It’s pretty obvious that they were based on parasitic wasps (btw, those were the creatures that Darwin later claimed were responsible for his loss of faith — they make perfect sense from the viewpoint of evolution, but no benevolent creator would create such a horrific creature).

The novelisation addresses the food issue even as the film ignores it. The crew discovers that the Alien has broken into the food stores and has been gorging on them. That explains how it gets so much mass within few hours from being “born”, ready to attack Brett at full size.

I found this post thought-provoking. I always assumed that they were alien in the truest sense - the biology that makes sense to us just didn’t apply to them. Like IIRC the aliens being colors more or less in the Color Out of Space. But the idea that they were manufactured never occurred to me.

I suspected they were artificial when it was shown that they had acid for blood and were able to survive vacuum and stuff like that. Then when later movies showed their lifecycle I was sure. The ability to hybridize with alien hosts is a pretty big tell but even putting that aside what ecology could produce…

Croupier is much more Owen’s alley than James Bond. He would have actually made a miserable 007, with even more sadness and exhaustion than Craig, without the lightness that Craig could also bring to the part. But sadness and exhaustion were precisely what was needed for Children of Men.

I’d throw in his scene-stealing performance in The Bourne Identity as well. All silent menace until right there at the very end, when a rush of humanity pours out. “Look what they make you give” always gives me goosebumps.

Interesting casting, because I love Raymond Chandler’s novels and for years Owen was my fantasy cast for Philip Marlowe.

If one is going to write about Owen’s leading man street cred then Croupier needs to be mentioned. Especially given its roots in film noir.

I’ve seen maybe two of his standups and enjoyed them a lot for the most part. He has impeccable timing and that’s central to good storytelling. My one criticism is that he spends too much time talking about dicks - mostly his own. I know why this is important to the culture, but 30 minutes and more of it (complete…

I think his point about the internet/videos on social media not allowing comedians to work on their jokes only applies to the super famous 5% or so. The rest can still toil away in relative obscurity. I saw Atsuko Okatsuka perform twice last year about six months apart, so there was some overlap in material but she…

I think until the root cause is determined, that caution is best. This surely feels like an incursion by the CG aircraft. And if so, why? Was there a significant failure of local surface radar (ASDE-X), or runway entrance/status lights, or some other incursion-control safeguard? Was someone in the ATCT drunk? There…

With all consideration and condolences to the families of those Coasties who died, that was still a miracle that it was so few people killed or injured. I’m sure the cause will become clear in the coming days, but the low death toll is still testament to the incredible safety procedures and standards of modern air…

Thankfully the Florida crocs live in pretty isolated areas. But alligators roaming around are a pretty normal thing. It’s their land either way, we just squat on it. They were here long before we were, and will be here long after humanity is gone, in all likelihood.

Nah, that’s not true. Laws and customs from other countries have no legal precedence in US courts. There would need to be local laws in place to have an impact on him being force to collectively bargain, and Texas is notoriously anti-union. I believe there are even laws in place that would prevent other unions from…

That’s why we don’t put 12 year olds in charge of nothing.

I had a Chevy dealer attempt to charge $1200 for dealer prep. After digging at them they revelaed this included a pin stripe down the side of the car and nitrogen in the tires.....that already came from the factory with nitrogen in them....which is a scam in itself. They literally tried to scam the scam and cover it…

I also think that this is likely significantly less of a mechanical headache than most of what you’ve listed.

They can’t all be Ferrari. 

Okay Sean, don’t over promise. Just say we’ve been working on something and show some clips!