Who is David Thewlis Playing in Wonder Woman? (A Spotted! Tie-In)

And now, we have finally found time to finish this Spotted! Tie-In. When we last left in our fourteenth Spotted! post, the one that tackled the upcoming third installment in the DC Extended Universe, Wonder Woman, we were not able to discuss David Thewlis' currently unknown role in the forthcoming flick. Honestly, given that the movie is mostly kept under wraps, from story points, to major character names, there are a lot of possibilities to choose from.

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David Thewlis' role has not been confirmed as of this moment, and he did not even appear in any of the two trailers, which basically concludes that his character may more or less just be a background character, or potentially a recurring character simply making a debut here. Seriously, not even any hints whatsoever, are given with regards to his actual role. Anyway, here are all of the probable roles of David Thewlis.

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• Helmut Streicher / Red Panzer (Villain)

A pretty obscure supervillain by today's standards, Helmut Streicher was a Nazi general, who created a power armor of his own, and did battle with Wonder Woman, who was actually, at that time, a disguised Hippolyta. Given that he once played a German soldier in the movie "The Girl With The Striped Pajamas", we believe in the possibility that he might play this one-and-done evildoer, potentially as a pawn to Ares' plans.

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• Duke of Deception (Villain)

A Greek demigod, and a henchman of Ares, the Duke of Deception is an enigmatic figure who manipulates various members of military forces to create war-based tragedies. Again taking the form of a henchman, it is possible that Thewlis' role could be that of a twisted villain, wherein the Duke of Deception is orchestrating all of the events in the movie for Ares, through Danny Huston's other potential role, Baron Blitzkrieg. Since the Duke of Deception is a godlike being, it is possible that he could even be a returning antagonist in future films. This is also another probable role for Danny Huston, wherein he is only acting as a subordinate for the real Ares, who could even be David Thewlis.

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• Baron Blitzkrieg / Reiter (Villain)

A Nazi concentration camp commander named Reiter was horribly disfigured after a vial of acid was thrown onto his face. Because of him being a close associate of Adolf Hitler, the would-be world conqueror decided to give him superpowers, which the Third Reich greatly benefited from. Similar to the Red Panzer, Thewlis could play Baron Blitzkrieg as a henchman granted unique abilities by Ares, because of his previous role as a Nazi soldier. This could also be Danny Huston's role, wherein he is a superpowered army general, and receives his deformity only by the end of the film.

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• Giovanni Zatara, Kent Nelson / Doctor Fate / Any Golden Age Superhero

As the movie is set in a time before Superman, played by Henry Cavill (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) arrived on Earth, it is possible that we might see at least a single hero from DC Comics' Golden Age, with most of these probably having ties with the supernatural world.

Some of our candidates include Giovanni Zatara, a Golden Age sorcerer, and the father of famed magician slash superheroine Zatanna. Since this flick is set many years in the past, combined with the fact that he makes use of magic, it is possible that he could be an immortal in this universe.

Next, and the last of the likeliest of all of the Golden Age heroes, we have, Kent Nelson, or the Golden Age Doctor Fate, a sorcerer who is granted magical abilities through the use of a certain golden helmet by the Lord of Order Nabu. Similar to Giovanni Zatara, he could appear here as an immortal, and would probably make an appearance by the present setting of the flick.

Other Golden Age heroes, who like our previous two would either appear in cameo roles as allies to Wonder Woman of that time-period, or contemporary crime-fighters include Wesley Dodd / The Sandman, Rex Tyler / Hourman, John Sargent / Sargon The Sorcerer, Doctor Richard Occult, and many, many more that we cannot list here. Since the movies are taking a more grounded approach to movies, instead of the usual "floating timeline" approach, much of the aformentioned heroes are outlandish suggestions, given that they are mortal in the comics, so the best bet would have to be that David Thewlis' character is a magic-user.

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• Zeus (Hero) / Hades (Villain)

Again, because of the obvious and major Greek mythology inspiration that the film took, there are bound to be more than a single legendary figures that are set to make an appearance.

In the trailer, we hear that Wonder Woman is the daughter of the lightning god Zeus. Not only that, but it has also been confirmed that Zeus would make an appearance in the upcoming Justice League movie. While he did not appear in the trailers themselves, it is highly possible that he would appear in a cameo here, to set-up Justice League.

Or we could even see Wonder Woman's real father, the darklord Hades, again in a probable cameo.

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• Vandal Savage (Villain), General Immortus (Villain), Ra's al Ghul (Villain) Immortal Man (Hero), Congorilla (Hero)

The movie is set in a clearly distant timeline, and since the DC Extended Universe contains a lot of mysticism, chances are that we would be encountering some immortal beings along the way. And coincidentally, DC Comics has a lot of characters who have cheated death time and time again. Note that since most of these characters are major players in the comics, they could only appear here as cameos.

Our first bet would have to be, if we are to follow the assumption that David Thewlis' would have to be none other than the most notable immortal fiend that have ever roamed the DC Universe is Vandal Savage. From the fall of the Roman Empire, to the end of the Second World War, Savage has seen war in all of its different, terrifying forms.

He could even be the slightly obscure supervillain, General Immortus. A criminal that has lived through the ages through the use of an elixir that prolongs his life, General Immortus has joined the somewhat unknown Brotherhood of Evil, by today's standards, and has done battle with other superhero teams, including the Teen Titans and the Doom Patrol.

Of course, no list of immortal evil-doers would be complete without one of the Dark Knight Batman's notable enemies, the eco-terrorist and criminal mastermind, the Demon's Head, Ra's al Ghul, who was played by Liam Neeson in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins.

For our last two candidates, both of them are not bad guys, and are in-fact heroes. They also happen to be at the bottom of DC's barrel. First we have the Immortal Man, who, as his name implies, has roamed the Earth for a couple of centuries now, and has been alive ever since 12,000 B.C. The other one is Congorilla, and it sounds like he will be the likeliest of all the immortal choices, as the character was involved in the First World War, in a way. Oh, and he has the power to switch bodies with a golden gorilla who cannot die and has super strength.

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• Maxwell Lord (Villain)

And now, for our final possibility, we have Maxwell Lord. Like most of our selections, the telekinetic supervillain Maxwell Lord could appear in only a cameo, but the only difference is that he may not appear in flashbacks, but rather, in the present setting, wherein he could be seen being set-up as a major villain in the future. Since the film is mostly through flashbacks from Wonder Woman, we might see Maxwell Lord as a sinister government agent, like in the comics, who is searching for Wonder Woman after her existence has been confirmed by the events of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Well, we had a pretty hectic time making this one. A lot of ideas come and go, and the experience gave us quite the headaches. Anyway, are you guys excited for Wonder Woman? Let us know in the comments! Also, be sure to check out one of the Epic Rap Battles of History, with this one featuring Wonder Woman and singer Stevie Wonder. Stay tuned for more Dateline Movies!

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Inside Jon Spaihts' Alien: Engineers

Image Source, Source 1, Source 2, "David's Got The Whole World, In His Hands"

Marvel Studios recently released their latest superhero flick, Doctor Strange, to near critical acclaim. Critics, and fans such as us, rejoice at the triumphant visual splendors, as well as the exquisite humor and finely tuned performances the film delivered, even if the story did not break any new ground.

And speaking of the movie's plot, does the name Jon Spaihts ring any bells to anyone? Not only is he a co-writer for Doctor Strange, alongside C. Robert Cargill and Scott Derrickson, but he was also a co-writer for the polarizing Alien prequel, Prometheus. A lot of people out there hated the flick because of its numerous plot holes, including us. Well, not entirely. But Prometheus could have been so much better, as evidenced by this draft script written by Jon Spaihts. How much better, you say? Dateline Movies picked-up Spaihts' draft version of the prequel from Hollywood's large screenwriting trash bin, and let us just see how remarkable Alien: Engineers could have been.

Source, That's A Lot of Million Dollar Potential Wasted

How did it almost happen?

"[...] all the mysteries have alien players: the exoskeleton nightmare, and the elephantine titan that was called the 'space jockey'... How do you make anyone care about events between creatures like this? [...]" - Jon Spaihts on the script's attempt to further expand the franchise's mythology

After both Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection failed to reinvigorate interest in the popular science-fiction horror film series, James Cameron, the director of the second follow-up Aliens, and Ridley Scott collaborated to create a new installment for the franchise. Scott added that he wanted to explore the origins of the Xenomorphs, the monstrous killer aliens of the flicks, as well as the mysteries that surround the "space jockey", the dead alien body found in the first Alien movie that appeared as a background element.

Cameron and Scott were very much eager to work on the project, with Cameron even working with another screenwriter to create a story, but unfortunately, 20th Century Fox, who even back then, still meddles with other potentially brilliant flicks, such as this one. Insisting that a crossover between the Alien series and the Predator flicks, Fox went on to create the inevitably terrible Alien vs. Predator movie, causing Cameron, and later-on Ridley, to depart.

Years later, Ridley became interested again, and worked with The Darkest Hour scribe Jon Spaihts, who not only created the concept, which was said to supposed to be a "bridge" between the human and alien characters, without prior brainstorming, but also created a very intricate 20-page treatment. A few more rewrites were done, most of them are due to certain creative misunderstandings between Scott and Spaihts. Some of these differences rooted from Scott, and the film's producers, wanted to distance themselves from earlier films, which forced various story elements such as the Xenomorph, were forced to be omitted in various stages. Scott finally announced that filming is about to commence once Spaihts' fourth draft was completed. But of course, we all knew how that turned-out.

Source, "In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream!"

What was suppose to happen?

The following story outline is a simplified and shortened version of the leaked script. For more information on the complete story, click here. However, if you are not in a reading mood, check-out our script review below. (Our second podcast, and our first collaborative work with my classmates. Yes, this doubles as a school project for me. What a rare opportunity this is, for my interests and my school requirements to meet. Also, in case anyone is wondering, the podcast for this post was being made at the same time when Superman Lives was being tackled, but the review for the script for Superman Lives was finished first, which explains why I said that this is our "second" podcast.)

In 12,000 B.C., two humanoid aliens watch as one of their own eat a sacrificial cake, only for mysterious insect-like creatures from the food devour him. Once the being is killed, the insects disperse into the air as the two remaining aliens prepare to board a giant ship. Elsewhere, a primordial female is bitten by one of the scarabs, and a transformation begins.

In a not so distant future, archaeologists Doctor Jocelyn Watts and her mentor Professor Martin Holloway discover an enigmatic star map engraved on a monolith under the Mediterranean Sea. Intrigued by their discovery, Watts and Holloway, who are lovers, travel to a large, formally interior-designed orbital station known as the "Weyland Wheel" to propose a project to businessman, Peter Weyland.

Watts and Holloway claims that an event that took place in 12,000 B.C. changed the world in an unexplained manner. Once the world was war-ridden, but from that point-on, order is formed, and every eleven centuries, a signal from humans' DNA transmits ideas, creating constant societal changes. These changes are done by aliens Holloway calls the "Engineers". Their evidence is backed-up by the various obelisks collected from all over the globe, similar to the one they have obtained from the Mediterranean Sea. (To simplify things, something in humanity's chromosomes is causing people to evolve, in a sense, and this is caused by the Engineers)

Weyland agrees to fund the expedition, even having his Director of Operations and right-hand associate Lydia Vickers, and his synthetic robot companion David join the voyage to a star known as "Zeta Two Reticuli". However, Weyland will provide the necessary tools and people for the project, if and only if, his company will be able to gain ownership of any technological advancement that the crew may stumble upon.

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Two and a half years later, Watts, Holloway, and their newly recruited crew mates awake from cryogenic slumber aboard their ship, the Magellan. Manned by Captain Janek, the rest of the Magellan's crew mates, including chemist slash physicist Mona Ravel, computer expert Andrew Chance, even Janek himself express dissatisfaction with the terms and conditions of their rewards. Additional tensions rise when Vickers admits that she does not have faith in their project, and some of their God-fearing, and non-God-fearing colleagues, cast doubts.

The team discovers LV-426, a moon placed near the planet Epsilon, which they go to after picking-up signs of anomalies in the area, and they marvel at the sights of technological structures and archaeological patterns, despite the lack of life. Once they safely landed, after deploying some satellites, by a mountainous structure, the group, with only six hours of daylight remaining, Watts and Holloway, alongside David, Ravel, Chance, and other expeditionary teammates, Fifield, Milburn, Stillwell, Brick, Kamarov, Downs, and Glasse, proceed into a labyrinth of craters, with the center being a towering pyramid, and finally, they reach the pyramid, much to both Janek and Vickers' astonishment, both of whom watch from the Magellan's hologram systems.

They are greeted with a large variety of alien writings inscribed on the interior walls of the other worldly infrastructure. As they venture deeper into the caverns, Holloway and company stumble upon a holographic projection of an Engineer, scaring most of them nearly to death, to the point that both Fifield and Milburn decide to return to the Magellan. Before leaving, Fifield and Milburn are tasked by Holloway to deploy their camera probes, which the two could use to find the exit, if only they did not lose their mapping device.

Source, Concept Artwork Featuring The Doorway To The Engineers' Pyramid

The remaining scientific geniuses reach the center of the pyramid, which was guarded by a complex doorway until David exploited the weak link in the system. To their surprise, the nexus has a breathable atmosphere, compared to the heavily hazardous outer areas, and it is actually raining inside. In addition, alien-crafted mechanisms and artifacts are there for the taking. Watts, Holloway, Stillwell, Downs, and Kamarov follow a somewhat life-threatening downward path, while David, Ravel and Chance take a look at a crystal in the chamber.

Underneath the cenotaph, Watts, Holloway and the rest are startled by the gruesome sight of an Engineer graveyard. Their moment of discovery is cut short when Janek demands that the rest of the crew return to the Magellan, after the satellites picked-up a powerful storm raging towards their course. Holloway reluctantly makes his way back to the ship, with the rest of the group, except for Fifield and Milburn, who are trapped in the catacombs, as the remaining members narrowly evaded the hurricane's powerful winds. Watts and Holloway reveal that they managed to pick-up a souvenir, a giant severed Engineer head!

Source, Jocelyn Watts and Martin Holloway Autopsying An Engineer's Head

Watts and Holloway quickly perform an autopsy on the head, as the body part continues to decompose naturally, as Vickers and David watch as the two scientists attempt to preserve the rapidly decaying organic relic, Vickers, although complimenting on the two's progress so far, expounds on something that is much more of her interest, the core in the edifice, which is, based on Holloway and Watts's conclusions, a terra-forming machine, which is revealed to be placed as well on Earth in other pyramids. They immediately come to the resolution that the Engineers are terra-forming the planet (It means that they are literally changing the world in their own image), until at some point when they strangely ceased to do so.

Back at the pyramid, Fifield and Milburn encounter an alien snake-like creature, which bit and slaughtered Milburn, with his own death being practically his fault, because he touched it in the first place. As Fifield attempts to escape from a similar fate such as the one experienced by Milburn, a massive swarm of dark insects surround and attack him, causing him to transform into something utterly terrifying.

Source, Martin Holloway Being Killed By A Maturing Xenomorph

The next day, Watts and Holloway wake-up to see members of the Weyland Security Detail, composing of Captain Shepherd, Vigoda, Card and Ray, under the command of Vickers, inform the two of the recent shift in the operation's power. Vickers reveals that she has ordered the rest of the scientists, including David, to safely dismantle the terra-forming nexus for future research, seeing it as an opportunity to create "colonizable" (Is that even a word?) worlds. Janek, Glasse, Stillwell, Downs and Brick, meanwhile, venture into the pyramid in search of Fifield and Milburn.

When another holographic projection was activated by Holloway, Watts and Holloway are separated, while Janek and his teammates discover Milburn's carcass, and kills the now giant other worldly centipede. David accompanies Watts in her search for Holloway, as Janek and the rest make their way back to the Magellan after another storm has been detected. Watts and David finally discover Holloway, badly dizzy and missing a helmet, and they escort him to the Magellan. Later, Holloway discusses with Watts his discovery that the world they are in is just one of the many other forward bases of the Engineers scattered throughout the galaxy, persistent to come in contact with living Engineers, much to Watts's concern.

Suddenly, while in the process of sharing intimacy with Watts, Holloway is slowly murdered by a creature, as it makes its way through the ventilation system of the ship. Janek gathers the entire crew to inform them of their uninvited guest, causing panic among them. Watts returns to the excavation site to find out what exactly happened to Holloway, while Janek and company work tirelessly with the mercenaries to hunt and eliminate the alien threat.

Source, An Octo-Facehugger

Watts, while watching a pre-recorded feed of Holloway's whereabouts, which reveals that a face-attaching being latches onto Holloway's helmet, and melts it with acid, makes her way to the far depths of the structure, stumbling upon an Engineer starship. There, she re-encounters David in the ship, which David calls as the "Juggernaut". David has become self-aware, and he expresses his intentions of creating much more of the creatures before under his control, in addition to ensuring that he fulfills "Protocol 2", do not let Watts and/or Holloway mention anything about their discoveries. David reveals that, through him hacking the Juggernaut's database, the Engineers were initially planning to exterminate the human race many years ago, but the creatures became rogue, and massacred the vast majority of the Engineers. This was planned because, as how David quotes the Bible, "it repenteth me that I created them". David then allows a "Facehugger" to latch onto Watts' face.

Back at the Magellan, the alien has matured quickly, and proceeds to murder Card, Kamarov and Downs. Watts has been implanted with something by the Facehugger, and hastily retreats to the Magellan. Watts waits for Vickers and Shepherd to depart, so that she can use the medical pod in Vickers's private suite, in hopes of removing whatever it is that is inside of her. What follows is a series of disturbing sights, as Watts is forced to witness a deadly parasite burst-out of her body. Wounded from injuries sustained from the creature's birth, Watts endures further pain when the medical pod repairs her life-threatening injuries, leading to her temporary death. Vigoda watches the process. The fully matured alien morphs into a full-grown Xenomorph, and ambushes Vigoda from behind, killing him. After the procedure, Watts, weakened, manages to retrieve Vigoda's rifle, and proceeds to kill the other creature that came from her.

Source, The Beluga-Xenomorph Rises!

The Magellan is in a state of disarray, with a debilitated Watts witnessing the chaos of the gargantuan Xenomorph unfolding all through their gigantic science vessel. With Brick, Ravel and Chance, who are found outside the Juggernaut, dead, Watts reunites with Janek, Shepherd, Vickers, Stillwell, Ray and Glasse, who are all trying to escape LV-426, but unfortunately for them, David managed to override the Magellan's program. The survivors agree to lead Vickers to David, as it is in David's programming to obey Vickers' command, given that Vickers is technically David's master. However, Vickers clarifies that for them to escape, and to retrieve as much data as they can, they only need to obtain David's head.

Armed to the teeth with Glasse's creation, a set of goggles upgraded with Engineer lenses from the autopsied head, Watts and company band together to eliminate the rampaging Xenomorph in their ship, and put a halt to David's megalomaniacal master plans if they ever want to make it out alive. They then make their way to the launching Juggernaut, where they find David reactivating a cryogenically preserved and healthy Engineer, all the while revealing that David managed to be "free" when he started understanding how the Engineers' mechanisms work.

The Engineer awakens, and rejoices when he hears that David can understand the Engineer tongue. While at first, it would appear that the Engineer could not be any happier that he has been freed of his hibernation, the Engineer decided to rip David's head clean off. The Engineer mercilessly beats the rest of David's body over and over again. When Ray tried to take a shot at the Engineer, the alien behemoth decided to suit-up.

Source, The Beluga-Xenomorph Causing Chaos!

Amidst the violence, Shepherd and Vickers are separated from Watts, Ray, Glasse and Stillwell, as the two encounter and are killed by a horrifyingly zombified Fifield, with the partially revived Fifield dying from a hail of bullets from Shepherd's remaining ammunition. As David lies dying on Watts' arms, David not only frees the Magellan from his electronic grasp, but he also gave an ominous warning to Watts, saying that the Engineer will launch the Juggernaut back to Earth. Watts, Ray, Stillwell and Glasse run back to the ship with David's head. The Engineer tirelessly pursues them, killing Ray, Stillwell and Glasse in the process, and now, the Engineer is ready for take-off.

Watts manages to escape, at the cost of David's head, and rescues Janek in a nick of time, just mere seconds away from Janek experiencing death at the hands of the Xenomorph. Janek, minus an arm, asks Watts to set the Magellan on a collision course towards the Juggernaut, hoping to prevent the Engineer from fulfilling his objective. But suddenly, an "Ultramorph", a powerful version of the Xenomorph, kills the Engineer from the inside after a Facehugger attach to its face, causing the Juggernaut to crash down. Janek is killed by debris, as Watts makes use of an escape pod to make a quick getaway.

Landing safely on the surface of LV-426, Watts exits the escape pod, and dodges the Juggernaut, which nearly crushes her. After passing-out, Watts regains consciousness and runs away from the Ultramorph, and uses David's makeshift drill, which is made from the crystal David obtained earlier, and kills the Ultramorph. Watts is spewed with acid blood all across her helmet, and with limited oxygen supply, she runs to a still-intact part of the Magellan, and thankfully for her, there is oxygen there.

David, who survived being ripped apart by the Engineer, bargains with Watts, saying that he can be of use to her. Watts and David's head plays chess, with Watts concluding that David will no longer be of use to her, and thus will not be repaired.

The film ends with David ambiguously wondering if the ship Watts' contacted is that of man, or an Engineer.

Source, Screenwriter Jon Spaihts

What happened instead?

"If the ending to (Prometheus) is just going to be the room that John Hurt walks into that's full of eggs (A reference to a key scene in the first Alien movie), there's nothing interesting in that. Good stories, you don't know where they're going to end." - Ridley Scott on the script rewrites

Initially aiming for a total reboot of the franchise, 20th Century Fox decided that the best course of action would have to create a prequel installment. After having a brief dispute between the producers, plus Scott himself, over Scott's decision to have newcomer Cark Erik Rinsch to helm the project (In case the name is not familiar, he eventually directed the ill-received samurai flick, 47 Ronin), Jon Spaihts' project proposal was eventually accepted, and the production was about to commence in an unspecified date.

Source, Director Ridley Scott

"[...] By the end of the third act, you start to realize there's a DNA of the first Alien film, but none of the subsequent (films)." - Ridley Scott on his intention to differentiate the film from previous entries, while still faithful to its original roots

However, instead of making use any of Spaihts' versions of his story, Scott had a courier deliver Spaihts' script to Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof. Remember when we mentioned that there were instances of creative differences between Spaihts and Scott? Well, the two had non-serious conflicts of interests, as not only did Spaihts had a very challenging time to properly translate Scott's visual concepts to writings, but also Scott wanted to move away a little bit from the previous movies, which was something Spaihts did in the opposite sense.

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After originally receiving the title of "Paradise", this Alien prequel would then be released as a feature-length movie under the title of "Prometheus", with the name itself coincidentally mentioned in Jon Spaihts' Alien: Engineers by the character Martin Holloway. Prometheus starred Noomi Rapace as Elizabteh Shaw, Charlize Theron as Meredith Vickers, Michael Fassbender as David, Idris Elba as Janek, and Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland, and was directed by Ridley Scott.

While Prometheus carried several, notable plot aspects were carried into the final product, various changes were also applied. Some of these alterations include the name of the characters (These examples include the following. From Jocelyn Watts, to Elizabeth Shaw. From Martin Holloway, to Charlie Holloway. From Lydia Vickers, to Meredith Vickers. From Mona Ravel, to Benedict Ravel. In addition to the name change, Ravel's gender was also swapped), and the complete removal of any appearances from the Xenomorphs, with the exception of some visual nods.

In addition, important scenes from the original script were heavily modified. For example, some deaths, such as those of Vickers' and Holloway's, are notably different from what was initially planned. While Vickers died by the indirect actions of the mutated Fifield in the script, Vickers was crushed by the Juggernaut in the movie, and while Holloway was also infected with an alien parasite in  the film, he was instead killed by Vickers when he started to mutate like Fifield, unlike the one that transpired in the script, wherein he was killed by a Xenomorph. Also, Peter Weyland never appeared in the screenplay outside of a cameo, while in the movie, he was revealed to be a twist antagonist, and David, who became the main villain by the teleplay's climax, was almost stripped-off of his originally intended dark side.

Upon its release, Prometheus received mixed to positive responses, with praise given for the performances, especially that of Michael Fassbender as the synthetic humanoid robot David, special effects, and atmosphere, and criticism aimed at its numerous unexplained plot points.

Source, "Run!"

A sequel to Prometheus was eventually confirmed, and is said to answer several of the unanswered questions the previous installment left dangling. The movie, originally subtitled "Paradise Lost", which like Prometheus, is a reference to John Milton's work, and eventually titled as "Alien: Covenant", will further explore the dark origins of the Xenomorphs. In the movie, the crew of the Covenant stumbles upon the survivors of the previously failed expedition of Prometheus, the android David, and Dr. Elizabeth Shaw, and hot on their tails is an unholy creation of epic proportions!

Alien: Covenant will feature the return of Noomi Rapace as Elizabeth Shaw, Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland, despite having his character dead in Prometheus, and Michael Fassbender as David, and is also set to play, in a double-role, as another android named Walter. Newcomers to the Alien film series include Katherine Waterston as Daniels, Danny McBride as a pilot for the Covenant, James Franco as the captain of the Covenant, Branson, and Billy Crudup as the other captain of the Covenant, and Jussie Smolett of Empire fame, Demián Bichir, Callie Hernandez, Alex England and Carmen Ejogo in currently undisclosed roles.

To be honest, Prometheus is not entirely that bad, even if we dislike it a little for its unpolished story. That movie is still terrifying and intense in its own right, and it feels that it gets trashed way too much than it deserves. Oh well, you really cannot impress everyone. Let us hope that Alien: Covenant is so much better, and hopefully, it will exceed our expectations, and reinvigorate our interest in the legendary franchise. And speaking of Alien: Covenant, our Christmas celebrations just became bloodier, with the release of the scary first trailer for the follow-up to Prometheus. Check it out below! Also, from here on out, we would be making podcasts for every script-related post, movie review and movie pitches, although script reviews would take some time. From what I have learned from us doing podcasts, it is best that you just add the podcasts once a certain post is published, so as to spare me enough time. Stay tuned for more Dateline Movies!

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DISCLAIMER: Alien: Engineers and all other related elements are properties of 20th Century Fox and its story elements originally written by Jon Spaihts. The Alien concept was originally created by Dan 'O Bannon and Ronald Shusett. This post is strictly for entertainment and informational purposes only. No copyright infringement intended.

Dateline Movies Countdown: The Magnificent Seven! (200 POSTS!)

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Hooray! We have officially reached a total of two-hundred published posts! Since we are actually running out of ideas to put for momentous posts such as this one, we decided to list our Magnificent Seven, which was originally ten, but then we decided to keep it up to seven only, because it has since been in a motif of ours to make countdown posts that start from seven. For those who do not know about this certain list, the Magnificent Seven is an index that contains mine and Dad's favorite movies of all time. Honestly, this was a tough countdown to write, since there are a lot of good movies that me and Dad watched that we cannot list here. Oh, the struggles of being true movie buffs. And now, without any further interruption, here is Dateline Movies' own Magnificent Seven!

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7. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Quentin Tarantino is one of the most widely recognized directors in the industry, and as we have seen from his stellar filmography, he truly is an innovator in the art of cinema. Last year saw the release of his eighth film (Yes eighth, since both Kill Bill movies count as only a single flick for Mister Tarantino), The Hateful Eight, which is unfortunately overshadowed by Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. I watched The Hateful Eight on cable television, and to be honest, it is not his finest work. But there is personally one film that truly showed-off Tarantino's sharp filmmaking skills, and that is none other than the crime-comedy movie Pulp Fiction. Lead by energetic performances from John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, and of course, the one and only Samuel L. Jackson, complete one of the most quotable sets of dialogue ever written in the history of the world, Pulp Fiction truly stood the test of time. The best scene arguably in the entire film is none other than the "Ezekiel 25:17 Monologue". In fact, I loved this scene so much that Ezekiel 25:17 has since been a life guide of sorts, to the point that I actually reenacted this scene during my audition for our school's theater group. I was not accepted by the way, in case anyone is wondering.

 

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6. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

And speaking of Star Wars, me and Dad, including a Suicide Squad-mate of mine Gabe, and a lot of my other classmates, are huge fans of the saga. Last year's release of Episode VII might have reintroduced the series to modern audiences, but in the end, the story relied way too much on Episode IV: A New Hope. The one installment that really made Star Wars a bankable franchise, however, is no doubt Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Not only did it showed one of the most memorable plot twists of all time, specifically the revelation of Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker's actual father, it pushed the boundaries of storytelling by revealing our heroes partially defeated at the mercy of the Galactic Empire by the movie's climax. This movie is the most mature among all of the entries in the series (Although we can say that the darkest in the bunch is Episode III: Revenge of the Sith), and supported by an amazing score done by the legendary John Williams, as well as noteworthy performances from Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher, the force is truly strong in this flick!

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5. The Imitation Game (2014)

2014 was a pretty great year for movies. We saw George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road revive the nearly forgotten franchise back from the dead with anarchistic energy, and we saw Marvel release two noticeably different movies, with one being a spy thriller, and the other being a space comedy. I believe that this is the year when movies were at their finest, and about the other four movies in this countdown are proves that 2014 was a very great time for movies. Anyway, The Imitation Game, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch as real-life unsung World War Two hero Alan Turing, and Keira Knightley as Turing's confidant and former wife Joan Clarke, is not only a captivating look at the life of one of the most important geniuses' in the world life, but also an inspiring message that honors those who are persecuted for their ideals. Our robotics class teacher showed us this one time, and while at first, I did not enjoy the movie that much, it eventually grew on me, and thanks to that single moment in school, I have learned to appreciate this movie even more.

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4. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

Of course, who would not love Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy? These three movies have united both fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic tales of adventure, and moviegoers who are always on the hunt for an out-of-this-world theatrical experience alike, in a passionate and heartfelt celebration that has introduced modern audiences to the intriguing world of Middle-Earth. It really is difficult to determine which among of the three original movies is the greatest, namely because each one of the installments in the franchise (Except for The Hobbit Trilogy, because those were disappointing) has their own strengths. As such, me and Dad came to the conclusion that The Fellowship of the Ring should be added to this list. For starters, we reached this resolution based on the fact that The Fellowship of the Ring started it all. Without the first movie's awesome Battle in the Mines of Moria, or the death of Sean Bean's Boromir in Amon Hen, we would not have seen the epic Battle For Helm's Deep, or the Ents' Siege of Isengard in The Two Towers, or even the amazing Battle For Minas Tirith, and all of the three different and heart-wrenching endings in The Return of the King. Fueled by outstanding performances from one of the greatest ensembles assembled, groundbreaking battle choreography, and a flawless direction from Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings could never have reached its place in our hearts without The Fellowship of the Ring.

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3. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

Like I said before, 2014 was a pretty decent year movie-wise, and the succeeding four entries in our countdown were released on this specific year. In the age when superhero movies, adaptations of other famous literary works, and big-budget blockbusters are the norm, and most small-scale original productions were more-or-less things of the past (Well, not really, that comment was meant to be hyperbolic), one independent feature dared to satirize the modern era of filmmaking. An existential film that focuses on Michael Keaton's washed-up Hollywood actor turned Broadway director Riggan Thompson's relentless pursuit to be relevant again, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is a slightly slow movie, but in the end, it is a moving, thought-provoking look at what happens when one falls from grace. It is heartbreaking, it is dark, it is at some points funny, it is a very poignant tragic masterpiece! Accompanied by never before seen single-shot cinematography, a catchy drum soundtrack, and a line of powerhouse performances from the film's cast, specifically that of Michael Keaton's, Birdman is a must-watch for everyone with an artistic taste for movies! Sure, me and Dad are huge comicbook fans, but let us face it, they do tend to "play safe" in terms of storytelling.

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2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Superhero movies do tend to follow a formula again and again, as we said before, and it is rare to find a good superhero flick that explores the characters outside of their usual skintight costumes. Marvel Studios is no exception, as a few of their installments such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange and Thor: The Dark World, have been noted for being cliched and lacking in overall impact. In Captain America's case, it is a completely different story. Initially starting with an above-average origin story, done in the style of a World War Two period piece, Captain America has since ditched the usual over-the-top heroics, and instead made way for thrilling political commentary and old-school CGI-less action in his second outing, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Not only did it affect the status quo of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's storylines, The Winter Soldier also managed to explore much more mature themes in an awesome fashion, all the while perfectly blending elements of a typical superhero movie and a normal political thriller, resulting in a fascinating look at how society has evolved in beliefs in the limits of security and technology. A concept that terrifyingly reflects our world today. Guardians of the Galaxy was also released this year, and while that was a very fun movie, The Winter Soldier was no doubt a suspenseful rollercoaster. Now that I thought about it, I am starting to think that I might have given Captain America: Civil War too high of a score. Yeah, it was great, but The Winter Soldier was better in terms of stakes.

 

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Again, there are a lot of movies out there, that we have not been able to include all of our favorite movies on this single list. As such, here are a few...

Honorable Mentions:

RoboCop (1987) - This one was a favorite of mine and Mom's. When I was younger, I simply watched it for the gory gimmicks that was featured prominently in this movie. Now that I am older, I was able to see that RoboCop is more than just a silly action movie with a cyborg as its protagonist. This was a smart satire on commercialism, and the film pokes fun at it with awesome action that you can only see in a handful of movies!

Die Hard (1988) - A Christmas classic, I used to watch Die Hard a bunch of times when I was younger, and up to this day, it has remained, in our eyes, a staple for other Die Hard wannabees to come. Bruce Willis is in his prime here, as he quips his way through a hostage situation orchestrated by the late Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber, all the while shooting down international terrorists with bleeding feet!

Metropolis (2001) - This one is an underrated gem. While my classmates talked about Naruto or any other famous anime during recess back when I was a Fifth Grader, I would often watch Metropolis, which, despite having a similar title and an almost the same premise, has no relation to Fritz Lang's classic. It is no secret that I am a huge fan of science-fiction, and the theme of robot self-awareness is a fun concept. This beautifully animated and thematically powerful movie tackles themes of identity and discrimination, in a tale of suspense and mystery!

The Incredibles (2004) - Another childhood favorite, The Incredibles was one of those rare times when an animated movie geared towards youngsters managed to tackle adult themes. It was a fun and playful take on the superhero genre, much like how the graphic novel Watchmen depicted a world of capes and masks in a modern context. It had great vocal performances from Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Jason Lee and again Samuel L. Jackson, a thoroughly entertaining story, and a family-friendly atmosphere that children will love, and the grown-ups will appreciate. Speaking of which, I cannot wait for the sequel. 

The Dark Knight (2008) - Christopher Nolan is a visual genius, and his collaborative works with his equally brilliant screenwriter brother Jonathan Nolan make for a mind-boggling and thrilling experience. The director is at his best with the second follow-up to his The Dark Knight Trilogy... The Dark Knight. It was a complex and a compelling crime-fiction mixed with traditional superhero antiques, and from beginning to end, The Dark Knight managed to tackle the themes of terrorism or corruption in a gritty manner. Heath Ledger embraced the role of The Joker wholeheartedly, and his posthumous Oscar victory is one honor that he deserves. With tightly choreographed fights, a spectacular story, and stellar performances from its ensemble, The Dark Knight is by far one of the greatest superhero movies of all time.

Watchmen (2009) - Arguably director Zack Snyder's greatest work so far, Watchmen is a painfully slow and tediously lengthy adaptation of Alan Moore's celebrated masterwork, and its clearly explicit content will definitely make some viewers slightly uncomfortable. However, look beyond its flaws and you get a bleak look into the thought-provoking mythology of the Watchmen universe. Watch the movie for its wonderful visual style and great performances from Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Billy Crudup and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and stay for the suspenseful plot.

500 Days of Summer (2009) - I just watched this little flick last week after I asked a good friend of mine named Jaisen for a copy. Fresh-off of our third quarterly examinations, I decided to watch both Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, and 500 Days of Summer, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, so as to relieve myself of stress. If I were to choose between any of the two romantic films that I have watched on that day, I would choose 500 Days of Summer. Do not get me wrong, the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a wonderful tale of heartache and love, but there is something about 500 Days of Summer that appeals to me. I am not sure if it is either the down-to-Earth approach to the topic of failed relationships, or the captivating performances from its two main leads, all I can say is that 500 Days of Summer is an honest and heartwarming film.

Inception (2010) - Back when my little mind was much more keen on the explosive action and the colorful graphics of a feature, and less enticed on the underlying themes that surround the film, I actually once thought of Inception as a confusing piece of cinema that has no plot whatsoever. After watching it a second time around, I have since learned that my initial assumptions are incorrect, as Inception, with an amazing cast that composes of Leonardo Dicaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Michael Cain, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, and Dileep Rao, brilliantly made fight sequences, energetically inspired scores by the master composer Hans Zimmer, and a heist storyline fused with elements of science-fiction, Inception is a mind-bending visual treat.

With that, we now come to our overall favorite film of all time, which is...

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1. Whiplash (2014)

What can we say about Whiplash that has not been said already by others who love the movie as much as we do. Also, you might have expected this one, as we mention this certain flick over and over again. It is a small-scale, musical, coming-of-age story that features the typical elements that can be found in other tragic tales, with the usual mentor-student formula that we have seen in other movies. We have the overambitious protagonist in the form of Miles Teller's Andrew Neiman, and the wise yet bizarre teacher in J.K. Simmons' Terrence Fletcher. And despite not having much of the explosive grandeur that we come to know in much movies, or the thematic complexity that most noteworthy flicks show, Whiplash kept things really simple, making for a surprisingly effective, heart-pounding breath of fresh air! What it lacks in eye-popping visual spectacles, it more than makes up compelling characters and straightforward, yet resoundingly tense, story!

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And that concludes our latest countdown. Be sure to check-out our other upcoming posts, which will be live very soon! Also, since it is the Christmas Season, we might as well spread some holiday cheer through our blog. While we are planning to make a Christmas-centric post, we decided to share with you, our dear readers out there some cover version of a handful of songs featured in the classic claymation feature, "The Nightmare Before Christmas". Yeah, I know it is not Halloween, but hey, it is a Halloween movie mixed with a Christmas theme. Stay tuned for more Dateline Movies, and have a Merry Christmas to you all! May all of us, including those who are experiencing various trials and tribulations in their lives, find comfort and joy this season, for 'tis the season to be jolly!

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