'Alien: Romulus' Director Unbanned from Subreddit After Erroneous Accusations He Was Impersonating... Himself (deadline.com) 39
Alien: Romulus director Fede Ãlvarez "briefly dropped into an Alien franchise subreddit this week to chat with fans about his new sequel," reports Deadline. "But the moderators weren't having it, flagging Ãlvarez as an imposter in a notice that he is 'permanently banned' from the subreddit."
The moderator shared an update that Ãlvarez "was immediately reinstated and had a very friendly conversation with us. Awesome guy." They also shared the filmmaker's response. "I'm sorry, just found it hilarious," wrote Ãlvarez. "My bad. Not harm done. Thanks again for such great work moderating my favorite subreddit."
Fangoria notes this might not be the last Alien movie from director Alvarez: Talking with The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week, the Evil Dead and Don't Breathe director teased that ideas are in the pipeline for an Alien: Romulus sequel, which would — if it comes to fruition — be the eighth instalment in the legendary sci-fi horror franchise."
The Hollywood Reporter also notes that Ash, the "calculating synthetic character" from the original 1979 movie Alien (played by the late Ian Holm) got a kind of reprise in 2024 with another character named Rook: According to Ãlvarez, Rook was a collaborative decision with [Ridley] Scott, who also wanted to see another version of the artificial person he introduced 45 years ago. The Romulus team then received approval from Holm's estate, and using the English actor's headcast from The Lord of the Rings as a foundation, Legacy Effects built Rook's torso and head as an animatronic. The practical character was then enhanced by CG and deepfake AI technology for certain shots as needed... "There might be some deepfake in the eyes because it's the best when it comes to creating the likeness of the eyes, but it's a whole bag of tricks from 1970s and 1980s technology to technology from yesterday."
The article also notes one horrifying plot twist "received some respectful opposition to this unsettling choice from 20th Century and Disney, but that's precisely when [director Alvarez] knew he was on the right course." "If you're given an Alien movie by a corporation that is owned by Disney and they immediately say, 'Yeah, let's make it,' then you are failing somehow. So we really pushed it to the limit, and I'm glad we did."
Alvarez's social media feed also explores what Alien: Romulus would look like as trading cards or as 1950s comic book, shares posts from the movie's poster designer, and admits that "everything I do is influenced by Terminator / Alien / Predator."
Fangoria notes this might not be the last Alien movie from director Alvarez: Talking with The Hollywood Reporter earlier this week, the Evil Dead and Don't Breathe director teased that ideas are in the pipeline for an Alien: Romulus sequel, which would — if it comes to fruition — be the eighth instalment in the legendary sci-fi horror franchise."
The Hollywood Reporter also notes that Ash, the "calculating synthetic character" from the original 1979 movie Alien (played by the late Ian Holm) got a kind of reprise in 2024 with another character named Rook: According to Ãlvarez, Rook was a collaborative decision with [Ridley] Scott, who also wanted to see another version of the artificial person he introduced 45 years ago. The Romulus team then received approval from Holm's estate, and using the English actor's headcast from The Lord of the Rings as a foundation, Legacy Effects built Rook's torso and head as an animatronic. The practical character was then enhanced by CG and deepfake AI technology for certain shots as needed... "There might be some deepfake in the eyes because it's the best when it comes to creating the likeness of the eyes, but it's a whole bag of tricks from 1970s and 1980s technology to technology from yesterday."
The article also notes one horrifying plot twist "received some respectful opposition to this unsettling choice from 20th Century and Disney, but that's precisely when [director Alvarez] knew he was on the right course." "If you're given an Alien movie by a corporation that is owned by Disney and they immediately say, 'Yeah, let's make it,' then you are failing somehow. So we really pushed it to the limit, and I'm glad we did."
Alvarez's social media feed also explores what Alien: Romulus would look like as trading cards or as 1950s comic book, shares posts from the movie's poster designer, and admits that "everything I do is influenced by Terminator / Alien / Predator."
Reddit is arbitrary (Score:2)
I made a joke once about someone being "deported" by walking off the pier. It was considered a "death threat". My accountbgot banned.
I see the same joke regularly, like "deport him to Antarctica ", etc. Those users don't get banned.
Apparently people can't swim, but can live in a t-shirt at -40.
Re: Reddit is arbitrary (Score:2)
Absolutely. I was banned from some subreddits without any explanation from moderators. It really pissed me off. Enough that I deleted all my reddit accounts, including the NSFW one that was fairly popular, for a non-pro male, anyway. I didn't just delete the account, but all the posts as well.
Re: Reddit is arbitrary (Score:5, Funny)
It really pissed me off. Enough that I deleted all my reddit accounts, including the NSFW one that was fairly popular, for a non-pro male, anyway. I didn't just delete the account, but all the posts as well.
Holy cow, I remember you. Can you tell me how you got that many hamsters to fit? With that kind of impressive display I'm astounded that you consider yourself to be non-pro. To be both so talented and humble. What an amazing world we live in.
Re: (Score:1, Insightful)
I was banned from AITA i said you are not a lesbian if the other one got a penis
woketard moderator even harassed me for it
Re: (Score:2)
I look at that as English lacking appropriate options... Because trans people (and those interested in sexual relationships with them) are only a tiny percentage of the population.
We (English speakers) also conflate gender and sex more or less 100% of the time.
You can have two female-gendered people where one of them is of the male sex, having sexual intercourse. By gender, they're lesbians. By sex, they're heterosexual. And depending on the transition efforts made, those terms are still probably too abs
Re: (Score:2)
Strap-ons tell a different story; lesbians still have vaginas and there are nerves in there that respond nicely to penetration.
If you are more worried about gender, then a pre-op trans woman is a woman. That isn't true for me or an awful lot of people, but it is not universally false either.
Re: (Score:2)
I often post in political subs who's philosophy I totally disagree with, and in my 12 years there I've never had a post deleted or been banned (except from r/thedonald - so maybe you're partially right about that, but it's the exception).
they are harvesting user content for their AI, of course. Completely exploitative.
Every single word that appears in the open internet is being harvested for AI consumption,
Re: (Score:2)
Now reddit gets paid for it
The worst are people who pretend to be victims (Score:2)
Should you fire some guy for being an asshole about his political beliefs?...that's you
Re: (Score:2)
Don't bother reporting people for breaking a sub's rules, either.
I got an official first warning for "abusing" the reporting system, because someone else was repeatedly breaking a sub's rules, and no-one else did anything about it.
So now I don't bother.
Why is this "news" ? (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't understand why this is on Slashdot. I mean, who the fuck cares?
Re:Why is this "news" ? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Well if this article wasnt here what would you have to complain about?
Re: (Score:1)
I have terminal cancer and may not see my child's 9th birthday. Is that enough?
Re: (Score:2)
I'm very sorry for your problems. Maybe stick to them though rather than inventing new ones for yourself though.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, hearing about this Alien - Star Trek crossover is nerd news to me.
I'm looking forward to this fifth Alien movie (not counting the Predator crossovers).
Re: (Score:1)
Reddit's many other fuckups along its descent into hot mess territory have been common slashdot fodder over the last decade or so. Why not another? It's not like slashdot is really about the technology itself anymore anyway.
Re: (Score:2)
i wouldn't come back to the subreddit
You are demonstrably incorrect. If you were him, you would have done what he did, which is return to the subreddit. We can accurately predict what he would have done by observing what he actually did.
Also, if you were you - which I will provisionally allow that you may very well be - you wouldn't be him, so you wouldn't have been banned for impersonating him in the first place... unless you were banned for impersonating him, in which case you wouldn't have returned because you weren't unbanned for reaso
Translation in plain English (Score:4, Insightful)
the filmmaker's response. "I'm sorry, just found it hilarious," wrote Alvarez. "My bad. Not harm done. Thanks again for such great work moderating my favorite subreddit."
Translation:
Reddit sucks ass. This moderator is a fucking idiot and I don't ever want to come back to this stupid subreddit. But I'll pretend it's all a-okay and good-naturedly brush off the incident because I need social media to promote my movies.
Re: (Score:2)
When you're dealing with social media, you have to assume everyone is a potential imposter.
Anyone famous who wants to be taken seriously needs to arrange their social media activities though channels that can verify their identity first.
I can dump on Reddit mods until I can't type any more, but I don't think this mod was wrong in this instance.
Re: (Score:2)
Or that last bit was actually written by his publicist. Or maybe, despite being a good director (I assume. I haven't seen the movie yet, but have heard good things and plan to get to it.) he's kind of a pushover in his personal life. Or maybe he really is just so zen that he has no problem being falsely accused of wrongdoings.
Personally, I don't get it either. False accusations have been a pet peeve of mine as long as I can remember. And being falsely accused is, IMO, full justification for "full nuclear
Re: (Score:1)
Hollywood is still making movies for purple haired, obese "gay" POC socialists. If they made macho movies for the "male and pale" demographic, they would be printing money.
Instead of attacking this statement, those downvoting should prove the statement wrong first.
Hollywood is struggling on far more than just a theory at this point. Reality certainly knows what is true.
poormans fan service? (Score:2)
Didn't Pay Deepfake Allowance Extortion (Score:2)
This is unfortunately the price to be spam-free (Score:2)
Irrelevant movie .. (Score:1)
Ãlvarez ? (Score:1)
I thought I was reading The Onion (Score:2)