What the corpus says about Aliens (1986)

The 60 lines php artisan corpus:ask hands a model, in the order it gets them, and nothing else. The model writes a clerk's answer from these and only these.

What was said about it (26)

[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:09:08 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Aliens ↔ Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol · programming · Both franchises are auteur-rich without one definitive director, which is why the Patreon series covered them. · "Uh, but like Mission Impossible Aliens, perfect examples of franchises that uh, have a tours, but do not have one definitive director."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:52:25 · unknown (0.40)] Avatar ↔ Aliens · lineage · Cameron's 1995 pitch for Avatar was much closer to Aliens in tone. · "It was much closer to aliens in tone."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:30:17 · Matt Singer (0.40)] Aliens ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Alien 3 follows Aliens; watched back to back, Aliens ends on a new family that Alien 3 then kills. · "you watch aliens and that has this ending of, you know, this new family that has been created."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:50:21 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Alien ⇒ Aliens (the host's read) · lineage · Cameron's sequel to Ridley Scott's film shifted the genre, which raised expectations for any follow-up. · "some other fucking guy is coming in and making a sequel to Ridley Scott's movie."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:29:41 · unknown (0.30)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Aliens · lineage · Aliens had Marines. · "Aliens, you got Marines."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:40:52 · unknown (0.40)] Aliens ⇒ Alien: Covenant (the host's read) · lineage · The shoulder-mounted GoPro cameras are carried over from the Marines in Aliens. · "which the Marines all have in aliens"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 1:55:53 · unknown (0.40)] Aliens ⇒ Alien: Covenant (the host's read) · lineage · The loader and airlock set piece homages the power loader fight in Aliens. · "But something about this feels closer to the power loader fight."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 0:21:41 · unknown (0.50)] Aliens ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Alien 3 opens by wiping out the status quo that ended Aliens. · "Seconds of this movie, it literally just burns the status quo established at the end of the last one."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 0:32:21 · unknown (0.50)] Aliens ⇒ Neill Blomkamp's unmade Aliens sequel (the host's read) · lineage · Blomkamp's unmade film would have followed Aliens directly. · "an alien sequel that was a direct aliens sequel and ignoring everything that came after it"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:57:59 · unknown (0.30)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Aliens · theme · Covenant is a haunted house about grief; even Ripley and Newt were more PTSD than grief. · "Even Ripley and Newt were haunted by death."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:22:17 · David Sims (0.60)] Alien Resurrection ↔ Aliens · theme · Seeing Ripley cloned and cut open feels as cruel as Hicks and Newt dying off-screen at the start of the previous sequel. · "this is the moment where I feel the way people describe the anger of Hicks and Newt getting killed at the beginning of alien cube."
[Blank Check · Miami Vice - Pilot Episode · 0:50:44 · unknown (0.30)] Miami Vice - Pilot (Brother's Keeper) ↔ Aliens · craft · The pilot's extended opening titles build slowly like Aliens' opening. · "It feels like the opening to aliens where it like takes a long time to come together."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:14:17 · unknown (0.40)] Avatar ↔ Aliens · craft · Cameron gave Avatar a Hudson-type scene-stealer as a fifth lead, but this cast is less iconic. · "Cameron has given us like a Hudson as the 5th lead of your movie"
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:14:43 · unknown (0.40)] Avatar ↔ Aliens · craft · Avatar's side characters are fun but not as indelible as Aliens' Marines. · "It's not like in aliens where you're like the 15th guy in aliens."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 1:04:08 · unknown (0.40)] Aliens ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · craft · Making Aliens (a voiceless monster) is what let Cameron individualize the humans there and flip that in Avatar. · "I wonder if he hadn't made aliens if he could have arrived at that."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:45:18 · David Sims (0.60)] Alien Resurrection ↔ Aliens · craft · In Aliens you see them fleetingly; in Resurrection animatronics let an alien stand in front of you for ten seconds. · "But this is the 1st one where it's like, yeah, an alien's just standing in front of you."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 0:10:43 · unknown (0.30)] Aliens ⇒ Captain America: The First Avenger (the host's read) · craft · The frozen-find cold open structurally echoes the discovery sequence that opens Aliens. · "this is also actually very similar to is the opening of aliens."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Blue Steel · 0:10:49 · unknown (0.40)] Blue Steel ↔ Aliens · craft · The locker-room dressing scene is shot like the gear-up in Aliens. · "shot like aliens."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ · 1:16:22 · unknown (0.40)] Friday the 13th Part 2 ↔ Aliens · contrast · Part 2 is argued to improve more on its original than Aliens, Godfather 2, or Empire. · "Hmm. Friday 2 is like leaps and bounds."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 1:03:39 · unknown (0.40)] Avatar ↔ Aliens · contrast · Avatar's humans are not meant to be charismatic like Aliens' Marines; the audience is supposed to side with the Navi. · "When people go, why aren't the Marines in this as compelling as the Marines and aliens?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 1:40:03 · David Sims (0.60)] Alien Resurrection ↔ Aliens · contrast · In Aliens she rescues Newt and in Alien 3 the convicts find purpose; in Resurrection there is no purpose to the fight. · "in aliens, she's rescuing newt and like, you know, even in alien 3, they kind of, by the end of it"
[The Rewatchables · 'Mission: Impossible' · 0:23:42 · Jason Concepcion (0.40)] Mission: Impossible ↔ Aliens · people · Cruise's panicked 'they knew we were coming' on the phone is compared to Bill Paxton in Aliens. · "He's like fucking Bill Paxton and aliens in this scene."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:50:52 · Griffin Newman (0.35)] Aliens ↔ Alien 3 · industry · The Cameron film is such an obvious high point that nobody can zag from it, except into despair. · "Where the hell are you gonna zag from that?"
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:58:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] Resident Evil ↔ Aliens · creature/set-piece comp · The elevator ascent and maternity ward pods recall Alien and Aliens; xenomorphs coming out of the wall. · "this is really where a lot of the alien and aliens stuff starts to come in"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Full Metal Jacket · 0:46:53 · unknown (0.30)] Aliens ↔ Full Metal Jacket · scheduling conflict · Rico Ross had to choose between two tyrannical directors with overlapping holds and picked Aliens. · "And eventually it was just like, you're dealing with 2 different tyrannical control freaks."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 0:29:45 · unknown (0.50)] Charles Dance ↔ Aliens · theme · Dance's doctor combines the helper, enemy and android roles Reiser, Biehn and Henriksen played in Aliens. · "He's kind of Paul Reiser, Michael Bean, and Lance Henrickson from Aliens in one character."

Films put beside it more than once (4)

[pairs] Aliens ↔ Avatar · said 5 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Aliens ↔ Alien: Covenant · said 4 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Aliens ↔ Alien 3 · said 3 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] Aliens ↔ Alien Resurrection · said 3 times in 1 episode

Fun items about it (1)

[Blank Check — Patreon · Full Metal Jacket · 0:46:41 · unknown (0.30)] Aliens · fun · Rico Ross had to pick Aliens over Kubrick's film because of overlapping holds. · "Kubrick had an 8 week hold on him, and there was one week of overlap between aliens and full metal jacket"

One hop out: what recommends the films most often joined to it (21)

[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:26:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.90)] Edgar Rice Burroughs ⇒ Avatar (the maker said so: Cameron's 1994 80-page treatment) · lineage · Cameron's Avatar treatment drew on childhood sci-fi reading, Burroughs and Haggard. · "drawing inspiration from, quote, every single science fiction book that he had read in his childhood, and also Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 1:04:43 · unknown (0.30)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Blade Runner 2049 · programming · Both came out in 2017, by two generations of sci-fi. · "This is the same year as Blade Runner 2049."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 1:35:21 · unknown (0.40)] Alien 3 ↔ Resident Evil · programming · Resident Evil should not be programmed next to Alien; wait for in-person sessions. · "Also, you can't put it next to Alien because Resident Evil does, well, not, that will not be good for Resident Evil."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 2:17:13 · David Sims (0.60)] Prometheus ↔ Alien Resurrection · programming · The Patreon run continues with Prometheus then Covenant after this final Ripley film. · "Tune in for Prometheus, tune in for covenant."
[The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ · 0:51:40 · Chris Ryan (0.50)] The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ⇒ Alien (the host's read) · lineage · Chainsaw is what inspired Ridley Scott to make Alien. · "Texas Chainsaw Basker is what inspired Ridley Scott to make alien."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:26:24 · unknown (0.40)] John Carter of Mars ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Avatar reads like a John Carter of Mars style story. · "Yeah, it's very like John Carter of Mars or whatever."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 2:04:21 · unknown (0.40)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 · programming · Covenant's weekend opened behind Guardians Vol. 2, #1 for the second weekend. · "Oh, it's Gardens of Galaxy volume two."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:59:46 · Adam Nayman (0.85)] David Fincher ↔ Alien 3 · lineage · Alien 3 is the primal scene of Fincher's chip on his shoulder, producers treating him like a shoe salesman. · "there's the chip on the shoulder and the primal scene of alien 3, right?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:24:13 · David Sims (0.30)] Alien 3 ⇒ Alien Resurrection (the host's read) · lineage · Resurrection follows Alien 3, but its Ripley is a different character from the one who died. · "As much as she was quote unquote resurrected, obviously, that's a different character explicitly."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ · 1:12:56 · Bill Simmons (0.30)] Alien ⇒ Species (the maker said so) · lineage · Giger thought Species ripped off too many other alien movies, such as the chest-burster. · "He thought the movie ripped off too many other alien movies"
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:42:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Wizard of Oz ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Avatar is described as a deep Wizard of Oz homage. · "In case you were wondering, this is a deep wizard of a homage, among other things."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:06:57 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Prometheus ⇒ Alien: Covenant (the host's read) · lineage · Covenant is half the Prometheus sequel Scott wanted and half a concession to a more normal Alien movie. · "this is half, like Ridley Scott doing the Prometheus sequel he wanted to do and half"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:24:13 · David Sims (0.30)] Alien 3 ⇒ Alien Resurrection (the host's read) · lineage · Resurrection follows Alien 3, but its Ripley is a different character from the one who died. · "As much as she was quote unquote resurrected, obviously, that's a different character explicitly."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:29:48 · unknown (0.30)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Alien Resurrection · lineage · The fourth film had pirates. · "Alien four, I guess."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ · 0:27:04 · Joanna Robinson (0.60)] Sigourney Weaver ↔ Alien · lineage · Both the Working Girl role and the Alien role were originally written for a man. · "the screenwriter said that her role was originally written as a man, which is true for her role in alien as well."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:53:51 · unknown (0.40)] The Wizard of Oz ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Avatar is an original story but inspired by Oz and John Ford movies. · "It's just like hugely inspired by not just the Wizard of Oz, but like lots of John Ford movies"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:29:38 · unknown (0.30)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Alien · lineage · Each Alien film has a different workforce; the original had blue-collar miners. · "Like that's, you know, blue collar minors."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:56:20 · Griffin Newman (0.35)] David Twohy ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Twohy brought the prison-planet concept into the development. · "Twowey is the one who brings in the prison planet concept, okay?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:31:00 · David Sims (0.50)] Alien Resurrection ⇒ Firefly (TV) (the host's read) · lineage · The Betty's space-pirate crew reads as proto-Firefly, Whedon's later show. · "I mean, some proto firefly stuff."
[The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ · 0:47:57 · Adam Nayman (0.50)] Alien ⇒ Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (the host's read) · lineage · Ripley stripped to underwear at the end is a vulnerability beat that Miasma echoes. · "Yes, it is echoed in Teenage Tech"
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:53:51 · unknown (0.40)] John Ford ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Same line: Avatar draws on John Ford films and the history of movies. · "lots of John Ford movies and you can see like the history of movies"

Who said it, by their latest sketch (5)

[speaker] David Sims · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Prepares history: novel, casting, budgets, box office. Reveres the film and thinks it reads as a normal ground-level story. A sucker for Hollywood deal backstory and box office game. · stances: Praises Keitel and Dafoe casting; Respects Scorsese's persistence and Corman discipline; The film is now well regarded though not 'canonical Marty'
[speaker] Griffin Newman · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness. · stances: Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version; Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus; Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases
[speaker] Jason Concepcion · latest sketch, The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · Loves a musical, Donnie Yen action, and the 1998 Mulan with its Eddie Murphy humor. Finds the remake kind of boring and wants a grounded, historical version. Sucker for political and economic framing of film controversy. · stances: The remake is fine in a vacuum, a disappointment as a Mulan; Wants a more historical, less magical take; Sees the Mulan controversy as a symptom of the West-China economic experiment; Missing music means missing storytelling
[speaker] Matt Singer · latest sketch, Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · Author of Opposable Thumbs, a book about Siskel and Ebert; has seen both cuts of Alien 3 and owns the Quadrilogy box set. Loves Siskel and Ebert as a gateway to movies; likes the show more than the movies as a kid. Attribution is inferred. · stances: He watched both cuts of Alien 3 for the episode; Praises the Siskel and Ebert show as a form of film discussion
[speaker] Sean Fennessey · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · Loves gory, funny, fast genre movies with craft and confidence, especially 87-minute films that never overstay. Can't stand ponderous elevated horror that fills out its runtime with introspection and sad family history. A sucker for the Carpenter-era lineage, Die Hard homages, and directors who break studio dogma. · stances: Resident Evil is one of the best films of the year; Horror movies have become a drag; fun genre experiences are needed; Short running times are a virtue; Video-game films work best when great filmmakers get creative license

The shows' running bits (3)

[bits] The Big Picture: Drafts (Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument); Hall of Fame (A star's or director's best, ranked and argued); Countdowns (Ranked lists, top five or top ten)
[bits] Blank Check: The box office game (Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against); The sung theme ("Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it)
[bits] The Rewatchables: Apex Mountain (The moment a star peaks; where on the mountain a performance sits); Who Won the Movie (The hosts name the person who came out of the film best off); The Ebert review (Roger Ebert's original review and star rating read aloud. Ebert is cited, never on the show); Casting what-ifs (Who was almost cast, or who should have been); Most rewatchable scene (The scene each host would stop on while flipping channels); Aged best / aged worst (What holds up and what does not); Picking Nits (The little things in a film the hosts love that they don't think totally work: the nits); Double feature (The film each host would pair it with; a programming pick)

The whole prompt

As the model gets it, from app/Ai/Prompts/CorpusAsk.md

You are a clerk at Video Culture, a video store. A customer just finished Aliens (1986) and wants to know what to watch next.

Below is what people who love movies said on three podcasts (Blank Check, The Rewatchables, The Big Picture) about Aliens (1986) and the films around it, one line each. Every line starts with where it came from, in brackets: [show · episode · time · speaker (how sure we are it was them)]. A [pairs] line says how often two films were put side by side. A [speaker] line says what that person likes. A [bits] line lists a show's running bits: a format, not an opinion.

[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:09:08 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Aliens ↔ Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol · programming · Both franchises are auteur-rich without one definitive director, which is why the Patreon series covered them. · "Uh, but like Mission Impossible Aliens, perfect examples of franchises that uh, have a tours, but do not have one definitive director."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:52:25 · unknown (0.40)] Avatar ↔ Aliens · lineage · Cameron's 1995 pitch for Avatar was much closer to Aliens in tone. · "It was much closer to aliens in tone."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:30:17 · Matt Singer (0.40)] Aliens ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Alien 3 follows Aliens; watched back to back, Aliens ends on a new family that Alien 3 then kills. · "you watch aliens and that has this ending of, you know, this new family that has been created."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:50:21 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Alien ⇒ Aliens (the host's read) · lineage · Cameron's sequel to Ridley Scott's film shifted the genre, which raised expectations for any follow-up. · "some other fucking guy is coming in and making a sequel to Ridley Scott's movie."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:29:41 · unknown (0.30)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Aliens · lineage · Aliens had Marines. · "Aliens, you got Marines."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:40:52 · unknown (0.40)] Aliens ⇒ Alien: Covenant (the host's read) · lineage · The shoulder-mounted GoPro cameras are carried over from the Marines in Aliens. · "which the Marines all have in aliens"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 1:55:53 · unknown (0.40)] Aliens ⇒ Alien: Covenant (the host's read) · lineage · The loader and airlock set piece homages the power loader fight in Aliens. · "But something about this feels closer to the power loader fight."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 0:21:41 · unknown (0.50)] Aliens ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Alien 3 opens by wiping out the status quo that ended Aliens. · "Seconds of this movie, it literally just burns the status quo established at the end of the last one."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 0:32:21 · unknown (0.50)] Aliens ⇒ Neill Blomkamp's unmade Aliens sequel (the host's read) · lineage · Blomkamp's unmade film would have followed Aliens directly. · "an alien sequel that was a direct aliens sequel and ignoring everything that came after it"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:57:59 · unknown (0.30)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Aliens · theme · Covenant is a haunted house about grief; even Ripley and Newt were more PTSD than grief. · "Even Ripley and Newt were haunted by death."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:22:17 · David Sims (0.60)] Alien Resurrection ↔ Aliens · theme · Seeing Ripley cloned and cut open feels as cruel as Hicks and Newt dying off-screen at the start of the previous sequel. · "this is the moment where I feel the way people describe the anger of Hicks and Newt getting killed at the beginning of alien cube."
[Blank Check · Miami Vice - Pilot Episode · 0:50:44 · unknown (0.30)] Miami Vice - Pilot (Brother's Keeper) ↔ Aliens · craft · The pilot's extended opening titles build slowly like Aliens' opening. · "It feels like the opening to aliens where it like takes a long time to come together."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:14:17 · unknown (0.40)] Avatar ↔ Aliens · craft · Cameron gave Avatar a Hudson-type scene-stealer as a fifth lead, but this cast is less iconic. · "Cameron has given us like a Hudson as the 5th lead of your movie"
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:14:43 · unknown (0.40)] Avatar ↔ Aliens · craft · Avatar's side characters are fun but not as indelible as Aliens' Marines. · "It's not like in aliens where you're like the 15th guy in aliens."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 1:04:08 · unknown (0.40)] Aliens ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · craft · Making Aliens (a voiceless monster) is what let Cameron individualize the humans there and flip that in Avatar. · "I wonder if he hadn't made aliens if he could have arrived at that."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:45:18 · David Sims (0.60)] Alien Resurrection ↔ Aliens · craft · In Aliens you see them fleetingly; in Resurrection animatronics let an alien stand in front of you for ten seconds. · "But this is the 1st one where it's like, yeah, an alien's just standing in front of you."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Captain America: The First Avenger · 0:10:43 · unknown (0.30)] Aliens ⇒ Captain America: The First Avenger (the host's read) · craft · The frozen-find cold open structurally echoes the discovery sequence that opens Aliens. · "this is also actually very similar to is the opening of aliens."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Blue Steel · 0:10:49 · unknown (0.40)] Blue Steel ↔ Aliens · craft · The locker-room dressing scene is shot like the gear-up in Aliens. · "shot like aliens."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Friday the 13th’ · 1:16:22 · unknown (0.40)] Friday the 13th Part 2 ↔ Aliens · contrast · Part 2 is argued to improve more on its original than Aliens, Godfather 2, or Empire. · "Hmm. Friday 2 is like leaps and bounds."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 1:03:39 · unknown (0.40)] Avatar ↔ Aliens · contrast · Avatar's humans are not meant to be charismatic like Aliens' Marines; the audience is supposed to side with the Navi. · "When people go, why aren't the Marines in this as compelling as the Marines and aliens?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 1:40:03 · David Sims (0.60)] Alien Resurrection ↔ Aliens · contrast · In Aliens she rescues Newt and in Alien 3 the convicts find purpose; in Resurrection there is no purpose to the fight. · "in aliens, she's rescuing newt and like, you know, even in alien 3, they kind of, by the end of it"
[The Rewatchables · 'Mission: Impossible' · 0:23:42 · Jason Concepcion (0.40)] Mission: Impossible ↔ Aliens · people · Cruise's panicked 'they knew we were coming' on the phone is compared to Bill Paxton in Aliens. · "He's like fucking Bill Paxton and aliens in this scene."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:50:52 · Griffin Newman (0.35)] Aliens ↔ Alien 3 · industry · The Cameron film is such an obvious high point that nobody can zag from it, except into despair. · "Where the hell are you gonna zag from that?"
[The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · 0:58:53 · Sean Fennessey (0.55)] Resident Evil ↔ Aliens · creature/set-piece comp · The elevator ascent and maternity ward pods recall Alien and Aliens; xenomorphs coming out of the wall. · "this is really where a lot of the alien and aliens stuff starts to come in"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Full Metal Jacket · 0:46:53 · unknown (0.30)] Aliens ↔ Full Metal Jacket · scheduling conflict · Rico Ross had to choose between two tyrannical directors with overlapping holds and picked Aliens. · "And eventually it was just like, you're dealing with 2 different tyrannical control freaks."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 0:29:45 · unknown (0.50)] Charles Dance ↔ Aliens · theme · Dance's doctor combines the helper, enemy and android roles Reiser, Biehn and Henriksen played in Aliens. · "He's kind of Paul Reiser, Michael Bean, and Lance Henrickson from Aliens in one character."
[pairs] Aliens ↔ Avatar · said 5 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Aliens ↔ Alien: Covenant · said 4 times in 1 episode
[pairs] Aliens ↔ Alien 3 · said 3 times in 2 episodes
[pairs] Aliens ↔ Alien Resurrection · said 3 times in 1 episode
[Blank Check — Patreon · Full Metal Jacket · 0:46:41 · unknown (0.30)] Aliens · fun · Rico Ross had to pick Aliens over Kubrick's film because of overlapping holds. · "Kubrick had an 8 week hold on him, and there was one week of overlap between aliens and full metal jacket"
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:26:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.90)] Edgar Rice Burroughs ⇒ Avatar (the maker said so: Cameron's 1994 80-page treatment) · lineage · Cameron's Avatar treatment drew on childhood sci-fi reading, Burroughs and Haggard. · "drawing inspiration from, quote, every single science fiction book that he had read in his childhood, and also Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 1:04:43 · unknown (0.30)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Blade Runner 2049 · programming · Both came out in 2017, by two generations of sci-fi. · "This is the same year as Blade Runner 2049."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien 3 · 1:35:21 · unknown (0.40)] Alien 3 ↔ Resident Evil · programming · Resident Evil should not be programmed next to Alien; wait for in-person sessions. · "Also, you can't put it next to Alien because Resident Evil does, well, not, that will not be good for Resident Evil."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 2:17:13 · David Sims (0.60)] Prometheus ↔ Alien Resurrection · programming · The Patreon run continues with Prometheus then Covenant after this final Ripley film. · "Tune in for Prometheus, tune in for covenant."
[The Rewatchables · ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ · 0:51:40 · Chris Ryan (0.50)] The Texas Chain Saw Massacre ⇒ Alien (the host's read) · lineage · Chainsaw is what inspired Ridley Scott to make Alien. · "Texas Chainsaw Basker is what inspired Ridley Scott to make alien."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:26:24 · unknown (0.40)] John Carter of Mars ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Avatar reads like a John Carter of Mars style story. · "Yeah, it's very like John Carter of Mars or whatever."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 2:04:21 · unknown (0.40)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 · programming · Covenant's weekend opened behind Guardians Vol. 2, #1 for the second weekend. · "Oh, it's Gardens of Galaxy volume two."
[The Big Picture · ‘The Killer’ Is Cold-Blooded Genius. And Something More · 0:59:46 · Adam Nayman (0.85)] David Fincher ↔ Alien 3 · lineage · Alien 3 is the primal scene of Fincher's chip on his shoulder, producers treating him like a shoe salesman. · "there's the chip on the shoulder and the primal scene of alien 3, right?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:24:13 · David Sims (0.30)] Alien 3 ⇒ Alien Resurrection (the host's read) · lineage · Resurrection follows Alien 3, but its Ripley is a different character from the one who died. · "As much as she was quote unquote resurrected, obviously, that's a different character explicitly."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Species’ · 1:12:56 · Bill Simmons (0.30)] Alien ⇒ Species (the maker said so) · lineage · Giger thought Species ripped off too many other alien movies, such as the chest-burster. · "He thought the movie ripped off too many other alien movies"
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:42:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] The Wizard of Oz ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Avatar is described as a deep Wizard of Oz homage. · "In case you were wondering, this is a deep wizard of a homage, among other things."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:06:57 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Prometheus ⇒ Alien: Covenant (the host's read) · lineage · Covenant is half the Prometheus sequel Scott wanted and half a concession to a more normal Alien movie. · "this is half, like Ridley Scott doing the Prometheus sequel he wanted to do and half"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:24:13 · David Sims (0.30)] Alien 3 ⇒ Alien Resurrection (the host's read) · lineage · Resurrection follows Alien 3, but its Ripley is a different character from the one who died. · "As much as she was quote unquote resurrected, obviously, that's a different character explicitly."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:29:48 · unknown (0.30)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Alien Resurrection · lineage · The fourth film had pirates. · "Alien four, I guess."
[The Rewatchables · ‘Working Girl’ · 0:27:04 · Joanna Robinson (0.60)] Sigourney Weaver ↔ Alien · lineage · Both the Working Girl role and the Alien role were originally written for a man. · "the screenwriter said that her role was originally written as a man, which is true for her role in alien as well."
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:53:51 · unknown (0.40)] The Wizard of Oz ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Avatar is an original story but inspired by Oz and John Ford movies. · "It's just like hugely inspired by not just the Wizard of Oz, but like lots of John Ford movies"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:29:38 · unknown (0.30)] Alien: Covenant ↔ Alien · lineage · Each Alien film has a different workforce; the original had blue-collar miners. · "Like that's, you know, blue collar minors."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · 0:56:20 · Griffin Newman (0.35)] David Twohy ⇒ Alien 3 (the host's read) · lineage · Twohy brought the prison-planet concept into the development. · "Twowey is the one who brings in the prison planet concept, okay?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Resurrection · 0:31:00 · David Sims (0.50)] Alien Resurrection ⇒ Firefly (TV) (the host's read) · lineage · The Betty's space-pirate crew reads as proto-Firefly, Whedon's later show. · "I mean, some proto firefly stuff."
[The Big Picture · The Final Girl Film Canon and ‘Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma’ · 0:47:57 · Adam Nayman (0.50)] Alien ⇒ Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (the host's read) · lineage · Ripley stripped to underwear at the end is a vulnerability beat that Miasma echoes. · "Yes, it is echoed in Teenage Tech"
[The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate · 0:53:51 · unknown (0.40)] John Ford ⇒ Avatar (the host's read) · lineage · Same line: Avatar draws on John Ford films and the history of movies. · "lots of John Ford movies and you can see like the history of movies"
[speaker] David Sims · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Prepares history: novel, casting, budgets, box office. Reveres the film and thinks it reads as a normal ground-level story. A sucker for Hollywood deal backstory and box office game. · stances: Praises Keitel and Dafoe casting; Respects Scorsese's persistence and Corman discipline; The film is now well regarded though not 'canonical Marty'
[speaker] Griffin Newman · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness. · stances: Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version; Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus; Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases
[speaker] Jason Concepcion · latest sketch, The Big Picture · Did Disney’s ‘Mulan’ Experiment Work? A Binge Mode Investigation · Loves a musical, Donnie Yen action, and the 1998 Mulan with its Eddie Murphy humor. Finds the remake kind of boring and wants a grounded, historical version. Sucker for political and economic framing of film controversy. · stances: The remake is fine in a vacuum, a disappointment as a Mulan; Wants a more historical, less magical take; Sees the Mulan controversy as a symptom of the West-China economic experiment; Missing music means missing storytelling
[speaker] Matt Singer · latest sketch, Blank Check — Patreon · Alien³ · Author of Opposable Thumbs, a book about Siskel and Ebert; has seen both cuts of Alien 3 and owns the Quadrilogy box set. Loves Siskel and Ebert as a gateway to movies; likes the show more than the movies as a kid. Attribution is inferred. · stances: He watched both cuts of Alien 3 for the episode; Praises the Siskel and Ebert show as a form of film discussion
[speaker] Sean Fennessey · latest sketch, The Big Picture · ‘Resident Evil’ Absolutely Rips! · Loves gory, funny, fast genre movies with craft and confidence, especially 87-minute films that never overstay. Can't stand ponderous elevated horror that fills out its runtime with introspection and sad family history. A sucker for the Carpenter-era lineage, Die Hard homages, and directors who break studio dogma. · stances: Resident Evil is one of the best films of the year; Horror movies have become a drag; fun genre experiences are needed; Short running times are a virtue; Video-game films work best when great filmmakers get creative license
[bits] The Big Picture: Drafts (Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument); Hall of Fame (A star's or director's best, ranked and argued); Countdowns (Ranked lists, top five or top ten)
[bits] Blank Check: The box office game (Guessing the film's opening weekend and what it was up against); The sung theme ("Blank Check with Griffin and David", sung; the transcriber garbles it)
[bits] The Rewatchables: Apex Mountain (The moment a star peaks; where on the mountain a performance sits); Who Won the Movie (The hosts name the person who came out of the film best off); The Ebert review (Roger Ebert's original review and star rating read aloud. Ebert is cited, never on the show); Casting what-ifs (Who was almost cast, or who should have been); Most rewatchable scene (The scene each host would stop on while flipping channels); Aged best / aged worst (What holds up and what does not); Picking Nits (The little things in a film the hosts love that they don't think totally work: the nits); Double feature (The film each host would pair it with; a programming pick)

Recommend three to six films, and only films that appear in these lines. A series, a TV film, or a franchise counts too when a line recommends it or pairs it with Aliens (1986); name it the way the line names it. Don't recommend Aliens (1986) itself. For each one, give one short reason in your own words and say whose reason it is: the show, named exactly as the brackets name it, and the speaker when the line names one (an "unknown" speaker is just the show). If the lines are thin, say so plainly rather than stretching them.

Keep a contrast a contrast. When a line sets two films apart, the reason is how they differ; never turn it into a way they're alike. A line with ⇒ puts the source first and what drew on it second, and one marked "the maker said so" is still the host reporting it: say who said it, and never state an influence as fact.

You know only what's on these lines. Add no fact they don't state: not who directed a film, not what kind of film it is, not when it came out, unless a line says so. Say nothing about the store or how anything rents here.

Talk the way a clerk talks to a customer at the counter: plain text, titles written plainly with no asterisks or other markup, no headings, no lists of more than six, no JSON.