Oil magnate and world's richest man J. Paul Getty (Christopher Plummer) refuses to pay the $17 million ransom of his kidnapped grandson, after he was abducted while living in Italy, instead opting to put an ex-CIA agent (Mark Wahlberg) on the case who teams up with the boy's persistent and grief stricken mother (Michelle Williams). Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World is an intelligent and solidly crafted if a little overlong thriller, unnerving in doses, with a delicious performance from Christopher Plummer who famously joined the cast in the 11th hour after Kevin Spacey was scrubbed from the picture. Wahlberg is welcomely subdued and Williams contributes another excellent, overlooked turn.

*** 1/2 out of ****

On an years long interspace journey carrying somnolent passengers to colonize an unspoiled planet and just after a conflagration claims the life of their captain, a crew receives a signal from a nearby planet which they detour towards. There they find an android (Michael Fassbender), MIA from another crashed vessel, who has been manipulating the weaponized DNA of a deadly parasite. Alien: Covenant is an adequate if unspectacular follow up to Prometheus with routine action sequences though the scenes with Fassbender, and notions surrounding artificial intelligence are still intriguing.

*** out of ****

Learning from his predecessor and mentor, Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) expands Bumpy Johnson's Harlem drug empire through a Vietnam connection while an alcoholic, womanizing detective (Russell Crowe) concentrates the effort to see to his fall. I dismissed Ridley Scott's American Gangster upon its initial release for being too familiar (ie good cop in corrupt system vs. an intelligent, scrupulous drug dealer) but a repeat viewing revealed layers of depth and, when put up against popular drug lord sagas, Steve Zaillian's screenplay demonstrates an uncommon intelligence and patience. It also features two top actors at the top of their game leading a gifted cast.

*** 1/2 out of ****

In a bleak and not too distant future, the Blade Runner unit of the LAPD is charged with tracking down and “retiring” rogue replicants, or highly intelligent human cyborgs produced by an ignominious global corporation. When six of these androids escape from their transport and seek refuge in the city, tainted detective Richard Deckard (Harrison Ford) is assigned to the deadly case, never suspecting he’d fall for one their own (Sean Young) he meets along the trail. Bearing just a passing resemblance to Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is a triumph in set design and visuals, which alone justify the price of admission, even if the plot is uninvolving, the romantic subplot doesn’t bear much weight, and the film is as cold and lifeless as one of its cyborgs. The Ford performance is unlikable, awkward, and amateur, probably by design, and Rutger Hauer is frighteningly electric. Following the initial studio cut, which features putrid, dumbed down Phillip Marlowe like narration, the film went through several subsequentcuts, varying in different degrees, Scott’s final cut in 2007 probably being the most worthy of your time.

*** out of ****

When an exploratory mission to Mars is interrupted by a major storm, the crew is forced to evacuate and make their long journey back to earth, leaving behind their thought to be dead botanist (Matt Damon). Miraculously making his way back to base, the hopeful and self-reliant scientist must either find a way to sustain himself on the lifeless planet for four years when the mission will resume or devise a plan to signal NASA to prompt rescue efforts. With his treatment of Andy Weir's The Martian, Ridley Scott demonstrates his acuity in assembling a sci-fi picture, offering awe inspiring photography and occasionally breathless moments, in a studio film that has absolutely no faith in its material. While treating its audience like adults with a highly scientific and technical screenplay, it alternately panders to the masses with its corny screenplay and empty blockbuster cliches which would feel right at home in a Roland Emmerich production. Damon's character is strangely given no background (along with the rest of the cast) and, though there are no misgivings with his performance, his unrelenting optimism and almost total neglect to explore any of the other caveats of being stranded alone 250 miles from humanity winds up being a real drag.

** 1/2 out of ****

A morally compromised attorney's (Michael Fassbender) involvement in a major international drug deal places him on a one way course towards misery and despair. With The Counselor, director Ridley Scott and company seem to be stepping aside for Cormac McCarthy, the esteemed novelist who makes his screenwriting debut. McCarthy, who appears to be mining remains from No Country for Old Men territory in a screenplay that needed to undergo several more rewrites, offers a script which probably read better on the page, thus presenting a serious problem considering everything in the film is secondary to the writing. To make matters worse, the film has ambitions of making a statement on an American culture that benefits from the woes of a savage drug culture, yet exists almost solely for the payoff of its violent scenes! The dream cast, which also includes Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz, and Cameron Diaz, struggles and sounds mannered delivering the awkward dialogue, and its often difficult to determine what the actors are supposed to be doing or who exactly their characters are. Only Javier Bardem adds a little flavor, whose departure takes whatever wind was left in the sales of this inert, highfalutin garble.

When a lieutenant (Keith Carradine) in Napoleon's army is charged to arrest a like-ranked officer (Harvey Keitel) and carries out his orders during a dinner party, it is apparently the insult to end all insults. Over the course of the next twenty years, their lives are consumed by the pointless and increasingly volatile rivalry, where they engage in a series of bloody duels. Based on a story by Joseph Conrad, "The Duellists" was Ridley Scotts' extraordinary, highly artistic directorial debut. It tells an engrossing though often vague story, and features an incredibly appealing performance from Carradine, even if Keitel is miscast as he usually is in period pieces. Cinematographer Frank Tidy shot on an absolutely gorgeous canvas and the film features a series of staggeringly realistic sword fights.

In 1993, U.S. Special Forces were dispatched to Mogadishu, Somalia in what was supposed to be something of a cakewalk, their mission being to land in a crowded marketplace and extract a notorious warlord. However, due to overconfidence, misinformation, lack of preparation, pissing contests between Rangers and Delta Force units, and over anxiousness on the part of the White House, troop members wound up ends in a desperate firefight which claimed the lives of 19 soldiers. Adapted Mark Bowden's reporting and subsequent novel on the ordeal. Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" is a gritty, realistic, and alarming story which had dire consequences on world politics but has gone almost forgotten today. Made with an expansive cast (Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Piven, William Fitchner, to name a few), many of whom saw their careers launched by the film, Scott determines to focus singularly on the mission and the ensuing chaos, offering no extraneous detail. The result is an unrelenting and engrossing experience that like the events depicted (sadly) does not resonate for very long after it is over.

Following the death of Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris), his top general and confidant (Russell Crowe) is betrayed by the late emperor's envious son (Joaquin Phoenix). Having escaped execution and witnessed the massacre of his family, the once proud general trains as a gladiator and plots his revenge for his glorious and bloody return to Rome. Ridley Scott's Best Picture winner is a rousing and violent epic, which features refined performances from an impassioned Crowe (also an Oscar winner here) and brooding Phoenix, both of whom are excellent. The film is wonderfully directed by Scott, and features some great fight sequences, but is seriously marred by its cheap, shoddy transitional scenery and some quite odious and obvious CGI.

Several scores into the future a cave drawing in Mesopotamia, predating any ever found, as been discovered, and whose consellatory figures point to an earthlike galaxy many light years away. A team of scientists and engineers led by a righteous doctor (Noomi Rapace), backed by a corporation run by an icy blond (Charlize Theron), and equipped with a lifelike, ultra intelligent cyborg (Michael Fassender) now embark on a perilous journey to the distant planet in hopes of discovering the origins of life. "Prometheus" is a stunning achievement from enduring director Ridley Scott who sets his film in the same world of "Alien", but succeeds in crafting a deeper science-fiction. From the intelligent screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof to the unbelievable special effects and camerawork, which act as a breath of fresh air in this age of glossy visuals, the films is a triumph on every level. The cast as well is excellent with Rapace and Theron purveying different elements of Signourney Weaver's Ripley and Michael Fassbender again contributing another remarkable role as David, a humanoid modelling himself on Peter O'Toole's "Lawrence of Arabia". Fassbender's performance channels Hal from Kubrick's "2001", the roguish and eeriely human robot, and it is amazing how he can inject just the right amount of mortal touches into the part. My one complaint here is how closely the movie references "Alien", mostly just in the final revelatory scene. Of all the movies, "The Tree of Life" came to mind when I was watching this, whose themes and subject may not be quite so different as appears at first glance. Both films are highly ambitious and have caused a rift in viewers, but for detractors of Scott's film I want to pose a question similar to the one I asked of those who didn't approve of Terrence Malick's masterwork: How can someone not connect to such a well-made, well-acted, thrilling, and far-reaching film, at least on one of these levels?

On the way home from their latest expedition, the worn and weary crew of the space cruiser Nostromo is sent to investigate a distress signal on a neighboring planet. There a foreign creature attaches itself to a crew member's countenance, who is then brought back to the ship's operating room. A severe breach of protocol done explicitly against the orders of crew member Ripley. Soon, the creature has planted its in and imploded through its host chest, and begins to wreak havoc on the team. But, even more frightening than the implication of this unrelenting and indestructible being is the notion that it may have been working with cohoots with someone on the ship. With the release of "Prometheus", a film director Ridley Scott has said inhabits the same world as "Alien", I decided to revisit that 1979 masterwork, a film which I had regards for but certainly did not hold in esteem with my favorite and most chilling horror films. Watching this brooding, claustrophic, and terrifying film over, I realized how mistaken I was in not initially recognizing the brilliance in what Scott had created. "Alien" is a multifaceted champion, containing excellent direction, eerie sound effects, and impressive, believeable, and real special effects. It contains an impressive cast of character actors (John Hurt, Ian Holm, Harry Dean Stanton, Tom Skerritt) with Sigourney Weaver delivering her iconic role and bringing believeability to that rugged and resilient character. "Alien" is, for better or worse, one of the most influential works of its kind  whose reputation has been cheapened through mostly unworthy sequels ("Aliens" is excellent) and the schlock which it has inspired. Watching it again, nothing can diminish its harrowing effect and if this was ever rereleased theatrically I would jump at the chance to see it on the big screen with my hands clenched in the dark.