Post script or What Ripley did next!

I believe that if you are going to watch all these films before you die, it would be churlish not to take in Alien³ and Alien Resurrection and look at the whole story of Ripley.

Wasn't that a happy ending to Aliens? Apart from all those people dying, that is. Ripley is on her way back to Earth with a hot marine and a pseudo daughter in tow. They are travelling on a fully functioning starship. What could go wrong?
 Well let's set fire to Ripley's pipe dream and kill off the daughter and hot marine before the credits have finished rolling. The alien queen left an egg on board the ship. Naughty queen. Cue alien blood causing a fire in the cryogenic chamber and all the pods being put into an escape 'shuttle'. This is jettisoned of onto a nearby planet, crashing into the sea and killing all bar Ripley. Oh and this planet is actually a male prison colony housing rapists, murderers and child molesters. I think I'd rather have taken my chances on the Sulaco. It was a bit of an over reaction by the ship's computer. Couldn't it have just put out the fire?
So anyway, it's another shit ride for Ripley. Also on the escape pod was another egg (clever queen) the other having hatched and planted a queen embryo in Ripley.

The adventure, this time, is helmed by David Fincher in his first feature. Once again it is visually stunning, but the story is ever so meh and this film got panned. I personally thought it was rather good and had some excellent scenes. The cremation/alien birth scene is fantastic and I was rather a fan of the ending. Ripley finally getting some closure on this hell ride.

Watching the quadrilogy DVDs however, I saw there was a director's cut and decided to watch that. It is a ton better than the theatrical cut of the film and quite different, dramatically. 20th Century Fox cut and messed around a much better film, all to get the right length and sell more tickets. Bunch of bastards.
The director's cut has a side story of Golic, played by Paul McGann. In the original cut, he is a very minor character who was seemingly driven a bit crazy from witnessing an alien attack. In this version, there is more to his story. He actually IS a bit crazy anyway and has bad hygiene problems. None of the other inmates want to work with him. Two are forced to and it's their deaths he witnesses and is blamed for. Meanwhile, Ripley and the inmates manage to capture the alien in a vault. Golic is getting more and more cuckoo as he is held in sickbay. He eventually manages to persuade the inmate guarding him to unlock his shackles, then knocks this inmate out cold and goes off to unleash the 'dragon' and help it kill. This dragon works alone and thanks him by eating him. Paul McGann is excellent as Golic and it's a shame this storyline is cut. You get to know more of the prisoners and they aren't just random nameless bald Brits being offed one by one.

Why are they British anyway? Bit of an odd casting decision? I think Charles S Dutton was the only American amongst some rather elite British thesps.

Some things in the director's cut aren't so good. The cremation/alien birth scene doesn't work as well. In that version, it is one of the oxen that is impregnated. The dog works better and also makes more sense. I think you'd notice a face hugger on one of your cows, whereas the dog could simply go missing.
Ripley's Christ dive at the end is slightly different in that you don't see the alien come out. I think both scenes are a little too false and this finale should have been shot so much better. It looks hurried and tagged on. The major problem during filming is that there was never a final script and it was all a bit winged. Given such a crapload to deal with, I think Fincher (the 3rd director to be attached) did rather well and you could see he would go on to do great things and not just awesome Madonna videos.

And so 20th Century Fox grew more greedy and decided to pull out another one. I actually thought the third was a pretty decent finish and had a great arc to Ripley's character.

I think this film is quite frankly, unnecessary and a bit of a mess. Ripley is now a cloned hybrid of Ripley and the queen alien. It's not Ripley, it's something else and I cared about as much for her as I did for any of the characters in this okay film.

Is this one worth a watch? Not really, but it's this that really paved the way for the ridiculousness of the Alien vs Predator films(although Weaver came on board because she heard about the planning for that film and wanted to make something more worthy of the franchise), so it's interesting to see that path. The franchise makes full circle. From the original alien almost becoming a Roger Corman monster B movie, that's actually what the franchise has turned into. Shame.

29. Aliens (1986)

This time it's war indeed. In possibly one of the best film sequels of all time, James Cameron decided to go down a different route than the first film's horror story and instead, make a combat film. Packed with guns, explosions and a shed load of xenomorphs. This is a thrill a minute ride.

Ripley's escape pod is picked up floating in space. Unfortunately she's had a bit of a nap and it's 57 years later. Hypersleep does wonders for the ageing process though. After telling her story to the company, they don't believe it and she has her pilot's licence revoked and is set to live a solitary life working on loaders in the docks. That is until the company loses contact with the colony set up on LV-426 and they ask her to accompany a marine reconnaissance mission as an adviser. Cue shit hitting fan!

Once again, it's the studied characters that make the film so good. The Ripley character has a more emotional side and is given a background. Weaver even received an Oscar nomination. Paul Reiser plays a brilliant villain as the nasty, back-stabbing Carter Burke, always after a fast buck and caring about no-one but himself. Carrie Henn is brilliant as Newt. Fearful, but willing to survive and never annoying or whiny. Lance Hendrik's android, Bishop, goes to prove that they aren't all psychos!
It's the marines characters that are particularly well studied. Even the ones who don't last very long. You actually care that they died. Cameron let the good ones last a bit longer. Super tough Vasquez, Hapless Gorman, dishy man under control Hicks and the king of Soundbites(and also dishy) Hudson.

The relationship between Ripley, Newt and the lovely Hicks is a nice touch. After learning of the death of her daughter (who was in her 60s) it looks like Ripley has a second chance to start a family. I just wonder when that conversation comes up about her bing an octogenarian? Awkward!

The director's cut of the film adds an extra 17 or so, minutes to the film. We see the colony before the alien takeover amongst other things. Although it doesn't drag the film out, the colony footage doesn't really add anything to the film.

"We're on an express elevator to hell; going down!"

"That's it man, game over man, game over!"

"Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen!"

"I'm ready, man, check it out. I am the ultimate badass! State of the badass art! You do NOT wanna fuck with me. Check it out! Hey Ripley, don't worry. Me and my squad of ultimate badasses will protect you! Check it out! Independently targeting particle beam phalanx. Vwap! Fry half a city with this puppy. We got tactical smart missiles, phase-plasma pulse rifles, RPGs, we got sonic electronic ball breakers! We got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks..."

How do I get out of this chickenshit outfit?"

Gotta love that Hudson! ♥

28. Alien (1979)

Ridley Scott's Alien started life as a Roger Corman B-movie and almost was until 20th Century Fox showed interest.

Fortunately, what came about is basically a haunted house horror film, but set in space. The haunted house being the starship tug, Nostromo.

On their way home to Earth, the 7 crew members of the Nostromo are wakened early from their hypersleep to answer a distress signal from a nearby planet. A team is dispatched to find the source of the signal and it turns out to be an alien ship full of eggs. Don't go near those eggs, John Hurt! Oh...too late!

There are many things that make this film brilliant.
The acting is great. Very studied characters. Sigourney Weaver, in her first starring movie role, shows Ripley to be this woman who takes no shit and gets things done, yet still shows her fragility, All the other characters have their function to play. Tom Skeritt's Captain Dallas is the straight guy, a bit brow beaten and sick of this shit; Yaphet Kotto is the alpha male; Harry Dean Stanton is the light relief; Ian Holm is the spanner-in-the-works ice-cold psycho and Veronica Cartwright holds the audience viewpoint and reaction.
Apparently, the famous chest bursting scene was secretly done. Though the actors knew what was going on,they didn't know the scale of it and those shocked reactions are quite genuine. Poor Cartwright getting hosed down by a couple of litres of blood is particularly genuine terror!

H R Gieger's alien design is extraordinarily beautiful and terrifying. Basically the perfect killing machine. Scott's shooting of the alien is masterful, keeping everything close to the details of the thing, but never really revealing it all, thus letting the audience's imagination do the work. It also means there is no man in a rubber suit running about. This way the design is never dated and it still stands up today in it's look.

A true sci-fi classic.

27. Neco Z Alenky/Alice (1988)

Czech surrealist vision of an absurdist English writer's nonsense tale. Yes, this is a bit bonkers.

Jan Swankmajer's version of the classic tale is told through stop motion animation, mixing live action and puppetry. it's a pared down version of the story. Gone are the Cheshire Cat, Gryphon, Mock Turtle and the Duchess. The White Rabbit is the main protagonist taking on the role of the Duchess and the high executioner. He's not a very nice rabbit at all. In fact no-one comes off well in this version. Alice is a bratty cunt who needs a good smack. The Mad Hatter's tea party has upped it to eleven on the nonsense, making the scene really quite annoying and pointless and the Queen is a great let down.

The setting is Alice's house, but a surreal dream version of it. Animated are taxidermied animals, fragmented skeletons of animals and grim old toys. It casts a sheath of macabre over the whole thing. It's clearly not one for the kids. There is even a warning up front made by Alice.

<< Alice thought to herself, 'Now you will see a film... made for children... perhaps... ' But, I nearly forgot... you must... close your eyes... otherwise... you won't see anything.>>

If you don't watch the film, you won't miss anything either. It's like the makers of Bagpuss took some crack and decided to make a film.

26. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul/Angst Essen Seele Auf (1974)

Inspired by an earlier film by Douglas Sirk (All That Heaven Allows), Rainer Werner Fassbinder takes the tale of forbidden love to Munich. Emmi, a widowed cleaning lady in her 60s meets a younger Moroccan mechanic in a bar whilst she escapes the rain. After inviting him up for coffee, they strike up a sudden intense affair and get married, much to the outrage of Emmi' children and her friends and neighbours.

The film is basically a story of prejudice, mostly racism and it's effects on their relationship as it slowly starts to unravel.

It's one of the defining films of the German new wave movement of the 60s/70s. *awkward face* Is it? Really? I found it terribly dull. It was incredibly stagy, the performances wooden and the situation incomprehensible.

There's only so long my disbelief can suspend. I will accept that Ali and Emmi strike up a relationship, but that they get married without telling anyone, but that he quickly begins an affair with the owner of the local bar because Emmi refuses to cook cous cous? That she openly objectifies him in front of her friends? That he suddenly, out of nowhere gets a gambling problem? It all doesn't add up towards the end. The timescale of the film is a mystery. How much time has elapsed in this world. It seems to take place over a couple of weeks.

There was a documentary on Fassbinder as an extra on the DVD, which was actually quite fascinating. This film wasn't though. I think it's more of something to study at film school, than see before you die. I am quite interested in the original, which just regards the ageism issue.

The Original Sirk film.

Fassbinder always has a part for himself in his films. Here he plays the layabout husband of Emmi's daughter. All the children are inconsequential in this film.

25. Akira (1988)

I saw this film around the time of it's release and it was a benchmark in animated features. Manga and Anime came into film vernacular and a bar was set. Thing is, it wasn't a particularly high bar. This film is confusing at best.
It's set in a post apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo and times are hard. The city is under military rule and the city is crawling with biker gangs and revolutionaries. It's not particularly clear what the revolution is all about. It does concern something called Akira.

I'm assuming that the whole spirituality side of the story is lost in translation. It seems to be concerned with chi, or some sort of natural energy that can be harnessed for good or bad. A young bratty biker (Tetsuo) gains control of this power and his powers become destructive to the nth degree. Now everyone is out to stop him.

I do get some of the themes. The whole youth against establishment. The fear of destruction and the threat of the military. I do think that the story of an emotional roller coaster of a teenager garnering the power to destroy with his mind is quite intriguing, I just don't think it's done well here. There are moments of brilliance. I like Kei's exposition speech about what Akira is. She tells of this energy theory that links the building blocks of the world and compared Tetsuo to an amoeba. "What if an amoeba was to harness this power? Amoebas don't build bridges and houses, they just consume everything around them."

The animation is quite dated too. Not a patch on anything by Miyazaki.

So groundbreaking of it's time, but doesn't stand up to Japanimation of recent years.

24. Airplane! (1980)

"Joey, have you ever seen a grown man naked?"
"Don't call me Shirley!"
"Over, over" "Huh?"
"What a pisser!"
"Looks like I picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue."
"It's an entirely different kind of flying altogether."
"Just Kidding!"
"How about some coffee Johnny?" "No thanks!"

Most quotable film ever? Surely you can't be serious? (EVERYBODY!)

David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams bought the rights to the 1957 disaster pic, Zero Hour and decided to make a comedy parodying such films. Many parts of the original dialogue is even lifted to great effect. "We have to find someone that not only can fly this plane, but that didn't have fish for dinner." Actual Zero Hour line!

It's a gag fest a go go from the very start. Betty and Vernon, the airport announcers disputing where no stopping is allowed when the real issue is Betty's unwanted pregnancy. The flashbacks of Elaine and Ted's romance as Ted bores several of the passengers to suicide. Stephen Stucker's camp one liners. A jive talking granny. Jim never vomits at home. Crash positions!!
 It is unrivalled in it's laugh out loud moments and it's all delivered with great comic aplomb. Most of the characters are played straight. It's what makes the peado captain and the doctor so hilarious.

The original movie spoof comedy and still the best.

scene stealer!

23. Aileen Wournos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992)

In 1991, documentary maker, Nick Broomfield, was asked to research into some serial killer cases with the plan to make a documentary. His interest was lacklustre until he came upon the Aileen Wournos case and met up with her lawyer and her adoptive step mom. They were seeking a price for information about Aileen. Investigating further, it seemed everyone was out to make a quick buck out of this case. Her lawyer, her newly adoptive mother, her ex lover and there was even a conspiracy with the police to sell the story to Hollywood producers.

The level of corruption is rife throughout the film and, ironically, it is Aileen who comes across as the most genuine and honest person. Although she clearly admits to the crimes, she swears that it was all in self defence.
The film has a connecting theme with the 2003 documentary, Capturing the Friedmans. There too, it is a tale of a corrupt trial surrounded by a media circus and though the crimes are heinous the sentencing seems unjust.

In 2002, Broomfield was served with a subpoena to appear at Wournos's final state appeal before execution. At this point, Broomfield and his longtime collaborator Joan Churchill, decided to make a follow up film. The Life and Death of a Serial Killer looks at her life and the journey she went on that turned her into a serial killer. It is also a disturbing look into the issue of the death penalty in the USA.

It makes for an interesting double bill.

Broomfield makes very interesting documentaries concentrating on a single person/group of people. From his earlier work regarding the fallout after the death of  Kurt Cobain in Kurt & Courtney; a look into the East/West rivalries in rap music in Biggie & Tupac; to the recent expose of Sarah Palin, Sarah Palin: You Betcha! All very interesting films and worthy of your time.

The 2002 companion film