Posted by Doc M on March 01, 2000 at 14:26:53:
In Reply to: Re: Alien(s) posted by NightSky on March 01, 2000 at 13:00:26:
: : [RICH: "Aliens," too, was very good, I thought, but the series, to my way of viewing it, deteriorated rapidly after that, and included WAY too much foul language just for the sake of it, it appeared.]
: : Agreed. Two was my absolute fave. Perfect balance in the cast of characters.......and didn't you think Paul Reiser was GREAT? He made a perfect smarmy bad guy.
: : [RICH: ... I guess it goes with my "Against All Odds" theme!]
: : Since you mention that phrase, the film "Against All Odds," with Jeff Bridges, has one of the best "intimate" scenes I've ever seen: He and Rachel Ward make love inside a Mayan pyramid--very steamy! rrrrrrrrr....
: : [MARCIA: ... My extreme dislike began when we find out the little girl didn't make it. It was like negating the big victory from Aliens. Sorry, Night Sky, no Ripley Clone-Hybrid for me. The very thought of her feeling sympathy for her alien "mother" makes me cringe. The REAL Ripley would have loathed her own successor, I think. But, boy those FIRST 2 of the series were topnotch excitement!]
: : Agree, Marcia. And I thought sticking Winona Ryder in there was a mistake. It was so obvious that she was just there for a little extra 'star power'....it threw everything out of balance, and she just didn't belong. Poor Winona! Should have just camped in John Proctor's back yard and not ventured into space!
: : Speaking of which, any reflections on The Crucible? I liked it a lot (not a feel-good movie to be sure; sure was gut-wrenching!) but the ending was awfully hard to take, even though I know it 'had' to be thattaway. I thought DDL, as usual, gave it 120 percent. He was spitting and foaming toward the end there! I simply loved his portrayal of a man who, having made THE mistake, is now forever trying to make it good again...and in the face of his wife's apparent coldness and lack of forgiveness. I thought that intimate dynamic alone was so well done, and worth seeing the movie for--though there certainly was a whole heck of a lot more going on there!! It's so tragic at the end, that they find their way back into each other's hearts, and he finds his true core, because of the insanity going on around them... and then the gallows.....oh, god...I get depressed just thinking about it.
: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
: First off, just let me say in defense, all four Alien movies were made by different directors, each very much in line with that director's style. #3 is by the same guy who directed Seven, and #4 is by the same guy that directed City of Children. They were what I expected them to be, although very different from the previous two. Certainly James Cameron knows how to tap into the general psych and did so with astounding results in Aliens. But he did say he wanted to do the second one because he thought the first one was so bad, and he could do it better. That was just around the time his head was starting to get much bigger than his brain.
: And Ms. Winona was in #4 because she begged for the job and the opportunity to work with Ms. Weaver. Can't fault her there.
: And speaking of Ms. Ryder, I found her much more distracting in The Crucible than in Alien R. The Crucible is one of those plays that seems to have followed me all through my life. I've seen three different stage productions, and this was the third film version. Sorry to all here, but George C. Scott's version is still my favorite, and I'm not sure his performance will ever be surpassed by anyone. And frankly, I'm tired of seeing Joan Allen play the poor, put upon wife. The Crucible was bad enough, but then she had to follow that with Ethan Frome, Face-Off, and then Pleasantville. I know she has some other character in her, I just wish someone would give her the opportunity to play it. I have this fear that the next thing we'll see her in will be a new film production of The Bad Seed, as the martyred mother who sacrifices all. Please, somebody, give her the part of a Harley riding, chain smoking, foul mouthed vixen, who steals the heart of the local minister. That I'd pay to see. YRH
Hey! Hey! Don't be dissing my woman Joan! She plays women
who on the surface seem to be downtrodden, but actually
have incredible reserves of strength in some instances,
and malice in others. She can take a simple gesture --
like reaching over to button John Proctor's shirt --
that says more than 50 lines of dialogue. The scene
in Pleasantville where she first got "colorized" --
when she turned around to look at her son, she has
this incredible look of fear and wonder...again, without
a word of dialogue. I think she's a great, and sadly
unappreciated, actress.
I've seen many versions of The Crucible, and they all
have good things in them. It's a great, timeless
story. Winona was passable as Abigail...I thought
the girl who played Mary Warren would have been
better, but they wanted a "name" I guess. I thought
everyone else was great...even Bruce Davison, who
usually plays such lame-os. The ending, as I've said
before, never fails to rip me apart. You know kindly
old Doc M -- a real softy under it all. And don't
get me started on the ending to "Old Yeller!!"
Doc M