Alien to Alien pt. III

[This entry is  part of an ongoing series concerning Franco and CoCo's Alien franchise marathon. For the opening entry click here, for the Alien entry click here, for the Aliens entry click here]

This Franco.

After crossing off the classic and better received (critically and commercially) first two Alien movies it was time to visit the infamous Alien3. I warned CoCo that this one is considered the worst and its concept is a bit silly. Ripley's pod crash lands in a desolate planet that harbors an abandoned prison colony full of born-again inmates (whom have committed violent crimes) that run the facility themselves. They haven't seen a woman in many years so her presence is a point of contention. The crash landing brings something a little more sinister along in the form of a facehugger who shortly after its arrival impregnates a dog (or if you watch the inferior "Studio's Extended Cut" it's a yak). 

Okay, so this sounds ludicrous but it kind of works. It strips down the franchise to its humble beginnings while continuing Ripley's character arch. The inmates have no weapons to defend themselves from the alien thus giving the film a tone similar to the first one. The similarities with Alien don't end there. They both were directed by relative newcomers (Alien - Ridley Scott and Alien3 - David Fincher) whose strengths lie with visual presentation. After the mega success of Aliens the masses were hungry for more. 20th Century Fox wanted to take their money. So after a few false starts they hired music video genius David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven, The Social Network) to direct. Having no clout in Hollywood he got pushed around by the bean counters and the result is a good movie wearing bad movie clothes. Fincher himself disowns the picture stating it's not his baby. Despite all this it's my second favorite of the franchise after the original Alien. It's one alien against a group of defenseless humans who have to outwit the beast in order to survive. The film is shot with an eye for visual storytelling. There isn't much dialogue in it and what there is isn't there to hold your hand. If you blink you could get lost. The opening credits alone are worth the price of admission. 

CoCo enjoyed it stating it to be ballsy in how utterly bleak the situation is for all those involved. There's a reveal halfway through the second act that envelops the film with a sense of nihilism that most would consider poison to box office prospects. I don't thinks she "enjoyed" the film but she thought it was good and a fitting conclusion to to Ripley and the alien franchise. I couldn't concur more. Ripley is one of the most iconic characters in American cinema history but few people give her character arch through the first three films the artistic props it deserves. Maybe that's because the studio inexplicably made a third sequel that tainted the character and the series as a whole. 

Up next: The unnecessary Alien Resurrection

I leave you with a bad trailer for Alien3 that speaks a little to the environment and expectations the film was saddled with. 

Hump(hry) Day

Holler, CoCo here.

Today we decided to take advantage of the long summer days and ride our bikes around town. Of course that meant an ice cream pit stop (100% my idea - Franco is still theoretically opposed to ice cream). We hit up the famous Humphry Slocombe on 24th & Harrison for a scoop of Ba-Racky Road and Chili Lime Sorbet. Yum! 

Now I just have to get Franco to declare all Wednesdays "Hump(hry Slocombe) Day." At least during the summer months. ;)

Almost There

Only a few minutes to go. Luckily, Franco got in line at 5:30 so we
have pretty good seats.

Here we go!

All right stop, collaborate, and listen!

Hi all!

We want to take a moment to share about a great non-profit organization: Omeid International. One of our cousins helped establish this organization in 2005. Since 2009 it has been running an orphanage in Kabul, Afghanistan. This past Sunday we attended the organization's fundraiser and learned about what they are doing.

Omeid means "hope" in Farsi and the organization is trying to inspire a new Afghan generation. Omeid International currently houses, educates, and nourishes 17 boys that would otherwise be child-laborers or living on the streets. As many of us know, Afghanistan has a long history of conflict and instability. Omeid International hopes to transform these young men into the leaders of tomorrow.

We encourage you to check out the Omeid International web site for more information and consider donating to the organization. It costs $2,000 a month to run the orphanage and it is funded mostly by individuals such as yourself. A monthly contribution of $25 keeps one child fed, or alternatively you can make a one time donation. Anything is appreciated. The organization is run by volunteers so 100% of your donation goes to the children in need. 

At the fundraiser on Sunday one of the speakers said, "Afghanistan is no longer in the news." The United States plans to withdraw troops from the nation by 2014 and headlines about Afghanistan are becoming fewer. Along with the decline of US involvement comes a decline in awareness and activism. Please help ensure that the boys at Omeid International's orphanage are not forgotten by contributing to this cause. 

Thank you.

Summer Escapes

Hi all, CoCo here.

You’ve all heard that infamous quotation about summer in San Francisco being the coldest blah, blah, blah. It makes me mad for two reasons. One: I don’t like to hear anyone trash talking my beloved city of residence. Two: It’s true. Summer in San Francisco is pretty cold. For the past week I’ve woken up to drizzly fog and shivered my way to the train station each morning. Not fun (unless you are the sun-hating half of Francoco). What’s a Bay Area city girl to do? Head to the river.


So far this summer we’ve headed to the river twice. (Far too few times, in my opinion.) Our first visit was a day-trip to tube down a stretch of the Russian River. I spend my entire winters fantasizing about that one-mile stretch just north of Cloverdale. It’s like a home away from home and I am slowly convincing Franco that we need more of it in our lives (he goes back and forth between liking these trips and feeling indifferent). 


Our second trip was this past weekend and we went camping along the Eel River in Potter Valley. It was our first camping trip together and I'm glad to say we made it out alive! And happy! We had some awesome new camping equipment from our wedding registry (thank you Jordan, Andrew, and Hable!), good company (my brothers and their ladies, plus a very cute baby), and beautiful scenery (think Bob Ross). By Sunday Franco was trying to convince me to drive to cell signal to let my boss know I'd be out an extra day. So I'd say it was a very successful mini-vacation.

I'll leave you with some photos from our trips (yay for dry sacks!):

 Root beer on the river. 

One of our many stops as we floated down the Russian River.

Heading home after a nice float.

 Yay! We're camping!

(Sorry for the crappy, front camera iPhone shot.)

 Everyone made fun of our mini tent (right).

In my element. 

Franco's favorite camping companion (our nephew, Sugar).

Alien to Alien pt. II

[This entry is  part of an ongoing series concerning Franco and CoCo's Alien franchise marathon. For the opening entry click here, for the Alien entry click here]

This Franco.

As I have stated earlier, CoCo asked me to marathon the Alien franchise (four films) in preparation for the Prometheus release which in itself is a sort of prequel to the Alien franchise. Said franchise being one of my favorite of all time, I became excited and accepted her challenge. 

After viewing Alien (link to our thoughts at the top), CoCo whom had never seen any of the Alien films was excited to see James Cameron's entry. After Alien, she was ready for a movie whose pacing and plot was more in line with conventional Hollywood storytelling. I, on the other hand, was not. For me it was a case of diminishing returns after the original Alien and my only intrigue with Aliens was that we were about to embark on the director's cut version that I had never seen before. 

While we were watching the film CoCo laughed many times at the ridiculous dialogue (i.e.God damn it, that's not all! Because if one of those things gets down here then that will be all! Then all this - this bullshit that you think is so important, you can just kiss all that goodbye! --and-- We're all in strung out shape, but stay frosty, and alert. We can't afford to let one of those bastards in here.) and the clunky plot lines crowbarred in (Ripley's surrogate daughter Newt arch). I agreed with her. Aliens although being a classic has not aged well for me. Growing up it was my favorite for the very reasons CoCo was looking forward to it. The story moved quickly and there was a lot of action since there were multiple aliens as opposed to Alien's single threat. The problem with having many aliens in Aliens is that it doesn't matter when one dies because there are so many more coming in its stead. It becomes a zombie film rather than a tense brooding thriller. Add the marines in there (for a large body count) and you've got yourself a fast-moving zombie war film. The Alien mythology becomes tertiary. 

Overall CoCo enjoyed the film due to its easy-going structure but noted that it was just another big dumb movie. Unfortunately, I felt the same way. The added scenes for the director's cut didn't add any layers to the story or characters but instead slowed down the movie. 

Up next: the much-maligned Alien3. I wonder if CoCo liked this one a little better. 

Euro 2012

We're rooting for Italy (at a Spanish bar), and so far Spain is up 2-0 at the half. Boo!