverine hairstyle, face orfacial hairstyle.
So, I mean, it's understandable.

SPEAKER_01 (08:44):
So, so yeah, like, you know, that that see that
that's what I was saying.
Like, you know, when you went, Iknow that you went as Vegeta,
but like you could have gone toa DBZ meetup and a Marvel
meetup.
And just been like, yeah, I wasthat deleted scene from the you
know, Deadpool Wolverine, whereI was gonna be the Vegeta
version of Wolverine.

SPEAKER_02 (09:04):
Jeez, you know, I we need to talk to you guys about
this early.
I I am excited because my jobsaid that we're doing a spirit
you know, Halloween, and ourtheme is uh our theme is gonna
be superheroes versussupervillains.
And someone legitimately lookedat me in the eye this morning,
who I've worked with for sevenyears, and said to me, What

(09:24):
supervillain are you dressing upas?
And I looked around the room andI was like, Is this a bit?
Like, I don't understand.
And somebody shouted out, He'sgot like seven versions of
Wolverine's costume at home.
And I'm like, Yeah, like just mylife.

SPEAKER_00 (09:36):
So And and the guy was like, I'm assuming it's a
guy, he just he just continued,Again, which supervillain are
you going to play?

SPEAKER_02 (09:45):
And he just and he just I'm like, I'm gonna be the
you know, war, the the horsemanof apocalypse.

SPEAKER_00 (09:51):
Like no, no, you he he was playing Senator Kelly,
and he was saying that yourWolverine was the supervillain.
You know, like for him, that waswhat was happening.
Yeah, that's you know, it it itit's all it's all twisted about.

SPEAKER_02 (10:07):
Taking us away off track, guys.
I'm really sorry for letting meshoot.

SPEAKER_00 (10:10):
Anthony, let me send it over to you.
What have you been up to thispast week?

SPEAKER_01 (10:13):
Man, at this point I forgot what I did.
Same, dude.
Um it's the same thing everyweek.
Well, I mean, you know, I havethat that that trip that I have
going on, so not this weekend,but the the weekend after that,
I'll be, you know, flying out toyou know to my vacation
destination.
What have I been going on?

(10:34):
What?

SPEAKER_02 (10:35):
Haunting my dreams.

SPEAKER_01 (10:36):
Just really like, yeah, just just like aliens,
dude.
Like I haven't had anything likecrazy going on.
Um, I know that there is aconvention that's coming up this
weekend.
I'm not entirely sure if I amgoing to go at least one of the
days.
Maybe I might go on thatSaturday, we'll see, but you

(10:57):
know, we'll we'll we'll uh I'lllet you all know if I do do
that.
It'll be one that I've neverbeen to, but it'll be a little
bit more of a travel, so that'swhy I'm like, uh, I'm gonna do
one day.

SPEAKER_00 (11:07):
Fair.

SPEAKER_01 (11:08):
So yeah, I'm not gonna do like a hour and a half
drive, you know, three days.
Well, it would be two daysbecause I I I work on Friday,
but yeah, man, nothing toocrazy.
How about you, Dakota?

SPEAKER_00 (11:20):
I'm in the same boat, nothing too crazy.
I did not get to go to New YorkComic-Con this year.
I always like the past coupleyears I've been like neglectful
about like, oh, tickets are onsale, I'll get them later.
And then I don't get them, youknow.
But I do want to jump into thatagain, because I was going
regularly for like over adecade.
Yeah, I missed it.

(11:41):
I have been I haven't been in awhile, but that does bother me a
little bit, Rich, that theymoved the location where the
comic book vendors wouldnormally be.

SPEAKER_02 (11:48):
I'm telling you, man, from like if you know if
you know like the numbers, yeah,right.

SPEAKER_00 (11:52):
I totally understand what you're saying.

SPEAKER_02 (11:53):
Yeah, it's crazy.
That whole 31, like I'd say fromlike row three thousand on, like
it was just transformed.

SPEAKER_00 (12:02):
You know, I think that's what became of San Diego
Comic-Con.
And that was one of like even adecade, two decades ago, that
was like the biggest criticismof San Diego Comic-Con was it
wasn't about comics anymore, itwas just about whatever the
vendors were pushing.
There's not vendors, but likeyou know, the publishing.

SPEAKER_02 (12:20):
There was an eBay giant area where somebody was
like doing like that's beenthere for a couple years.

SPEAKER_00 (12:26):
But it I it may not have been in that area, but it
was huge.

SPEAKER_02 (12:29):
There was a video where they were doing like live
auctions.
And I'm like, who doesn'tauction anymore?
You do buy it now, baby, orthat's it.

SPEAKER_00 (12:37):
That you get off of it.
I know.
Whatever.
But yeah, no, I haven't been upto too much geeky stuff.
I did write the second part inmy Aliens Timeline Companion
series.
So this one will cover theAliens film novelization scripts
and everything in between.
I I basically like did all mynotes on that.

(12:58):
I wrote down how the canonchanged, the timeline was fixed,
how this reinforces future filmsand other titles.
And I also found some really,really cool Easter eggs that I
don't think anyone has everfound before.
Specifically in regards to AlienEarth, which is what we're gonna

(13:21):
be covering next week.
Specifically in the Alan DeanFoster novelization of aliens,
there are concepts in that bookthat are abandoned.
They bring up new ideas in thisnovelization that as I'm reading
it, as I'm listening to it, I'mjust like, huh, that's really

(13:42):
interesting.
Okay, on to the next one.
Huh, wait, that's also reallyinteresting.
Why don't they expand on that?
Okay, huh.
That seems like it's the exactpremise of the Alien Earth TV
series.
Wait, that's really weird.
So I made a whole section in myvideo for how I believe my
personal theory is that Ibelieve the people who are

(14:06):
writing the Alien Earth TVseries or conceptualized it, at
one point read the Alien Aliensplural novelization by Alan Dean
Foster because there areabandoned ideas in that
novelization that make their wayor get reused or adapted or

(14:26):
changed slightly to fit thealien earth TV.

SPEAKER_02 (14:30):
Let's get this straight, my friend.
I just want to know something.
So I see your tweet.
All right, about this.
And I and I said, okay, I'm notgonna tweet at Dakota.
I'm gonna just wait till tonightbecause he's gonna give me a
little bit of meat.
I was hoping that meat was backon the menu, alright?
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You just that was the mostpolitical statement.

(14:52):
I have you have not what did youtell me?
Give our loyal listeners to thisshow a little morsel.
Alright.

SPEAKER_00 (15:00):
Okay, okay, okay, all right, all right.
Little morsel.
I'll tell you what I have found.
Here we go, baby.
There are three specific thingsthat I have found in the Aliens
novelization that specifically,I believe, link to what happens
in the Alien Earth TV series.

(15:21):
In the very first episode,within the first 10 minutes, a
ship crashes into Earth.
Whatever the ship is carrying,ooh, I don't know, but whatever,
the mission length of that shipand that crew is 65 years.
I thought that's a veryinteresting number.
In the alien novelization,there's a line that says, no one

(15:42):
had ever survived more than 65years in hypersleep.
I wrote that down.
Before I watched Alien Earth, Iwrote down that line.
I was just like, that's a reallyinteresting lore segment.
Okay, I'll I'll write that down.
Forgot about it.
Then later on in thenovelization for aliens, there's
a line where someone says aboutBishop, he's a funny sort of

(16:03):
hybrid.
Hybrid is a weird word becausethey never really use that
again.
And I I did my research.
Like I went through everynovelization after that.
I did all the books, all thefilms and everything.
No synthetic is ever called ahybrid ever again until Alien
Earth redefines what a hybridis.

(16:23):
You'll notice in the very likefirst minute of Alien Earth,
they explain what a hybrid is.
So no spoilers there, but I'mnot saying that I think that
Bishop is the hybrid that thisJoe is saying.
I think they just took theabandoned concept of like he's a
funny sort of hybrid and likemade a whole like made lore

(16:45):
around that concept.
And then there's this whole linefrom the book that never makes
it into the movie.
Nobody's ever encounteredanything like them.
You think it'd be dangerous forsome germs to get loose from a
weapons lab?
Try to imagine what would happenif just one of those parasites
got loose in a major city withits thousands of kilometers of
sewers and pipes and glass fiberchannels to hide in.

(17:08):
Speaking of that, this is reallytalking to Burke in the second
Aliens movie about like whatwould happen if you know, like
one of those facehuggers gotloose in a major city on Earth.
And I'm like, that sounds a lotlike what would happen in Alien
Earth.
That single sentence makes upthe entire like premise for the

(17:29):
show that we're about to watch.
So I don't know that for sure.
I don't know that these are likeabsolutely connected material,
but it's weird.
You know, I did read literallyall the novelizations for these
films.
Only one of these books hadconnections that were directly
paralleled to the show thatwe're about to watch, and there
were three of them.

(17:50):
So I I don't think that's acoincidence.
You know, I think someone in thewriting staff of Alien Earth
read the Aliens novelization byAlan Dean Foster and decided to
take some abandoned concepts foruh their picking, basically.
That's my theory, and yeah.
Big fan.

SPEAKER_02 (18:07):
Ripley was asleep for 57 years.
57, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (18:11):
So that was like that's where they put that line.
Like shortly after Ripley wakesup, the narration says that
nobody has ever survived morethan 65 years.
Yeah.
So just throwing that out there.
I I think that whoever wroteAlien Earth also potentially
might have read the Alien'snovelization.

SPEAKER_02 (18:30):
That's sick.

SPEAKER_00 (18:31):
But yeah, I have a new video coming.
That's a little bit longer thanmy previous timeline video for
the the alien film.
And it should be coming probablyaround the time that this
podcast comes out.
We shall see.
Anyway, guys, let's jump intoAlien Romulus, which is the
final film in this seven-filseries, like a canon seven-film

(18:54):
series of alien projects.
Uh, and we'll start withAnthony, because I've kind of
been talking to Rich for alittle bit.
Anthony, what are your firstthoughts?
Because this is the first timethat you're seeing Alien
Romulus.

SPEAKER_01 (19:06):
Yeah, the this is the only movie out of this whole
series that I I hadn't seenprior.
And honestly, to tell you thetruth, like I would say at least
like out of all of the currentday alien movies, or like the
modern alien movies, this islike my favorite.
It's really good.

(19:27):
Like it I see what you becauseyou had mentioned that it kind
of felt like a return to form asfar as alien movies, and I felt
there was definitely liketouches of that original movie
in there, with also likeinfluences from aliens in there
too.

SPEAKER_00 (19:46):
Yeah.
By by the modern films, you meanlike Prometheus Covenant and
Romulus, right?
Yes.
Okay, yeah.
It definitely has strong ororiginal alien, like really
Scott Alien vibes, you know,like they're stuck on a ship for
most of it, and they're justtrying to survive while there's
this infestation going.

(20:07):
And there there are more thanone xenomorphs on the Romulus
base that they enter.
Yeah.
But uh, yeah, no, it it does itit it definitely still has that
vibe, and there are clear cuesto aliens as well, especially
with like the elevator shaftsthat they go up and down on and
stuff.
Rich, what are your thoughts onthis final film of the series?

SPEAKER_02 (20:32):
So I don't really get scared.
I'm not trying to be a toughguy, I don't watch tons of
horror, but I used to, you know,when I was younger, I'd watch
kind of some outlandish stufflike the um I don't know if you
guys ever see the Toxic Avengermovies by Troma.
I I was into the Evil Deadstuff.
And you know, the only thingthat really like ever kind of
frightened me essentially waslike psychological stuff.

(20:52):
Like as a little little kid,Freddie Kruger scared the
bejesus out of me because thatguy comes to you when you're
sleeping.
Like so when you fall asleep.

SPEAKER_00 (21:00):
Yeah, when when you're when you're most
vulnerable.

SPEAKER_02 (21:02):
And my mom used to like play pranks on me, like
told me my dad was on the phone,and I ran and I was like, hey
dad, and it's like the FreddieKruger hotline, the terrible
things, all right?
But anyway, that's all thataside, like body horror doesn't
usually frighten me, and and andI I wonder, and I'm gonna ask
you guys, I know this is myreaction to it, but I kind of

(21:23):
want to ask you guys.
So I've seen Isabella Merced ina number of, you know, I've seen
her in the Superman movie, I'veseen her in Madame Webb, which
was unfortunate.
I've also seen her in The Lastof Us.
And there's a couple of things.
One, I'd like to point out,there's a a kind of crazy thing

(21:44):
here, and and I don't know howthe timeline works because I
forget when this comes out, butif this movie came out before
Last of Us, alright?
In It did.
Right?
It did.
It did.
Okay, so it comes out beforeLast of Us.
So in Last of Us, she plays ayoung Last of Us series season

(22:05):
two.

SPEAKER_00 (22:05):
It came out before season two.

SPEAKER_02 (22:07):
So she plays a young woman who is at some at some
point becomes pregnant during anapocalyptic thing, right?
Sure.
And then they also in you know,in Alien, she becomes pregnant
during this kind of terribletime.
And I just found it likeinteresting.
But the timeline, yeah.
Like I wonder if there was anykind of like, oh man, like, you

(22:28):
know, this kind of idea from Idon't know, but I do know this.
I'm not sure if it's her as anactress, because I've obviously
seen other actors in thisfranchise look terrified when
they're about to die or whenthey're being tracked down by
the alien.
But when she's on that walkwayand she can't look up, like the

(22:49):
xenomorph is is over her andends up exiting to the left in
that scene.
Yeah.
Her terror, like the look on herface, not the xenomorph, just I
was gripped with fear.
I've never wanted anybody tosurvive more, right?

(23:09):
Like when she couldn't even lookback to see if it had left.
Like she was just like, and Iwas like, oh my god, it might be
what if it's behind you?
What if it's behind you?
Like, that hasn't happened to methe entire franchise.
And I'm assuming that some ofthe directors in this franchise
were hoping that people wouldhave that kind of reaction.
And it took to this one, but Ifinally got to a point where I

(23:34):
cared enough about a character,I didn't think that character
had plot armor for me toactually be as scared as the
character.
And I gotta say, that's afreaking tribute.
43 years, and I don't think I'veever felt that for any character
other than maybe watching Groot,like, you know, what have like I

(23:54):
I'm gonna spoil it.
I don't care.
If you haven't seen Guardians 3and you're listening to this
podcast, like Up Yours, like theyou know, that scene when when
Groot dies, right?
You know, that I mean I lost Ilost my marble.
I lost everything, like Icouldn't keep it together.
That but her performance in thismovie really, really drove home
how good this movie is for me.

(24:15):
Best of the franchise.
I mean, after resurrection, bestof the franchise.

SPEAKER_00 (24:18):
Like this is like get out of here, Anthony, moving
back to you.

SPEAKER_01 (24:22):
No, well, I well, I I was gonna I was gonna say that
I think the reason for that isthat they upped the stakes by
making her pregnant.

SPEAKER_02 (24:30):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (24:31):
And you kind of like wanted her to make it.
I mean, in all honesty, like youyou're like, you know, I don't
want to see this pregnant womanget killed savagely by an alien.
Because we've been watching allof the alien movies and we've
seen nothing but savage deaths,right?
People getting killed savagely.

(24:53):
So like we know the potential ofthe series, and so we don't want
to see that happen to a pregnantwoman.
So yeah, no, no, I would say thestakes.
I really do like that theybrought, you know, like it was
dark, like the first one, likeliterally dark, where there was
like very little lighting, andlike when they needed lighting,

(25:14):
like I felt like they werereally good about it, like you
know, n right, yeah.
They made it dark when it neededto be, and then they lit it up,
you know, so that you could seethe scene, but like still
maintain the illusion ofdarkness, you know?

SPEAKER_02 (25:27):
Like when the xenomorphs I it really felt like
a throwback to Aliens 3 when thethree xenomorphs are like kind
of like prowling together,right?
And it kind of reminded me ofthat scene where they looked up
at the ceiling and saw like allthe xenomorphs scurrying towards
them.
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Somehow they made it scarier inthis one.
I'm not sure if it's becauseAnthony's right because of the

(25:49):
lighting, but I was like, ohsnap! Here they come.
I'm sorry, I'm gonna keep doingthis this show, but no, that's
dude.

SPEAKER_00 (25:56):
I'm happy.
I'm happy to hear that you'vebeen terrified.
You've gotten your boots shaken.

SPEAKER_01 (26:01):
Um you know what made me laugh?
So this was like one of thoseparts with Isabella where she's
like trying to get through thatdoor and like the xenomorph
emerges from like that husk.
I started laughing because whenit emerged from that husk, it
immediately was just dripping.

SPEAKER_02 (26:18):
Oh, so much juice.
It was just like pouring water.
Can can we get something out ofthe way, gentlemen, so we can
discuss the rest of the showwithout having to mention this?

SPEAKER_00 (26:27):
Sure, sure, yeah.
No, guys, aliens are very juicy.
I'm gonna bring up some adultstuff, guys.
Like, okay, no, I I think it'simportant that we do bring up
some adult stuff in this becausesome adult stuff is definitely
hinted at in this movie.
But before we jump into any ofthat, that aliens are very
juicy, and I also hope that yourreviews for this podcast are

(26:50):
likewise very juicy.
You know, I we we always uhrequest five-star reviews for
you listeners on this podcast,wherever you listen to your
podcasts, because it helps bringnew listeners to our show, and
we we do appreciate that.
So please, five-star juicyreview, just like the
xenomorphs, guys.
Rich now has to segue into moreadult territory.

(27:13):
This is a rated art segment.

SPEAKER_02 (27:15):
This is fantastic.
So, anyway, this kind of feelslike when I'm talking about a
book in class that I don't wantto discuss.
Alright, so here we go.
My goodness, the amount ofreferences to female organs in
this movie is they even changedthe they even changed the face
hugger like underside to lookmore.

SPEAKER_00 (27:37):
Everything is just I'm just gonna say it.

SPEAKER_02 (27:39):
Everything's very vaginal.
It's a very it I won't lie toyou, it seemed like a little
heavy-handed, right?
It seemed like somebody waslike, hey, you know what we
should do?
Like, let's make these look likevaginas.
And then like some guy was like,uh, yeah.
And then they did it once, butthey're like, Do you think
anybody will notice if we makelike 17 ref like when the guy

(28:00):
takes the prodder and he's like,Oh, I'll take care of this, and
he's just like jamming it in.
I'm just like, what are wewatching here?
If I was with my wife, I wouldhave taken my phone and looked
at my phone because I would havefelt awkward, which is what I do
whenever there's nudity or sexin a movie.
Alright, like I I don't I don'tknow.
What do you guys think?

(28:20):
Anthony, like, were you unc Iwas uncomfortable and I watched
it alone.
I don't know if it's my Catholicsensibilities from Catholic
school as a small child, butholy shnikes.

SPEAKER_00 (28:31):
Holy shnikes.
Anthony, what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_01 (28:34):
Yeah, I thought it was like wild, yeah, when they
pulled a face hugger off of uh Idon't remember her name, the
pilot's face.
I was like, oh wow, that'sinteresting.
Like, I mean, it makes sensethat that's how it would like
implant, you know, the parasite.
It would oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (28:53):
It was it was very palic.
Yes.

SPEAKER_01 (28:56):
Yeah, it w it I was just like, I was like, that that
was yeah, it was just weird.
But it it it made sense, youknow, when you think about it.
I guess outside of that, like Iwasn't trying to think too much
into that stuff.
I was just enjoying a reallygood aliens movie, like it just
didn't feel I think the firsttime I watched it, I noticed

(29:16):
that a lot more.

SPEAKER_00 (29:17):
Versus the second time that I watched it for the
podcast, I wasn't payingattention to it as much.
You know, like I knew that itexisted, so I was just kind of
like, alright, but what does itmean for the aliens?
What does it mean for the peopleon board?
That's where I kind of sat.
Going back to Isabella Merced,she has one scene just after the

(29:39):
chest burster where she like themusic just stops and she has a
blood curdling scream.
It's the only one in the alienfranchise that actually like
kind of like shakes me.
You know, like it they theediting on this, the directing
on this is phenomenal.
Like it actually is Is reallystrong authorial intent with

(30:03):
this movie.
And I think that's part of why Ilike this movie so much.
It's that you actually feelsomething.
You know, like you can I I thinkthe ideas behind certain other
movies, like Alien 3, AlienResurrection, Prometheus, the
the ideas behind those moviesare strong.
Like it's really cool concepts,but they don't always land

(30:25):
perfectly or even well.
And I think with this movie, theideas that they strike are
always really particularlystrong.
I want to bring something up.
The main actress that plays ourlead, the actress's name is
Kaylee Spainy.
C-A-I-L-E-E S-P-A-E-N-Y, whichis an anagram.

(30:51):
Hold on, people.
This is an anagram for Yee SpaceAlien.
I'm not lying.
Her name is an anagram for Y ESpace Alien.
Like, how how did you get thisrolled?
Like I thought that was so funnywhen I found out.

(31:12):
And it's it's it's legit.
Like it's like a like her nameis literally an anagram of E
Space Alien.
Alright.
Let's let's roll this wholediscussion back to the bare
bones of the film.
We begin on this mining world.
I think it's called Jackson orsomething, like Jackson

(31:32):
something.
And we have hold on, I forgetwhat the main character's actual
name is.
Rain Carradine is our maincharacter.
She's followed by Andy, which isa synthetic, an outdated
synthetic at this point.
You know, he's he's kind of gonethrough the motions.
He is now almost childlike, andis basically like a low IQ dad

(31:58):
joke generator.
You know, like he just followsRain around with dad jokes.
And I think that that'sgenuinely very charming.
You know, it's a it's a verycharming relationship that they
have.
What are what are our thoughtson Andy and Rain at the
beginning of the movie?

SPEAKER_02 (32:14):
I mean, I I literally stored some of those
jokes away.
I I actually They were good,they were good jokes.
The one uh the specifically likeI just started reading a book on
gravity, I can't put it down.

unknown (32:25):
Ha!

SPEAKER_02 (32:27):
That that kind of killed at dinner.
I I I literally went to dinnerafter I watched the movie with
my family and just droppedalmost all of Andy's jokes.
I didn't even tell them that Igot them from the movie.
I I just pretended that theywere my jokes because they're so
bad that they fall in line withall of my jokes.

SPEAKER_00 (32:48):
Like I can't I I want to be a dad one day just so
I can tell Andy.

SPEAKER_02 (32:52):
I won't lie, like when Andy goes, you know, full
whaley New Tani, I was very sad.
And then when he reverts again,you know, towards the when she
gets to like kind of fix him,and he starts with the dad jokes
again, I was legitimately warminside.
You were ver clamped.

(33:12):
Yes, I love that.
I really I don't know if youknow, and the thing is, this one
is not because I know the actor,you know.
I can say that the Isabel Mercedstuff, I like the actress, I've
seen her in other things, so I Ikind of have more of an
attachment here.
I don't know this actor from ahole in the wall.
I don't know if he's ever beenin anything else, and I'm gonna

(33:33):
tell you that I loved theportrayal.
Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 (33:37):
Yeah, no, I I was really touched by the Andy
portrayal as well.
Just like from the beginning,you know, it's it's hard to see
someone who's clearly not fullycognizant of their presence be
bullied by those around them.
I think that that's a hard thingfor anyone to watch, anyone with
any conscience anyway, to watch,and not be able to take

(33:59):
something meaningful away fromthat interaction.
So, yeah, I I I think that I'mlooking at the actor's name now.
His name is David Johnson.
He did a fantastic job as Andy.
What are your thoughts on Andy,Anthony?

SPEAKER_01 (34:12):
Yeah, I liked I liked Andy a lot, and I I kind
of follow or I kind of fall intothe same camp that you know when
he received that upgrade for thecredentials, yeah, that you
know, yeah, it it it made me sadto see him with his upgraded
directive and whatnot, and youknow, I I just but I I had a

(34:34):
feeling though that directivewould be overrode and that he
would maybe sacrifice himselffor rain, or that uh rain would
find a way to get rid of thechip and it you know it ended up
being the ladder, yeah.
So but yeah, it was yeah, I I Iliked him a lot.
I think he did a really goodjob.
I think he really did well ingiving off kind of that

(34:58):
childlike innocence when he was,you know, in downgraded Andy
mode, and then the fact that hewas able to swap to this robotic
android when he was upgraded,you know, the way that he was
able to swap between both.

SPEAKER_00 (35:12):
He played two characters, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (35:13):
He did a really good job.

SPEAKER_00 (35:15):
I think in the beginning, like the first half
of the movie, he is beingbullied by Bjorn, and Rain's
like, Why is he being so mean tothis guy?
And we find out that Bjorn'smother or father died in a mine
where a synthetic decided thatthe lives of the many are

(35:35):
greater than the lives of thefew, and made some sacrifices
for the good of the many,basically.
And that's a very computationalchoice to make.
It's a very hard thing for ahuman to choose to do something
like that.
It's so cold, but it is thelogical thing to do when
multiple lives are at stake.

(35:56):
So Bjorn was butthurt, andrightly so, because someone he
loved died because of the coldcalculations of asynthetic.
So he was taking that out onAndy, and I feel so bad for Andy
because he had nothing to dowith Bjorn's parents, whatever
happened to them.
But I find it so amazing thatthe actor and the actors in

(36:18):
general were able to just conveysuch a a disparate just
disparate levels of cognizance.
One was a synthetic who barelyknew what was happening in the
moment, versus another personwho understood multiple layers
of what an android was and iscapable of and hates them for
it.
It was such a good writingdynamic that I almost didn't

(36:43):
hate Bjorn because I thought itwas so well written.
It was such a strange thing.
But yeah, anyway, yeah, Andydoes get that chip installed in
him, and he becomes almost notdissimilar to Ash from the first
movie, you know, especially inthe second half of that movie
where Ash is actively workingagainst the crewmates on the

(37:03):
Nostromo.
Speaking of which, we do get areturning face.
What are your thoughts on IanHolm being ghoulishly brought
back to life via CGI?
What are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_01 (37:18):
He came back to life, man.
He they they somehow built atime machine and brought him
back to life, dude.
But yeah, no, it wasinteresting, and it it's it's
crazy how I feel like this thismovie kind of connects with like
every film in some kind of way,you know?

SPEAKER_00 (37:39):
Um they had the black goo yeah, right alien.

SPEAKER_01 (37:43):
See, see, I noticed that like I know that that that
they weren't supposed or or thatlike none of the characters from
those previous movies were used,but the Prometheus was talked
about.
We had the Black Goo.

SPEAKER_00 (37:58):
They played the Prometheus theme song.
Oh like the Star Trek theme thatwe we talked about a couple
episodes back, they brought thatback just for that little little
like 10-second like tune.
Yeah, no, it's it's it's likethey brought kind of like
everything back, basically.

SPEAKER_01 (38:12):
Yeah, yeah.
So like even though it's a moviethat it's a sequel and a prequel
at the same time, you know, it'stechnically a sequel to Alien
because it takes place afterAlien, and then like it's before
Aliens, but obviously it's aseparate group of people, so the
placement's interesting, youknow.

(38:33):
It's almost like what they didwith the Clone Wars.

SPEAKER_00 (38:36):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaking of it being a sequel toAlien, the very first couple
shots of this movie showcase thedestruction of the blown-up
Nostromo.
We saw the the destruction ofthe Nostromo after Ripley, you
know, blew it up.
She she said it forself-destruct and it blew up.

(38:58):
Now, this is about 20 yearsafter the first alien movie, and
we see that the company isactively searching for something
in the wreckage of the Nostromo,and we find that the xenomorph
that Ripley blasted off intospace somehow cocooned itself in

(39:20):
like like fossilization form towithstand twenty years in the
void.
Or uh maybe it was dead.
Who knows?

SPEAKER_02 (39:29):
It might have actually been in I did some
research on this.
And it seems that basically thenew thing that we found out in
this movie is that the aliensdon't die in the vacuum of
space, they can actually wrapthemselves in a chrysalis-like
state, kind of like acaterpillar or whatever.

(39:51):
And yeah, so they can survivethat the those conditions the
entire time.
That's creepy ass.
And uh, you know, you spokeabout the the wreckage and what
they were looking for.
I'm not sure if you guys caughtthis, it's a little bit of an
Easter egg, but when you'rewatching the space station crash

(40:12):
down, there's a little pops upout of the wreckage before it
goes down, supposedly supposedto be Riley's ship.
I I saw something come out of itand I paused it and I started
googling stuff, and basicallyWait, wait, wait, wait, wait,
wait, hold on, hold on, hold on.

SPEAKER_00 (40:31):
You're suggesting that Ripley's ship was in the
wreckage?

SPEAKER_02 (40:36):
No.
The narcissist.
The narcissist actually breaks,like as the wreckage is
happening, the narcissist breaksaway.

SPEAKER_00 (40:44):
But we know that the ship already broke away because
she had to get away from theship it literally like was a
nuclear bomb.
Like it exploded several times.
Like the narcissist had to beaway from the ship for it to
have survived.
I'm telling you, if you look itup.
I have to look it up.
I have to look it up.
I'm gonna don't worry.
I'm gonna do my my research onit, and we will get back to it

(41:05):
perhaps next week or so.

SPEAKER_02 (41:06):
So my girl Riley's back.
Riley's I'm telling you, I I'mvery I've done a good amount of
research, and I uh even Fetty.

SPEAKER_01 (41:15):
No, at that point it's not Riley though.

SPEAKER_02 (41:17):
Fetty Alvarez.
No, yeah, no, it's FettyAlvarez, sorry, I get the two
confused.
But he actually said my logicwas at some point if Willy Utani
could find the Xenomorphfloating around the debris of
the Nostromo, to find thenarcissist, the shuttle that
Riley escaped in, is in theeasiest part.
It's a lifeboat, it's a beacon.
And it says, Yeah, you'll findher, right?

(41:38):
It has a place to figure out theresearch of what's going on.
You should go get her.
So I'm sure they did, right?
So I was like, at some point,the narcissist has to be inside
the renaissance stationsomewhere.
Not only that, I wanted to givean explanation of why Ripley.
I almost I'm reading it and Ialmost correct autocorrected.

SPEAKER_00 (41:56):
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
That's different.
What do you mean?
The Renaissance station is notthe Nostromo.
So it's not the debris.
The Renaissance station is thestation that they enter that has
the both the Roman's half andthe remote.

SPEAKER_02 (42:09):
Sorry, I got confused.
That's that's what I thought youwere for like that when you were
talking about the wreckage,that's when it happens.
So when the station is crashingdown, the narcissist escapes.

SPEAKER_00 (42:20):
No way.
Yes, yes.
Oh my god.
So they had they had Ripley allthis time, and they were just
like, We'd rather we'd ratherplay with the alien.
That's crazy.
Okay, alright, alright, alright.
I I will have to do my researchon this, guys, and I will report

(42:41):
to you back next week.

SPEAKER_01 (42:41):
Uh yes, Dakota, we expect a three-page paper.

SPEAKER_00 (42:45):
Please.
Yeah, if if yeah.
Riley's back, baby.
You guys didn't see it coming,but I did my research.
Didn't did not see it coming.
Let's talk about ElizabethMerced's baby.
Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 (42:58):
So, first of all, can you stop Anthony?
Anthony keeps moving off screen,and his background is the
haunting alien.
Haunting.
The eight-foot-tall alien.
It just makes me so sick.
Alright.
Is he there?
Is he just doing this to likefreak me out?
Because it's working.
He's back.

SPEAKER_01 (43:18):
Oh, I'm sorry, did I do that?
I was there the whole time.

SPEAKER_02 (43:23):
Alright, I'm not gonna lie to you.
I love the reference to what isit, resurrection?
I know that we all loveresurrection, right?
You know, you kind of assumethat the offspring is going to
not want to do anything to themother.
And we are surprised, ladies andgentlemen.
What a great job by everyoneresponsible for that scene.

(43:46):
Because I I was like, oh, well,I just she's you know, plot
armor, she's gonna be safe.
She's the mom, nothing's gonnahappen.
And I was like, oh no, likeshe's secreting stuff, and
things don't go well for herthere.
It's not the best ofpregnancies.
Talk about postpartum.

SPEAKER_00 (44:02):
This takes us to a whole nother level.
It reminded me of like there'scertain like spiders who will
eat their mom after their birth.
Yeah, no, it's truly grotesque.

SPEAKER_01 (44:12):
This was one of those like body horror scenes
that had me like, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (44:16):
Oh brother.

SPEAKER_01 (44:17):
Yeah, yeah, for real.
Yeah, like so, so like, and thisis where I'm saying, like, the
the like it just feels like ittouches upon like every single
film because that creature isgrotesque, very similar to the
one in Resurrection.
Yeah, yeah, it it's it's butit's it's almost and then you

(44:37):
saw that like it was trying tolike cozy up with like his
mother for a moment, yeah.
And then like I don't know, likesince she was like kind of
rejecting him, maybe that's whyhe killed her.

SPEAKER_00 (44:51):
I don't even think it was that.
I think it was like like yousaid, Rich, she was kind of like
oozing out some sort of likeblack fluid that he clearly
needed potentially for growth orfor life, and basically sucked
her dry.
I don't think they they don'tshow her after that point, so

(45:13):
it's hard to say what actuallyhappened or what became she's
she's no more.
Very, very clearly, she's nomore.
But yeah, no, it's it's a trulyhorrific birth.
But it I again it also kind ofevokes what happens in
Prometheus, right?
Where she you know does a uh ac-section just before giving

(45:37):
birth, basically, becauseobviously something bad is gonna
happen, and thank goodness shedid, because like a squid bees
coming out of I forget EllieEllie is her name?
Yeah, I think it's Ellie.
Yeah, it would have been ahorrific thing, and that's one
of the best scenes inPrometheus, is just like her
taking the agency away from thecreature.

(45:57):
I love with this.
I'm sorry, go ahead.
With this, it's kind of theopposite.
Like Elizabeth Merced'scharacter gets put into a cryo
chamber or like f for hypersleepand something goes terribly
wrong.
Clearly, she produces a babyvery quickly after like
injecting herself with thatblack goo, which is like

(46:18):
synthesized black goo that theyhad come up with from the
alien's DNA, which just kind ofgoes to show that these aliens
were at some point all from thesame lineage of DNA replication,
or it was it was clearly alwaysa bioweapon that you know
evolved over thousands of yearsinto the perfect organism, which

(46:41):
is the xenomorph.
But they were able to trace backthose bioweapon mechanics that
David was playing with inPrometheus and Covenant to fix
the rats that they were testingon.
And if it worked on rats, itwould work on humans.
We're 25% related to rats orsomething.
25% is nothing.

SPEAKER_02 (47:01):
Um, it's like your fake uncle, right?
Like who's just your dad'sfriend.
That's nothing.

SPEAKER_01 (47:06):
That that that's that that percentage is too low
for me to chance, you know?
Like I'm just I'm not puttingI'm not injecting anything into
me.

SPEAKER_02 (47:14):
Anthony, did um I want to ask you, because I
you're more of a predator guy.
Did you that scene where Andyleads them into the room and
they change the thermostatessentially, right?
Did you get like I just feltlike it was a little hint, a
little hint of like the linkwith the predator, right?
Because I just thought aboutlike the heat-seeking.

SPEAKER_00 (47:35):
I I I was thinking similar.
I I knew that the predators dohunt via thermometer, basically,
or he his signature.
So I thought that that was veryinteresting.
Because, you know, throughoutall the novelizations, every
single one says they don't havean eye, or they don't, you know,
like the xenomorphs don't havean eye, they don't have like
noses.

(47:55):
How do they notice you're here?
You don't see their ears oranything like that.
So this kind of answers thatquestion a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 (48:02):
Yeah.
Yeah, that that that part didkind of give me a little bit of
a predator vibe with the youknow, heat signature that like
they they hunted by sound andheat signature.
So yeah, it did give me a vibe.
You know, something that I I'llsay about the alien movies is
that whether you you like themor dislike them, they're

(48:25):
consistent.
Like they're really consistent.
They all have like this likefemale action hero kind of lead,
you know?
Whereas like it starts withRipley, you have Daniels in the
last one.
Who was the one in Prometheus?
Ellie?
Elizabeth Shaw.
Shaw, yes, yes.
And then you had Rain in thisone.
So like I mean, they'reconsistent, man.

(48:48):
But I will say that they'remostly like in in the positive
as far as movies.

SPEAKER_02 (48:54):
Yeah, I I I agree with that.
Do you think it has to do withlike the fact that they model
the xenomorphs after I stillthink it's very insect
brood-like, no matter what kindof things they like try to throw
her away.
And in that structure, right,the queen is the literally the

(49:15):
queen bee, right?
Right, she's the top.
So in every movie in thefranchise you have a strong
female protagonist that is kindof the human queen, not in
producing and and andpropagating the species, but in
terms of like we're gonna gohead to head, it always comes

(49:38):
down to you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (49:40):
So one thing that I'm really coming to terms with
in the timeline companion seriesthat I'm working on on YouTube,
by the way, you can check outyou know links to that in the
show notes down below.
Is that there's a a very strongtheme of motherhood that goes

(50:01):
throughout every single one ofthese movies.
When it comes to the ship'sinterface in the first movie, it
was called mother.
In the second movie, you haveRipley kind of adopting Newt as
a surrogate mother.
You have Ripley's foil in theAlien Queen, the Xenomorph
Queen, who is the queen of allof these, you know, evil beings.

(50:26):
You have that foil of motherhoodin that second film.
In the third movie, you have theliteral impregnation of Ripley,
and at the very end, she almostcradles the chestburster as it
comes out and kills it, almostas if it's it's her own daughter
or child, whatever.
And in Resurrection, Ripley isbasically the grandmother of

(50:50):
this weird mutation, anabomination almost, of like
human and xenomorph DNA.
The xenomorph clearly treatsRipley as its mother, which is a
very strange thing.
And it keeps going, even untilRomulus.
We have this character played byIsabella Merced, who is a
literal pregnant mother who endsup giving birth to another

(51:13):
abomination, you know?
And I think that it is all partof it.
I don't know if the necessaryingredient is that the
protagonist be a female lead,but it it is a female lead
series.
100%.
Like there's there's no wayaround that, you know, like I
don't think there is any film,yeah, there's no film that is

(51:35):
that necessarily like not led bya female.
And I think that that's a reallyfrankly, it's novel.
It's a fresh idea, you know.
Like, I don't I don't know ofany other franchise that without
you know, it doesn't have to sayit either.
You know, like there's no alienfilm where you're where it's
like female power, but everymovie is female power because

(51:56):
that's the protagonist.
It just is it just is, it's justpart of the DNA of alien.

SPEAKER_01 (52:02):
You know, it works like it's not like something
that's being questioned, it'sjust it's like okay, this is a
alien.
You kind of become conditioned,and I'm and it and it starts off
strong.
I mean, you have SigourneyWeaver that's like her
character, Ellen Ripley, isabsolutely like a beast in these
movies, you know?
And so like it it follows suitwith all equally pretty

(52:26):
compelling characters after her,and you know, they offer their
own dynamic, you know, it's notthe same character over and
over, which I also appreciate.
Like, I don't feel like they'retrying to rip off Ripley, you
know?
They're not trying to Ripleyoff.

SPEAKER_00 (52:44):
Yes.
Now, with Romulus, did you guysever find that like it strode
too close to themes or nostalgiafrom previous movies that it
like bothered you a little bit?
Or that it took away from someof the uh so the story?

SPEAKER_02 (53:02):
Right.
So this Ian Holm that we see isHis name is is Rook in this
movie, but it's the same basicmodel.
It's the same model, but it'snot it's not the same character.
Alright, so I don't I mean Iunderstand the mo knowing that I
thought I knew it, and now youjust confirmed it for me.
I love nostalgia, like I'm I'myou know, I'm a memberberry's

(53:23):
guy.
Like it definitely, you know, Idefinitely like Force Awakens,
and I know that I like itbecause it has a very similar
plot structure to New Hope, youknow?
I get that.
Sure.
I don't see a reason why weneeded to have Ian Holmes'
visage, you know, like it couldhave just been somebody who
looked very much like him and itwas just slightly different, and

(53:44):
they could just this model isreleased seven months
afterwards, you know.

SPEAKER_00 (53:50):
Like I I Yeah, because it at this point, like
all of the models well, not allof the models, like the David
and the Walter models lookedvery similar, but like the
bishop model looked differentfrom the Ash model, and then the
the the Auton character playedby uh Win on the Ryder and
Resurrection was very different,and now you have the N D model.

SPEAKER_02 (54:10):
Like if the guy's alive, then cool.
You know, and like Anthony and Iwere talking about this before
the show, you know, usually wedo about three hours of
pre-show, but uh we we got to doa slight bit to Anthony Chagrin.
Um but we did I had looked upthe fact that Ian Holmes'
granddaughter apparently likeapproved it, you know, like oh
yeah, it's okay and signed offon it.

(54:31):
And people were like, okay,well, since the granddaughter
signed off, you know, it's okay.
And I look, if you came to meand were like, hey, can I put
your grandfather's picture in amovie?
We'll give you a bunch of money,like, are you okay with it?
I'd be like, Yeah, cool, youknow, appreciate it.
Like, hand over that dough.
Like my grandfather, I mean, Idon't mean to be morbid, but my

(54:52):
grandfather just died this pastyear, and I'd still be like,
Yeah, let's sign me up, youknow.
Like, it's not that I don'trespect him, but I think I'd
have a very different view ofit.
And I don't think it broughtanything to the movie, other
than like, um, remember thatguy?
Like, I other than that, yeah,it was it was clearly a memory.
Yeah, it doesn't it doesn't getlike okay, if it were somehow

(55:14):
Ash, which is impossible, but ifit were somehow Ash, okay, cool.
But it's not so then why do it?
And that's probably one of theonly things that the biggest
thing I think that bothered me,and it's not because I care so
deeply about the actor's wishes.
I'm sorry to be so callous.
I'm not like that, you know.
Sure, okay.

(55:34):
It's just I don't think thatnarratively it needed to be
there.

SPEAKER_00 (55:39):
Yeah, okay.
There were a couple other thingsin the movie that I also felt
the same way about.
There's a point where Rain isabout to be killed by a
xenomorph, and Andy basicallystops the xenomorph and goes,
get away from her.

(56:01):
You bit you know, and it's veryclearly a callback to Ripley
when she enters the mech armor,you know, in aliens.

SPEAKER_02 (56:11):
The loader armor.

SPEAKER_00 (56:12):
Which is a fantastic scene, but like it doesn't even
like if you had not watched thatmovie, that line wouldn't make
any sense.
You know, like how do you knowits gender?

SPEAKER_02 (56:22):
Does he get called that by Bjorn though?
Did Bjorn call him maybe I feelI feel like I feel like look,
I'm not denying you, I thinkthat they did it on purpose, but
I I Yeah, of course they didn't.
I I I think that I think thatBjorn may have called Andy use
that.
You're right.
I think I think I think So likethey only did that obviously to

(56:43):
set this up so that it's athrowback.

SPEAKER_00 (56:45):
It's still what you're saying it is, but I think
that in this movie they did giveit to us so that you know, I
mean Were there any scenes,Anthony, that you felt like took
too liberally from other filmsor were like too trying like
trying too hard to be callbacks,or did you just roll with it?

SPEAKER_01 (57:01):
I kind of just rolled with it.
Like my my gripe, you know, likefor me, like that that right
there for me is like more of anitpick rather than a gripe.
I kind of understand where youguys are coming from with Ian
Holm a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 (57:15):
That's what everyone was kind of complaining about
when the movie first came out.

SPEAKER_01 (57:18):
That I I would understand.
I mean, at least they made him adecent enough villain, like if
you were gonna use him, youknow, like he was still you
know, his d a directive waspretty much still the same thing
to preserve these samples, andlike he kind of passed it along
and was like brainwashing Andy,and that was like pretty much
like that whole dynamic.

(57:39):
And it kind of set up with Iguess like if it weren't really
for him, then you wouldn't havelike that whole heartbreak with
Andy swapping over to like youknow, from Andy to Andy, you
know.
Um and then finally, you know,getting to the place where you
know we have the Andy that westarted the movie with, you
know, the one because you know,I don't like the way he

(58:02):
portrayed that character, man.
Like, I don't know.
Like I I I really had like itreally, you know, broke my
heart.
I was like, man, I hope hesurvives by the end, you know?

SPEAKER_00 (58:10):
When they first put that chip in him and they're in
that chamber with all the facehuggers, and he just like kind
of like freezes and like hiseyes roll back.
Dude, it's such a cr it's suchcreepy imagery, but it's so
powerful, like it's such goodvisuals, you know.
Like there's there's so manygreat shots in this movie.

(58:31):
Like when the ship startscrashing into the rings, and I'm
just like, oh my gosh, cinema.
Like, this is cinema.
This is a very like I'd imaginethat this is probably one of the
lower end budget-wise alienmovies, because this I think
there's only like five or sixcharacters.
No, I think there's sixcharacters in the entire movie,

(58:51):
you know, including Andy, ormaybe seven, including the other
android, Rook.
But it's the smallest cast ofany alien movie to date, you
know?
And I think they do such a goodjob with it.

SPEAKER_01 (59:05):
They put everything everyone through the ringer.
You know, is it me or man?
I don't know what it was, butlike I got these the crew kind
of gave me these vibes, but likea bit older, I was just like,
bro, is this the skeleton crew?
Yeah, kind of had vibes of theskeleton crew, yeah.
Except obviously they're notkids, they're adults, but like,
you know, because it was such ait was a small cast of

(59:27):
characters, you know, they'retrying to, you know, hijack this
the station so that they can orlike I guess get enough fuel so
that their ship could get to theplace that they were trying to
get to.

SPEAKER_00 (59:41):
Yeah, I forget the name.

SPEAKER_01 (59:42):
And so and so, yeah, like, you know, that that that
kind of like I don't know, thatkind of reminded me of that a
little bit, but I would sayaside from like, yeah, the the
questionable Ian Home call, Iwould say overall the movie was
really good.
I enjoyed it thoroughly, and Ithink that.
Yeah.
You know, it's my top five StarWars films.

(01:00:04):
You know, I put Rise ofSkywalker above it.
Just, you know, it's just underRise of Skywalker.
You know?

SPEAKER_00 (01:00:10):
I love it.
Yeah, no, I get it.
I I totally get that ranking aswell.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:14):
I actually like I think it's like for me, it's
like Book of Boba Fett, and thenI can't even continue the
sentence.

SPEAKER_00 (01:00:23):
Attack of the Clones, you know, like it's it's
it's just it's just above Attackof the Clones for me.
No, yeah, no, I I really lovethis movie.
I'm really happy that we didthis Alien Marathon because I
think watching these movies inthis format is so fun to
discuss.

(01:00:44):
Yeah.
Because we are developing acollective thought over the
course of several weeks where weactually get to dissect things
that we saw previously and tryto like make sense of what we're
seeing this week.
And I I'm excited to do thatagain next week with Alien
Earth.
But what did you before webefore we close out, what did

(01:01:04):
you guys think of the Zero Gxenomorph scene?
I thought that was so cool.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:09):
That was awesome, and very much so something you
would see in an aliens movie.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:13):
Yeah, and it's never been done before, but yet, you
know, like it fit perfectly.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:17):
I I loved it because they were like, oh, I loved the
awareness that, like, oh, wehave to be careful with the
xenomorph blood because it'llmelt through the hole.
That was that was that I thoughtthat that was really cool, you
know, and like that's not anawareness that was like ever
really used.
Like they knew that it wouldmelt you, but like, you know,

(01:01:38):
they never thought, like, oh, ifI shoot a bunch of these and
they you know, they might meltthrough the metal of the ship
and cause a breach.
And you know, that's exactlywhat was happening.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:49):
Was a guy in a wheelchair somehow floating
through it and avoiding the acidaltogether.

SPEAKER_00 (01:01:54):
Are you talking about Peter Whalen?

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:57):
No, uh who's the there's the crew member who gets
the alien Oh god, in in uhalien.
Because that's my favoritemovie, guys.
Alright, that's the best one inthe franchise.

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:07):
Oh my gosh.
I I need you to rewatch all ofthese movies right now and like
tell me that with a straightface.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:13):
Um I saw that guy, I knew things were gonna go bad
for him.
I was like, oh, I don't know,buddy.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:19):
I actually I'm glad that you bring that up because I
I I know last week Rich wasreally digging Covenant a lot.
Now that you've seen Romulus,where do you put the two?

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:29):
Yeah, because this is the first one that you said
that scared you.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:32):
That's that's different than like Yeah, see,
that's the it's a completelydifferent man.
I really love Danny McBride.
And like the fact that he was inthe last one, like really jacked
that one up a thousand percent.
Sure.
Yeah, no, I get it.
But okay.
For what I thought I wassupposed to feel after watching
all these movies.

(01:02:52):
I hate saying this out loud.
Romulus is probably number one.
Alright, alright, like that'swhat you get.
Alright, like I think thatMommy, you gotta be objective,
you know.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:03):
I think I I Yeah, I don't I don't see like you're
not like hurting.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:06):
I'm hurting myself because I'm I'm I'm taken away
from resurrection.
And of course, but really Ireally liked Covenant.
But I think that I likedCovenant so much now looking
back on it because I was soangry at Prometheus for not
being what I thought it wasgonna be, that I thought that
Covenant was what I thoughtPrometheus should be.

(01:03:27):
So Romulus just like up theante.
Like it was like, ah, you likedCovenant?
Alright, buddy.
And I was, you know, as you guysknow, I was very upset at the
end of last week when I foundout that we weren't finishing
that trilogy.
I'm not as upset now.
Like this made me feel good, andI'm I'm honestly excited to get
off the show and just watch likeseven episodes of Earth.

SPEAKER_00 (01:03:51):
Yeah, actually, there's eight episodes.
There's eight episodes of AlienEarth that we're gonna be
covering next week.
Anthony, last thoughts onRomulus?

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:59):
Yeah, no, I'm with you.
Like Romulus is just too good,especially with uh like the
modern day alien movies.
It's hard to like put itunderneath like another movie.
It was good.
I love that it was giving likerespect to like the older
movies, and it's like you know,this is how I envision the older

(01:04:23):
movies being like the intensity,the fear factor, and like
bringing it to like a modernaudience.
So that's what I was getting outof it, and so that's why I
really enjoyed this.
You know, there was a littletouch of a nostalgia, but I
think it was more out of respectrather than trying to rip it
off.
I I would do two thumbs up, man.

(01:04:44):
Yeah, two thumbs up.
How about you?

SPEAKER_00 (01:04:46):
I think this might be my favorite alien movie.
Um it is hard to rank classicwith new because it has an edge
that the classic doesn'tnecessarily get.
I think it's it's right up therewith the first movie for me, and
maybe a little above Aliens,Cameron's sequel, and then it

(01:05:08):
would be like probably Covenantand Prometheus, and then Alien 3
and Resurrection.
I know Rich, I know it's hard tobelieve.
But I'm very confused.
No, it's okay.

SPEAKER_02 (01:05:18):
Do you not remember when she dribbles the ball
behind his head?

SPEAKER_00 (01:05:21):
Like that's oh, my bad, my bad.
Sorry.
Alien Resurrection and then thenAlien Resurrection.
Okay, thank you.
Yeah, Alien 3 is clearly theworst.
Yeah.
No.
What I will say is it's probablyin my top three MCU movies
currently.
Right up there with WinterSoldier and Quantum Mania.
I thought it was gonna be likearound 6'7, but I'm surprised

(01:05:43):
you went that high.

SPEAKER_01 (01:05:44):
That's actually kind of crazy because Winter Soldier
was actually not bad.
I actually like it.

SPEAKER_00 (01:05:48):
No, Winter Soldier is fantastic.
What are you talking about?
It's in my top three of this.

SPEAKER_01 (01:05:52):
You can't put it in with Quantum Mania.

SPEAKER_03 (01:05:55):
I can't.
I can't.
It's my favorite part of everyshow.

SPEAKER_00 (01:05:59):
Oh, God.
All right.
Guys, thank you so much forlistening to us here for our
137th episode.
Next week, 138.
We're covering the first seasonof Alien Earth, the FX and Hulu
series that you can watch now onDisney Plus or Hulu if you're
still on that streaming servicefor whatever reason.
Thank you again for listening,and if you want to check out any

(01:06:21):
of our socials, be sure to clickdown into our show notes.
Don't forget to give us a juicyfive-star review, and Anthony,
it looks like you have somethingelse to say.

SPEAKER_01 (01:06:28):
I have an updated directive.
Oh god, no.
Not you.
My directive says that you mustrate us at five stars because it
is for the good of the company.
The company being ProjectGeekology.
Not Wayland, Utani.

SPEAKER_00 (01:06:46):
I love it.
Yep.
Please be sure to do that, guys.
Alright, we will see you nexttime.
Bye bye.

SPEAKER_01 (01:06:52):
Bye.

SPEAKER_00 (01:06:53):
Get away from her, you

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