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October 15, 2018 2:48 AM Subscribe
Livetweeting watching Alien for the very first time. (SLTwitterthread)
Why don't they freeze hi—Hey! WHY DON'T YOU FREEZE HIM?
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 4:00 AM on October 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 4:00 AM on October 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
"wait why is this movie not over"... heh. She says at the end she's gonna be livetweeting The Thing in a week or so; I look forward to reading AAAASDFG some more.
posted by Sing Or Swim at 4:20 AM on October 15, 2018 [15 favorites]
posted by Sing Or Swim at 4:20 AM on October 15, 2018 [15 favorites]
Kinda cool how a movie that's almost forty years old to still feel this fresh, and be able to hold the attention of viewers today.
posted by KHAAAN! at 4:32 AM on October 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by KHAAAN! at 4:32 AM on October 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
Crew of seven? Okay, so, that's... six people who are going to die horribly and Sigourney Weaver. I see your angle, movie.
Heh. I could be wrong, but as I recall at the time, Sir John Hurt was the big name attached to the film. Interesting how that changes over time.
posted by nubs at 4:57 AM on October 15, 2018 [17 favorites]
Heh. I could be wrong, but as I recall at the time, Sir John Hurt was the big name attached to the film. Interesting how that changes over time.
posted by nubs at 4:57 AM on October 15, 2018 [17 favorites]
Guys, I have the feeling their mining company is not super on the level
Best 1 sentence summary of the Alien series ever.
posted by Jugwine at 5:16 AM on October 15, 2018 [92 favorites]
Best 1 sentence summary of the Alien series ever.
posted by Jugwine at 5:16 AM on October 15, 2018 [92 favorites]
Alien: in space no one follows quarantine procedures
posted by ServSci at 5:19 AM on October 15, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by ServSci at 5:19 AM on October 15, 2018 [7 favorites]
An interesting thing about Alien is how brilliantly cast it is. Of course we know who Sigourney Weaver is, but no one had any idea in 1979. Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto and Ian Holm were at that time just That-Guys (as in "Hey, isn't it that guy who was in...?") and John Hurt and Tom Skerritt little more than slightly more prominent That-Guys.
So it looks to us like a science fiction B-movie, featuring actors we kind of recognise.
Our expectations of the form tell us that Skerritt is the hero and Hurt the sidekick, so when they're taken out almost immediately, in terms of genre we literally have no idea what's going on. In 1979, at least.
And, of course, none of the actors puts a foot wrong - the other expectation of the SF B-movie is that the script is unreadable, performed by actors who are barely capable of reading it, yet here's an entire cast who are capable of turning what's essentially a queue of victims into living people (although we're never sure to have the most sympathy with, because our expectations have been swept out from under us, so we spend our time worrying about the cat, who is, ironically, the only creature on the ship that's in no danger at all).
posted by Grangousier at 5:32 AM on October 15, 2018 [55 favorites]
So it looks to us like a science fiction B-movie, featuring actors we kind of recognise.
Our expectations of the form tell us that Skerritt is the hero and Hurt the sidekick, so when they're taken out almost immediately, in terms of genre we literally have no idea what's going on. In 1979, at least.
And, of course, none of the actors puts a foot wrong - the other expectation of the SF B-movie is that the script is unreadable, performed by actors who are barely capable of reading it, yet here's an entire cast who are capable of turning what's essentially a queue of victims into living people (although we're never sure to have the most sympathy with, because our expectations have been swept out from under us, so we spend our time worrying about the cat, who is, ironically, the only creature on the ship that's in no danger at all).
posted by Grangousier at 5:32 AM on October 15, 2018 [55 favorites]
It still amazes me how great the movie looks. The use of physical effects over special effects really makes the movie pop, and makes the the transition to Blu Ray actually worth it. I look forward to reading this.
posted by Twain Device at 5:35 AM on October 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by Twain Device at 5:35 AM on October 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
oh god they're going to ignore the quarantine procedures aren't they
Best 1 sentence summary of all SF/Horror ever.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:39 AM on October 15, 2018 [30 favorites]
Best 1 sentence summary of all SF/Horror ever.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:39 AM on October 15, 2018 [30 favorites]
Guys, I have the feeling their mining company is not super on the level
Remember, you can't spell "Weyland-Yutani" without "alien duty".
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 5:43 AM on October 15, 2018 [12 favorites]
Remember, you can't spell "Weyland-Yutani" without "alien duty".
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 5:43 AM on October 15, 2018 [12 favorites]
I loved this because I had the very weird experience recently of watching Alien for the first time on a big screen - weird because I was 100% convinced I had already seen it. The plot and stills were so familiar, it was not until (do I need to spoiler? I guess so, given my experience) I saw something on screen that I understood because I'd seen Prometheus that I realised that, in fact, I had never seen Alien. Just every subsequent movie.
Anyway, it was so much better than my imaginary version of Alien, and I'm really glad I accidentally got to see it for the first time actually in a cinema, and my reactions were pretty much identical to this tweeter.
posted by AFII at 5:52 AM on October 15, 2018 [10 favorites]
Anyway, it was so much better than my imaginary version of Alien, and I'm really glad I accidentally got to see it for the first time actually in a cinema, and my reactions were pretty much identical to this tweeter.
posted by AFII at 5:52 AM on October 15, 2018 [10 favorites]
I remember Ripley striking a deep hero worship chord in me, which I now recognize as a kind of “of COURSE” she is the survivor. But also it was such an unsexy film despite the under wear stuff, except it was because her strength was sexy. And (spoiler) the mom-to-mom moment in Aliens is still, someone, emblazoned on my back brain as a primate member of a tribe which includes the young.
However no comment on subsequent sequels.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:28 AM on October 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
However no comment on subsequent sequels.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:28 AM on October 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
While watching the Alien movies (all 2 of them) I have mentioned to my wife many times that everything happens because no one listens to Ripley.
posted by Fleebnork at 6:33 AM on October 15, 2018 [17 favorites]
posted by Fleebnork at 6:33 AM on October 15, 2018 [17 favorites]
KHAAAN! : Kinda cool how a movie that's almost forty years old to still feel this fresh, and be able to hold the attention of viewers today.
I feel the same way about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
posted by Rob Rockets at 6:36 AM on October 15, 2018 [20 favorites]
I feel the same way about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
posted by Rob Rockets at 6:36 AM on October 15, 2018 [20 favorites]
i want to watch every movie in both the individual and combined universes of the AvP franchise with this person
posted by poffin boffin at 6:53 AM on October 15, 2018
posted by poffin boffin at 6:53 AM on October 15, 2018
It still amazes me how great the movie looks. The use of physical effects over special effects really makes the movie pop,
And the Foley work stands up, too:
OH GOD I'VE NEVER HEARD THE CHESTBURSTER SCENE WITH SOUND BEFORE
ONLY IN GIFS
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:57 AM on October 15, 2018 [16 favorites]
And the Foley work stands up, too:
OH GOD I'VE NEVER HEARD THE CHESTBURSTER SCENE WITH SOUND BEFORE
ONLY IN GIFS
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:57 AM on October 15, 2018 [16 favorites]
I should send this to my sister who's still mad at me forty years later for convincing her to take me, her nerdy 14 year old brother, to see Alien in the theater.
posted by octothorpe at 7:08 AM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by octothorpe at 7:08 AM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
I liked this as well, although one of the reasons why I liked it was the acknowledgement that some of the scenes and memes have percolated and infiltrated common culture enough that they're not going in 100% cherry Alien-wise. Many of these "never seen X before" things hew to a certain structure: slightly overblown commentary, instant cute nicknames for characters, lots of nitpicking. There's some of that here, but mostly it's actual reaction and not faux-naive meme citation.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:16 AM on October 15, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:16 AM on October 15, 2018 [7 favorites]
Fun!
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:31 AM on October 15, 2018
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:31 AM on October 15, 2018
If my uncle's Naugahyde recliner still exists, the marks of my tiny fingernails MUST still be on the arms from my first viewing of Alien at way too young an age.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:34 AM on October 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:34 AM on October 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
I liked this as well, although one of the reasons why I liked it was the acknowledgement that some of the scenes and memes have percolated and infiltrated common culture enough that they're not going in 100% cherry Alien-wise.
I feel pretty privileged to have been able to see it first run in a theater without seeing anything beforehand but the tv commercials. I saw Empire Strikes Back the next year with a similar lack of knowledge.
posted by octothorpe at 7:39 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I feel pretty privileged to have been able to see it first run in a theater without seeing anything beforehand but the tv commercials. I saw Empire Strikes Back the next year with a similar lack of knowledge.
posted by octothorpe at 7:39 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
Oh god, she's doing The Thing next. I LOVE that movie, but the scares PLUS the gore (which Alien doesn't have nearly as much of)...hoo boy.
posted by UltraMorgnus at 7:39 AM on October 15, 2018
posted by UltraMorgnus at 7:39 AM on October 15, 2018
I saw "Alien" in the theater when it came out, which means I was 11 years old. I very vividly remember it as the scariest fucking thing I had ever seen, and questioning the good sense of the slightly older teenagers with whom I had snuck in to see it and their adult enablers. I also remember spending a fair amount of time in the bathroom, when it got too tense. I then resisted rewatching it until many years later, trying to maintain that idea of "the scariest fucking thing I had ever seen" as long as possible.
posted by chavenet at 7:45 AM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 7:45 AM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
Alien-in-pop-culture note: the (delightful!) kids' show Wander Over Yonder has an episode that's a direct Alien homage, except the titular Wander insists on taming/naming/making a pet of the alien (now known as Captain Tim). It ends up being the beloved pet of his nemesis, who conveniently is a living skeleton and therefore has no flesh to rip/is immune to acid spit.
posted by emjaybee at 7:49 AM on October 15, 2018
posted by emjaybee at 7:49 AM on October 15, 2018
Alien was the last horror film I ever saw in a cinema, when it came out. A friend took me as a birthday present, and I have only slightly forgiven her after all this time.
It was in a rather seedy little cinema in Hackney (well before Hackney had become cool). Apparently they had a mouse problem, so like the Nostromo, they had a house cat. A house cat who was allowed to wander around the auditorium at will during showings, so that every so often there was a terrified squeal from somewhere in the room. Alien is not a film you want to be watching if there is something lurking around the room at ankle level.
posted by Fuchsoid at 7:52 AM on October 15, 2018 [70 favorites]
It was in a rather seedy little cinema in Hackney (well before Hackney had become cool). Apparently they had a mouse problem, so like the Nostromo, they had a house cat. A house cat who was allowed to wander around the auditorium at will during showings, so that every so often there was a terrified squeal from somewhere in the room. Alien is not a film you want to be watching if there is something lurking around the room at ankle level.
posted by Fuchsoid at 7:52 AM on October 15, 2018 [70 favorites]
Our expectations of the form tell us that Skerritt is the hero and Hurt the sidekick, so when they're taken out almost immediately, in terms of genre we literally have no idea what's going on. In 1979, at least.
I would think the quarantine fight would make Ripley look like the hero? But then I, too, first saw it many years after we all knew who survived.
posted by Going To Maine at 7:54 AM on October 15, 2018
I would think the quarantine fight would make Ripley look like the hero? But then I, too, first saw it many years after we all knew who survived.
posted by Going To Maine at 7:54 AM on October 15, 2018
chavenet, I hear you! I was also 11 at the time and I went to see the movie alone - it was described as science fiction and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I saw it in two sittings - I left the theater halfway, I just couldn't stand the tension, and managed to watch it the second time only because I knew when to close my eyes and cover my ears in the first half. These tweets bring it all soooo deliciously back!
posted by hat_eater at 7:59 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by hat_eater at 7:59 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I feel the same way about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Dunno, for me it seems incredibly chunky compared to something like Alien. Too much hand-wavy Star Wars magic and stilted dialog.
posted by aspersioncast at 7:59 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
Dunno, for me it seems incredibly chunky compared to something like Alien. Too much hand-wavy Star Wars magic and stilted dialog.
posted by aspersioncast at 7:59 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm a huge sci-fi nerd and I somehow have never seen The Thing. I kinda want to watch it alongside her.
posted by 256 at 8:08 AM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by 256 at 8:08 AM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
I can recall the circumstances of my first viewing of just about every movie I have ever seen in my life. Mention Eraserhead to me and I am instantly back at that midnight showing at the Chez Paris, a now long-disappeared rep cinema in Montreal; Pulp Fiction was a rainy fall night at the Centre Twin Cinemas in Hamilton, ON.
But Alien stands alone. Try though I might, I cannot recall where and when I first saw it. It’s not merely a function of it being rated R and me being a pre-teen when it came out: other movies in a similar situation I can recall. Apocalypse Now was at my friend Dave’s on his VCR (and on the big screen at the Prince Charles in London years later).
And movies with unexpected turns, I can almost always recall the feeling of watching the story unfold differently than I thought. The Sixth Sense, The Crying Game, even the cheap jump scares of slasher movies — I can recollect then all. My first viewing of the chestburster scene? No clue.
All the subsequent movies in the franchise I can tell you the exact place and situation, but Alien itself? It’s like it’s always been there.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:11 AM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
But Alien stands alone. Try though I might, I cannot recall where and when I first saw it. It’s not merely a function of it being rated R and me being a pre-teen when it came out: other movies in a similar situation I can recall. Apocalypse Now was at my friend Dave’s on his VCR (and on the big screen at the Prince Charles in London years later).
And movies with unexpected turns, I can almost always recall the feeling of watching the story unfold differently than I thought. The Sixth Sense, The Crying Game, even the cheap jump scares of slasher movies — I can recollect then all. My first viewing of the chestburster scene? No clue.
All the subsequent movies in the franchise I can tell you the exact place and situation, but Alien itself? It’s like it’s always been there.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:11 AM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
I saw Empire Strikes Back the next year with a similar lack of knowledge.
In the mid 90s I sat down with some friends (including one friend’s Japanese fiancée) to watch Empire Strikes Back. Star Wars wasn’t the all-encompassing cultural phenomenon in Japan that it was in the US and she had never seen the film and didn’t know much about it.
Towards the end of the film a certain line gets said and she turns to the rest of us, clearly doubting her translation, and says "VADER IS LUKE’S FATHER?"
It was great to relive the moment again even vicariously.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:24 AM on October 15, 2018 [11 favorites]
In the mid 90s I sat down with some friends (including one friend’s Japanese fiancée) to watch Empire Strikes Back. Star Wars wasn’t the all-encompassing cultural phenomenon in Japan that it was in the US and she had never seen the film and didn’t know much about it.
Towards the end of the film a certain line gets said and she turns to the rest of us, clearly doubting her translation, and says "VADER IS LUKE’S FATHER?"
It was great to relive the moment again even vicariously.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 8:24 AM on October 15, 2018 [11 favorites]
Alien is in the canon of late 70s / early 80s movies where I'm not completely sure whether I ever saw it myself or whether I found the parody in my sister's big stack of MAD magazines and committed the parody to memory. In the movie, when they discover the alien has acid for blood, do they compare it to Diet Coke?
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 8:24 AM on October 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 8:24 AM on October 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
Another "saw it on release on big screen, zero spoilers, wow!" generation member here.
The other very most fascinating thing about that film was watching how the crew's (over) reliance on technology (and the vast interior space of the Nostromo) gets stripped away and reduced with every murder so that eventually it's just Ripley, alone, in a spacesuit facing off with the alien. I've always believed that part of the narrative tension of the story derives out of the crew's close to naive and total reliance on machinery (some of which eventually turns directly on them). That's established (I feel) right in the first shot of the Nostromo interior, before we see any of the crew. The ship *barely* needs them.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 8:44 AM on October 15, 2018 [12 favorites]
The other very most fascinating thing about that film was watching how the crew's (over) reliance on technology (and the vast interior space of the Nostromo) gets stripped away and reduced with every murder so that eventually it's just Ripley, alone, in a spacesuit facing off with the alien. I've always believed that part of the narrative tension of the story derives out of the crew's close to naive and total reliance on machinery (some of which eventually turns directly on them). That's established (I feel) right in the first shot of the Nostromo interior, before we see any of the crew. The ship *barely* needs them.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 8:44 AM on October 15, 2018 [12 favorites]
I vividly remember seeing the chestburster scene for the first time. I was...ten? My mom was a big fan of post-second wave Strong Female Action Protagonists and attempted to show me the chestburster scene out of context because it was "funny". I ran out of the room crying.
My parents have a strong track record for showing us age-inappropriate movies featuring Harry Dean Stanton, come to think of it.
posted by pxe2000 at 8:48 AM on October 15, 2018 [10 favorites]
My parents have a strong track record for showing us age-inappropriate movies featuring Harry Dean Stanton, come to think of it.
posted by pxe2000 at 8:48 AM on October 15, 2018 [10 favorites]
that was very fun. I looooove Alien and have seen it often enough to know what was happening as I followed along. its a brilliant perfect piece of horror SF that has aged like a fine Bordeaux.
following along on her viewing of The Thing will be quite a fun ride too!
posted by supermedusa at 8:53 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
following along on her viewing of The Thing will be quite a fun ride too!
posted by supermedusa at 8:53 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I first saw Alien on HBO, on a small TV in my parent's bedroom, IN THE DAYTIME and it STILL gave me nightmares.
My son found my Alien Quadrilogy BluRay set, and asked if he could watch it. This is a kid who could not handle watching Brave for like 2 years because of the cartoon bear. Hell no.
posted by caution live frogs at 8:57 AM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
My son found my Alien Quadrilogy BluRay set, and asked if he could watch it. This is a kid who could not handle watching Brave for like 2 years because of the cartoon bear. Hell no.
posted by caution live frogs at 8:57 AM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
I would pay money for similar first-watch-tweetstorm threads for, say, Pink Flamingos.
posted by delfin at 9:07 AM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by delfin at 9:07 AM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
I would think the quarantine fight would make Ripley look like the hero?
The first time I saw it, the fellow I was watching it with (we rented it on VHS) kept referring to Ripley as a "bitch" through her early scenes where she exerted her authority, up to and including the quarantine fight. I was like WTF, dude, she's clearly right.
The chestburster scene shut us both right up for the rest of the movie, though, outside of some swearing at the Ash reveal - that scene is just as disturbing as the chestburster.
posted by nubs at 9:08 AM on October 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
The first time I saw it, the fellow I was watching it with (we rented it on VHS) kept referring to Ripley as a "bitch" through her early scenes where she exerted her authority, up to and including the quarantine fight. I was like WTF, dude, she's clearly right.
The chestburster scene shut us both right up for the rest of the movie, though, outside of some swearing at the Ash reveal - that scene is just as disturbing as the chestburster.
posted by nubs at 9:08 AM on October 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
Alien-in-pop-culture note: the (delightful!) kids' show Wander Over Yonder has an episode that's a direct Alien homage
In the category of direct Alien homages, nothing beats this Fruit Loops cereal commercial, however.
Also, have a reminder that this book's release date is tomorrow, 16 Oct 2018.
posted by radwolf76 at 9:10 AM on October 15, 2018 [13 favorites]
In the category of direct Alien homages, nothing beats this Fruit Loops cereal commercial, however.
Also, have a reminder that this book's release date is tomorrow, 16 Oct 2018.
posted by radwolf76 at 9:10 AM on October 15, 2018 [13 favorites]
"ASH WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM"
posted by tobascodagama at 9:11 AM on October 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 9:11 AM on October 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
What Pikachu's really been saying all these years.
posted by radwolf76 at 9:13 AM on October 15, 2018 [14 favorites]
posted by radwolf76 at 9:13 AM on October 15, 2018 [14 favorites]
Kinda cool how a movie that's almost forty years old to still feel this fresh, and be able to hold the attention of viewers today.
I feel the same way about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Just listing all the good genre films from 1979-1982 would be an FPP all to itself. I don't know what it was about the late 70s/ early-to-mid 80s (aside from studios trying to jump on the Star Wars bandwagon, of course), but there was an embarrassment of riches for science fiction, fantasy, and horror fans. I'm so thankful to have been alive and the right age to experience it to maximum effect. I'm further gladdened that the magic still holds for succeeding generations.
posted by KHAAAN! at 9:21 AM on October 15, 2018 [8 favorites]
I feel the same way about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Just listing all the good genre films from 1979-1982 would be an FPP all to itself. I don't know what it was about the late 70s/ early-to-mid 80s (aside from studios trying to jump on the Star Wars bandwagon, of course), but there was an embarrassment of riches for science fiction, fantasy, and horror fans. I'm so thankful to have been alive and the right age to experience it to maximum effect. I'm further gladdened that the magic still holds for succeeding generations.
posted by KHAAAN! at 9:21 AM on October 15, 2018 [8 favorites]
Dunno, for me it seems incredibly chunky compared to something like Alien. Too much hand-wavy Star Wars magic and stilted dialog. --
posted by aspersioncast at 10:59 AM on October 15
[menacing glare]
Do not task me, Mr. Aspersioncast.
posted by KHAAAN! at 9:31 AM on October 15, 2018 [29 favorites]
posted by aspersioncast at 10:59 AM on October 15
[menacing glare]
Do not task me, Mr. Aspersioncast.
posted by KHAAAN! at 9:31 AM on October 15, 2018 [29 favorites]
I honestly think Alien is one of the best films of the era, not just one of the best genre films of the era. It borrows a ton of stuff from mainstream filmmaking and then integrates it in ways that other genre films just don't. The use of Altman-style overlapping dialogue, the way Yaphet Kotto and Harry Dean Stanton are used to lay out the class dynamics of both the society and the crew in a way that's direct while still even more subtle than a lot of mainstream films were (and still are) about those dynamics. Kotto and Stanton's characters actually lay out many of the reasons the crew fails to deal with the alien effectively. The engineering/maintenance crew are very clearly getting the shaft in a bunch of ways so they feel justified in ignoring or undermining the rest of the crew, while the science/command crew (except Ripley) are deeply invested in the authority of the crew's internal hierarchy to the point where they think it's okay to override all kinds of rules and procedures around safety/fairness/etc. to preserve that hierarchy. Ripley survives because she is able to function outside of the systems the films set up. Alien is a film about work and workplace structures in the same way that Generation Kill is a TV series about those things.
Anyway, an all-time favourite and it was great to follow along with that twitter thread, reliving the film in my head.
posted by Fish Sauce at 9:48 AM on October 15, 2018 [44 favorites]
Anyway, an all-time favourite and it was great to follow along with that twitter thread, reliving the film in my head.
posted by Fish Sauce at 9:48 AM on October 15, 2018 [44 favorites]
"Check, please."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:53 AM on October 15, 2018 [12 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:53 AM on October 15, 2018 [12 favorites]
In the category of direct Alien homages, nothing beats this Fruit Loops cereal commercial , however.
It's spelled "Froot" ya know!
posted by thelonius at 10:00 AM on October 15, 2018 [7 favorites]
It's spelled "Froot" ya know!
posted by thelonius at 10:00 AM on October 15, 2018 [7 favorites]
I've always believed that ALIEN was one of the best movies about office politics ever.
Dallas was the boss, and like so many people in minor positions of authority, endlessly impressed with himself.
Kane was the junior exec, eagerly brown-nosing his way into an early grave.
Ripley was a middle manager, always harping on rules and protocols, and willing to throw fellow crew members under the bus (or out the airlock) to cover her ass.
Lambert, Brett, and Parker were the working stiffs, bitching about unpaid overtime and wage theft.
Ash was from corporate HR.
posted by KHAAAN! at 10:03 AM on October 15, 2018 [36 favorites]
Dallas was the boss, and like so many people in minor positions of authority, endlessly impressed with himself.
Kane was the junior exec, eagerly brown-nosing his way into an early grave.
Ripley was a middle manager, always harping on rules and protocols, and willing to throw fellow crew members under the bus (or out the airlock) to cover her ass.
Lambert, Brett, and Parker were the working stiffs, bitching about unpaid overtime and wage theft.
Ash was from corporate HR.
posted by KHAAAN! at 10:03 AM on October 15, 2018 [36 favorites]
The alien, of course, was the tiny add-on project the team was tasked to develop but which quickly grew monstrously out of control as marketing decided to scale it up, costs spiraled and expectations blossomed, until it finally had to be nuked from space when HQ realized it was completely unmanageable & anyway the competition had already put out E.T. which was smaller, more user-friendly, had its own power source, and was a smash hit with the kids.
posted by chavenet at 10:09 AM on October 15, 2018 [23 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 10:09 AM on October 15, 2018 [23 favorites]
It just dawned on me that, as many times as I've seen Aliens, I've never seen this movie. I am somewhat shocked by this revelation.
posted by slogger at 10:29 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by slogger at 10:29 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I was about 6 months pregnant when I walked in on the chestburster scene, and I still haven't gotten over it.
posted by Space Kitty at 10:32 AM on October 15, 2018 [17 favorites]
posted by Space Kitty at 10:32 AM on October 15, 2018 [17 favorites]
Kinda cool how a movie that's almost forty years old to still feel this fresh, and be able to hold the attention of viewers today.
I was a huge sci-fi movie fan at the time that Alien came out and watched a lot of old movies at the time and it's fascinating to compare how ancient films like Forbidden Planet or Destination Moon seemed at the time when they were only a quarter century old with films like Alien that don't seem to have aged nearly as badly. Part of it is the huge jump in special effects during the late seventies but also the social roles and attitudes in Alien still seem fresh while the 50s white male Heinleinian world-view seemed horribly dated by 1979.
posted by octothorpe at 10:34 AM on October 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
I was a huge sci-fi movie fan at the time that Alien came out and watched a lot of old movies at the time and it's fascinating to compare how ancient films like Forbidden Planet or Destination Moon seemed at the time when they were only a quarter century old with films like Alien that don't seem to have aged nearly as badly. Part of it is the huge jump in special effects during the late seventies but also the social roles and attitudes in Alien still seem fresh while the 50s white male Heinleinian world-view seemed horribly dated by 1979.
posted by octothorpe at 10:34 AM on October 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
Many of these "never seen X before" things hew to a certain structure: slightly overblown commentary, instant cute nicknames for characters, lots of nitpicking. There's some of that here, but mostly it's actual reaction and not faux-naive meme citation.
You just hit the nail on the head about what I hate about these things and why I feel that the vast majority of them are "fake" (i.e. not actually in-the-moment reactions from a first-time viewer, but rather carefully constructed narratives full of "Wow!" moments to pull the reader along, such as character or plot predictions that are either 100% on-the-nose or else totally and 'hilariously' wrong.)
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:36 AM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
You just hit the nail on the head about what I hate about these things and why I feel that the vast majority of them are "fake" (i.e. not actually in-the-moment reactions from a first-time viewer, but rather carefully constructed narratives full of "Wow!" moments to pull the reader along, such as character or plot predictions that are either 100% on-the-nose or else totally and 'hilariously' wrong.)
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:36 AM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
It just dawned on me that, as many times as I've seen Aliens, I've never seen this movie. I am somewhat shocked by this revelation.
It's much better IMHO. It's a tight SF/horror movie, enhanced by the workplace/class stuff as described above. Aliens, on the other hand, is an action blockbuster, somewhat cliche-ridden, and with a screenplay that's half toughguy catchphrases written for an audience of mallgoing teenagers.
posted by thelonius at 10:41 AM on October 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
It's much better IMHO. It's a tight SF/horror movie, enhanced by the workplace/class stuff as described above. Aliens, on the other hand, is an action blockbuster, somewhat cliche-ridden, and with a screenplay that's half toughguy catchphrases written for an audience of mallgoing teenagers.
posted by thelonius at 10:41 AM on October 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
I agree that Aliens is significantly weaker--I honestly think it's the weakest film of the bunch. I may have posted this link in another thread, I can't recall, but science fiction author Leah Bobet did a Twitter thread (part two is here -- long thread, too old to use Thread Reader on, sorry) where she watched Alien 3 for the first time and it really made me re-evaluate it as a film, and I came out liking it a lot more because of her analysis. It's probably my second favourite now.
From her thread:
From her thread:
"There is also something real and pointed being done with the way these men can be compassionate to each other, and yet they're externalizing their bad deeds on the women they hurt. Hi there, rape culture. This script sees it."posted by Fish Sauce at 11:00 AM on October 15, 2018 [10 favorites]
"...the guy who tried to rape Ripley just sacrificed himself to save the rest of them.
Yeah, this is definitely a version of this universe where we admit that humans are complicated, good and bad both. This is adults time."
"The amount of eulogies Dillon gives in this movie is also a big telling thematic statement. This is all so much about grief, and what we do with it. Regret, and what we do with it."
"And in the question becoming dignity these people who, one movie ago, would have just been cannon fodder, would have been meat, there so we could eat their screams -- they are taking back their power."
Part of it is the huge jump in special effects during the late seventies but also the social roles and attitudes in Alien still seem fresh while the 50s white male Heinleinian world-view seemed horribly dated by 1979.
Stuff like costuming and set dressing also plays a role. ST:TMP came out the same year and is, to my eye, horribly dated because everything has to be so *GASP* THE FUUUUTUUUUURE, so it ends up being the creative whims of costume designers and production designers, which means it draws strongly from contemporary trends, which ends up meaning that ST:TMP looks like they recruited their cast from a nearby disco and had it decorated by 1978's graduating class at RISD. Dressing people up in normal working clothes helps make the movie timeless -- looking at the costumes again, the most you can say as far as dating things goes is that the lapels are kinda big (and their hair is definitely a bit 70s).
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:01 AM on October 15, 2018 [8 favorites]
Stuff like costuming and set dressing also plays a role. ST:TMP came out the same year and is, to my eye, horribly dated because everything has to be so *GASP* THE FUUUUTUUUUURE, so it ends up being the creative whims of costume designers and production designers, which means it draws strongly from contemporary trends, which ends up meaning that ST:TMP looks like they recruited their cast from a nearby disco and had it decorated by 1978's graduating class at RISD. Dressing people up in normal working clothes helps make the movie timeless -- looking at the costumes again, the most you can say as far as dating things goes is that the lapels are kinda big (and their hair is definitely a bit 70s).
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:01 AM on October 15, 2018 [8 favorites]
Just listing all the good genre films from 1979-1982 would be an FPP all to itself. I don't know what it was about the late 70s/ early-to-mid 80s (aside from studios trying to jump on the Star Wars bandwagon, of course), but there was an embarrassment of riches for science fiction, fantasy, and horror fans.
I think that it really was Star Wars breaking the mold of these deadly-earnest hard-SF films that ran from 2001 right up until Star Wars, and arguably a bit after it came out, since Star Trek: The Motion Picture was an attempt to reboot the franchise as Big Ideas SF with a big budget to go with it. Star Wars said that it was OK to mash up a Kurosawa film and any number of WWII dogfight flicks and put the whole thing IN SPAAAAACE, even if the director had previously made one of those deadly-earnest hard-SF films himself. And that busted the genre wide open: if you wanted to do an SF movie that was a horror movie of the monster-methodically-eliminates-everyone-but-the-Final-Girl subgenre, or set a neo-noir in a near-future gorgeously rendered LA that would become the go-to visual reference for the emerging cyberpunk subgenre, or re-reboot your franchise with a Space Navy vs. the Space Pirates story, well, you could do that.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:02 AM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
I think that it really was Star Wars breaking the mold of these deadly-earnest hard-SF films that ran from 2001 right up until Star Wars, and arguably a bit after it came out, since Star Trek: The Motion Picture was an attempt to reboot the franchise as Big Ideas SF with a big budget to go with it. Star Wars said that it was OK to mash up a Kurosawa film and any number of WWII dogfight flicks and put the whole thing IN SPAAAAACE, even if the director had previously made one of those deadly-earnest hard-SF films himself. And that busted the genre wide open: if you wanted to do an SF movie that was a horror movie of the monster-methodically-eliminates-everyone-but-the-Final-Girl subgenre, or set a neo-noir in a near-future gorgeously rendered LA that would become the go-to visual reference for the emerging cyberpunk subgenre, or re-reboot your franchise with a Space Navy vs. the Space Pirates story, well, you could do that.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:02 AM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
Guys, I have the feeling their mining company is not super on the level
I wait patiently for rampant capitalism to bring us the inevitable Weyland-Yutani/Umbrella Corporation merger, followed immediately by a totally predictable lab accident, and then a whole lot of screaming.
Both heard and unheard.
posted by Naberius at 11:06 AM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
I wait patiently for rampant capitalism to bring us the inevitable Weyland-Yutani/Umbrella Corporation merger, followed immediately by a totally predictable lab accident, and then a whole lot of screaming.
Both heard and unheard.
posted by Naberius at 11:06 AM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
I don't know what it was about the late 70s/ early-to-mid 80s (aside from studios trying to jump on the Star Wars bandwagon, of course), but there was an embarrassment of riches for science fiction, fantasy, and horror fans.
And even on that bandwagon, movies like Starcrash are pretty spectacular in their own terrible way. That bandwagon is itself a rich lode of special awfulness, all magnified by the proximity of those other classics.
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:13 AM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
And even on that bandwagon, movies like Starcrash are pretty spectacular in their own terrible way. That bandwagon is itself a rich lode of special awfulness, all magnified by the proximity of those other classics.
posted by Capt. Renault at 11:13 AM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Guys, I have the feeling their mining company is not super on the level
I wait patiently for rampant capitalism to bring us the inevitable Weyland-Yutani/Umbrella Corporation merger
If you will recall, I believe in Alien 4 they are acquired by Wal-Mart. More realistically, it would be something more faceless - a Monsanto or a Uline.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:16 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I wait patiently for rampant capitalism to bring us the inevitable Weyland-Yutani/Umbrella Corporation merger
If you will recall, I believe in Alien 4 they are acquired by Wal-Mart. More realistically, it would be something more faceless - a Monsanto or a Uline.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:16 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
allow me to tell you about the time i, a six-year-old, had spaghetti for dinner at my aunt's house and snuck out from the bedroom after bedtime to covertly join them in their viewing of Alien on Home Box Office
recall, if you will, dear reader, what the crew of the nostromo was eating during the dinner scene
posted by entropicamericana at 11:17 AM on October 15, 2018 [14 favorites]
recall, if you will, dear reader, what the crew of the nostromo was eating during the dinner scene
posted by entropicamericana at 11:17 AM on October 15, 2018 [14 favorites]
If you will recall, I believe in Alien 4 they are acquired by Wal-Mart.
I've been waiting for the WALL-E/Alien crossover for some time. "On a space cruise, only our robot servitors can hear you scream."
posted by warriorqueen at 11:23 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I've been waiting for the WALL-E/Alien crossover for some time. "On a space cruise, only our robot servitors can hear you scream."
posted by warriorqueen at 11:23 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
yeah, so Alien is basically my fave film ever (when it's isn't Bladerunner). I always think things are more interesting when they are two things or something turning into something else and Alien mixes sf and horror. It's also the ur-text for the 'Monster In The House' move type.
Both it and Bladerunner came out when sf movies were stopping from being (for the most part) dour slow and philosophical and turning into more pew pew entertainment. Being on the cusp means the best of both worlds (compare and contrast The Road Warrior... god, I should one of those visual essays and get all the Weyland-Yutube bucks.)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:33 AM on October 15, 2018
Both it and Bladerunner came out when sf movies were stopping from being (for the most part) dour slow and philosophical and turning into more pew pew entertainment. Being on the cusp means the best of both worlds (compare and contrast The Road Warrior... god, I should one of those visual essays and get all the Weyland-Yutube bucks.)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:33 AM on October 15, 2018
Pulp Fiction was a rainy fall night at the Centre Twin Cinemas in Hamilton, ON
Heh, for me, Pulp Fiction was a mall multiplex where they'd figured out that Pulp Fiction was mainly going to be seen in evening shows, and there wouldn't be much audience for it in the afternoons. Meanwhile, the animated family-friendly The Swan Princess was probably going to get most of its business from moms bringing their kids to afternoon matinees, and it would be a waste of a theater to show it in prime evening hours. So they, quite cleverly I thought, made the best use of their available screens by putting them in the same theater, Swan Princess through about 5:00, and switching to Pulp Fiction for the 7:00 and later shows.
The little sign over the door of Theater Number Two helpfully read "Swan Pulp".
posted by Naberius at 11:38 AM on October 15, 2018 [17 favorites]
Heh, for me, Pulp Fiction was a mall multiplex where they'd figured out that Pulp Fiction was mainly going to be seen in evening shows, and there wouldn't be much audience for it in the afternoons. Meanwhile, the animated family-friendly The Swan Princess was probably going to get most of its business from moms bringing their kids to afternoon matinees, and it would be a waste of a theater to show it in prime evening hours. So they, quite cleverly I thought, made the best use of their available screens by putting them in the same theater, Swan Princess through about 5:00, and switching to Pulp Fiction for the 7:00 and later shows.
The little sign over the door of Theater Number Two helpfully read "Swan Pulp".
posted by Naberius at 11:38 AM on October 15, 2018 [17 favorites]
That puts me in mind of the people who thought "Pan's Labyrinth" was a kid's movie and had a bad time, starting at the scene with the rabbit hunter and his son.........
posted by thelonius at 11:42 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 11:42 AM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
Friend of a friend went to see Pan's Labyrinth and came away disappointed that it was way darker than the original Labyrinth and hardly even seemed related. Worst sequel ever, apparently.
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 11:58 AM on October 15, 2018 [24 favorites]
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 11:58 AM on October 15, 2018 [24 favorites]
If you will recall, I believe in Alien 4 they are acquired by Wal-Mart. More realistically, it would be something more faceless - a Monsanto or a Uline.
Or one of those incredibly complicated shell company structures where it's not even clear where the buck would stop even if someone with appropriate authority suddenly became interested in locating that entity. Like in one of my favourite Bob's Burgers jokes:
Or one of those incredibly complicated shell company structures where it's not even clear where the buck would stop even if someone with appropriate authority suddenly became interested in locating that entity. Like in one of my favourite Bob's Burgers jokes:
"You don't happen to own the mall, do you?"posted by tobascodagama at 12:13 PM on October 15, 2018 [7 favorites]
"Own the mall? No."
"Damn it."
"I own a minority share of a holding company that owns the debt of the mall."
I saw "Alien" in the theater when it came out, which means I was 11 years old. I very vividly remember it as the scariest fucking thing I had ever seen, and questioning the good sense of the slightly older teenagers with whom I had snuck in to see it and their adult enablers. I also remember spending a fair amount of time in the bathroom, when it got too tense.
That's very similar to my experience, only I was 12 and my 18 year-old brother and 15 year-old sister took me. It was by a million miles the scariest thing I had ever seen, replacing Jaws, which they had taken me to when I was 8, on Long Island, because I never, never learn. We saw Jaws at the drive-in and I bolted out of the station wagon and hid under a Beetle where at least I couldn't hear the little speaker clattering in the window.
But I digress.
We saw Alien in New York City in 1979, in a theater in what passed for a dangerous part of the city which, at the time, was more or less everywhere. That meant there was an actual armed security guard up by the doors to screening area in case -- I don't know, in case a riot broke out and they had to protect concessions or something? Anyway there was a rent a cop up there at the top of the aisle and he had a gun and at some point I just noped the fuck out and ran up to the entry doors and stood there next to him, watching the movie through my fingers. I wanted to see what was going to happen, and the bathrooms were a genuine deathtrap anyway, but I figured if the alien came for anyone, at least I'd be next to the guy with the gun.
In retrospect, he wouldn't have lasted ten seconds against most of the folks watching the movie with us, to say nothing of what was on the screen, but ... well I was 12.
posted by The Bellman at 12:22 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
That's very similar to my experience, only I was 12 and my 18 year-old brother and 15 year-old sister took me. It was by a million miles the scariest thing I had ever seen, replacing Jaws, which they had taken me to when I was 8, on Long Island, because I never, never learn. We saw Jaws at the drive-in and I bolted out of the station wagon and hid under a Beetle where at least I couldn't hear the little speaker clattering in the window.
But I digress.
We saw Alien in New York City in 1979, in a theater in what passed for a dangerous part of the city which, at the time, was more or less everywhere. That meant there was an actual armed security guard up by the doors to screening area in case -- I don't know, in case a riot broke out and they had to protect concessions or something? Anyway there was a rent a cop up there at the top of the aisle and he had a gun and at some point I just noped the fuck out and ran up to the entry doors and stood there next to him, watching the movie through my fingers. I wanted to see what was going to happen, and the bathrooms were a genuine deathtrap anyway, but I figured if the alien came for anyone, at least I'd be next to the guy with the gun.
In retrospect, he wouldn't have lasted ten seconds against most of the folks watching the movie with us, to say nothing of what was on the screen, but ... well I was 12.
posted by The Bellman at 12:22 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
All the sickos who showed up to see Swan Pulp must have been devastated.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:29 PM on October 15, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:29 PM on October 15, 2018 [13 favorites]
Really? Aliens is the worst of the bunch? Yeah, it's a high fire power blockbuster, but at it's core it's this film about moms protecting their shit. It presses hard on the "are we really better?" question. (And has a pile of great one liners.) Of course, no where near the original, but certainly not just another bug hunt.
(Also, after all these years, the semi annual Alien threads are still one of those things metafilter does best.)
posted by kaibutsu at 12:47 PM on October 15, 2018 [9 favorites]
(Also, after all these years, the semi annual Alien threads are still one of those things metafilter does best.)
posted by kaibutsu at 12:47 PM on October 15, 2018 [9 favorites]
I didn't get to see Alien until I had my own Blockbuster card. My first experience was with Aliens, which my sister had rented. I was not allowed to watch it, of course, so I hid on the stairs and listened to it. Many sleepless nights followed.
posted by Brocktoon at 12:49 PM on October 15, 2018
posted by Brocktoon at 12:49 PM on October 15, 2018
allow me to tell you about the time i, a six-year-old, had spaghetti for dinner at my aunt's house and snuck out from the bedroom after bedtime to covertly join them in their viewing of Alien on Home Box Office
recall, if you will, dear reader, what the crew of the nostromo was eating during the dinner scene
That's right up there with my parents taking four-year-old me out to a seafood restaurant immediately followed by a first run theatrical screening of Airplane. And yes, I had the fish.
posted by radwolf76 at 12:51 PM on October 15, 2018 [7 favorites]
recall, if you will, dear reader, what the crew of the nostromo was eating during the dinner scene
That's right up there with my parents taking four-year-old me out to a seafood restaurant immediately followed by a first run theatrical screening of Airplane. And yes, I had the fish.
posted by radwolf76 at 12:51 PM on October 15, 2018 [7 favorites]
> My parents have a strong track record for showing us age-inappropriate movies featuring Harry Dean Stanton, come to think of it.
Was one of the others Fire Walk With Me?
posted by Bangaioh at 1:13 PM on October 15, 2018
Was one of the others Fire Walk With Me?
posted by Bangaioh at 1:13 PM on October 15, 2018
I saw Alien with my girlfriend when it was first released, at her suggestion, which I was very glad about as the movie unfolded.
I saw some of it coming; when the parasitized one was gorging himself at the table, I whispered "he's eating for two!" to my girlfriend, and I was very surprised when I read reviews later that claimed it was 'about cancer', because it was clear to me the organizing theme was more like 'demonic pregnancy', which could subsume cancer, I suppose.
But I never quite grasped what was going on when Ash attacked Ripley and tried to stuff a rolled up magazine into her mouth -- am I misremembering that an earlier scene showed it to be some kind of men's magazine?
posted by jamjam at 1:50 PM on October 15, 2018
I saw some of it coming; when the parasitized one was gorging himself at the table, I whispered "he's eating for two!" to my girlfriend, and I was very surprised when I read reviews later that claimed it was 'about cancer', because it was clear to me the organizing theme was more like 'demonic pregnancy', which could subsume cancer, I suppose.
But I never quite grasped what was going on when Ash attacked Ripley and tried to stuff a rolled up magazine into her mouth -- am I misremembering that an earlier scene showed it to be some kind of men's magazine?
posted by jamjam at 1:50 PM on October 15, 2018
fish sauce: I agree, I think part 3 got a raw deal from fans, but wasn't as good as it could've been, but my understanding was that had a lot of studio interference, in part because it was David Finchers first movie.
Considering his next three were Se7en, The Game and Fight Club, I'm surprised there was never a directors cut or something ala Blade Runner or Brazil.
Maybe that's the special edition?
Anyway, I'm probably biased because I love Charles S. Dutton. Anyway, most of the complaints I remembered were for the ending and that it wasn't T2.
posted by lkc at 2:04 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
Considering his next three were Se7en, The Game and Fight Club, I'm surprised there was never a directors cut or something ala Blade Runner or Brazil.
Maybe that's the special edition?
Anyway, I'm probably biased because I love Charles S. Dutton. Anyway, most of the complaints I remembered were for the ending and that it wasn't T2.
posted by lkc at 2:04 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I didn't get to see Alien until I had my own Blockbuster card. My first experience was with Aliens, which my sister had rented. I was not allowed to watch it, of course, so I hid on the stairs and listened to it. Many sleepless nights followed.
good job picking one of the few movies that sounds even more terrifying than it looks
posted by murphy slaw at 2:04 PM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
good job picking one of the few movies that sounds even more terrifying than it looks
posted by murphy slaw at 2:04 PM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Also part 4 is good if you just watch it drunk with the sound off.
posted by lkc at 2:05 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by lkc at 2:05 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm surprised there was never a directors cut or something ala Blade Runner or Brazil.
Maybe that's the special edition?
There can never be a directors cut of Alien 3; footage was destroyed, not just cut. The special edition restores what it can, and you can see more of what the film could have been, but it’s far from a complete vision. Alien 3 goes down as a beautiful failure in my books.
posted by nubs at 2:18 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
Maybe that's the special edition?
There can never be a directors cut of Alien 3; footage was destroyed, not just cut. The special edition restores what it can, and you can see more of what the film could have been, but it’s far from a complete vision. Alien 3 goes down as a beautiful failure in my books.
posted by nubs at 2:18 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
GCU Sweet and Full of Grace:ST:TMP came out the same year and is, to my eye, horribly dated because everything has to be so *GASP* THE FUUUUTUUUUURE, so it ends up being the creative whims of costume designers and production designers, which means it draws strongly from contemporary trends, which ends up meaning that ST:TMP looks like they recruited their cast from a nearby disco and had it decorated by 1978's graduating class at RISD.
IIRC, Gene Roddenberry was insistent on that type of uniform because he wanted them to look even less military, although the final effect was that of a dental office or clinic staff scrubs. (There was also that clunky "life support monitor" thing in the fanny pack position that everyone had to wear, as if they were in imminent danger of dying, and was never really explained in the movie.) When Nicholas Meyer, who hadn't watched TOS, came in to do the second movie, he decided that his Space Navy was going to look like a Space Navy and gave them double-breasted jackets, utility uniforms for the engineering crew that looked like spacesuits, and so on.
(and their hair is definitely a bit 70s)
I really like Uhura with natural hair, though.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:38 PM on October 15, 2018
IIRC, Gene Roddenberry was insistent on that type of uniform because he wanted them to look even less military, although the final effect was that of a dental office or clinic staff scrubs. (There was also that clunky "life support monitor" thing in the fanny pack position that everyone had to wear, as if they were in imminent danger of dying, and was never really explained in the movie.) When Nicholas Meyer, who hadn't watched TOS, came in to do the second movie, he decided that his Space Navy was going to look like a Space Navy and gave them double-breasted jackets, utility uniforms for the engineering crew that looked like spacesuits, and so on.
(and their hair is definitely a bit 70s)
I really like Uhura with natural hair, though.
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:38 PM on October 15, 2018
I read the Twitter thread yesterday and had to leave me desk because I was snickering so hard.
I've only patchily watched the sequels because, honestly, I have a screaming amount of bodily mutilation horror and watching People Die Messily (TM) is not my thing.
But Alien: Resurrection holds personal meaning for me.
Alien: Resurrection isn't good, but the experience of the Ripley clone slowly figuring out that she's not what she thinks she is, that she contains monsters, that she has no idea which of her memories are real or not - those still get to me.
I saw it many years before I recognised I was trans, and the feeling of recognition and identification I felt watching her character was an unpleasant but undeniable irritant in the back of my head that wouldn't go away. And what bothered me most was that I didn't understand why it bothered me.
This probably is much more rooted in cultural notions of the immutability of self and the sharp edges of the gender binary and the essentially monstrous construction of the cultural idea of womanhood more than any explicit reference to the experience of being trans, but it was still...something for me.
The scene where she wanders into the room of failed clones, and confronts one who begs her wordlessly for death, and recognises that as they are without, visibly, she herself is, within, still haunts me.
posted by allium cepa at 2:45 PM on October 15, 2018 [15 favorites]
I've only patchily watched the sequels because, honestly, I have a screaming amount of bodily mutilation horror and watching People Die Messily (TM) is not my thing.
But Alien: Resurrection holds personal meaning for me.
Alien: Resurrection isn't good, but the experience of the Ripley clone slowly figuring out that she's not what she thinks she is, that she contains monsters, that she has no idea which of her memories are real or not - those still get to me.
I saw it many years before I recognised I was trans, and the feeling of recognition and identification I felt watching her character was an unpleasant but undeniable irritant in the back of my head that wouldn't go away. And what bothered me most was that I didn't understand why it bothered me.
This probably is much more rooted in cultural notions of the immutability of self and the sharp edges of the gender binary and the essentially monstrous construction of the cultural idea of womanhood more than any explicit reference to the experience of being trans, but it was still...something for me.
The scene where she wanders into the room of failed clones, and confronts one who begs her wordlessly for death, and recognises that as they are without, visibly, she herself is, within, still haunts me.
posted by allium cepa at 2:45 PM on October 15, 2018 [15 favorites]
But I never quite grasped what was going on when Ash attacked Ripley and tried to stuff a rolled up magazine into her mouth -- am I misremembering that an earlier scene showed it to be some kind of men's magazine?
You are remembering correctly, I believe. Someone else who has listened to the DVD commentary more recently than I can probably fill you in, but I think I recall that Ridley Scott’s view was that artificial beings would not have sex organs*, so the scene in question was apparently supposed to be Ash doing his best to subject Ripley to the trauma of rape when he does not have the equipment himself.
*Puts a different spin on Blade Runner.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:25 PM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
You are remembering correctly, I believe. Someone else who has listened to the DVD commentary more recently than I can probably fill you in, but I think I recall that Ridley Scott’s view was that artificial beings would not have sex organs*, so the scene in question was apparently supposed to be Ash doing his best to subject Ripley to the trauma of rape when he does not have the equipment himself.
*Puts a different spin on Blade Runner.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:25 PM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
Really? Aliens is the worst of the bunch?
I see this surprise often—not to pick specifically on you, kaibutsu—and here's the thing: I really, really, really don't like Aliens. Like, at all. There, I've said it.
Phew! This is like coming out, admitting I've never liked a beloved classic. It's an OK action film to me, but it's shitty sci-fi horror, and nothing but nonstop Cameron-esque military hardware wankery and obnoxiously clichéd stereotypes—like nearly all his movies.
Now I'm sure you love it, most people seem to and that makes me happy beyond measure since variety, spice, life, blah blah blah. But people who like it don't get to profess outrage or shock that some of us don't. Well, I can't stop them I guess, but it seems a bit silly.
Alien though, it's magic—a creepy, scary, gory magic. But if you don't like, that's good too.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 4:06 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
I see this surprise often—not to pick specifically on you, kaibutsu—and here's the thing: I really, really, really don't like Aliens. Like, at all. There, I've said it.
Phew! This is like coming out, admitting I've never liked a beloved classic. It's an OK action film to me, but it's shitty sci-fi horror, and nothing but nonstop Cameron-esque military hardware wankery and obnoxiously clichéd stereotypes—like nearly all his movies.
Now I'm sure you love it, most people seem to and that makes me happy beyond measure since variety, spice, life, blah blah blah. But people who like it don't get to profess outrage or shock that some of us don't. Well, I can't stop them I guess, but it seems a bit silly.
Alien though, it's magic—a creepy, scary, gory magic. But if you don't like, that's good too.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 4:06 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
I feel where you're coming from on Aliens, although there are bits of it I quite like. However, I don't understand how anybody liked Prometheus.
posted by aspersioncast at 5:55 PM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by aspersioncast at 5:55 PM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
The thing about Alien is that it's not really a sci-fi movie .... it's just a really well done haunted castle, except that it's a space ship
posted by mbo at 5:57 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by mbo at 5:57 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
The thing about Alien is that it's not really a sci-fi movie .... it's just a really well done haunted castle, except that it's a space ship
same as the second act of 2001
posted by thelonius at 6:03 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
same as the second act of 2001
posted by thelonius at 6:03 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
I saw Alien way later than you might naively guessed based on my age, because my partner and I were engaging on a tour of all of those foundational late 70s/80s/early 90s movies that we'd missed out on as kids (her because she grew up in a horrible fundamentalist household and me just because I had a weird family that wasn't particularly tuned into American pop culture of the time). It was in a series with things like Lethal Weapon and Die Hard, and now that I've seen them I really enjoy those movies too and acknowledge the ways that Die Hard in particular was a novel kind of action movie, but it was Alien that really impressed me and made me feel kind of bad for relegating the whole series to popcorn fodder. It's a legitimately great film not just in how it wields cinematic devices but also in its thematic treatment, and it totally changed my understanding of the nominal "genre vs. high art" binary.
posted by invitapriore at 6:12 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by invitapriore at 6:12 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I really, really, really don't like Aliens.
"But, since we're all gonna die, there is one more secret I feel I have to share with you.
I did not care for the Godfather."
posted by The Bellman at 6:37 PM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
"But, since we're all gonna die, there is one more secret I feel I have to share with you.
I did not care for the Godfather."
posted by The Bellman at 6:37 PM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
(Huh. I would love to know why the person who live-blogged this has me blocked on Twitter.)
posted by webmutant at 6:39 PM on October 15, 2018
posted by webmutant at 6:39 PM on October 15, 2018
Even the poster of this movie freaked me out as a kid, years before I actually saw it.
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:06 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by The Card Cheat at 9:06 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
If you are live tweeting Alien then you are not watching Alien.
posted by bongo_x at 9:25 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by bongo_x at 9:25 PM on October 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
Reading that thread by the person who liked Alien 3 felt a bit vindicating, as that world was so very beautiful. But the movie drags so! It’s like half of my experience. And to kill everyone else off camera felt less graceful and more heavy handed. “We gotta mess Ripley up good again! How can we do it?” Beautiful movies are not always good movies. Similarly - Aliens is not a movie I love, but it is so obviously A Thrilling Entertainment You Can Rewatch Any Time It Comes On, just like how a Spielberg movie is A Well-Crafted Blockbuster With Perfectly Executed Dramatic Beats.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:29 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Going To Maine at 9:29 PM on October 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
I was hoping she would realize Ash is Bilbo Baggins.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:00 PM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Chrysostom at 10:00 PM on October 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
256: "I'm a huge sci-fi nerd and I somehow have never seen The Thing. I kinda want to watch it alongside her."
It's fucking fantastic.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:02 PM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
It's fucking fantastic.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:02 PM on October 15, 2018 [4 favorites]
That movie would probably have gotten child protective services called on my dad these days. We occasional reminisce about it at family gatherings.
I was 9 when Alien came out. My mother was in the hospital after having given birth to my youngest sister. She was fine, it was more common to keep people in the hospital after birth then. So my father had baby sitting duty for the 4 kids and decided to take us to a movie.
My father chose Alien. For context please note I was the second oldest: our ages were 3, 6, 9 and 12. As an adult I realize he just wanted to see the movie and he knew my mother would never go, so this was his chance. My mother just shrugged and said something like "I'm not dealing with the nightmares."
And yes, there were nightmares. I still remember one where I was Ripley situation in the finale, having the xenomorph start crawling back into the ship AND NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND THE RIGHT BUTTON TO TURN ON THE ROCKETS AND FRY THE THING. I was helpless as it crawled back into the shuttle through the piping and came up the kitchen sink.
I have not rewatched the whole thing since then, but I'm pleased it still scares people.
(Also: Alien has a very similar plot as the Dr. Who episode Ark in Space, about an alien that laid its parasitic larvae in cryogenic human sleepers on a space station. That too gave me nightmares, even though the scariest special effect was basically green bubble wrap.)
posted by mark k at 10:56 PM on October 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
I was 9 when Alien came out. My mother was in the hospital after having given birth to my youngest sister. She was fine, it was more common to keep people in the hospital after birth then. So my father had baby sitting duty for the 4 kids and decided to take us to a movie.
My father chose Alien. For context please note I was the second oldest: our ages were 3, 6, 9 and 12. As an adult I realize he just wanted to see the movie and he knew my mother would never go, so this was his chance. My mother just shrugged and said something like "I'm not dealing with the nightmares."
And yes, there were nightmares. I still remember one where I was Ripley situation in the finale, having the xenomorph start crawling back into the ship AND NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND THE RIGHT BUTTON TO TURN ON THE ROCKETS AND FRY THE THING. I was helpless as it crawled back into the shuttle through the piping and came up the kitchen sink.
I have not rewatched the whole thing since then, but I'm pleased it still scares people.
(Also: Alien has a very similar plot as the Dr. Who episode Ark in Space, about an alien that laid its parasitic larvae in cryogenic human sleepers on a space station. That too gave me nightmares, even though the scariest special effect was basically green bubble wrap.)
posted by mark k at 10:56 PM on October 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
I was also 11 at the time and I went to see the movie alone - it was described as science fiction and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
First movie I saw alone was Hooper/Spielberg's Poltergeist. At 12.
posted by mikelieman at 5:06 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
First movie I saw alone was Hooper/Spielberg's Poltergeist. At 12.
posted by mikelieman at 5:06 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
It's (Alien) much better IMHO. It's a tight SF/horror movie, enhanced by the workplace/class stuff as described above. Aliens, on the other hand, is an action blockbuster, somewhat cliche-ridden, and with a screenplay that's half toughguy catchphrases written for an audience of mallgoing teenagers.
See also The Terminator. The Terminator is a horror flick. T2 is an action flick.
posted by mikelieman at 5:12 AM on October 16, 2018 [4 favorites]
See also The Terminator. The Terminator is a horror flick. T2 is an action flick.
posted by mikelieman at 5:12 AM on October 16, 2018 [4 favorites]
The version of Alien 3 called "The Assembly Cut" is still not a great film but it's pretty watchable and much better than the theatrical version.
For some reason I've never talked myself into watching Alien 4 even though it's sitting there in my TV room in the big box set.
posted by octothorpe at 5:22 AM on October 16, 2018
For some reason I've never talked myself into watching Alien 4 even though it's sitting there in my TV room in the big box set.
posted by octothorpe at 5:22 AM on October 16, 2018
Alien Resurrection is a mess but there's a lot to like. If you're a Firefly fan you should probably watch it for the fact that it contains characters who are very clearly Whedon's first draft for the crew of the Serenity (if noticeably more villainous); if you like dumb action and cheap jokes the film's got it in spades.
Honestly, whenever people complain about a particular Alien* movie being unlike the others I'm confused because none of the four films are anything like the others. They're all different kinds of film.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:52 AM on October 16, 2018 [4 favorites]
Honestly, whenever people complain about a particular Alien* movie being unlike the others I'm confused because none of the four films are anything like the others. They're all different kinds of film.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:52 AM on October 16, 2018 [4 favorites]
That movie would probably have gotten child protective services called on my dad these days. We occasional reminisce about it at family gatherings.
My dad took my sister ( older than I ) to see Jaws in the theater in 75? I was what, 8. And like they did in those days, he smoked during the film. Yeah. These days, child protection would have been involved.
Ben's boat? Thousands of dollars of therapy, and I sometimes still get triggered.
Film Nerd: The practical effect ( Bruce ) of the shark sucked so bad, Spielberg was forced to build tension by not showing it. Which was marvelous, until the reveal.
posted by mikelieman at 6:00 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
My dad took my sister ( older than I ) to see Jaws in the theater in 75? I was what, 8. And like they did in those days, he smoked during the film. Yeah. These days, child protection would have been involved.
Ben's boat? Thousands of dollars of therapy, and I sometimes still get triggered.
Film Nerd: The practical effect ( Bruce ) of the shark sucked so bad, Spielberg was forced to build tension by not showing it. Which was marvelous, until the reveal.
posted by mikelieman at 6:00 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Alien Resurrection is a mess but there's a lot to like. If you're a Firefly fan you should probably watch it for the fact that it contains characters who are very clearly Whedon's first draft for the crew of the Serenity (if noticeably more villainous); if you like dumb action and cheap jokes the film's got it in spades.
AR was an almost comically-bad mismatch between the script and the director. Jean-Pierre Jeunet didn't seem that interested in the dialogue, and the original version of the Hybrid, with its giant, inflamed vulva, supposedly took a big chunk of money to correct (i.e. get rid of the genitalia) in post. Like or hate Aliens, at least Cameron wrote the movie that he intended to direct.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:09 AM on October 16, 2018 [7 favorites]
AR was an almost comically-bad mismatch between the script and the director. Jean-Pierre Jeunet didn't seem that interested in the dialogue, and the original version of the Hybrid, with its giant, inflamed vulva, supposedly took a big chunk of money to correct (i.e. get rid of the genitalia) in post. Like or hate Aliens, at least Cameron wrote the movie that he intended to direct.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:09 AM on October 16, 2018 [7 favorites]
Alien is similar to Jaws in not actually showing much of the Alien until the very end.
posted by octothorpe at 7:10 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 7:10 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
I saw it with my sister when I was 12 when we were on holidays. She was responsible for taking me to see the scariest thing I'd seen ever at a Baptist Church caravan at the local show (Burning Hell, with maggots and everything) when I was about 8 and I have a feeling that she wanted to see me freak out again, but I loved it. Such atmosphere!
People always forget to mention Veronica Cartwright, who was just excellent as someone completely overwhelmed.
I really enjoy the miserable, appallingly grim world of Aliens 3 too.
posted by h00py at 7:13 AM on October 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
People always forget to mention Veronica Cartwright, who was just excellent as someone completely overwhelmed.
I really enjoy the miserable, appallingly grim world of Aliens 3 too.
posted by h00py at 7:13 AM on October 16, 2018 [2 favorites]
but also the social roles and attitudes in Alien still seem fresh while the 50s white male Heinleinian world-view seemed horribly dated by 1979.
Perhaps more than you know. Lambert was transgender.
posted by suetanvil at 8:13 AM on October 16, 2018 [5 favorites]
Perhaps more than you know. Lambert was transgender.
posted by suetanvil at 8:13 AM on October 16, 2018 [5 favorites]
12-year-old hanov3r knew that Alien was a horror movie and never wanted to see it because hanov3r HATES horror movies.
30-year-old hanov3r did NOT know that Event Horizon was a horror film and OH MY FUCKING GOD WAS SEEING THAT A MISTAKE.
I have seen Alien. It's a fine film. I prefer the more action-y Aliens (I kinda feel like James Cameron really understands me), and I have a secret love of Alien3 that many people do not understand.
posted by hanov3r at 8:25 AM on October 16, 2018
30-year-old hanov3r did NOT know that Event Horizon was a horror film and OH MY FUCKING GOD WAS SEEING THAT A MISTAKE.
I have seen Alien. It's a fine film. I prefer the more action-y Aliens (I kinda feel like James Cameron really understands me), and I have a secret love of Alien3 that many people do not understand.
posted by hanov3r at 8:25 AM on October 16, 2018
They're all different kinds of film.
I thought this exact thought when I first watched the entire franchise over a few days and rereading that concise expression of sentiment here is a surprisingly potent Proustian Madeleine.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:32 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
I thought this exact thought when I first watched the entire franchise over a few days and rereading that concise expression of sentiment here is a surprisingly potent Proustian Madeleine.
posted by Going To Maine at 8:32 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Perhaps more than you know. Lambert was transgender.
Whaaaaaaaaaat.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:36 AM on October 16, 2018
Whaaaaaaaaaat.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:36 AM on October 16, 2018
I was hoping she would realize Ash is Bilbo Baggins.
I saw Remains of the Day in the theatre when in first came out and about two-thirds of the way through, the university student sitting behind me suddenly recognized Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter and exclaimed her shock. I instantly thought “Remains du Jour“ and have carried that alternate title around in troubled silence for three decades now.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:51 AM on October 16, 2018 [5 favorites]
I saw Remains of the Day in the theatre when in first came out and about two-thirds of the way through, the university student sitting behind me suddenly recognized Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter and exclaimed her shock. I instantly thought “Remains du Jour“ and have carried that alternate title around in troubled silence for three decades now.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:51 AM on October 16, 2018 [5 favorites]
That explains why the movie version added that scene of Stevens eating Lord Darlington's liver.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:43 AM on October 16, 2018
posted by Chrysostom at 9:43 AM on October 16, 2018
I'd love to know what the experience was like making the movie. Was is ever scary for the actors? I know the chestburster scene was a surprise, but what about the rest?
posted by gottabefunky at 10:36 AM on October 16, 2018
posted by gottabefunky at 10:36 AM on October 16, 2018
I haven't watched it, but there are some "making of" videos available that might answer the question.
posted by nubs at 10:41 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by nubs at 10:41 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Someone on Twitter should introduce her to My Day by Jonesy: A Cat's Eye View of Alien (previously, old link is broken).
posted by homunculus at 11:31 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by homunculus at 11:31 AM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
. . . age-inappropriate movies featuring Harry Dean Stanton . . .
I need a supercut of all of them, stat.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:21 PM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
I need a supercut of all of them, stat.
posted by aspersioncast at 12:21 PM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
These Unique Maternity Photos Took a Decidedly Dark, Alien Twist
Two fans of the Alien franchise took their maternity pictures to a whole other level. We just had to find out more.posted by kirkaracha at 12:33 PM on October 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
...
And so, the Camerons are proud to announce the arrival of their little Xenomorph, Burston...
There is an Alien Pez dispenser
And all is right in the world.
posted by chavenet at 1:10 PM on October 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
And all is right in the world.
posted by chavenet at 1:10 PM on October 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
I love all the Alien movies to varying degrees, except AvP 2, which why does that exist? I'm pretty sure I did a spit take when Alien Ripley Baby was sucked out through a 2" hole into space. I can't say I had seen something like that before. My ex-wife may never forgive me for making her see that in the theater. My only complaint with 4 is the swimming Xenomorphs. It looks super fake. Covenant gets a "meh", because willfully insane android just doesn't fit into the Alien android archetype at all. It's more interesting when something mysterious plays puppet master. And all this religious hokum is annoying. They will remake both Alien and Aliens eventually.
posted by Brocktoon at 6:48 PM on October 16, 2018
posted by Brocktoon at 6:48 PM on October 16, 2018
They will remake both Alien and Aliens eventually.
With a cast of hot 24 year olds and lots of shaky cam.
posted by octothorpe at 4:55 AM on October 17, 2018
With a cast of hot 24 year olds and lots of shaky cam.
posted by octothorpe at 4:55 AM on October 17, 2018
it was clear to me the organizing theme was more like 'demonic pregnancy'
That was a whole fascinating sub-genre after Alien.* Cheap ripoffs are great for clearing up what the original movie was about, because they're so sleazy and say all the quiet parts loud. Can it get more blatant than Inseminoid? Definitely demonic pregnancy.
*I guess Demon Seed (1977) came first though (not a pun).
posted by hyperbolic at 12:00 PM on October 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
That was a whole fascinating sub-genre after Alien.* Cheap ripoffs are great for clearing up what the original movie was about, because they're so sleazy and say all the quiet parts loud. Can it get more blatant than Inseminoid? Definitely demonic pregnancy.
*I guess Demon Seed (1977) came first though (not a pun).
posted by hyperbolic at 12:00 PM on October 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
Did someone say they’re watching The Thing? There’s an appropriate drink for that.
posted by Pronoiac at 5:28 PM on October 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by Pronoiac at 5:28 PM on October 17, 2018 [1 favorite]
Did someone say they’re watching The Thing? There’s an appropriate drink for that.
I would have gone with the J&B Rare Blend that MacReady pours into the dedicated chess program/apple computer, but that's just me.
posted by mikelieman at 5:50 PM on October 17, 2018
I would have gone with the J&B Rare Blend that MacReady pours into the dedicated chess program/apple computer, but that's just me.
posted by mikelieman at 5:50 PM on October 17, 2018
In case anybody is interested, Eldritchgirl plans on livetweeting The Thing today at 8pm est. (5pm pst)
posted by hoodrich at 11:12 AM on October 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by hoodrich at 11:12 AM on October 27, 2018 [2 favorites]
Did someone say they’re watching The Thing?
She's finished watching The Thing (Threadreader version).
Some highlights:
She just tweeted, "Still awake at 3am For no reason. I swear. Certainly not because of a movie I watched. I am an ADULT. That would be silly."
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:10 AM on October 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
She's finished watching The Thing (Threadreader version).
Some highlights:
......does the dog make it?And:
I love this dog so much, he's so cute. He's this movie's Jonesy and I am happy he's there. All horror movies should have a cuddly animal friend
Awww the dog is shy around the other dogs!
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT
NONONONONONONOOOOOOPE
DGHSGHSFGFHDHWHAT
WHAT
THE DOG
I TRUST YOU
I TRUSTED YOU AND YOU BETRAYED ME AND NOW THERE IS THIS HAPPENING AND I CAN'T I CAN'T I CAN FUCKING NOT
OH GOD NO HIS HEAD ESCAPEDAnd so on, and so forth.
WHY IS THAT A SENTENCE I HAD TO WRITE
WHY DOES THAT SENTENCE HAVE TO EXIST
WHAAAAAAAAAT THE ACTUAL LITERAL FUCKING SHIT
IT HAS LEGS NOW
She just tweeted, "Still awake at 3am For no reason. I swear. Certainly not because of a movie I watched. I am an ADULT. That would be silly."
posted by Doktor Zed at 12:10 AM on October 28, 2018 [4 favorites]
Ooof, she really didn't like The Thing. Whereas the whole way through that thread I was thinking to myself, oh, wouldn't it be be brilliant to be able to watch it for the first time again?
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:13 PM on October 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:13 PM on October 28, 2018 [2 favorites]
I should rewatch The Thing on Halloween night. It's been a few years and just reading about it here starts the soundtrack playing in my head.
posted by octothorpe at 5:36 AM on October 29, 2018
posted by octothorpe at 5:36 AM on October 29, 2018
I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, I DID NOT ENJOY THAT EXPERIENCE. It's a great movie, for sure, for the 75% of it I watched while not hiding under a blanket. But oh god, it was too much for me.
Do Grave of the Fireflies next! It's a nice Studio Ghibli anime! What could go wrong?!
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:52 AM on October 29, 2018
Do Grave of the Fireflies next! It's a nice Studio Ghibli anime! What could go wrong?!
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:52 AM on October 29, 2018
Or When the Wind Blows, by that fellow that made The Snowman.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:00 AM on October 29, 2018
posted by Chrysostom at 10:00 AM on October 29, 2018
A year or two ago modern occult MMO The Secret World gave out as Christmas gifts to the player base certain items based on The Thing, including a companion pet that was a husky.
Several people who hadn't seen the film were, uh, unthrilled at what the husky does when you're idle...
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:24 PM on October 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
Several people who hadn't seen the film were, uh, unthrilled at what the husky does when you're idle...
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:24 PM on October 29, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by Fraxas at 3:20 AM on October 15, 2018 [6 favorites]