Movie Clip Wednesday 5/19/10

This week our theme host Boxer has chosen best science fiction.  Here's the long boring drawn out story of how I arrived at my choice.  Grab some NoDoz or Vivarin (some CrossTops or Robin Eggs if you're a little older) and read the drivel.

For really big movies, I can almost remember exactly where I was when I watched them.  I saw Star Wars at the Cinema 7 in Billings with my sister, LP aka The Ancient One (I'm not saying she's old but when you start talking about how great Teddy Roosevelt was because you voted for him twice, well, you get the drift. "Oh that Teddy Roosevelt, he was a looker. 23 skidoo and lets go do the Charleston").  After the movie, we both went into the bathroom and stayed for 15 minutes, then snuck into Bad News Bears in Breaking Training.  I saw The Empire Strikes Back at the Villa Theatre in Malta and saw Return of the Jedi in Missoula.  I'm still pissed about The Phantom Menace.  You see, my good friend Five Wood won tickets to the premier.  Midnight at the Ellen in Bozeman. 

We stood in line for like three hours.  Certainly George "I havent missed a meal sinceAmerican Graffitti" Lucas would have created a master piece.  Instead of a brilliant piece of film-making we were treated to Lucas' version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? There were like five real people in the entire movie.  I remember watching a special on the making of the two and half hours of my life I wont get back  Phantom Menace.  They were in the editing room and there was a big scene with ray guns and shit and all those little robot thingys.  Lucas says "we'll kill that one off screen later". Wait, what?  You'll kill him off screen?  Like any of the skillion people who are going to watch this are going to say "Hey, what happened to that one robot guy?  Oh, he must have been killed off screen".  Isn't that just like an arrogant Hollywood asshole who made three movies just for the money.  Sorry if I'm hiding my feelings for the dislike of the second trilogy.  I'll try not to sugarcoat it anymore.   Outside of the great light sabre battle at the end, this movie was the "drizzlins" as Schmaler would say.  I would like to kick George Lucas in the nuts. I went to all three of the second set.  Gave him the benefit of the doubt and kept waiting for them to get better.  The pod race? Are you effin kidding me?  The bottom line is that while this technically is science fiction, it really is mythology with an outer space setting.  So I started thinking.  There's some great sci-fi out there.   I've watched both versions of The Thing and they are both great.  John Carpenter's spin is fantastic.  Sidebar - James Arness, aka Marshall Matt Dillon, played the monster in the original version of The Thing.  I'm here to help.

Sidebar again - Lucas' effort in the second trilogy was horrible.  It reminds of a line from Spaceballs.  Mel Brooks' character Yogurt is standing there and I think Lonestar says something to the effect of "Will I ever see you again?" To which Yogurt replies "Hopefully we'll all be back in Spaceballs 2: The Search for more Money" So fitting.

I did some thinking and came up with Alien.  I love the concept and the suspense was incredible.  The movie really only has two violent scenes and yet you stay on the edge of your seat. What a great villan/monster. The mouth within the mouth, dripping alien spit.  Blood that eats through space metal.  Awesome! A great story line and its Sigourney Weaver's breakout movie.  What's the deal with her?  Am I supposed to find her attractive or not?  There have been movies where she doesn't look bad.  I mean, she's not ugly, but she's not a sex symbol either.  I guess not all women in Hollywood are supposed to be.  Anyway, here's one of the most famous scenes in movie history.  In space, no one can year you scream.  What a great tagline. Enjoy the gore and happy MCW.  Oh, I almost forgot.  The entire point of telling you where I was for really big movies.  I saw this at some theater in Missoula. I can't remember the name but it was the same theater I watched Return of the Jedi.   Was visiting my cousins.  Sat about ten rows from the front center-right on the edge of my seat.