Drive

"... I don't sit in while you're running it down. I don't carry a gun. I drive"

A Hollywood stunt driver / part time wheelman for L.A’s criminals (Ryan Gosling) gets embroiled in a crime that puts him on a collision course with the Mob after taking a job in order to protect perhaps the only two people in the world that he has any feelings for. The cool and unflappable Driver seeks out those who have wronged him and attempts to save his own and his love interest’s lives.

This was easily one of the top 10 best films of 2011 and possibly inside my top ten of the last several years. The film and its central character are effortlessly cool and both have become both instant classics and cult favourites. Although the film’s time period is never specified it seems to have a foot both in the present and in the 1980s. The style, design and music reminded me of the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as it has that kind of 80s Miami almost art deco style-stucco style. The colour palette is beautiful and dominated by the colour gold, perhaps in a nod to its L.A setting and also the Driver’s nostalgic view of L.A with its strong silent movie stars and dames in need of rescue. The whole film has a very Noir feel to it. The gold is most noticeable in Gosling’s wardrobe as he sports golden shoes and a fantastic gold scorpion jacket. More subtlety though the sun kissed L.A streets also glisten gold.

Alien Resurrection

"What's inside me? What's inside me?!!"

Two hundred years after the events of Alien 3 military scientists create a clone of Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) complete with alien embryo growing inside her. After separating the two, the Ripley clone is kept alive for further study. One of the side effects of the cloning is that Ripley’s DNA has been crossed with that of her alien baby and she now possesses super human strength and acidic blood as well as a kind of telepathic link with the aliens. Meanwhile a group of mercenaries arrive aboard the ship carrying a cargo of kidnapped humans which the scientists implant with alien embryos. Unsurprisingly these aliens escape and run amok on the ship causing its remaining crew to run for their lives.

I was massively disappointed with Alien 3 (although FilmsRruss tells me that the Director’s Cut is much better than the theatrical version I saw) and Alien Resurrection seemed to be going in the same direction. I found the first half really boring and actually fell asleep after about 40 minutes. After I resumed viewing however, I really enjoyed the second half.