I Outgrew Aliens: The Blog of Spike Marshall - Page 3

Good call Spike, I'm the same way. The old finger-nail-or-teeth-pull is often cited as one to squeam even those who aren't particularly squeamish but certain bone-breaks really do the trick too. I think it's Beverly Hills Cop where Axel's buddy gets his fingers broke up in a hallway somewhere near the start, and that business freaked me out more than any slicing and dicing ever has.

I'm right with you here Spike. Ironically enough im on 3 days off after a 7 (night) shift and I have chosen to start it by replaying Saints Row 2.  I love this game and can not wait for the third installment.

Lets hope it's not as much of a dissapointment as Fable 3 was.

That was a damn good breakdown, Spike.  I'm still enjoying this season, but you certainly aren't wrong.

You're absolutely right.  I never even noticed until you mentioned it.  'Tis a shame.

Love the shout out for Simon Gruber and the way the third movie flips the relationship between the first film's protagonist/antagonist somewhat.  I also love the fact that both Gruber brothers' "American" accents sound hilarious.  Almost like Ewan McGregor's take on it.  Heheheh

And a nice defense for the man-shaped Labrador!

Well, the film itself doesn't help your case with the way it handled the character.  So yours was more of a defense of what could have been.  Such a big film ending with a moment of forgiveness between hero and villain is gutsy.  I don't like the film, but I admired what it was trying to do with some of its themes.  Then... the butler happened...

Fantastic offering this week, Spike!  Great topic for a blog.  Wish I had thought of it. And you made some great picks, to boot.  I really enjoyed this one, man.

And for the record, I also love Dance's demonic character in The Golden Child.

Holy cow, you almost convinced me to see Spiderman 3.

Damn good blog Spike. I agree with every single one of your choices, Dance especially makes a great villain in a truly underrated flick.

That was some of the funniest stuff you've ever done, Spike. Your segment on Simon Gruber had me laughing almost as much as Irons' delivery (which you quoted to great effect) and the captions for him and Dance were brilliant.

Great, Spike!  Makes me want to break out the DVD.

Great blog Spike, as of late i'm leaning to the 60's TV show as my favorate but this blog makes me want to revist the Timm series, which I havent seen in a long time.

Watching Aliens on TV right now for what must be the 10th time (First time was in the cinema in 1986) and probably the first time in years.

Just dropped by to say that about the statement "I outgrew Aliens" is that you sir, are a monster.

Pfft. I watched "Aliens" in the early 2000s (saw it and the first "Alien" for the first time at the same time) and thought it was excellent. Watched both again a few years ago. Got bored with "Aliens" fairly early (although I still think the end with Ripley fighting the Queen is pretty cool) and now consider "Alien" my second favourite movie of the '70s (after "Halloween"). "Alien" has a perfect, eclectic cast of great actors/characters and enthralling horror movie staging and set pieces.

"Aliens" is full of lame caricatures and dialog and its action sequences are generally forgettable or dumb aside from that last showdown. I've had a lot of disagreements with Spike, but I thought he was really onto something with his "Aliens" re-assessment. Sigourney Weaver's intense performance and James Cameron's solid direction can't make up for the fact that the other characters suck and the action is tedious. I really don't think it has aged well.

I've been reading through a lot of your blogs.  Great stuff, Spike!

To reflect on your Bond entry a bit, I often wonder what Brosnan might have been like in the role if he actually had been cast in The Living Daylights (and subsequently, Licence To Kill).  Also, I often feel one of the biggest mistakes of the Brosnan run was killing Trevelyan in Goldeneye.  How much better would The World Is Not Enough have been if it had Trevelyan in place of the Renard character, with Sean Bean reprising his (as far as I'm concerned) classic Bond villain role?

Spike, I just watched Mask of the Phantasm for the first time in goodness knows how long yesterday. It's my favourite Batman film too and your blog is almost like a mind-dump of what I was thinking as I revisited it. I can't believe how well it holds up. From the look to the voice work to the score and quality of writing (your Joker quote about the "face all over town" stood out to me as well), it took me right back to primary school when The Animated Series was a major appointment for me.

Also, your Sal caption was truly hilarious. Great stuff, man.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike Marshall 

I don't know if my Blog is ever going to come back, but I'm working on a boutique column for the front page which should go out every fortnight or so.

No matter what the subject, I am very much looking forward to reading it!

My pleasure, Spike. It was a fantastic read. I really like the sound of this boutique series. And more blog entries wouldn't go amiss either, of course.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike Marshall

I'm working on a boutique column for the front page which should go out every fortnight or so.

Fuck yeah you are.