The 50s/60s were indeed a treasure trove of campy, nightmarish films designed to scare the bejesus out of impressionable tykes of the era. Like me.
Liked your post. It reminded me of when I was a kid of about eight or so. Lived on an Air Force Base in Goose Bay Labrador in Canada. On Saturday afternoons at the theatre they always had a double-feature. Always real b-movies of different genres but heavy on the sci-fi and fantasy and adventure. It cost ten cents for admission and five cents for a big bag of popcorn. But if you didn' t have the cash it was free. Went pretty much every Saturday and saw dozens of good movies.
I like both equally well. One is more of a science fiction horror movie while the second is more of a science fiction action movie. Different approach. One of the reasons the two are so good is that they take very different approaches to the material and part of that reason is that Cameron already had an original story involving space marines and he just grafted the Alien mythology and Ripley to it.
One thin is certain, you cant have Aliens, without first establishing Alien. There is no having one, without the benefit of the other.
yes, not taking it to seriously and picking it apart...looking for mistakes, etc...lot of that going on by ppl that couldn't make a movie, have no talent but yet put them down...LOL.
FWIW on TCM 11/22 Soylent Green 11/22 Jason and the Argonauts 11/23 Doctor X 11/25 The thing from another world 11/28 2001
And even though it's not Sci/Fi, later on tonight (depending which time zone you live in) The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm (1962) which I probably haven't seen since the 60s.
"La Jetée" by Chris Marker. One of the greatest films ever. The Criterion edition gives you a choice between English and French soundtracks; the French is a much better experience, even with subtitles.
FAVORITE: Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) ALSO RANS: Metropolis (1927) Gojira (1954) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) The Time Machine (1960) First Men in the Moon (1964) Planet of the Vampires (1965) Westworld (1973) Moonraker (1979) Empire Strikes Back (1980) The Thing (1982) The Deadly Spawn (1982) The Terminator (1984) Aliens (1986) The Hidden (1986) They Live (1988) Total Recall (1990) Defending Your Life (1991) Dark City (1998) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2001. The accomplishment at the time both in production and conception were incredible, and it still remains a singular film. I remember watching it at the age of 9 or 10 and not fully grasping the ending. It took me several viewings to understand what Kubrick was doing. For such a diverse body of work, there’s an atmosphere and approach that exists in almost all of Stanley’s films.