Alien

Year: 1979
Directed By: Ridley Scott
Written By: Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett

RYAN’S REVIEW

I hope I am wrong, but I think this movie will be lost on younger generations.  It’s a fantastic movie but I’m afraid it might be too outdated to be appreciated in the future.  There are those of us who will recognize this movie for the classic that it is, but we will probably be the minority in the long run.  This movie isn’t as ageless as most classic movies. I think it’s hard for horror movies to remain scary when the genre is constantly trying to outdo itself.  However this is just my opinion and I very well may be wrong.  When I was a kid I actually watched Aliens first, and in hindsight this was a mistake.  James Cameron made a very different movie, a better movie I think but not a horror film at all.  When I went from the action/sci-fi sequel to its predecessor the horror aspect of the movie just didn’t register.  I was expecting more of a movie with a similar action feel to it, and throughout the entire movie it never occurred to me that it was supposed to be scary.  This is a slower paced movie, a pace audiences were comfortable with 30 years ago but don’t necessarily tolerate today.

I was a stupid teenager when I watched this for the first time and I couldn’t appreciate it.  Watching it now I can see the horror, and understand the fear it must have invoked when first seen in 1979.  This movie moves slow, but it was an imaginative original idea and it was very well made.  This movie was one of the first ones directed by Ridley Scott, who has gone on to have an incredible career and is still making great movies today.  One of the first roles for Sigourney Weaver, who has also gone on to have a fantastic career and still carries weight as an actress today.  Alien won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and it was well deserved, the effects in this movie were ahead of their time. This is a great movie, so good that it spawned a franchise that Fox will probably continue exploiting it till the end of time. I hope you take the time to watch this movie, parts of the film move a little slow at times, but I can assure you that it’s worth your time.

AMBER’S REVIEW

For the time period, this movie is great. It has all of the elements of a science fiction and horror. I like all of the characters and the plot. The movie is thoroughly scary and creepy and quite disgusting in parts. I like it more almost knowing that it goes on and on in sequels still to this day.

I don’t have much more to say about it. It is worth watching, but it isn’t my favorite one to watch over and over.

NEXT MOVIE: Aliens (1986)

1408

Year: 2007
Directed By: Mikael Håfström
Written By:Matt Greenberg and Scott Alexander
Based on the Steven King story

RYAN’S REVIEW

I bought this movie on a whim when I was actually staying in a hotel room alone one time, it served me well.  It isn’t a great movie but it’s creepy, it’s effective, and it has Samuel L. Jackson.  1408 is based off a short story I didn’t read by Stephen King.  I am a big Stephen King fan but I didn’t really like his first novel about an evil hotel and I think a short story about an evil hotel room means he was running out of good ideas.  I’d have to check to say this with any accuracy but I would bet this is only loosely based on a Stephen King story and his name was added to increase interest in the film.  I think this was effective because I bought this movie spontaneously, I bought it new.  Typically I only buy a movie new if I really loved it or I absolutely knew it would be awesome even though I hadn’t seen it.  This was neither but I took a chance, and if I was on the fence at all it was Stephen King’s name that won me over.

Now, since this is the first opportunity I have to talk about him, let’s cover the great Samuel L. Motherfuckin Jackson.  He may always be the same character, Jules from Inglewood, in the majority of his roles, but what movie isn’t enhanced by that character? I think we all know that while the wallet may have belonged to Tarantino, Samuel L. Jackson was, is, and always will be the “Bad Motherfucker.” If he had said nothing else in this movie other than “it’s an evil fucking room man” the movie still would have been that much better.  He plays this role so well that you start to wonder if his character is supernatural and not just a hotel manager.  He really read all the books by the author John Cusack was playing? If it was anybody else you would be asking yourself “what are the chances of that?” but when it’s the Bad Motherfucker you just think “whoa, maybe he isn’t just a hotel manager, maybe he just…knows things, maybe he has…powers.”

I see this being a forgotten film in the end, but I enjoyed it.  I took a chance on it and wasn’t disappointed, it may have played into my circumstances and had an unfair advantage, but the movie is worth your time and I would recommend it.

AMBER’S REVIEW

This film has all of the elements of a successful horror film. I thoroughly enjoy it. I am not the biggest John Cusack fan, but I do think that he realistically portrays his character in this film. A writer that used to smoke but doesn’t anymore yet carries the cigarette behind his ear for superstition’s sake. I also love the line he uses when Samuel L. Jackson asks if he drinks, “I said I was writer.” Speaking of the great Samuel L. Jackson, I think he was the best part of the movie. They even stuck in some “fucks” here and there, and the movie wouldn’t have been the same if Jackson didn’t say his signature word. I love him. I won’t go into too much detail here about him though, as we have a plethora of movies that will feature his awesomeness.

All in all this a great movie where you don’t have to think too much into and you can just sit back and watch it for what it is. It will make you jump here and there and it will make you feel for the main character and his pain of losing his daughter. Check this one out if you are in the mood for a scary flick.