But the review I’ve read was based upon a listening experience without the visuals, so maybe together it makes more sense. Though as the reviewer rightly says (Jonny Trunk no less) the best soundtracks stand apart from the films they we’re made to accompany.

Maybe one day we’ll hear the Daft Punk version minus the Disney input. Here’s a taster of what it should have sounded like (in my mind anyway):

Goblin — Buio Omega (Alternative Take)

Nothing says ‘I love and I want to spend the rest of my life with you’ quite like an honour guard dressed like these guys. And nothing makes me feel like I was born at the wrong time, than finding out 27 years too late that in 1983 I could have won the opportunity to have a ‘Krull wedding‘.

On a hot summer day in 1983, a dozen couples gathered in a soundstage in Burbank to take part in a group wedding. One after another, they walked past a pair of futuristic soldiers in fanciful armor, down a red carpet flanked by strangers in folding chairs, and up to an altar made of faux stone. These were the lucky winners of a national contest sponsored by Columbia Pictures. They had penned the winning statements describing, as the studio’s press release states, “why their ‘Fantasy Come True’ would be to have a ‘Krull’ wedding in Hollywood.”

The Krull wedding concept was part of a broader ‘thinking outside the box’ marketing strategy which was for the most part beyond parody;

And the weddings weren’t the only promotions that the folks at Columbia had dreamt up. The press-book sent to theater owners, a thin pamphlet filled with ad art and short articles to plant in local papers, outlines a number of interesting promotional gimmicks. One suggests approaching the local bakery about creating special pastries in the shape of the Glaive and dubbing them the punny ‘Krullers’. “Everyone knows what a cruller is…a tasty glazed donut. Now comes the Kruller…a tasty Glaived donut.” Another elaborate scheme involved acquiring a dark van and driving it around town (“like the Fortress, it’s apt to be anywhere”), improbably evoking the dark fortress from the film and, more improbably, inspiring passing motorists and pedestrians to rush to their local theater and plop down $3.50 for a seat.

My heart goes out to the poor bride/groom, for that moment when the cold reality of what they had embarked on hit home. I’m guessing it was somewhere between a worried sideways glance at the honour guard and when they turned to face the fake “guests” for the first moments of the rest of their lives….

Much, much more here

Nytro — Dreaming

This is looking SO dope.

(pic via kiel bryant’s insanely good flickr stream)

Aliens 3 seems to be one of those films that always causes ructions (sci-fights, maybe?). I still remember the crushing disappointment of seeing it at the 11 am showing on the day it  came out. It was so, so poor. In recent years (especially since the release of the alternative Fincher cut) I’ve often heard it described as a ‘hidden gem’ or a film that’s ripe for re-evaluation. Maybe. But I’m not so sure.

What is clear is that the behind the scenes struggles were the root cause of the films (many) failings. Although vaguely aware of the pre-production pain, I hadn’t realised quite how much till reading this amazingly thorough overview.

The image above is taken from the concept art from one of the scrapped script revisions. In an early version the monastic/futuristic medieval themes which eventually turn up in Fincher’s version are explored in more depth. (More here)

Some people claim this is the long, lost classic Alien3 we should of had. Again, I’m not so sure. I think the problem for me with Alien 3 revisionism in general is it’s hard to get past what  a body blow the film ended up being to the franchise. To think of how it could have been just makes it even worse.

My view is echoed in the conclusions of the Aliens 3 overview link from earlier in the post. The films should have followed the plot  lines of the Dark Horse graphic novel.

“Alien: Book One” would have been a helluva film.

Gareth Edwards‘ Monsters sounds amazing.

Super low budget and selling itself as ‘Lost In Translation meets War of the Worlds, this could be the holy grail: a dark edgy scifi film you can take the mrs to.

Sign me up.