Ridley Scott is a full-spectrum director who is as versatile as the boy scout swiss army knife.
And before anyone starts flinging dollops of criticisms at his popularist behind, bite on the fact that his popcorn-crunching, dollar-reaping blockbusters woon both the critics and the masses on an equal fronting.
1. Alien
Ridley Scott tossed one off for the feminists and produced this little gem of a sci-fi quasi-horror. By skipping the conveyor-belt characteristics of the holywood generic female action hero (big-busted, skin-tight leather donning, huffing and puffing, twinkle-toed martial artist ) he made the most believable chick hero yet. Sure, she probably couldn't unleash a can of bruce lee-esque asskicking onto a group of iron-pumping steroid-guzzling heavyweights but she has enough of the grey matter to cope with any endoparasitoid, acid spewing facegroping funk that dares to wander the Nostromo.
It's a claustrophobic, swallow-coal-and-crap-out-diamond-tight nail biter that prefers slow brewing tension over full on action and anarchy. Cough. James Cameron. Cough.
2. Blade Runner
A sci-fi noir that turned palm tree, sun and sea Los Angeles into a dystopian, decaying, rain drenched, neon-lit city. Harrison Ford paved his way as the grunting, trenchcoat-wearing sleuth with a candy-sweet spot for the lipstick donning replicant. With a story that aims to twang the philosophising strings of the audience and a cream-your-pants worthy cinematrography this warrants a big thumbs up from me.
3. Thelma and Louise
The said tossing off was done again and despite the 'male-bashing, trigger happy lesbian middle-aged-crisis film' criticism that I've heard the world entire, I damn well liked it.
Sure, the blokes are hardly lovable lugs worthy of the 'Mr Nice Guy' status and the female protaganists decide to shoot and steal their way through the Southern states rather than sweet talk themselves out of their little pickle...but that's exactly the point. It's the antidote to the sappy-dappy, fairytale smut featuring airhead characters fluttering their eyelashes, pouting their lips and making conversation about glitter and sparkles.
4. Gladiator
A soap opera-esque plot pitched between sandal-and-armour donning ab crunchers, a dashering of blood-thirsty violence, occasional whinings to music in an incomprehensible language, perfume advert camera work and stern-bordering-on-constipated expressions. Are you not entertained? Ah, yeah, actually. I am.
5. Black Rain
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