Happy birthday, David

We’re all agreed this is about the creepiest-as-fuck thing happening on the interwebz today, yes?

Something tells me David is going to not be everyone’s friend by the time the great ship Prometheus returns home. Which, of course, it’s highly unlikely it will, this being the Great Big Alien Prequel and all.

And so the Prometheus hype juggernaut gathers pace.  It’s interesting that the same kind of guerilla marketing tactics that came into vogue with Blair Witch Project, carried on through ARGs with the likes of A.I. and became the entire point of Cloverfield, now seem to have become the entire focus of some movie marketing campaigns.  What with this and Peter Weyland’s ‘TED talk’, it’s quite the thing that specific budgets – not to mention, brand tie-ups in the case of TED – are being given over to what are, ultimately, geeky niche things.  Will you have to watch them to make sense of the film? Almost certainly not. Might your viewing experience be enhanced by having seen them? Possibly.

Side note: as a good friend pointed out yesterday, Fox should take note: it’s not going to matter if the film gets an R-rating (or a 15 here).  This thing has been hyped so much that the audience will come, regardless.  If you tone it down so parents can take their 5-year-olds to see it, though (and yes, they will and do), and it makes it a poorer movie, that will harm your audience far more.

Side side note: I continue to be in awe of both Michael Fassbender and Guy Pearce as actors.  Pearce is basically a Shakespearian god in that TED talk. And Fassy somehow manages to be more human than human when he’s PLAYING A SODDING ROBOT. I also have questions about how this fits within the whole Blade Runner Incident. Because let’s face it, this is Ridley Scott and there’s a Blade Runner prequel/sequel/sideways show thing happening, so there’s got to be *some* sort of long-game tie-in.