Fede Álvarez’s ALIEN: ROMULUS is at its core an act of homage to the larger franchise, but is that a feature, a bug, or both? That’s a question we attempt to reconcile in our discussion of Álvarez’s acid-blood-soaked film, before comparing how this late-stage sequel compares with the franchise’s original sequel, James Cameron’s ALIENS, in iterating on the corporate meddling of Weyland-Yutani, the evolving nature of artificial humans, and comedy as characterization. And for Your Next Picture Show, we pivot hard away from this franchise-driven pairing for a recommendation of Spanish filmmaker Víctor Erice’s first feature in over three decades, CLOSE YOUR EYES. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ALIENS, ALIEN: ROMULUS, and anything else in the world of film and/or xenomorphs, by sending an email or voice memo to [email protected], or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730. Next Pairing: Jeremy Saulnier’s REBEL RIDGE and Ted Kotcheff’s FIRST BLOOD Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices