SCOTT FREE AGENCY:

defending the vital humanity of indie film art

in the allegorical film art

of Sir Ridley Scott

 

by Gary W. Wright

 

        In 1968, Stanley Kubrick revealed his first indie docufeature “artbuster”, a feature film that combined the art film with the blockbuster and the documentary with the feature film to fuse the best of the four worlds into one powerful film, in the groundbreaking and unforgettable form of the allegorical and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY [1968].  Not surprisingly, this powerful new artbuster form was embraced in time by other film artists like Kathryn Bigelow, Tim Burton, James Cameron and Sir Ridley Scott.  However, while embracing the artbuster and making it his own, Sir Scott did not share Kubrick’s implicitly bleak and pessimistic belief that people and the characters in his films were helpless pawns of more powerful extraterrestrial, military, political and socioeconomic Forces and institutions and doomed to be destroyed by these Forces, a gloomy pessimism best exemplified by the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Walt Disney and Richard Fleischer roasting Kubrick docufeature film PATHS OF GLORY [1957].  Instead, Sir Scott implied in his own indie docufeature artbusters that people and the characters in his films were masters of their own destinies and able, with determination and hard work, to defeat the stronger corporate, extraterrestrial, military, political and socioeconomic Forces arrayed against them with their own free agency.

In addition, from his first fearless indie docufeature artbuster, Sir Scott also warned audiences and film artists to be wary of falling prey to their beastly blockbuster fortune and glory lusting mirror opposite Dark Side.  A prescient warning, indeed, for a controlling Dark Side that led to fateful and fatal helicopter crash that killed actor/writer/director Victor “Vic” Morrow and illegally hired and employed child extras Renee Chen and Myca Le around 2:20 am in the early morning of July 23, 1982 on the George Folsey jr. produced John Landis set of the twilit, allegorical, computer graphic imagery [CGI] enhanced, Landis and Steven Spielberg executive produced, Frank Marshall produced and Kathleen Kennedy associate produced Landis, Spielberg, Joe Dante and George Miller docufeature film TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE [1983] affirmed the importance of emphasizing humanity over beastly profits and kicked off the brutal and dread allegorical Zone Wars that raged in fiction and film to this day.  Thus, it was fitting that the fearless film artist who warned audiences and film artists to be wary of the Dark, blockbuster loot lustin’ and beastly side was a brilliant, imaginative, insightful, intelligent, imperfect but vitally human creator of equally imperfect but vitally human, intelligent, insightful, imaginative and brilliant indie film art for film art’s sake, with a particular fondness for vivid and immersive indie docufeature artbusters.

However, unlike most film artists, but like Bigelow and David Lynch, Sir Scott pursued post-secondary training in visual arts, with an emphasis on drawing and painting, at the Royal College of Art [RCA] in London, rather than in cinematic arts before becoming a courageous, indomitable and inspiring indie film artist.  Significantly, however, it was at the RCA that the talented young artist then known as Scott found the film camera that he decided to bring home to his small industrial city of Stockton-On-Tees on the coast of northeastern England one fateful summer vacation, don the writer/director of photography [DOP]/camera operator/editor/producer/director hats and team up with his ominously but fittingly named father Frank Scott and his sixteen year old and fellow future film artist younger brother Anthony David Leighton “Tony” Scott on the exuberant and deceptively innocent allegorical indie docufeature short film BOY AND BICYCLE [1961], its title fittingly evoking a still life painting of a boy and a bicycle to evoke the training in painting that Scott received at the RCA.

 

“Stand on his own two feet

he must.”

 

        Tragicomically, the naturally lit film began with the camera imitating the point of view [POV] of young Tony as he slowly and reluctantly woke up, looked around his quintessentially messy and cluttered sadolescent bedroom in the Scott family home in Stockton-On-Tees and struggled out of bed as his voiceover [VO] conveyed his thoughts to the audience.  Finally getting out of bed, the teenage Tony made his first appearance peering sleepily and pensively at his Dark Side mirror world opposite reflection in the mirror on the back of his temple evoking bedroom door, wiping gunk from his eyes and looking worriedly for pesky pimples.  A fitting close up communion with his Dark Side reflection, for after three opening titles, the first of which noted that the film was “…A British Film Institute Experimental Film Fund Presentation”, and the third of which proudly proclaimed “…A Film by Ridley Scott” for the first time, the film saw young Tony give in to his Dark Side mirror opposite and, on the spur of the moment, decide to skip school and ride off on his trusty bicycle down the street in the sinister left direction and around town in his schoolboy uniform smoothly, surely, confidently and happily exploring the main shopping street, stopping to puff a furtive smoke, and then cycling through the grim and gritty industrial area, stopping again at an irresistible sweet shoppe, then off to cycle through the not quite closed amusement park with its terrifying blockbuster German shepherd watchdog beast in the first of many encounters with a blockbuster beast in a Scott film, and then off to the deserted beaches of Stockton-On-Tees pondering more Dark Side reflections in the surging surf, finishing up with a furtive break-in at an equally deserted fishing shack-in reality, the Scott family fishing shack-all the while meditating on the state of the universe and pondering getting older with an endless stream of consciousness VO that evoked those of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom in the allegorical James Joyce indie docufiction novel Ulysses [1922]. 

Significantly, while sinister, Tony’s spontaneous and high spirited decision to break literally Scott free from the Stockton-On-Tees education machine and ride off in his own indie and idiosyncratic direction implicitly affirmed that Scott did not share Kubrick’s implicitly dour view that people were helpless pawns of glory and bigger social forces.  Tony’s Scott free agency also anticipated the less sinister sight and sound of Scott breaking free in time from the constraints of the Hollywood blockbuster machine and creating his own indie and idiosyncratic film art with his fittingly entitled film art production company Scott Free Productions, a film production company that ensured that Scott, his casts and crews, his films and his main characters succeeded in life, art, and the film art life with Scott Free Agency [SFA].  Indeed, Scott’s exuberant and uncompromising embrace of his own film art independence was presciently affirmed by Tony’s brief and climactic showdown with the Scott family patriarch after Frank’s frightening and Frankenstein evoking face was suddenly framed in the doorway as the boy frantically fled the spooky fishing shack that he had been exploring, his Dark Side mirror opposite fittingly reflected again in a mirror as he explored the interior of the shack, as he raced out into the rain at the horrorshow end of the film.  For this tragicomic showdown between the boy and Frank was briefly framed as a Western duel, with the camera looking back through the flexing and quick draw right fingers of Tony at Frank standing outside the door to his fishing shack, implicitly linking Frank not only to Evil gunslingers in general but Hollywood filmslingers in particular.  Thus, by facing down Frank with cool resolve before riding off on the liberating bicycle into the setting sun in classic Western tradition, Scott not only implicitly affirmed the longing of the bored and restless Scott brothers to escape their fearsome father and their bleak and isolated hometown, but also presciently anticipated Scott facing down and defeating Hollywood with equally cool and calm resolve and liberating himself from the brain destroying blockbuster beast with his indie film art. 

Alas, the fact that the fleeing Tony rode off down the beach into the gathering twilight after giving in to his Dark mirror opposite Side also presciently and eerily anticipated the TZ disaster in the first implicit memory of the twilit and disastrous future in a Scott film.  Thus, it was all too fitting that a teddy bear that had been edited into the footage of Tony waking up in his room but had not been seen in his room actually appeared in the spooky fishing shack at the end of the film in a real and tragicomic memory of the future in the first Scott film.      

        Significantly, the desolate and deserted streets, amusement parks and beaches of Stockton-On-Tees and their lack of flora and fauna gave the city a grim post-nuclear apocalypse atmosphere that was enhanced by the short film’s black and white horrorshow film stock and the dead dog Tony came across at the beach at the end of the film.  This suggestive post-apocalyptic vibe transformed BOY AND BICYCLE, making Tony’s exuberantly rebellious wanderings and the bored, restless and youthful thoughts, hopes, dreams and fears expressed in his VO, ably and perhaps ironically complemented by the equally young, high spirited, hopeful and innocent main theme by John Barry, come across as pensive meditations on a lush, green and life filled pre-apocalyptic world that had disappeared and on a brave new world that would hopefully one day spring like a humbled but hopeful Phoenix from its radioactive ashes.  This implicitly made BOY AND BICYCLE the first indie docufeature sly fi horror film of Scott, anticipating the equally grim, desolate, deserted and flora and fauna free post-nuclear apocalyptic world of the future in the third Scott film to come.

        At any rate, the almost 27 minute indie docufeature short film and bittersweet cinematic ode to Scott’s youth in Stockton-On-Tees, with its balanced and artistic frames filled with natural light and captured with one camera, was a good beginning for Scott, and a rare instance when a film artist addressed their own country straight up in a documentary film with a fictional story woven through it to create a literal docufeature film rather than implicitly addressing Hollywood politics.  And one that clearly planted a luv for film art in in Scott, for after graduating from the RCA and working for years as a set designer for the British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC], Scott took an in-house director’s course and was soon creating such swinging Sixties British television shows such as the allegorical one off telefilm PATHS OF GLORY [1964], apparently inspired by PATHS OF GLORY to implicitly affirm Scott’s fondness for Kubrick long before he made his own indie film art, and individual episodes of such tv series as SOFTLY, SOFTLY [1966-76], THE INFORMER [1966-67], and ADAM ADAMANT LIVES! [1966-67].  Tired of working for the BBC, Scott took a big step towards creating his Scott Free Productions film production company by creating his own London based tv commercial production company called Scott Free Enterprises. 

Significantly, these commercials were often of a high artistic and cinematic quality, making it clear that Scott took them seriously and used them as mini-films to hone his craft in preparation for the day when he began creating bigger indie feature film art.  A day that soon came for, succeeding as a tv commercial artist, and needing a new challenge, Scott took his Scott Free Enterprises tv commercial money and donned the camera operator/director/co-producer hats and teamed up with his young sons Jason and Luke Scott, Paramount Pictures and Scott Free Enterprises to create his first fine and fearless full colour feature film, the allegorical and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster THE DUELLISTS [1977], a film fittingly released on May 22, 1977 and inspired by the allegorical Joseph Conrad indie docufiction short story “The Duel” [1908].

 

“Here is the path you must take.

It is a path of instinct.

Everyone who travels on that path

travels alone.”

 

        Curiously, after a haunting flute and ominously tense strings played as eight white opening titles, the eighth of which proudly proclaimed “…A FILM BY RIDLEY SCOTT”, appeared on a black screen, the screen went totally black and a film long VO narration by Stacy Keach began that evoked the younger Scott’s film long VO in BOY AND BICYCLE and set the Napoleonic era scene that had Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte inspiring young and idealistic Frenchmen to join him in fighting to establish a new era of freedom and democracy throughout Europe and Russia, reminding us that at that time Francis Coppola was inspiring young and idealistic male film artists of New Hollywood to join him in fighting and defeating Old Hollywood in order to establish a new era of freedom luvin’ world film art.  Then the film, as naturally lit as BOY AND BICYCLE in another link to that film, began in Strasbourg, Austria in 1800 with a farm girl with a long wooden staff and wearing her scarf tied in an “X” around her chest in a way that evoked crossed bullet cartridge belts-and played by Alana Smithee-shepherding a gaggle of squawking geese through a field and, to her surprised interest, coming across a duel between two grim, determined and unknown young men-played by Matthew Guinness, the son of Sir Alec Guinness, and Harvey Keitel, respectively-near a small white wooden farmhouse on blocks that evoked the white wooden farmhouse that carried the lonely and implicitly Canadian Prime Minister William L.M. King linked Kansan orphan waif Dorothy Gale-played by Judy Garland-and her faithful and protective Cairn terrier Toto-played by Terry-via tornado from Great Depression era Kansas to the magical land of Oz at the beginning of the allegorical and implicitly Prime Minister King and German Chancellor Adolf Hitler roasting Victor Fleming feature film THE WIZARD OF OZ [1939] to affirm the implicit Ozian theme of THE DUELLISTS for the first time in a Scott film. 

This first duel was mostly shot from the POV of the Dorothy evoking girl as she furtively hid underneath the free falling farmhouse, and also from the POV of Keitel’s short, intense, cool, calm, disciplined and dark brown haired, eyed and moustachioed character looking down his right sword arm back at the increasingly emotional, desperate, frantic, ill disciplined, clean shave and bald character played by Guinness.  This reminded us of the camera looking back through the flexing right fingers of Tony at Frank at the end of BOY AND BICYCLE, linking the two films again.  Significantly, the duel ended with the calm and cool character played by Keitel running his sword through the left side of the chest of Guinness, causing him to collapse and reminding us that the fallen farmhouse of Gale killed the Wicked Witch of the East at the beginning of THE WIZARD OF OZ to imply that Guinness was the implicitly Wicked Witch of the East character of THE DUELLISTS, and causing the farm girl to flee in horror. 

        Just as significantly, this duel also reminded us that the allegorical and implicitly Landis roasting Kubrick indie docufeature artbuster BARRY LYNDON [1975] not only also featured a film long VO narration by Michael Hordern, natural lighting throughout, but also saw Kubrick and company turn every frame into a painting like Scott and company did in THE DUELLISTS.  BARRY LYNDON also began in a farmer’s field with a duel that killed Bryan P. Lyndon-played by David Morley-the father of the film’s feckless and tragicomic main character, the implicitly Landis linked Redmond Barry Lyndon-played by Patrick O’Neal.  Thus, Scott implied at the outset that he was replying to BARRY LYNDON in THE DUELLISTS.  However, this implication soon changed when the action switched to the sight and sound of one French General Treillard-his surname sounding at times like “trailer”, as in film trailer, implicitly linking him to film art, and played by Robert Stephens-barging angrily into a large dining room commandeered and filled with relaxing and eating French Napoleonic officers in Strasbourg. 

Curiously, most of the officers were men of short to medium height with dark hair, eyebrows, eyes and moustachios like the winning duellist, causing a tall, lean and light brown haired member of their number-played by Keith Carradine-noticeably slower to get up from his meal than the rest, to literally stand out from the other officers.  The sight and sound reminded us that the equally tall, lean and light brown haired Toronto born and raised Canadian film artist David Cronenberg also stood out from the pack of men of short to medium height and dark hair, eyebrows, eyes, moustaches and beards who dominated the ranks of New Hollywood at the time, implicitly linking the tall officer to Cronenberg.  Alas for this unnamed officer, he admitted to knowing Lieutenant Feraud of the 7^th Hussars, who turned out to be the duellist played by Keitel who skewered a duellist who turned out to be the nephew of the mayor of Strasbourg in the opening duel of the film.  He also made the mistake of accepting a mission from Gen. Treillard to hunt down Lt. Feraud, convey the general’s disapproval of the duel, and confine him to quarters under close arrest.

Sighing resignedly, the tall, lean and lanky officer with no name eventually tracked down the quarters of Lt. Feraud, where a feisty, possessive and pretty young woman wearing a simple dress that again evoked that of Dorothy in THE WIZARD OF OZ-and played by Gay Hamilton-tartly informed him that the duellist was not at home.  Significantly, the presence of Hamilton implicitly affirmed the impact that BARRY LYNDON in particular and the films of Kubrick in general had had on Scott, for she played the besotted and unrealistic Lyndon’s first lady luv, his more pragmatic and conniving cousin Norah Brady, in that fine feature film.  Hamilton’s military groupie also informed the officer with no name that Lt. Feraud would be found at the salon of the fittingly beautiful, bewitching, red haired and implicitly Glinda the Good linked Madame De Lionne-played by Jenny Runacre-her surname evoking the famous roaring lion symbol of MGM to remind us that THE WIZARD OF OZ was a classic MGM film, and to reaffirm the implicit Ozian theme of THE DUELLISTS. 

Significantly, when Lt. Feraud was tracked down at the salon, we noticed that the two French Napoleonic officers looked very similar despite their differences in height and hair/eyebrow/eye/moustachio and jacket and pant colour, almost like brothers in fact, with the same hairstyle complete with side braids, mustachios, uniforms, caps and swords.  Even the military ranks of the two men would soon turn out to be the same, and would remain so throughout the film, as they were always promoted at the same time, reaffirming their brotherhood.  However, despite their exterior similarities, the two Napoleonic officers would reveal themselves to be quite different internally, with the tall officer the more calm, placid, balanced, grounded, pragmatic, rational, thoughtful, beautiful and resignedly dutiful of the two, while Lt. Feraud was the more ferocious, emotional, unstable, irrational, instinctive, primal, beastly, fanatically dutiful and obsessed with blind and unquestioning honour and service to Emperor Napoleon of the two brother officers.  Internal qualities that Lt. Feraud quickly revealed in his conversation with the tall fellow lieutenant with no name on the walk back to Feraud’s quarters.  For the hot headed and quick to take offense Feraud, already incensed that the other officer had tracked him down, confined him to quarters and dismissed his need to defend the honour of the Emperor Bonaparte by fighting the duel with the mayor’s nephew, hit the roof when the tall officer stated in exasperation that he believed that the shorter officer was “…really quite a madman.” 

Significantly, as the tall officer made this fateful statement, his Dark Side mirror world opposite reflection was seen centred in a small wooden framed mirror behind him, implying that this was an uncharacteristic and unwise statement for the normally cool and carefully spoken officer to make that sent him off like Tony in BOY AND BICYCLE in an equally uncharacteristic dark and dangerous direction.  The fiery Lt. Feraud certainly thought so, for he was so incensed by the comment that he immediately challenged the other officer to a duel.  Just as significantly, prior to this duel, Lt. Feraud grabbed an old man who resembled Sir Guinness-played by Alan Smithee-to be the second of Carradine’s character, a second link of Feraud to Sir Guinness that reminded us that George Lucas was creating the allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Spielberg roasting indie docufeature film STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE [1977] with Sir Guinness at the time.  Of course, the Forceful third Lucas film turned out to have its own controversial and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked Emperor and obsession with the Dark Side of each individual, implicitly linking Emperor Napolean to the Wicked Witch of the West and also implicitly linking the short, dark haired and intense Wicked Napolean loyalist Lt. Feraud to the short, dark haired and intense Lucas and to Nikko the Flying Monkey King-played by Pat Walshe-main simpering servant of the implicitly Hitler linked Wicked Witch of the West-played by Margaret Hamilton-in THE WIZARD OF OZ.

        Fittingly, this duel was mostly shot from the POV of the officer with no name along his right sword arm, implicitly linking the tall man in his all grey jacket and pants to Good.  When the camera did take the POV of Lt. Feraud, the camera mostly shot over his sinister left shoulder, implicitly linking Feraud in his Wicked black jacket and blood red pants to Evil.  In fact, Lt. Feraud’s furiously rotoring sword in this duel anticipated Landis and the deadly rotoring helicopter of the TZ disaster in another ominous memory of the future in the second film of Scott.  Luckily for the officer with no name, he sliced the right wrist of ferocious Feraud before knocking him out with a hit to the head with the hilt of his sword, winning this first scary duel, which, hence, implicitly evoked the implicitly Earth linked Scarecrow-played by Ray Bolger in THE WIZARD OF OZ-in this Ozian themed film.  However, the tall officer did not kill the ferocious fellow officer, fully identified after this duel as Lt. Gabriel Feraud, which unfortunately came back to haunt the victorious officer.  For the tall second officer, whose name after the scene shifted to six months later in Augsburg in 1801 was finally revealed by the buxom brunette army camp follower and exuberantly Wicked and lonely luvin’ waif Laura-played by Diana Quick-to be Lt. Armand D’Hubert, which sounded like “…our man, D’Hubert” to implicitly prepare us for D’Hubert to emerge as the reluctant and frustrated hero of sorts of the piece, was soon challenged by Feraud to fight another duel in Augsburg in keeping with the French military code of honour by which both men were bound. 

Significantly, this second duel, was fought in another field, reminding us that Cronenberg’s first film, the allegorical indie docufeature short film TRANSER [1966], was also set in a field, albeit in the middle of a snowswept Ontario winter, implicitly affirming the link of Lt. D’Hubert to Cronenberg.  Just as significantly, the two seconds of Lt. Feraud at this duel-played by John McEnery and Maurice Colbourne, respectively-resembled and were implicitly linked to Gary Kurtz and Walter Murch, the producer and sound designer/editor, respectively, of the allegorical, Ozian themed and implicitly Disney toasting and Ralph Bakshi roasting Lucas indie docufeature film AMERICAN GRAFFITI [1973], reaffirming the implicit link of Lt. Feraud to Lucas.  Indeed, the surname of Lt. Feraud was pronounced “Fair-oh”, evoking the Pharoahs street gang in AMERICAN GRAFFITI, also implicitly affirming the link of Lt. Feraud to Lucas. 

Alas for Lt. D’Hubert, he was frozen in his movements due to an annoying cold, reminding us that the implicitly Water linked Tin Man-played by Jack Haley-was first met frozen by rust in THE WIZARD OF OZ, and as a result the tall officer lost this second duel with Lt. Feraud.  Luckily, however, Lt. D’Hubert also survived this second duel with Lt. Feraud, which forced him in time to fight another duel with the fierce officer in a confined room with straw on the floor that was possibly a stable, an epic and bloody third duel filled with a lot of flashing and fiery sparks that evoked the implicitly Fire linked Cowardly Lion-played by Bert Lahr in the Fleming classic-a gruelling third duel that neither duellist won as it almost killed both of them.  Five years later in Lubeck, a fourth duel that was eventually fought between the newly promoted Captains with levelled swords on charging horseback like the jousting Knights of old with their lances “…as a compliment to the cavalry” evoked the implicitly Air linked Great Oz-played by Frank Morgan-floating high in his hot air balloon at the end of THE WIZARD OF OZ to round off the implicitly Ozian themed duels.  Indeed, after winning this complimentary cavalry joust, D’Hubert celebrated by leaping over a farmer’s cart piled high with hay and then charged exuberantly up a hill and out of sight in a way that evoked the sight and sound of the Great Oz drifting up and away in his hot air balloon to affirm the implicit link of this fourth duel to the Great Oz, and the implicit Ozian theme of THE DUELLISTS.  And a fitting celebration, for with this victory D’Hubert had travelled through all four elemental Ozian stages and become a whole and harmonious man, reminding us that the implicitly Gerald Potterton linked Curt Henderson-played by Richard Dreyfuss-also passed through all four elemental Ozian stages on his Journey of Self Discovery to become the most whole, harmonious, healed and healthy character, and the only one with the courage and strength to leave their town of Modesto in central California, at the end of AMERICAN GRAFFITI.

Curiously, but somehow fittingly, given how similar D’Hubert and Feraud were to each other, neither duellist was able to kill the other in any of these duels, as the two Napoleonic officer brothers were too evenly matched.  Not surprisingly, these quixotic constant duels also led to D’Hubert as much as Feraud to acquire a reputation of being “…a notorious and savage duellist”, reaffirming D’Hubert’s implicit link to Cronenberg given that he was criticized as being a notorious and horrible film artist at the time, particularly in Canada, as a result of his first fearless, allegorical and implicitly New Hollywood roasting indie docufeature film SHIVERS [1975], a revolted horror that not only returned but increased shortly before the release of THE DUELLISTS with the release on April 8, 1977 of the allegorical and implicitly New Hollywood roasting Cronenberg indie docufeature film RABID [1977], which starred porn “star” Marilyn Chambers as the nightmarishly infectious Rose.  And, tragicomically, even after the disastrous Russian campaign over the course of a freezing, snowswept and Canada evoking winter, and the escape and final failed uprising of the Wicked Bonaparte in 1815, the two honour bound duellists still fought one last duel in Tours in 1816 when both men were old and retired Generals, arranged by Gen. Feraud’s implicitly Kurtz linked second and a new and implicitly Spielberg linked second with an eyepatch-played by Arthur Dignam-to replace the tall one killed in Russia in 1812 to reaffirm the implicit link of Feraud to Lucas. 

This final duel was fought with one shot pistols in each hand like the pistol duels that began and ended BARRY LYNDON.  Significantly, this last duel was also fought in the ruins of a castle that evoked the Black Castle of the Wicked Witch of the West in THE WIZARD OF OZ, implicitly affirming the implicit link of Napolean to the Wicked Witch of the West and of Feraud to Nikko.  This last duel also ended with D’Hubert, clad in warm and Earthy Scarecrow browns, with one shot left and at last in a position to kill the fiery Feraud clad in Wicked black.  However, D’Hubert proved that his elemental Ozian journey had left him with a Good, whole, healthy and harmonious nature by instead sparing the life of the furious, disappointed, and Evil Feraud and banishing him alive but dead with shame forever, implicitly affirming that Scott believed that D’Hubert, Cronenberg and himself were Scott Free agents and masters of their own tragicomic and embattled destinies and talented and determined enough to take on and defeat Lucas and the rest of New Hollywood…and even implied that film artists like Cronenberg and himself needed more commercial film artists like Lucas to live so as to infuriate and inspire them to rise up to their challenge and create less commercial film art for film art’s sake. 

And so the film ended with Gen. D’Hubert exorcising the Dark Feraud and implicitly his own Dark Side, and triumphing over the French military code of honour that forced him to keep fighting the duels with Feraud to prove that he was no pawn of glory like the doomed French soldiers of PATHS OF GLORY and  reasserting his Scott Free Agency and celebrating his final victory by returning to his young, luvly, lively, beautiful, brunette, sweet, innocent and implicitly Dorothy linked orphan waif wife Adele de Valmassique-played by Christina Raines-at the palatial manse of her sympathetic Uncle, Chevalier Du Rivard-who evoked both the Great Oz and Charley Grapewin’s Uncle Henry in THE WIZARD OF OZ, and was played by Alan Webb-a marriage that had been arranged and encouraged by D’Hubert’s concerned and sympathetic Good Witch of the South evoking sister Leonie-played by Meg Wynn Owen-but whose dangerous newlywed reflection seen in a mirror in the Chevalier’s large and Emerald City evoking dining room during the wedding meal warned of danger ahead for Adele, Armand and his new boss, the reinstated Great Oz King Louis. 

Significantly, Adele was, after Laura, the second of many attractive, curvaceous, warm, intelligent and independent brunettes to oppose the beautiful but cold, conniving and duplicitous real and peroxide blondes of Hollywood in a film by Scott.  Thus, it was fitting that the name of Adele began with an “A” and ended with an “L” sound, an “AL” combination that was in natural reversed opposition to the L.A. evoking “L” and “A” that began and ended the name of Laura, implicitly affirming that Scott had noticed Cronenberg implicitly declaring his intention to take on and take out blonde obsessed New Hollywood and its beastly and sex and violence obsessed blockbuster film art in his first courageous, combative, and uncompromising indie docufeature films RABID and SHIVERS, and was also implicitly affirming his own intention to follow in the fearless footsteps of Cronenberg in THE DUELLISTS.  Indeed, to make this implicit anti-Hollywood stance of Cronenberg and Scott clear, D’Hubert pointedly turned down a chance to marry Laura prior to marrying Adele.  An important choice, for not only did the first and last letters of the name of Laura evoke L.A., but her name also evoked the allegorical Otto Preminger film LAURA [1944], openly linking her to Hollywood film, particularly that created by European film artists.  Thus, it was also fitting that D’Hubert was surrounded by more and more paintings as the film went on to affirm his implicit link to art for art’s sake and truly moving paintings rather than moving pictures, as well as evoked Scott’s own painting background.

And so the still living but lifeless, disappointed, pensive, Wickedly black clad and Wicked Napoleon resembling Feraud ended the film standing as silent and motionless as a rusted in place Tin Man on a hill fittingly overlooking a wandering river to remind us of the implicit link of the Tin Man to water, staring unblinkingly into the sky and brooding over his dishonoured fate like Bonaparte on St. Helena by that time as the haunting and lonely flute played as at the beginning of the film, this time with a full orchestra, bringing the film full musical circle.  The haunting and pensive flute melody was heard throughout the film, in solo and also orchestral variations that featured the solo flute bursting out of the mass of the symphony like a ray of sunlight on a cloudy day.  Thus, it was fitting that the sky Feraud brooded into, cut in beautiful and beastly two by dark clouds and sunlight to evoke beautiful D’Hubert and beastly Feraud, was suddenly and silently lit up by a providential beam of sunlight that burst out from behind the clouds in an auspicious sign for Scott.  Significantly, the flute melody was taken by composer Howard Blake from the Georges Delerue composed soundtrack for the equally haunting, allegorical and implicitly Lucas and Francis Coppola roasting Bernardo Bertolucci indie docufeature film THE CONFORMIST [1970].  Thus, Scott reaffirmed the implicit Lucas roasting intent of THE DUELLISTS, and also implied that he did not want to wind up a spineless conformist to Mussolini’s Italia and, implicitly, to Hollywood like the implicitly Coppola linked Marcello Clerici-played by Jean-Louis Trintignant-in THE CONFORMIST.

And so Scott left behind BOY AND BICYCLE and England and its politics, embraced Hollywood politics like most world film artists, and also bravely and implicitly bucked popular opinion of the time and implicitly toasted Cronenberg and roasted Lucas to implicitly affirm from the outset that he was a Scott Free Agent in a fine, fearless, confident, shrewd, knowing, imaginative and deft first feature film that came across as one made by a seasoned film artist rather than by a first feature film artist to affirm that Scott took his tv commercial mini-films seriously indeed.  In addition, THE DUELLISTS also affirmed that he still liked artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames and Dark Side mirror world opposite reflections, and now also liked scenes captured with two cameras at once so that the scene would flow together better in editing and an implicit Ozian theme to the film, and that he needed to flesh out and develop the characters more like Tony in BOY AND BICYCLE.  However, and despite this great and memorable beginning, Lucas easily bested Scott and every other film artist on Earth in 1977 with that equally Emperor and Dark Side obsessed sly fi film that was originally just called STAR WARS.  A truly Forceful sly fi film that was quickly and implicitly replied to the following year when a fine, funny and fittingly MGM released film arrived in the Temple Theatre that was either never seen or had long been forgotten but which clearly had as big on impact on Scott as STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE given that Scott alluded to extensively in two later sly fi epics, the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed and implicitly George and Marcia Lucas toasting and David Bowie and Nicolas Roeg roasting Matthew Robbins indie docufeature film CORVETTE SUMMER [1978], released on June 2, 1978.

 

“It’s perfect.”

 

Indeed, the implicit interest in Lucas began right away, for the frantic and tragicomic sight and sound of the blonde, exuberant, ragged and implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked Los Angeles teen auto mechanic/street racer ace Kenneth “Kenny” Dantley jr.-fittingly played by Mark Hamill, who embraced the ragged and wild haired Scarecrow look so exuberantly real people in street and hotel corridor scenes were constantly turning to look at him to figure out if he really was Mark Hamill, then the most popular actor on planet Earth as a result of playing the young, naïve, innocent, bored, restless, blonde and implicitly Lucas and Tin Man linked Tatooine moisture farmboy and ardent young Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE-running through an auto wrecking yard to stop a machine from crushing a wrecked ’73 Corvette Stingray reminded us of the auto wrecking yard/car graveyard that appeared in a sobering and quiet scene in the equally indie, Ozian themed and 1973 released AMERICAN GRAFITTI and evoked the equally frantic and tragicomic sight and sound of young Skywalker imploring the Laurel and Hardy pair of golden and implicitly Cowardly Lion and Oscar statuette linked protocol droid C3PO and his dimunitive, silver and blue and implicitly Tin Man and Toto linked robot companion R2D2-played by Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker, respectively-to shut down the garbage compactor that was threatening to crush him and his Ozian linked companions on the Death Star in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE. 

The sight and sound of Dantley jr. then hauling the wrecked remains of the ’73 Corvette Stingray back to the Forceful power obsessed MacArthur High School Auto Body shop and transforming them into a sweet candy apple red and golden flamed right hand drive “Dragon Wagon” with the help of the able, experienced, grey haired and implicitly Roeg and Tin Man linked MHS auto body shop teacher Mr. Edward “Ed” McGrath-the fact that he was always seen seated or standing in place and his fondness for grey shirts and suits, J & B whisky and Olympia beer affirming his implicit link to the Tin Man, his identical twin girls a memory of the Jedi twin future, and played by Eugene Roche-reaffirmed the implicit link of Dantley jr. to Lucas jr.  For the Dragon Wagon evoked the mythical and heard but never seen Krayyt Dragon of Tatooine in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, while its red and gold colours evoked the maroon and gold colours of the University of Southern California [USC] where Lucas attended film school and its unusual British right hand drive reminded us that young Skywalker’s landspeeder on Tatooine also had a right hand drive.

The sight and sound of Dantley jr., McGrath and the rest of the auto class celebrating the successful transformation of the ’73 Corvette Stingray into the Dragon Wagon and their graduation from MHS by going out that night and cruising and racing on Van Nuys Boulevard and other neon lit nighttime streets of L.A. also affirmed the implicit link of Dantley jr. to Lucas, reminding us of the mischievous teen Munchkin fondness for cruising and racing on the neon lit nighttime streets of Modesto, California, the hometown of Lucas, in AMERICAN GRAFFITI.  The sight and sound of Dantley jr. then forlornly wandering along the highway in the desert east of L.A. to hitch a ride to implicitly Emerald City linked and Mos Eisley evoking Las Vegas to track down who stole the Dragon Wagon late on that celebratory night also affirmed his implicit link to Lucas, evoking the sight and sound of an equally forlorn and disconsolate C3PO wandering through the desert after crashing in an escape pod on Tatooine with R2D2 in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, and the equally tragicomic Journeys of Self Discovery of Henderson in AMERICAN GRAFITTI and of young Skywalker in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE. 

The sight and sound of Dantley jr. being first picked up by the implicitly Disney and Cowardly Lion linked Latino “slowrider” Tico-played by Isaac Ruiz jr.-cruising to Mos Vegas as slow as a Jawa sandcrawler in his ’71 Buick Riviera before abandoning this slow ride and being picked up by the short, spunky, beautiful, brunette, and implicitly Marcia Lucas and Dorothy linked wannabe prostitute Eleanor aka “Vanessa” aka “Rosalind”-a character who also evoked Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia Organna in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, and was played by Annie Potts-and being driven in her red and white ’71 Chevrolet Chevy luv van to the crowded nighttime streets of Mos Vegas filled with neon signs for casino hotels and corporate brands and logos also affirmed the implicit link of Dantley jr. to Lucas. 

Significantly, as a tragicomic Romance swelled over the course of the film between Dantley jr. and Eleanor, a tragicomic and swelling romance that evoked the equally tragicomic and swelling Romances of the implicitly Scarecrow linked Steve Bolander and the implicitly Dorothy linked Laurie Henderson-played by Ron Howard and Cindy Williams, respectively-in AMERICAN GRAFITTI and, initially, of Princess Leia and Skywalker in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, the two luvbirds did their tragicomic best to track down the Dragon Wagon, evoking the sight and sound of Henderson frantically and tragicomically hunting down the beautiful Blonde in the white ’56 Thunderbird-played by Suzanne Somers-in AMERICAN GRAFITTI.  Unlike Cowardly Curt, though, Eleanor and Kenny did track down the car, now transformed by its thieves into an all Oscar gold street machine with the changed and ominously twilit license plate of PRB23, stole it back, and triumphed over the Evildoer who stole it, the handsome, blonde and implicitly Bowie and Wicked Witch of the West linked Mos Vegas Silverado Auto Body shop owner Wayne Lowry-played by Kim Milford. 

The two Forceful luvbirds also triumphed over the Wicked Lowry in his Wicked black ’71 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am in the full throttle head on chicken race car duel that climaxed the film in classic Western tradition and neatly tied all the separate Comedy, Journey Of Self Discovery, Romance and Western strands of CORVETTE SUMMER together like the closing and climactic dragslinging race between the implicitly Disney and Great Oz linked John Milner in his bitchin’ and completely transformed and Yellow Brick Road coloured ’36 Deuce Coupe speed racer and the implicitly Wicked Witch of the West and Bakshi linked Bob Falfa in his Wicked black ’55 Chevy-played by Paul LeMat and Harrison Ford, respectively-did at the end of AMERICAN GRAFITTI.  Thus, did Robbins reaffirm the film’s implicit interest in Lucas and Roeg, as did the fact that this final duel also evoked the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, Roger Corman produced and implicitly Coppola and Lucas roasting Paul Bartel indie docufeature film DEATH RACE 2000 [1975]-making it fitting that longtime Corman favourite Dick Miller had a cameo as the stingy and implicitly Corman linked Mr. Lucky in CORVETTE SUMMER-and anticipated and inspired the first and eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Cronenberg toasting Miller indie docufeature film MAD MAX [1979].

 Thus, the sight and sound of Dantley jr. and Eleanor driving the restored candy apple red and gold and always sweet street machine back to L.A. at the end of the film and giving the car back to MHS and Mr. McGrath, who had been outed as helping his talented ex-MHS student Lowry steal the Draggin’ Wagon to affirm the implicit link of McGrath to Roeg, before the two luvbirds left with each other implied the hope of Robbins that George and Marcia would give up on bewitching bright, shiny and perfect machines and beastly blockbuster dreams of Oscar golden fortune and glory and re-embrace their imperfect but vital humanity in their next fearless and innovative indie docufeature film lest their newfound Skywalking fame and fortune turn against them and lead to them crashing out and winding up as wrecked as the ’73 Corvette Stingray at the beginning of the film before it was transformed into the Kraytt Dragon Wagon.  And furthermore, a fearless and innovative film that would implicitly triumph over Roeg given the film’s allusions to the allegorical Roeg indie docufeature film THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH [1976].  Last but not least, the sight and sound of Dantley jr. freeing Eleanor from the insidious clutches of the tragicomic and implicitly Spielberg linked amateur porn director/producer and his implicitly Lew Wasserman linked DOP-played by Clifford A. Pellow and David Byrd, respectively-implied the new hope of Robbins that Lucas would again triumph over Spielberg with his next fantastic film. 

Alas, while a fine, funny and optimistic feature film filled with balanced and artistic frames, scenes sometimes captured with two cameras, an implicit Ozian theme and more Dark Side mirror opposite reflections than a Scott film, co-writer/director Robbins and co-writer/producer Hal Barwood hit audiences over the head with so many enthusiastic allusions to AMERICAN GRAFITTI, STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, and, to a lesser extent, DEATH RACE 2000, THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH, the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Kubrick roasting Lucas indie docufeature film THX 1138 [1971], and the allegorical Bob Capra docufeature film IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE [1946], the latter a film that was often alluded to in AMERICAN GRAFFITI, to make their implicit George and Marcia Lucas addressing allegorical intent clear that CORVETTE SUMMER gave you a headache, did not really emerge as a film in its own right, and also pointed the way to even more exuberantly multi-allusive films like the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cameron roasting and Lucas toasting Luc Besson docufeature film THE FIFTH ELEMENT [1997] and the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Besson, Bigelow, and Lucas toasting and Morrow roasting Lana and Lilly Wachowski indie docufeature film THE MATRIX [1999] in the CGI enhanced future. 

In addition, and unlike most anti-commercial and anti-establishment New Hollywood films at the time, CORVETTE SUMMER was also filled with so many corporate brands, logos and signs that it came across as a feature length filmmercial for Coke, J & B whisky, Olympia beer, Pepsi, U-Haul, classic Sixties and Seventies muscle cars like the Corvette Stingray, the Ford Mustang-which evoked one Lucas drove at the time-and the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am and the corporations that created them like AMERICAN GRAFITTI did with its nods to Coke and all of its luvingly maintained and/or restored cars from the Fifties and early Sixties, just with the addition of the many Las Vegas casino hotels and their signs and logos, re-igniting outrage amongst serious New Hollywood film artists about the increasing commercialism of film art that had been raging since Spielberg smartened up and returned the blockbuster beast to the Temple Theatre with the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Lucas addressing docufeature film JAWS [1975].  Alas, CORVETTE SUMMER also ominously pointed the way to even more blatant and shameless filmmercials from Spielberg and other film artists, and the transformation of the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy into equally shameless filmmercials for STAR WARS products.  Last but not least, the surname of McGrath, the bus with the license plate 324 CJN that passed Dantley jr. as he hitchhiked on the highway to Mos Vegas at the beginning of the film, the license plate A-33880 on the U-Haul trailer he slept in in his first night in Vegas, and the license plate PRB23 on the stolen and transformed golden Oscar ’73 Corvette Stingray were all eerily and presciently ominous premonitions of the twilit and disastrous future in CORVETTE SUMMER, making the light hearted film a very contentious, controversial and Dark film, indeed.

A Darkness that returned to the Temple Theatre when Werner Herzog and talented company kicked off the new film art year by implying in the sight and sound of the implicitly Scott linked Dutch real estate agent Jonathan Harker-played by Bruno Ganz-being turned in the end into a vampyre by the creepy, undead and implicitly Cronenberg linked vampyre Count Dracula-played by Klaus Kinski-that Scott should beware lest his fondness for Cronenberg lead him to be treated with the same fear and loathing being heaped upon the Canadian auteur at the time in the allegorical indie docufeature film NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE [1979], released on January 8, 1979.  As for Volker Schlondorff, he implicitly enjoyed THE DUELLISTS, for he had the implicitly Scott linked Jan Bronski-played by Daniel Olrychski-duel with the implicitly Lucas linked Alfred Matzerath-played by Mario Adorf-for the attention and affection of the beautiful, brunette and Adele evoking Agnes Matzerath-played by Angela Winkler-in the allegorical and implicitly Lucas roasting and Scott toasting indie docufeature film DIE BLECHTROMMEL/THE TIN DRUM [1979], released on May 3, 1979.  A fitting first implicit cinematic reply to Scott, for he also implicitly roasted Lucas and the worldwide phenomenon of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE on one level and Spielberg and JAWS on another level and also embraced a Cronenberg evoking fondness for roasting all of New Hollywood and for bloody and gory violence when he donned the director hat, teamed up again with associate producer Ivor Powell and editor Terry Rawlings-both from THE DUELLISTS-and did an abrupt and shocking u-turn away from the sunlit and fecund green fields, forests and hills, and crowded streets, of Earth and into the dark, lifeless and empty black depths of interstellar space in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster ALIEN [1979], a film whose release date of May 25, 1979 immediately affirmed its implicit Lucas roasting intent on one level, as its opening day was the second anniversary of the release of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE on May 25, 1977, making it all too fitting that the film was released by Twentieth Century Fox, the studio that released the Forceful third Lucas film, perhaps due to being angry that Lucas persuaded them to let him buy the merchandise rights for STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, a purchase that made him very wealthy and not Twentieth Century Fox.

 

“What kind of thing?...

Listen to me.

If we break quarantine,

we could all die.”

 

Curiously, the film began after the Twentieth Century Fox intro with white letters spelling out ALIEN slowly appearing like teeth at the top of the screen as the opening titles, the second of which proclaimed “…a Ridley Scott film”, appeared in the centre of the screen accompanied by slow, creepy, and suspenseful music from composer Jerry Goldsmith as the camera slowly panned to the right across star filled space, into the shadow behind a large ringed and Saturn evoking planet, and then out of the shadow and back out into star filled space again, at which point “…Directed by Ridley Scott” appeared in the centre of the screen.  At this point, a huge square space freighter aka commercial towing ship USCSS Nostromo, its name evoking the allegorical Conrad indie docufiction novel Nostromo [1904] to remind us that THE DUELLISTS was inspired by the Conrad short story “The Duel”, appeared looking less like a spaceship and more like a small city with four elemental and Ozian towers at each end, perhaps used for storing mineral ore.  The Nostromo  also ominously evoked the ruined castle at the end of THE DUELLISTS and the Black Castle of the Wicked Witch of the West in THE WIZARD OF OZ, albeit a castle floating through space like Dorothy’s tornado tossed farmhouse. 

Significantly, the huge and ominous spaceship appeared in the right side of the screen moving slowly to the sinister left of the screen in complete contrast to the Discovery I spaceship that drifted slowly and silently through space from the right side to the left side of the frame on its mission to Jupiter when first encountered in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY to implicitly affirm Scott’s fondness for the new artbuster film style that Kubrick revealed to the world with that thought provoking film.  The slow speed of the Nostromo was also in complete contrast to the equally huge and great white space shark evoking Imperial Star Destroyer [SD] that raced towards the camera full throttle from the sinister left side of the screen like in hot pursuit of a fleeing Rebel cruiser that also moved from the right to the left side of the screen as it frantically tried to reach the desert planet of Tatooine at the beginning of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, and to the almost instantaneous hyperdrive light speed spaceship travel revealed later in that film. 

This evocation of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE continued when the film POV shifted inside the massive spaceship and revealed a dim splash of blue film projector light in the distance at the end of a corridor and then wandered around the other corridors and rooms of the spaceship, rooms and corridors that were turning themselves on and that evoked those seen in the Rebel cruiser, various Imp SDs, the Death Star and the Millenium Falcon in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE to immediately implicitly affirm that Scott was replying to Lucas on one level in the film.  Fittingly, the camera moved in a free floating way that was in perfect tune with the dawning brave neo CGI enhanced age that could move in any direction and do anything it wanted free from the burden of a camera, and also evoked the eyes of Tony wandering around his room after waking up at the beginning of BOY AND BICYCLE.  An all too fitting reminder of the waking Tony, for after resting briefly on a cathode ray tube [CRT] screen of a computer that suddenly came to ominously twilit “life” with “NOSTROMO 80924609” appearing on its monitor, the POV switched to an Emergency Helmet sitting on top of the chair across from this computer that had the blue image full of CGI imagery projected from the CRT and onto its plastic or glass face plate in what may have been the first allegorical and all CGI short film in another and real case of blue film projector light appearing in the opening moments of ALIEN, openly linking the Nostromo and its crew to film art, and creating a dangerous Dark Side mirror world projected reflection that set the ominous, empty, unfeeling, and ahuman tone of the piece. 

Ironically, after establishing the ahuman tone of ALIEN, and as the ship slowly turned on, the camera also slowly moved down a corridor toward a white door that opened and into a dark cryogenics chamber whose lights came on to reveal the pristine white interior filled with cryopods whose hatches slowly rose up to reveal their inhabitants, white pod hatches that evoked fly or fairy wings to remind us that STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE began with the fairy tale preamble “…a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” to implicitly reaffirm that Scott was replying to Lucas on one level in ALIEN.  The first sleeping beauty to wake up and ominously exit stage right turned out to be the coffee and cigarette luvin’ and implicitly David Lynch linked Second Officer Kane-played by John Hurt-and then the POV switched to the ship’s main dining room where Kane was joined for food, drink and conversation at a fittingly circular table by the rest of the unusually small lseven person Nostromo crew crew comprised by the short, big eared, dark haired and eyed, untalkative, baseball cap and Hawaiian shirt wearing and implicitly Lucas, Scarecrow and Earth linked ship Second Engineer Brett-played by Harry D. Stanton-the odd, socially awkward and implicitly Spielberg, Tin Man and Water linked Science Officer Ash-played by Ian Holm-the big, bluff, hearty and implicitly Coppola, Cowardly Lion and Fire linked Head Engineer Parker-played by Yaphet Kotto-the beautiful, brainy, brunette and implicitly Amy Irving and Dorothy linked Third Officer Ripley aka “Rip”-played by Sigourney Weaver-the implicitly Tobe Hooper, Great Oz and Air linked Captain Dallas-played by the fittingly surnamed Tom Skerritt-and the implicitly Toto linked cat Jones aka “Jonesy”-played by Tiger-happily eating at the table from his own bowl.  Last but not least was the implicitly Eleanor Coppola and Glinda the Good linked navigator Lambert-played by Veronica Cartwright-who ominously linked the film openly to the Twilight Zone via her character Anne Rogers in the allegorical William F. Claxton and James Sheldon telefilm “I Sing The Body Electric” [1962] in Season 3 of the original TWILIGHT ZONE telefilm series.  Just as ominously, at exactly the moment when the film reached the 7^th minute and 23^rd second of its running time, Parker, with some prompting by Brett, brought up the “bonus situation” with Capt. Dallas, ominously linking a madcap lust for fortune and glory and a crew implicitly linked to New Hollywood film artists with the fateful and twilit numbers 723 in an eerily prescient memory of the future in the second Scott film.

        Significantly, Capt. Dallas soon excused himself to talk to “Mother”-played by Helen Horton-which turned out to be the name of the ship’s artificial intelligence [AI] that ran the Nostromo, turning the Nostromo into a “Mother ship”, and evoking the huge and multi-coloured Mother Ship that appeared at the heady and transcendent end of the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau roasting Spielberg docufeature film CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND [1977] to implicitly affirm that Spielberg was being addressed on one level in ALIEN.  The presence of Mother also reminded us that the talkative AI nicknamed HAL ran the Discovery I in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, a penchant for conversation that Mother did not share as Capt. Dallas was forced to communicate with her in a secluded golden and beehive evoking chamber via the keyboard of a computer in a truly digital exchange.  Ominously, Capt. Dallas chose “Interface 2037” from a list of Overmonitoring Matrix Address [OMA] options on the CRT screen in front of him, deliberately and openly linking Mother, himself, the rest of the crew, the Nostromo, the film and even audiences to 237 in another eerily prescient memory of the TZ disaster future in ALIEN.

        Here Mother informed Capt. Dallas that the crew had been woken up from hibernation halfway home to Earth near the Saturn evoking ringed planet to fulfill a contractual obligation to investigate a transmission of unknown origin in the form of an acoustical beacon that repeated at 12 second intervals that had been intercepted by the ship’s AI.  As a result, the crew of the Nostromo resignedly piloted the shuttle Narcissus, a name which evoked the allegorical Conrad indie docufiction novel The Nigger of the Narcissus [1897] in another nod to Conrad, down to a nearby moon of the large ringed gas planet labelled LV-426 from which originated the beacon.  Significantly, the moon was linked to ahuman CGI as CGI of the moon initially situated between four Ozian blue crosses appeared on CRT screens as the shuttle left for orbital insertion and descended down to the moon’s surface, drawing the Narcissus, the crew, film, film artist and audience down onto the dawning new world of CGI enhanced film art as much as down to the real moon.  Significantly, the CGI of the moon also resembled the CGI hologram of the Death Star displayed in the Rebel control room in their hidden base on a lush and fecund jungle moon of Yavin at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE in another nod to Lucas that implicitly linked LV-426 to Lucas.  Alas, this ahuman and Lucas evoking CGI also displayed a time of 7:23:23 on the CRT of Ash shortly before a rough touchdown in another open, eerie and prescient memory of the twilit and disastrous future in ALIEN, an eerie prescience increased by ominous notes heard on the soundtrack as the shuttle descended that evoked the Bernard Hermann composed main theme of the original TWILIGHT ZONE telefilm series. 

Arriving shakily but safe on the blue film projector light bathed surface of LV-426 that filled the interior of the shuttle with the same cinema evoking light and that was implicitly linked to the new CGI enhanced blockbuster beast given that the Narcissus had implicitly fallen deep down into the new world of CGI enhanced film art when it descended to LV-426, Capt. Dallas was soon leading Kane and Lambert with perhaps the world’s first helmet camera equipped space suits on an investigative foray across the dark, bleak, misty, and twisted lava rock landscape of the harsh and unforgiving brave new CGI moon.  Significantly, the sight and sound evoked the astronauts exploring the extraterrestrial Sentinel found in Clavius crater on the moon in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, preparing us for an equally extraterrestrial discovery by the exploratory trio.  Just as significantly, their extravehicular [EVA] journey was overseen back on the Narcissus by Ash, whose oddly exultant hyperspeed run on the spot to release some tension before sitting in his control chair was the first implicit sign that the strange and stiff Ash was indeed a Tin Man android and that the Weyland-Yutani Corporation that owned the Nostromo had planned this expedition to LV-426.

An expedition in which, while nothing hampered the progress of the three lunar astronauts, the fact that their visibility was hampered by dust and rocks whipped by howling winds evoked the howling wind whipping blinding snow across the equally bleak, harsh and unforgiving lunarscape at the American Arctic research station location of the allegorical Christian Nyby film THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD! [1951].  A fitting evocation, for soon this trio of two males and one female that anticipated the two males and one female killed in the TZ disaster in another ominously twilit memory of the future came across a weird, huge and horseshoe shaped grey biomechanical blockbuster beast  of a ship that was literally a work of macabre art from Swiss surrealist H.R. Giger and whose horseshoe shape reminded us that the Millenium Falcon was also an almost horseshoe shaped spaceship to reaffirm the implicit interest in Lucas on one level in ALIEN.  Exploring the massive blockbuster ship’s equally biomechanical, truly extraterrestrial and spectacularly strange and artistic interior complete with a fittingly huge alien pilot lying dead in a massive control chair due to an explosion from inside its chest, Kane was soon descending down into the depths to study what appeared to be eggs in the huge hold of the ship. 

Significantly, that same blue film projector evoking light from an unknown source lay over the top of the eggs, implicitly linking them and Kane to film.  Or implicitly linking them to film canisters containing wound spools of film, given that an aggressive alien life form in one of the eggs quickly unwound the tentacle-like appendage wrapped around it like a film spool and used the unwinding energy to propel itself through the air and attach itself to the face plate of Kane’s spacesuit after the unfortunate Second Officer peered into one of the eggs when its top unfolded open like a worm seen in a dream in the allegorical Lynch indie moving painting ERASERHEAD [1977] to affirm the implicit link of Kane to Lynch.  Alas, the horrific facehugger attack caused Capt. Dallas and Lambert to hustle Kane back to the Narcissus where they embraced their Dark Sides and persuaded Ash to disregard Ripley and her insistence on following quarantine procedures and open the interior airlock door to allow Kane back into the Narcissus for medical attention in the medical bay. 

Significantly, up until this moment Ripley was mostly an unseen and unnoticed background character, but from this infuriatingly and heartbreakingly foolish quarantine breach onwards, she began to reluctantly assume more and more prominence and importance.  A foolish breach of quarantine protocol, indeed, that also led to even more ominous blue film projector evoking light in the Narcissus than before, affirming the implicit link of the alien intruder to the new CGI enhanced blockbuster beast.  Beastly indeed, for when Capt. Dallas and Ash tried to cut the facehugger from the face of Kane, they quickly discovered to their shocked horror that the blood of the creature was a very strong yellow acid that ate through everything.  Significantly, this nasty acid blood reminded us that the first celluloid film contained a lot of also equally nasty silver nitrate that was notoriously and explosively flammable, reaffirming the implication that on one level the eggs in the alien spaceship cargo hold symbolized beastly blockbuster film canisters, and the facehuggers within the eggs symbolized beastly blockbuster film. 

Curiously, soon after the encounter with its voracious acid, the facehugger fell off the face of Kane of its own free will.  Alas for the crew of the Nostromo, this welcome occurrence did not lead to elemental Ozian health and happiness returning to the Second Officer, but to an even more aggressive, nasty and dimunitive black biomechanical alien beast bursting out of the stomach of Kane as he ate some dinner with the rest of the crew in the dining room in one of the most memorably gory scenes in film history, killing the poor fellow, implicitly linking him to the Wicked Witch of the East and kicking off the healing Ozian nightmare. 

Even worse, the pint sized and phallic headed black chestburster quickly grew into a huge, nasty and even more phallic headed and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked black biomechanical blockbuster beast-played by Bolaji Badejo-that was as much of a work of macabre art as the alien spaceship and the mini-alien given that the beast was also designed by Giger and evoked his earlier allegorical Work No. 303 NECRONOM IV [1976].  Significantly, the huge, black, and penis headed beast also evoked the equally huge, black and penis headed Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the shit Sith hits-voiced by James E. Jones and played by David Prowse, respectively-in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE in another nod to Lucas.  The Wicked blockbuster biomechanical alien beast also had a mouth filled with big sharp slathering teeth that evoked the equally large mouth filled with big sharp slathering teeth of the great white shark in JAWS to reaffirm the implicit interest in Spielberg on one level in ALIEN. 

Indeed, the Wicked beast’s large slathering teeth hid smaller teeth in a box within its mouth that could punch out at victims and destroy their brains to remind us that the small and commercial obsessed screen of tv had an even more deadly and brain killing effect on the minds of viewers than the big screen of film and that Spielberg had begun his career in television to reaffirm the implicit interest in Spielberg in ALIEN.  Thus, it was all too fitting that the Alien head effects were created by Carlo Rambaldi, who would go on to figure prominently in an equally and ominously twilit, nightmarish and alien obsessed Spielberg film to come in the fatal and fateful year of 1982.  Last but not least, the huge size and strength of the alienated and ahuman blockbuster beast also evoked the equally huge and powerful Jabberwocky-played by Peter Salmon-in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, brilliant, madcap and implicitly Spielberg roasting Terry Gilliam animaction film JABBERWOCKY [1977], implying that Scott was also roasting Gilliam on another level in ALIEN. 

Alas, this huge, nasty and Wicked black biomechanical blockbuster beast implicitly linked to Gilliam, Lucas and Spielberg hunted down and killed the Captain and the crew of the Nostromo with the same methodical and merciless remorselessness as the equally huge, nasty, and extravegeterrestrial Thing-implicitly linked to human vegetable inducing television, and played by James Arness-hunted down and killed the personnel of that American Arctic research centre in THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD!  First to go was Brett, brain bashed in with that second smaller set of teeth in the landing bay, and then the implicitly Air linked Capt. Dallas was waylaid in a ventilation shaft.  Significantly, with the loss of Dallas and the earlier loss of Kane, command of the ship passed to Third Officer Ripley, completing her journey from the background to the foreground of the film.  Deciding to consult Mother in the golden bee hive room, Ripley also chose Interface 2037 from OMA options to find out what was going on and discovered to her righteously furious horror that the Weyland-Yutani Corp. had not only indeed arranged beforehand to stop the Nostromo and explore LV-426, but also wanted to acquire the beast at the cost of the crew, implying the fear of Scott that the success of films like CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE would cause the equally callous and money obsessed Hollywood studio corporations to lose interest in the vital humanity of film art in preference for mindless, hi-tech and CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts.  Curiously, this heartless corporation took its name from the corporation paying for the expedition of Kurtz in the allegorical Conrad indie docufiction novella Heart Of Darkness [1899] in another nod to Conrad in ALIEN, and a fitting choice of name given that Coppola had returned to the Temple Theatre that same year with the Heart Of Darkness inspired and eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly John Huston roasting indie docufeature artbuster APOCALYPSE NOW [1979], a Great Wild Film [GWF] that was perhaps the apex of New Hollywood. 

Not surprisingly, this shocking and infuriating revelation led to a showdown with Ash, who tried to kill Ripley to prevent her from destroying the Nostromo and killing the Wicked beast, leading to Parker beating and decapitating Ash in yet another eerie and ominous memory of the TZ disaster future in ALIEN.  Significantly, the decapitation of Ash also revealed that he was indeed a frozen Tin Man android overseeing the safe return of the black alien blockbuster beast to Earth at the expense of the crew of the Nostromo, another disturbing revelation that led to the implicitly Fire linked Parker to burn the android to a crisp with an improvised flamethrower.  Alas for the fiery and Cowardly Parker, he and Lambert were then killed by the Wicked biomechanical blockbuster beast in the same landing bay where the implicitly Earth linked Brett had his brain destroyed by the beast to affirm the implicit Ozian links of most of the characters.  Significantly, before he also had his brain destroyed by the blockbuster biomechanical beast, Parker was strangled by the beast’s tail, reminding us that abusive husband Carlo Rizzi-played by Gianni Russo-was also strangled to death at the end of the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Spielberg addressing Coppola docufeature film MARIO PUZO’S THE GODFATHER [1971] to affirm the implicit link of Parker to Coppola.

And so in the end only Captain Ripley escaped the Wicked alien beast, fleeing the Nostromo with Jones in the shuttle Narcissus and blowing up the massive spaceship and the blockbuster beast behind her in a huge three stage explosion that evoked the explosion that blew up the Death Star at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE and anticipated the three films of the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy to again affirm the implicit interest in Lucas on one level in ALIEN.  With the Wicked and beastly blockbuster biomechanical alien now dead, the explosion also caused a healing disaster that J.R.R. Tolkien in a famous study of fairy tales called an “eucatastrophe” given that it brought health, harmony and happiness back to the galaxy.  Unfortunately, however, just as she was finally relaxing after putting Jones into his cryopod and readying her pod, Ripley discovered to her shocked horror that the sneaky alien blockbuster beast had stowed away with her and Jones on the shuttle, leading to a final showdown between beauty and the beast.  Significantly, a film projector evoking blue strobe light flickered through the beginning of the tense showdown as Ripley carefully sealed herself in a spacesuit, the same blue flickering and film projector evoking light seen earlier in an unexpected encounter that Ripley had with the Wicked alienated beast in a corridor of the Nostromo shortly before blowing up the ship, and a blue flickering strobe light that reminded us that a similar light flickered as psycho Gary-played by Tom Berenger-murdered the young, naïve, single, restless and hopeful, independent and implicitly New Hollywood film art linked woman Theresa Dunn-played by Diane Keaton-at the shocking end of the allegorical Richard Brooks indie docufeature film LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR [1977], a shocking ending that implied that Brooks felt that being led astray by blockbuster lusts for fortune and glory would cause the film artists of New Hollywood to kill their film art like Psycho Gary killed Dunn. 

Thus, the fact that after suiting up, Ripley used her Scott Free Agency to blast the Wicked alien with seering steam, reminding us that Dorothy faced down and killed the Wicked Witch of the West with a bucket of water at the end of THE WIZARD OF OZ to affirm the implicit link of Ripley to Dorothy and the Wicked black alien beast to the black clad Wicked Witch of the West, and then opened the shuttle’s airlock so that the Wicked black biomechanical blockbuster alien beast was sucked out of the Narcissus and pulled off into star filled space, taking its flickering blue film projector light with it, evoking the melting Wicked Witch of the West to reaffirm that ALIEN was indeed a healing Ozian nightmare, and allowing beauty to kill and best the beast, in the end, implied that Scott, unlike Brooks, believed that there was still hope for New Hollywood film artists and their film art.  Indeed, the ending implicitly reaffirmed Scott’s belief that people were not pawns of glory but had the Scott Free Agency to triumph over fate already implied by D’Hubert’s triumph over Feraud at the end of THE DUELLISTS.  Particularly indie docufeature film artists who created film art for film art’s sake like Cronenberg and himself, given that the surname of Ripley evoked Ridley, and her brunette hair made for another natural Scott brunette triumphing over peroxide blonde Hollywood and its brainless biomechanical blockbuster beasts. 

The triumph of beauty over the beast was also a hard won victory finally and truly accomplished in contrast to the ambiguous endings of BOY AND BICYCLE and THE DUELLISTS.  Fittingly, the young, beautiful, brunette, intelligent and courageous Ripley also presciently presaged the arrival of the equally young, beautiful, brunette, intelligent and courageous Bigelow and her first equally artistic, fine and fearless feature film in two years time, a film that signalled the arrival of female film artists in the Temple Theatre for good.  Curiously, the triumph of Ripley also presaged a triumph by Irving over Spielberg in a divorce case to come.  At any rate, victory accomplished, an exhausted Ripley drifted away in cryogenic sleep with Jones like a true sleeping beauty, all alone and as lonely as poor orphan waif Dorothy and just as eager to wake up and find herself home again on Earth, perhaps in her own Kansas hometown, as there was no place like Earth.  Alas, the fairy wing lid of Ripley’s white cryogenic pod was numbered 723 in one last eerily and ominously prescient and twilit memory of the fateful and fatal future in ALIEN, meaning that Ripley would wake up only to find herself in…the Twilight Zone.

Thus, Scott implied with this healing Ozian nightmare his angry and despairing fear that Coppola, Lucas, Hooper and Spielberg had destroyed not only themselves but the hope of New Hollywood that film art could be adult, mature, intelligent and thought provoking works of art instead of brainless schlock by breaking ranks with New Hollywood and defying their anti-blockbuster beast “quarantine protocols” by creating JAWS, MARIO PUZO’S THE GODFATHER, STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, and the allegorical Hooper indie docufeature film THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE [1974] which not only returned the blockbuster beast to the Temple Theatre but did it so well that the brain destroying blockbuster beast was enthusiastically embraced by audiences, film artists and the Hollywood studios, the latter of whom in particular seemed eager to sacrifice the vital humanity of New Hollywood film art in favour of puerile profits to made from hi-tech and CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts like STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE.  Ironically, however, ALIEN walked such a fine line between thoughtful artbuster and brainless blockbuster that it came across as even more of a slathering, hi-tech, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed blockbuster beast than JAWS, STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE or THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE that puzzled audiences but still inspired insipid sequels and similar clones like STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE did, exactly the opposite of the implicit intention of Scott.  Clearly, Scott would have to be more wary of getting close to the hi-tech blockbuster CGI enhanced beast in the future.  Last but not least, given that Kane was also killed, Scott implied that Lynch and his moving paintings would not be able to make it in the dawning neo-blockbuster beast era. 

And so Scott implicitly roasted Coppola and the Godfather films, Lucas and STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, Lynch and ERASERHEAD and Spielberg and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND in defiance of popular opinion like he implicitly roasted Lucas and AMERICAN GRAFFITI in THE DUELLISTS to implicitly reaffirm that he was indeed a Scott Free Agent, and affirmed his implicit allegorical intent with allusions to CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, ERASERHEAD, STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD!, THE WIZARD OF OZ, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and the allegorical and implicitly Don Owen or David Secter roasting Coppola indie docufeature film YOU’RE A BIG BOY NOW [1966].  And so ALIEN was another fine and fearless Scott feature film that reaffirmed that he had indeed learned his film art lessons well making tv commercial filmmettes and studying film art in the years before he became a feature film artist.  And so a new interest in CGI and sly fi and turning each frame into a work of photographic art instead of a painting as in THE DUELLISTS joined an old and continued fondness for balanced frames and beautiful brainy brunettes, the use of two cameras to capture takes, an implicit Ozian theme and a concern for the mirror opposite Dark Side of humanity and androids albeit without any actual mirror reflections in ALIEN, and a need for more fully developed characters as in THE DUELLISTS. 

Significantly, Cronenberg implied his hope that Scott and his indie docufeature artbuster film art would triumph over wicked Hollywood like the implicitly Scott and Cowardly Lion linked indie architect Frank Carveth-played by Art Hindle-triumphed over his Evil, red headed and implicitly Hollywood lookalike product luvin’ and Wicked Witch of the West linked ex-wife Nola-played by Samantha Eggar-at the end of the allegorical and Ozian themed indie docufeature film THE BROOD [1979], fittingly released on May 25, 1979, the same day as ALIEN.  Indeed, the fact that the name of Nola evoked “No L.A.” implicitly affirmed Cronenberg’s hopes that Scott would remain free from Hollywood’s lookalike clutches, and reminded us that D’Hubert preferred to marry Adele rather than the L.A. linked Laura in THE DUELLISTS.

For his part, Nicholas Meyer implicitly worried that Scott would be as led astray by his fondness for Cronenberg as the Good, earnest, altruistic, optimistic, women’s rights supporting and implicitly Scott and Dorothy linked writer Herbert George [H.G.] Wells-played by Malcolm McDowell-was led astray and into the future by his friendship with the Evil, duplicitous, women killing and implicitly Cronenberg and Wicked Witch of the West linked Doctor John L. Stevenson aka “Jack the Ripper”-played by David Warner-in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and Ozian themed docufeature film TIME AFTER TIME [1979], a film released on August 31, 1979 whose implicit Scott addressing intent on one level was affirmed by allusions to THE DUELLISTS.  Ominously, after arriving in late Seventies and Emerald City evoking San Francisco via time machine in hot pursuit of Springheel Jack, Wells soon fell in luv with the implicitly Glinda linked Amy Robbins-played by Mary Steenburgen-whose 2340 address linked Wells and again implicitly linked Scott to the fateful and fatal number 23. 

Significantly, the following year Lucas easily swept aside ALIEN and DIE BLECHTROMMEL/THE TIN DRUM when he acted as executive producer on the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Spielberg roasting Irvin Kershner indie docufeature film STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK [1980], released on May 19, 1980.  Not that the success of the second STAR WARS film mattered to Lynch, for he had a big success himself that year when he implied that ALIEN had gotten too close to ahuman blockbuster beast status and implicitly warned Scott to acknowledge, understand, value and respect the vital humanity of the blockbuster beast so as to truly create artbusters like the implicitly Scott linked Doctor Frederick Treves-played by Sir Anthony Hopkins-learned to acknowledge, understand, value and respect the vital humanity of the hideously deformed but sensitive, intelligent, artistic and implicitly Cronenberg linked human blockbuster beast John Merrick aka “the Elephant Man”-fittingly played by Hurt-in the twilit and allegorical indie moving painting THE ELEPHANT MAN [1980], a film released on October 2, 1980 whose implicit interest in Scott on one level was affirmed by allusions to ALIEN, THE DUELLISTS and TIME AFTER TIME. 

Last but not least, Peter Hyams and company implicitly linked Scott to illicit and synthetic polydichloric euthimal [PDE] dealer Russell B. Yario-played by Richard Hammat-to imply that Scott had further addicted audiences to hi-tech and CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts with ALIEN rather than cured them of their addiction in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cronenberg, Scott and Spielberg roasting docufeature film OUTLAND [1981], a film released on May 1, 1981 whose implicit interest in Scott on one level was affirmed by allusions to ALIEN.  As for Scott, he was hard at work on a film inspired by a novel by Philip K. Dick, who died the following year after a stroke on March 2, 1982.  Significantly, no sooner had poor ol’ PKD died than the author, who had been dismissed as a weirdo during his lifetime and his literary art mostly ignored, was suddenly and shockingly declared a genius and his literary art eagerly embraced.  A dramatic turnaround that led to the luvin republication of all of his many essays, novels, and short stories, turning him at last into the perennially bestselling author that he always strove and failed to be, making poor ol’ PKD and his literary art udiquitous [Udik], and making PKD more well read and influential in death than in life.  Just like Jesus, the messiah that PKD became obsessed with in the last years of his life, particularly after a series of strange visions that experienced over the course of February and March of 1974, visions that he always referred to as “2-3-74” to eerily and ominously link him to his own 237.

A complete transformation of PKD into beloved and successful author that no doubt grimly amused Scott when he helped along the Udik celebration by trading PDE for PKD, and implicitly roasted Hyams on one level when he donned the director hat, teamed up again with Powell and Rawlings, switched studios yet again to Warner Brothers, the studio that released TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE to implicitly reaffirm Scott’s prescient link to the TZ disaster, but returned to the healing Ozian nightmare when he implicitly did his best to heed the implicit advice of Lynch to not forget the vital humanity of the blockbuster beast and fulfilled the hope of Ripley by returning home to Earth from the depths of interstellar space and replacing weird androids like Ash with even more difficult to detect artificial bioengineered humans and implicitly replied to Robbins and CORVETTE SUMMER in the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster BLADE RUNNER [1982], a film released on June 24, 1982 and inspired by the allegorical and implicitly Disney roasting and Frank Herbert addressing PKD indie sly fi novel Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? [1982], the allegorical William S. Burroughs screenplay BLADE RUNNER: a movie [1979], and HEAVY METAL magazine.

 

“You’re so perfect.”

 

        Curiously, the film began like THE DUELLISTS with white opening titles on a black screen appearing, the last of which simply said “…DIRECTED BY RIDLEY SCOTT”, accompanied by the first wistful synthesized notes from the memorable and haunting Vangelis soundtrack that anticipated the sad and wistful post-TZ disaster era.  Then a rising opening preamble composed of white words on a black screen informed audiences that early in the Twenty-First century, the genetic engineers of Tyrell Corporation had managed to advance robots “…into the Nexus phase-a being virtually identical to a human-known as a Replicant [and genetically engineered for] Offworld…slave labor [and]…the hazardous exploration and colonization of other planets.”  This ascending prologue also pointed out that after a mutiny in an Offworld colony by a Nexus 6 “combat team”, Replicants were declared illegal on Earth.  Significantly, if any Replicants managed to make it from the Offworld colonies to Earth, they were hunted down and “retired” by “special police squads” known as “Blade Runner units”, setting us up for the Blade Runner versus Replicant battles to come. 

As “blade runner” was actually slang for needle using heroin addict, these upcoming Blade Runner versus Replicant battles were also implicitly linked to addiction, particularly addiction to spellbinding on set special and post-production visual effects like those in ALIEN, OUTLAND and STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE or films that desperately recreated or replicated them in order to make beastly blockbuster bucks, given that addiction to spectacular visual effects was all the rage at the time.  ALIEN and STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE clones and replications that evoked and were implicitly linked to the Replicants on one level.  Realistic artificial human replicants who also implicitly symbolized people created for films with the new CGI, implying the fear of Scott on another level that CGI people would become so realistic in time that they would replace imperfect but fully and vitally human actors and actresses in film art.  Indeed, the fact that after the word scrawl disappeared, white words appeared on a black screen stating “…Los Angeles, November 2019” reaffirmed that implication, for the future L.A. location immediately implied that Scott had returned to Earth from the interstellar space of ALIEN and changed the location of the action from the San Francisco and Seattle of the PKD novel to openly link the world of the future, the Tyrell Corporation and its artificial human Replicants, and the human Blade Runners who hunted and retired them, to the home city of the Hollywood studios and their film artists and film art. 

Shockingly, however, the familiar sunlit blue skies, palm trees, congested roads, urban sprawl, small downtown core with its small cluster of towering skycrapers, small enclosing grass covered mountains, and coastal beaches the world was familiar with disappeared with the white words setting the stage in L.A. and were replaced by the camera drifting slowly through the starless night sky as flying cars aka “spinners” flew like Wicked Witches on broomsticks over a nightmarish future L.A. transformed into a vast, dark, nightmarish and polluted Hellscape filled with oil platforms erupting with pressure relieving balls of Wicked fire, Wicked fireballs that all too presciently anticipated the explosion that soon took down the Huey helicopter in the TZ disaster, with no explanation as to how this startling and terrible transformation had occurred in one of the first of many flaws that turned this latest Scott film into a Great Flawed Film [GFF].  Significantly, this shocking sight evoked the Black Castle and its environs of the Wicked Witch of the West in THE WIZARD OF OZ, and was the dark and dirty antithesis of the bright and clean Cloud City in STAR WARS EPISODE V: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and of the equally bright, clean and skysoaring city of the future in the allegorical Fritz Lang film METROPOLIS [1927].

Just as significantly, the POV, which was implicitly inside a spinner, got closer and closer to two huge pyramidal buildings that towered over the rest of the Hellscape that turned out the be the HQ of Tyrell Corp. and that evoked the equally huge and towering bulk of the Con-Amalgamated titanium mine 27 on the Jovian moon of Io in OUTLAND, a Jovian moon said to have a diameter of 2273 miles in another eerie and twilit memory of the future, affirming from the outset that Sir Scott was implicitly addressing Hyams and OUTLAND on one level in BLADE RUNNER.  Curiously, these nighttime aerial shots were intercut with a closeup of a blue-green left eye, presumably watching from a window high up in one of the towers, as dangerous reflections of fireballs could be seen reflected in the depths of the eye.  Then the scene shifted inside the first of the pyramids and into an office high up in the pyramid where a man in a grey suit whose left eye was possibly seen earlier stood smoking and looking out one of the windows in an office ominously filled with large rotoring white ceiling fans that eerily anticipated the deadly helicopter rotor of the TZ disaster, an ominous anticipation increased by the blockbuster blue film projector evoking light that filled the office to affirm the implicit link of Tyrell Corp. to a loot lusting Hollywood studio, its beastly blockbusters and the film artists who created them, and its artificial human Replicants to artificial humans created with the addictive new CGI, and to affirm the implicit link of the smoking man in the suit to film art.

Significantly, the handsome, suave, besuited and smoking man later identified as a Los Angeles Police Department [LAPD] Blade Runner named Holden-his surname evoking actor William Holden, one of the favourite film stars of PKD, to affirm his implicit link to film art, and played by Morgan Paull-soon set up a creepily insectile and biomechanical Voigt-Kampff [V-K] empathy testing machine and used it to test the empathy and vital humanity of new “waste disposal engineer” employee Leon Kowalski-his name ominously evoking Frank Kowalski, co-writer with Morrow of the allegorical Morrow indie docufeature film A MAN CALLED SLEDGE (1970), and played by Brion James, who played a big burly Silverado Auto Body flying monkey thug named Jeff in CORVETTE SUMMER to immediately and openly link BLADE RUNNER to CORVETTE SUMMER.  Not surprisingly, given that Kowalski was revealed before the test began to not only be new but too have only worked six days, a length of time that evoked the new Nexus 6 Replicants, the V-K test quickly went south and ended with Kowalski shooting Holden when the Blade Runner asked him to say the first thing that came into his mind when he thought about his mother, evoking Mother, the AI that watched over the Nostromo and its crew in ALIEN, an all too emotional response that made the unfortunate Blade Runner the implicitly Wicked Witch of the East linked figure of this latest healing Ozian nightmare.  Curiously, this shooting evoked the sight and sound of the handsome and indie Corellian scoundrel and smuggler Han Solo-played by Ford-shooting greedy green bounty hunter Greedo-played by Maria De Aragon-with a blaster held under a table at the end of the Mos Eisley cantina sequence on Tatooine in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, preparing us for the return of Ford in BLADE RUNNER.

Then, after a brief nighttime exterior shot that evoked METROPOLIS of a police spinner and numerous other smaller cars flying past buildings covered in electric signs advertising corporate logos for the Off World Colonies and Pan Am Airlines, the latter puzzling given this future world’s fondness for individual flying cars that presumably did away with the need for airplanes as the did in Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, and a building wide filmmercial that saw a beautiful, mysterious, exotic and implicitly Glinda the Good linked Japanese Geisha-perhaps played by Alexis Rhee-pop a psychedelic treat into her mouth and then smile at the camera to immediately affirm a Southeast Asian theme to the film, a crane shot dropped the camera past a flickering neon sign of a blue dragon and down to gritty Earth into the dark, dirty, rainswept, crowded and neon sign and Southeast Asian extra filled and HEAVY METAL evoking nighttime streets of L.A. before finally stopping before the ambiguously linked Richard “Deck” Deckard-implicitly linked to Herbert in Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, and played by Ford-sitting in front of a neon sign and tv filled storefront wearing a brown future noir trenchcoat and reading a newspaper as first was heard a laconic and annoying film long VO by him that evoked the less annoying but equally laconic film long VO of the implicitly Lucas and Dorothy linked US Army Captain Benjamin L. Willard-played by Martin Sheen-of the 173^rd Airborne Brigade in APOCALYPSE NOW, followed by an even more annoying advertisement for the Off World colonies-voiced by Marc Smith-from a blimp floating overhead. 

The despondent sight reminded us that PKD was also trapped in an alternate sly fi world of broken writer dreams and unable to achieve success in the mainstream fiction world at the time he wrote Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep, causing him to long for success in the mainstream literary world like some equally despondent characters of an alternate Earth where the Axis powers won World War II longed to live in a real world where the Allies won World War II in the allegorical and implicitly J.D. Salinger addressing PKD indie sly fi novel The Man In The High Castle [1962].  Or to reach mainstream Earth like some of the despondent denizens of a Martian colony ghetto, that aptly implicitly symbolized the ghetto world of sly fi far from the Titan that mainstream writers lived on, longed to return to Earth in the allegorical PKD indie sly fi novel Martian Time-Slip [1964], or to climb his way into the mainstream literary world like Nick St. James climbed determinedly out of an underground sly fi world and back into the real world in the allegorical PKD indie sly fi novel The Pentultimate Truth [1964], a novel also obsessed with two spoof documentaries released in 1982 in another eerily prescient memory of the cinema linked twilit future in that novel.

Soon Deckard was called over to a free stool that appeared at a sidewalk sushi stand by its owner-played by Bob Okazaki-a sushi stand bathed in ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light to implicitly link the owner and Deckard to blockbuster film art.  Then Deckard’s blue lit meal was interrupted by a LAPD officer and a nattily dressed, cane using and implicitly Scarecrow linked LAPD Blade Runner named Gaff-played by Edward J. Olmos-who identified Deckard as a fellow Blade Runner and soon persuaded the ironically retired LAPD officer to leave with him in one of the flying spinners to speak to someone named Bryant.  Curiously, this reminded us that two U.S. Army M.P. Sergeants-played by Bo Byers and Larry Carney, respectively-arrived at the Saigon hotel room of Capt. Willard to take him away to a meeting with ComSec Intelligence at the beginning of APOCALYPSE NOW. 

Significantly, the sight and sound of Gaff flying Deckard away from the neon corporate brand name and neon dragon lit streets and up into skycraping heights, as the CGI seen in ALIEN as the Narcissus left the Nostromo before heading down to implicit blockbuster beast hell on LV-426 filled the screen and as more ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light filled the nighttime skies to imply that Deck and Gaff were heading up to implicit blockbuster beast hell here in BLADE RUNNER.  Just as significantly, the sight and sound of Gaff flying off with Deck also evoked the sight and sound of Dantley jr. being picked up and briefly driven down the desert highway to Mos Vegas by Tico in his ’71 Buick Riviera, the second of an Ozian quintet of low riders driving down the highway as slow as a Jawa sandcrawler at the beginning of CORVETTE SUMMER, a film filled with Dark Side mirror opposite reflections that was even more obsessed with brands, logos and signs, many of the latter neon signs in the scenes set at night in Mos Vegas, than BLADE RUNNER. 

Thus, Scott implied that Deckard was linked to either Lucas or Robbins as Gaff spun him off to the meeting, which led to the two men walking through an LAPD HQ filled with ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light before the meeting took place in the cluttered office containing another but smaller ominously rotoring desk fan of the implicitly head Munchkin linked LAPD Inspector M. Bryant-whose name reminded us that a plain clothes police officer and lecturer played by William Bryant appeared in CORVETTE SUMMER, and was played by M. Emmet Walsh.  Curiously, Insp. Bryant looked and sounded like Sheldrake-played by Fred Clarke-a Paramount Studios producer that the struggling screenwriter Joseph C. “Joe” Gillis-played by PKD favourite Holden-tried but failed to sell a screenplay to at the beginning of the allegorical Billy Wilder docufeature film SUNSET BOULEVARD [1950].  A curious and fitting allusion, indeed, for Deckard’s film long VO and the fact that he began the film unemployed before being drawn back into the Blade Runner ranks reminded us of the film long VO of the struggling and unemployed screenwriter Gillis and that he played as prominent a role in SUNSET BOULEVARD as Deckard in BLADE RUNNER.

Significantly, after the end of the tense meeting that revealed the fate of Holden at the hands of Kowalski, that the nickname of Deckard was Deck, and that led to Insp. Bryant successfully using his Scott Free Agency to persuade Deckard to rejoin the LAPD Blade Runner unit, more ominous blockbuster blue film projector light returned when Insp. Bryant took only Deck off to his “projector” room to study videotaped footage on a tv screen of six renegade Nexus 6 Replicants implicitly linked by the light to blockbuster beasts who had indeed given in to their beastly side to slaughter an eerily twilit 23 people in the Offworld colonies so as to take over a shuttle and return to Earth.  Curiously, one of the renegades was quickly killed near Tyrell Corp., leaving five still on the loose in L.A., but Insp. Bryant only showed Deck footage of four of the renegade Replicants, leaving one, the legendary fifth Replicant, still on the loose and unaccounted for to this day, to affirm that BLADE RUNNER was a Great Flawed Film [GFF].  Not surprisingly, given his angry, sardonic and violent response to the question from Holden about a mother he never had, one of the four renegade Replicants turned out to be Kowalski, and the other three were the implicitly Schlondoorf and Nikko linked Roy Batty, the implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked Pris, and Zhora-played by Rutger Hauer, Daryl Hannah and Joanna Cassidy, respectively.

Just as significantly, this footage evoked the video footage and still photographs of actors and actresses that directors and casting directors studied before they cast their films, linking Bryant, Deck and the renegade Replicants to film art in general and blockbuster beasts in particular again.  Curiously, Insp. Bryant also informed Deckard that the Nexus 6 Replicants were bioengineered humans with four year lifespans and fake implanted memories that reminded us that gimmicks like stop motion animation, 3D and “Smellorama” that the Hollywood studios used to lure audiences into theatres tended to be popular for four years or so before audiences lost interest, reaffirming the implicit link of the Replicants to addictive visual effects in general and CGI people in particular.  And so Deckard resigned himself to hunting down and retiring the four renegade Replicants in the crowded, callous, indifferent, impersonal and labyrinthine streets of this future L.A. like the implicitly Kubrick linked Federal District Marshall W.T. “Bill” O’Niel hunted down renegade PDE dealers like Yario and an eerily twilit trio of assassins in the equally crowded, callous and labyrinthine passages of Con-Am 27 after a company shuttle brought them to the mine on Io at the end of OUTLAND, an ending that evoked the end of the equally embittered and allegorical Fred Zinneman feature film HIGH NOON [1952], reaffirming the implication that Scott was addressing Hyams on one level in BLADE RUNNER. 

This film long hunt also reminded us that Dantley jr. spent most of CORVETTE SUMMER desperately tracking down his stolen Dragon Wagon”, and that the second film of Barwood and Robbins, the equally eerily twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed and Gilliam roasting and toasting docufeature film DRAGONSLAYER [1981], was a film long hunt for and quest to slay a dragon that evoked the neon dragons already seen in the crowded streets of L.A. to reaffirm the implicit link of Deckard to Robbins.  Last but not least, Deckard’s mission to hunt down and retire the four renegade Replicants for Insp. Bryant reminded us of Capt. Willard’s film long mission to hunt down and “…terminate…with extreme prejudice” the renegade and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked U.S. Special Forces Colonel Walter Kurtz-played by Marlon Brando-for Lieutenant-General R. Corman-played by G.D. Spradlin-and his George Lucas evoking but implicitly Spielberg linked aide Col. G. Lucas-also played by Ford-in APOCALPYSE NOW.

Mission grudgingly accepted, Insp. Bryant then kicked off Deck’s own film long hunt by sending him to the Tyrell Corp. pyramids to V-K the niece of the head of the corporation.  At this point in Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, Deck flew his own flying hover car to the Rosen Association Building in Seattle, where Herbert lived nearby to affirm the implicit interest in Herbert in the PKD novel, to V-K the human-like androids aka “andies” created by Rosen in the novel.  Here in BLADE RUNNER, Gaff flew Deck off through the nighttime skies to this assignment at Tyrell as well, past an ad for Coca Cola that covered one side of a building, reminding us that Coke was often seen in CORVETTE SUMMER to again affirm the implicit interest in that film and in Robbins in BLADE RUNNER. 

Curiously, the Voight-Kampff test that Deck was to use on Tyrell’s niece evoked the Adolf Hitler indie book Mein Kampf [1925], linking the film and Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? to the alternate Earth where Hitler, his Third Reich and the other two Axis powers won World War II in The Man In The High Castle.  Significantly, this allusion to Hitler and the Third Reich continued when Gaff and Deck landed on the roof of one of the Tyrell Corp. pyramids seen earlier and Deck found himself in a huge penthouse suite high atop the building filled with columns and a Third Reich evoking gold eagle on a pedestal.  Intriguingly, however, the penthouse suite was free of ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light and filled with the first sunlight seen thus far due to the fact that the top of the pyramid was above the smog line, implying that what was going to happen next was free of beastly blockbuster disease. 

Here Deck soon first met the niece in question, the beautiful, Adele and Ripley evoking and implicitly Dorothy linked brunette Rachael Tyrell-ironically wearing a slinky black dress with padded shoulders that linked her to the Wicked Witch of the West, and played by Sean Young-who fittingly also resembled Kathryn Bigelow, given that Bigelow arrived on the scene the year before with the Lafayette “Monty” Montgomery co-written and co-directed indie docufeature film THE LOVELESS [1981].  Just as fittingly, Rachael reminded us that after abandoning the slowriding Tico, Dantley jr. soon met and was picked up by the equally beautiful, brunette, dimunitive but spunky, raunchy, and indomitable Eleanor, who drove the troubled teen to neon lit Mos Vegas to track down his beloved Corvette Stingray.  Significantly, Rachael also resembled the lost and despondent ex-silent film star Norma Desmaond-played by Gloria Swanson-who caught Gillis in her troubled web and eventually shot him twice in the back, at the end of SUNSET BOULEVARD, making it fitting that the Holden evoking Holden was also shot in the back in the Kowalski at the end of the prologue of BLADE RUNNER.  Indeed, the slinky and retro-Forties black dress wore in the palatial Tyrell penthouse evoked the black clothing Desmond wore in her equally palatial house on her first appearance in SUNSET BOULEVARD, affirming the implicit link between the two characters.

Curiously, Rachael insisted that the great horned owl in the suite that Deck admired on arrival as it whispered through the air from perch to perch was artificial.  Significantly, this artificiality was due to a nuclear war that had killed off most of the flora and fauna of planet Earth and transformed the planet into a post-apocalyptic wasteland, a bleak and cheerless status that had an enormous impact on the characters of Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? but had little impact on the characters of BLADE RUNNER.  However, the fake nature of the owl begged the question of why the most wealthy family in L.A. could not afford a real owl in another flaw that transformed this latest Scott film into a GFF.  Then the genial but Joseph Goebbels resembling and implicitly Hyams and Great Oz linked Tyrell Corp. CEO Doctor Eldon Tyrell-who also resembled the equally genial Master of Ceremonies [played by Heinrich Gotho] in METROPOLIS, and was played by Joe Turkel-soon arrived on the scene.  And openly linked BLADE RUNNER to the films of Kubrick like Hamilton in THE DUELLISTS, for Turkel played Private Pierre Arnaud in PATHS OF GLORY, Tiny in the allegorical and implicitly John Ford and Ed Wood jr. roasting Kubrick indie docufeature film THE KILLING [1956], and Lloyd the bartender in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Richard Donner roasting Kubrick indie docufeature artbuster THE SHINING [1980], respectively.

“Uncle” Tyrell also stood watching and listening in delight as Deckard struggled to identify Rachael as a Replicant with the V-K empathy test despite the fact that the audience quickly picked her out as a Replicant due to the fact that her eyes began to glow eerily red soon after the test began and also noticed that the biomechanical V-K machine’s cameras wrongly revealed her to have green instead of dark brown eyes in two more flaws in this GFF that mystified audiences and made them wonder why Deck was so dense if he was the LAPD’s “top” Blade Runner.  Unfortunately for Deckard and Ford, the failure to note the red eyes of Rachael was due to the fact that the red eye effect was added in post-production by Scott without telling anyone beforehand.  Curiously, however, Scott did not add the effect to the eyes of Kowalski, which was why it was missing in the interview with Holden that kicked off BLADE RUNNER.  Significantly, while a frustrating result for Deck, it was not necessarily a disturbing one, given that the lack of ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light in the scene implied that Rachael, unlike the five renegade Replicants, symbolized CGI enhanced but still vitally human film art like Scott indie docufeature artbusters rather than ahuman Hollywood blockbuster CGI enhanced beasts despite her Replicant status.

After the thought provoking encounter with Rachael, the constantly sneering and origami luving Gaff, whose fondness for driving Deck around reminded us that Swanson’s long suffering butler/chauffeur Max-played by Erich von Stroheim-drove Gillis around in SUNSET BOULEVARD, flew Deck past the building wide Coke ad again to the Las Vegas and CORVETTE SUMMER evoking Yukon Hotel to search the ominous blockbuster blue film projector light filled room of Kowalski.  Alas, this search was filmed after the film had been shot and featured famed stuntman/co-ordinator/second unit director Vic Armstrong filling in for Ford in another flaw in this GFF and finding a small fish, lizard or dragon scale in the bathtub of the bathroom with his left hand.  After leaving the bathroom, Deck transformed back into the righthanded Ford and found some polaroid photographs in a bureau drawer.  Unfortunately, Deckard also solemnly said “…whatever was in the bathroom was not human.  Replicants don’t have scales”, the worst and most laughable of his film long VO, at this point.

Then Deck and Gaff mercifully left the room, and the POV switched to Kowalski meeting up in the neon and kipple strewn streets with the black leather clad, peroxide blonde and Nazi evoking Batty, who also resembled and evoked the implicitly Bowie linked Wicked Lowry, owner of the Silverado Auto Body shop and boss of Jeff, in CORVETTE SUMMER.  Soon they went off to harass the implicitly Tin Man linked Tyrell Corp. eye expert Hannibal Chew-whose surname reminded us that Richard Chew was one of the Oscar winning editors of STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, and was played by James Hong-at his freezing Eye World eyeshop, a workplace filled with ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light to implicitly link the two Replicants, Chew and his profession to beastly CGI enhanced blockbusters.  Significantly, after this ominous encounter that led to no insight from Chew into morphology, longevity and incept dates that would allow the renegade Replicants to live longer, but did lead to Chew revealing the name of someone named J.F. Sebastian who might have insight, Rachael showed up at Deckard’s conapt building and hung with him for awhile at his conapt with the ominously twilit number of 9732 in another memory of the TZ disaster future in BLADE RUNNER.  Significantly, this second meeting between Rach and Rick was also noticeably and reassuringly free of ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light to again affirm the implicit link of Rachael to CGI enhanced but vitally human Scott indie docufeature artbusters. 

Then the POV switched to the Wicked, black leather clad and peroxide blonde fright wig wearing Replicant Pris striding alone through the smoky and kipple strewn streets to the abandoned Bradbury Building-a good location choice, as the real and landmark L.A. building evoked PKD’s friend and fellow sly fi writer Ray Bradbury-and seducing the lonely, solitary and implicitly Meyer and Cowardly Lion linked Tyrell Corp. genetic designer J.F. Sebastian-his name inspired by J.F. Sebastian Bach, one of the favourite composers of PKD, and played by William Sanderson-to her renegade cause at his conapt, filled with more cloying and clinging kipple and with dolls, toys and at least two genetically designed Munchkins, the Napoleon evoking Bear and the kooky Kaiser-their Napoleonic Wars clothing evoking THE DUELLISTS, and played by Kevin Thompson and John E. Allen, respectively-in another ominous and blockbuster blue film projector light filled scene that implicitly linked Pris and Sebastian to ahuman and CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts and reminded us that Eleanor seduced Dantley jr. to her cause in CORVETTE SUMMER. 

Significantly, ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light also appeared back at Deck’s conapt for the first time as he brooded at the piano after Rachael left, and then digitally explored one of the polaroid photos he found at Kowalski’s Yukon hotel room using his trusty Esper machine, its name evoking the three levels of ESP powered people or ESPers to be found in the allegorical Alfred Bester indie sly fi novel The Demolished Man [1953], the first sly fi novel to win the Hugo award for best sly fi novel of the year despite also being a murderous mystery.  Just as significantly, this digital exploration of the polaroid photo led to the discovery of a beautiful red haired woman.  Alas, Deckard’s final command to the Esper, “…enhance 15 to 23” to enlarge the image of the red haired woman and produce a polaroid photo of her face, ominously anticipated the 723 date of the TZ disaster yet again in another ominously twilit memory of the future in BLADE RUNNER and one made more ominous by being openly linked to blockbuster blue film projector evoking light. 

Curiously, the ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light remained as Deckard took the dragon scale out on the neon dragaon lit streets and found out from a vendor-played by Kimiko Hiroshige-in the artificial animal section of town that this scale was an artificial snake scale made by artificial snake maker Abdul ben Hassan-played by Ben Astar.  After a little persuasion, a visit to ben Hassan revealed that the snake had been sold to Taffy Lewis-played by Hy Pike-owner of Taffy’s nightclub.  Significantly, Taffy’s turned out to be a popular and crowded dive filled with gaudily clad patrons, prostitutes and showgirls that evoked the clubs, prostitutes and showgirls of Las Vegas in CORVETTE SUMMER.  And a club initially free of ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light, until a “Miss Salome” showed up to do her dance with a snake like the one Deck was looking for, when a slight and ominously blockbuster blue tinge appeared in the light of the club. 

More ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light appeared when Deck confronted the renegade Replicant seen in the polaroid and disguised as the showgirl “Miss Salome”, the beautiful but deadly and auburn haired Zhora backstage in her dressing room.  Significantly, during their conversation Zhora revealed that the job did not allow her to afford a real snake, reaffirming that there were still some real animals in this polluted future world and that Dr. Tyrell should have been able to afford a real owl in another flaw that reaffirmed the Great Flawed Film status of BLADE RUNNER.  Ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light also appeared when Zhora beat up and then escaped from Deckard and when he struggled to his feet and chased her through the crowded nighttime neon sign lit streets of L.A like O’Niel chased after Yario through the crowded corridors of the Io mining colony Con-Am 27 in OUTLAND, crowded streets that included a background extra played by Tony Scott and resonated with recorded voices at street lamps that helped hearing challenged pedestrians across crosswalks at intersections that were dreamed up for the film by production designer/visual futurist Syd Mead and then were soon adopted by real city councils after the release of the film. 

Significantly, one of the neon signs included one for Bulova watches that reminded us that a fake Bulova watch figured prominently at the beginning of CORVETTE SUMMER to again implicitly affirm the link of Deckard to Robbins.  An implicit link of Robbins to Deckard that was reaffirmed by the fact that Deck’s chase after Zhora evoked Dantley jr.’s similar daylight street chases through Mos Vegas after his beloved stolen Corvette Stingray Dragon Wagon in CORVETTE SUMMER.  Just as significantly, ominous blockbuster blue film projector light and neon dragons filled the street when Deckard retired Zhora in a brutal and bloody scene that linked her to commerce due to the strip mall filled with brightly lit stores that she stumbled by as she was shot in the back. 

Alas, after the “retirement”, which led to the revelation that Deckard’s Blade Runner license number was the ominously twilit B25364, Insp. Bryant appeared out of nowhere in a spinner driven on the ground by Gaff. Congratulating Deck on the retirement of Zhora, Insp. Bryant correctly reminded the reluctant Blade Runner that there were now four more Replicants left to retire, given that five had been left on the loose after one had been killed earlier trying to break into Tyrell Corp.  Curiously, Deckard immediately corrected Insp. Bryant, telling him that there were actually three more to go.  This led Insp. Bryant to quickly correct Deck in turn, telling him that there were still four more Replicants on the loose.  However, instead of reminding Deckard that he had been on the hunt for five renegade Replicants and had only retired one, thus leaving four of the original five left, Insp. Bryant surprised audiences by insisting that Rachael Tyrell was now the new fourth renegade Replicant.  Thus, Deckard had been correct when he stated that there were only three Replicants left on the loose after the retirement of Zhora, meaning that left on the cutting room floor was the Replicant he had retired before Zhora, creating a mystery about the identity and whereabouts of Replicant Five to this day, and reaffirming that BLADE RUNNER was indeed a GFF.

Curiously, after Gaff and Insp. Bryant drove off in the falling rain, a dejected Deck looked up and saw Rachael watching him in the distance before she turned and walked away.  Pushing aside the extra played by Tony Scott, Deckard wandered through the nighttime crowd toward her, when Kowalski suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked and tried to kill Deckard to avenge the retirement of Zhora.  Ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light also filled the street when Leon was shot dead by a distraught Rachael after she picked up the gun Kowalski had smacked out of the hand of Deck and used her SFA to gun Kowalski down with one shot, wearing a high collared fur coat like the one Desmond wore midway through SUNSET BOULEVARD before she shot Gillis from behind at the end of the film, affirming the implicit link of Rachael to the vitally human indie docufeature artbuster rather than the ahuman blockbuster CGI enhanced beast.  And so beauty killed the beast again in a Scott film.

Alas, and unlike during their first meeting, the ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light appeared when Rachael accompanied Deck back to his conapt.  Thus, it was all too fitting that Deck’s eyes did briefly and unexpectedly glow Replicant red at one point in their conversation to suggest that he was also filled with beastly and ahuman blockbuster menace.  This red glow suddenly made audiences uncertain whether Deckard was imperfectly perfect and vitally human or perfectly imperfect and ahuman Replicant, an uncertainty shared by Ford as he was not forewarned that this red effect would be added in post-production.  Curiously, however, it was possible that this red glow denoted the flames of sudden passion, for Deck led Rachael off into an intense and all too human luvmaking session that implied that he was indeed human and also reminded us that Eleanor and Kenny also made mad luv in their second nighttime encounter in the luv van in CORVETTE SUMMER.

Then the ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light did return and link Pris, Roy, and Sebastian to film art when they met up at Sebastian’s place, and in Batty and Sebastian’s elevator ride up to confront Tyrell back at Tyrell Corp.  Curiously, however, the ominous light disappeared when Batty confronted and then killed Tyrell and Sebastian to implicitly repay Hyams and Meyer for OUTLAND and TIME AFTER TIME, before reappearing with him in the elevator down to street level.  Ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light also appeared back at the Bradbury Building in the final showdown of Pris, Rick and Roy, a showdown that evoked the showdown at the end of OUTLAND and that saw both men wear similar collared jackets except that Deck’s was Earthy Scarecrow brown and Batty’s was Wicked black leather like the coats of D’Hubert and Feraud at the end of THE DUELLISTS.  Alas, after “retiring” Pris in another bloody, gory and blockbuster blue lit scene that ignited the sad, wistful and vengeful fury of Batty, whose life Force was implicitly ebbing, and caused him to hunt and chase down Deckard in the labyrinthine and kipple strewn corridors of the Bradbury Building, another scene reaffirmed that indeed a GFF was BLADE RUNNER.  For racing desperately from Batty led Deck to a blockbuster blue lit and kipple strewn room filled with pigeons, a sight which should have been so shocking and exhilarating in a world where most of the fauna and flora had died due to that nuclear war that he should have lost all interest in the pursuing Batty and grabbed as many of the pigeons as he could, particularly given that he had expressed a wistful fondness and longing for real fauna twice in the film. 

When Batty arrived in the room, he should have done the same thing, leading to a grudging and respectful truce between man and Replicant due to their understanding that the startling and momentous discovery of real live pigeons dwarfed their small and petty conflict.  At this point, both characters should have wandered to the roof of the Bradbury with its ominously blockbuster blue light and rotoring windmill power generators, Batty should have sat wearily down in the darkness and the falling rain with his pigeons, given his famous, final and wistful “tears in rain” soliloquy and then “died”, releasing the pigeons at the moment of his “death” to fly away in imitation of his departing “spirit” while Deckard silently watched with his pigeons, saving the film a little.  Instead, Deck ignored the possibly real pigeons while Batty grabbed one, and then chased Deck onto the blockbuster blue lit and rotoring roof and leapt across rooftops after Deckard to affirm his implicit link to Nikko the flying monkey King while still holding the pigeon.  And then, after Batty rescued Deck and Batty sat down in the darkness and falling rain and spoke his final wistful “tears in rain” soliloquy and his time ran out as a humbled and exhausted Deck sprawled, watched and listened, Batty released his one pigeon at the moment of his “death” to evoke his departing “spirit”, a pigeon that flew off into a suddenly daylit blue sky due to the fact that this shot was re-filmed and inserted in post-production to confuse audiences even more and reaffirm that they were indeed watching a GFF.

At any rate, the ominous blockbuster blue film projector light disappeared when Deckard returned to his conapt to pick up Rachael, reaffirming that Rachael symbolized vitally human Scott indie docufeature artbusters like Adele and Ripley before her.  Finding to his relief that Rachael was still alive and sleeping underneath the covers of his bed, Deck kissed her to life in a fairy tale ending that evoked the fairy tale cryosleep beginning and end of ALIEN.  Then Deckard used his Scott Free Agency to leave behind his Blade Runner job and L.A. and drive off in a spinner with Rachael away from the polluted city and into the countryside to points unknown like Dantley jr. abandoned his Corvette Stingray for Eleanor at the end of CORVETTE SUMMER.  Thus, with the survival of Deckard and the “deaths” of Batty, Sebastian and Tyrell, Scott implicitly hoped that imperfect but vitally human people would triumph over fake CGI people, that Robbins would avoid making any more commercial and multi-allusive films like CORVETTE SUMMER and any CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts and stick to Good and CGI free indie docufeature artbusters, and that Schlondorff, Meyer and Hyams would all fall by the wayside, in the end.

Alas, despite being a visually mesmerizing film with the same artistic and balanced frames and obsession with turning each frame into a work of photographic art, ominous blockbuster blue film projector light, scenes captured with two cameras at once, a few dangerous Dark Side mirror world reflections, an implicit Ozian theme and undeveloped characters, BLADE RUNNER failed to find an audience and soon disappeared from theatres.  The film’s irritating film long VO, its contradictory positions on the existence of animals and birds, and the fact that, as in ALIEN, Scott used a film that came across as a CGI enhanced blockbuster beast to defeat and exorcise CGI enhanced blockbuster beasts like STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE all worked against BLADE RUNNER.  In addition, the film’s numerous commercials and neon signs for Atari, Bulova, Coke, Cuisinart, Koss, Pan Am Airlines, RCA and TDK, amongst others, also made the film as much of a feature length filmmercial for these corporations and their products as similar corporate brands and signs did in CORVETTE SUMMER, promoting the use of film art for filmmercials and negating the implicit attempt of the film to defeat and exorcise filmmercials in general and CORVETTE SUMMER in particular on one level.  Last but not least, the film’s numerous eerie and prescient memories of the twilit and disastrous future, and the fact that the film was released by Warner Brothers, the studio that oversaw and released TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, also BLADE RUNNER ominously anticipate the TZ disaster as much as ALIEN.

Alas, the long and eerily, presciently and implicitly predicted TZ disaster did indeed happen at last on July 23, 1982 just shy of a month after the release of BLADE RUNNER, changing everything forever and setting off the biggest and most righteously furious audience uprising in the history of cinema after Gen Xers slowly found out in the week after the disaster that Folsey jr., Kennedy and Marshall had conspired with Landis to illegally hire Chen and Lee and have them illegally work with Morrow around helicopters and dangerous explosions that fateful and fatal night on the Landis set of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE.  The possibility that Landis may have deliberately conspired to have the fatal disaster look like a SNAFU accident so as to pull off his own snuff or “snuffu” film enraged Gen X audiences even further.  Outraged Gen X fury erupted to even greater heights when Lucas soon confirmed that he was still committed to working as executive producer with Kennedy, Marshall and Spielberg on a sequel to the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed, Lucas executive produced, Marshall produced and implicitly William Friedkin addressing Spielberg indie docufeature film RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK [1981].  For this infuriating revelation shocked and confused Gen X audiences and convinced them that Lucas was not a Good Jedi Master but an Evil Sith Lord who supported people who killed Chen, Le and Morrow, a despondent, disappointed and furious conviction that increased when Lucas whisked Kennedy, Marshall and Spielberg off to London to work on the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, Lucas executive produced, Kennedy and Marshall produced and implicitly Friedkin addressing Spielberg indie docufeature film INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM [1984], which protected them from police investigation and participation in the TZ trial, convincing Gen Xers that Kennedy, Marshall and Spielberg must be guilty of wrongdoing if Lucas was protecting them, and that the head Jedi was indeed Darth Stinkious, the stinkiest of the Dark Lords of the shit Sith hits. 

Curiously, since BLADE RUNNER was still in the theatres when the TZ disaster happened, I still think of BLADE RUNNER when I think of the TZ disaster.  Indeed, to paraphrase a Neil Young classic, “…BLADE RUNNER and Landis coming, Gen X is still on its own, I can still hear the chopper crashing, three dead in the Twilight Zone.”  Just as curiously, and in another eerily twilit memory of the future, Slava Tsukerman and company became the first to presciently and implicitly address BLADE RUNNER and the TZ disaster in the twilit and allegorical indie docufeature film LIQUID SKY [1982], a film released in late August of ’82 filled with neon, beautiful but dangerous peroxide blondes and real heroin shooting blade runners that often came across as the reverse of BLADE RUNNER.  Right around the time of the release of LIQUID SKY, Cameron and company implied that the blockbuster underwater explosion that killed the cigar luvin’, remorseful and implicitly Scott linked biochemist Tyler Sherman-played by Steve Marachuk-and the blockbuster flying piranha beasts that he had created was an all too prescient warning to Scott to beware blockbuster beasts lest the beasts be his downfall like BLADE RUNNER in the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical indie docufeature film PIRANHA PART TWO: THE SPAWNING [1982], a film released on August 14, 1982 whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to ALIEN and BOY AND BICYCLE. 

Significantly, the following year, and to the disappointed, heart broken and outraged fury of Gen X audiences, Lord Stinkious affirmed that he was indeed the stinkious of the Dark Lords of the shit Sith hits with the release on May 25, 1983 of the horror beyond imagination, the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, Stinkious executive produced and implicitly Spielberg roasting Richard Marquand indie docufeature film STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI [1983].  Just as significantly, Cameron shrewdly and pragmatically rushed in to reassure Gen X audiences that not all film artists were Evil and gently but firmly lead them from Stinkious and Spielberg aka “Lord Sidious” to his side with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas and Lynch roasting indie docufeature Zonebuster THE TERMINATOR [1984], fittingly released a week before Hallowe’en on October 26, 1984 and as righteously furious as young audiences, helping it to become the surprise hit of the year.

Two and half years later, Lynch implicitly toasted Scott in the implicit form of doomed Imperial planetary ecologist Liet-Kynes-played by Max Von Sydow-and fittingly had him develop a fondness for the young, ESP powered and implicitly Cronenberg linked galactic messiah Paul Atreides aka “Maud’dib”-played by Kyle MacLachlan-and help young Atreides escape an Imperial and Harkonnen ambush on the desert planet of Arrakis that led to his death and an indomitable uprising of fearless and implicitly audience linked Fremen led to victory by Paul-Maud’dib at the triumphant end of the twilit and allegorical indie moving painting DUNE [1984], a Great Flawed Film like BLADE RUNNER that was released on December 14, 1984.  Then the implicit fairy tale endings of ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER became a real fairy tale ending and beginning when Sir Scott made another abrupt u-turn and left behind the dark, depressing, desolate and lifeless post-apocalyptic world of BLADE RUNNER for a light, uplifting, beautiful and lively fairy tale land when he donned the director hat and teamed up again with Rawlings and now with Universal Studios to reconnect with audiences and to come to grips with the BLADE RUNNER and TZ disasters in the twilit, allegorical and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster LEGEND [1985], first released on August 28, 1985.

 

“Did you think you could upset

the order of the universe

and not pay the price?”

 

        Tragicomically, and after a desperately earnest and wordy intro that set the fairy tale scene and unfortunately rose up the screen to remind disgruntled audiences of the rising word scrawl that set the scene at the beginning of BLADE RUNNER, once upon a time in a lush, green, fecund, colourful, sunlit and Garden of Eden and Munchkinland evoking fairy tale land overflowing with the flora and fauna completely absent from the dark and lifeless post-apocalyptic hell of L.A. in BLADE RUNNER, a fairy tale land first met in Darkness and lit by ominous blue film projector light as blood red opening titles, the second of which staunchly asserted “…A RIDLEY SCOTT FILM”, appeared on the screen, before daylight returned to beautiful and idyllic fairy tale land, a sweet, pure and beautiful but naïve, foolish, impertinent and implicitly Deborah Nadoolman Landis and Dorothy linked Princess Lily-played by Mia Sara-defied the warning of her equally sweet and pure but far less naïve and foolish and implicitly Landis and Scarecrow linked forest dwelling friend Jack-played by Tom Cruise-and, giving in to her Dark Side, reached out to touch the male unicorn of a pair of sacred and luv, light and laughter filled unicorns who evoked Chen and Le. 

Alas, this forbidden touch led to the male unicorn being killed by a poison dart blown by the Wicked green, hideous, simpering and implicitly Spielberg linked goblin Blix-also implicitly linked to Nikko the Flying Monkey King in THE WIZARD OF OZ, and played by Alice Playten-the exuberantly twisted emissary of the Evil, red, towering, bull headed, Satan evoking and implicitly Lucas and Wicked Witch of the West linked Lord of Darkness-played by Tim Curry-implying that Sir Scott like everyone else was outraged and depressed that Lucas had reached out to help and protect Kennedy, Marshall and Spielberg after the TZ disaster by working with them on INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.  And so health, harmony, daylight and summer fled fairy tale land and were replaced by a diseased, disharmonious and dark winter world bathed in ominous blue film projector light to implicitly affirm the link of the diseased dark winter world to cold, ahuman and beastly blockbusters.  And so Princess Lily, the dead unicorn’s horn and the last female unicorn were captured by hideous Blix and the chubby and implicitly Alfred Hitchcock linked Pox-played by Peter O’Farrell-implying the wistful disappointment of Sir Scott that Deborah did not persuade John to not use Myca and Renee that fateful and fatal night on the set of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE. 

Luckily for Tom, just when all seemed lost, including the symbolic wedding ring of the pretty and impertinent Princess, he was approached by a sympathetic trio of tragicomic and mischievous Munchkins led by the impish, elvish, pointy eared and implicitly Folsey jr. and Toto linked forest Gump-played by David Bennent, who played the implicitly Lucas linked Oskar, the tin drum drumming and glass breaking kid who refused to grow up in DIE BLECHTROMMEL/THE TIN DRUM-and including the implicitly Dan Aykroyd and Cowardly Lion linked Brown Tom-played by Cork Hubbert-and the implicitly Ralph Bellamy and Great Oz linked Screwball-played by Billy Barty-who decided to team up with Jack to defeat dire Darkness and Blix, with the reluctant help of the wistfully bewitching and implicitly Kennedy and Glinda the Good linked and Tinkerbell evoking fairy Oona-played by Annabelle Lanyon.  And so this tragicomic group of unlikely and implicitly twilit heroes teamed up and used their Scott Free Agency to blunder their way into the towering and fossilized tree evoking fortress of the Wicked Lord of Darkness, a dark tree tower that evoked the four towers of the Nostromo and the two towering pyramids of Tyrell Corporation, to free Princess Lily and the last female unicorn and to take back the horn of the dead male unicorn. 

While in the Dark Keep, the hapless heroes also freed and were joined by the blundering and implicitly John Belushi and Tin Man linked Blunder-played by Kiran Shah-who openly affirmed the film’s implicit interest in Kennedy, Lucas, Marshall and Spielberg via his roles as the helpful Abu in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, on which Deborah was costume designer, and as an egregious Ewok in STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI.  Indeed, the film’s many allusions to INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy and THX 1138 reaffirmed the film’s implicit interest in Lucas and Spielberg.

Significantly, as the tragicomic “heroes” were blundering away in the Black Keep, Princess Lily was swept up by her literally embodied and Wicked black clad Dark Side mirror world opposite reflection in a bewitching dance that led the pretty Princess to embrace and then transform into her Dark Side in the most memorable and open warning to audiences and film artists yet to a Scott film to keep on the right path and beware the mirror opposite Dark Side.  But luckily for the Dark Princess, she was eventually rescued by the heroes, who also freed the last of the unicorns, and defeated the Wicked Dark Lord with determined Scott Free Agency in a climactic sword duel in another Temple of Doom with the help of a dazzling ray of Darkness dispelling sunlight and the stolen horn of the dead unicorn before tossing the Dark Lord out of a handy door and into the star filled depths of a galaxy conveniently close at hand while bathed in ominous blockbuster blue film projector light, evoking the duels of THE DUELLISTS and the climactic light saber duels and star filled interstellar depths of the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy to affirm the implicit link of the Dark Lord to Lucas, and causing another and this time successful healing eucatastrophe that did bring health and harmony back to fairy tale land, in the end.  Indeed, to stress the healing nature of the eucatastrophic end of the film, the banishment of the Wicked Lord of Darkness to the depths of space like the blockbuster biomechanical alien at the end of ALIEN and the capture of the dead unicorn’s horn allowed the dead male unicorn to magically return to life, causing daylit summer, lush and fecund life and a healthy balance between male and female energy and outlooks free of ominous blockbuster blue film projector evoking light to return to fairy tale land and allowing Jack to find the lost ring of Princess Lily, knocked unconscious by the unconscionable Dark Lord, and kiss her back to life in traditional fairy tale fashion.

Alas for Scott and company, LEGEND was sincere and well meant with the usual artistic and balanced frames, two cameras to capture scenes, an implicit Ozian theme, ominous and blockbuster evoking blue film projector light, Dark Side mirror world opposites and battles against those Dark Sides with undeveloped characters as in ALIEN, BLADE RUNNER and THE DUELLISTS but no need to concerned about that as characters are never well developed in fairy tales, but too ridiculously light, sweet and innocent for angry and rebellious audiences at the time, particularly the young audiences who in time would be termed “Gen X”.  Angry and rebellious audiences who would have torn theatres apart and rioted in the streets if they had understood the film’s implications that Deborah was more to blame for the TZ disaster than John, and that John and Deborah and Folsey jr. and Kennedy were actually pure and innocent souls who would somehow be able to make up for their foolish mistake and bring harmony back to audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre, particularly given that Jack had to decapitate the Dark Side mirror opposite reflection luvin’ Wicked Meg-curiously played by Robert Picardo-guardian of the tree fortress of the Lord of Darkness in order to sneak into the tree fortress and succeed in his quixotic quest, ominously evoking the decapitation of poor Morrow.  Last but not least, in its original form, LEGEND came across as a laughably lost and confused feature length music video complete with wimpy synthesized score by Tangerine, making for another surprising box office dud for Scott, after starting off so well and so confidently, ably, creatively and artistically with THE DUELLISTS and ALIEN. 

Which no doubt made Scott even more bitter, frustrated, depressed and angry when Alex Cox implicitly likened Scott and the BLADE RUNNER disaster to the equally disastrous and blade running heroin addled relationship of Sex Pistols bassist Sidney “Sid” Vicious and goofy American groupie Nancy Spungen-played by Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb, respectively-in the twilit and allegorical indie docufeature film SID & NANCY [1986], released on May 14, 1986.  And even more angry, bitter, frustrated, and depressed when Cameron, Weaver, Twentieth Century Fox, and ALIEN producers David Giler and Walter Hill teamed up to have the implicitly Bigelow or Barbara Peetors linked Ripley-played again by Weaver-use her Scott Free Agency to agree to lead a doomed and embattled Colonial Marine mission to rescue colonists on LV-426 in the spectacularly successful, twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Dante and Spielberg roasting indie docufeature Zonebuster ALIENS [1986], a righteously furious and spectacularly successful film released on July 14, 1986 and fittingly filled with ominous and beastly blockbuster evoking blue film projector light, at least one Dark Side mirror opposite reflection and indomitably determined SFA that captured the equally righteous fury of young Gen X audiences at the time far better than LEGEND and succeeded in leading them from Lucas and Spielberg to the side of Cameron, where they have been ever since. 

Thus, rejected twice by audiences and implicitly thrashed by Cameron, Cox and two talented companies, a despondent Scott retired to lick his wounds before donning the director/executive producer hats and making his now familiar u-turn by embracing the once contemporary everyday world for the first time when he teamed up again with Rawlings and new studio Columbia Pictures to struggle to get his artbuster A game on again with the twilit, allegorical and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME [1987], released on October 9, 1987.

 

“Ellie?

I wanna come back.”

 

        Curiously, the film began with a helicopter ride over the dark but colourfully lit and Emerald City evoking nightscape of downtown New York with particular attention paid to the Chrysler building, which towered over the cityscape like the Tyrell Corporation pyramids in BLADE RUNNER and figured prominently in LIQUID SKY, as the opening titles, the third of which defiantly asserted that it was ‘…A RIDLEY SCOTT FILM”, appeared on the screen accompanied by the allegorical and George and Ira Gershwin written and Sting sung tune “Someone To Watch Over Me” [1926], evoking the LAPD spinner flight over the nighttime hellscape of a future L.A. at the beginning of BLADE RUNNER in the first of many wistful allusions, including the sound of the New American Orchestra playing an orchestral version of the extremely wistful and all synthesizer Vangelis composition “Memories Of Green” from the soundtrack of BLADE RUNNER, to that film in SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME.  Then the helicopter flew out of the downtown core and into the suburbs of New York, reminding us that Scott’s fortunes had taken him from uptown Indiewood to the obscure outskirts, and then the POV abruptly cut to the well lit, confined and decidedly inexpensive interior of a house where a boisterous crowd of deep drinking friends and workmates celebrated the promotion from officer to detective of the coffee and white dress shirt luvin’ and implicitly Lynch linked New York Police Department [NYPD] Detective Michael “Mike” Keegan-played by Berenger-and his beautiful, brunette, slim and sweet but strong, spunky, Rachael and Ripley resembling and implicitly Isabella Rossellini linked ex-NYPD police officer wife Ellen “Ellie” Keegan-played by Lorraine Bracco-her implicit link reminding us that Rossellini had appeared only the year before as the Wicked Dorothy Vallens in the twilit, allegorical and implicitly Coppola and Tim Burton addressing Lynch indie moving painting BLUE VELVET [1986] to affirm the implicit link of Det. Keegan to Lynch.

As the partay was finally winding down, the POV cut again to another boisterous party that evoked Taffy’s bar in BLADE RUNNER at the opening of an art exhibition at an expensive venue in New York-actually, the Mayan Theatre in L.A., reminding us of such L.A. landmarks as the Bradbury Building and Union Station in BLADE RUNNER-full of well dressed, wealthy, important looking and bright, shiny and beautiful people, including the Lynch resembling Win Hocklings-played by Mark Moses-and his beautiful, blonde, bewitching, mysterious and implicitly Glinda the Good linked friend and socialite Claire Gregory-played by Mimi Rogers-who resembled the equally beautiful and blonde Princess Irulan-played by Virginia Madsen-in DUNE, in which Sting had also appeared as the foolishly insidious young punk Feyd Rautha Harkonnen.  Alas, the opening night art party was lit by the now familiar and ominous blue film projector light, linking the party to beastly blockbusters and making it no surprise that Hocklings was soon brutally stabbed to death by the tall, shady, nasty, Bela Lugosi resembling and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked indie Italian money lender Guiseppe “Joey” Venza-played by Andreas Katsulas-in a large and beautiful gold chamber in the basement of the venue that evoked the equally large and beautiful gold throne room of Princess Irulan’s father the implicitly Kershner linked Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV-played by Jose Ferrer-seen in the Imperial Palace at Khaitain at the beginning of DUNE, a well meant, sometimes brilliant but notorious box office flop that almost killed Lynch as dead as Hocklings that was financed by indie Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis in another affirmation of the implicit Lynch addressing intent of SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME. 

Alas for Gregory, she witnessed the murder of Hocklings and barely managed to escape being murdered by Venza to tell the tale, leading to the unfortunate Det. Keegan being woken up from his needed promotion party recovery sleep by a phone call from the NYPD and summoned to work on his first detective case, reminding us that Deckard was summoned back to the LAPD Blade Runner unit after Kowalski gunned down his old partner Holden.  Significantly, after first consoling the traumatized Gregory in the early morning hours after the murder, Det. Keegan soon became the implicitly Scarecrow linked member of an Ozian trio of NYPD Detectives, including the implicitly Burton and Tin Man linked Det. Koontz-played by James E. Moriarty-chosen by the implicitly Great Oz linked Lieutenant Garber-played by Jerry Orbach-to watch over Gregory high up in her expensive, art filled and palatial penthouse suite at the Bradbury building evoking Chrysler building to prevent her from being murdered by Venza before his trial. 

Alas for Det. Keegan, on the first day that he stepped into the penthouse suite, his dangerous reflection was immediately seen in mirrors around the suite, particularly in Gregory’s central, circular and multi-mirrored and windowed dressing room, making it no surprise that he soon gave in to his Dark Side mirror opposite and fell in luv with the bewitching Gregory, a luv that she encouraged as she appeared more and more often in mirror reflections as the film progressed and slowly gave in to her Dark Side mirror world opposite, particularly before their first pivotal luvmaking session, reminding us that after meeting Rachael high up in one of the towering pyramids of Tyrell Corp., Deckard slowly fell in luv with her in another nod to BLADE RUNNER.  Thus, given that Det. Keegan used his Scott Free Agency to leave beautiful, intelligent, educated, sensitive and glamorous Hollywood blonde Gregory and returned to slim and beautiful brunette Ellie and their dumpy and naturally lit middle class home in Queens after Ellie shot and killed the Wicked Venza in that house when he tried to take her hostage, evoking the sight and sound of Dorothy melting the Wicked Witch of the West, the slim and beautiful brunette Rachael gunning down Leon in BLADE RUNNER and the slim and beautiful brunette Ripley blasting the Wicked alien out of the airlock in ALIEN, the art school trained Scott implied that he was telling the fellow art and film school trained Lynch to leave behind madcap and Dark Side desires to create any more beastly big budget blockbuster Great Flawed Films like DUNE and stick to the lower budget indie moving paintings like BLUE VELVET and ERASERHEAD that he did so well and which were luved by audiences. 

Last but not least, the fact that Det. Keegan stalked and eventually shot to death an implicitly Cox linked killer-played by Harlan C. Poe-hired by Venza to kill Gregory in a gun duel that evoked the end of THE DUELLISTS filled with multiple Dark Side mirror opposite reflections as it took place in that central, circular and mirror filled dressing room in Gregory’s penthouse suite also implied that Scott was symbolically striking back at Cox for implicitly roasting him in SID AND NANCY and Lynch and himself in the tragicomic forms of intrepid L.A. repo men Otto Krash and his older mentor Bud-played by Emilio Estevez and Stanton, respectively-in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film REPO MAN [1984] and setting audiences up for the return of Mike to Ellie given that by winning the duel, Det. Keegan implicitly triumphed over his Dark Side.  In fact, this Dark Side mirror world gun fight was the first time that a character used a reflecting surface to triumph over the Dark Side mirror opposite and transform into their Light Side in a Scott film.

At any rate, SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME was a more solid and noteworthy film than LEGEND, filled with artistic and balanced frames filled with natural light and at time more ominous blockbuster blue film projector light, two cameras to capture takes in scenes, an implicit Ozian theme and battles against Dark Side mirror world opposites that for the first time also took the time to develop and flesh out the characters of Mike and Ellie Keegan in an important milestone in the films of Scott that, alas, joined BLADE RUNNER and LEGEND in failing to impress audiences.  Making Scott even more angry, confused, embittered and frustrated when he donned the director hat, teamed up again with Paramount Pictures-distributors of THE DUELLISTS-and returned to then contemporary New York in the twilit, allegorical and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster BLACK RAIN [1989], released on September 22, 1989.

 

“If I am granted the recognition I deserve,

my loyalty will set a new standard.”

 

        Curiously, the film began with the opening titles appearing on the screen, the fourth of which stated “…a RIDLEY SCOTT film”, as an unhelmeted motorcyclist in a raggedy brown leather Indy jacket who turned out to be the cynical, embittered, pragmatic, rebellious, divorced and implicitly Spielberg and Scarecrow linked NYPD Detective-Sergeant Nicholas “Nick” Conklin-played by Michael Douglas-riding from Queens and over the Queensboro Bridge into New York on a sleepy sunny Sunday to the sound of Gregg Allman singing the twilit, allegorical and Will Jennings and Hans Zimmer written tune “I’ll Be Holding On” [1989] and then stopping under the Brooklyn Bridge to meet up with some other recreational motorcyclists.  This sight and sound reminded us that SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME began with the opening titles appearing on the screen as the camera flew over uptown New York before heading off into Queens to the sound of Sting singing “Someone To Watch Over Me”, evoking the fading fortunes of Scott from the top of the indie pops to the obscure outskirts of Indiewood at the time.  Thus, by beginning BLACK RAIN with Det.-Sgt. Conklin heading back into New York and then pausing under the Brooklyn Bridge, Scott implied his uncertain hope that he was heading back in the right direction with his latest film.  Indeed, the Det.-Sgt. soon defeated a Det. Keegan resembling and perhaps Lynch linked motorcyclist-played by John Costelloe-in an indie and illegal motorcycle race from the Brooklyn to the Manhattan Bridge, perhaps Scott’s way of hoping that his latest film would defeat SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME and bridge the gap between failure and success.  Significantly, this motorcycle race evoked the cyber light cycle races in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas and Spielberg toasting Steve Lisberger animaction film TRON [1982] to also establish the implicit interest in Disney on one level in the film. 

The next day it was back to the NYPD trenches and a dreaded Internal Affairs Division [IAD] meeting for Conklin.  Significantly, before the meeting Conklin took a long look at his Dark Side mirror reflection to check his appearance in a short scene that saw the camera zoom in on the mirror until all that was left was that Dark Side mirror world opposite reflection to imply that the Det.-Sgt. had become one with his Dark Side. This insidious implication was affirmed by the IAD “suits” Crown and Yudell-played by Richard Riehle and Bruce Katzman, respectively-who caustically made clear that there was a good possibility that Conklin had stolen some money seized from drug dealers to pay off some debts.  Significantly, this tense meeting evoked the more tragicomic meeting between Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones-played by Ford-and U.S. Army Intelligence officers Colonel Musgrove and Major Eaton-played by Don Fellows and William Hootkins, respectively-at the beginning of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK to affirm the implicit link Det.-Sgt. Conklin to Spielberg. 

After the meeting, the despondent and downbeat Det.-Sgt. Conklin met up with his younger, exuberant, upbeat, mischievous, lighthearted, wisecracking, suit luvin’ and implicitly Landis and Tin Man linked NYPD partner Det. Charles “Charlie” Vincent-played by Andy Garcia-at an Italian restaurant for lunch.  Alas, their stress relieving and enjoyable lunch was soon interrupted by a small group of yakuza, whose intimidating leader, who turned out to be the implicitly Nikko the Flying Monkey King linked Sato Kogi-played by Matsuda Yusaku-stabbed another and older and Disney resembling yakuza to death after stealing something from him and cut the throat of another older yakuza-played by Ikeda Edmund and Nagasue Tomo, respectively-who were eating lunch in the restaurant with some local Italian mobsters, murders that evoked Venza stabbing Win to death at the beginning of SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME, and the murders of the Kessler family by Nazi monsters in a nightmare experienced by the implicitly Kubrick linked David Kessler-played by David Naughton-in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Kubrick roasting Landis indie docufeature film AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON [1981] to affirm the implicit link of Vincent to Landis. 

Captured after the murders by Det.-Sgt. Conklin and Det. Vincent, the two discovered to their surprised annoyance that Sato would be returned to Japan to face justice there instead of the U.S., and that they had been chosen to accompany him on a plane back to Osaka to hand him over to the authorities there.  Significantly, the aerial flight over the city on the way in evoked the aerial flight over Chicago at the beginning of eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Lynch and Mel Brooks roasting Landis indie docufeature film THE BLUES BROTHERS [1980] to reaffirm the implicit link of Vincent to Landis.  At this point, BLACK RAIN came across as a remake of BLADE RUNNER set in an everyday late Eighties Osaka that constantly evoked the future L.A. of BLADE RUNNER, a retrofitted remake style helped along by the film’s many allusions to BLADE RUNNER and the return of the L.A. landmark Mayan temple themed Ennis-Brown House location from that film, implying that Scott was again brooding furiously over the failure of BLADE RUNNER in BLACK RAIN as he had in SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME. 

Indeed, after being duped into handing the Wicked Sato over to members of his splinter yakuza group upon arrival at the Osaka airport, Det.-Sgt. Conklin and Det. Vincent furiously resolved to use their Scott Free Agency to remain in Osaka and spend the rest of the film tracking down the handsome, violent, inhuman and always Wicked Sato in the neon and electric advertisement lit streets of Osaka, including  at least one electric billboard ad for the Asahi beer favoured by the crew of the Nostromo in ALIEN, evoking the sight and sound of Deckard tracking down violent and inhuman Replicants in the neon and electric advertisement lit streets of L.A. in BLADE RUNNER.  The two NYPD detectives also hung out twice in a Club Obi Wan evoking nightclub favoured by the yakuza filled with ominously rotoring and twilit ceiling fans and the equally ominous and familiar blue film projector evoking light, implicitly linking the club and its patrons to blockbuster beasts.  Here they met the beautiful, blonde, bewitching, jaded and implicitly Glinda linked Chicago expat “hostess” Joyce-played by Kate Capshaw, who openly linked the film to Spielberg via her role as Shanghai based Club Obi Wan nightclub singer Wilhelmina “Wille” Scott in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM and who became, in time, the future second and final wife of Spielberg-whose Chicago hometown reminded us that Landis was born and raised in Chicago, the setting of much of THE BLUES BROTHERS.  Along the way, Det. Vincent was decapitated by a sword wielding and truly Wicked Sato on a motorcycle, grimly evoking the decapitation of poor Morrow to affirm the implicit link of Vincent to Landis and to give Det.-Sgt. Conklin even more reason to track down Sato and bring him to justice. 

Curiously, the Wicked Sato turned out to be hell bent on breaking free from his haunted blockbuster atomic bomb survivor yakuza boss, the implicitly Michael Eisner and Wicked Witch of the West linked Suigo Kunio-played by Wakayama Tomisaburo-and heading his own yakuza gang, reminding us that John Lasseter was an ex-Disney employee trying to break the fledgling Pixar all CGI animated film studio free from Disney at the time to implicitly link Sato to Lasseter.  Indeed, Sato’s fondness for counterfeiting American currency evoked Lasseter’s fondness for counterfeiting and faking reality with CGI to affirm the implicit link of Sato to Lasseter.  And, after another TRON evoking motorcycle race that he lost to Conklin that brought the film full circle, Sato was finally captured and brought to justice by Det.-Sgt. Conklin with the help of Suigo and his thugs, Joyce, and the honoured, long suffering and implicitly Kubrick and Cowardly Lion linked Osaka Prefectural Police Criminal Investigation Division liaison Assistant Inspector Matsumoto “Mas” Masahiro-played by Takakura Ken-in a scene that reaffirmed the film’s implicit interest in Landis on one level.  For the sight and sound of a beat up Conklin and Matsumoto grimly and firmly marching an equally beat up Sato through the Osaka police department to be formally and finally turned in to the implicitly Great Oz linked OPP Chief Inspector Ohashi-played by Koyama Shigeru-ironically evoked the sight and sound the implicitly Brooks linked Joliet Jacob “Jake” Blues-played by Belushi-being marched by two guards through Joliet Prison in Chicago to be released at the beginning of THE BLUES BROTHERS. 

Thus, with Vincent dying and Conklin using this SFA to triumph over the ahuman Sato, and over his Dark Side mirror world reflection, and leaving Matsumoto and Osaka behind, in the end, Scott implied his belief that, with Landis no longer an obsessive concern after he and his four co-defendants were found not guilty of manslaughter at the end of the TZ trial in May of ’87, Spielberg would redeem himself by leading the way in defeating ahuman and all CGI film artists like Lasseter.  Indeed, the film’s allusions to INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and the allegorical and implicitly Lucas addressing Spielberg telefilm DUEL [1971] affirmed the film’s implicit interest in Spielberg on one level.

Luckily for Scott, BLACK RAIN was a fine feature film filled with familiar artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames and some blockbuster blue film projector light, two cameras to capture a take, an implicit Ozian theme, confrontations with Dark Side mirror opposites, a reasonable amount of development of the characters of Conklin and Shigeru and an implicit opposition to ahuman CGI enhanced or all CGI film art that connected with audiences.  Curiously, not long after the release of BLACK RAIN, Kenneth Branagh implied that he understood the sympathetic and implicitly Lynch addressing intent of SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME and wanted Lynch to get back on track as well by implicitly linking Scott to Williams-played by Michael Williams-and having him help the young, thoughtful, exuberant, charismatic, indomitable, and implicitly Lynch linked Henry V-played by Branagh-achieve a brutal and bloody victory over the French at Agincourt at the end of the twilit and allegorical indie docufeature film HENRY V [1989], a film released on October 6, 1989 whose implicit interest in Scott on one level was affirmed by the appearances of Holm as Captain Fluellen and Stephens as Auncient Pistol, respectively, openly linking HENRY V to ALIEN and THE DUELLISTS.

As for Lynch, he implicitly responded to SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME by implicitly roasting and toasting Scott in the implicit form of the doomed private investigator John “Johnny” Farragut-played by Stanton-in the twilit, allegorical and Ozian themed indie moving painting WILD AT HEART [1990], a film released on May 19, 1990 whose implicit interest in Scott on one level was affirmed by allusions to SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME.  Curiously, while no doubt pleased with the success of BLACK RAIN, Scott was implicitly displeased with WILD AT HEART, for he made another abrupt u-turn when he donned the director/co-producer hats, abandoned the Hollywood studios for a truly indie creation, and teamed up again with Keitel and composer Zimmer, associate producer Mimi Polk Sotela, and production designer Norris Spencer-all from BLACK RAIN-and implicitly addressed Lynch again in the daylit, allegorical and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster THELMA & LOUISE [1991], released on May 20, 1991 almost exactly a year after the first screening of WILD AT HEART at Cannes to immediately affirm its implicit Lynch addressing intent, making it fitting that the film was distributed by MGM, the studio that released WILD AT HEART.

 

“Did I hear somebody say “Peaches”?”

 

Significantly, the film began with wistful and Western-style instrumental music composed by Zimmer playing as the opening titles appeared on the screen, the third of which confidently stated “…A RIDLEY SCOTT FILM”, and as a beautiful and sundrenched vista of the American Southwest perhaps near the border with Mexico slowly emerged from darkness and then slowly faded away into darkness, establishing the wistful, so close so far way, transitory, and Western themes of the piece.  Then the scene shifted to another busy and proficient day in the life of friendly, cigarette, coffee and collar and button dress shirt luvin’, and implicitly Lynch and Glinda the Good linked waitress Louise Sawyer-her implicit link to Lynch affirmed by the film’s allusions to BLUE VELVET, DUNE, and WILD AT HEART, and played by Susan Sarandon-in a roadside Arkansas diner that evoked the Double-R Diner in the twilit and allegorical Lynch indie telemoving painting series TWIN PEAKS [1990-91] to immediately affirm the implicit interest in Lynch in THELMA & LOUISE. 

Soon Sawyer was enjoying a smoke break and calling her equally bored, frustrated, restless and implicitly Dorothy linked unhappily married wife Thelma Dickinson-also implicitly linked to WILD AT HEART co-screenwriter Barry Gifford, and played by Geena Davis-to ask her if she had asked her implicitly Coppola and Scarecrow linked husband Darryl Dickinson-his implicit link to Coppola affirmed by the film’s allusions to the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical Coppola indie docufeature film THE RAIN PEOPLE [1969], and played by Christopher McDonald-for permission to take off for a weekend away at a cabin in the mountains.  While Dickinson was too diffident to ask for permission, she decided to go anyway, leading to Sawyer showing up at the Dickinson house in her green ’66 Thunderbird after her Friday day shift was over to pick up Dickinson and drive the two happy ladies off and away down the Yellow Lined Road to a much needed weekend escape. 

Alas for the ladies, stopping at a roadside Western bar called the Silver Bullet to celebrate the end of their first day of spontaneous freedom revealed that some of the ceiling lights gave off that familiar and ominous blue film projector light, implying that beastly blockbuster trouble was soon to arrive.  Indeed, the luvly ladies quickly attracted the attention of a callow and implicitly Cameron and Wicked Witch of the East linked cad named Harlan Puckett-his implicit link to Cameron affirmed by the film’s allusions to T1, and played by Timothy Carhart-who looked like Cameron, had a surname that evoked hockey pucks to remind us that Cameron was born and raised in Ontario, and had a buff physique that evoked that of the relentless and callously killing T-600 cyborg Terminator from the future-played by Arnold Schwarzenegger-in T1 to affirm the implicit link of Puckett to Cameron.  In fact, Puckett’s first name “Harlan” reminded us that literary artist Harlan Ellison fought and won a lawsuit against Cameron due to the fact that T1 too closely resembled the allegorical Ellison indie docufiction short story “Soldier From Tomorrow” [1957] to reaffirm the implicit link of Puckett to Cameron. 

Significantly, as an inebriated Dickinson finished up her first Western dance with Puckett, Sawyer stepped into the ladies room where, surrounded by women who resembled and were implicitly linked to such film artists as Bigelow, Amy Heckerling, Barbara Loden and Ida Lupino, only her hands and forearms were seen in the foreground as she pondered her Dark Side mirror opposite reflection in the background and adjusted her hair in the mirror over the sinks, ominously implying that she was too close to her Dark Side for comfort and reminding us that the scene at the beginning of BLACK RAIN where Det.-Sgt. Conklin pondered his appearance in a mirror before resignedly heading off to his tense IAD meeting ended with the camera moving in on the mirror so that only his Dark Side mirror opposite was visible to imply that he had become one with his Dark Side mirror opposite.  Thus, it was no surprise that Sawyer’s Dark Side soon exploded in righteous fury, for soon after Sawyer left the ladies room, the rape survivor discovered Puckett beating up and trying to rape the inebriated Dickinson out in the parking lot of the Silver Bullet, a parking lot unobtrusively punctuated by a thin lone beam of blue film projector light.  Thus, and unluckily for Puckett, it was no surprise that he was shot dead by Sawyer with deadly accurate SFA when he made the mistake of being profanely rude after she rescued Dickinson, evoking the sight and sound of Ellie gunning down Venza at the end of SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME and Rachael shooting Kowalski “dead” in BLADE RUNNER and affirming his implicit link to the Wicked Witch of the East. 

This satisfying and righteously furious murder indeed led to Sawyer heading off in a Dark and dangerous direction with Dickinson in the ‘66 Thunderbird and frantically driving south down the Yellow Lined Road to Mexico City to escape the pursuing Arkansas police, led by the concerned, personable, patient, sympathetic and implicitly De Laurentiis and Great Oz linked Arkansas State Police Detective Hal Slocumb-reminding us that the equally personable and sympathetic De Laurentiis produced BLUE VELVET and DUNE, and played by Keitel.  Along the way, the despairing and desperate duo met the young, blonde, great looking, deceptively innocent and implicitly Sting and Toto linked petty criminal J.D.-played by Brad Pitt-were personally delivered $6700 by Sawyer’s disappointingly noncommittal and implicitly MacLachlan and Tin Man linked “boyfriend” James “Jimmy” Lennox-fittingly played by Michael Madsen, brother of Virginia Madsen, who played Princess Irulan in DUNE-and had the money stolen by the untrustworthy pretty boy J.D. 

They also had a tragicomic encounter in a rocky desertscape that evoked the one where Munchkin Jawas captured the feisty and rebellious R2D2 in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE with a fittingly and implicitly Lucas and Cowardly Lion linked New Mexico State Trooper-played by Jason Beghe-reminding us that Coppola and Lucas teamed up to create THE RAIN PEOPLE and the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lynch roasting indie docufeature film TUCKER [1988].  Last but not least, they gunned down and blew up in a fittingly fiery explosion the silver bullet evoking truck and trailer of the infuriatingly stupid and implicitly Spielberg and Wicked Witch of the West linked trucker-his implicit link to Spielberg affirmed by allusions to DUEL, and played by Marco St. John-who kept on popping up to sexually harass them on the road.  Curiously, and in the end, and in the most memorable affirmations of Scott Free Agency yet in a Scott film, the courageous and indomitable ladies eluded the Great Hal by driving off a cliff into the Grand Canyon, evoking the sight and sound of the Great Oz drifting away in his hot air balloon at the end of THE WIZARD OF OZ and Glinda the Good drifting away in her magic bubble earlier in that MGM classic.  Thus, Scott implied that Gifford and Lynch and their indie moving paintings might win a few smaller skirmishes, but would never be able to fully defeat the more successful film artists like Cameron, Coppola, Lucas and Spielberg and the larger cinematic Forces arrayed against them. 

        And so THELMA & LOUISE was another fine and fearless feature film from Scott, and one with the usual artful, balanced and naturally lit frames, blockbuster blue film projector light, a few Dark Side mirror world opposite reflections and an implicit Ozian theme but shot unusually with mostly only one camera and real and sometimes spectacular locations rather than sets, as in BOY AND BICYCLE and WILD AT HEART, and two of the most well developed and fleshed out characters yet in the forms of Louise and Thelma in a Scott film.  Curiously, and luckily for luckless Scott, THELMA & LOUISE was also a huge hit, giving him the perfect and grimly satisfying start to the new decade of film art.  A new decade that soon introduced a new film artist who changed film art as much as Lucas in his own inimitable, irrepressible and idiosyncratic way in the embodied Gen X form of Quentin Tarantino, who a year later kicked off the new film year and the twentieth anniversary year of the TZ disaster by brooding over why better and more important film artists like Scott had been scythed down over the course of the dread allegorical Zone Wars while Teflon John Landis just kept on keepin’ on like the cigar luvin’ and implicitly Scott linked robber Mr. Blue-played by real life bank robber Eddie Bunker-and other implicitly film artist linked bank robbers died during and after a jewelry store heist while the implicitly Landis linked Mr. Pink-played by Steve Buscemi-escaped with the loot without a scratch at the end of the twilit and allegorical indie docufeature film RESERVOIR DOGS [1992], released on January 21, 1992. 

And so David Fincher grimly amused Scott by teaming up with Giler, Hill, Weaver-now back as co-producer as well as lead actress-and Twentieth Century Fox on the hilariously awful, twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed docufeature film ALIEN 3 [1992], a film released on May 19, 1992 whose only redeeming feature was that Ripley killed herself to prevent herself from giving birth to an alien blockbuster biomechanical beast, in the end.  And so later that year, and fittingly, after implicitly brooding bitterly in BLACK RAIN and SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME over the failure of BLADE RUNNER to connect with audiences, Scott commemorated the tenth anniversary year of the TZ disaster by releasing a new Director’s Cut of the film in theatres in and around September 11, 1992.

 

“Too bad she won’t live-

but then again, who does?”

 

        Alas, and tragicomically, Scott also revealed that he had not understood the many reasons for the failure of BLADE RUNNER.  For the removal of Deckard’s VO, and the addition of a short, wistful and LEGEND evoking vision of a unicorn experienced by Deckard while playing the piano at his apartment implied that Scott was just as broodingly angry, frustrated and wistful about the failure of LEGEND to connect with audiences as he was about the failure of BLADE RUNNER, were some of the only changes Scott made to the film.  These few changes made the ’92 Director’s Cut as much of an incomprehensible and disappointing Great Flawed Film as the original ’82 Domestic and International cuts. The Director’s Cut also did not end with Rick and Rachael escaping LAPD pursuit by driving off into the mountains.  Instead, the “new” version ended ambiguously with the elevator doors on the floor of his skyscraping conapt building closing on Rick and Rachael after they left his apartment, which was actually the original end of BLADE RUNNER before Warner Brothers forced the more “upbeat” drive into the mountains ending on Scott with the help of Kubrick.  Thus, audiences were uncertain whether the two luvers escaped Deckard’s conapt building, or were gunned down in the lobby after they left the elevator or outside the conapt building.

        Curiously, despite its continued incomprehensibility, BLADE RUNNER caught on this time with more angry, hardened, cynical and jaded audiences, remaining in sold out theatres for months [Sammon 349-71].  Significantly, two of those audience members were implicitly Bigelow and Cameron, for they soon began collaborating on a film that was essentially a remake of BLADE RUNNER minus all of its flaws.  As for Scott, with the Great Flawed Film now an inexplicable success and THELMA & LOUISE a huge hit, his spirits were no doubt raised by the time he revealed three weeks later that he had made another abrupt u-turn from the then present American day of THELMA & LOUISE to the late Fifteenth Century of Espana and abandoned the Hollywood studios again when he donned the director/co-producer hats, teamed up again with Luke Scott, Polk Sotela, Spencer, Vangelis, Weaver, Adrian Biddle-DOP of ALIENS and THELMA & LOUISE-and implicitly addressed Cameron again and commemorated the 500^th anniversary of the discovery of the New World with the daylit, allegorical and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE [1992], released on October 8, 1992.

 

“Not only me.

Look at these people!

They could go back to Spain…

but they stay.

They want something new.

A New World.”

 

Ominously, the opening white titles appeared on the screen, the third of which confidently stated “…A RIDLEY SCOTT FILM”, on all too fittingly and ominously red and real historical drawings that showed the initially peaceful arrival of the Spanish their sailing ships in the New World degenerating into brutal and bloody warfare between Aboriginal people and Spaniards, setting viewers up for the structure of the film.  Then after a rising and BLADE RUNNER and LEGEND evoking word scrawl set the late Fifteenth Century scene, the film began in 1491 with the unknown, courageous, intelligent, visionary, artistic, idealistically ambitious, knowledge and fortune and glory obsessed, and implicitly Cameron and Scarecrow linked indie Italian immigrant cartographer/explorer/navigator/dreamer Christopher Columbus-played by Gerard Depardieu-his beautiful and implicitly Dorothy linked brunette wife Beatriz E. de Arana-another beautiful brunette in the film art of Scott and one implicitly linked to Gale A. Hurd, producer of ALIENS and T1 and second wife of Cameron, and played by Angela Molina-and their two young sons Diego-played by Juan D. Botto-and Ferdinand-played as a boy by Billy L. Sullivan and as a young man by Loren Dean, respectively-in their tenth year of living with the implicitly Stan Winston and Tin Man linked Antonio de Marchena-played by Fernando Rey-and the rest of his monks in a monastery in Spain and waiting impatiently for approval for a controversial voyage west across the Atlantic Ocean to China. 

Significantly, while they waited, Columbus and Ferdinand witnessed the burning of a quartet of heretics, two male and two female, evoking the three victims of the equally fiery TZ disaster.  Not long after, the Spanish capture of Granada on January 2, 1492 finally ended Spain’s long war with, and the long occupation of Spain by, the Moors, evoking the dread allegorical Zone Wars that broke out after the TZ disaster and implying the hope of Scott that the war would finally end in the Nineties.  Curiously, just when the Moors were finally defeated and expelled, the implicitly Gilliam and Cowardly Lion linked Martin A. Pinzon-played by Tcheky Karyo-showed up to offer his help, reminding us that Gilliam had then recently exuberantly roasted Cameron in the exuberant, fearless and tale telling form of Baron Munchausen-played by John Neville-in the daylit, allegorical, brilliant and madcap indie animaction film THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN [1988] to affirm the implicit link of Cameron to Columbus and Gilliam to Pinzon.  To the delight of Columbus, Pinzon and the influential and implicitly Great Oz linked banker Luis de Santangel-played by Frank Langella-helped him persuade the tall, beautiful, brunette, fearless, intelligent, commanding and implicitly Bigelow and Glinda linked Queen Isabella I-played by Weaver, and reminding us that Weaver reprised her role as Ripley in ALIENS, and that Bigelow had just finished a short stint as the third wife of Cameron-and her favourite aristocratic adviser, the duplicitous, wealthy, powerful, and implicitly Lucas and Wicked Witch of the West linked Gabriel Sanchez-his luv of sword duels evoking that of Feraud in THE DUELLISTS to affirm the implicit link of both characters to Lucas, and played by Armand Assante-to finally back his first famous voyage. 

Alas for Columbus and the captains and crews of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, an ominous blue film projector light perhaps caused by a blue filter over the camera lens filled their ships when their determined and SFA fuelled determination was rewarded and they finally sighted land on October 12, 1492, reminding us that T1 was released in late October of 1984, implicitly linking Columbus, his sailors and the New World to blockbuster beasts.  An ominous blockbuster blue film projector light was also seen when they disembarked on and began exploring not China but Guanahani Island, a Caribbean island quickly dubbed San Salvador by Columbus that reminded us that Cameron created PIRANHA II: THE SPAWNING in Jamaica to reaffirm the implicit link of Cameron to Columbus.  This implied dire times to come on San Salvador for Columbus and his men, but their experiences on the lush, fecund and Eden evoking paradise free of the crowded, treeless and building filled cities of Spain, an Edenic paradise that evoked the equally lush and Edenic fairy tale world of LEGEND and the equally fecund and floral Munchkinland of THE WIZARD OF OZ complete with its own curious and dimunitive aboriginal Munchkins, were actually far more peaceful and far less relentless and violent than T1. 

Indeed, after Columbus and his men won the wary locals over to their cause, their experiences were surprisingly pleasant and positive, reminding us that Cameron and his cast and crew won wary young audiences over to their cause with T1.  Curiously, only the faithless and implicitly Landis linked Alonso-played by Jose L. Ferrer-died, fittingly bitten and killed by a poisonous snake in the garden shortly after arrival in the New World.  Luckily, Columbus, his crew and a few brave aboriginal Munchkin warriors, including his translator Utapan-played by Bercelio Moya-also won Queen Isabella I over to their cause when they returned to Spain.  Not that this acclaim helped the ailing Pinzon, for he died soon after their return to Spain of a disease picked up in the New World, reminding us that Gilliam fell by the wayside with the failure of THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN to find an audience to reaffirm the implicit link of Pinzon to Gilliam.

Alas again for Columbus and his much larger group of brave mariners, the second voyage was as dark, violent and combative as ALIENS with brutal and bloody battles with aboriginal warriors, particularly one tribe that resembled the execrable Ewoks to reaffirm the implicit interest in Lucas on another level in 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE.  Columbus and his men also fought with rebel Spaniards led by the Wicked, black clad, arrogant, indolent, noxious, obnoxious, toxic, violent and implicitly Trudeau and Nikko the Flying Monkey King linked aristocrat Adrian de Moxica-played by Michael Wincott-the human snake in the Garden of Eden whose defeat perhaps symbolized Cameron’s defeat of any need for Canadian government funding of his film art unlike most film artists in Canada.  Significantly, this second voyage ended with the destruction of the newfound city of La Isabela on the island of Hispaniola by a blockbuster blue film projector light filled beast of a hurricane that evoked both the Kansan twister that carried Dorothy, Toto and their farmhouse to Oz in THE WIZARD OF OZ and the lightstorms that brought time travelling and embattled humans and cyborgs back from the future in T1, perhaps to reward Columbus for allowing the peace, harmony and equality that first existed between aristocrat, commoner and aboriginal, a peace and harmony that caused all three groups to unite to use ropes to haul a massive church bell up to the top of the belltower of the church of La Isabela so that the bell would toll for three in the film’s most moving scene, to slowly disappear and be replaced by the traditional hierarchy with aristocrats on top, commoners below and aboriginals forced into slavery for the mining of gold, reminding us that after defeating Old Hollywood, the better and more successful New Hollywood film artists became the new aristocracy, demoting their less successful New Hollywood colleagues to new commoners and Gen Xers to new slaves.

Significantly, after the destruction of La Isabela, Columbus was arrested, charged with numerous crimes, sailed back to Spain, tried, convicted and imprisoned.  If 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE was a gloomy and pessimistic Kubrick film, Columbus would then have been led out of prison, tied to a cross and burned like the four heretics at the beginning of the film to bring the film full dispirited circle and to reaffirm yet again that all people were helpless pawns of cruel and callous glory.  Significantly, however, and in one of the most memorable affirmations that 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE was a far more optimistic and upbeat Scott film despite the rejections BLADE RUNNER, LEGEND and SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME, after several years of humbling imprisonment, a sympathetic Queen Isabella I defied expectations and used her own Scott Free Agency to release Columbus into the care and custody of his luving sons and even allowed him to go off on one last voyage to the New World with Diego and Ferdinand.  A liberating conclusion that implicitly reaffirmed that Scott rejected the gloomy pessimism of his mentor Kubrick and believed that even divine queens could defy fate and protocol and live with Scott Free Agency.

Thus, in the rise and fall of Columbus from unknown and ragged immigrant to world famous explorer and back again and his failure to create a brave New World, Scott implicitly warned the once unknown Canadian immigrant to Los Angeles and Hollywood and now world famous film artist Cameron that he would also rise and fall and fail to create a brave New World of CGI enhanced film art.  An ironic implication, indeed, as only the year before the release of 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE worldwide audiences thronged to see the innovative new “liquid metal” CGI in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Bigelow toasting and Lynch roasting indie docufeature Zonebuster TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY [1991], turning the film into another smash hit for Cameron.  In fact, Cameron went on rising from one triumph to another and never seriously fell, for despite being as full of faults and contradictions as Columbus, wary audiences were indeed won over to his cause and trusted him to lead them to that brave new world of CGI enhanced film art. 

And so 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE was another fine and fearless feature film with artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames, ominous blue film projector light, an implicit Ozian theme and reasonably developed characters, particularly Columbus.  Curiously, and despite the fortune and glory lusting subject matter and the showdown between Columbus and Moxica, 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE was lacking substantial battles with Dark Side mirror reflections.  The main exception occurred shortly before the Hurricane hit La Isabela, when Utapan the aboriginal translator of Columbus peered at his long haired Spanish reflection in a bucket of water and used a hunting knife to shave the centre of his forehead bald in aboriginal fashion, in the second instance in the films of Scott where a character used his reflection to triumph over his Dark Side mirror world opposite, implicitly affirming the Goodness and purity of Utapan and his aboriginal nation prior to the arrival of Columbus and the Spaniards. 

And so the hurricane that destroyed much of the settlement of La Isabela at the end of the film presciently anticipated another severe Atlantic storm in the next Scott indie docufeature artbuster.  And so Tarantino implicitly linked Scott to the cool, calm, collected, shrewd, knowing and experienced underworld figure the Wolf-played by Keitel-in the daylit and twilit and allegorical indie docufeature film PULP FICTION [1994], released on May 21, 1994.  Significantly, however, before Scott returned to the Temple Theatre with another memorable film, he added producer of the films of other film artists to his many accomplishments when he teamed up with Polk Sotela-now known as Polk Gitlin-to produce the twilit, allegorical and implicitly Lucas roasting Mike Figgis indie docufeature film THE BROWNING VERSION [1994], a film released on June 8, 1994 that affirmed its implicit Lucas roasting intent with allusions to the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and Lucas executive produced indie docufeature telefilm series THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES [1992-94].  Indeed, the film’s lead character, the embittered and crochety old teacher Andrew Crocker-Harris-played by Albert Finney, who played Fouche in THE DUELLISTS-evoked the equally crochety old teacher Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones-played by George Hall-who introduced and rounded up most of the episodes of THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES to affirm the film’s implicit Lucas addressing intent. 

As for Joel Schumacher, he implicitly linked Scott to Nikko and the brilliant but madcap Edward Nygma aka “The Riddler”-played by Jim Carrey-and had him team up with the equally demented and implicitly Spielberg and Wicked Witch of the West linked district attorney turned Evildoer Harvey Dent aka “Two-Face”-played by Tommy Lee Jones-to battle the traumatized, troubled, haunted and implicitly Cameron and Great Oz linked Wayne Enterprises CEO Bruce Wayne aka “Batman”-played by Val Kilmer-and his equally tramautized, young, handsome, exuberant, and implicitly Bigelow and Dorothy linked orphan sidekick Richard “Dick” Grayson-his luv of acrobatics evoking that of Pris in BLADE RUNNER, implicitly linked to Robert E. Howard by Bill Finger, Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson for DC, and played by Chris O’Donnell-for control of the neon dragon and neon sign lit streets of Gotham City in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed super satirical animaction film BATMAN FOREVER [1995], a “…HEAVY METAL meets HOUSE AND GARDEN” kind of film released on June 9, 1995 whose implicit interest in Cameron, Scott and Spielberg was affirmed by allusions to ALIEN, ALIENS, BLACK RAIN, BLADE RUNNER, HEAVY METAL, LEGEND, PIRANHA PART TWO: THE SPAWNING, SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME and the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy.  A fitting implicit interest in Bigelow and Cameron, for later that year they topped BLADE RUNNER when they returned to the Temple Theatre with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed, Cameron co-written and co-executive produced and implicitly Lucas roasting and toasting and Burton, Coppola, Lynch and Spielberg roasting Bigelow indie docufeature artbuster STRANGE DAYS [1995], a GWF released on September 3, 1995 that affirmed its debt to Scott on one level by its allusions to BLADE RUNNER.

Curiously, Scott then remained on the Atlantic Ocean but leapt 450 years into the future to implicitly address Lynch again in the form of another charismatic, commanding, determined, fearless, intelligent, bells and astronavigation luving and Columbus evoking leader on another fateful and momentous Atlantic sailing voyage when he donned the executive director/executive producer hats, avoided the Hollywood studios again and teamed up again with Polk Gitlin and Terry Needham-1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE first assistant director and now back in that position and as associate producer-to create his most implicitly personal feature film and his first fearless feature film with his new Scott Free Productions film production company, the daylit, allegorical and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster WHITE SQUALL [1996], a film released on February 2, 1996 that was inspired by the allegorical Chuck Gieg memoir White Squall [1970].

 

“You can’t run from the wind, son.

You trim your sails,

face the music,

and keep going.”

 

Indeed, after the opening titles, the fourth of which stated “…A SCOTT FREE PRODUCTION” and the sixth of which read “…A RIDLEY SCOTT FILM”, the film began in 1960 on the Atlantic coast in the backyard of a house in the lush and fecund New World of Mystic, Connnecticut, a lush and fecund New World that evoked the equally lush and fecund Caribbean islands of 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE to immediately link the two films together.  Soon the short, friendly, innocent, likable and implicitly Michael J. Fox and Scarecrow linked Charles “Chuck” Gieg-played by Scott Wolf-was defying and saying goodbye to his Prince Phillip and Queen Elizabeth II evoking and possibly linked parents and Charles sr. and Middy Gieg-played by Jordan Clarke and Lizzy Mackay, respectively-with rebellious teenage Scott Free Agency and heading off, first by bus, and then by plane, to his VO augmented destiny at the “Ocean Academy” in Grenada.  An Ocean Academy that turned out to be a voyage throughout the Caribbean on the Good and Hollywood cadenced and Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria evoking Brigateen School Sailing Ship Albatross that combined the last year of high school with the first year of real adult life and sailing experience for the development and maturation of troubled teenage American boys to help them “…find their place in the world”.  Significantly, these teenage American boys were implicitly linked to equally troubled young American male film artists like the tall, angry, rebellious, cigarette luvin’ and implicitly Tarantino linked Dean Preston-played by Eric M. Cole-the implicitly Sean Penn linked Dowd-played by Al N. Smithee-the implicitly Kevin Smith linked Robert March-played by David Lascher-and the horn rim glasses rockin’ and perhaps Landis linked Todd Johnstone-played by Balthazar Getty, who pointed the way to a Scott film that addressed the fabulously wealthy Getty clan in the future.

Significantly, the first adult member of the crew of the Albatross that Gieg and his fellow teen crew members met was the cigar, poetry and song luvin’ and implicitly Scott and Cowardly Lion linked English teacher MacCrea-played by John Savage-ominously quoting from Act 1 Scene 1 of the allegorical William Shakespeare play The Tempest [1613] to immediately and implicitly affirm the personal nature of WHITE SQUALL.  Soon after, Gieg and the gang met the implicitly Glinda linked and beautiful Hollywood blonde doctor and math and science teacher Doctor Alice Sheldon-played by Caroline Goodall-the equally cigar luvin’ and implicitly Disney linked chef Girard Pascal-played by Julio O. Mechoso-and, last but not least, the intimidating and firm but gentle and kindly captain of the “windjammer” sailing ship, the solid, grounded, shrewd, knowing, experienced, patient, indomitable, uncompromising, charismatic, coffee, pie and khaki pants luvin’ and implicitly Lynch and Great Oz linked Captain Christopher “Skipper” Sheldon-played by Jeff Bridges-who all did their best to pass on their courage and insight to the students.

        Alas, as the raw and green young crew readied the good ship Albatross for departure, a slick and expensive prop boatplane flew in a day late to drop off the tardy, wealthy, disdainful, suit wearing and implicitly Burton linked Francis “Frank” Beaumont jr.-played by Jeremy Sisto-and his even more arrogant, disdainful and implicitly Dennis Hopper linked father Francis “Frank” Beaumont sr.-played by David Selby-two uppity wealthy characters who reminded us that Hopper played the Wicked Frank Booth and MacLachlan played the implicitly Burton and Scarecrow linked Jeffrey Beaumont in BLUE VELVET to openly link the film to Lynch and affirm the implicit link of Sheldon to Lynch.  Unfortunately, the two Beaumonts evoked the worst of the Spanish aristocrats of 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE, particularly the Wicked and toxic Moxica, the human snake in the Garden of New World Eden.  Thus, it was no surprise that halfway through the instructive and mostly peaceful voyage, a transformative journey that was literally the calm before the storm that successfully molded the young crew into an able and united company that lived up to the maxim on the ship’s bell “…Where We Go One, We Go All” by looking out for each other to prevent anyone from washing out and being sent home, or being led astray by Wicked, bewitching and shapeshifting Caribbean Calypsos and beautiful teenage Dutch Sirens, the Wicked Beaumont jr. shot a dolphin with a spear gun, a wounded and dying dolphin that Sheldon furiously and grimly finished off with a sledgehammer to put out of its misery. 

        Even worse for Skipper Sheldon, the compassionate killing of the dolphin not only led to the Wicked Beaumont jr. being kicked off the Albatross, but to divine retribution falling upon the captain and crew of the sailing ship.  For an unexpected and powerful storm with blockbuster blue film projector light and hurricane force winds called a “white squall” that evoked the Kansan tornado evoking hurricane that pounded La Isabela at the end of 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE soon hit the ship, evoking the equally powerful and unexpected storm of universally critical and popular fury that pounded Lynch after the release of the twilit, allegorical and implicitly Spielberg roasting indie moving painting TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME [1992].  Thus, in the sight and sound of Skipper Sheldon and MacCrea digging deep into their Scott Free Agency and doing their best to weather and survive the storm and save everyone else but losing beautiful Hollywood blonde Alice, Pascal, Preston, Gil Martin-played by Ryan Philippe-and the good ship Albatross in the process, Scott implicitly warned the new generation of young film artists like Penn and Smith to be ready to face and weather similar unexpected and nightmarish storms of popular and critical rejection of their films like the ones that had pounded Lynch and himself, as well, and implied his fear or hope that Disney and Tarantino would be swept away. 

Disastrous storms of popular and critical rejection of labouriously crafted cinematic labours of luv that the sad eyed, knowing, humbled and embittered Scott knew only too well given the equally disastrous and depressing receptions of BLADE RUNNER, 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE, LEGEND and SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME.  Cinematic disasters that made it fitting that MacCrea weathered and survived the storm as well as Sheldon, and sympathetically joined the surviving teen crew members in living up to the “…Where We Go One, We Go All” motto on the rescued ship’s bell, a bell that evoked the La Isabela church bell in 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE, by using their SFA to rally around Skipper Sheldon at the equally nightmarish and gruelling naval hearing after the storm and refusing to allow the embattled captain to take all of the blame for the Albatross disaster on his shoulders to implicitly remind Lynch that he was not alone in cinematic failure.  Indeed, the fact that the critical and nasty Coast Guard hearing took place in a blue film projector light and painting and sculpture filled courtroom reminded us of the art and film school training of Lynch, while the hearing itself evoked the trial of the maverick and implicitly Lynch linked indie carmaker Preston Tucker-also played by Bridges-at the end of TUCKER.  Last but not least, the sound of Sting singing the twilit, allegorical and Sting written tune “Valpariso” [1996] as the closing titles rose up on the screen rereminded us again that Sting played Feyd Rautha in DUNE and also sang “Someone To Watch Over Me” as the opening titles appeared at the beginning of the implicitly Lynch addressing SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME to reaffirm the implicit link of Sheldon to Lynch.

Alas, this implicit warning was all too prescient, for despite being possibly the finest and most personal, moving, memorable and important film of Scott that featured the usual artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames, a preference for the single camera of THELMA AND LOUISE and WILD AT HEART, blue film projector evoking light, an implicit Ozian theme, no Dark Side mirror reflections, and characters we came to know and admire, WHITE SQUALL was another disaster for Scott that failed to find an audience.  A lack of interest from North American audiences that the following year also befell the latest film of Besson, which, despite the implicit antipathy of Scott for Lucas, implicitly linked Scott to the faithful and implicitly Tin Man and Water linked Priest Vito Cornelius-fittingly played by Holm-and saw him team up with the sweet, naïve, innocent and implicitly Scarecrow and Earth linked young Priest-played by Charlie Creed-Miles-the courageous, creative, indie, and implicitly Lucas, Cowardly Lion and Fire linked ex-space fighter pilot and New York flying taxi cab driver Korben Dallas-played by Bruce Willis-the hyper, talkative, imperious, sexually ambiguous, over the top, Wolfman Jack evoking and implicitly Great Oz and Air linked Radio COSMOS J.D. DJ Ruby Rhod-played by Chris Tucker-and the beautiful, orange haired, extraterrestrial and implicitly Dorothy linked Leeloo, the embodiment of the new era of elementally healing and Ozian themed CGI enhanced film art-played by Milla Jovovich-to triumph over the Evil and implicitly Cameron and Nikko linked Zorg Corporation CEO Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg-played by Gary Oldman-and an implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked ball of intergalactic Evil approaching Earth and threatening to consume the planet at the triumphantly Skyrockin’, healing, harmonizing and eucatastrophic end of THE FIFTH ELEMENT, a truly fantastic film released on May 6, 1997 whose implicit interest in Cameron, Lucas and Scott was affirmed by allusions to ALIEN, ALIENS, AMERICAN GRAFITTI, BLADE RUNNER, E.T., THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, T1, THE WIZARD OF OZ, THX 1138, TRON, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, the allegorical and Ozian themed Roger Vadim indie feature film BARBARELLA [1968], HEAVY METAL and METAL HURLANT magazines, the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, and Ozian themed Potteron indie animation film HEAVY METAL: THE MOVIE [1981], and the twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed and implicitly Spielberg addressing Howard docufeature film SPLASH [1984]. 

Making for a despondent and frustrated Scott yet again when he donned the director’s hat, avoided the major Hollywood studios again and teamed up with Beghe, Needham, Polk Gitlin, Lucinda Jenney-who played Lena the Silver Bullet waitress in THELMA & LOUISE-and DOP Hugh Johnson, co-producer and unit production manager Nigel Wool, Hollywood Pictures and Largo Entertainment-all from WHITE SQUALL-to complete a Unity Bell Trilogy by remaining in the coastal waters off the Atlantic side of the New World but jumping thirty-five years into the future and molding another group of naïve and inexperienced young recruits into courageous and indomitable men and one woman in the daylit, allegorical, slightly CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster G.I. JANE [1997], released on August 22, 1997.

 

“Now, how’s my girl doing, anyway?”

 

        Curiously, after four opening titles appeared on the screen, the second of which read “…in association with Scott Free Productions” instead of “…A Ridley Scott Film” perhaps due to embarrassment over the failure of WHITE SQUALL, four white opening titles fired into the brains of audience members, particularly the fourth and last one, G.I. JANE, immediately establishing the combative spirit of the film, aided by the tense, rising and gunshot evoking soundtrack composed by Trevor Jones, the film began in Washington at a U.S. Senate Arms Committee hearing deliberating over the confirmation of the Congressman Theodore Hayes-played by Daniel Von Bargen-as new Secretary of the Navy.  A genially combative hearing that evoked the naval hearing at the end of WHITE SQUALL to immediately link the two films together, and that was soon turned by the shrewd, knowing, wily, duplicitous, and implicitly Eleanor Coppola and Wicked Witch of the West linked veteran U.S. Senator Lillian DeHaven of Texas-played by Anne Bancroft-into an investigation into the status of women in the U.S. military. 

Significantly, this irritating investigation led to the U.S. military offering Sen. DeHaven a place for a woman in the Navy Sea Air And Land [SEAL] ECHO Combined Reconnaissance Team [CRT] training programme in return for the senator giving her approval for the U.S. military’s choice for Hayes as new Secretary of the Navy.  This offer led to Sen. DeHaven hunting down and offering the short, beautiful, brainy, brunette, essay contest winning, ridiculously named and implicitly Sofia Carmina [SCC] Coppola and Dorothy linked triathlete and U.S. intelligence officer and topographic analyst Lieutenant Jordan O’Neil-another beautiful, brainy and brunette heroine in a Scott film, this time with the short size and dark skin of SCC instead of the usual medium height and fair skin, and played by Demi Moore-the chance to join the SEAL program.  Significantly, after talking the offer over with her secret, sympathetic and implicitly Spike Jonze and Scarecrow linked U.S. military luver and mole Commander Gary Royce-his implicit link reminding us that Jonze was SCC’s favourite beau at the time to reaffirm the implicit link of Lt. O’Neil to SCC, and played by Beghe-Lt. O’Neil accepted the offer and drove off to war. 

The SEAL training took place at the Navspecwar Group 2 side of the US Navspecwar Center at Catalano Naval Base in Florida, commanded by the cigar and coffee luvin’ and implicitly Lynch and Tin Man linked Captain Salem-played by Scott Wilson-reminding us that Lynch implicitly linked SCC to the pouty and sexy killer for hire Perdita-played by Rossellini-in WILD AT HEART and that Bancroft played the famous English stage actress Mrs. Kendal in THE ELEPHANT MAN to affirm the implicit link of Capt. Salem to Lynch.  Alas for Lt. O’Neil, while Capt. Salem was resignedly sympathetic to her cause, she received little sympathy from the SEAL training supervisor, the tall, intimidating, experienced, knowing, music, poetry and whisky luvin’ and implicitly Richard Rush and Great Oz linked Master Chief John J. Urgayle-played by Viggo Mortensen-whose implicit link to Rush was affirmed by the film’s allusions to the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical Rush indie docufeature films HELL’S ANGELS ON WHEELS [1967] and THE STUNTMAN [1980].  A fitting link to Rush, reminding us that Rush was as fond of Dark Side mirror opposite dangerous reflections as Scott, and that he implicitly roasted SCC in the implicit form of troubled schizophrenic Rose Dexter-played by Jane March-on one level in the twilit, allegorical and Ozian themed indie docufeature film COLOR OF NIGHT [1994].  The film’s allusions to the allegorical and implicitly David Lean addressing Kubrick feature film SPARTACUS [1960], the allegorical Kubrick indie docufeature artbuster A CLOCKWORK ORANGE [1971], and the twilit and allegorical indie docufeature artbuster FULL METAL JACKET [1987] also reaffirmed Scott’s fondness for Kubrick.

MC Urgayle was a man even more firm and uncompromising than Columbus or Sheldon, and did his best to weed Lt. O’Neil out of the SEAL training program, extremely intense and often combat replicating training that was constantly bathed in the familiar ominous blockbuster blue film projector light, particularly when the embattled trainees wrote an essay on their luv of the Navy in a classroom with Lt. O’Neil sitting behind a film projector as she wrote her essay during this scene, thus finally and openly affirming the link of the ominous blue film projector evoking light to real blue film projector light and, hence, to film art like G.I. JANE.  Indeed, MC Urgayle did his best to get her to ring the dreaded washout bell three times to signal her departure from the SEAL training, a demoralizing signal that united the most committed trainees in their determination not to ring it, ironically making it the third unity bell in the Unity Bell Trilogy.  This determination caused Lt. O’Neil to refuse to pity herself or give up and dig deep into her Scott Free Agency in the most determined and indomitable commitment to SFA in a Scott film to prove MC Urgayle wrong, pass the training, and become a SEAL.  Significantly, to signal her indomitable commitment to finish the program, Lt. O’Neil snuck into the base barber shop and, staring at her mirror reflection, used an electric razor to shave off all her dark brunette hair so that she would be as bald as the male trainees, the camera moving away from her and to her sinister left when she was finished so that only her bald reflection was seen in the mirror to affirm that she had become one with her mirror opposite. 

However, this was another rare occasion in a Scott film where a character used a mirror to transform themselves into their Light Side rather than their Dark Side mirror opposite, reminding us that Det. Keegan used dressing room mirrors to triumph over his Dark Side in SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME and that Utapan used his reflection in a bucket of water and a hunting knife to shave off his Spanish hair and transform himself back into his Good aboriginal self at the end of 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE, linking G.I. JANE again to that film to reaffirm that Scott was completing a Unity Bell Trilogy in the film.  Indeed, Lt. O’Neil started off her transformation by shaving off the front centre of her forehead like Utapan to openly link her to the Good and long suffering aboriginal warrior.

Alas for Lt. O’Neil, the shaving of her head and her insistence that she sleep with the rest of the Bravo male trainees in their barracks despite their jeers and protests, particularly from the Robert De Niro resembling and implicitly linked Sergeant Cortez-played by David Vadim-to reaffirm the implicit link of Lt. O’Neil to a member of the Coppola clan, made MC Urgayle even more determined to get her to ring the dread washout bell three times, even beating Lt. O’Neil badly and threatening to rape her during a mock interrogation during Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape [SERE] training on Captiva Island, reminding us that Puckett almost raped Dickinson in the parking lot of the Silver Bullet roadhouse at the beginning of THELMA & LOUISE.  Ironically, after successfully fighting off the threatened rape and beating up MC Urgayle in the process, Lt. O’Neil responded to this brutal treatment with “Master Chief, suck my dick!”, a slightly paraphrased version of the words that led to Sawyer shooting Puckett dead after the attempted rape in THELMA & LOUISE.  Thus, it was all too fitting that Jenney returned as the equally fittingly blonde and kindly medic Lt. Blondell, the one female and implicitly Glinda and perhaps Zoe Cassavetes linked friend of Lt. O’Neil, whose presence reminded us that Scott implicitly addressed Gifford and Lynch in THELMA & LOUISE to reaffirm the implicit link of Capt. Salem to Lynch. 

While Lt. O’Neil was not shot dead by MC Urgayle after defiantly uttering her fateful words, she did have to fend off an attempt to impugn her as a lesbian that was cooked up by Sen. DeHaven to pressure her into leaving the SEAL program so that the U.S. military would not close five Army bases in Sen. DeHaven’s home state of Texas.  An impertinent attempt that was investigated by the implicitly Coppola linked Judge Advocate General [JAG] Admiral Gallow-played by John Seitz.  Indeed, the film’s allusions to APOCALYPSE NOW and the twilit, allegorical and implicitly Lynch roasting Coppola indie docufeature film GARDENS OF STONE [1987] affirmed the implicit link of Adm. Gallow to Coppola, reaffirming the implicit link of Lt. O’Neil to SCC and of Sen. DeHaven to Eleanor.

Thus, the sight and sound of Lt. O’Neil defeating Sen. DeHaven’s twisted plot and Admiral Gallow’s investigation, and using her Scott Free Agency to return to the SEAL CRT programme, stepping in and taking charge of an Operational Readiness Exercise in the Mediterranean Sea that turned into a real extraction operation in Libya at the end of the film that evoked the SEAL extraction operation that Lt. O’Neil and Com. Royce worked on at the beginning of the film to bring the film full combative circle, evoking the sight and sound of Ripley taking charge of defeating the relentless biomechanical blockbuster beast at the end of ALIEN to reaffirm that Lt. O’Neil was indeed another classic beautiful brunette heroine in a Scott film, passing the SEAL CRT training, being accepted in defiance of MC Urgayle as another courageous and talented SEAL and encouraging the U.S. military to go forward with its full integration of women in all positions, in the end, implied the hope of Scott that the USC film school trained SCC would put aside her doubts and fears of her famous parents, Lynch and Rush and step up and take charge of her first fearless feature film and be accepted as another courageous and talented film artist like Eleanor and Francis Coppola, Lynch, Rush and himself, and that her success would finally convince Hollywood to allow more women to direct film art.  An implicit allegorical intent that may have been taken to heart by SCC, as her first fine and fearless feature film arrived in the Temple Theatre only two years later in the form of the twilit, allegorical and slightly CGI enhanced indie docufeature film THE VIRGIN SUICIDES [1999].

        Alas, G.I. JANE was another fine and fearless feature film with artistic balanced and naturally lit frames, two cameras to capture a scene, blockbuster blue film projector light, at least one mirror reflection, an implicit Ozian theme and undeveloped characters that failed to connect with audiences and left Scott no doubt wondering yet again if he should give up and return to tv commercials.  A dismal mood relieved only slightly when Jean-Pierre Jeunet teamed up with Giler, Hill, Weaver and Twentieth Century Fox on the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed docufeature film ALIEN RESURRECTION [1997], a film released on November 6, 1997 whose only noteworthy feature was that it somehow managed to be even worse than ALIEN 3. 

Significantly, two years later the Wachowski Sisters implicitly linked Scott to the Evil, weak, cigar smokin’, vital humanity betraying, Matrix luvin’ and implicitly Nikko linked human traitor Cypher-played by Joe Pantoliano-in THE MATRIX, a film that was filled with Dark Side mirror opposite reflections and whose implicit interest in Scott on one level was affirmed by allusions to ALIEN and ALIENS.  Curiously, the same year Scott donned the co-producer hat and united with executive producer Tony Scott to grudgingly salute Landis in the implicit form of tragicomic and implicitly Tin Man linked elderly bank robber Henry Manning-played by Paul Newman-in the twilit and allegorical Marek Kanevska indie docufeature film WHERE THE MONEY IS [2000], released on April 14, 2000. 

As for Scott, he clearly decided to give film art one more try, for he donned the director’s hat, teamed up again with Needham, Zimmer, Universal Pictures and production designer Arthur Max and editor Pietro Scalia-both from G.I. JANE-and made another abrupt u-turn from the neo-classical architecture and political, military and economic power of contemporary Washington to the original classical architecture and political, military and economic power of ancient Rome and from a female warrior to a male warrior even more determined to use Scott Free Agency to triumph over the Dark Forces arrayed against him in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster GLADIATOR [2000], released on May 1, 2000.

 

“Hold the line!

…Stay with me!”

 

        Indeed, after the creepy and sepia tinged CGI Dreamworks SKG intro, which featured a kid fishing on a swelling and waxing first quarter crescent moon to remind us that the same crescent moon was hanging in the sky at the moment of the TZ disaster to cast a twilit pall on the film, and then the Universal intro and two opening titles, neither of which identified the film as a Ridley Scott film, two more titles appeared that contained a stationary written introduction that set the scene in Germania in 180 AD shortly before the last battle of the steadfast and resolute Roman legions of Emperor Marcus Aurelius against the remaining rebel Germanic hordes after twelve long years of warfare.  Then an unknown Roman soldier appeared, lost in idyllic thoughts of home before pausing to turn to his left and ponder a small bird on a branch, evoking the allegorical D.H. Lawrence poem “Self Pity” [1929] that MC Urgayle luved and presented to Lt. O’Neil along with his Medal of Valour at the end of G.I. JANE, linking the two films together and setting us up for this unknown man embracing his fate with as little self pity as the small bird of “Self Pity”.  Then the brilliant, courageous, creative, independent, indomitable, family and home luvin’ and implicitly Besson linked Roman outsider General “Mad” Maximus Decimus Meridius-played by Russell Crowe-strode away to and then through his loyal Roman legions and his implicitly John Malkovich linked second-in-command Quintus-played by Tomas Arana-in shots that evoked a walk through the WWI French trenches in PATHS OF GLORY to the wistful sound of Zimmer composed symphonic music that evoked similar compositions by Ennio Morricone for Sergio Leone Westerns in the first of many musical nods to Leone and Morricone in the film.  Back in the ranks and on horseback, he soon watched pensively as the last of the Germanic hordes sent the headless corpse of the Roman negotiator out of their forest haunts and back on his horse to the Roman lines to wordlessly affirm that they refused to surrender, a headless horseman who evoked the CGI enhanced and implicitly Paul Verhoeven linked headless horseman-played by Christopher Walken-who terrorized the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Burton animaction artbuster film SLEEPY HOLLOW [2001] to affirm an implicit interest in Burton in GLADIATOR. 

Soon after, the bearded and fur clad German leader-played by Chick Allan-reaffirmed the macabre and implicit unspoken message by tossing the Morrow evoking head of the negotiator to his Roman comrades, causing Gen. Meridius to lead the Roman legions to brutal and bloody victory at last over the Germanic hordes in a battle filled with ominously blockbuster blue film projector light to implicitly link it to cinematic warfare, reminding us that Besson implicitly tried to end the dread allegorical Zone Wars and usher in a brave new world of CGI enhanced film art with THE FIFTH ELEMENT.  Significantly, the brutal, bloody and CGI enhanced battle saw the doughty and disciplined Roman legions display the same courage, skill, strength and unity as the Navy and its SEALs and the U.S. Rangers in the final battle at the end of G.I. JANE, and also recalled the equally brutal and bloody battles in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lynch roasting Besson indie docufeature film THE MESSENGER [1999] to affirm the implicit link of Gen. Meridius to Besson.  Last but not least, the bloody battle also evoked the less brutal and more tragicomic battle of the equally brown and furry Ewoks against the Imperial Stormtroopers of the Evil Empire on the forest moon of Endor at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI to imply that Scott was furiously exorcising that tragicomic Imperial defeat with a hard fought Imperial victory in GLADIATOR.

Alas for the General, the Evil and implicitly Burton and Wicked Witch of the West linked Commodus-an improbable implication, given that Burton was never interested in fortune and glory and was also always more of a macabre court jester than a wannabe Roman Emperor, and played by Joaquin Phoenix-celebrated the victory by killing his old, sad eyed, tired and world weary father, and the benefactor and protector of Gen. Meridius, the implicitly Lynch linked Emperor Marcus Aurelius-another improbable implication, indeed, given that Lynch was even less interested in fortune and glory than Burton and fittingly was also never popular or influential enough to justify being implicitly linked to a Roman Emperor, and played by Richard Harris-by suffocating the Emperor to death to prevent the General from being appointed the Emperor’s successor at his death, and perhaps leading the way to abolishing the age of empire and rebooting a democracy luving Republic of Rome.  Significantly, the murderous suffocation evoked Batty’s murder of Tyrell in BLADE RUNNER, implying that Commodus was as callous and ahuman as the Replicants of that film. 

With the old Emperor dying like the Wicked Witch of the East at the beginning of THE WIZARD OF OZ, the new Emperor Commodus also tried to assassinate “Mad” Maximus with an elemental and Ozian quartet of Praetorian assassins led by two implicitly linked to Cameron and Lucas-played by Tony Curran and Mark Lewis, respectively-an assassination attempt bathed again in ominous blue film projector light.  However, the General managed to his use Scott Free Agency to kill the Ozian quartet of assassins and escape like young Paul Atreides aka “Maud’dib” escaped the assassins sent by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV and the implicitly Bob Clark linked Baron Vladimir Harkonnen-played by Kenneth McMillan-at the beginning of DUNE to affirm the implicit link of Emperor Marcus Aurelius to Lynch. 

Alas for the General, Commodus did succeed in having his implicitly Bigelow linked wife and young son-played by Giannina Facio and Giorgio Cantarini, respectively-assassinated by Legionnaires, recalling the opening murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne-played by David Baxt and Sharon Holme, respectively-that forever haunted and tormented the implicitly Lucas linked Gotham City playboy Bruce Wayne-played by Michael Keaton-in the twilit, allegorical, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas toasting Burton animaction film BATMAN [1989] to affirm the implicit link of Commodus to Burton.  Alas again for the General, he was wounded during the assassination attempt, leading him to be captured by slavers, a nightmarish sequence of events that carried Maximus away from the life he knew like the tornado that took Dorothy away from Kansas to Oz at the beginning of THE WIZARD OF OZ and left him in ragged brown robes with a scary and maggot crawling wound in his left shoulder that turned him into a human Scarecrow, and one that was cared for by the implicitly Cowardly Lion linked fellow captive Juba-played by Djimon Hounson. 

Eventually the General was taken to Zucchabar province, whose desert locale evoked the American southwest locales of the Westerns of Leone.  Here the scary General was sold to a liberated, wistful and implicitly Gilliam and Tin Man linked ex-gladiator named Antonius Proximo-played by Oliver Reed-whose implicit link to Gilliam was affirmed by the film’s allusions to JABBERWOCKY, THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, the presciently twilit, allegorical, and implicitly New Hollywood roasting Gilliam and Terry Jones indie docufeature film MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL [1975], the presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, brilliant, madcap and Ozian themed Gilliam indie animaction film TIME BANDITS [1981] and the eerily twilit and allegorical Jones indie docufeature film MONTY PYTHON: LIFE OF BRIAN [1979].

Significantly, Proximo tried to train “Mad” Maximus in the crowd pleasing way of the gladiator at his gladiator school in Spain like Spartacus was trained by the gleefully and pragmatically duplicitous Lentulus Batiatus-played by Peter Ustinov-at the beginning of SPARTACUS, but the General irritated Proximo by using his SFA to simply throw down his sword and refuse to fight or move like a frozen Tin Man.  However, the first major and non-CGI enhanced gladiator battle that “Mad” Maximus was required to fight saw him chained to Juba and forced to use his sword and desperately fight like a Cowardly Lion to keep them both alive, a battle that featured a huge opponent wearing a bull-headed mask, evoking the dread minotaur-played by Winston Dennis-that battled King Agememnon-played by Sean Connery-in a grueling sword fight in TIME BANDITS to affirm the implicit link of Proximo to Gilliam.  In another battle, the Cowardly General took on and killed five gladiators all by himself, five gladiators who evoked Dorothy and her four elemental Ozian companions to reaffirm the implicit Ozian theme of the piece at the same time as the gladiator bouts evoked the gladiator fights in SPARTACUS.  Just as significantly, when Proximo saw how well the Cowardly Maximus could fight and slowly found out who he was, he was won over to the cause of the General and helped him succeed in his classic Western revenge quest and kill Commodus by bringing the vengeful General to the Colosseum in Rome, a classic Western revenge quest that made it fitting that Zimmer alluded to Leone and Morricone in his soundtrack. 

Just as significantly, in his first CGI enhanced gladiator bout in the Colosseum after arrival in implicitly Hollywood linked Rome, “Mad” Maximus was required to wear a metal mask and portray the legendary Carthaginan Gen. Hannibal, a metal mask that evoked that of the troubled, haunted, haunting and equally vengeful Wayne in his guise as Batman in BATMAN to reaffirm the implicit link of Commodus to Burton.  Luckily for the General, he led his undaunted gladiators, who were as obsessed with honour as Feraud in THE DUELLISTS and who had embraced “Mad” Maximus like the equally fearless and honour bound Fremen embraced Paul Maud’dib in DUNE, to victory in this battle, and was happily proclaimed the greatest of the gladiators by the delighted citizens of Rome, implicitly linking him to the Great Oz. 

Indeed, the General’s implicit link to the Great Oz was reaffirmed soon after in another CGI enhanced battle when he again drew upon his Scott Free Agency to defeat the giant, great, powerful and previously undefeated and implicitly Great Oz linked Tigris of Gaul, the greatest gladiator prior to his arrival-who tragicomically spoke with a thick Germanic accent rather than a proto-French one due to being played by Danish actor/bodybuilder/strongman Sven-Ole Thorsen-a great gladiator who evoked the equally huge, armour and helmet clad Samurai-also played by Dennis-in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, brilliant, madcap and implicitly Landis roasting Gilliam indie animaction film BRAZIL [1985] to reaffirm the implicit link of Proximo to Gilliam.  Thus, “Mad” Maximus was implicitly linked to all of the healing elemental and Ozian characters of THE WIZARD OF OZ, becoming a whole and holy person like D’Hubert over the course of THE DUELLISTS, Henderson over the course of AMERICAN GRAFFITI, and young Skywalker over the course of the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy. 

Significantly, the General’s newfound wholey and holy status attracted the attention of Emperor Commodus and his sister, the beautiful, brainy, bewitching, cool, calm, collected, auburn haired and implicitly Glinda the Good linked Lucilla-the “L” and “A” that began and ended her name evoking L.A. to affirm the implicit link of Rome to Hollywood, and played by Connie Nielson-who evoked the equally beautiful, brainy, bewitching, cool, calm, collected, auburn haired and implicitly Glinda linked Lady Jessica-played by Francesca Annis-the helpful and supportive mother of Paul Maud’dib in DUNE.  Thus, it was fitting that Lucilla, the only significant female character in the film and as all alone in a hyper-thyroid man’s world as Lt. O’Neil in G.I. JANE, was equally helpful and supportive and secretly conspired with Proximo and with the General’s devoted and implicitly Eric Serra and Scarecrow linked slave Cicero-played by Tommy Flanagan-to help the General eventually kill Emperor Commodus in a sword and knife fight at the Colosseum in Rome that reminded us that Maud’dib killed Feyd Rautha in a knife fight at the end of DUNE to reaffirm the film’s implicit interest in Lynch, before dying and returning in his thoughts to home like Dorothy, in the end.

Thus, Sir Scott implicitly roasted Besson and Burton for implicitly roasting Lynch in their indie film art and Burton in addition for returning the movie tie-in merchandise and product placement promoting blockbuster beast to the Temple Theatre in BATMAN in another fine and fearless albeit implicitly improbable feature film significantly lacking Dark Side mirror opposites but filled with artistic, balanced, and naturally lit frames, mostly two but sometimes at least four cameras to capture a scene, all too  ominous blockbuster blue film projector light, the usual implicit Ozian theme and undeveloped characters.  And a film done so well that audiences used their own Scott Free Agency to finally forgive and fully embrace the equally indomitable and battle scarred Scott, despite the ironic fact that he used GLADIATOR to implicitly mock the greater CGI enhanced violence of the film art of the dread allegorical Zone Wars and the baying and bloodthirsty Cineplex Coliseum crowds who watched these films, a point implicitly affirmed by the fact that implicitly Hollywood linked Rome and the Colosseum were both enhanced and expanded with ahuman CGI and lit with blockbuster blue film projector evoking light. 

Significantly, the august and equally fickle Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was also impressed, giving GLADIATOR the Caesarial thumb up and awarding Scott his first five Oscars for Best Actor, Best Costume Design, Best Film, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects, finally giving him something to crow about and rewarding him for all of the long, embattled and embittering years he had spent in the wilderness despite not also awarding him Best Director.  All in all, a satisfying way, indeed, to begin the new year, decade, century and millenium of film art for Scott.  And so Scott had finally been re-embraced by audiences and finally left his Dark Years behind.  And so this exuberant acclaim also allowed him to finally triumph over Lucas, who had been rejected by audiences the year before when he had finally returned to the Temple Theatre with the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cameron and Spielberg roasting indie animaction film STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE [1999].

Curiously, later in the year Cameron implicitly roasted Scott in the form of Donald “Deck” Lydecker-played by Savage-the twisted head of Project Manticore, an ultra top secret U.S. government programme that created genetically designed and Replicant evoking super soldiers like the beautiful but deadly, dark skinned, short, slim, sexy, sassy, steely, renegade, ultra indie and implicitly SCC linked female Terminator “Mad” Max Guevara-played by Brittany Cuevas as a young girl, Geneva Locke as an older girl, and Jessica Alba as a young woman, respectively-in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Cameron and Charles H. Eglee co-created and co-produced indie docufeature Zonebuster telefilm series DARK ANGEL [2000-02], whose first Cameron written David Nutter pilot telefilm aired on October 3, 2000 and whose implicit SCC and Scott addressing intent on two levels were affirmed by allusions to BLADE RUNNER, G.I. JANE and THE VIRGIN SUICIDES.  Then, the following year, and no doubt inspired and fired up by his big year in 2000, Scott bounced back forward in time almost two thousand years after the events of GLADIATOR from ancient Rome to then contemporary Florence and neo-classical Washington to implicitly roast Besson again on one level when he donned the director/co-producer hats, teamed up again with Facio, Max, Needham, Scalia, Spencer, Zimmer, MGM, Universal, Zeljko Ivanek-who played a Coast Guard investigator named Sanders at the hearing at the end of WHITE SQUALL-Boyd Kestner-who played the implicitly Cowardly Lion linked SEAL trainee Corporal Wickwire in G.I. JANE-Mark Margolis-who played Boludilla, the favourite insidious aristocratic right hand man of Sanchez who replaced Columbus as the Governor of the New World at the end of 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE-and producer and unit production manager Branko Lustig, DOP John Mathieson, and costume designer Janty Yates-all from GLADIATOR-to kick off the twentieth anniversary year of the Last Good Year of film art with his most morally ambiguous film yet, the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cronenberg toasting and Besson and Cameron roasting indie docufeature artbuster HANNIBAL [2001], a film released on February 9, 2001 that was inspired by the twilit and allegorical Richard Harris indie docufiction novel Hannibal [1999], the author’s name curiously but fittingly reminding us that Richard Harris played Emperor Marcus Aurelius in GLADIATOR to immediately link the two films together, and a film that was aptly chosen, given that Sen. DeHaven sarcastically remarked that “…If a cannibal used a knife and fork, would you call that progress?” when told by Congressman Hayes that the U.S. Navy was making progress on women’s issues in the Navy at the beginning of G.I. JANE.

 

“I always figured him for a queer…

All this artsy fartsy stuff.”

 

Indeed, after four opening titles, the fourth of which proudly read “…A RIDLEY SCOTT FILM” to implicitly affirm how pleased Scott was with the success of GLADIATOR, the film began with a short prelude that started with a completely black screen like a Spielberg film before a film frame appeared in a small white square in the lower right hand corner of the black screen and slowly moved closer until it finally filled the screen, fittingly evoking Scott’s return to the foreground of feature film art with GLADIATOR after too many depressing, frustrating and infuriating years in distant and twilit limbo.  Curiously, in this fully foregrounded frame was a large, high ceilinged, richly appointed library or study filled with jammed bookshelves, paintings, and a life sized sculpture of a black horse in the background that evoked the richly appointed rooms and tents filled with sculptures and figurines of wealthy patrician Romans in GLADIATOR.  In this room an implicitly Jon Landau linked asylum nurse named Barney Matthews-played by Frankie R. Faison-presented the charming, decadent, wealthy, politically well connected and Wayne and William S. Burroughs evoking but hideously faced and implicitly Cameron and Scarecrow linked American “playboy” Mason Verger-an implication affirmed by the film’s allusions to 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, a film that had an enormous impact on the young Cameron, and the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Cameron indie docufeature Zonebusters TRUE LIES [1994] and TITANIC [1997], and played by Oldman-and his sexually ambiguous and implicitly Jay Cocks linked private physician Doctor Cordell Doemling-played by Ivanek-with a mask from someone named Doctor Hannibal Lecter that evoked the metal mask worn by Gen. Meridius when he portrayed Gen. Hannibal in his first gladiator battle in the Coliseum in Rome in GLADIATOR, immediately linking the two films together and preparing us for the eponymous Hannibal being as indomitably and methodically violent and committed to his own gleefully warped version of Scott Free Agency as Meridius. 

Then followed the rest of the opening titles amidst an unusual and choppily edited montage filmed by someone skulking with a digital film camera in the streets of a city that appeared to be in Italy given that Italian voices and a lone and wistful piano accompanied the images, a jerky montage curiously intercut at one point with a map of L.A. and at another point with a page from an L.A. phonebook to link the implicitly Italian city to L.A. and Hollywood, and a montage that ended with a flock of pigeons pecking all over a city square coalescing into a CGI portrait of a sinister face of the film’s eponymous lead character as a church bell ironically rang, after which the film began in ancient Rome evoking Washington, D.C. with the beautiful, brainy, sweet, steely, petite, unusually auburn haired, implicitly Sarah Polley and Dorothy linked Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] Special Agent Clarice Starling-a staid FBI that evoked the equally staid Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [CBC] where spent most of her early career, and played by Julianne Moore-doing her best to use her Scott Free Agency to lead a combined team of all male ATF, DEA and FBI agents and D.C. police led by the implicitly Lynch linked Officer Bolton-played by Terry Serpico-in a combative arrest at an outdoor seafood market of a notorious drug and gun running gang leader named Evelda Drumgo-played by Hazelle Goodman-reminding us not only that Lucilla was the only significant female in GLADIATOR, but that Lt. O’Neil was the only female SEAL amongst the male SEALs in the op at the end of G.I. JANE, a film with its own machinations set in D.C., making it fitting that Kestner returned in this sequence as FBI Agent Burke. 

Alas, the arrest went awry and led to a wild and bloody Kansan tornado of a shootout and the deaths of Drumgo and her all male bodyguard/gang members, including one implicitly linked to Spike Lee-played by Jalil Jay Lynch-and another implicitly linked to Eddie Murphy-played by Chuck Jeffreys-implicitly linking Drumgo to the Wicked Witch of the East and implying that since she was the only female in her gang that she was the implicit Dark Side of FBI Special Agent Starling or even her sister, implying that Starling was, despite appearing on the side of Good, the implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked character of the film.  Wicked, indeed, for it was FBI Special Agent Starling who used her SFA to shoot the Wicked Drumgo dead with one bullet, causing her to fall back against her car like Harlan fell back against a parked car after being shot dead with one bullet by Louise in the parking lot of the Silver Bullet roadhouse in THELMA & LOUISE. 

Significantly, this bloody and botched arrest not only landed FBI Special Agent Starling in hot water with her implicitly Fox linked supervisor FBI Agent Pearsall-reminding us that Fox literally began his career with a CBC sitcom, and played by David Andrews-and the grey suit favouring, ironically lecherous and implicitly Tin Man linked Justice Department official Paul Krendler-played by Ray Liotta-but also left us wondering for the rest of the film if she really was implicitly linked to the fire ball blasting Wicked Witch of the West instead of sweet and innocent Dorothy, an ambiguity helped by the fact that while cool, calm, collected, fearless, resolute and deadly during the shootout, another strong woman in a Scott film who refused to take cover and returned fire with Drumgo and her gang, Starling was wearing a Wicked black baseball cap and a black shirt during the raid, recalling the black dress of the Wicked Witch of the West, and the ambiguous and uncertain Good or Evil status of Deckard in BLADE RUNNER. 

This fiasco also attracted the attention of Verger like the bloody gladiator exploits of “Mad” Maximus attracted the attention of Emperor Commodus and Lucilla in GLADIATOR.  Indeed, Verger, the scion of a wealthy American family, pulled some strings at the U.S. Justice Department to get FBI Special Agent Starling transferred back to a case involving the Hannibal mentioned in the film’s prologue, so as to use her as bait to draw Hannibal out of hiding and capture and murder or maim him in revenge for persuading Verger to get stoned and then cut off his own face and leave him a real life and hideous faced Scarecrow.  For her part, FBI Special Agent Starling took on the case and threw herself with determined Scott Free Agency into capturing Dr. Lecter so as to clear her name and reputation and bring honour back to her in particular and women in general at the FBI, evoking the obsession with honour and strength in GLADIATOR, Det.-Sgt. Conklin’s quest to track down Sato in BLACK RAIN, Det. Keegan’s determination to track down the Wicked Venza in SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME, and Deckard’s obsessive quest to track down the renegade Replicants of BLADE RUNNER.

First lead in the case was Verger, interviewed unusually at his Wicked Witch of the West evoking castle, an American castle far removed from the modest state of the Scarecrow in THE WIZARD OF OZ and one that made us wonder if he rather than FBI Special Agent Starling was implicitly linked to the Wicked Witch of the West.  Significantly, FBI Special Agent Starling’s interview with Verger evoked Deckard’s interview with Eldon and Rachael Tyrell at their equally wealthy and spacious penthouse suite atop one of the Tyrell Corp. pyramids at the beginning of BLADE RUNNER.  Alas for Verger, a flashback in this interview affirmed that he had indeed met, befriended and been one of the victims of the notorious, brilliant, well educated, well spoken, well dressed, suave, charming, persuasive, gleefully twisted, exuberantly and artistically homicidal, macabrely voracious and implicitly Cronenberg and Great Oz linked serial killer Doctor Hannibal Lecter-reminding us that Cronenberg was implicitly linked to Jack the Ripper in TIME AFTER TIME, and played by Sir Hopkins.  This flashback also revealed that Verger’s Dark Side mirror world opposite reflection had been seen in a large mirror in his swingin’ bachelor pad shortly before Dr. Lecter had got him high on a pill called a “popper”, making it no surprise that his stoned Dark Side had been persuaded by the good Doctor to use a piece of the shattered mirror to cut off his face, explaining why it was so hideously maimed.

Interview over, x-ray with fingerprint on it sent by Dr. Lecter to Verger in her possession, FBI Special Agent Starling left the Wicked Castle and returned to FBI HQ in Washington for some quality time with a videotape containing black and white CCTV footage of Dr. Lecter in horrific voracious action at the Baltimore State Forensic Hospital in early February of ’88 that evoked the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical Cronenberg indie docufeature films STEREO [1969], SCANNERS [1980] and VIDEODROME [1983] to affirm the implicit link of Lecter to Cronenberg.  Then the manhunt began with a short visit to Baltimore to see the pigeon luving and perhaps Uncle Henry linked Nurse Matthews and to pick up some Lecter memorabilia, including some taped conversations between Lecter and Starling from ten years earlier.  Curiously, the scene then shifted to Florence, the Italian city probably seen in the opening title montage, where the BLACK RAIN and SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME police detective evoking and implicitly Besson and Cowardly Lion linked Florence police detective Chief Inspector/Commendatore Rinaldo Pazzi of the Questura-whose implicit link to Besson was affirmed by the film’s allusions to THE FIFTH ELEMENT, and who was played by Giancarlo Giannini-became the first to inadvertently meet the elusive Dr. Lecter. 

For Dr. Lecter was hiding out in Florence under the name of Dr. Fell as the black suit luving curator and chief Librarian of the Capponi Library, a fact Com. Pazzi discovered when he questioned the good Doctor about the disappearance of his predecessor in the library position, one Signore de Bonaventura, who Lecter was trying to replace to the amused dismay of the implicitly Spielberg linked Italian scholar Sogliato-played by Robert Rietty.  Discovering to his surprise shortly after their first meeting while pondering the footage from a security camera videotape being copied for the FBI by his implicitly Bruce Willis linked Florentine police colleague Agent Franco Benetti-played by Andrea P. Bodini-that Dr. Fell was actually probably the notorious Dr. Lecter that the FBI and Special Agent Starling were looking for, Com. Pazzi decided to use his SFA to capture the good Doctor himself to get the beastly blockbuster reward of $3 million offered by Verger. 

And so Com. Pazzi tragicomically affirmed his implicit link to the Cowardly Lion by threatening to have a feminine street urchin/pickpocket named Gnocco-played by Enrico Lo Verso-arrested unless he got a fingerprint on a silver bracelet from Dr. Lecter for the Commendatore.  Equally tragicomically, nothing but a small, compressed and widened funhouse mirror reflection of Pazzi, a grimly amusing funhouse reflection that summed up the macabre spirit of the film, appeared in the side of the silver bracelet as he bought it for Gnocco to implicitly affirm that Pazzi had become one with his warped Dark Side mirror world opposite reflection when he cooked up his cowardly plan to use the resigned pickpocket.  Significantly, Gnocco picked Dr. Lecter’s fingerprint in a crowded block of cinemas located underneath tall arches with a poster of GLADIATOR cheekily and proudly seen on a wall to the sinister left of the screen, openly linking Dr. Lecter, Gnocco and Com. Pazzi to film art and film artists in general and to that of Scott in particular.

Alas for the Cowardly Pazzi, Lecter became aware that the Commendatore was on his trail, and used his twisted Scott Free Agency to toss Pazzi out a window to help the detective hang and disembowel himself with his own gutless avarice in a scene openly lit with blockbuster blue film projector light from a slide projector and framed by a white projection screen to openly link both characters to slide and film art.  And so the Cowardly Pazzi died, but not before we discovered that the name of Pazzi’s implicitly Glinda linked wife Allegra-played by Francesca Neri-evoked legendary video game designer Allegra Geller-played by Jennifer J. Leigh-in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Cronenberg indie docufeature film eXistenZ [1999], a film in which Polley had a small part as Merle to reaffirm the implicit interest in Cronenberg and Polley in HANNIBAL.

Curiously, with the Cowardly Pazzi out of the way, the Great Lecter used his SFA to travel to Washington to shadow, contact and pester FBI Special Agent Starling, whose reflection in her car’s rear view mirror was the only one of the film’s characters to not be distorted like a funhouse mirror, mocking her and urging her to leave the FBI and go indie like him, reminding us that Cronenberg had also left behind Canadian government funding and gone indie, as well, to reaffirm the implicit link of Cronenberg to Lecter.  Just as curiously, Lecter also allowed himself to be captured by Evil Sardinian agents of Verger at the Venice evoking main train station in Washington and taken back to Verger’s Wicked Castle in order to face down the Scary Verger and the Tinny Krendler, who were in Wicked collusion with each other.  Capture accomplished, Dr. Lecter, with the ironic help of FBI Special Agent Starling, on the lam from the FBI due to her own rebellious Scott Free Agency, escaped from the vengeful and murderous grip of Verger-who reminded us that Oldman played the equally wealthy, exuberantly Evil and implicitly Cameron linked Zorg in THE FIFTH ELEMENT to reaffirm the implicit link of Pazzi to Besson-when he fell to his wild boar dinner doom with a little help from a push by Dr. Doemling.  In fact, the “Good” Doctor just as ironically rescued the shot and wounded FBI Agent, picking her up and carrying her young, unconscious, and nubile form in his arms and out of Verger’s killing barn like all classic movie monsters, before driving her off into the darkness back to his latest lair at a summer house of Krendler like Batman drove intrepid photojournalist Vicki Vale-played by Kim Basinger-off to safety in his batcave in BATMAN, and saved the intrepid Agent’s life by operating on her to remove the bullet she had taken at Verger’s barn. 

Here at Krendler’s place, after a memorable dinner that saw Dr. Lecter, dressed in an elegant but Wicked black suit, serving up the exposed brain of the drugged and frozen Tin Krendler as Starling sat nearby at the dining table dressed in an equally elegant but Wicked black dress and high heels, both picked out by Lecter and probably Gucci, to presage a Gucci luvin’ film by Scott to come and to reaffirm the moral ambiguity of both characters and get us wondering yet again which one was the true implicit Wicked Witch of the West linked character in the film.  Wondering, indeed, for the meal was cut short when Dr. Lector suddenly left to elude being captured and arrested by the FBI and the police, in the end, evoking the sight and sound of the Great Oz escaping by hot air balloon at the end of THE WIZARD OF OZ to affirm the implicit link of Hannibal the Cannibal to the Great Oz rather than the Wicked Witch of the West and to implicitly affirm that even notoriously twisted serial killers like Dr. Lecter were free to use their Scott Free Agency to escape being a hapless and helpless pawn of fate in the mind and films of Scott.  Thus, Scott implied that he was grimly amused by the fact that Cronenberg had survived the intervening decades of the dread allegorical Zone Wars without compromising his idiosyncratic and violent indie docufeature style in any way.  The sight and sound of Dr. Lecter leaving FBI Special Agent Starling the only survivor of all his pursuers and still ambiguously linked to either Dorothy or the Wicked Witch of the West, though probably the former rather than the latter given that Starling was the only character in the film to not have a distorted funhouse mirror reflection, also implied the hope of Scott that Polley would be inspired by Cronenberg and himself to leave behind the CBC and the thespian ranks to become an equally courageous, indomitable, idiosyncratic, intelligent, thought provoking, creative and macabrely mischievous indie film artist like Cronenberg and himself.  Curiously, Polley soon did exactly that, perhaps as inspired by HANNIBAL to become a film artist as SCC might have been by G.I. JANE. 

 Twisted fun, indeed, albeit hampered, with the exception of Verger, by shallow characters whose lack of backstory and development provided no motivation for their behaviour, but with the usual artistic, balanced, artistic and naturally lit frames, two cameras to capture a scene and with minimal movement as in a Cronenberg film, some Dark Side and mostly distorted mirror world opposites, and implicit Ozian theme but unusually and cheekily without a character definitely implicitly linked to the Wicked Witch of the West as if to imply that the Wicked Witch of the West was not real but simply the Dark Side within all of us that caused us to work as an FBI Agent so as to shoot people, to persuade a person to cut off their face and to let ourselves be persuaded to do it, or to give in to a lust for money.  The latter temptation of no interest to Jean-Luc Godard, who implicitly addressed Scott and urged him to not lose track of art, humanity and luv in his film art in the twilit and allegorical indie docufeature film ELOGE DE L’AMOUR ou IN PRAISE OF LOVE [2001], a film released on May 15, 2001 whose implicit interest in Scott was affirmed by allusions to BLADE RUNNER.

Then Sir Scott donned the director/co-producer hats, took another famous u-turn back in time ten years to the world of the American military and another determined manhunt for a notorious and deadly murderer when he teamed up again with Facio, Ivanek, Kestner, Lustig, Max, Needham, Scalia, Zimmer and Kent Linville-who played an FBI mail boy in HANNIBAL-for another contribution to the twentieth anniversary of the Last Good Year of film art that anticipated the twentieth anniversary of the TZ disaster and that was also his most all male and testosterone pumpin’ film yet, the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster BLACK HAWK DOWN [2001], a film released on December 18, 2001 that was inspired by the twilit and allegorical Mark Bowden book Black Hawk Down [1999].

 

“They wouldn’t understand why we do it.”

 

Curiously, the film opened with a black and silent screen like HANNIBAL and a Spielberg film before a short, grim and green filtered prologue began that was filled with opening titles that made no mention of director, cast, crew, production company or studio, but did set the scene in Mogadishu during the Somalian Civil War in 1992-3, which had caused a famine in the “Mog” so severe that 300,000 civilians died and the U.S. government decided to send in the Delta Force, U.S. Rangers, and the 160^th Special Operation Aviation Regiment [Airborne] or SOAR in August of ’93 to capture the embattled city’s most notorious warlord of all, the elusive, never seen but implicitly Landis and Wicked Witch of the West linked General Mohamed Farrah Aidid aka “the General”, ruler of the Black Castle linked city of Mog, who kept on getting his soldiers to steal all of the food aid that the United Nations were sending to the city and keeping it for his people and himself. 

Then, the film began in the afternoon of Saturday, October 2, 1993 and travelled around the city, where we met some of the Delta Forcemen, Rangers and “Nightstalker” airmen.  Starting with the frustrating and infuriating sight and sound of Aidid’s militia men shooting indifferently into a desperate crowd at a food distribution centre and stealing the U.N. food delivery as the tall, lanky, idealistic, inexperienced but fearless, commanding and implicitly Bigelow and Cowardly Lion linked Ranger SSG Matthew “Matt” Eversmann-played by Josh Hartnett-and the implicitly Peter Jackson linked Ranger SSG Daniel Busch-played by Richard Tyson-watched helplessly from above and inside the sleek black biomechanical wasp beast known as Black Hawk Helicopter Super 61 piloted by the cheery, wise cracking and implicitly Chevy Chase linked CW4 Clifton “Elvis” Wolcott-played by Jeremy Piven-a sleek, sexy, and powerful black biomechanical wasp beast that evoked the equally sleek, sexy, and powerful black biomechanical wasp beast prototype LAPD helicopter codenamed “Blue Thunder” in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed John Badham docufeature film BLUE THUNDER [1983] to implicitly link the film to the fateful, fatal and twilit years of 1982-83.

After this helpless, frustrating and infuriating experience, the scene shifted to the Bakara Market in the centre of Mog, where the cool, calm, collected and implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked indie veteran Delta Force SFC Norman “Hoot” Gibson-played by Eric Bana-silently watched for and relayed intel that the mysterious and Aidid linked businessman who sold guns to Aidid’s militia, Mr. Osman Atto-played by George Harris, who played Captain Katanga in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK to openly link the film to Spielberg and the Last Good Year of film-was leaving the market with his bodyguards in a convoy of three black SUVs.  A convoy that was soon met by three equally sleek but regular black biomechanical “Little Bird” helicopters filled with more Delta Forcemen that captured Atto and took him back to U.S. Army Headquarters at the Mog Airport.  Significantly, here Atto was interrogated by the implicitly Spielberg and Great Oz linked Delta Force Major General William F. Garrison-played by Sam Shepard-where we found out that Mjr.-Gen. Garrison was using Atto as bait to draw out Aidid, like Verger used FBI Special Agent Starling as bait to draw out Dr. Lecter in HANNIBAL.  Fittingly, when the interrogation ended and Mjr.-Gen. Garrison left the room, he was met by his implicitly Marshall linked second in command LTC Joseph “Joe” Cribbs-played by Steven Ford-to affirm the implicit link of Garrison to Spielberg. 

Fittingly, given this evocation of HANNIBAL, soon after this meeting with Mr. Atto, the tall, genial, tolerant and implicitly Cronenberg linked Delta Force SFC Jeffrey “Jeff” Sanderson-whose surname evoked William Sanderson, who played Sebastian in BLADE RUNNER, and was played by William Fichtner-left the base on another sleek black biomechanical Blackhawk wasp beast, Super Six Four, and led a Delta mission to pick up SFC Gibson out in the Tatooine evoking desert before returning to base to affirm the implicit link of Gibson to Lucas.  Here we met the gung ho leader of the Rangers, the implicitly John Boorman linked CPT Michael “Mike” Steele-played by Jason Isaacs-and the frustrated, resigned, cigarette and coffee luvin’ and implicitly Lynch and Tin Man linked Ranger SP-4 John “Grimesy” Grimes-played by Ewan McGregor-tragicomically frozen in place unable to participate in Ranger operations and forced to be the regiment’s secretary due to his ability to type.

Alas for the men, this stop at U.S. Army HQ proved to be the most peaceful moment in the film, for the following day Mjr.-Gen. Garrison ordered the Delta Force and Rangers into the city in their armoured personnel carriers to raid a meeting of Aidid’s cabinet and capture two of his top political advisers at a building in the Bakara Market in the centre of the city found for the Americans by the frightened and worried but courageous Abdi-played by Abdibashir M. Hersi-parked in an old white car that evoked the mysterious ’64 Chevy Malibu in REPO MAN while the 160^th SOAR provided air cover with their regular Little Bird helicopters and their sleek Black Hawk biomechanical wasp beasts, evoking the local and state police, soldiers and a SWAT team that frantically tried to apprehend the Blues brothers at the end of THE BLUES BROTHERS to affirm the film’s implicit interest in Landis.  Thus, it was fitting that Delta Force evoked Delta House, the exuberantly raucous, irreverent and anti-Establishment fraternity at Faber College in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and Corman and Dante roasting Landis docufeature film ANIMAL HOUSE [1978].  It was also fitting that the implicitly Jones linked Ranger Lt.-Col. Daniel McKnight-played by Tom Sizemore-attended the briefing that laid out the mission, for Sizemore openly linked Mjr.-Gen. Garrison and the film to Spielberg via his implicitly Coppola linked character Sgt. Michael “Mike” Horvath in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Spielberg docufeature film SAVING PRIVATE RYAN [1998].

And so the convoy of armoured and Ranger filled Humvees commanded by Lt. McKnight and seconded by the implicitly Gilliam linked Ranger SSG Jeffrey “Jeff” Struecker-played by Brian Van Holt-rolled out of the U.S. Army base at the Mog airport as the Little Bird helicopters carrying Gibson, Sanders and the rest of Delta Force and the sleek and powerful black biomechanical Blackhawk wasp beasts carrying Eversmann, Grimesy-finally released from frozen tinny typing captivity!-the tragicomic and implicitly Cox linked Ranger SPC Shawn Nelson-played by Ewen Bremner-the cocky and implicitly Tarantino linked Ranger Corporal Jamie Smith-played by Charles “Charlie” Hofheimer-and the rest of the intrepid Rangers lifted off one by one and rotored through the sunny and increasingly smoky skies towards the Bakara Market as the tragicomic Laurel and Hardy evoking and resembling and implicitly Larry and Andy Wachowski linked pair of DELTA LTC Gary L. Harrell and 160^th SOAR Colonel Thomas Matthews-played by Ivanek and Glenn Morshower, respectively-watched over and commanded the soldiers and airmen, respectively, all to the sound of the Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble cover of the allegorical and James “Jimi” Hendrix written Hendrix tune “Voodoo Child [Slight Return]” [1970] from the recording COULDN’T STAND THE WEATHER [1984].  An all too fitting sound, for the psychedelic blues sound of “Voodoo Child [Slight Return]” reminded us that Vaughan died in a helicopter crash in the summer of 1990, setting us up for the sight and sound of one of the sleek biomechanical Black Hawk wasp beasts that we had already come to know, Super 61, crashing and killing CW4 Wolcott and his co-pilot after an RPG took out its rear rotor soon after reaching the Market, reminding us that an explosion took out the rear rotor of the Huey helicopter in the fatal TZ disaster.  Curiously, the crash also left SSG Busch bushed, wounded, but alive, and crawling out of the wreckage and desperately fighting off a horde of Somali attackers like two AIDS commandos desperately fought off a horde of ravenous alien zombies in the twilit and allegorical Jackson indie docufeature film BAD TASTE [1987] to affirm the implicit link of Busch to Jackson. 

At this point, the simple in and out extraction mission went completely and tragicomically SNAFU, for when the soldiers did their best to rescue the downed chopper crew, thousands of heavily armed young Somali men put aside their differences and rose up to fight them off with furious Scott Free Agency.  The mission went even more SNAFU when another Somali with another RPG took out the rear rotor of another biomechanical Black Hawk wasp beast that we had come to know, Super 64, and brought it down, leading to another desperate rescue mission that drew out the half hour operation and turned it into an epic, brutal and bloody overnight battle that evoked the battles with the ultraviolent aliens of ALIENS, BAD TASTE and the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas and Lynch addressing Verhoeven animaction film STARSHIP TROOPERS [1997] and the battles with beastly blockbuster machine Terminators seen in the glimpses of the future seen T1 and T2.  The thousands of locals who rose up to fight the Americans also reminded us of all of the American film and music artists of African descent that had rallied to the cause of Landis after the TZ disaster in twilit and allegorical docufeature films like TRADING PLACES [1983], COMING TO AMERICA [1989] and THE BLUES BROTHERS 2000 [1998].  Indeed, the fact that an Arsenio Hall resembling and Bee Gees t-shirt wearing teenage sentry-played by either Kofi Amarikwah or Joshua Quarcoo-used a cell phone held in the air to tip Aidid and his militia men off to the fact that American helicopters had left the airport and were heading to central Mog reminded us that Hall played Semmi in COMING TO AMERICA to affirm that black support for Landis.  Significantly, the epic and bloody battle was also openly linked to film art due to the fact that Maj.-Gen. Garrison watched the whole snafu operation in real time at the Joint Operations Center [J.O.C.] via satellite cameras. 

Thus, given the implicit link of the soldiers to American, British, Canadian and New Zealand film artists, the fact that the downed Blackhawk helicopters evoked the helicopter crash that killed Chen, Le and Morrow in the TZ disaster, the fact that the soldiers for the most part failed to rescue the crews of the downed choppers, and the fact that Aidid escaped capture despite the epic battle to capture him like Lecter escaped the FBI, in the end, Scott mordantly implied his sour conviction that despite all of the equally hard work and sometimes epic blockbuster films, some of them equally embattled and brutal war films filled with equally anguished sound and fury like SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, that American, British, Canadian and New Zealand film artists had created since 1982 they had failed to defeat, triumph over and exorcise Landis and the TZ disaster, free audiences, film art, film artists, and the Temple Theatre from the Twilight Zone, and end the dread allegorical Zone Wars.  Heck, Scott perhaps even implied that film artists needed Landis to draw the best out of them!  However, the fact that most of the soldiers that we came to know survived implied Scott’s admiration for the cinematic prowess of Bigelow, Cox, Cronenberg, Gilliam, Jackson, Jones, Lucas, Lynch and the Wachowski Sisters, who, at the time of the release of the film, were still the Wachowski Brothers.  In fact, Scott implied a particular fondness for Lynch, as Grimesy managed to survive no less than three blockbuster RPG bomb attacks, reminding us that Lynch survived numerous box office bombs, as well.  The notable exception was Corp. Smith, whose death was ironic indeed given that Tarantino had already implicitly, ironically and sarcastically noted the failure of more accomplished film artists like Scott to exorcise Landis and the TZ disaster and truly liberate audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre in his first equally fearless feature film RESERVOIR DOGS.

Last but not least, the sight and sound of Maj.-Gen. Garrison taking full responsibility for the disastrous mission and its failure to capture Aidid also implied that Scott believed that Spielberg, who was the overall creative Force and co-executive producer behind TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, should have also taken full responsibility for the TZ disaster, which he never has, so as to prevent the dread allegorical Zone Wars from still dragging on and on twenty years later.  This continued an embittered emphasis on sound leadership and responsibility that had already been emphasized in 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE, WHITE SQUALL, G.I. JANE and GLADIATOR.  Indeed, the film’s allusions to ALIEN, ALIENS, APOCALYPSE NOW, BAD TASTE, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, PULP FICTION, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, REPO MAN, RESERVOIR DOGS, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, STARSHIP TROOPERS, the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, STRANGE DAYS, THE MATRIX, T1, T2, THX 1138, the twilit and allegorical Cox indie docufeature films STRAIGHT TO HELL [1987] and WALKER [1987], and the daylit, allegorical, Ozian themed and implicitly Bigelow, Burton, Disney, Gilliam and Lucas addressing Tarantino indie docufeature film JACKIE BROWN [1998] affirmed the film’s implicit interest in addressing Zone War film artists.  In fact, the presence of Fichtner and Sizemore openly linked BLACK HAWK DOWN to STRANGE DAYS via psycho killer LAPD officer Dwayne Engelman and psycho killer ex-LAPD officer Max Peltier, respectively, in that film. 

And so the dread allegorical Zone Wars continued, truly affirming that only the dead were free from war.  And so BLACK HAWK DOWN was another fine and fearless Scott feature film filled with the usual artistic and balanced frames, two to four cameras to capture a scene, and an implicit Ozian theme but unusually with green filtered natural light that gave the film a sickly appearance, few Dark Side mirror opposites, and little time or cause for character development, and a fine film that was rewarded by the august Academy with two Oscars for Best Film Editing and Best Sound.  Significantly, however, the sight and sound of its sturdy and indomitable American airmen and soldiers rising up to defend freedom and democracy by taking on and taking out Moslem attackers was now completely and presciently in tune with the spirit of the United States and the rest of the United Nations after the 911 terrorist attack on that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York.  Ditto with THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING.

And so the successes of BLACK HAWK DOWN and HANNIBAL no doubt improved the spirits of Scott, helped along by the surprise success of LEGEND when it was released as a better and more coherent Director’s Cut with a symphonic score by Goldsmith the following year in 2002, curiously Scott’s only contribution to the fateful, fatal and twentieth anniversary year of the release of BLADE RUNNER and the TZ disaster.  For his part, Lucas did commemorate the twentieth anniversary year of the TZ disaster by implicitly linking Scott to the all CGI Poggle the Lesser-played by Martin Csokas-leader of the all CGI flying gremlin bugs of the brave new all CGI world of Geonosis in the second installment of his new STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy, the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cameron and Spielberg roasting indie animaction film STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES [2002], released on May 25, 2002. 

Significantly, Spielberg also struck back at Lucas and commemorated the TZ disaster in the eerily twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas toasting and Lynch roasting docufeature film MINORITY REPORT [2002], a film released on June 17, 2002 that infuriatingly implied that Spielberg had foreknowledge of the TZ disaster that was inspired by the allegorical PKD indie short story “Minority Report” [1956], thus fittingly also making the film a twentieth anniversary commemoration of the release of the first prominent Dick pic.  As for Jackson, he implicitly urged Scott to never abandon the Good indie docufeature artbuster fight against the blockbuster CGI enhanced beast, particularly movie tie-in merchandise and placed product promoting filmmercials like the STAR WARS films, on this Middle Earth between Heaven and Hell when he had the implicitly Cronenberg linked wizard Gandalf the Grey-played by Sir Ian McKellen-and the implicitly Jason Reitman linked Aragorn the Ranger-played by Mortensen-free the slumbering, spellbound, impotent and implicitly Scott linked King Theoden-played by Bernard Hill-from the sibilant and will sapping words of the implicitly Burton linked Wormtongue-played by Brad Dourif-and persuade the revived and virile King of Rohan to lead the Royal Canadian Mounted Police [RCMP] evoking Riders of Rohan against the Dark and implicitly Lucas linked Forces of Mordor in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas roasting indie animaction film THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS [2002], released on December 8, 2002.

As for Scott, he was unexpectedly knighted by a pleased and grateful Queen Elizabeth II on July 8, 2003 for his faithful service to film art.  No doubt inspiring Sir Scott to complete his next fearless feature film when he donned the director/co-producer hats and teamed up again with Facio-now back as a co-producer as well as an actress-Mathieson, Zimmer, and Warner Brothers for the first time since BLADE RUNNER and commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the release of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE by making another of his famous u-turns that left behind the horrors of war in Somalia in 1993 and touched down in then contemporary L.A. for a kooky and endearingly human tragicomedy in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster MATCHSTICK MEN [2003], a film released on September 2, 2003 that was inspired by the daylit and allegorical Eric Garcia indie docufiction novel Matchstick Men [2002].

 

“You look white as a ghost,

 Roy.”

 

Curiously, the film began with the swinging sound of the all too shrewd, knowing, experienced, sarcastic, allegorical and Jean Broussolle and Jack Reardon written Bobby Darin tune “The Good Life” [1965] playing as the fittingly twitchy and jazzy opening titles, the fourth of which stated “…A RIDLEY SCOTT FILM”, appeared amidst a sundrenched montage of shots that began outdoors in L.A. on a beautiful blue sunny day that was in complete and fecund contrast to the dark nightmarescape of L.A. 2019 in BLADE RUNNER before heading indoors from a backyard pool and into the house of the divorced, despondent, tragicomic, twitchy, chain smoking, pill popping, Sixties swinging jazz and Chicken of the Sea canned albacore tuna luving, tv hating, pygmy cursing, fastidiously and obsessively clean and implicitly Terry Zwigoff and Wicked Witch of the West linked small time con artist bachelor Roy Waller-as strange, solitary, obsessive and fond of music and hurting people in his own manipulative way as Dr. Lecter, and played by Nicolas Cage.  Significantly, no sooner did we meet Waller than his Dark Side mirror opposite reflection appeared in a mirror in his house, implicitly affirming that he was already on the wrong path.  Thus, it was no surprise that we quickly found out that he was indeed a small time con artist who worked with his Padawan protégé and partner, the implicitly McGregor and Scarecrow linked Frank Mercer-played by Sam Rockwell-to milk people of their money. 

Alas for Waller, Mercer turned out to be a mercenary partner indeed, as befitting a man who favoured Wicked black and green clothing, whose eyes glowed at times like a Replicant to implicitly affirm his ahuman nature and whose Dark Side mirror world opposite reflection, significantly only his face on his desktop to implicitly affirm his two-faced nature and as funhouse warped as the reflections in HANNIBAL, appeared soon after meeting him to implicitly affirm that he was on an even more Wicked path than Waller.  Indeed, Mercer surreptitiously targeted Waller for one last big “long con”, a long con which involved supposedly actually conning a lot of money from a mysterious and implicitly Lucas and Great Oz linked associate of Mercer’s named Charles “Chuck” Frechette-played by Bruce McGill, who fittingly linked the film to Landis in the twentieth anniversary year of the release of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE via his role as D-Day in ANIMAL HOUSE, making it also all too fitting that he had a twilit license plate of 2PCF243 on his flash Lexus.  An elaborate long con that began by persuading Waller to start seeing an implicitly Rick McCallum and Tin Man linked con artist friend of Mercer who masqueraded as a psychiatrist named Doctor Harris Klein-played by Bruce Altman-who discovered in their therapy sessions that Waller’s ex-wife may have given birth to a child he had never met after their divorce fourteen years ago. 

Seizing upon this revelation, Klein and Mercer persuaded a slim, dimunitive and mischievous Munchkin of a 14 year old girl to pose as Waller’s never met and implicitly Natalie Portman and Dorothy linked daughter Angela-as disarmingly sweet, innocent and blonde but deadly, duplicitous and glowing eyed as Pris in BLADE RUNNER, and played by Alison Lohman.  Alas for Waller, the blonde hair and name of Angela all too fittingly evoked Los Angeles based Hollywood machinations, and should have made him wary and suspicious of this Munchkin “daughter”.  For he would have quickly noticed the Dark Side mirror world opposite reflection of Angela, who, soon after their first meeting in a local park, came over to see Waller one night at his house, was quickly seen in the same mirror as Waller’s reflection inside the house, its interior bathed in familiar blockbuster blue film projector evoking light from the backyard pool to also implicitly affirm that beastly blockbuster machinations were mischievously afoot, quickly followed by the reflections of both Angela and Waller, which were seen in the door of his oven.  Alas for Waller, not noticing these dangerous reflections, Angela learned all of Waller’s secrets, including that his implicitly Toto linked bulldog living room floor ornament and symbolic house guard dog, as fake as the artificial animals of BLADE RUNNER, was a “piggy bank” filled with thousands of his illicit dollars and his gun.  Even worse, Waller gave Angela the authority to access his safety deposit box when he took her with him to his bank to get the money he needed for the final job. 

Thus, the sight and sound of Angela, Frechette, Klein and Mercer using their Scott Free Agency to successfully team up to pull off the long con that relieved Waller of all of his illicit doggy bank and safety deposit box money and disappearing, in the end, implied that Sir Scott was striking back at Zwigoff for implicitly roasting Lucas and Lee in the implicit forms of the sad eyed, solitary, lonely, despondent, middle aged and implicitly Cowardly Lion linked vintage record collecting bachelor Seymour and the bitchy and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked Gen X teen Enid-played by Buscemi and Thora Birch, respectively-in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film GHOST WORLD [2001], an implication affirmed by the film’s allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, GHOST WORLD, the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies-in the latter of which McGregor and Portman played the young and implicitly Lynch linked Obi Wan Kenobi and the implicitly SCC linked Queen/Senator Padme Amidala, respectively-THE MATRIX, THX 1138, and the twilit and allegorical Zwigoff indie documentary film CRUMB [1994].  And so Waller was left poor, but not poor and alone, as he wound up leaving behind con artistry and his many and mostly imaginary tics, taking up a legal job selling carpets, and shacking up with the beautiful and implicitly Glinda and possibly Lynch linked brunette grocery store cashier Kathy-her possible implicit link to Lynch affirmed by the film’s allusions to BLUE VELVET and TWIN PEAKS and another beautiful and intelligent brunette in the films of Sir Scott, and played by Sheila Kelley-that he had flirted with during his grocery runs for tuna and cigarettes throughout the film as Frank Sinatra sang the allegorical and ironically swinging and keening and Hans Bradtke, Henry Mayer and Johnny Mercer written tune “Summer Wind” [1966] to bring the film full swinging and singing circle, in the end. 

In addition, Sir Scott implicitly roasted newcomer Richard Kelly in the form of a convenience store clerk-played by Paul Hubbard-to welcome him to the world of allegorical film art.  Indeed, Beth Grant, who played the implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked teacher Kitty Farmer in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cameron, Lucas and Spielberg addressing Kelly indie docufeature film DONNIE DARKO [2001] returned as the implicitly Auntie Em linked laundry lady that Roy and Angela played a lottery con on to openly link MATCHSTICK MEN to the brilliant, innovative, memorable, haunting and fearless first feature film of Kelly.  Significantly, as the successful con ended, the reflection of Angela was solely seen in the driver’s side rear mirror of Waller’s car, implying that she had become completely at one with her Dark Side mirror world opposite.

Last but not least, the sight of two teens who resembled SCC and Polley passing Waller early in the film reaffirmed the implicit interest of Sir Scott in the two film artists, an implicit interest in SCC at least affirmed by the film’s allusions to THE VIRGIN SUICIDES.  Thus, it was extremely fitting that the presciently twilit, allegorical and Bryan Ferry written Roxy Music tune “More Than This” [1982] played when Angela and Waller had some fun at a bowling alley, for the song also featured prominently that year in SCC’s second feature film, the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas addressing indie docufeature film LOST IN TRANSLATION [2003].  And so MATCHSTICK MEN was another fine and fearless feature film suffused with artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames, two cameras to capture a scene, Dark Side mirror reflections, an implicit Ozian theme, and little character development, and an unusually light and funny film after BLACK HAWK DOWN, GLADIATOR and HANNIBAL, implying that Sir Scott needed some levity to cope with the grim gravity of those films. 

As for Jackson, he again implicitly linked Sir Scott to the courageous, commanding, resolute and indomitable King Theoden-played again by Hill-and had him die leading the Riders of Rohan against the Dark Forces of murderous Mordor besieging the city of Minas Tirith in Gondor when he wrapped up the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy in epic style in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas roasting indie animaction film THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING [2003], released on December 8, 2003.  An epic and twelve Oscar winning trimax that Sir Scott implicitly replied to when he donned the director/producer hats and teamed up again with Facio, Lustig, Mathieson, Max, Needham, Zimmer, Twentieth Century Fox and Orlando Bloom and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau-who played the green and doomed Ranger Private First Class Todd Blackburn with the all too fittingly twilit serial number 72763427, and the implicitly Danny Elfman linked Delta Force MSG Gary Gordon, respectively, in BLACK HAWK DOWN-and Dody Dorn-editor of MATCHSTICK MEN-to make another massive u-turn back to the Middle Ages and more epic battles between Christians and Moslems in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster KINGDOM OF HEAVEN [2005], released on May 2, 2005.

 

“You are your Father’s

son.”

 

        Curiously, after an unusually dark Twentieth Century Fox intro, an equally unusual, creative and literal animated moving painting appeared that was apparently created by Gianluigi Toccafondo of Acme Filmworks.  This animated moving painting first saw a man in a long overcoat seen and heard stamping along in the darkness lost in thought and perhaps with his hands behind his back, before lighting a cigarette or cigar with a match. The sight reminded us of Sir Scott’s fondness for cigars, implicitly linking the anipainted man to him. The light of the match caused a searchlight to appear behind the man, causing him to flee in his blue overcoat.  As he fled the searchlight, a lone flute began to play as he slowly transformed into a falcon or a hawk and flew Scott freely and safely away, implicitly affirming that the indie spirit of Sir Scott was indeed soaring scot free after his recent successes, eventually settling down between the painted words Scott Free to implicitly emphasize that point.  At this point, the hawcoln froze, and turned aquamarine-or was that film projector blue to implicitly link the free and indie hawcoln to indie film art? 

Then, as with BLACK HAWK DOWN, there were opening titles that set the scene in Europe during the Crusades, but none that mentioned director, cast, crew, production company or studio.  Then the film began in France in 1184, reminding us that THE DUELLISTS, Sir Scott’s first film and his first with Twentieth Century Fox, also began and ended in France.  Here we met the implicitly Ivan Reitman linked Baron Godfrey of Ibelin-played by Liam Neeson, who played the implicitly Gilliam linked Jedi Knight Qui-Gonn Jinn in the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy-riding slowly, quietly and thoughtfully into a village on a snowy winter day with his Crusader Knights, including the implicitly Cameron and Cowardly Lion linked Hospitaller-played by David Thewlis-nestled high up in New Zealand evoking hills where the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy was created to the disinterest of the implicitly Jason Reitman and Tin Man linked Balian the blacksmith-played by Bloom-like Gandalf the Grey-played by McKellen-rode slowly and thoughtfully into Hobbiton on his horse drawn cart to the delight of the implicitly Justin Trudeau linked Frodo Baggins-played by Elijah Wood-at the beginning of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. 

Here in Kiwi village the earnest and contrite Baron tried to persuade his illegitimate son Balian to return with him and his Knights to Jerusalem like Gandalf successfully persuaded Frodo to leave for Rivendell to keep the One Ring of Power from the pursuing Ringwraiths.  While at first uninterested, Balian changed his mind after he killed the irritating and implicitly Jackson linked town priest-played by Michael Sheen-in a sudden fit of furious Scott Free Agency and rode after and joined Baron Godfrey and his Knights to escape arrest and punishment like the implicitly PM King linked Bilbo Baggins rode frantically after Gandalf and the thirteen dragon loot lusting Dwarves at the beginning of the allegorical Tolkien indie docufiction novel The Hobbit: or, there and back again [1936].  Soon after reuniting, the Baron was wounded in an ambush led by the Kiwi village sheriff-played by Coster-Waldau-and carried to Messina, reminding us that Frodo was wounded after being ambushed by the Ringwraiths on Weathertop and carried on horseback to Rivendell in THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. 

Significantly, at Rivendell Frodo agreed to leave for Mordor to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, setting us up for Balian agreeing to being made the new Baron by the dying and implicitly Wicked Witch of the East linked Baron and, much to the furious contempt of the implicitly Besson and Cowardly Lion linked Guy de Lusignan, commander of the Knights Templar-played by Csokas, who played the Elf Lord Celeborn of Lothlorien in the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy-sailing to Minas Tirith evoking and implicitly Hollywood linked Jerusalem.  Here Baron Balian was re-befriended by the Hospitaller, befriended by the implicitly Cronenberg and Tin Man linked Marshall of Jerusalem, Raymond III aka “Tiberias”-fittingly played by Jeremy Irons, veteran of two memorable Cronenberg films-and re-hated by de Lusignan, son of the implicitly Lynch and Great Oz linked and silver mask wearing leper, King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem-his hideous facial deformities evoking those of Merrick and Verger, his powerful position evoking that of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, and played by Edward Norton-a hate passed on to de Lusignan’s friend and fellow Knight Templar, the mischievous and implicitly Gilliam linked Reynald de Chatillon-played by Bernard Gleeson-and luved by de Lusignan’s beautiful, bewitching and implicitly Jovovich and Glinda linked wife Sibylla-played by Eva Green. 

Not long after arriving, Balian was taken to his desert “estate”, and soon after led his men to defeat outside the walls of Jerusalem by a superior Moslem force like the farsighted and implicitly Lynch linked Faramir-played by David Wenham-and his men were defeated outside the walls of Minas Tirith by a superior Dark Force from Mordor in THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING.  A defeat that Balian and many of his men survived, only to eventually join and lead the siege of Jerusalem, which evoked the siege of Minas Tirith in THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING and an equally brutal and bloody siege of a French castle in THE MESSENGER to affirm the implicit interest in Besson on one level in the film, a siege by an even larger Moslem force led by the ironically sincere, devout, faithful, shrewd, knowing, pragmatic, honest, trustworthy and implicitly Landis and Wicked Witch of the West linked Saladin-played by Ghassan Massoud-his implicitly Lucas linked supporter Mullah-played by Khaled Nabawy-which, unlike Aragorn and his defenders who won the siege of Minas Tirith and defeated the Dark Force from Mordor with the help of the King Theoden led Riders of Rohan towards the end of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING to imply the hope of Jackson that young Reitman would also lead the way to defeating Landis and Lucas and ushering in a brave neo eon of CGI enhanced film art, led to a shrewd and steadfast defence of Jerusalem and to a truce between Balian and Saladin and the safe passage out of the city of its defenders to imply the fear of Sir Scott that young Reitman would do his best to lead the way but at best would be able to achieve a truce of sorts with family friend Landis-the elder Reitman was a producer of ANIMAL HOUSE-and Lucas, rather than to defeat them and usher in that brave neo eon of CGI enhanced film art.

And so control of Jerusalem was wrested from the Christian Crusaders and returned to Moslem hands, causing Balian to use his SFA to return with ex-Queen Sibylla to his small village in France in early Spring all too wise in the cruel ways of the world but surprisingly and significantly not bitter, and just in time to say goodbye to the ambiguously linked King Richard the Lionhearted and his favourite squire-played by Iain Glen and Angus Wright, respectively-leaving for Jerusalem to wrest it from Saladin, in the end, evoking the Hobbits who returned to Hobbiton and soon said goodbye to Frodo and Gandalf at the end of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING.  Thus, and unlike Jackson in the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, Sir Scott implied in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN his doubt that young Reitman would be able to kick off a brave neo eon of CGI enhanced film art that would free audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre not from the foolish and tragicomic Lucas but from Landis, the TZ disaster, the Twilight Zone and the dread allegorical Zone Wars and from movie tie-in merchandise and placed produce promoting blockbusters like the STAR WARS Tragic Trilogy, an implicit allegorical intent affirmed by the film’s allusions to DUNE, MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN, THE ELEPHANT MAN, THE FIFTH ELEMENT, the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, THE MESSENGER, the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, and TIME BANDITS.  Thus, it was fitting that young Reitman arrived in the Temple Theatre soon after the release of KINGDOM OF HEAVEN with his own fine and fearless first feature film, the daylit, allegorical, brash, confident, CGI enhanced, montage luvin’ and implicitly Lynch and Tarantino toasting indie docufeature film THANK YOU FOR SMOKING [2005], released on September 9, 2005. 

And so KINGDOM OF HEAVEN was another fine, fearless, moving, and memorable feature film with the usual artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames and two cameras to capture scenes, an implicit Ozian theme, only one scene involving a significant Dark Side mirror reflection, and little character development, and one that was popular with audiences despite the against the times truce with the Moslems.  And so Sir Scott kicked off the new film art year by teaming up as co-executive producer with his brother Tony and with producer Facio and implied in the triumph over the implicitly Cameron linked Irish King Donnchadh-played by David O’Hara-his hope that a daylit neo eon of CGI enhanced film art would lead to a triumph over Cameron in the daylit and allegorical Keven Reynolds indie docufeature film TRISTAN + ISOLDE [2006], a film released on January 13, 2006.  And so Sir Scott left behind the gravity and war of KINGDOM OF HEAVEN for levity and laughter like he did after BLACK HAWK DOWN to implicitly celebrate his good year in 2005 and reply to THANK YOU FOR SMOKING when he donned the director/producer hats and teamed up again with Crowe, Dorn, Facio, Finney, Lustig, and Twentieth Century Fox on another familiar u-turn that left behind medieval England and France and returned to then contemporary England and France in the daylit, allegorical, brash, confident, CGI enhanced, montage luvin’ and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster A GOOD YEAR [2006], released on September 9, 2006 and inspired by the daylit and allegorical Peter Mayle indie docufiction novel A Good Year [2004], which was inspired by an idea for a screenplay by Sir Scott that would allow him to pay tribute to his beluved Provence chateau.

 

“You’ll come to see

that a man learns nothing from winning.

The act of losing, however,

can elicit great wisdom.”

 

        Curiously, after the Twentieth Century Fox intro, the Scott Free indie moving painting intro sans the words “Scott Free”, and three opening titles, none of which mentioned the director, cast, and crew, appearing amidst a sundrenched vista of a lush and green villa ominously reflected in a pond late in a sleepy and lazy afternoon, a vista that created a balance between Light Side real villa and Dark Side mirror world opposite villa, a short prelude saw a genial and perhaps William Shatner linked old man named Uncle Henry and a young boy named Maximilian aka “Max”-played by Finney and Freddie Highmore, respectively-discussing the honest and divine nectar known as wine and teasing each other as they played chess at a table in the front courtyard of a peaceful and sundrenched French villa that was presumably the one seen in the opening balanced shot.  Then the film jumped decades into a future into the interior of a black green glass phallus of a building that looked like it had been designed by Giger and in which we found that the boy had transformed into the youngish, brash, brilliant, cocky, creative, determined, idiosyncratic, fortune and glory obsessed, blue suit luvin’ and implicitly Reitman and Cowardly Lion linked orphan boy, bachelor English bonds trader and Lorden Brothers financial wizard “Mad” Maximilian “Max” Skinner-played by Crowe and again in flashbacks as a boy by Highmore, respectively-who was seen and heard pulling off a dubiously legal trading manoeuvre that netted him and his “lab rats” trading team a lot of money.  Alas, Skinner’s triumph was short lived, for later that night he discovered that his genial old uncle seen in the opening prelude had just died. 

And so he soon left perennially twilit, grey, gloomy, rainy, artificially lit, lifeless and implicitly black and white Depression era Kansas linked London with its Giger buildings and flew through the air in a plane like Dorothy and Toto in their farmhouse to perennially daylit, bright, sundrenched, colourful, fecund, florid, natural, lively and implicitly Munchkinland linked Provence in the south of France like Balian travelled and sailed from grey and gloomy France to sunlit and lively Jerusalem in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN to inspect the painting filled French villa seen in the prologue that turned out to be the Chateau Siroque and its vineyards, which fittingly evoked the Roman villas of GLADIATOR given the presence of Crowe, that he inherited from his recently deceased and wine, women, cigar and blue suit luvin’ and implicitly Shatner and Wicked Witch of the East linked mentor Uncle Henry Skinner-his name evoking Uncle Henry in THE WIZARD OF OZ, and played by Finney-before he sold it and pocketed the money.  However, to his surprise Skinner slowly fell in luv with the Chateau, its vineyards and a local and implicitly Bigelow and Wicked Witch of the West linked brunette beauty named Fanny Chenal-played by Marion Cotillard-and decided not to sell out, to the baffled disgust of his implicitly Kelly linked real estate agent Charlie Wills-played by Tom Hollander. 

Instead, he chose to use his Scott Free Agency to quit his job, leave London and move to La Siroque to luv the Wicked Fanny happily ever after and to continue creating the chateau’s legendary indie wine Le Coin Perdu with its equally indie, idiosyncratic and implicitly Besson and Scarecrow linked vigneron Francis Duflot-played by Didier Bourdon-and his fittingly named and Leeloo evoking wife Ludivine-played by Isabelle Candelier-while being protectively guarded by the tiny, indomitable and Toto evoking dogamatix Tati, sweeping away that ominous Dark Side mirror world Chateau La Siroque seen reflected in the pond in the opening shot of the film and replacing with the Light Side Chateau La Siroque in another upbeat fairy tale ending in the films of Sir Scott.  Curiously, and unusually for a Scott film, Skinner was helped out by the beautiful, blonde, brainy, and implicitly Polley and Dorothy linked Napa Valley, California wine brat Christie Roberts, the “long lost American daughter” of Uncle Henry-a charming blonde con artiste who evoked Angela in MATCHSTICK MEN, and was played by Abbie Cornish-one of the few times in a Sir Scott indie docufeature artbuster in which a beautiful Hollywood evoking blonde was seen in a good light. 

Thus, Sir Scott implied that he enjoyed the first film of Reitman, and implicitly urged him to stick to creating indie docufeature film art like himself rather than selling out and cranking out CGI enhanced and fortune and glory obsessed blockbuster beasts for the Hollywood studios, and also again implicitly urged Polley to follow in their footsteps, making it fitting that Polley arrived in the Temple Theatre that year with her first equally fine and fearless feature film, the twilit, allegorical, slightly CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas and Lynch addressing indie docufeature film AWAY FROM HER [2006], released only days after the release of A GOOD YEAR on September 11, 2006.  Indeed, the film’s implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, THE FIFTH ELEMENT, and the daylit, allegorical and implicitly Landis toasting and Kubrick roasting Besson indie docufeature film THE BIG BLUE [1988], and by the fact that the art of creating great indie wine was implicitly linked to the art of creating great indie film art throughout the film, as befitting a film called A GOOD YEAR, with its connotation of a good film year as well as a good wine year, a year as good as the one that both young Reitman and Sir Scott enjoyed in 2005 with the successes of THANK YOU FOR SMOKING and KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, and that Polley enjoyed that year with the success of AWAY FROM HER. 

And so A GOOD YEAR was an unusually fun, funny and light hearted feature film from Sir Scott and company with the usual artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames with two cameras to capture the scenes, an implicit Ozian theme, only one humourous scene involving Max and a mirror reflection and reasonably well developed characters that allowed him to pay affectionate tribute to his beluved Provence chateau.  Alas, the film was inexplicably also not popular with fickle audiences.  And so Ben Affleck implicitly roasted Sir Scott the following year in the implicit form of Boston Police Department [BPD] Sergeant Detective Remy Bressant-played by Ed Harris-in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed indie docufeature film GONE BABY GONE [2007], released on September 5, 2007.  And so, given the lack of success of A GOOD YEAR, it was fitting that the cheerful, hopeful and sunny optimism of that fine film was missing when Sir Scott stubbornly returned to Retropolis with the strangely well received release of the still inconsistent and incomprehensible but more CGI enhanced twenty-fifth anniversary Ultimate Edition of BLADE RUNNER [2007], a further retrofitted version of this Great Flawed Film released on October 5, 2007 that made one wonder if he would ever truly stop tinkering away with it and that pointed the way to an even bigger sequel to BLADE RUNNER in the next decade.  Then Sir Scott donned the director/co-producer hats and made his usual abrupt u-turn when he teamed up to implicitly address Reitman again with Assante, Crowe, Lustig, Max, Scalia, Yates, Universal and A GOOD YEAR composer/music supervisor Marc Streitenfeld on the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster AMERICAN GANGSTER [2007], released on October 19, 2007.

 

“You can find it all in the street.”

 

        Curiously, after the Universal and Imagine Entertainment intros and a black and white Scott Free intro with a jazzy sax noir accompaniment instead of the usual haunting flute all came and went, the film began with only one opening title noting that it was beginning in Harlem in 1968 with the death of the old, tired and implicitly Lynch and Wicked Witch of the East linked Harlem drug gang boss Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson-played by Clarence Williams III.  Significantly, Johnson’s death allowed his bodyguard/chauffeur/collector/enforcer, the ambitious, audacious, creative, original, determined, disciplined, fastidious, faithful, monogamous, iconoclastic, indie, wily, secretive, elusive, unobtrusive, art luvin’, and implicitly Tarantino and Wicked Witch of the West linked Frank Lucas-played by Denzel Washington-to use his Scott Free Agency to take over the Harlem drug gang and bring it to a new level of addictive activity.  Significantly, Lucas accomplished this by travelling to Thailand and persuading a Kuomintang linked and protected Chinese opium grower-played by Ric Young-in the elusive Golden Triangle to sell him heroin directly, and then transporting it by donkeyback through the jungle to friends in the U.S. military in Vietnam for the war and getting them to smuggle the dope back to his brothers in Fort Bragg in North Carolina via U.S. Air Force planes and sell it in Harlem more cheap and pure than competitors under the brand name “Blue Magic”.  Not surprisingly, flooding Harlem with stronger heroin created more overdose deaths, which attracted the attention of the embattled, equally indie, iconoclastic, creative, determined, divorced, faithless, womanizing but honest, upright, law abiding and upholding and implicitly Reitman and Great Oz linked Newark, New Jersey plainclothes police officer [NPD] turned lawyer Richard “Richie” Roberts-played by Crowe-who joined the Washington, DC based Special Narcotics Bureau, assembled a Monty Python troupe evoking plainclothes investigative team called the Essex County Narcotics squad and used his own SFA to discover the identity of, track down and eventually arrest Lucas and his gang of brothers and the crooked New York police officers like the crassly corrupt and implicitly Gilliam linked Detective Trupo-played by Josh Brolin-who accepted payments to look the other way, in the end. 

Indeed, the fact that Essex County Narcotics squad members  NPD Officer Fred “Freddie” Spearman and informant Alfonzo Abruzzo-played by John Hawkes and Yul Vazquez, respectively-resembled and were implicitly linked to Pythonians Jones and John Cleese, respectively, and that the NPD supervisor of Roberts, Captain Lou Toback-played by Ted Levine-resembled and was implicitly linked to Christopher Plummer to remind us that Plummer played Doctor Leland Goines in the twilit, allegorical, brilliant, madcap, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Bigelow and Lucas roasting Gilliam indie animaction film 12 MONKEYS [1995] affirmed the implicit link of Det. Trupo to Gilliam and the film’s implicit interest in Monty Python.  Thus, the fact that Roberts arrested and successfully prosecuted Lucas after a brutal and bloody gun battle with his gang, bringing his highly addictive but nasty Blue Magic drug trade to a halt, and that Lt. Trupo committed suicide to avoid winding up in prison for accepting payments from Lucas, implied the hope of Sir Scott that the film art of Reitman would also battle and beat the brilliant and madcap animaction film art of Gilliam and the highly addictive but nasty indie docufeature film art of Tarantino.  Sir Scott may have also implicitly hoped that a study of the film art of Reitman would soften the approach and tone of the film art of Tarantino, given that Lucas used his SFA to help Roberts identify, arrest and convict his gang of brothers and the crooked cops who aided them to get a reduced sentence, in the end.

Fittingly, the film’s allusions to BLUE VELVET, BRAZIL, DUNE, JACKIE BROWN, PULP FICTION, RESERVOIR DOGS, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, TIME BANDITS and 12 MONKEYS affirmed the film’s implicit interest in Gilliam, Lynch, Reitman and Tarantino.  In fact, the sound of the allegorical and J.J. Johnson and Bobby Womack written Womack tune “Across 110^th Street” [1973], the theme of the allegorical Barry Shear indie docufeature film ACROSS 110^TH STREET [1972], playing halfway through the film openly linked AMERICAN GANGSTER to Tarantino, for the song played at the beginning and end of JACKIE BROWN, a film as obsessed with recreating the upbeat, indomitable, sunlit and Skyrockin’ spirit of Seventies cinema as AMERICAN GANGSTER.  Indeed, AMERICAN GANGSTER often evoked the allegorical and implicitly Coppola and Lucas roasting Friedkin indie docufeature film THE FRENCH CONNECTION [1971] and the allegorical and implicitly Lucas addressing Sidney Lumet indie docufeature film SERPICO [1973], reminding us of Tarantino’s obsession with Seventies cinema to reaffirm the film’s implicit interest in him on one level.  The fact that Redtop-played by Melissia Hill-resembled and was implicitly linked to two time Tarantino actress Uma Thurman also affirmed the film’s implicit interest in Tarantino. 

And so AMERICAN GANGSTER was another fine and fearless feature film from Sir Scott that successfully channelled the cool and confident spirit of Skyrockin’ Seventies cinema that was warmly received by audiences, and a fine film furthermore filled with all of the Sir Scott trademarks that we had come to know like artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames captured with two cameras per scene, a few Dark Side mirror opposite reflections, an implicit Ozian theme and two of the most fully fleshed out and developed characters in the form of Lucas and Roberts in a Sir Scott film.  Significantly, Lucas was also one of the most intelligent and aware characters ever in a Scott film, for before he was arrested and imprisoned, Lucas was the first character in a Sir Scott film to openly understand the significance of dangerous reflections.  For when he discovered his brother Huey Lucas-played by Chiwetel Ejidfor-had developed a fondness for the flashy “Superfly” look that drew the attention of police officers and press photographers, Lucas hauled him in front of a big mirror to ponder and berate Huey’s Dark Side mirror world reflection in order to get his brother back on the Light Side.  And a good idea, too, for only Huey’s reflection was briefly seen in the mirror in this scene, implicitly affirming that he had unfortunately become one with his Dark Side mirror world opposite at this point. 

        All of which inspired Sir Scott to don the director/co-producer hats, team up again with Crowe, Facio, Max, Scalia, Streitenfeld, Yates, Warners, and KINGDOM OF HEAVEN screenwriter William Monahan and make another familiar u-turn back to fighting between crusading Christians and militant Moslems this time in the then contemporary Middle East in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster BODY OF LIES [2008], released on October 5, 2008 and inspired by the daylit and allegorical David Ignatius indie docufiction novel Body Of Lies [2007].

 

“His is a false humility,

is a false modesty.

His ego is more powerful

than his beliefs,

more dangerous.”

 

        Curiously, after the Warner Brothers intro and a full colour and footstep and flute haunted but word free Scott Free intro, the film began after no opening titles mentioning director, cast, and crew as in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN with a black screen like a Spielberg film, then the white words Manchester, England, followed again by a blank black Spielberg screen.  Thus, it was fitting that a videotaped message then appeared on a television from the implicitly Spielberg and Wicked Witch of the West linked terrorist leader Kareem Al-Shams aka “Al-Saleem”-played by Alon Aboutboul-that was being watched by a twilit trio of bomb making Moslem terrorists-who resembled South American extras in the prologue of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK to affirm the implicit link of Al-Saleem to Spielberg, and were played by Ali Alvi, Zef Balbona and Vekant Gokhale, respectively-a bit of blockbuster bluey green film projector evoking light ominously filling their apartment to implicitly link them to beastly blockbuster film art. 

Significantly, these interior scenes were intercut with exterior shots of their cheerless and drab neighbourhood in Manchester that evoked Stockton-On-Tees in BOY AND BICYCLE, complete with a Sikh milkman moving around on his morning rounds and a SWAT team also moving in on the apartment building of the twilit trio, a SWAT team that evoked one seen throughout the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Kelly indie docufeature film SOUTHLAND TALES [2006], implying an implicit interest in Kelly on another level in BODY OF LIES.  Alas, the ominous blockbuster light seen in the apartment proved to be too foreboding, for before the SWAT team could capture them, the terrorist trio blew themselves, their apartment, the team and much of the block up in a literally beastly and CGI enhanced blockbuster explosion to openly link themselves and Al-Saleem to beastly CGI enhanced blockbuster bombs and to become the implicit Wicked Witch of the East linked figures of the Ozian themed piece. 

        Thus, the prologue ended on a literally explosive note, and, after a twitchy and CGI enhanced BODY OF LIES title flashed on the screen, the location shifted to Samarra, Iraq, and introduced us to the young, brash, confident, courageous, smart, creative, pragmatically dishonest, violent, and Roberts and Justin Timberlake evoking but implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked indie Central Intelligence Agent [CIA] field Agent Roger Ferris-played by Leonardo DiCaprio-who lay on his bed in his hotel room brooding over a memory of a violent CIA torture session he had witnessed, a deadly torture session that evoked similar beatings by robot police officers in THX 1138 to affirm the implicit link of Ferris to Lucas and lit with lots of bluey green film projector evoking light to implicitly link him and the torture session to beastly blockbuster film art.  Significantly, this brooding interlude was intercut with shots in Virginia and Washington featuring his CIA supervisor, the older, grey haired, experienced, and casually, callously, pragmatically and infuriatingly duplicitous and John Larroquette evoking but implicitly McCallum and Tin Man linked CIA Near East Division head Edward “Ed” Hoffman-played by Crowe.  Just as significantly, after a brief and disastrous op in Samarra that also alluded to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and killed the ambiguously linked Bassam-who evoked Sallah, played by John Rhys Davies, in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, and was played by Oscar Isaac-Agent Ferris was sent by Division head Hoffman to Amman, Syria, a city as crowded, bustling, dilapidated, mysterious and violent as Cairo in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, the future Los Angeles in BLADE RUNNER and the real and futurized L.A. in STRANGE DAYS.

Here in Amman, Agent Ferris assumed the role of new acting CIA station chief and worked together with Division Head Hoffman and the tall, commanding, shrewd, intimidating, suit luvin’, Carl Sagan resembling and implicitly Bigelow and Great Oz linked Jordanian General Intelligence Director Hani Salaam-played by Mark Strong-sometimes using his Scott Free Agency to deceive and manipulate his two supervisors and sometimes being deceived and manipulated by them in turn with the SFA fuelled help of the mysterious and implicitly Ed Catmull and Glinda linked computer whiz Garland-played by Simon McBurney-and their implicitly Kelly and Cowardly Lion linked terrorist mole Mustafa Al-Karami-played by Rais Nashif-so as to track down and arrest Al-Saleem and his supporters with the same determined tenacity as Roberts tracking down Lucas in AMERICAN GANGSTER, Starling tracking down Lecter in HANNIBAL, Conklin tracking down Sato in BLACK RAIN, Keegan tracking down Venza in SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME, and Deckard tracking down Batty in BLADE RUNNER. 

Along the way, Al-Saleem’s followers blew up the block long Noordermarkt in Amsterdam in another horrific beastly and CGI enhanced explosion, openly and literally linking Al-Saleem and his gang to beastly CGI enhanced blockbuster bombs.  The sight and sound reminded us that Lucas was implicitly linked to Avner-played by Bana-leader of the hit team created by Israel after the Palestinian terrorist massacre of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Spielberg docufeature film MUNICH [2005], reaffirming the implicit link of Al-Saleem to Spielberg and implying that Sir Scott was replying to that film as well as SOUTHLAND TALES in BODY OF LIES. 

Curiously, Hoffman often pondered Ferris in Middle East action from CIA HQ in Virginia via spy satellite cam like Mjr.-Gen. Garrison watched the SNAFU mission in the Mog unfold in BLACK HAWK DOWN, openly linking Ferris and Hoffman throughout the film to film art and literally giving Ferris someone to watch over him, fittingly enough given that BODY OF LIES often evoked SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME.  An open link of Ferris and Hoffman to film art that continued at the end of the film after Ferris was captured by the Wicked Al-Saleem and his terrorist gang in the Jordanian desert, taken to Syria, beaten, tortured and about to be executed in a digicam filmed livestream to the internet filled with beastly blockbuster bluey green film projector evoking light, before Ferris was rescued in the nick of time with the help of Al-Karami by the arrival of the symbolic cavalry of Salaam and his people and Al-Saleem captured, in the end, yet again implicitly affirming the optimistic belief of Sir Scott that individual people like Ferris were not hopeless pawns of glory and implying the hope of Sir Scott that the film art of Lucas would triumph over that of Spielberg and be remembered in the long run, and that Kelly would give up dreams of becoming a beastly blockbuster loot lusting film artist like Spielberg, an implicit allegorical  intent affirmed by the film’s allusions to DONNIE DARKO, MATCHSTICK MEN, the Matrix Trilogy, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, SOUTHLAND TALES, the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, STRANGE DAYS, THX 1138 and the allegorical John Ford feature film THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE [1962]. 

The daylit ending of BODY OF LIES, with the mysterious military colleagues of Big Brother Hoffman again watching via crystal ball spy sat cam as Ferris used his Scott Free Agency to remain in the field rather than join Hoffman in DC and bought vegetables in an Amman market after ascertaining that his implicitly Portman linked sweetie Aisha-played by Golshifteh Farahani-was okay also affirmed that Sir Scott was still committed to a daylit neo eon of CGI enhanced and Ozian themed film art as well as indomitably indie Scott Free Agency.  Curiously, the film and its collaboration between Ferris and Hoffman also constantly evoked the collaboration between the younger CIA Agent Tom Bishop and the older CIA Agent Nathan Muir-played by Pitt and Robert Redford, respectively-in the twilit and allegorical Scott docufeature film SPY GAME [2001], implying that Sir Scott was also replying to his younger brother in BODY OF LIES.  At any rate, the fine and fearless feature film was a success, and showcased the usual artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames with two cameras to capture scenes, ominous blockbuster bluey green film projector light, implicit Ozian theme and reasonably well developed characters with a few Dark Side mirror opposites, most notably when only the reflection of Ferris was seen when he died his hair blonde to transform himself into “Brad Scanlon” to affirm that he had become one with his Dark Side mirror opposite prior to launching a secret op without informing Hoffman or Salaam that led Al-Saleem to believe that entirely innocent Jordanian architect Omar Sidiki-played by Ali Suliman-was really a rival terrorist gang leader, an op to draw Al-Saleem out of his lair that unfortunately led to the death of Sidiki in one of the few instances in a Sir Scott film when a character was indeed a doomed pawn of glory as in a Kubrick film.

Curiously, with its allusions to A GOOD YEAR, BODY OF LIES, DONNIE DARKO, and SOUTHLAND TALES, Reitman implied that he was roasting Kelly and Sir Scott in the implicit forms of termination “expert” Ryan Bingham and his boss Craig Gregory-played by George Clooney and Jason Bateman, respectively-and, in the sight and sound of them giving up on nation wide terminations via computer and returning to live terminations, urging both film artists to not give up on the vital humanity of their CGI enhanced film art in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed indie docufeature film UP IN THE AIR [2009], released on September 5, 2009.  Then Sir Scott implicitly outdid such films as BLACK HAWK DOWN, HANNIBAL, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN and THE DUELLISTS by implicitly addressing more than one or two Canadian film artists at a time in a film when he donned the co-producer/director hats and teamed up again with Crowe, Facio, Isaac, Mathieson, Max, McBurney, Scalia, Streitenfeld, Strong, Yates, Imagine Entertainment, Universal, Velibor Topic-who played Almaric in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN-to make another familiar u-turn back in time to the Crusading Middle Ages already experienced in KINGDOM OF HEAVEN in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster ROBIN HOOD [2010], released on May 12, 2010.

 

“In times of tyranny and injustice

when law oppresses the people,

the outlaw takes his place in history.”

 

Significantly, after the Universal and the straight shooting Imagine Entertainment intros and the full colour and sound Scott Free intro, there were no opening titles that mentioned director, cast, and crew but two opening titles that faded in and out and were unusually written on parchment to evoke not only medieval documents but the fading in and out paper opening titles of the influential and allegorical Allan Dwan docufeature film ROBIN HOOD [1922], perhaps the first and definitely the finest of the early Robin Hood films and one directed by the Toronto born and raised Dwan to immediately and implicitly affirm the interest in Canadian film art and film artists in ROBIN HOOD.  Then it was off to Canada and Hollywood cadenced Nottingham on a dark and half moon lit night and the estate of the implicitly Norman Jewison linked Sir Walter Loxley-played by Von Sydow-and his daughter, the beautiful, blonde, slim, feisty, indie, strong willed, warm, human, humane and implicitly Suzi Amis linked Lady Marion Loxley-played by Kate Blanchett-where they and their servants tried but failed to fend off an early morning attack bathed in ominous blockbuster greenish blue film projector light on the stores in their barn by a group of feral Wild Boys who stole out of Sherwood Forest and who evoked the equally marauding Alex-played by McDowell- and his droogs at the beginning of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. 

Then the pilfered Loxley farm disappeared and there were two more written titles that that set the scene ten years after the events of KINGDOM OF HEAVEN and revealed that the tall, chestnut haired, bearded, weary, impoverished but proud and Robertson Davies evoking and implicitly Wicked Witch of the East linked King Richard the Lion Heart-played by Danny Huston-was returning to England via France with his Knights and common soldiers from ten years of crusading in the Holy Land.  Callously plundering French castles for their booty along the way, King Richard was killed by a crossbolt fired by a cook-played by A.I. Smithee-during one such siege of Chalus Castle in 1199.  As fate would have it, his crown would pass on to his loyal retainer and the husband of Lady Marion, Sir Robert Loxley-played by Douglas Hodge-who in turn passed it on and the sword of his father Sir Walter to one of the King’s archers, the Good, brave, honest, strong, stalwart, haunted, traumatized and implicitly Cameron and Scarecrow linked Robin Longstride-played by Crowe as an adult and as a boy in flashbacks by Jack Downham, respectively-who teamed up with some of his archer and soldier friends including the implicitly Mike Cameron linked Little John-played by Kevin Durand-and took the crown back to England and gave it to the new, arrogant, boastful, cocky, short, and implicitly Xavier Dolan and Great Oz linked King John-played by Isaac-and the sword to Nottingham to give to Sir Walter and the devastated Lady Marion. 

Alas for King John and Longstride, the devious and implicitly Mark Boal and Wicked Witch of the West linked King Phillip of France-played by Jonathan Zaccai-turned the people and noblemen of England against the new English king by having the Evil, ironically named and implicitly Bigelow and Nikko linked traitor Sir Godfrey-played by Strong-attack English cities and towns with a small army and informing the inhabitants that the attacks were ordered by King John.  Leading to Lady Loxley and a number of implicitly Canadian film artist linked noblemen like the implicitly Ted Kotcheff linked Baron Fitzrobert-played by Gerald McSorley-and the implicitly Don Shebib linked Baron Baldwin-played by Robert Pugh-and their sturdy men to join Longstride and his Merry Men, which now included Nottingham’s implicitly Bruce McDonald linked Friar Tuck-played by Mark Addy-in using their Scott Free Agency to rally by the side of King John to fight off a French invasion force led by King Phillip and Sir Godfrey and aided by the invidious and implicitly Denis Villeneuve linked Belvedere-played by Topic. 

This the plucky Anglo-Canadian defenders did, only to be betrayed after their victory by King John when he refused to sign into law a Charter guaranteeing freedom for all like the new and improved Constitution with its accompanying Charter of Rights and Freedoms that Canada signed into law on April 17, 1982 and declared a dictatorship, perhaps Sir Scott’s way of saying that Dolan was, unlike most Canadians and Canadian film artists, too fond of himself and of publicity, and would hurt the reputation of Canada, Canadians, and Canadian film art and artists with his exuberant narcissism and shameless self-promotion.  Indeed, the presence of Newfoundland musician Alan Doyle as one of Longstride’s Merry Men, the implicitly Gilliam linked Allan A’Dayle, openly linked King John, Lady Marion, Robin, his Merry Men and the film to Canadian artists, affirming the implicit Canuck roasting and toasting intent of ROBIN HOOD.  The embattled cities of Peterborough and York also affirmed the film’s implicit interest in Canada, for they evoked the city of Peterborough, and York region in the Greater Toronto Area [GTA], in Ontario.

Significantly, the Sir Scott resembling and implicitly linked William Marshal-played by William Hurt-and his wife-played by Sir Scott’s girlfriend Facio-supported Robin, Lady Marion, the Merry Men, Barons Baldwin and Fitzrobert and their men throughout the film, implying Sir Scott’s open support for Canadian film art and film artists in ROBIN HOOD, and reminding us that the Sir Scott resembling and implicitly linked English teacher McCrea supported Skipper Sheldon to implicitly affirm Sir Scott’s open support for Lynch in WHITE SQUALL.  An implicitly open support on the part of Sir Scott for Canadian film art and film artists that continued when Longstride, Maid Marion and the Merry Men fled to the sanctuary of Sherwood Forest and its Wild Boys at the end of the film after the betrayal of King John to continue to defend England against the dictatorial rule of the cruel King and his lackeys like the tragicomic and implicitly Sir Jackson linked Sheriff of Nottingham-an implicit link affirmed by the film’s allusions to the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, and played by Matthew MacFadyen-evoking the end of LEGEND and implying the hope of Sir Scott that Cameron and not Cronenberg, who was unusually not implicitly linked to any character in the film, would continue to lead real Canadian film artists against irritatingly egocentric narcissists like Dolan as he had done the year before with the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly SCC and Kelly toasting and Lucas and Martin Scorsese roasting animaction Zonebuster AVATAR [2009]. 

At any rate, ROBIN HOOD was another fine and fearless feature film from Sir Scott that showcased the usual artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames with a few filled with blockbuster blue film projector evoking light, two cameras to capture a scene, an implicit Ozian theme and well developed characters, albeit one noticeably missing Dark Side mirror opposites, and a film that successfully merged serious drama with rousing adventure and sweeping romance in classic artbuster style.  And a film that was clearly noticed by Disney, Marvel, Paramount and Branagh, for after the tall, blonde, bearded, proud, arrogant, lightstorm commanding, implicitly Cameron and Great Oz linked and always mighty Thor, Norse God of Thunder-inspired by a character originally implicitly linked to J.R.R. Tolkien created by Jolly Jack Kirby and Smilin’ Stan Lee for Marvel Comics, and played by Chris Hemsworth-battled and defeated the insidious, mischievous, malignant and implicitly Spielberg and Wicked Witch of the West linked Loki, Norse God of Mischief-inspired by a character originally implicitly linked to equally mischievous MADman Harvey Kurtzman by Kirby and Lee for Marvel Comics, and played by Tom Hiddleston-to the satisfaction of their commanding, demanding, intimidating and implicitly Kubrick and Great Oz linked father Odin, King of immortal and implicitly Emerald City and Hollywood linked Asgard-played by Sir Hopkins-and their beautiful, luving, patient, understanding and implicitly Christiane Kubrick and Glinda the Good linked mother Queen Frigga-played by Rene Russo-at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed super satirical animaction film THOR [2011], a film released on April 17, 2011 that alluded to T1 and T2 to affirm its implicit interest in Cameron on one level, the Dark Side mirror world opposite reflection of Thor’s sympathetic and implicitly Corman linked human friend Doctor Erik Selvig-played by Stellan Skarsgard-appeared as he lusted after the blue Tesseract aka the Blue Infinity Stone with the mischievous help of Loki when the implicitly Lee linked SHIELD Director Nicholas J. “Nick” Fury-played by Samuel L. Jackson-revealed that the stone was in the possession of SHIELD in the teaser trailer for the next chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe [MCU] at the end of the film, preparing us for the arrival of an implicitly Sir Scott linked superhero in an MCU film to come

Alas, while an astounding technical experience, THOR brought the CGI enhanced and more human than human ahuman “super beings” that Sir Scott implicitly and presciently warned about in BLADE RUNNER in ’82 to the Temple Theatre, making it clear that they were indeed a dangerous and not too phantom menace that duplicated but lacked humanity.   Making it fitting that the Scott Brothers implicitly reaffirmed their commitment to a brave and daylit new world of CGI enhanced and vitally human indie film art by making another abrupt u-turn and teaming up as executive producers of a youtube documentary film that was created from 4500 hours of digicam footage taken by thousands of people in 192 countries around the world on July 24, 2010, which was pointedly a day after the 28^th anniversary of the TZ disaster on July 23, 2010, and that was all edited and woven together to create the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Kevin Macdonald indie documentary film LIFE IN A DAY [2011], released on January 27, 2011.

 

“It’s the best day ever!”

 

        Indeed, after the full colour and sound enhanced Scott Free intro, the opening dark and early morning shots, evoking the equally dark and early morning beginning of ROBIN HOOD, of a large round full moon rising up into the early morning sky of July 24, 2010, followed by shots of the full moon rising in a cloud scudded sky, recalled similar shots at the beginning of AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, implicitly and immediately affirming that Macdonald and the Scott Brothers were breaking free from Landis and his twilit and disastrous grip on one level in LIFE IN A DAY.  A co-director filming himself howling like a wolf at the full moon, and another director, an implicitly Scarecrow linked Pakistani man named Ayomatty who worked in Dubai as an Earthy gardener, whose head, hands, arms, feet, and legs and were covered in thick, black and wolfman-like hair which made it all too fitting that he was at one with his two-faced-and at times three faced!-Dark Side mirror opposite reflections as he performed his morning ablutions in a bathroom before cycling off to garden in the first images in the film reaffirmed the film’s implicit interest in Landis. 

However, when sunrise and daylight swept the night and twilight evoking dawn away and the world and the people of the world slowly came to life like the crew of the Nostromo, yawning, pushing aside the blankets, climbing out of bed, peeing, pooping, shaving, showering and making and eating breakfast, Landis was left behind as the film and its multitudinously wandering digital camera eyes attached to any moving object explored the rest of the day and night like a huge, global, full colour and multi-contributor version of BOY AND BICYCLE complete with morning milk bottle left at the door and boys reluctant to wake up and get out of bed, with the Scott Free brothers encouraging the world to skip school and use their Scott Free Agency to join them in doing their own indie thing for a sunlit and TZ disaster and Zone War free day, literally affirming that a brave new world of digital and CGI enhanced film art had indeed begun. 

Thus, it was fitting that the implicitly Cowardly Lion linked Korean world cyclist Okhwan Yoon was filmed in Katmandu, Nepal as he neared the end of his epic nine year world bicycling journey with 190 countries toured, for the determined sight and sound openly evoked the equally peripatetic Tony cycling around Stockton-On-Tees in BOY AND BICYCLE, and cyclist Noel L. Walcott III riding down his own indie path through Utah in THELMA AND LOUISE, implicitly affirming that the Scott Free brothers were encouraging the world to do their own indie thing in LIFE IN A DAY.  Fitting indeed, for Yoon and his epic and gruelling world cycling journey evoked the equally epic and gruelling film art journeys of the Scott Free brothers, with the six times Yoon had been hit by cars evoking the box office flops of the brothers Scott.  Significantly, only the mirror reflection of Yoon getting a hair cut was seen before he strode off alone into the returned darkness to get back on his bicycle and complete his epic all countries of the United Nations, making him one of the only and real life characters to use a reflection to transform from their Dark Side and into their Light Side in a film directed or produced by Sir Scott. 

Curiously, at times the film also featured punchy montages that evoked a Reitman film, making it fitting that a young, handsome, intelligent, confident, successful, dark haired and implicitly Tin Man and Reitman resembling man named Jack drove up at one point to hang with his da, like Reitman hung out with his dad Ivan at the time.  At any rate, the Scott Free brothers implicitly hoped that their journeys, like that of Yoon, would not be in vain, and would finally break the twilit grip that Landis and the TZ disaster had had on audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre for far too long in order to end the dread allegorical Zone Wars and kick off a brave new world of digital and CGI enhanced film art, for LIFE IN A DAY emphasized positive daylit imagery and birth and life, luv and marriage, and peace and prosperity rather than death and dying, hate and funerals, war and deprivation.  Albeit not without some grim irony, given that 18 people were crushed to death in a tunnel at a Love Parade down the streets of Duisburg, Germany near the end of the film. 

However, despite these unfortunate deaths, the small, candle lit and hot air propelled balloons that filled the newly dark sky after sunset at the end of the film implicitly reaffirmed the new hope of the Scott Free brothers that a brave new world of digital and CGI enhanced film art free of Landis, the TZ disaster and the dread allegorical Zone Wars had begun, for the small hot air balloons took the daylight into the darkness as they drifted gently up into the night sky like the Great Oz in his hot air balloon at the end of THE WIZARD OF OZ to affirm the implicit Ozian theme of the film before the almost full moon returned to bring the film full circle and into a howling Kansas tornado of a storm complete with pensive Dorothy just before midnight that hinted not of an end, but a new Ozian beginning for the United Nations of Earth [UNE].  An uplifting and Zonebusting ending, indeed, in a film filled with intuitively and reasonably artistic, balanced, and naturally lit frames mostly captured with one free donated digital camera but at least one time with two digicams, and some Dark Side mirror opposite reflections like a Sir Scott film but fittingly with little or no ominous blockbuster blue film projector light or developed characters.

Curiously, the uplifting and implicitly Zone free ending of LIFE IN A DAY was also implicitly embraced the following year in the thirtieth anniversary of the TZ disaster when Dis, Marv, Paramount and Joshin’ Joss Whedon implicitly linked Sir Scott to the tough, aloof, indie, quiet and straight shootin’ Clinton “Clint” Barton aka “Hawkeye”-inspired by a character originally implicitly linked to Roy Liechtenstein created by Lee and Doughty Don Heck for Marvel Comics, and played by Jeremy Renner-and briefly transformed him into his Dark Side mirror world opposite by the insidious, mischievous and implicitly Spielberg and Wicked Witch of the West linked Loki, Norse God of Mischief and half-brother of Thor-with a golden horned helmet that evoked the equally horn headed Lord of Darkness in LEGEND, and played again by Hiddleston-before being freed from his Dark Side by the smart, short, sexy, indomitable and implicitly SCC and Dorothy linked ninjette Natasha Romanoff aka “Black Widow”-originally implicitly linked to Jackie Kennedy by Heck, Lee and Debonair Don Rico and for Marvel Comics, and played by Scarlett Johansson-and then assembling with the shy, smart, quiet, solitary and implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked Doctor Bruce Banner aka “the Incredible Hulk”-originally implicitly linked to Pablo Picasso by Kirby and Lee for Marvel Comics, and played by Mark Ruffalo-the blonde, pure, innocent, loyal, patriotic and implicitly Clint Eastwood and Tin Man linked Stephen “Steve” Rogers aka “Captain America”-created by Kirby and Joe Simon for Timely Comics, and played by Chris Evans-the young, brash, brilliant, cocky, confident, creative, original, indie and implicitly Reitman and Cowardly Lion linked billionaire Stark Industries [SI] CEO Anthony “Tony” Stark aka “Iron Man”-originally implicitly linked to Andrew “Andy” Warhol by Heck and Lee for Marvel Comics, and played by Robert Downey jr.-and the tall, blonde, bearded, arrogant, proud, commanding and implicitly Cameron and Great Oz linked Thor, Norse God of Thunder-played again by Hemsworth-to battle and defeat the Wicked Loki and his biomechanical and implicitly flying monkey linked all CGI Chitauri allies to implicitly affirm that the twilit Spielberg and Landis linked era was indeed over and a daylit new era had begun at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed super satirical animaction film MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS [2012], a film released on April 11, 2012 whose allusions to ALIEN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BODY OF LIES, G.I. JANE, LEGEND and ROBIN HOOD affirmed the implicit interest in Sir Scott on one level, an implicit interest reaffirmed by the presence of Stanton as a bemused security guard. 

Alas, while an astounding technical experience, MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS yet again brought the CGI enhanced and more human than human “super beings” that Sir Scott implicitly and presciently warned about in BLADE RUNNER in ’82 to the Temple Theatre, reaffirming that a dangerous and ahuman film art age was also dawning, and one even more obsessed with using films to promote movie tie-in merchandise and placed products than ever given how much of both was done in this latest installment of the MCU.  Making it also fitting that on the same day as the release of MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS, Sir Scott returned to the Temple Theatre to openly and implicitly disagree with Dis, Marv and Whedon and their implicitly upbeat assessment of the CGI enhanced blockbuster beast when he commemorated the thirtieth anniversary year of the TZ disaster by donning the director/co-producer hats and teaming up again with Facio, Giler, Hill, Max, Scalia, Streitenfeld, Yates, Twentieth Century Fox and Idris Alba-who played the implicitly Cowardly Lion linked gang leader Tango in AMERICAN GANGSTER-to make another abrupt u-turn from the medieval past of ROBIN HOOD to the possible space travelling future and also break with his tradition of creating only staunchly original indie film art to create a sequel to ALIEN that would show Fincher and Jeunet how it was done in the form of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster PROMETHEUS [2012], a film fittingly released on April 11, 2012 that was Sir Scott’s first major sly fi film since BLADE RUNNER, making it also fitting that PROMETHEUS was released in the thirtieth anniversary year of that film.

 

“He’s not coming on board...

I’m telling you, stay back!”

 

        Curiously, after eerie Twentieth Century Fox and Dune Entertainment intros lit with ominous blue film projector light and an equally eerie, ominous and silent Scott Free intro also lit with blue film projector light, the film began with the opening titles appearing on the screen, the fourth confidently proclaiming “…A RIDLEY SCOTT FILM” for the first time in some films, as a brave new CGI world that evoked Earth and perhaps even was Earth experienced sunrise as viewed from space to the stirring sound of a STAR TREK evoking symphonic score, evoking the sun rising over the Earth and the moon at the beginning of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, to the stirring sound of the allegorical Richard Strauss composition “Thus Sprake Zarathustra” [1898].  Then the POV began flying through the atmosphere of the planet and then over various rugged and spectacular terrains on the planet’s surface, the shadow of a long oval spaceship slowly appearing on the landscapes before the ship followed a river to a waterfall and dropped off a solitary figure in a hooded black robe next to the roaring torrent.  The figure threw off the robe to reveal a naked and muscular man with smooth rubbery skin-played by Daniel James-who opened a small metal cannister and ate something poisonous inside that killed and unravelled his DNA at the CGI enhanced molecular level, dissolving and killing him to implicitly affirm that he was the symbolic Wicked Witch of the East figure of this Ozian nightmare, and causing his dissolving remains to fall into the waterfall and be taken away into the roaring torrent and carried down to the river, where they appeared to combine with molecules in the river to rapidly create new digital life at the cellular level. 

Then the POV switched suddenly again to a blank black screen that was slowly broken up by the sight and sound of the dimunitive, attractive, Asian featured, brunette, olive skinned, and implicitly SCC and Dorothy linked Doctor Elizabeth “Ellie” Shaw-played by Noomi Rapace and by Lucy Hutchinson as a girl in a flashback, respectively-breaking her way into a cave on a steep rocky hill on the Isle of Skye in 2089, an island that was as rugged and spectacular as the planet in the prologue, evoking the sight and sound of deep space salvagers breaking into the drifting shuttle Narcissus at the beginning of ALIENS.  Soon Dr. Shaw called over her boyfriend, the implicitly Villenueve and Scarecrow linked Dr. Charles “Charlie” Holloway-played by Logan Marshall-Green-and together they pondered a 35,000 year old cave painting of a large and implicitly alien figure pointing to a formation of five stars in the sky.  Next the POV abruptly changed again to deep space on December 31, 2093 to show the good spaceship and scientific exploratory vessel Prometheus travelling through space from the left side of the screen to the right in complete opposition to the much bigger Nostromo at the beginning of ALIEN, and evoking the sight and sound of the Discovery I travelling through the solar system on its way to Jupiter in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and the Weyland-Yutani spaceship USCSS Sulaco travelling through space on its way to LV-426 at the beginning of ALIENS. 

Cutting inside the ship we discovered it was filled with blue film projector light and run not by the distant and disembodied Heuristic Algorithmic Computer [HAL]-played by Douglas Rains-but by the solitary, good looking, peroxide blonde, film luving and implicitly Cronenberg and Tin Man linked android David-as handsome and ahuman as Batty in BLADE RUNNER, and played by Michael Fassbender, who openly linked David and the film to Cronenberg via his role as Dr. Carl Jung in the twilit, allegorical and Bigelow, Cameron and Spielberg addressing Cronenberg indie docufeature film A DANGEROUS METHOD [2011]-a thoughtful and attentive robot who was first met wearing a helmet that allowed him to experience and ponder the dream Dr. Shaw as she slept in her cryogenic chamber, evoking a less digital and more mind bending helmet worn by Max Renn-played by James Woods-in the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical Cronenberg indie docufeature film VIDEODROME [1983] to affirm the implicit link of David to Cronenberg.

Soon after meeting David on his solitary rounds, the ship reached its destination, another brave and ringed new CGI world with the ominously twilit designation LV-223 and with one moon that evoked the ringed planet and its planetoids like LV-426 encountered by the Nostromo at the beginning of ALIEN and Dantooine in STAR WARS EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE, the latter allusion reminding us that that film implicitly inspired ALIEN and that was located near the star formation seen in the cave on the Isle of Skye.  At this point, David supervised waking up the expedition members from their cryosleep, members that included Drs. Holloway and Shaw and the beautiful, blonde, cold, callous, commanding, Hollywood evoking and implicitly Brie Larson and Glinda linked chef de mission Meredith Vickers-played by Charlize Theron-the implicitly Scott Lee O’Malley linked ship navigator Ravel-played by Benedict Wong-and the implicitly Edgar Wright and Great Oz linked Captain Janek-played by Alba.  Soon the Prometheus rather than a shuttle as in ALIEN drifted down to and landed on the surface of the cold, desolate, lifeless, snow covered and mountainous planet on an unnatural landing strip near a small mountain that appeared to be made by intelligent designers such as the “Engineers”, the term Dr. Shaw used to describe the race of the tall alien man seen in the opening cave painting on the Isle of Skye and were implicitly linked to Boomer film artists who had led the way in developing CGI after the TZ disaster so as to prevent any more fatal film disasters.  Driving off to the mountain in an Armoured Personnel Carrier [APC] that evoked the APC that featured prominently in ALIENS, Drs. Holloway and Shaw led David and a few other crew members on an exploration of its blue film projector lit interior, finding it had the same horseshoe shape of the biomechanical spaceship in ALIEN, implying that it was another alien ship hidden within the mountain.

Alas for the expedition members, the mission quickly went straight to hell faster than the landing expeditions in ALIEN and ALIENS once they walked into a tunnel leading into the mountain.  For the interior of the mountain turned out to be just as haunted by the holographic “ghosts” of huge alien astronauts, who resembled the solitary man seen at the beginning of the film and were seen frantically fleeing something, as Gen X audiences and the Temple Theatre was were by the ghosts of Chen, Le and Morrow.  Indeed, the sight of one of the alien astronauts being decapitated by a falling door, and his huge head being found when the expedition members opened the chamber door, openly evoked and linked the astronaut to the decapitated head of Morrow and the TZ disaster.  Inside the chamber, the expedition members also discovered that it was filled with ominous black cannisters that evoked the eggs in the cargo hold of the biomechanical spaceship in ALIEN. 

Fleeing the ship with the head and a cannister secretly in the possession of David when they received a warning from Capt. Janek back on the Prometheus that a Kansas tornado was about to hit the area as if they had disturbed the planet’s balance with their presences, they reached the safety of the Prometheus just in time to avoid the worst of the tornado.  Carrying the head inside led to it being stimulated with electricity and exploding, evoking the exploding head in SCANNERS to affirm the implicit link of David to Cronenberg.  Alas, David broke open the black cannister, found an intriguing black biomechanical cell and slipped it into a drink for Dr. Holloway. 

Returning to the alien biomechanical ship the next day, Dr. Holloway fell ill with alien disease and had to be rushed back to the Prometheus.  Seeing that he was transforming into something, Vickers burned him alive with a flame thrower to kill him and prevent him from infecting the ship, as Ripley tried to do with Kane in ALIEN.  Alas, Dr. Holloway had already impregnated the heretofore barren Dr. Shaw the night before, so alien disease in the form of a multi-tentacled “body hugger” did manage to get aboard the Prometheus and get born in a painful, gory and harrowing caesarean section scene that evoked a nightmare birth in the twilit and allegorical Cronenberg indie docufeature film THE FLY [1986] to reaffirm the implicit link of David to Cronenberg.  Alas for Sir Scott, his first big sly fi film since to reaffirm the implicit link of David to Cronenberg and the equally nightmarish sight and sound of Senator Amidala giving birth to twins at the end of STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH to affirm the implicit link of Dr. Shaw to SCC. 

Curiously, as Dr. Shaw was performing and surviving this difficult c-section, the fiery, hostile, red haired and implicitly Cowardly Lion linked Scottish geologist Fifield-played by Sean Harris-who appeared to have died earlier, showed up at the ship and went on a rampage, killing half of the crew before he was finally killed again with a flame thrower.  Eventually, the remaining crew members returned to the alien biomechanical ship with the implicitly Disney CEO Bob Iger and Tin Man linked funder of their expedition, Peter Weyland-as wealthy as Tyrell Corp. CEO Eldon Tyrell in BLADE RUNNER and as old and tired as Emperor Marcus Aurelius in GLADIATOR, and played by Guy Pearce-who turned out to be alive, old and unwell after being hidden away in his own solitary and secret cryopod.  For David had discovered on the second trip that the ship held a biomechanical weapons lab for the Engineers and a living pilot Engineer-played by Ian Whyte-sleeping in his own biomechanical cryopod. 

Alas, and in classic ALIEN fashion, they mistakenly set off a murderous rampage by this last and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West linked Engineer that evoked the murderously rampaging Thing of THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD!  Ultimately, almost everyone on the expedition was killed, including the Hollywood evoking blonde Vickers, the implicitly Fincher linked biologist Millburn-played by Rafe Spall-and the implicitly Jeunet linked Jackson aka Mercenary 1-played by Branwell Donaghey.  Significantly, the notable exception was the brunette Dr. Shaw, who lived to tell the Ozian nightmare like Ripley at the end of ALIEN and blasted away from the planet with David in an Engineer spaceship to hunt down the home world of the Engineers, implying the hope of Sir Scott that SCC and Cronenberg and their indie docufeature film art would win out, in the end, over the likes of Fincher, Jeunet, Spielberg and Wright. 

However, this relatively upbeat ending was foiled shortly after, for back on the planet a new, improved, black, raptor evoking, and angrily hissing blockbuster CGI biomechanical alien beast exploded out of the body of the dead Wicked Engineer of the West, implicitly affirming the fear of Sir Scott that the CGI pioneered by Lucas and Spielberg had made blockbuster beasts even bigger and more nasty than ever before, in the gloomy end, an implicit allegorical intent affirmed by allusions to BLADE RUNNER, JURASSIC PARK, LOST IN TRANSLATION, SCANNERS, the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, THE FLY and THX 1138 and the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Reitman Cody Diablo toasting Wright indie docufeature film SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD [2010].  Indeed, the birth of this new and even more alienated biomechanical CGI beast took place in the same flickering and blue film projector evoking light as that seen at the shocking end of LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR and the more healing Ozian end of ALIEN, implicitly affirming the link of this nasty new CGI alien beast to film art.

And so PROMETHEUS was another fine and fearless feature film that showed Fincher and Jeunet how it was done and was filled with more balanced and artistic frames often filled with blue film projector evoking light as in ALIEN as well as natural light to implicitly affirm the link of the film’s narrative to film art, two cameras to capture scene, an implicit Ozian theme, and some Dark Side mirror opposite reflections, particularly when Dr. Holloway woke up after a sexual encounter with Dr. Shaw to ponder his reflection in a mirror and find he was changing into an alien, a sight and sound that evoked the sight and sound of the egotistic and implicitly Spielberg linked mad scientist Dr. Seth Brundle-played by Jeff Goldblum-turning into Flyman in THE FLY to reaffirm the implicit link of David to Cronenberg.  Alas for Sir Scott, his first big sly fi film since BLADE RUNNER received a lukewarm reaction just like ALIEN, perhaps due to the fact that the characters were as undeveloped as those in ALIEN or due to the fact that audiences were nonplussed about his decision to use a blockbuster CGI enhanced beast to rage against and defeat blockbuster CGI enhanced beasts.  However, at least it was moderately successful instead of a failure like BLADE RUNNER, finally easing his troubled mind.

Ominously, though, Theron and Patrick Wilson, who played the father of Dr. Shaw in a dreamy flashback at the beginning of PROMETHEUS, appeared as the cynical, troubled, despondent, deep drinking and implicitly Wright linked young adult writer Mavis Gary and the implicitly Reitman linked newly wed father Buddy Slade, respectively, the year before in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Reitman indie docufeature film YOUNG ADULT [2011], presciently linking PROMETHEUS to Wright.  The surname of Vickers and another crew member named Ford-played by Kate Dickie-reaffirmed the film’s eerie prescience, evoking a teacher librarian named Shewman-Vickers and a vice principal named Ford that Wright worked with at the time as a library technician at Streetsville Secondary School in the Streetsville “town in the city” section of Mississauga, Ontario.  The surname of Millburn also reminded us that Wright lived at the time in an apartment in a building on Mill Street.  Thus, on top of not being the success Sir Scott wanted, PROMETHEUS also eerily and presciently anticipated the arrival of Wright on the scene with his Zone War website, reminding us that ALIEN just as eerily and presciently anticipated the TZ disaster.

Alas for Sir Scott, a little over four months later his younger brother Tony killed himself by leaping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in L.A. on August 19, 2012, ending any jubilation he might have felt by the relative success of PROMETHEUS.  The film’s implicit fear that CGI had kicked off an era of even more nasty blockbuster beasts was refuted the following year, when DC and Warner Brothers teamed up with Exactin’ Zack Snyder to implicitly link Sir Scott to the implicitly Great Oz linked Kryptonian statesman Jor-El-played by Crowe-and had his digital ghost help his implicitly Reitman linked son Kal-El aka Clark Kent aka “Superman”-played by Henry Cavill-save the brave new CGI enhanced world of Earth and its film art and film artists at the end of the more uplifting daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed super satirical animaction film MAN OF STEEL [2013], a film released on June 10, 2013 whose implicit interest in Reitman and Sir Scott was affirmed by allusions to ALIEN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BODY OF LIES, LEGEND, PROMETHEUS, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING and UP IN THE AIR.

Then the lamentable premonitions of Gardevil and the implicit gloomy cynicism and pessimism Sir Scott had about the neo eon of CGI enhanced film art in PROMETHEUS proved to be all too eerily prescient indeed when Sir Scott made another of his famous abrupt u-turns when he donned the director/co-producer hats and teamed up again with Facio, Fassbender, Max, Pitt, Scalia, Yates, Scott Free, Twentieth Century Fox and Darusz Wolski-DOP of PROMETHEUS-to implicitly address Wright in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster THE COUNSELOR [2013], a film released on October 3, 2013 that was written and co-executive produced by Cormac McCarthy.

 

“I’m all right.”

 

        Indeed, after the twilit Twentieth Century Fox intro and a full colour and noisy Scott Free intro, and three opening titles, the third of which noted “…A RIDLEY SCOTT FILM”, the film opened on a beautiful sunny day with an implicitly Landis and Wicked Witch of the East linked biker who turned out to be nicknamed “the Green Hornet”-played by Richard Cabral-roaring with carefree SFA by the camera from left to right on a green racing motorcycle down a Texan highway towards El Paso.  Then the POV drifted in from a balcony overlooking a sunlit city that was perhaps El Paso, given that the roar of a cycle was faintly heard in the distance, and into a bedroom where a man and a woman who turned out to be the eponymous Counselor and his beautiful and luvly girlfriend Laura-played by Fassbender and Penelope Cruz, respectively-made luv under the white sheets like two ghosts, reminding us that PROMETHEUS ended with David and Dr. Shaw blasting off into space to immediately link the two films together. 

Alas, this was one of the last happy times for this amorous couple, for after some more opening titles listing the implicitly Ozian linked four main actors and one actress in the film from left to right across the screen followed by the film’s centred title, the POV cut between a group of Mexicans at an out of the way factory in Juarez, Mexico loading four barrels full of Colombian cocaine into the back of a Desert Star Septic tanker truck before it was driven away by two implicitly Eddie Velez and Del Zamora linked Mexicans-played by Daniel Holguin and Cesar Aguirre, respectively-and two people who turned out to be the implicitly Burton and Cowardly Lion linked drug dealer Reiner-played by Javier Bardem-and the beautiful, buxom, peroxide blonde, duplicitous, malignant, blockbuster loot lusting, and implicitly Courtney Love, Wicked Witch of the West and Hollywood film art linked Malkina-played by Cameron Diaz-watching as one of two of Reiner’s pet cheetahs hunted down a rabbit in the stunning desertscape of Utah.  Curiously, after watching for a bit, Reiner turned away to quickly mix martinis for Malkina and himself before bringing them to her in her director’s chair, reminding us that the implicitly Cronenberg linked David was also the principal drink mixer in PROMETHEUS to again openly link the two films together.

        Then the film saw the man in the amorous prologue, the naïve, innocent and implicitly Wright and Scarecrow linked Counselor, make the mistake of deciding to use his SFA to get involved in the cocaine dealing business with Reiner.  Significantly, the Counselor made this sinister commitment clear in a meeting at Reiner’s swinging desert estate which saw the Dark Side mirror reflections of both men flicker in mirrors and the protective glass covers of paintings around them to implicitly affirm that they were now heading in the wrong direction, indeed.  This led Reiner to introduce the Counselor to his associate, the implicitly Johnny Depp and Tin Man linked Westray-played by Pitt.  Meanwhile, the drug tanker truck made its way into Texas, where it was intercepted by thugs working for Malkina, including the implicitly Cox linked Jamie the Wireman-his implicit link affirmed by the film’s allusions to REPO MAN, and played by Sam Spruell-who callously decapitated the racing cycle luvin’ Green Hornet, who turned out to be a middleman in the Colombian drug trafficking biz, to get his hands on the shipment. 

Alas for the Counselor, the Green Hornet was the son of Ruth-played by Rosie Perez-an imprisoned client of his, a sinister woman involved in the Colombian drug trade, too, who, after the death of her son and the disappearance of the drug tanker, joined the Colombians in accusing him, Reiner and Westray of being behind the murder and the disappearance of the tanker.  This led them to hunt down and kill Reiner and Westray, the latter with an alien facehugger evoking biomechanical throttling device called a boledo in another link of the film to PROMETHEUS.  This led the Colombians to also hunt down and kidnap the luvly and implicitly Dorothy linked Laura, despite sending in the implicitly Lynch linked spoof Highway Patrolman-played by Alex Hafner-to kill Jamie and wrest the tanker back.  Alas for the Counselor, his attempt to get the mysterious and implicitly Disney and Great Oz linked Mexican drug kingpin el Jefe-played by Ruben Blades-to intervene with the Colombians on his behalf failed.  And so they killed Laura, a murder that was filmed with a digital camera, burned onto a DVD and mailed to the Counselor to implicitly link Laura to the neo eon of digital film art. 

Significantly, Laura’s murder was one of the only times a warm, human, beautiful and luvly brunette died at the end of a Sir Scott film.  A cynical and heartbreaking end that destroyed the luv, life and soul of the naïve and innocent Counselor, leaving him alive but one of the living dead.  Curiously, the Wicked Malkina also ended the film alive and unwell, in one of the only times that a beautiful, duplicitous, peroxide and implicitly Hollywood linked blonde lived to tell the terrible tale at the end of a Scott film.  Thus, it was all too fitting that the name of Malkina could be translated as “bad kino” or “bad cinema”, a fitting implication given that the often black clad and pragmatically and callously Wicked Malkina was as ahuman and deadly as a biomechanical alien or a replicant. 

Thus, McCarthy and Sir Scott implied that Wright was as naïve and foolish to get involved with the film art business and its nasty, duplicitous and blockbuster loot lustin’ artists and studios-particularly the all conquering Disney!-with his book on Lucas and Zone Warrior essays posted on www.zonewarsonfilm.org as the Counselor was to get involved with the Colombian drug business and its even more nasty and loot lustin’ gang members.  Indeed, the sight and sound of the Counselor getting into an argument with the implicitly Reitman linked Tony-played by Toby Kebbell-at one point in the film before things headed south for the Counselor evoked the tepid tiff of Reitman and Wright to affirm the implicit link of the Counselor to Wright.  The Toronto evoking locations and the black SUVs that various thugs drove to carry out their dirty deeds also evoked the black SUVs seen carrying around film artists each September at the Toronto International Film Festival [TIFF], affirming the film’s implicit interest in Toronto film art, film artists and “scholars”.  The film’s allusions to MARS ATTACKS!, MULHOLLAND DRIVE, REPO MAN, the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Burton animaction artbusters SLEEPY HOLLOW [1999] and SWEENEY TODD [2007], the twilit and allegorical Cox indie docufeature film STRAIGHT TO HELL [1987], and the twilit and allegorical Depp indie docufeature film THE BRAVE [1997] also affirmed the film’s interest in Burton, Cox, Depp Love and Lynch on other levels.

        And so THE COUNSELOR was a cynical and depressing feature film that tried to imply that Burton, Cox, Depp, Love, Lynch and Wright were worse people than they were filled with the usual balanced and artistic frames lit mostly by natural light whose scenes were captured mostly with one camera like a Cronenberg film and Lynch moving painting but sometimes with two cameras like a Sir Scott film mostly missing Dark Side mirror opposite reflections and blue film projector evoking light, an implicit Ozian theme and slightly developed characters that was popular with audiences.  And, while the implicitly Sir Scott linked Hawkeye did not make an appearance, allusions to LIFE IN A DAY, PROMETHEUS and ROBIN HOOD ensured that the indomitable indie spirit of Sir Scott returned when Dis and Marv teamed up again and had the tall, blonde, bearded, not quite as proud and haughty but always mighty and implicitly Cameron and Great Oz linked Thor, Norse God of Thunder-played again by Hemsworth-battle and triumph over the malicious, mischievous, sneaky, untrustworthy and implicitly Spielberg and Tin Man linked Loki, Norse God of Mischief-played again by Hiddleston-and the nasty and implicitly Gilliam and Wicked Witch of the West linked Dark Elf leader Malekith-played by Christopher Eccleston-at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, and Ozian themed Howlin’ Alan Taylor super satirical animaction film THOR: DARK WORLD [2013], released on October 22, 2013.

For his part, Besson implicitly came to my defense the following year when he had the inadvertently ESP enhanced and indomitable Lucy-played by Johansson-triumph over Sir Scott in the implicit form of the unsmiling Taiwanese drug dealer Mr. Jang-played by Choi Min-Sik-at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film LUCY [2014], a film released on July 25, 2014 whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to AMERICAN GANGSTER, BLACK RAIN, LIFE IN A DAY, PROMETHEUS and THE COUNSELOR.  As for Sir Scott, he made another and perhaps his most noteworthy abrupt u-turn yet when he remained in the desert but left behind the worldly darkness and cynicism of THE COUNSELOR for divine light and hope when he donned the director/co-producer hats and rejoined Bremner, Facio, Faranhani, Massoud, Max, Weaver, Wolski, Yates, Scott Free, and Twentieth Century Fox to implicitly wrap up a Cameron Trilogy in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS [2014], released on December 3, 2014 and dedicated to Tony.

 

“Follow me,

 and you will be free!”

 

        Curiously, after the twilit Twentieth Century Fox intro and a full colour but silent Scott Free intro, the film began with a few opening titles that simply set the scene in Memphis, Egypt in 1300 BCE at the court of the old, tired, dying, sad eyed, Emperor Marcus Aurelius evoking but implicitly Spielberg and Wicked Witch of the East linked Pharoah Seti-his wealth and pyramids evoking Tyrell Corp. CEO Eldon Tyrell in BLADE RUNNER, as bald as the underground denizens of THX 1138, as fond of cheetahs as Reiner in THE COUNSELOR, and played by John Turturro-and his implicitly Capshaw linked wife Queen Tuya-played by Weaver-as a seering and Gardevil evoking but implicitly Margaret Atwood linked High Priestess-played by India Varma-interpreted the future in the entrails of a swan and told the God King that a future leader would save one of the leaders of an upcoming battle against the Hittites led on the Egyptian side by the Pharoah’s son, the implicitly Lucas and Great Oz linked Prince Rameses II-also as bald as the underground denizens of THX 1138, and played by Joel Edgerton-and his cousin and favourite general, the tall, bearded, commanding and implicitly Cameron and Scarecrow linked Moses-played by Cameron Bale. 

Significantly, the prediction came true, as Gen. Moses saved Rameses from death during the battle, which evoked the battle of the Gen. Meridius led Roman legions against the German barbarian hordes at the beginning of GLADIATOR.  However, the general was still banished from the court of the newfound Pharoah Rameses the Great after the death of Seti when he was outed as a Hebrew, along with his implicitly SCC linked sister Miriam and his implicitly Hurd linked mother Bithia-played by Tara Fitzgerald and Hiam Abbass, respectively.  Alone and left to wander in the wilderness, Gen. Moses found his way to a simple shepherd’s village where he met and married his beautiful, bewitching, warm, intelligent, black haired and eyed and implicitly Amis linked wife Zipporah-played by Maria Valverde.  Here he also met his implicitly Glinda linked God, personified by a mysterious and implicitly Tony Scott linked Munchkin boy-played by Isaac Andrews-who commanded Moses in scenes often filled with the ominous and beastly blockbuster blue film projector light to leave his wife, children and village and rediscover and reconnect with his fellow Hebrews, recover his faith in their one God, and use his Scott Free Agency to lead a hopeful Hebrew Rebellion against the new young God King and the oily, obsequious, feminine and implicitly Bigelow and Cowardly Lion linked Viceroy Hegep of Pithon-played by Ben Mendelsohn-that evoked the refusal of Robin Hood and his Merry Men to bow down to King John in ROBIN HOOD and Gen. Meridius to bow down to Emperor Commodus in GLADIATOR, the equally hopeful Rebellion in the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy and the Maud’dib led Fremen revolt against the Harkonnens on Arrakis in DUNE, when the film was not evoking a Sergio Leone Western or the Leone spoofing STRAIGHT TO HELL, that is. 

Significantly, after allowing the revolt to happen, God the Good suddenly commanded Gen. Moses to pause the Hebrew revolt and trust in God to use his divine power on Pharoah Rameses, his implicitly Portman linked wife Queen Nefetari-played by Farahani-and his people by contaminating the Nile with blockbuster CGI crocodile beasts and blood that killed the river’s fish, and then by unleashing CGI enhanced plagues of frogs, flies, hail, and locusts on the proud young ruler, his wife and his people, beastly blockbuster plagues also often bathed in the ominously blockbuster blue film projector light that we had come to know and be wary of too well in the films of Sir Scott.  Significantly, when the starving citizens of Memphis broke into and stole sacks of grain from the Pharoah’s royal storerooms one desperate night and were scythed down with arrows by the Pharoah’s soldiers as they left the storerooms with the precious sacks, God also expressed his fury at these callous deaths by unleashing a massive lightning strike on Memphis that exploded out of nowhere and lit up and shook the entire city, evoking the equally massive and ground shaking lightning strikes that Great Thor liked to unleash on his foes in the MCU to reaffirm the implicit link of Gen. Moses to Cameron.

As always, God’s wrath concluded with the killing of the first born child of every family in Memphis, including the young Pharoah’s son-played by A.I. Smithee-causing him in his grief to free all of the Hebrew slaves and allow Moses to lead them and his brother Aaron-played by Andrew Tarbet-out of Egypt and eventually across a parted and Kansan tornado and lightstorm wracked Red Sea to a CGI enhanced promised land like Columbus led Spain across the Pacific Ocean to the New World in 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE, implying the conviction of Sir Scott that it was Cameron and not Bigelow, Lucas or Spielberg that had led audiences to the brave new world of CGI enhanced film art after the TZ disaster.  Indeed, the sight and sound of the hieroglyphic covered golden sword of Gen. Moses rising from the Red Sea after it had been tossed in by the frustrated general before the sea parted to signal that it was time to cross the soon to be parted sea now affirmed that implication, for the rising sword evoked the even more legendary and divine sword Excalibur rising up from watery depths for use by the implicitly Lucas linked King Arthur-played by Nigel Terry-in the eerily and presciently twilit, allegorical and implicitly Lucas and New Hollywood addressing John Boorman indie docufeature film EXCALIBUR [1981], a film released in the Last Good Year of film before the TZ disaster to affirm the implication that Sir Scott believed that it was Cameron and not Bigelow, Lucas or Spielberg that had led audiences, film art, film artists and the Temple Theatre into a neo Good Year and Millenium of CGI enhanced film art. 

The sight and sound of a blockbuster CGI wave curling over and drowning the Pharoah’s pursuing soldiers after the Red Sea waters returned while leaving Pharoah Rameses the once Great alive and humbled, in the end, also affirmed that implicit point, and evoked the equally monstrous blockbuster waves at the ends of the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas toasting and Lynch roasting Bigelow indie docufeature artbuster POINT BREAK [1991], and the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Spielberg addressing Cameron indie docufeature Zonebuster THE ABYSS [1989] to again affirm the implicit interest in Bigelow, Cameron, Lucas and Spielberg in EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS, an implication reaffirmed by the film’s allusions to AMERICAN GRAFFITI, AVATAR, DUNE, EXCALIBUR, 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE, GLADIATOR, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, ROBIN HOOD, the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, STRAIGHT TO HELL, THX 1138, and the fact that Edgerton played the absurdly young and chronologically challenged Owen Lars in STAR WARS EPISODE II: ATTACK OF THE CLONES and STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH affirmed the film’s implicit interest in Cameron, Lucas and Spielberg. 

Alas, while perhaps his finest and most faithful, humbling, inspiring and moving feature film yet with the usual artistic and balanced frames and two cameras capturing the mostly naturally lit scenes that were sometimes filled with blue film projector light to affirm the film’s implicit interest in addressing film art, an implicit Ozian theme, at least one Dark Side mirror opposite reflection and reasonably developed characters, particularly Moses and Rameses, EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS met with another and surprisingly lukewarm reaction from fickle and unimpressed audiences.  Sir Scott then kicked off the new film and telefilm year by spraying the world with Udik and donning the co-executive producer hat and on the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature telefilm series THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE [2015-19], a series whose first episode was released on January 15, 2015 and that was inspired by the allegorical and implicitly J.D. Salinger addressing PKD indie docufiction novel The Man In The High Castle [1962].

For their part, Dis, Marv and Whedon soon after implicitly linked Sir Scott again to the quiet, indie, and indomitable master archer Clinton “Clint” Barton aka “Hawkeye”-played again by Renner-and had him assemble with his fellow dissemblin’ Avengers to take on and take out the out of control and implicitly Lynch and Wicked Witch of the West linked A.I. Ultron-played by James Spader-at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed super satirical animaction film AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON [2015], a film released on April 13, 2015 whose implicit interest in Lynch and Sir Scott on two levels was affirmed by allusions to ROBIN HOOD and THE ELEPHANT MAN.  As for Sir Scott, he remained in the desert landscapes and heady celestial realm of EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS albeit on a neighbouring planet when he teamed up again with Ejidfor, Max, Scalia, Wolski, Wong, Yates, Twentieth Century Fox, on the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster THE MARTIAN [2015], a film released at TIFF on September 11, 2015 which was based on the twilit and allegorical Andy Weir indie docufiction novel The Martian [2011].

 

“Problem is,

Mark’s right.”

 

        Curiously, after the twilit Twentieth Century Fox and Hawkeye evoking TSG Entertainment intros and a full colour and sound Scott Free intro, the film began in star filled space with a PROMETHEUS and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY evoking beginning that saw the sun rising over the brave new CGI world of Mars accompanied by only three white opening titles, none of which mentioned the director, cast or crew, with the last stating THE MARTIAN in white letters before slowly fading away and disappearing in complete opposite contrast to the beginnings of ALIEN and PROMETHEUS, which both saw the titles of their respective films slowly appearing from nothing as the opening titles appeared on the screen.  Then the POV moved down to the Arrakian, Egyptian and Tatooinian evoking desert surface of the planet where a howling, blue film projector light filled and Kansas tornado evoking sandstorm that also evoked the howling and lightning filled storm of CGI tornadoes that accompanied the closing of the Red Sea escape route of the fleeing Hebrews at the end of EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS soon slammed into the dedicated, determined and highly educated and trained crew members of the Ares III Mars mission at their camp at Acidalia Planitia. 

Alas for the intelligent, imaginative, funny, patient, persevering, and hoodie and plant luvin’ mission botanist Mark Watney-played by Matt Damon-the howling wind blew the lander’s primary communication antenna into him and sent him flying off into the debris filled sandstorm, evoking the sight and sound of Dorothy, Toto and their farmhouse being carried away from Earth to Oz by a Kansas tornado at the beginning of THE WIZARD OF OZ.  Believing Watney to be dead and worried that delaying their departure to determine this fact would kill the rest of the crew, the implicitly Polley and Cowardly Lion linked mission Commander Melissa Lewis-played by Jessica Chastain-decided to blast off from Mars to return to their orbiting, all CGI, Discovery I evoking and all too fittingly named Hermes spaceship.  And so the crew of the Ares III Mars mission left Mars one tumultuous Martian morning, leaving Watney behind on the red planet like the dead Wicked Witch of the East figure of THE MARTIAN.

        Significantly, however, Watney did not die.  Instead he woke up hours later to find he was still alive, due to the fact that the antenna stuck in his abdomen had sealed his spacesuit and prevented oxygen from leaking.  Stumbling into the intact Mars mission HAB living quarters, Watney yanked off his helmet and then pulled the main section of the antenna out of his abdomen.  Significantly, ripping off his suit and shirt, he then used a small mirror and some forceps to pull the last small metal section of the antenna out of the sinister left side of his abdominal muscles, joining Utapan of 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE and Lt. O’Neil of G.I. JANE as one of only three characters to use their mirror reflection to transform into their Light Side rather than their Dark Side in a Sir Scott film.  Alas for Watney, he then began using the camera on a laptop or in the rover vehicle to create a visual diary of his subsequent solitary life on Mars, diary scenes where often only his digital image appeared to imply that he left behind his Dark Side mirror reflection only to, alas, become one with his Dark Side digital reflection.

At any rate, all alone in the empty vastness of Mars, the determined, indomitable and now implicitly Scarecrow linked Watney aka “Captain Blondebeard, Space Pirate” used his SFA and his super botany powers to grow his own potatoes and tragicomically live against the odds all on his ownsome in the small HAB unit on Mars, somehow surviving two blockbuster explosions along the way with the help of sturdy and dependable duct tape.  Watney also figured out a way to contact NASA, putting him in touch with the implicitly Cameron linked NASA Director Theodore “Teddy” Sanders-played by Jeff Daniels-the implicitly Lee linked NASA Director of Mars Missions Vincet Kapoor-played by Ejidfor-the implicitly Sir Scott linked Hermes Flight Director Mitch Henderson-played by Sean Bean-the implicitly SCC linked NASA Director of Media Relations Annie Montrose-played by Kristen Wiig-and the implicitly Gia Coppola linked NASA Mission Control satellite expert Mindy Park-played by Mackenzie Davis.  Luckily for Watney, his NASA contacts gave him a way to communicate with mission control on Earth via typewritten computer messages, a strictly written sight and sound that evoked the poor ol’ hermetic Gardevil stuck in his equally small bachelor apartment in Marssissauga and communicating with the world via typewritten computer messages on his Zone Wars website throughout THE MARTIAN.  Only without the disco music left behind by Cdr. Lewis, music which linked Watney to the sunlit and Skyrocking Seventies that changed the life of Generation X and Wright forever.

        Thus, the sight and sound of the captain and crew of the Hermes finding out to their shock that Watney was still alive, voting unanimously to defy NASA and use their Scott Free Agency to end their voyage back to Earth and return to Mars via an acceleration booster loop around the Earth worked out by the hyper, twitchy, eccentric, exasperating and implicitly Burton linked Richard “Rich” Purnell-played by Donald Glover-and rescuing Watney via a third, final and Great Oz evoking blastoff from the Schiaparelli Crater that broke him free from his Dark Side digital reflection and returned him to humanity on Earth implied the hope of Sir Scott that Wright would also one day be embraced and liberated from his imprisoning apartment and his Zone War “scholarship” and would rejoin humanity, in the end, if only so as to get him to stop writing and posting his annoying all word Zone Warrior essays and Lucas book chapters at www.zonewarsonfilm.org.  Indeed, the sight and sound of Watney using a mirror to cut off his long hair and shave off his beard and moustache shortly before he blasted off from Mars implicitly affirmed the high hopes of Sir Scott, for the transformation allowed Watney to top Lt. O’Neil and Utapan as the first and only character to use a reflecting surface to transform himself into his Light Side mirror opposite instead of the opposite twice in a Sir Scott film. 

In addition, the sound of the daylit, allegorical and Stig Anderson, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus written ABBA tune “Waterloo” [1973] playing just as the closing rescue mission began openly linked Watney to Toronto, for “Waterloo” was one of the many ABBA tunes heard in the twilit, allegorical and Catherine Johnson written musical MAMMA MIA! [1999-present] during its popular run in Toronto, as well as the city of Waterloo, Ontario, located not far from where I lived in Mississauga.  The presence of Kate Mara’s implicitly Carrie Fisher linked Ares III and Hermes computer systems wiz Beth Johanssen on the Hermes also affirmed the implicit Gardevil addressing intent of the film, reminding us of the poor ol’ Gardevil’s obsession with the STAR WARS Classic Trilogy, and that Scarlett Johansson played the implicitly Gardevil linked Lucy in LUCY.  The presence of Michael Pena as the Adam Beach evoking Ares III and Hermes pilot “Buck” Martinez also affirmed the film’s implicit interest in Canadian film art, film artists and film “scholars”. 

        And so Watney and company returned to the brave new CGI world of Earth.  And so THE MARTIAN was another fine and fearless feature film from Sir Scott with the usual balanced and artistic frames, naturally lit and sometimes blue film projector lit scenes captured with two cameras, with Dark Side digital camera opposite reflections, an implicit Ozian theme, and reasonably developed characters, and one that made clear that he had mastered the CGI enhanced artbuster.  A mastery that was noticed and appreciated, for THE MARTIAN was perhaps his most popular and successful film.  A fitting worldwide hit, given that the dread allegorical Zone War website of the poor ol’ Gardevil [POG] could be accessed by anyone with a computer anywhere in the world. 

Curiously, Sir Scott kicked off the following new film and telefilm year by again donning the co-executive producer hat on a telefilm series that implicitly linked Reitman and his favourite screenwriter Brooke Maurio nee Busey better known by her nom d’art of Diablo Cody, to the young, handsome, bold, brilliant, black haired and bearded, confident, creative, Francophilic, indie, innovative, and initially morphine luvin’ Northern civilian Captain and Doctor Jedediah Foster and the equally young and Northern civilian volunteer Nurse Baroness Mary Phinney von Olnhausen-played by Josh Radnor and Mary E. Winstead, respectively-and implied that their stressful work healing Northern and Southern soldiers at the Mansion House Hotel and Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia during the U.S. Civil War equated with the stressful work creating daylit and healing film art during the equally uncivil, dread, twilit, daylit and allegorical Zone Wars in the daylit, allegorical and CGI enhanced Stephen Cragg, Roxann Dawson, Lara Innes, Jeremy Webb and Alex Zakrzenski indie docufeature telefilm series MERCY STREET [2016-17], a telefilm series whose first episode was released on January 17, 2016 and which was fittingly inspired by the allegorical Mary Phinney von Olnhausen and James Phinney indie book Adventures Of An Army Nurse In Two Wars [1904].  Indeed, the presence of Steven C. Parker as the squeamish and tragicomic “intern” Mr. Percival Squivers openly affirmed the implicit interest in Cody and Reitman in MERCY STREET, for Parker played an equally tragicomic and implicitly Ivan Reitman linked high school science class lab partner in the first collaboration of Cody and Reitman, the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cameron and Lucas toasting and Bigelow and Sir Jackson roasting indie docufeature film JUNO [2007].  In addition, Bigelow, Kelly, Polley, Shatner, Wright [both Edgar and Gary, respectively], Jon Favreau, and Mary Walsh were also implicitly linked to Northern Nurse Anne Hastings, Northern Chaplain Henry Hopkins, beautiful blonde Southern belle Alice Green, Northern civilian hospital head Dr. Alfred Summers, beautiful black haired Southern belle and civilian volunteer Nurse Emma Green, wounded Southern soldier Ezra Foster, talented albeit untrained “doctor” and freeman Samuel Diggs, and Northern Superintendent of Nursing Dorothea Dix-played by Tara Summers, Luke Macfarlane, AnnaSophia Robb, Peter Gerety, Hannah James, Dietrich Teschner, McKinley Belcher III, and Cherry Jones, respectively-in MERCY STREET.

        For their part, Dis and Marv teamed up with Awesome Anthony and Jazzy Joe Russo for more merry Marvel marchin’ mischief and mayhem and to implicitly link Sir Scott again to the quiet, shrewd, knowing, indomitable and indie master archer Clinton “Clint” Barton aka “Hawkeye”-played again by Renner-and had him battle on the side of the implicitly American film artist linked superheroes and superheroine led by the blonde, pure, innocent, loyal, patriotic and implicitly Eastwood and Tin Man linked Stephen “Steve” Rogers aka “Captain America”-played again by Evans-against superheroes and superheroine implicitly linked to Canadian film artists and led by the brash, brilliant, cocky, confident and implicitly Reitman and Cowardly Lion linked SI CEO Anthony “Tony” Stark aka “Iron Man”-played again by Downey jr.-and aided by the brilliant, eccentric, solitary, radioactive spider powered and implicitly Wright linked teen Peter Parker aka “Spider-Man”-played by Tom Holland-at a super showdown at the Leipzig airport at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed super satirical animaction film CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR [2016], a film released on April 12, 2016 whose implicit interest in Sir Scott on one level was affirmed by allusions to BLADE RUNNER. 

Not long after, Sir Scott donned the co-producer hat and teamed up with his son Luke Scott to either implicitly hope that film artists would triumph over film “scholars” or to imply that film artists were more dangerous than film “scholars” when the short, beautiful, brunette, genetically designed, laboratory created, emotional intelligence lacking, Replicant evoking and implicitly Kimberly Peirce linked synSECT L4 prototype assassin and “risk management consultant” Lee Weathers-played by Mara-triumphed over the beautiful, blonde, elfin, equally genetically designed, laboratory created, emotional intelligence developing, Replicant evoking and implicitly Wright linked synSECT L9 weird girl assassin and “hybrid autonomous organism” Morgan-played by Amybeth McNulty at ten years old and Anna Taylor-Joy as a teen, respectively-at a top secret and isolated research centre in the woods of Northern Ireland in deep space at the end of the twilit, allegorical, and CGI enhanced indie docufeature film MORGAN [2016], a film released on September 1, 2016 that often alluded to ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER and whose implicit interest in Peirce and Wright was affirmed by allusions to the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Diablo, Reitman and Wright addressing Peirce docufeature film CARRIE [2013].

        As for Sir Scott, he remained in space but noticeably left behind the hope and optimism of THE MARTIAN and returned to the pessimistic doom and gloom of MORGAN and  PROMETHEUS and implicitly worried again that the blockbuster CGI enhanced beast would kill film art for film art’s sake when he donned the co-producer/director hats and rejoined Fassbender, Pearce, Rapace, Scalia, Wolski, and Yates to bring the Alien Trilogy full triangular and spectacular circle in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster ALIEN: COVENANT [2017], released on May 4, 2017.

 

“We are all aliens.”

 

        Curiously, after a blue film projector lit Twentieth Century Fox intro, the straight shooting TSG Entertainment intro and a full colour but silent Scott Free intro and the opening titles, the fourth of which read “…A RIDLEY SCOTT FILM”, the film began with a closeup of a bluey green and sinister left eye in a Caucasian face, evoking the closeup of a blue left eye in a Caucasian face seen at the beginning of BLADE RUNNER, before a short prologue began that that saw the young and implicitly Disney CEO Iger linked Weyland Corporation CEO Peter Weyland-played again by Pearce-talking to the strange, English accented, Evil and implicitly Cronenberg linked android David-presumably the owner of the left blue eye, and played again by Fassbender-about the mysteries of God, life, the universe and everything in a large and mostly empty white room in a house that looked out on a landscape as beautiful but as cold and forbidding as that seen in the opening prologue of PROMETHEUS.  Than after the title of the film slowly appeared on the screen as in ALIEN, it was off into space and another expedition on the good ship Covenant, drifting by the camera like the Discovery I, the Sulaco, the Prometheus, and the Hermes III and watched over by the solitary, hoody luving, Good, David resembling but American accented and implicitly Tin Man linked android Walter-also played by Fassbender-working this time in conjunction with a ship monitoring A.I. named Mother-played by Lorelei King-which reminded us that another A.I. named Mother watched over the Nostromo in ALIEN to affirm that Sir Scott was bringing the Alien Trilogy full triangular circle.

Indeed, as at the beginning of ALIEN and PROMETHEUS, another space expedition quickly went straight to hell when a Kansas tornado evoking neutrino surge from a spontaneous solar flare hit the ship, causing Captain Jacob “Jake” Branson-played by James Franco-to burn up in his cyropod, evoking the sight and sound of Dr. Holloway being burned alive in PROMETHEUS.  Soon the surviving crew members including the implicitly Sir Jackson linked Chief Pilot Tennessee Faris-played by Danny McBride-and the implicitly Kimberly Peirce linked Chief Terraformer Daniels-played by Katherine Waterston-intercepted a human message that evoked the repeating cyclical beacon in ALIEN and decided to pause their star trek and visit a nearby planet.  A planet that turned out to be the home world of the Engineers met in PROMETHEUS, a home world found to have been wiped out by the solitary and Watney evoking David after he and Dr. Shaw piloted their ship back to the planet and dropped the military grade plague into the atmosphere. 

Curiously, after some bloody battles with biomechanical aliens created by David wiped out most of the crew of the Covenant except Daniels and Tennessee, and after using his SFA to somehow fight off Walter in a blockbuster battle of mirror opposites that evoked Princess Lily’s Dark dance with her Dark Side in LEGEND, David ended up surviving where most ended up dying and taking over by the end of the film, reaffirming the implicit fondness of Sir Scott for Cronenberg and his film art, an implication reaffirmed by the film’s allusions to THE BROOD, VIDEODROME and the twilit and allegorical Cronenberg indie docufeature film DEAD RINGERS [1988].  At any rate, ALIEN: COVENANT was the usual fine and fearless feature film with artistic and balanced frames sometimes lit with natural light, two cameras to capture most scenes, mirror opposite androids, an implicit Ozian theme and as little character development as in ALIEN and PROMETHEUS to truly bring the Alien Trilogy full triangular circle.

        Then Sir Scott’s implicit fear of the blockbuster CGI enhanced beast was implicitly softened when he donned the co-executive producer hat, reached for a new can of Udik, and teamed up again with Abbass, Davis, Ford, Olmos, Young, Zimmer, Columbia, Scott Free, Sony, Warners, and Hampton Fancher-BLADE RUNNER co-screenwriter/co-executive producer and now back as co-executive producer-to implicitly address Lynch and Robbins again in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Villeneuve indie docufeature artbuster BLADE RUNNER 2049 [2017], released on October 3, 2017.

 

“You want to go for a ride?”

Or

“All to make that single perfect specimen.”

 

        Curiously, after twitchy and sometimes colour, sometimes black and white and always digital Warner Brothers, Alcon Entertainment, Sony and Columbia intros but no Scott Free intro to the sound of synthesized music the evoked the Vangelis soundtrack for BLADE RUNNER, the film began with a closeup of a right green eye in a Caucasian face, evoking the closeup of a left bluey green eye in a Caucasian face that kicked off ALIEN: COVENANT and the closeup of a blue left eye in a Caucasian face at the beginning of BLADE RUNNER to immediately link the three films together.  A link quickly reaffirmed when the eye disappeared and we found ourselves flying through the sky in a spinner as at the beginning of BLADE RUNNER, but this time on a grey glowering day in California 2040 over surreal circles of white wind farms instead of the dark and endless industrial nightmarescape.  Soon we were descending to neatly divided farm fields and a remote protein farm where the spinner landed like Dorothy’s farmhouse in Oz and let out its driver, who turned out to be the polite, sensitive, sympathetic, thoughtful, implant memory haunted, tenacious, lonely, solitary, cigarette smoking, coffee drinking, Walter evoking and implicitly Lynch and Tin Man linked Replicant Blade Runner Officer KD6-3.7 aka Officer K aka “Constant K” aka “Joe”-as fond of Sinatra and “Summer Wind” as Waller in MATCHSTICK MEN, reminding us of all of the allusions to BLADE RUNNER in that film, and played by Ryan Gosling-reminding us that ALIEN: COVENANT ended with the Evil android David in charge to again link that film to BLADE RUNNER 2049. 

This link was reaffirmed when Officer K was revealed to be on a mission to “retire” the renegade and implicitly Spielberg and Scarecrow linked Nexus 8 Replicant Doctor Sapper Morton-played by Dave Bautista-his implicit link to Spielberg affirmed by the film’s allusions to the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lynch roasting Spielberg docufeature film A.I. [2001] and the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas toasting and Lynch roasting Spielberg docufeature film MINORITY REPORT [2002].  After some polite greetings, the two competing Replicants, both with lifespans with no set limits to remind us that CGI had left behind its four year fad status and become universally accepted and omnipresent since the release of BLADE RUNNER in 1982, soon broke out into a brutal and uncompromising battle that evoked the equally brutal and uncompromising battle between David and Walter at the end of ALIEN: COVENANT and also reminded us that David and Walter often seemed more replicant than android.  Indeed, shortly before his battle with Walter began at the end of ALIEN: COVENANT, David even quoted a line from Batty-“…That’s the spirit!”-during his battle with Deckard at the end of BLADE RUNNER, affirming the affinity of the androids of the Alien Trilogy with the replicants of BLADE RUNNER and BLADE RUNNER 2049.  Significantly, this battle between Officer K and Morton also evoked another brutal and more bloody battle between Sailor Ripley and Bob Ray Lemon-played by Cage and Gregg Danbridge, respectively-at the beginning of WILD AT HEART to affirm the implicit link of Officer K to Lynch.

Significantly, this retirement of Morton led Officer K and his car’s trusty, hovering and implicitly Toto linked drone-?Koto?-to discover a box containing the bones of the implicitly Wicked Witch of the East linked Replicant Rachael Tyrell-played again by Young and Loren Peta, respectively-buried under a dead and skeletal tree.  This discovery led Officer K to spin back to the familiar dark and sprawling industrial nightmarescape of L.A. with its neon corporate logo and brand name signs and building wide hologram corporate logos, brand names, and commercials, cheekily including one for Sony, now all created with CGI instead of an elaborate model with built-in neon signs and tv screens to play commercials.  Fittingly, this time the future L.A. evoked the perpetually dark and smog enshrouded capital city of Giedi Prime, home world of House Harkonnen, in DUNE to reaffirm the implicit link of K to Lynch, a longtime resident of Los Angeles. 

Back home, Officer K began a film long investigation helped by his holographic and implicitly SCC linked sweetie Joi-an implication affirmed by the film’s allusions to LOST IN TRANSLATION, and played by Ana de Armas-to unravel the mystery of the skeleton, a search watched over by the blonde, whisky luvin’, ironically black clad and implicitly Naomi Watts and Glinda linked Lieutenant Joshi-who hit on a demure K like Deck hit on a demure Rach in BLADE RUNNER, and was played by Robin Wright.  Significantly, Constant K’s search caught the attention of and was followed closely by the new, improved, lean, mean, neat, tidy, severely beautiful, brunette, ironically white clad, David evoking but implicitly Bigelow and Wicked Witch of the West linked Replicant Luv-played by Sylvia Hoeks-favourite henchling of the callous, cruel, mendacious, wealthy and implicitly Lucas and Great Oz linked world saviour and Wallace Corporation CEO Niander Wallace-played by Jared Leto-who had purchased the now bankrupt Tyrell Corporation, improved and relaunched the Replicants.

Along the way, the skeleton revealed the theoretically impossible fact that Rachael died giving birth to an equally impossible human/Replicant child, a shocking revelation that briefly convinced Officer K that he was the real mixed race miracle boy child of Rachael and, hence, implicit symbol of the CGI enhanced but vitally human indie docufeature artbuster, a conviction increased when he hunted down the book, music and painting luvin’ and implicitly Robbins and Cowardly Lion linked ex-LAPD Blade Runner Rick “Deck” Deckard-played again by Ford-looking more like Robbins than ever before and hiding out in the radioactive ruins of an Arrakis and CORVETTE SUMMER evoking Las Vegas to affirm his implicit link to Robbins.  For Agent K discovered that Deck had not only successfully escaped from his conapt building with Rachael at the end of BLADE RUNNER, but had also successfully conceived and given birth to a daughter with her in 2021 with the help of Morton two years after the events of the first film, implying that Deckard was human after all, despite his glowing replicant eyes in the various versions of BLADE RUNNER.  Alas, Deck was also hiding out in Mos Vegas with what appeared to be a real dog, making us wonder how a penniless fugitive could afford a real dog when Wallace and Tyrell could not afford to do so in another flaw of this Great Flawed Film.

However, after meeting with Deckard, the implicitly Rossellini linked renegade Replicant leader Freysa-played by Abbass-tracked down Officer K in turn in Mos Vegas and disappointed him by revealing that the miracle child of Rach and Rick was actually a girl who grew up to be an implicitly Greta Gerwig and Dorothy linked Replicant memory specialist and implanter named Doctor Ana Stelline-played by Carla Juri-who not only created the memories of K which had briefly fooled him into thinking that he was the miracle child but who, as a fusion of biological human and hi-tech Replicant, was the real implicit living embodiment and symbol of the CGI enhanced artbuster.  Indeed, the fact that the serial number of Rachael Tyrell was revealed to be N7FAA52318 affirmed Dr. Stelline’s implicit symbolic status.  For the 723 hidden in her mother’s serial number reminded us that the TZ disaster had inspired the development of CGI in the hopes that its use to enhance film art would prevent future fatal film set disasters by allowing film artists to digitally create realistic dangerous special on set effects sequences such as those involving helicopters and explosions, thus creating a brave neo eon of disaster and fatality free CGI enhanced film art. 

Significantly, after realizing with the help of Freysa who the real miracle child was due to having sought out her insight into Replicant memory implants earlier in the film,  K brought her father Deckard to her lab after saving him from one final and painful attack by Luv by drowning her like all good Wicked Witches of the West in a surging surf that evoked that seen in POINT BREAK to affirm her implicit link to Bigelow after a bitter battle that again evoked that between David and Walter at the end of ALIEN: COVENANT, with the exception that this time Walter won, and the opening battle between K and Dr. Morton to bring the film full circle, in the end.  And so the film ended with Deckard greeted Dr. Stelline as she holographically manifested a memory of snowfall as snow fell softly outside her lab on L.A. and on a dead Officer K to the equally soft, sad and wistful sound of “Tears In Rain” from the Vangelis soundtrack of BLADE RUNNER, a curious link between imagination and reality that reminded us that DUNE ended with Paul Maud’dib imagining rain falling on the desert world of Arrakis for the first time and then rain appearing, fittingly reaffirming the implicit link of Agent K and Lynch.  And so with the deaths of K, Luv and Morton, Luv’s destruction of the portable emanator that projected Joi, and the defeat of Wallace, Sir Scott and Villeneuve implied their conviction that Lynch, Bigelow, Spielberg, SCC and Lucas did not usher in a brave neo eon of CGI enhanced artbusters, and also implied their hope that Gerwig and Robbins would, implications that made no sense given that Bigelow, SCC, Lucas and Spielberg did more to usher in the neo eon of CGI enhanced film art than Gerwig, Lynch and Robbins but were nonetheless affirmed by the film’s allusions to AMERICAN GRAFITTI, BLADE RUNNER, BLUE VELVET, CORVETTE SUMMER, DUNE, ERASERHEAD, LOST HIGHWAY, POINT BREAK, the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, THE STRAIGHT STORY, THX 1138, TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME, WILD AT HEART and the twilit and allegorical Lynch indie moving painting MULHOLLAND DRIVE [2001].

And so while the visually spectacular BLADE RUNNER 2049 was not as incomprehensible as BLADE RUNNER and far more popular than that film, it was still nonetheless another Great Flawed Film like the various versions of BLADE RUNNER that implicitly tried and failed to dismiss Lynch as a soulless Replicant and that also featured the artistic and balanced frames, two cameras to capture a scene, blockbuster blue film projector light, a few Dark Side mirror reflections, implicit Ozian theme and undeveloped characters as in BLADE RUNNER.  Curiously, Sir Scott then donned the co-producer hat to solve another murderous mystery when he collaborated again with Cruz and Twentieth Century Fox to implicitly liken the ability of the scholarly, eccentric, book luvin’, and solitary bachelor Wright to solve allegorical mysteries to the ability of the brilliant, eccentric, book luvin’, solitary and implicitly Wright and Great Oz linked Belgian bachelor detective Hercule Poirot-initially implicitly linked to Marcel Proust by Agatha Christie, and played by Branagh-to solve murderous mysteries like the identities of the murderers of the infamous and implicitly Burton and Wicked Witch of the West linked child killer Cassetti-played by Depp-and to hope that Wright would forgive and leave behind the TZ disaster as Poirot forgave and left behind the murderers of Cassetti led by the implicitly Lisa Marie linked ex-star theatrical actress Linda Arden aka Caroline Hubbard-played by Michelle Pfeiffer-at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed Branagh indie docufeature film MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS [2017], a film released on November 3, 2017 that was filled with the same artistic, balanced and naturalyly lit frames, scenes captured with two cameras, Dark Side mirror opposite reflections and implicit Ozian theme as a Sir Scott artbuster, that was inspired by the allegorical Christie indie docufiction novel The Murder On The Orient Express [1934], and whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by the presence of Depp, the star of many Burton films including SLEEPY HOLLOW and SWEENEY TODD, and by the presence of Pfeiffer, who played the implicitly Jane Campion linked Selina Kyle aka “Catwoman” in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Campion and Sir Jackson roasting and Lucas toasting Burton indie animaction artbuster BATMAN RETURNS [1992].

        Significantly, and unusually, Sir Scott then made another famous u-turn and returned to the Temple Theatre to wrap up the film year when he donned the director/co-producer hats and returned to Roma to team up again with Bodini, Facio, Massoud, Max, Wolski, Yates, Scott Free, Tri-Star Pictures and now with Sony to implicitly address Lynch again and wrap up a Wright Trilogy in the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD [2017], a film released on December 18, 2017 that was inspired by the John Pearson indie book All The Money In The World [2017].

 

“Is he all right?”

 

        Indeed, after the Sony, Tri Star and Imperative Entertainment intros and a full colour and sound Scott Free intro, and a third opening title that proclaimed “…A RIDLEY SCOTT FILM”, the film began in Roma in the early morning hours of July 10, 1973 in a black and white that slowly transformed into full colour, a black and white to colour beginning that reminded us that Lynch like Sir Scott began his film art life with black and white film before switching to colour film for his moving paintings, with the kidnapping of the cute, slim, naïve, innocent, long curly blonde haired and implicitly Wright and Dorothy linked American teen John Paul Getty III-played by Charles “Charlie” Plummer as a sullen, sulky and unappreciative 16 year old teen, and by Charlie Shotwell as an exuberant and high spirited 7 year old in flashbacks, respectively-by a group of callously pragmatic and indie Calabrian criminals whose number included the implicitly Spielberg and Scarecrow linked Dante “Cinquanta” Agnana-his implicit link to Spielberg affirmed by the film’s allusions to CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND and MUNICH, and played by Romain Duris.  Then the scene shifted to the spacious interiors of the palatial Getty Estate in England and the extraordinarily wealthy world of Paul’s paternal, blockbuster loot possessing and lusting but strangely insecure, notoriously cheap, equally callous and implicitly Lynch and Great Oz linked American oil baron grandfather John Paul “J. Paul” Getty-as wealthy as Tyrell Corp. CEO Eldon Tyrell, Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Pharaohs Seti and Rameses the Great, and Weyland Corp. CEO Peter Weyland, and played by Christopher Plummer, who was no relation to Charlie-a sight and sound that evoked the equally spacious and wealthy interiors of the Imperial Palace of the implicitly Kershner and Great Oz linked Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV-played by Jose Ferrer-on Khaitain at the beginning of DUNE, implicitly affirming the film’s interest in Lynch on one level.  Indeed, Getty’s fondness for art, paintings, sculptures and Roman emperors evoked Lynch’s luv of art and paintings and the implicit link of Lynch to Emperor Marcus Aurelius in GLADIATOR, making it fitting that Getty and Getty III both had the middle name “Paul”, reminding us that the messianic Paul “Maud’dib” Atreides led the fearless Fremen fighters to divine and glorious triumph over Emperor Shaddam IV at the end of DUNE.

        Curiously, with the kidnapping of Getty III and Getty’s initial public indifference to that kidnapping, an indifference shared by Getty III’s tragicomic, frozen with alcohol and drug abuse and implicitly Tin Man linked father John Paul Getty II-played by -Getty III’s mother, the attractive, brunette, dimunitive, determined, desperate, intelligent, stylish and implicitly Glinda the Good linked single mother Abigail “Gail” Harris-fittingly played by Michelle Williams, given that she openly linked the film to Toronto indie film art and film artists via her role as the frustrated and implicitly SCC linked young wife Margot in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and Toronto set Polley indie docufeature film TAKE THIS WALTZ [2011]-literally entered the picture looking, dressing, thinking, talking and acting like my mother Gail Wright and throughout the film to affirm the implicit link of Getty III to myself.  Significantly, Harris defied Getty and used her Scott Free Agency to work tirelessly and indomitably to secure the release of her son with the help of the fittingly surnamed and implicitly Affleck and Cowardly Lion linked ex-CIA Agent Fletcher Chace-played by Mark Wahlberg-whom she first met at the Getty Estate in England when she had travelled there unannounced to meet with Getty to discuss the abduction of Getty III, a meeting that evoked Deckard’s meeting with Tyrell at the even more huge and expensive Tyrell Corp. pyramid at the beginning of BLADE RUNNER to affirm the film’s implicit interest in the fateful and fatal summer of ’82. 

A timely intervention by Chace and Harris, for Cinquanta’s leaders grew impatient with Getty’s refusal to pay the slowly shrinking ransom amount and sold him to an even nastier group of Italian criminals led by the sinister and implicitly Hopper and Wicked Witch of the West linked Mafioso Saverio Mammolitti-played by Marco Leonardi-who soon cut off Getty III’s right ear and mailed it to an Italian newspaper to make it clear to Chace, Getty and Harris that they meant business and would kill Getty III if they did not pay the ransom, a kidnapping and Van Gogh evoking ear severing that evoked the kidnapping and left ear severing of Donald Watts-played by Dick Green-in BLUE VELVET to reaffirm the implicit link of Getty  to Lynch.  Luckily, and with the ironic help of the implicitly Reitman linked Italian Carabinieri Magistrate Corvo-played by Bodini-Chace and Harris did triumph over Getty and the Calabrian captors and bring Getty III home like Dorothy and even got all of Getty’s money when the ordeal killed him, in the end, implying the hope of Sir Scott that the poor ol’ Gardevil would triumph over Lynch, who had implicitly roasted Wright in the twilit, allegorical and CGI enhanced indie telemoving painting series TWIN PEAKS: A LIMITED EVENT SERIES [2017], and free himself from his captivity to Spielberg, who was in charge of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE, and the TZ disaster and leave behind the dread allegorical Zone Wars and his endless scribblings on the conflict and return to his momma’s luvin’ arms…before it was too late, and he was trapped in the Zone forever! 

At any rate, the film was definitely another implicit admonishment from Sir Scott to stick to true indie artbusters and avoid beastly blockbuster lusts, given that Getty was so obsessed with money that he did not notice that some, and perhaps all, of the art that he purchased from more shrewd and knowing “dealers” over the course of the film were fakes, perhaps implying that Sir Scott believed that TWIN PEAKS: A LIMITED EVENT SERIES was so poor that it had implied that Lynch no longer knew Good art from Bad art.  ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD was also another Sir Scott film with balanced, artistic and naturally lit frames captured with two cameras, an implicit Ozian theme and well developed main characters that met with another lukewarm reception from audiences.  

As for Dis, Marv and the Russo Brothers, they teamed up to implicitly have the spirit of Sir Scott haunt the rest of the dissemblin’ Avengers including the weird, radioactive spider powered and implicitly Wright linked teen Peter Parker aka “Spider-Man”-played again by Holland-as they desperately tried and failed to defeat the tall, egotistic, intimidating, powerful and implicitly ex-Disney CEO Michael Eisner and Wicked Witch of the West linked mad Titan Thanos-played by Brolin-in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed super satirical animaction film AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR [2018], a film released on April 23, 2018 whose implicit interest in Sir Scott on one level was affirmed by allusions to EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS, PROMETHEUS, and ROBIN HOOD. 

Curiously, not long after Disney reaffirmed their implicit fondness for Sir Scott by teaming up with Lucasfilm and Howard to have the rough hewn but Good, true and unusually short, fair skinned, and implicitly Sir Scott and Scarecrow linked orphaned Corellian street urchin turned adult battler Han Solo-played by Alden Ehrenreich-team up with the tall, powerful, primal and implicitly Cowardly Lion linked Chewbacca the Wookiee-played by Joona Suotamo-and triumph over the not quite as tall but more creepy, intimidating, scar faced and implicitly Christopher Nolan and Great Oz linked and League of Shadows evoking Crimson Dawn gang leader Dryden Vos-played by Paul Bettany-and his treacherous second in command, the implicitly John R. Saul linked Tobias Beckett-played by Woody Harrelson-with the help of the beautiful, petite, brunette, smart, spunky, Princess Leia resembling but deadly and implicitly Wicked Witch of the West  linked Crimson Dawn member and fellow orphan Qi’ra-played by Emilia Clarke-who despite her luv for Solo embraced her Dark Side with the shock help of a holoprojection of Darth Maul-played by Ray Park and voiced by Sam Witwer, respectively-creating a chronological conundrum, and forcing Solo to save face and get back into good howling standing with Chewie by winning a pivotal sabaac rematch and freeing the Millenium Falcon from the dishonest grip of the handsome, well dressed, smooth, suave, and droid luvin’ but dishonest, duplicitous, exuberantly self centred and implicitly Affleck and Tin Man linked space pirate Lando Calrissian-played by Donald Glover-at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed animaction film SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY [2018], a curiously flat film despite being filled with full throttle all out action sometimes shot with two cameras with a little bit of blue film projector evoking light and at least two dangerous Dark Side reflections released on May 18, 2018 whose implicit allegorical intent was affirmed by allusions to ALIEN, ALIENS, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLADE RUNNER, BOY AND BICYCLE, LEGEND, LIFE IN A DAY, PATHS OF GLORY, the STAR WARS Classic and Tragic Trilogies, THE DUELLISTS, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and the twilit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Cameron toasting and Burton and Lucas roasting Nolan docufeature film BATMAN BEGINS [2005].

Then an implicit dedication to indie artbusters and interest in addressing the poor ol’ Gardevil continued when Jake Scott teamed up with his father and co-producer Sir Scott to implicitly link the struggles of the Mavis Gary evoking single mother Debbie “Deb” Callahan-played by Sienna Miller-to the struggles of Wright and also implicitly wish that the POG would just leave behind the dread allegorical Zone Wars and go off to something better like Callahan when she drove away from her disappointing life at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and YOUNG ADULT evoking indie docufeature film AMERICAN WOMAN [2018], released on June 18, 2018.  And so another young Scott followed in his father’s lonely and solitary footsteps.  And so Dis, Marv and the Russo Brothers teamed up to again implicitly link Sir Scott to the tough, indie and straight shootin’ loner Clinton “Clint” Barton aka “Hawkeye”-played again by Renner-and have him assemble again with the few still dissemblin’ Avengers and eventually with the rematerialized, radioactive powered and implicitly Wright linked teen Peter Parker aka “Spider-Man”-played again by Holland-and the rest of the rematerialized Avengers to finally defeat the pesky, tall, egotistic, intimidating and implicitly ex-Disney CEO Eisner and Wicked Witch of the West linked mad Titan Thanos-played again by Brolin-at the time travellin’ end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed super satirical animaction film AVENGERS ENDGAME [2019], a film released on April 22, 2019 whose implicit interest in Sir Scott on one level was affirmed by allusions to BLADE RUNNER, BLADE RUNNER 2049, PROMETHEUS and ROBIN HOOD. 

And so Sir Scott donned the co-executive producer hat and teamed up again with MacDonald, youtube and 324,000 digital film submissions from 192 countries that chronicled gloomy and frustrated life around the world on July 25, 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie documentary film LIFE IN A DAY 2020 [2021], a film released on February 1, 2021 that was dedicated to Alexander “ATG” Lucas, who had been a disgruntled and terrible teen harassing his hard-pressed mother in LIFE IN A DAY and had since passed on after dying of COVID-19 complications on February 18, 2020.  And then Sir Scott made another abrupt u-turn when he donned the director/co-producer hats and teamed up again with Damon-now back also as co-writer/co-producer with Affleck and Nicole Holofcener-Max, Wolski, Yates, Scott Free and the now Disney owned and renamed Twentieth Century Studios to implicitly wrap up a Fourceful Wright Quartet and also to implicitly address Polley and Reitman again in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster THE LAST DUEL [2021], a film released on September 10, 2021 and inspired by the daylit and allegorical Eric Jager indie book The Last Duel: a true story of crime, scandal and trial by combat in medieval France [2004] that often evoked THE DUELLISTS.

 

“It was right!...

So be it.

God will spare those who tell the truth,

and the truth will prevail.”

 

        Curiously, after the Twentieth Century Fox, Scott Free and Pearl Street Films intros, the film began on a cold, grey, and dour day at a jousting field in Paris on December 29, 1386 before moving inside to ponder a beautiful, blonde, and Polley resembling and implicitly linked young woman-played by Jodie Comer-having her long blonde hair braided into a long ponytail and being slowly dressed in underclothes and a straitjacket evoking black dress by two female servants to immediately establish the trio theme of the film that was reaffirmed by the intercut sight and sound of two stolid and sturdy knights-a stocky blonde played by Damon and a tall, slim and black haired one played by Adam Driver, respectively-being fitted into their suits of armour by two faithful squires, the blonde Knight always seen in reality while the black haired knight was initially seen in a Dark Side mirror opposite reflection to immediately imply that he had left behind reality and the right path and was suiting up for the wrong Dark cause.  Soon the two resolute knights mounted horses, raced pell mell at each other and crashed lances on each other in the jousting arena, a sight and sound that evoked the fourth and implicitly Great Oz evoking duel fought on horseback by D’Hubert and Feraud “…as a compliment to the cavalry” in THE DUELLISTS in the first of many allusions to that film in THE LAST DUEL, while the beautiful black clad blonde watched alone and shackled from the top of a little wooden tower ominously fitted out with a pile of logs at its base for burning.  Then this twilit trio of one female and two men disappeared as the screen faded to black, and the rest of the number three obsessed film told the tragicomic tale of the events that led to this deadly duel from the perspectives of these two Knights and this one beautiful and mysterious woman, with all three chapters of this tale starting sixteen years earlier at the brutal and bloody battle of Limoges on September 19, 1370. 

        The first tale was seen and told from the perspective of the blonde, bearded, battle scarred, medium height, stocky, socially awkward, outwardly gruff, inwardly kindhearted, ironically illiterate, perennially impecunious, hot headed and implicitly Wright and fiery Cowardly Lion linked Sir Jean de Carrouges, the second from the perspective of the tall, long black haired, handsome, black moustached and goateed, charming, fully literate, book luving, multilingual, often black clad and implicitly Reitman and Wicked Witch of the West linked Captain Jacques le Gris, and the third, last, and implicitly more honest and less self centred and self serving from the perspective of the first person seen in the prologue of the film, the young, fresh, beautiful, blonde, intelligent, independent, and equally literate, book luving, multilingual and implicitly Polley and Dorothy linked Lady Marguerite de Carrouges, the wife of Sir Jean and the daughter of the traitorously Anglophilic and implicitly Gilliam linked Sir Robert de Thibouville-played by Nathaniel Parker-reminding us that Polley kicked off her film art career playing feisty little Sally Salt in THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN to affirm the implicit links of Lady Marguerite and Sir Robert to Polley and Gilliam. 

Alas, these three chapters revealed that Capt. le Gris had become so bewitched by the beautiful Lady Marguerite that he hunted her down at the de Carrouges castle and raped her on a day when Sir Jean and his hostile and implicitly Margaret Atwood and Glinda linked mother Nicole de Carrouges-played by Harriet Walter-were both absent, a callous and traumatic rape from behind that Capt. le Gris erroneously believed was encouraged by Lady Marguerite and that evoked the rapes from behind that almost occurred in THELMA & LOUISE and G.I. JANE, and one curiously anticipated by an earlier failed attempt by a runaway black stallion to mount a white breeding mare at the de Carrouges castle in Normandy.

        Thus, the sight and sound of the film coming full circle back to the future to that jousting arena on that fittingly wintry and Canada evoking day in Paris with the honour and truth obsessed, unswerving and indomitable Knight Sir Jean, in red and white Canadian colours over his suit of armour and on his family’s standard with its three white fleurs-de-lis on red, avenging the violated Lady Marguerite and saving her from being burned alive on her little tower for lodging her complaint against Capt. Jacques by triumphing on jousting horseback and then on duelling foot over the rapacious Capt. Jacques, in blue and white Toronto colours over his suit of armour and on his family’s standard with its sinister black crow on white over a fittingly black snake swimming in an aquamarine sea, in front of a callous crowd baying for death as in GLADIATOR, a last bloody and brutal duel to the death whose embattled beginning was briefly glimpsed in the film’s prologue and which often evoked the closing Jedi versus Sith lightsaber duels at the end of all six of the STAR WARS films and the climactic knife duel between Maud’dib and Feyd-Rautha at the end of DUNE implied the hope of Sir Scott that Wright would also triumph over Reitman to avenge the implicit roasting Reitman gave Polley in films such as the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film TULLY [2018] and Wright in such films as YOUNG ADULT, in the end.  Indeed, the fact that the triumph of Sir Jean shocked and disappointed the watching and listening good friend and patron of Capt. Jacques, the implicitly Elon Musk and Tin Man linked Count Pierre d’Alencon-played by Affleck-affirmed the film’s implicit interest in Reitman and Wright, for Musk was one of the four executive producers of THANK YOU FOR SMOKING. 

In addition, the film’s allusions to HANNIBAL and the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Lucas and Polley addressing Disney and Branagh docufeature film CINDERELLA [2015] reaffirmed the implicit link of Lady Marguerite to Polley.  Last but not least, the film’s allusions to JABBERWACKY, MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN and TIME BANDITS, the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced, Ozian themed and implicitly Bigelow, Landis, Lucas and Spielberg addressing indie animaction film THE BROTHERS GRIMM [2005] and the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and implicitly Cox addressing indie animaction film THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE [2018]-in the former of which Damon played the fairy tale luvin’ and implicitly Lucas linked Willhelm “Will” Grimm, and in the latter of which Driver played the implicitly Cox linked film artist Toby Grummett, thus openly linking THE LAST DUEL to the brilliant, imaginative and madcap film art of Gilliam-also affirmed the implicit link of Sir de Thibouville to Gilliam. 

        And so the brooding, hot headed, honour obsessed and obdurate duellist won in the end in a complete reversal of the end of THE DUELLISTS, albeit a stubborn and stiff necked duellist who was, unlike ferocious Feraud, able to marry and enjoy a luving life with Lady Marguerite.  And so THE LAST DUEL was another fine and fearless feature film from Sir Scott with the usual artistic and balanced frames, naturally lit scenes captured with two cameras, implicit Ozian theme, dangerous Dark Side mirror opposite reflections and well developed characters that received a lukewarm response from audiences.  And so, given the many allusions to THE DUELLISTS in THE LAST DUEL, it was fitting that Sir Scott would then implicitly address Cronenberg again when he donned the director/producer hats and returned again to the Temple Theatre that year with Bodini, Driver, Irons, Leto, Max, Wolski, Yates, MGM, Universal and composer Harry Gregson-Williams and editor Claire Simpson-both from THE LAST DUEL-and also made another abrupt u-turn that exchanged the lives of wealthy and privileged Medieval French nobility with wealthy and privileged late Twentieth Century Italian fashion designers, and an obsession with the number three with an obsession with the number two, in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster HOUSE OF GUCCI [2021], a film released on November 9, 2021 that was inspired by the twilit and allegorical Sara G. Forden book The House Of Gucci: a sensational story of murder, madness, glamour and greed [2001].

 

“I had no idea I married a monster.”

 

        Curiously, the tragicomic film began with the tall, dark brown haired and eyed, bespectacled, cultured, intelligent, educated, dorky, fabulously wealthy and implicitly Cronenberg and Tin Man linked Maurizio Gucci-played by Driver-meeting, falling in luv with, and marrying the bold, brash, beautiful, brunette, curvaceous, opportunistic and implicitly Dorothy linked working class girl Patrizia Reggiani-played by Lady Gaga-much to the furious and frustrated horror of his ailing, equally cultured, educated, intelligent, shrewd, knowing, experienced, Getty, Tyrell and Weyland evoking and implicitly Boris Karloff and Wicked Witch of the East linked father Rodolfo Gucci-played by two time Cronenberg and Sir Scott star Irons-who kicked Maurizio out of his house and wrote him out of his will.  Just as curiously, this scenario evoked a similar scenario that befell likable but bored, restless, and rebellious suburban Toronto teen Peter Mark-played by Peter Kastner-in the eerily and presciently twilit and allegorical Don Owen indie docufeature film NOBODY WAVED GOODBYE [1964], one of the first Canadian feature films and one that inspired Cronenberg to become a film artist to affirm the implicit link of Maurizio to David.

        However, as often happens, father and son were reconciled by the birth of Rodolfo’s granddaughter Alessandra-played by Nicole B. Sarkate at 3 years old, and by Mia M. Zaini at 9 years, respectively-and Maurizio was welcomed back into the Gucci fold.  Shortly after, Rodolfo died, and the prodigal son was hired by the firm, starting low and working his way up.  At this point, the film revolved around the rise of Maurizio Gucci and the company he slowly took over, and the fall of Maurizio Gucci as orchestrated by the company’s quiet, watchful, thoughtful, perennially black suited and implicitly Robert Lantos linked second-in-command Domenico De Sole-played by Jack Huston-who callously did his best to ease Maurizio out of the House of Gucci when he felt that the younger Gucci was no longer helping the company.  It reminded us that Lantos had achieved fame and fortune in part by producing such Cronenberg films as eXistenZ and the twilit, allegorical and implicitly Lynch roasting indie docufeature films CRASH [1995] and EASTERN PROMISES [2007], but that Cronenberg had not been in the Temple Theatre since 2014 with the twilit and allegorical indie docufeature film MAPS OF THE STARS [2014]. 

        Significantly, shortly after the attempt by Domenico to oust him, Maurizio was murdered by killers hired by Patrizia after their divorce.  How apropos that the murder of Gucci took place soon after the first line of Gucci fashion designed by Tom Ford-played by Reeve Carney-for the good looking and “more human than human” runway models at the fashion show ominously evoked the equally good looking, sexy and deadly Replicants in BLADE RUNNER and the L series assassins in MORGAN.  But how unusual that Gucci’s two Laurel and Hardy assassins Ivano Savioni and Benedetto Ceraulo-played by Bodini and Vincenzo Tanassi, respectively-killed him with three bullets from a silencer equipped gun given that the number two emphasized by two characters seen per frame dominated the film like the two intertwined Gs that formed the famous Gucci brand symbol.  Curiously, however, the three bullets fired into Gucci did evoke the obsession with the number three emphasized by the three characters seen per frame in THE LAST DUEL to link the two films together.

        Thus, Sir Scott implied his angry bitterness that Lantos and other producers had grown wealthy on the coattails of Cronenberg but had abandoned him in his old age and effectively killed him, an implicit interest in Cronenberg affirmed by the allusions to CRASH and THE BROOD in HOUSE OF GUCCI.  If so, it was an ironic implicit angry and bitter lament on the part of Sir Scott, for the following year Lantos was the main producer behind the twilit and allegorical Cronenberg indie docufeature film CRIMES OF THE FUTURE [2022], released on May 23, 2022.  At any rate, HOUSE OF GUCCI was another fine and fearless feature film with the usual artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames and two cameras capturing a scene, Dark Side mirror opposite reflections, implicit Ozian theme and well developed characters. 

And so Sir Scott kicked off the new film art year by donning the co-producer hat and returning to Egypt to contemplate the monumental legacy of Pharoah Rameses the Great and to implicitly commemorate the 40^th anniversary of the TZ disaster when he teamed up again with Branagh, Twentieth Century Fox and Tom Bateman-who played the exuberant and implicitly M.D. Wright linked bon vivant Bouc in MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS-to again implicitly liken the ability of the studious, eccentric, book luvin’, and solitary bachelor Wright to solve allegorical mysteries to the ability of the brilliant, eccentric, book luvin’, solitary, and implicitly Wright and Great Oz linked Belgian bachelor detective Hercule Poirot-played again by Branagh-to figure out that the poor but handsome and implicitly Edgar Wright and Scarecrow linked Simon Doyle-played by Armie Hammer-was the murderer of the implicitly SCC and Wicked Witch of the West linked Linnet “Linny” Ridgeway-played by Gal Gadot-at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film DEATH ON THE NILE [2022], a film released on February 9, 2022 and inspired by the allegorical Christie indie docufiction novel Death On The Nile [1937], and a film that fittingly began with a short prelude set in the Belgian trenches in October 1914 that saw Private Poirot unable to save his implicitly Morrow linked Captain Rens-played by Orlando Seale-from being killed by an explosive German booby trap and being forever traumatized and haunted by the horrific and TZ disaster evoking incident.

        Curiously, and unusually, Anthony Fabian and company then implicitly lightly roasted and toasted Sir Scott in the form of the Good, honest, hard working, dependable, discreet, poor, lonely, memory haunted but indomitably human and implicitly Sir Scott and Glinda linked Battersea, London cleaning lady and Second World War widow Ada Harris-played by the fittingly named Lesley Manville-in the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS aka DO BATTERSEA CLEANERS DREAM OF DIOR GOWNS? [2022], a film released on July 7, 2022.

 

“No,

you’re a cleaner who dreams

of the most beautiful gown in the world.”

 

        Indeed, after initially seeming to have nothing to do with Sir Scott, the daily cleaning rounds of Mrs. Harris in the wistfully recreated London of 1957 took her from the messy and film one sheet filled flat of the beautiful, statuesque, peroxide blonde and implicitly duplicitous Hollywood and Wicked Witch of the West linked aspiring film starlet Pamela Penrose-played by Rose Williams-to the toney, expensively furnished, art and painting filled and Tyrell penthouse evoking walk-up of the wealthy but stingy and implicitly Wicked Witch of the East linked Lady Lotte Dant-played by Anna Chancellor-who resembled an older Sean Young, linking the film to BLADE RUNNER.  This link to BLADE RUNNER and, thus, the implicit link of Mrs. Harris to Sir Scott was affirmed soon after she met Lady Dant in her living room. 

For venturing back into the bedroom after sewing up a tear in a white bedsheet for Lady Dant, Mrs. Harris carried the mended and folded bedsheet to a small desk and laid it on top.  At this point a reflection of the face of Mrs. Harris appeared in a small upright rectangular mirror on top of the desk, implying that her Dark Side mirror world opposite was about to be set loose.  Sure enough, Mrs. Harris immediately turned to her sinister left, walked over to and opened the left door of a wardrobe, where a full length mirror set in the back of the door revealed a Dark Side mirror world pink Dior gown draped over a chair behind her, transfixing her and causing her to turn around, approach it luvingly, and brush her fingers down it.  As she did, Lady Gant suddenly interrupted her reverent revery from behind with the words “…Isn’t it divine?”, reminding us that Rachael Tyrell interrupted Deckard from behind with the words “…Do you like our owl?” as he admired it in the penthouse suite high atop the Tyrell Corp. pyramid in BLADE RUNNER, affirming the implicit link of Lady Gant to the older Young and of Mrs. Harris to Sir Scott.

Curiously, the magical Dior gown, which Lady Gant said was called the Ravissant, so captivated Mrs. Harris and liberated her Dark Side mirror opposite that she decided to save everything she could to pay for a trip to Paris to buy an equally magical Dior “frock” for herself, implying that Fabian thought that she and Sir Scott were headed on the wrong path.  However, after Lady Dant left her with the Ravissant, Mrs. Harris picked the gown luvingly up and carried it to the full length mirror on the inside of the right hand door of the wardrobe and held it up, admiring it and all of her many radiant reflections, implying that the awestruck cleaning lady and Sir Scott were both actually on the right path, after all.  A right path that she managed to follow, for after an extraordinary series of events including winning a Post Office lottery, losing the 100 pounds she won in the lottery on a daft dog with the BLADE RUNNER cadenced and Dior fashion evoking name of Haute Couture at a White City dog race, winning the money back with the help of the Christopher Plummer evoking and implicitly Tin Man linked bookie with a heart of gold Archie-played by Jason Isaacs-finding herself to her shocked surprise being awarded a war widow’s pension from the implicitly Cowardly Lion linked RAF Officer Blonde-played by Freddie Fox-after her missing and much missed RAF husband Edward “Eddie” Harris was finally found to be killed in action on a RAF mission over Poland in March 1944, and getting a reward for returning a diamond earring from the implicitly Great Oz linked Constable Plodd-played by Jeremy Wheeler-Mrs. Harris flew to the implicitly Emerald City linked Paris to realize her dream of buying a Dior “frock”.

Here in Paris, Mrs. Harris successfully fought for the right to buy a Dior dress called Venus that was as original, distinct, indie and idiosyncratic as the Ravissant and a Sir Scott indie docufeature artbuster with the exuberant help of the beautiful, brunette, shapely, petite, thoughtful, existentially troubled, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn and Michelle Williams evoking and implicitly Dorothy linked Dior model and film starlet Natasha-fittingly yearning like a Replicant to not be more human than human, and played by Alba Baptista-the equally thoughtful, book, Sartre and Natasha luving and implicitly Cronenberg and Cowardly Lion linked Dior head accountant Andre Fauvel-played by Lucas Bravo-the older and implicitly Bob Iger and Tin Man linked Marquis Hypolite de Chassagne-played by Lambert Wilson-the fittingly mysterious, powerful and implicitly Great Oz linked Dior CEO Christian Dior-played by Philippe Bertin-and the sympathetic and implicitly Neil Peart and Scarecrow linked street person Michel Simon-played by Vincent Martin-one of a trio of Rush evoking street people which included the implicitly Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson linked France and Alla-played by Saba Kapas and Saruul Delgerbayar, respectively-who affirmed the implicit link of Fauvel to the Toronto based Cronenberg.  The reluctant and implicitly Wicked Witch of the East linked Dior “Directress” Claudine “Loulou” Colbert-played by Isabelle Huppert-and the implicitly Nikko linked head dressmaker M. Carre-played by Bertrand Poncet-also helped the indomitable Mrs. Harris, along the way bringing haughty and elitist House of Dior down to affordable and everywoman human size and helping Cowardly Andre finally reveal his passion for the luvly Natasha to affirm the implicit link of the magical Mrs. Harris to the equally magical and bewitching Glinda the Good.

Realizing at last that there was no place like home, Mrs. Harris returned triumphantly to Battersea and her best friend, the jovial and implicitly Scarecrow linked Vi Butterfield-played by Ellen Thomas-where her bewitching and indomitable humanity and her replacement Dior gown the Temptation not the Valparaiso, created for her by her friends at Dior after the Wicked Penrose accidentally set the Venus on fire at a film premiere and the implicitly Besson and Wicked Witch of the West linked Madame Avallon-played by Guilaine Londez-gave up on her Dark lusts for the Temptation that had prevented Mrs. Harris from purchasing her first choice while in Paris, successfully helped woo tinny Archie to her side at a dance at the Legion hall, in the Ozian healing and harmonizing end, thus implying that Fabian ultimately felt that the equally captivating and indomitably human Sir Scott and his film art were all right by him.  Indeed, the fact that the film was full of artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames, scenes sometimes shot with two cameras, Dark Side mirror world opposite reflections and allusions to A GOOD YEAR, ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD, BLADE RUNNER, EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS, 1492: CONQUEST OF PARADISE, HOUSE OF GUCCI, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS and THE DUELLISTS affirmed the implicit Sir Scott addressing intent of MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS. 

Sir Scott then donned the co-producer hat and teamed up again with Branagh, Twentieth Century Fox and Camille Cottin-who played Maurizio’s luver Paola Franchi in HOUSE OF GUCCI-to again implicitly link the ability of the scholarly, eccentric, book luvin’, and solitary bachelor Wright to decipher allegories to the ability of the brilliant, eccentric, book luvin’, solitary and implicitly Wright and Great Oz linked Belgian bachelor detective Hercule Poirot-played again by Branagh-to solve murderous mysteries like the fact that the beautiful, blonde, middle aged, and implicitly Madonna and Wicked Witch of the West linked opera diva Rowena Drake-played by Kelly Reilly-was the killer of her implicitly Wicked Witch of the East linked daughter Alicia Drake-played by Rowan Robinson-her tormented and implicitly Guy Ritchie and Tin Man linked blackmailer Doctor Leslie Ferrier-played by Jamie Dornan-and the ambiguous and implicitly Glinda the Good linked medium Joyce Reynolds-played by Michelle Yeoh-to the pleased disappointment of the implicitly Pauline Kael and Dorothy linked murder mystery “authoress” Adriadne Oliver-played by Tina Fey-and the relief of Harry the cockatoo-played by Mary the cockatoo-at the end of the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature film  A HAUNTING IN VENICE [2023], a film released on September 13, 2023 that again featured the artistic, balanced and naturally lit frames, two cameras to capture a scene, at least two Dark Side mirror opposite reflections, some ominous blockbuster blue light and implicit Ozian theme of a Sir Scott film, and that was inspired by the allegorical and implicitly Joyce roasting Christie indie docufiction novel Hallowe’en Party [1969], an implicit interest in Joyce affirmed by the novel’s allusions to Joyce, his life and Ulysses, including a pesky murdered girl named Joyce and her younger brother Leopold, another character named James Jenkins, and Poirot’s memories of a trip to Ireland to solve a mystery and savour fairy tale gardens that openly linked the novel to Ireland, its literary art and artists and its famous Hallowe’en celebration, a fitting implicit intent given that Sir Scott started his life in film art with the Ulysses evoking BOY AND BICYCLE. 

As for Greta Gerwig, she implicitly hoped that Polley would triumph over Sir Scott and the dominant male energy and spirit of THE LAST DUEL with a popular film like the beautiful, blonde, and implicitly Polley and Dorothy linked Barbie-played by Margot Robbie-triumphed over the Wicked black suit luvin’ and implicitly Sir Scott and Wicked Witch of the West linked Mattel CEO-played by Ryan Gosling-with the help of the old, wise and implicitly Atwood and Glinda the Good linked Ruth Handler-played by Rhea Perlman-by ironically leaving behind her Replicant evoking doll status and the besotted, book, library and man’s world luving and hopefully not Gardevil linked Ken-played by Ryan Gosling-and embracing her perfectly imperfect and vital humanity at the end of the exuberantly dismal, daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed docufeature filmmercial BARBIE [2023], a film released on July 9, 2023 whose implicit interest in Polley and Sir Scott was affirmed by allusions to ALIEN: COVENANT, BLADE RUNNER, BLADE RUNNER 2049, LIFE IN A DAY, the Matrix Trilogy, THE LAST DUEL and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.  Then a full circle return to the future past continued when Sir Scott donned the co-producer/director hats and teamed up again with Max, Phoenix-now also a co-producer-Wolski and Yates on the daylit, allegorical, CGI enhanced and Ozian themed indie docufeature artbuster NAPOLEON [2023], a film released on November 14, 2023 that often evoked the eerily twilit and allegorical Anthony Burgess indie docufiction novel Napoleon Symphony [1974].

 

“Destiny has brought me this lamb chop!”

 

        For after the Sony intro and a full colour and sound Scott Free intro, and a third opening title that read “…A RIDLEY SCOTT FILM”, the film returned to the Napoleonic era of THE DUELLISTS and followed the rise and fall of the brilliant but flawed, short and implicitly Lucas and Scarecrow linked Emperor and General Napoleon Bonaparte-as unable to produce a heir over fifteen years of marriage with his beloved Josephine [played by Vanessa Kirby] as Lucas was with Marcia, and played by Phoenix-who did his best to conquer and liberate Europe and Russia with determined SFA but was defeated in the end by British forces commanded by the more calm, cool, grounded, rational and tall Duke of Wellington-played by Rupert Everett-reminding us that ferocious, irrational and Emperor Napoleon luving Feraud was also defeated in the end by the more calm, cool, grounded and rational D’Hubert to truly bring the film art life of Sir Scott full circle, in the end, helped along by the film’s many allusions to BARRY LYNDON and THE DUELLISTS and with the usual artistic and balanced frames lit by natural light, with two cameras to capture scenes, an implicit Ozian theme and some Dark Side mirror opposite reflections but little character development. 

And so Sir Scott brought his film art life full circle from implicitly Lucas linked Napoleonic era fulminations in THE DUELLISTS to implicitly Lucas linked Napoleonic era fulminations in NAPOLEON.  And, while more time and DVD reviewings would be needed to fully appreciate and understand the film, already reaffirmed it did that not alien, android, Replicant or superhero but perfectly imperfect and truly and vitally human was the long suffering Sir Scott.  An English film artist whose unwavering lifelong commitment to indie film art instead of blockbuster beasts despite his many embittering disasters and hardships and the decades he spent alone in the wilderness inspired his brother Tony, sons Jake and Luke, and the citizens of the world in two documentaries to join him in breaking free from Hollywood restrictions, obsessions, politics and machinations and going boldly where their own film art path led them.  And an indomitably indie film art path equally filled not with gloomy Kubrick pessimism but overflowing like that of Sir Scott with upbeat optimism, imperfectly perfect and vital humanity, and…Scott Free Agency.

 

 

 

 

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