I believe I'm a blog topic or two behind, but I really wanted to participate in this one, so here goes! @missy and @rambo have assigned, what I think, is one of the hardest topics so far.. Your favourite movie! I spent quite awhile trying to decide just exactly which of my top movies has that slight edge over the others, and I decided on (insert drum roll here) ...
ALIEN!!!
To me, Alien has everything you could want from a cinematic masterpiece. The cast is phenomenal, the score beautifully matches and heightens every scene, the suspense is perfect, Ridley Scott directing is an obvious win, and H.R. Giger is a freaking genius. It's just a scifi lovers 137 minute wet dream.
Growing up my parents weren't really big on TV. We had one television in the house and we were allowed to watch cartoons on weekend mornings and TGIF on Friday nights, but that was it. After my parents divorce my mum, sisters, and I moved to a farm house in the country where watching TV rarely happened. Every other weekend, when we would visit my Dad he would take us to the video store to rent a movie. Being the youngest of three, I rarely got to choose, so I always ended up watching whatever my sisters liked best. It wasn't until my teenage years that I started getting into films and watching all these movies I had missed growing up. I didn't even watch Star Wars for the first time until I was 16, I know, blasphemy.
I can't quite remember how old I was when I watched Alien for the first time, but I know I was in high school, and I know that it blew my mind. It changed everything for me, and is the film that made me truly love and appreciate the scifi genre. The suspense and thrill of the film was like nothing I had ever experienced. Every shot of space, of the Nostromo, inside or out, docking, taking off, I watched with an open mouth. I wanted to be there, exploring the stars, seeing it all first hand, well but minus the xenomorphs of course.
And then there's Ripley. Sigourney Weaver was everything. I had never seen a women like this on screen before, I had read books with strong female characters, but never actually seen it outside of my imagination. She was smart and brave and strong. And she was beautiful. She was everything that my high school self wanted to be. I remember gripping the edge of my couch until my fingers turned white. Eyes locked on the screen, hanging on to every word, every shot, every single moment. And you know I jumped off the couch screaming the second that baby xenomorph came popping out.
After that I was done. Me and scifi were like two peas in a pod. Long lost lovers spinning in each other's arms in a field full of flowers. I had a lot of catching up to do, Blade Runner, Star Trek, Forbidden Planet, Battlestar Galactica, Dune, Star Wars, Predator.. anything in space I wanted to see. After high school I started trading in my nonfiction novels for scifi series. Picking up novels and comics following characters and worlds I was already familiar with. Back stories, new stories, worlds reimagined, and then eventually completely new characters in worlds and universes I knew nothing about. I was full on in fucking love with science fiction. And I still am.
When I was trying to decide which film to write about for this blog, it didn't seem obvious to me to write about Alien. Now that I've taken the time to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time, and how much it really did pull me into scifi, I can't believe I didn't write this the second the blog topic was assigned. Well, know I know it's definitely one hundred percent my favourite movie.
I'm also going to quickly list a few favourites of other genres, just cause.
Favourite film from childhood: Jurassic Park
Favourite romance: Pride & Prejudice (2005 version)
Favourite comedy: The Darjeeling Limited or Death at a Funeral (the original)
Favourite foreign film: Bad Education
Favourite thriller: No Country for Old Men
Favourite Drama: Fight Club (I had to put it on the list somewhere. I had a serious obsession, and still sorta do, with this movie. The internet says it's a drama, so that's what category it goes in. Which ever category you would put it in, it's still the best.)
Also, it was recently the 35th anniversary of Alien! Happy 35th!
Yay!
What are your favourite movies?
And for all you fellow space lovers, check out my BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SET!!!
Until next time space kittens!
