Thursday 6 August 2015

Thursday Movie Picks: Alien Invasion of Earth

I actually had quite a long list of possibilities for this theme, I had forgotten just how mant great films out there that had aliens invading places. I'd like to point out that none of these films were Independance Day. Don't forget to check out what Wandering Through the Shelves picked, the blog that started Thursday Movie Picks.

1. The World's End
The unofficial third film in Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy, the Mint flavour, the film is about friendship, forgiveness, growing up and an alien invasion. Filmed in nondescript Welwyn Garden City outside of London, the story is about friends forced together for by one of them (who happens to be going through a breakdown) to relive the infamous pub crawl they never completed when they were young. While this is going on, the group slowly realise that everyone has been replaced by alien copies. It's great fun, hilarious and has that emotional punch that is always done so well by Wright.


2. Signs
I know that many people don't think much of this M. Night Shyamalan film about a global alien invasion seen and experienced through a family who have recently gone through a sudden tragic event. This was the first film that made me sit up and take notice of Joaquin Phoenix, bear in mind I was only 13 years old at the time but I could appreciate him. I had only just started reading Empire, I was just learning that about film, but this alien invasion film was different. There were no big action sequences, no typical traits to note, this was a family drama that had a deeper meaning to it. There isn't a twist as expected with MNS's films but there is a sense of foreboading. If disapproved first time, watch it again under a different light.

3. Village of the Dammed (1960)
I wrote a previous post about this film after enjoying it and being terrified by it during BFI's science fiction season, here it is. The basics are, the film is based on the novel, The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham and follows the inhabitants of a small country village after a strange event. One day everyone just collapses, waking up several hours later not knowing what happened. Then all the women who can bear children are pregant, including a few teenage girls who are virgins. They all give birth at the same time to children who all have blonde hair and do not resemble their parents in anyway. Eventually, after some spooky murderous stares, it comes to ligh that they are aliens are actually just one colony that survived. Other colonies were set up but all failed in different ways. It's a brilliant British film, giving you that awful tingle of fear down your spine. Theres something about creepy blonde children that push you to the edge thinking this is more horror.

14 comments:

  1. I really like The World's End and really hate Signs. Haven't seen the other, yet. I need to. It's been on my to-watch list for years.

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  2. I would say, avoid the newer version of Village of the Damned like the plague! Nothing beats the British film :)

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  3. Second time I saw Signs in someone's pick. A good movie actually with underwhelming ending.
    The World's End indeed is very awesome! Although not as strong as Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz, but that's so Cornetto!


    sinekdoks.com

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  4. Andrew Ellington6 August 2015 at 13:45

    I really hated Signs...or at least...actively disliked it. I haven't seen the other two...but I really want to!

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  5. I totally forgot that Village of the Damned was aliens! Great, creepily effective little movie! The World's End is HILARIOUS and I like Signs until the ending, which is really just stupid.

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  6. When I saw The World's End I had no idea that it was about Aliens, or anything other than friends on a pub crawl. So I was pleasantly surprised at that turn of events! Also, I remember enjoying Signs. I've only seen it once, and it was also in my teens, but I loved the creepy foreboding feeling throughout the film.

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  7. Signs again! I love it. Great movie! I am one of those rare people who really digs all of Shyamalan's movies, even The Happening. Haven't seen his latest couple. They seemed too much a departure from his usual tone. But I love seeing this pick today.

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  8. So glad to see Village of the Damned show up. What an unsettling picture with a great George Sanders performance. I like Signs, it was going along so well until that dumb ending..oh well. Hadn't heard of World's End but you intrigued me.

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  9. Can't beat Hot Fuzz or Shaun but its a worthy third film, it has the same heart. It makes sense they had a sc-fi film in there with horror and action.

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  10. I don't get why people hated Signs, it was a far sight better than Unbreakable. Definitely seek out The World's End and the cornetto trilogy if you haven't yet.

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  11. What's wrong with the ending? Is it that we see the aliens? If so, I get it, the unknown is far better.

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  12. Exactly the foreboding that something is coming and you're not quite sure what. They downplayed the aliens part in The World's End which I liked, even better that it was all centred around a pub crawl.

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  13. Excellent! It great to see some love for Signs. I have to admit I'm a big fan of The Village too, LOVED the terrible truth at the end of that. It was not expected. I think everyone expects there to be a twist of some sort at the end of the films and now as not all his films have that, they hate his stories. Devil was not as bad as I thought but I don't think I can handle The Trip coming out later, too scary.

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  14. Those creepy children! I had seen pictures and parodies before the film but seeing them in action was really disturbing. I also liked the scenes where they discuss what happened to the other colonies. Ah yes! The World's End is definitely something to seek out.

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