The new director’s Cut of Alien is as chilling as the original: full of bizarre organic architecture, aliens that just work, and the single greatest use of sound effects in cinematic history. The film is great. See it.
However, the particular showing I went to was not so great. About half an hour into it, the film stopped playing, the lights went up and the adverts they show during cinema dead time (usually slides) started showing. Many people were confused and annoyed. A few minutes later, it restarted; having totally killed the tension that had been building up.
Another half hour later, someone in the second row’s phone went off. He let it ring a good 6 times before answering it. By answering it, I don’t mean that he switched it off embarassedly. No, he had a bloody conversation. If he had gotten the beating that so many of his fellow audience members obviously wanted to give him for being a “twat”, he would have sorely deserved it.
I’m of the understanding that this happens on a semi-regular basis in cinemas in America, but it’s the first time I’ve ever seen someone answer their phone here (and I go weekly – you might have noticed the reviews). Believe me, if it escalates, their will be violence.