Alien

A Perfect Movie I have seen ALIEN probably at least a dozen times. It was one of the movies i remember my dad picking out at blockbuster after school, and one of the movies that was always on the SciFi channel or FX. It wasn’t until my viewing of it last month that I realized it’s a perfect film. I tried to wrap my head around why I felt this sudden affection for a film I’ve seen plenty of times. Why was it that when Ripley started humming ‘my lucky star’ I could feel myself gripping the edge of my couch’s arm rest? I’ve seen this movie; I know how this story ends. Why? The obvious reason is that art becomes different to the viewer over time. Something you saw as a rad, alien-killing, body horror flick as a kid can mean something different as an adult. But what exactly is that difference. I felt possessed to know the answer. Upon another rewatch, a few YouTube breakdowns, and lots of notes in my journal — here’s what I came up with: boldness. That word kept popping up in my brain and in my notes. For your consideration, here are those notes: - camera placement: even more popular sci-fi flicks like STAR WARS and Kubrick’s 2001 seem to use pretty traditional camera placements. Ridley Scott placing the camera in small quarters and awkward places allows the audience feel apart of the ship crew, while also getting a sense of how small the ship actually is. - use of lens flares: I’ll admit it: I love lens flares. I’m rooting for a JJ Abrams comeback because I wanna see more lens flares on the big screen (only half joking). And I’m sure Scott didn’t invent lens flares, but his use of them in this movies adds that dimension of space travel. It gives the movie a romantic feeling, despite these being truckers in space. - killing the stars: killing off well-known actors like Tom Skeritt and Harry Dean Stanton and having an unknown female lead take the reigns is probably the most bold thing about this movie. Even if you watch the “New Age Hollywood” movies (MIDNIGHT COWBOY, THE GRADUATE, FIVE EASY PIECES, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW), they’re all lead by men / have male leads. - social ideas: what separates science fiction from other mediums is it looks to the future with a lens of the present. Traditional fantasy stories is historical fiction with magic — science fiction in a way is the antithesis of fantasy stories. ALIEN has to be a science fiction story, as it’s a cautionary tale of what the future could be. And — sorry for the cliche point I’m about to make here — it’s even more relevant today. Themes and motifs such as AI hiding in plain-sight; working people vs corporations; forced creation, are all concepts that are feel a bit over my head, but I’m glad to ponder on them. Okay, I’ll stop now before I start blabbering about things I know nothing about. Thanks for reading. Note: I wrote thing on my phone. Please forgive typos and other grammatical errors.