To real-pred. It's good to hear such soothing words, but you actually beat me to the computer, as I am not so down on Anderson as you may think. Firstly, most artists, in any medium, make life easy for them selves and focus on a style or execution that is already within their grasp; hence one reason for the overwhelming amount of kitsch in any medium; painting, music, film or otherwise. Anderson may not yet have a track-record to inspire confidence, but what certainly does are his thought processes that have had some light shed on them in an interview (IGN; on here). The fact that he realises the immensity of the task he is up against, with regard to the two genius directors who have successfully preceded him, and yet, whilst in awe, is still prepared to learn from these masters in a deep and challenging way is inspiring and a neccesity. What made the Impressionists so good? The fact that they all trained under the Naturalists, who in turn were classically trained. Picasso and the early modernists? They could paint as well as any Impressionist, because they were also their mentors. Schumacher? Well, he learnt from Senna didn't he e.t.c. Arrogant artists doomed to be second-rate think they have all the answers; those who attain first-rank status know to reference the past, and to learn from only the best in history that has preceded you and is relevent; not merely that which is near to hand or more easily understood. Also, any great artist must posses a rare and acute sensitivity to beauty; and the fact that he recognises the heirarchy of the first two Alien films being the chief influences followed by the first predator movie (set in the Alien universe), on top of the fact that he understands the huge impact the pacing made in these films, gives ample room for hope. I also think Event Horizon was a straight A (if not A+) movie that was underrated, or at the least under-publicized. However, all great artists also know the importance of restraint; and yet I get the impression that Mr. Anderson will not be able to help himself with regard to slow-mo, and other assorted and flashy video-game inspired camera work. Such things may be trendy and 'cool' (as in coveted by 13 year olds and the Idol following crowd), and suit Mortal Kombat or even 'Predator', but the Alien universe when it worked was a bleak and realistic one; can you imagine the chestburster scene in Alien happening in slow-mo? If that's not grating enough then just add in some techno (as I'm sure he would never do, but I'm just trying to make a point here) and the result should be "yearch". Even the APC on fire and crashing around in Aliens would have been grating done like this; the realism, thus immersion and heart-pounding fear would have been gone, or at least compromised. Remember; trendy or cool and other such of-our-time transiant things don't matter; what matters is timelessness, and for this the movie has to be as immersive as possible. The face-hugger in slo-mo could really work though. If Anderson wants some free street-cred and publicity, instead of inappropraite slo-mo or gyrating camera work (like the horrible grenade sequence in Resurrection), why doesn't he just have a 30-second bonus "Alien vs prod-action Osama" at the end; replete with Osama, alone, and his walking stick in a cave somewhere. Just a thought..he he. This brings me to another kitsch give-away and pit-fall to be aware of (art-theory was my major by the way; just so you know I'm not completely speaking out my arse); and that is that, besides the choosing of an easily-digestable style (Resurrection/Hollywood), kitsch-artists also typically choose colours and effects merely because they are pretty; such as a strong colour just because it looks nice. The point here is that everything should serve the whole; whether colours or choice of camera work. Slow-motion could work brilliantly if used to give an impression, from the Aliens perspective, of it's existance on a higher level of metabolism altogether, but other than that? Restraint is my point; not everything from videogames is good, or relevent. Hell; slow-mo in my view wrecks every game i've played with it anyway, as the real-time gameplay is of neccesity either too-easy, or far too difficult. Imagine how Golden-eye or Halo would be screwed. Other views such as first-person that he mentions on the other hand, fit the bleak realistic Alien universe and could really add to the experiance. In any case i'll put my head on the line and say that I think this film will be much better than Alien 3, miles better than tyhe horrible Resurrection, but Aliens, and especially Alien, are very, very hard acts to follow. But if he doesn't attain those kind of heights, I for one won't blame him; and so long as he keeps doing the right things, this movie can't be bad. "One can only stand on the top of a precipice for so long; eventually you become dizzy and have to step down". Zorxagg.