The aliens in the upcoming superhero movie The Avengers finally have shown their faces. A new TV spot for the movie grants the viewer a fleeting glimpse of the as yet unidentified extraterrestrial (or possibly extra-dimensional) race which is pitted against Marvel’s much-loved superhero troupe.
Rihanna, spotting and killing aliens in Battleship (2012)
Pop diva and star of the upcoming alien invasion movie Battleship has revealed that she used to be a UFO spotter, albeit a reluctant one. When asked by a journalist at a recent press conference if she believes in alien life, Rihanna responded:
"My dad used to make me sit outside on the steps all night long looking for UFOs flying by, and I had to do that for years."
Her comment was met with chuckles from the crowd and from her two co-stars, Taylor Kitsch and Brooklyn Decker. But her director, Peter Berg (who was sat directly to her left), asked her quickly and with a straight face: "did you see any?" He seemed slightly disappointed by her response:
"I didn't see any but I saw a falling star once and I was like, 'Yessss, Dad! Come and see, it just darted'."
Peter Berg (centre) in Fire in the Sky (1993)
Berg, of course, is fully aware of the reality of the UFO phenomenon, having co-starred in the 1993 movie, Fire in the Sky, which was based on the famous Travis Walton abduction experience of 1975. Berg and his co-stars spent time with Walton during the shoot and heard the disturbing details of his unearthly encounter straight from the horse's mouth.
In any case, judging from other alien-related comments Rihanna makes in the most recent Battleship promotional featurette, UFO occupants will surely be glad they've never stopped in to pay her a visit: "I'm all for killin' these creatures!" she declares with a smile.
Battleship hits cinemas 11 April (UK) and 18 May (US).
The line between documented UFOlogical fact and speculative pop-cultural fiction has always been blurry, but it disappeared in spectacular fashion back in 1997 with the release of the hugely successful Men in Black. As any student of the UFO subject knows, civilian encounters with the enigmatic ‘MIBs’ have been documented for decades in relation to mysterious aerial objects, and those who have been unfortunate enough to attract the attention of these black-clad mystery-men typically describe them as creepy, imposing and outright threatening in their behaviour. But Steven Spielberg’s big-budget production (based on the comic book by Lowell Cunningham) re-spun MIB-lore in favour of the Men in Black themselves and of government secrecy surrounding the UFO phenomenon. It was a message encapsulated by Will Smith’s Grammy Award-winning title rap for the movie’s soundtrack:
The good guys dress in black, remember that
Just in case we ever face to face and make contact...
We’re your first, last and only line of defense
Against the worst scum of the universe
So don’t fear us, cheer us
If you ever get near us, don’t jeer us
We’re fearless...
Let me tell you this in closin' I know we might seem imposin' But trust me, if we ever show in your section Believe me, it's for your own protection Cuz we see things that you need not see And we be places that you need not be So go with your life, forget that Roswell crap Show love to the black suit, cuz That's the Men in That's the Men in...
And, well, you know the rest.
In the minds of the many unfamiliar with UFOlogy, Men in Black would now and forever be associated exclusively with a movie and a song of the same name – with science fiction cinema (and Will Smith) rather than reported historical encounters. Moreover, MIBs went from being sinister witness-harassers to heroic “galaxy-defenders.” Such is the power of entertainment.
This power that entertainment – particularly cinema – wields over our perceptions of complex political issues was something legendary 20th Century Fox Production Chief Darryl Zanuck understood with crystal clarity. In 1943, while serving with the Army Signal Corps, Zanuck said: “If you have something worthwhile to say, dress it up in the glittering robes of entertainment and you will find a ready market... Without entertainment, no propaganda film is worth a dime.”
The Men in Black franchise may not be movie propaganda in the traditional sense (in that it was not pushed into production by the state for political ends), but it serves the UFO-related interests of the national security state nonetheless in its presentation of a just cover-up of extraterrestrial visitation orchestrated by a covert, yet entirely righteous organisation that, by necessity, operates without legal oversight for the good of all mankind.
If the time ever comes when Disclosure is forced upon the US government and the President is called upon by his citizens to justify the UFO secrecy that has metastasised for over sixty years behind the most impenetrable layers of America’s national security state, he need not prepare an elaborate speech, but say, quite simply: “Go watch Men in Black.”
Prometheus director Ridley Scott spoke to Empire magazine recently about what age rating his movie might receive and the big questions that drove him to revisit the Alienuniverse he helped create in 1979. Scott said of Alien's ‘Space Jockey’ subplot: "I always wondered when they did [Aliens] 2, 3 and 4 why they hadn't touched upon that, instead of evolving into some other fantastic story. They missed the biggest question of them all: who's the big guy [the Space Jockey]? And where were they going? And with what? Why that cargo? There's all kinds of questions." Regarding the possible age rating for Prometheus, Scott hinted to Empire that the violence may have been toned-down enough to facilitate a PG-13 rating (booo!), but insisted that the movie will be every bit as powerful as the R-rated Alien and Aliens. "The question is, do you go for the PG-13, [which] financially makes quite a difference, or do you go for what it should be, which is R? Essentially, it's kinda R... It's not just about the blood, it's about ideas that are very stressful. I'm not an idiot, but I'll do everything I can to get the most aggressive film I can." I, for one, am disappointed (though not particularly surprised). “Kinda R” is not “R”. PG-13 may work for Harry Potter, but the horrors the Alien universe were never meant to be tamed. Still, even if it does wind-up a PG-13, if Scott’s final product can match the chilling intensity of its trailer, fans may yet find it in their hearts to forgive the old master.
Extraterrestrials can be extremely big box office when done right. They provide drama, conflict and, most often, a really, really good bad guy.
The question for ufologists is whether Hollywood makes these projects just because of the tickets they can sell or whether there is ever an ulterior, hidden motivation. This, of course, is what makes Silver Screen Saucers such compelling reading.
Robbie Graham and I met last summer at the Leeds Exopolitics Conference where we both got to share our mutual passions for UFOs in television and film. We come at this topic from two different angles — Robbie has done brilliant work in the academic field delving into the history and behind-the-scenes machinations of countless such projects and I’ve had the good fortune to experience a handful of them from the inside.
And, now, we’re working together to bring Silver Screen Saucersto a larger audience. Robbie is blistering his fingers on his keyboard to produce what will likely be the most definitive book on the subject ever written. I’m working in concert with Robbie to find a way to bring his book to life in television as a special or series and, as a consequence, I’m consulting with Robbie on the content of this website so that it all fits together to create the best experience possible for you and other readers and viewers to come.
It’s all part of a mix where I’ve “doubled-down” on ufological topics. Many of you know me because of the NBC TV series I created and produced, Dark Skies, and the development I contributed to on the SyFy Channel’s Taken. But I also have a new edition of the book I co-authored with Richard Dolan, A.D. After Disclosure, being published by Career Press in May 2012. I’m also finishing the screenplay for Majic Men, the story of the Roswell investigation, which is inspired by the work of Stanton Friedman and Donald Schmitt.
For those of you who live in the Northern California area, I’ll be delivering my speech “Life After Contact” at the Sonoma International Film Festivalin mid-April, based on an invitation they extended after seeing it at the IUFOC in Phoenix just a month ago.
So there is lots to talk about in the future but, for now, let me just say that while we’re all keeping our eyes on the skies, let’s not forget to check out Silver Screen Saucers from time-to-time as well.
Sony Pictures has just released the theme song for the upcoming Men in Black 3.
Performed and co-written by Armando C. Perez (a.k.a Pitbull), the song features a sample of the 1950s hit "Love is Strange." Which really is strange considering the movie is set in 1969.
The title of the song: "Back in Time" (I know... Huey Lewis! Back to the Future! Right!?). Here it is...
Legendary monster make-up artist Rick Baker spoke enthusiastically at last summer’s San Diego Comic-Con about his alien creature designs for the upcoming Men in Black 3. As sizable chunks of the time-travel-themed movie are set in 1969, Baker said he had been allowed to indulge his passion for retro alien beasties, telling his Comic-Con audience:
“Right from the first movie, I was always saying to Barry [Sonnenfeld], ‘Let’s do aliens that look like aliens we’ve already seen... Let’s say that Paul Blaisdell, who did the effects for Invasion of theSaucer Men, actually had a real encounter with an alien and tried to recreate it on film, so there are saucer men in the Men in Black headquarters. And let’s have E.T. in there, operating the phone.' Barry didn’t like any of those ideas, he thought they were stupid. But when Men in Black 3 came along and I heard about the time-travel element, I said, ‘Okay, it’s set in 2012, so we’ll have aliens that look like 2012 aliens in that part of the film. But when we go back to 1969, wouldn’t it be cool to have retro aliens? Big brains, bug eyes, stuff like that?’ I thought they should have a totally different, retro feel. And they agreed to it, thank God. So I got to make a whole bunch of cool stuff.”
Well, here we are in March, 2012, with just two months to go before the movie’s release, and finally we’re afforded a glimpse at the fruits of Baker’s labour. These photos come to you via Russia’s Stark Industries...
It seems Baker has been true to his word about drawing inspiration from Invasion of the Saucer Men, which helped popularise the term “little green men” in 1957. 1953’s Robot Monsteralso gets a nod!
Last week, while speaking at Nickelodeon’s annual Upfront presentation, Michael Bay announced that his upcoming live-action production of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would present the beloved characters as extraterrestrials, effectively re-writing their sacred origin story.
Predictably, Bay's comments resulted in a stinging backlash from Turtles fans, who quickly took to online message boards and accused the filmmaker of violating their childhood memories (don’t take it personally, guys, that's just Bay's 'thing').
Anyway, ComingSoon.net took the opportunity yesterday to talk to the movie’s director, Jonathan Liebesman, and ask him what he made of ‘Turtle-gate’.
Liebesman had this to say:
"I heard about it, and I'm glad there's such a passionate fanbase – I think that was good news for everyone – but literally, I've just been locked in a room with Kevin Eastman [original co-creator of the Turtles]. I think what we're developing, the fans will love. I'm a fan, and I love what we're doing. It's a lot of stuff Kevin's been thinking about for a long time and just hasn't done. Anything we expand will tie right into the mythology, so I think fans will go apesh*t when they see it...”
Jonathan Liebesman
I think we can all agree with Jonathan that Turtles fans most assuredly will go “apesh*t” when they see his movie. The director then added, apparently with a straight face:
“We worked so hard on this. You just don't want to f*ck it up and you don't want to disappoint people who pay money... out of respect for the people who are paying money to see the movie – you feel those people are the reason why we have these jobs."
This from the man who gave us Battle: Los Angeles (2011). How Liebesman still has a job after that plotless, excruciatingly bland military recruitment campaign is a bigger mystery than the real life Battle of Los Angeles. And Liebesman made that one without Michael bay... the thought of these two men working together is the stuff of cinematic nightmares. Turtles fans, abandon all hope, ye who enter the multiplex December 2013.
Ask President Obama the quickest way to fictionalize a real event and he'll tell you: brush it gleefully with Hollywood dust.
Earlier this week, while in Maljamar, New Mexico, President Obama dropped the R-bomb on reporters in a cheap effort to elicit some laughs. It worked better than ever, because in his next breath he paraphrased the 1951 UFO movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still, in which the enlightened alien, Klaatu, tells the people of Earth: “We have come to visit you in peace and with good will.”
The President then proceeded to... threaten to kill young children who ask him about Roswell??
You heard the man, "We're gonna keep our secrets here," whatever that means. Don't worry, Mr. President. Your comments may have turned a little sinister towards the end, but all the headlines will recall is your whimsical sci-fi movie soundbite... see!
Here is the first teaser trailer for the big screen adaptation of The Host – Stephanie Meyer’s 2008 science-fiction romance novel about alien entities (called “Souls”) who silently take over Earth by invading the minds of its inhabitants...
While the teaser trailer is suitably enigmatic, the official plot for the movie is rather more revealing:
“Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.
When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves – Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love."
The Host is directed by Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, Lord of War). It is scheduled for release March 29, 2013.
Battleship hits cinemas 11 April (UK) and 18 May (US)
Back in 2010, the alien invasion film Skylineincorporated real news stories into its marketing campaign. The trailer for the film begins with bold text against a cosmic backdrop reading:
“On August 28, 2009, NASA sent a message into space farther than we ever thought possible in an effort to reach extraterrestrial life.”
This is true. On the date specified, the Australian government, through its “Hello from Earth” science initiative, and with the help of NASA, sent some 26,000 (carefully vetted) messages from the public to the extra-solar Earth-like planet Gliese 581d in a single transmission. This proactive approach to alien contact known as METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence) differs from the traditional passive approach favoured by SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), which devotes its efforts simply to listening for any potential incoming alien signals.
The METI approach is controversial as some scientists consider it unwise to knowingly alert our presence in the galaxy to any potentially technologically superior civilizations. In April 2010, Professor Stephen Hawking made international headlines by stating his firm belief that humanity should seek to avoid extraterrestrial contact: "To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational," Hawking said, but added, ominously, "If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the American Indians.” Hawking suggested that aliens "might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet” and would perhaps be “looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach.”
Skyline was a box-office bomb, panned by critics. Despite this, director Peter Berg has chosen to incorporate the “dangers of METI” idea into his upcoming mega-movie, Battleship(which was produced with the full cooperation of the US Navy).
Take a look at this new promotional featurette for Battleship, in which scientists take a proactive approach to extraterrestrial contact, sending a signal directly to a 'Goldilocks' planet...
Silly, arrogant scientists. What, with their selfish desire to expand human knowledge, and all. And, man, is that lead scientist fugly – and British to boot!! The stunningly attractive US military has better things to do with its time than sweep up the sciency mess of bumbling British boffins. But, then, who’s gonna kick those aliens’ asses if not... Rihanna? Wait...
On location: John Carter director, Andrew Stanton, and star, Taylor Kitsch
Disney has admitted that its epic Mars-based sci-fi adventure John Carter is set to lose the studio more than $200 million at the box-office. The movie, which cost at least $250 million to make (some say $300 million), opened two weekends ago to a disappointing $30 million and has yet to recoup its budget.
In a statement earlier this week, Disney acknowledged that it expects John Carter “to generate an operating loss of approximately $200m” by the end of March.
Pondering the box-office failure of John Carter, Ben Child of The Guardianwrites:
“Critics have suggested that John Carter’s failure to connect with audiences may have been due to confusing marketing as well as lukewarm reviews. Disney chose not to run with the “of Mars” suffix in the wake of traditionally poor box-office results for films that focus on the planet, and trailers also largely ignored the movie's central romance, something Hollywood tends to see as a surefire method of attracting female filmgoers.”
Followers of Silver Screen Saucers, however – and, indeed, anyone familiar with sci-fi movie history – will know that John Carter’s box-office belly-flop was not the result of poor marketing or lukewarm reviews (in fact, Disney marketed the hell out of it, and a number of high-profile critics loved the movie), but something entirely beyond the control of all Hollywood creatives, something ominous and unforgiving: The Martian Curse!
I, for one, am puzzled by the public’s historical aversion to Hollywood’s Mars movies. What is it about The Red Planet that turns us off at the box-office? Your thoughts are welcome...
A handful of early reviews for the Nazi UFO invasion comedy, Iron Sky, have started to surface online. The movie is not released theatrically until next month, so it’s too early yet to judge whether or not the following reviews are representative of the hundreds still to pour in, or, indeed, if the reviewers’ cutting comments will have any bearing on the movie’s box-office returns. At this point, though, things aren’t looking too promising.
Here are some review snapshots (for the full reviews, click the website titles in bold red)...
Perhaps the harshest review comes from The Guardian’s Andrew Pulver, who gives the film just two stars out of five and writes:
“Proper comedy is a rare gift, and all the fancy, fanboy-titillating CGI effects in the world can't make up for it... No one on show has what you would call natural comic timing – a difficulty reinforced by the fact that half the cast aren't speaking their native language... [Directors] Vuorensola and Torssonen can console themselves with the likelihood that the remake rights will be worth a bomb; I've no doubt a queue is already forming. Theirs is an idea that Hollywood could do much better with.”
London’s Time Out Online also could muster only two stars for the movie, saying “The lingering sense is one of missed opportunities: any movie featuring Nazis from the moon should be an easy win. Iron Sky just proves that even the dumbest idea needs a smart mind behind it.”
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter compares the movie to both Starship Troopers and Galaxy Quest, but notes that, “while the plotting is mostly sound enough, the dialogue would have required several more polishes to put Iron Sky in the league of either of those movies,” adding, “the real problem is that the jokes are just not there.”
Screen Daily’s Mark Adams, meanwhile, is more positive in his review of Iron Sky, saying “fans of the genre will lap up the film,” which has “some delicious moments” and “some truly impressive special effects.”
Robert Beams of What Culture! was also somewhat complimentary:
“There are visual puns, gloriously over-designed Nazi spaceships and even autobahns on the surface of the moon. Every frame is full of jokes – some of them highly inspired and many of them less so (in fact some don’t work at all). But the gag-rate is so high that you’re bound to chuckle at least once every few minutes even if you don’t surrender yourself to it entirely.”
Transformers director Michael Bay has suggested that his production company’s upcoming live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie reboot will be entirely rewriting the Turtles’ origins story and presenting the ‘heroes in a half-shell’ not as mutants, but as extraterrestrials. Seriously. Last week, while at Nickelodeon’s annual Upfront presentation, Bay told crowds:
“When you see this movie, kids are going to believe, one day, that these turtles actually do exist when we are done with this movie. These turtles are from an alien race and they are going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely lovable.”
Bay's comments did not go down well with Turtles fans, however, who quickly called for the director's massive head on a platter. In response, Bay has now posted the following on his official message board:
"Fans need to take a breath, and chill. They have not read the script. Our team is working closely with one of the original creators of Ninja Turtles to help expand and give a more complex back story. Relax, we are including everything that made you become fans in the first place. We are just building a richer world."
To see video of Bay’s Turtles revelation, head over to io9.com.
Bay’s Turtles reboot is scheduled for release Christmas 2013.
Nazi UFO comedy Iron Sky is due for theatrical release on the 4th of April. Here are the first four-and-a-half minutes of the hotly anticipated movie...
Aliens held hostage by the US government at Area 51 are to be freed by their own kind in a daring extraterrestrial prison break next February.
Escape from Planet Earth is a 3D animated family comedy from The Weinstein Company and Rainmaker Entertainment. The movie is voiced by the likes of Brendan Fraser, Jessica Alba, Sarah Jessica Parker and James Gandolfini. Its plot is officially described as follows:
“Escape from Planet Earth catapults movie goers to planet Baab where admired astronaut Scorch Supernova (Brendan Fraser) is a national hero to the blue alien population. A master of daring rescues, Scorch pulls off astonishing feats with the quiet aid of his nerdy, by-the-rules brother, Gary (Rob Corddry), head of mission control at BASA. When BASA's no-nonsense chief Lena (Jessica Alba) informs the brothers of an SOS from a notoriously dangerous planet, Scorch rejects Gary's warnings and bounds off for yet another exciting mission. But when Scorch finds himself caught in a fiendish trap set by the evil Shanker (James Gandolfini), it's up to scrawny, risk-adverse Gary to do the real rescuing. As the interplanetary stakes rise to new heights, Gary is left to save his brother, his planet, his beloved wife Kira (Sarah Jessica Parker) and their adventure hungry son Kip!”
This official blurb makes no mention of Area 51, but an early animation test for Escape to Planet Earth leaves no doubt as to the movie’s setting...
Escape from Planet Earth is due for release February 14, 2013.
GUNS! BOMBS! GUNS AND BOMBS! ALSO, GUNS!! AND BOMBS!!! (and aliens... and GUNS!)...
John Carter goes rotten, stink spreads to box-office
Based on a selection of positive critics’ reviews for John Carter earlier this month, I suggested that the Disney movie may do the unthinkable and lift Hollywood’s dreaded Curse of Mars. I cautioned, however, that the critical consensus for John Carter would likely change as more reviews poured in – and change it has, from a “fresh” 77% to a “rotten” 51% on the Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer'.
John Carter’s critical reception is now being reflected at the box-office with the movie pulling in a “disappointing” $30.2 million in its opening weekend according to BoxOfficeMojo.com and having to settle for the number two spot behind The Lorax.
Writing for BoxOfficeMojo.com, Ray Subers notes:
“Disney's marketing department has been beat up on pretty good for the lacklustre John Cartercampaign, and to their credit the movie doesn't really lend itself to an easy sell. Still, making the movie is the responsibility of production, and selling the movie is the responsibility of marketing, and in that regard they clearly failed."
It remains to be seen whether the movie will recoup its $250 million (some say 300 million) budget.
Defiance
Deadline.comreports that Julie Benz (Dexter) will star opposite Grant Bowler in the Syfy series Defiance.Tony Curran (Pillars Of The Earth), Jaime Murray and Stephanie Leonidas also have been cast in this live-action drama which Deadline describes as follows:
"Set on a future Earth, Defiance is set in a world where humans and aliens live together on a planet ravaged by decades of war and transformed by alien terra-forming machines. It centers on Jeb Nolan (Bowler), the law-keeper in a bustling frontier boomtown that is one of the new world’s few oasis of civility and inclusion. Benz, repped by ICM and Vincent Cirrincione, will play Amanda Rosewater, the idealistic newly appointed mayor of the mining boomtown who is determined to maintain peace in the community. Leonidas, repped by UK’s Artists Rights Group and Thruline, will play Irisa, a beautiful warrior who is part of an alien race called the Irathients. After Nolan killed her criminal father, he adopted the girl and raised her as his clever – and lethal – right-hand. Curran, repped by Domain and Sanders/Arstrong/Caserta, will play Datak Tarr, a member of another elite alien race known as the Castithans who schemed his way out of his home planet before it was destroyed. Murray, repped by Sanders/Arstrong/Caserta, will play Datak’s beautiful and proper wife.”
5th Wave
GK Films and Tobey Maguire's Material Pictures are to produce a movie adaptation of the forthcoming sci-fi novel The 5th Wave, Varietyreports, noting that the film will be based on a just-sold proposal by Rick Yancey.
Yancey’s story follows a teenage girl in search of her brother and is against the backdrop of an alien invasion. The girl is aided in her search by a young man who may or may not be an undercover invader himself. No release date as yet.
Electronic Encounters
A fan of Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind? Stirred by John Williams’ iconic score for said movie? If so, you might be interested in wrapping your ears around Electronic Encounters, a new digital album comprised of tracks directly inspired by Spielberg’s 1977 classic. It makes for intriguing and frequently chilled-out listening.
Silver Screen Saucers on the airwaves
Finally, I was interviewed recently as a guest on The Conspiracy Show with Richard Syrett. The topic was UFOs & Hollywood, with a strong focus on DoD and CIA involvement in the filmmaking process. You can listen to the show here. I’ll also be appearing on the The Kate Valentine UFO Show on March 23.
