There are just too many weird and wonderful films about aliens and I'm sure Alien and ET will show up on lists this week. I chose some obvious films and not so obvious ones to mix it up a bit and to stop me choosing the same films again. Don't forget to check out what
Wandering Through the Shelves picked, the blog that started Thursday Movie Picks
Aliens
'Game over man!' Ah Bill Paxton, that line will live on in film history. I preferred the action science fiction sequel to slower scary intense first film in the Alien franchise. I found it less scary and I could sit comfortably and enjoy it. Ripley returns, reluctantly to stop the shady Weyland-Yutani Corporation from trying again to bring an alien. Along with a group of marines, they find an almost destroyed colony, but where are the colonists? The aliens are present.
Flight of the Navigator
It might seem that MAX is a robot but he is actually an alien. He flies a spaceship AND he collects other aliens, including David from Earth. I'm sure everyone who was a child in the 80s/90s saw this wonder. After David falls down a ravine, he discovers that he has been missing for 12 years. At the same time a spaceship crashes to Earth and is picked up by NASA. Soon its discovered David and the spaceship are connected. David escapes in the ship and befriend Max, the pilot/ship itself. David wants to go back to his time but first they have to outsmart NASA. I always remember the opening credits for this film. A dog show, lots of dogs catching Frisbees.
Little Shop of Horrors
I know this is a musical BUT its a musical about an alien in the form of a plant that lands in the one of the most unlikeliest places, a flower shop in New York city. Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene head up a great cast, about an evil man-eating plant. The original ending was similar to the Broadway musical and the old original film but Frank Oz changed it in favour of a 'happier' ending. A highlight is seeing Steve Martin play the violent sadistic dentist, the song is so catchy.
Yes! Little Shop of Horrors! Totally forgot Audrey II was an alien. Great pick. Love Aliens, too. Shamed to say I grew up in the 80s, but never saw Flight of the Navigator.
ReplyDeleteI picked Aliens as well! And I love your pick of Little Shop of Horrors! It never crossed my mind!
ReplyDeleteAliens is my favorite of the series too for the reasons you mentioned, though I admire the first very much. I liked but didn't love Flight of the Navigator. I think I might have waited too long to see it, several friends of mine who saw it as kids really love it. Little Shop is a nice off the wall choice, it's been so long since I've seen it though my memory of it is hazy.
ReplyDeleteOutside of the Alien films this genre always reads goofy to me and that's what I went with for the week.
I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)-After his buddies give him a bachelor party handsome young hunk Bill (Tom Tryon) heads home but stops when he thinks he’s hit something in the road and is suddenly engulfed by a heavy gray fog. Next day prospective bride Marge (Gloria Talbott) frets when Bill is late to the wedding until he shows up and faster than you can say Jack Robinson she’s “MARRIED TO A MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE!!!!” Pulpy 50’s sci-fi follows their story as it slowly dawns on Marge that there is an alien race who are seeking a way toward reclamation of their species. Leading man Tryon eventually abandoned acting for a very successful writing career (The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, The Other etc.)
I Come in Peace (1990)-A gang of drug traffickers known as the "White Boys” cause havoc when they make off with a cache of heroin from a federal building followed by a strange spate of deaths where the victims bear a puncture mark on their foreheads. Hard-nosed cop Jack Caine (Dolph Lundgren) and FBI agent Arwood Smith (Brian Benben) follow bizarre clues looking for an answer. B movie actioner whose tagline “Good cop. Bad alien. Big trouble.” pretty much says it all.
They Live (1988)-Drifter John Nada (Rowdy Roddy Piper) finds a pair of sunglasses that when worn shows the world as it truly is. How it truly is happens to be a place where the billboards and all media carry subliminal messages such as “No Imagination” and “Stay Asleep” and the people in authority are actually aliens hidden behind a mask of normalcy who are keeping the masses subdued. Directed with a sardonic tone by John Carpenter.
Honorable Mention-Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)-Playing into both the public’s fascination and fear of space exploration and outer space in the 50’s this low budget sci-fier is both earnest and reactionary. Flying saucers, looking like exact replicas from My Favorite Martian, start blasting the hell out of a military base when their signal is misinterpreted. Once the mistake is revealed and against government orders a lone scientist tries to straighten out the muddle. Finding out the aliens intentions it’s then a race to find a defense before the human race is enslaved! Cheesy but if you like this kind of thing it could be fun.
LITTLE SHOP!!! SO MUCH LOVE.
ReplyDeleteI have stayed away from the Alien movies-they freak me out. I haven't seen the 2nd movie but i did see Little Shop both the remake and the original and they were both a hoot
ReplyDeleteThe last one sounds pretty entertaining! :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any of these, but Alien is on my blind spot list this year!
ReplyDeleteLittle Shop of Horrors came up yesterday while I was talking with a friend. It sounds pretty good.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the go to alien movie but I had been listening to the soundtrack and thought this was just right for this week. You never saw Flight of the Navigator? Ah well, it may have passed you by. Never too late though.
ReplyDeleteGreat minds think alike. I think that Audrey II is probably as scary as the aliens from Aliens - how can a plant have so much power?
ReplyDeleteYey!!
ReplyDeleteIf you love musicals and alien man-eating plants - you will love this :)
ReplyDeleteI actually haven't seen all of Alien, I found it to be too scary (its just me). Great idea as an addition to your Blind Spot.
ReplyDeleteI get what you mean - they can be terrifying. I think I might see the original, it has a different ending doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteI Come in Peace tagline is hilarious. Is this a so bad its good film or is it just bad? The John Carpenter film sounds good - conspiracy mixed with alien shiz. Another one to add - but I've used it before - Village of the Damned. Alien arrive and try and take over in small colonies. You must have heard of it - the original that it, not the remake.
ReplyDeleteI get what you mean about Navigator - if I hadn't seen it when I was younger, I don't think I'd have the same attachment. My friends all love Hocus Pocus but I only watched it a few years ago for the first time and while I enjoyed it, I don't have a strong fondness for it.
If drive-ins still existed I Come in Peace would be exactly the kind of low rent fodder that would be showing there, so depending on your fondness for that kind of film would determine how bad you thought it was. It's mindless B level stuff.
ReplyDeleteI really like the original Village of the Damned it's so full of chilly menace, and those kids are deeply creepy. The remake is trash.
I wish Drive-Ins still existed. There are a few around the UK but they're 'special' events so are few and far between.
ReplyDeleteThe plant in Little Shop of Horrors reminds me of the plant in the Super Mario Bros games.
ReplyDeleteI haven't actually seen the plant in the SMB game... but I've just googled it and yes! It does look like the plant but Audrey II is far more deadly.
ReplyDelete