Today is the actual 25th anniversary of James Cameron's Aliens (1986) which we happen to have been celebrating all week. (Theme Weeks! Do you love or do you love?)
We meant to do a little more about the actual series surrounding this one film but our Netflix queue was beset by weird problems -- "game over, man, game over!" -- The Alien Quadrilogy is arguably the most fascinating big money franchise that Hollywood ever threw money at, functioning such as it does as Auteur Training Wheels; each film was given to a different major director near what the world presumed was the beginning of their huge career: Ridley Scott (2nd narrative feature of 19), James Cameron (3rd of 8), David Fincher (1st of 9) and Jean Pierre-Jeunet (3rd of 6)
Instead we just focused on our favorite of the Quad. Just in case you missed any, here are the four bloggy monsters we hatched for this historic day.
- Hit Me With Your Best Shot
In which 10 blogs select what they think of as this epic's best shot. - My Magnificent Aliens Obsession
In which Kurt shares a surprising childhood memoir. - Take Three: Michael Biehn
In which Craig celebrates Cameron's go-to wrecked hero. - Podcast: 1986 Highlights, Oscar & Cannes
In which Nick and I sing the movie's praises and revisit other favorites from the year.
I'll let the paid subscribers and donors (see sidebar) choose the next theme week. If you've contributed this past month to keep the site with something approaching a shoestring operating budget (i.e. roof over head) expect soon.
Did you enjoy the Ripley action this week?