Movies
‘Alien’ Director Ridley Scott to Be Honored By the DGA
English director and producer Ridley Scott is going to be given the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Achievement in Motion Picture Direction award by the Director’s Guild of America (DGA). This is a huge honor for the man who directed Alien, Gladiator, Prometheus, Thelma & Louise, and more, as it has only been given to 34 directors over the institutions 80-year history, the last time being in 2012 for Czech director Miloš Forman.
A statement from DGA President Paris Barclay reads:
Masterful in any genre, Ridley’s groundbreaking methods and peerless directing instincts have brought to life some of the most memorable films of our time, capturing the resilience of the human spirit and captivating the hearts and minds of audiences around the world.
Over the course of four decades, his trailblazing career has demonstrated the impact and importance of the director’s singular vision. For these reasons, and so many more, we are honored to present the Lifetime Achievement Award in feature film to Ridley Scott.
I was first introduced to Ridley Scott’s work not through Alien but through his 1985 fantasy film Legend, which is still a favorite film of mine. It was a film that I revisited with great frequency, relishing in fantastic Tangerine Dream score, Tim Curry’s masterful performance as “Darkness”, and the unbelievably stunning world that, if you can believe it, was built on a soundstage. It was only a few years later, when I was nearing double-digits in age, that I was introduced to Alien and the Xenomorph that would become one of my favorite on-screen creatures. It’s because of that film (and the sequel) that I purchased the Quadrilogy on DVD and once again on Blu-ray. I also fell in love with his 1982 sci-fi noir film Blade Runner, for which I own the 5-disc briefcase edition.
While I haven’t seen all of his films, I know that of the ones I have seen that there hasn’t really been one I didn’t enjoyed quite thoroughly. He’s been an inspiration to countless filmmakers and I am thrilled to see him be the recipient of this award, which he absolutely deserves.
Congratulations, Sir Ridley Scott! You’ve earned it!
Before updating the video nasty Faces of Death, director Daniel Goldhaber and writer Isa Mazzei explored the dangers of online life in tech-thriller Cam, their feature debut that was acquired by Netflix in 2018 after making waves on the festival circuit.
At the end of last year, the Netflix exclusive quietly departed from the streaming platform, left without another streaming home.
It’s not an isolated story; Mike Flanagan’s Hush also left streaming entirely for a period until it was finally picked up on both physical media and other streaming services.
While the tech-thriller currently isn’t available to watch on Netflix, Tubi, Hulu, or any other platforms, that’s not a problem for Cam thanks to a very cool move by Goldhaber: the director has made his breakout film accessible to watch online for free via his website.
As his site notes: “CAM is unfortunately not currently available to view on any platforms, so you can watch it here if you like :).“
No subscriptions or fees necessary, just hit play.
Cam follows Alice (Madeline Brewer), who works as an online cam girl obsessed with her ranking on the cam site. The higher her ranking goes, the more it draws unwanted attention, and Alice soon finds herself replaced on her own show with a doppelganger.
Written by Mazzei, a former camgirl, it uses the horror thriller premise to examine the life of a sex worker; Alice’s career ambition is directly at odds with the shame it brings to her family, and how she tries to spare them from it by keeping them in the dark. It only compounds her danger when the doppelganger enters the equation in Goldhaber’s engaging thriller.
For a deep dive into the treacherous world of Cam, listen to Horror Queers’ episode on it now.
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