A really charming and funny post, written by my pal Matt Zoller Seitz, on watching “Aliens” with a bunch of kids at his son’s slumber party. None of the kids had seen it before. The title of this post is a quote from one of the kids, said during a tense moment in the movie (which basically means every second of it.)
Someday I’ll write my post about Hicks!
//Someday I’ll write my post about Hicks!//
Yes please.
Thanks so much for this post, Shelia–I loved it! And I can relate, especially to the talking thing.
One of my all-time favorite movies. I’m happy the kids picked up on Vasquez. In my very first post on your blog, in the 20 Surprising Female Performances piece, I wrote:
“In a movie loaded with macho tough guys, she was the toughest person of all. She had an unbelievable screen presence in this movie. Amidst all the aliens and technology and special effects, it was impossible to take your eyes off her. Completely authentic. ”
Jenette Goldstein’s performance is still my favorite thing in the movie, and I love everything about this movie.
Although I must say that if I sent my 10 year old out on a sleepover and found out they had been shown Aliens, well, I might have some issues with that! Seems like they handled it okay, but I’m worried about that one kid being forever haunted by facehuggers. I’m actually strongly considering an Alien marathon in my house now.
Yeah a post on Hicks would be great.
Vasquez. Yes, awesome. The way she holds that gun, man. The biceps. The way she dies.
I also love the pilot – who unfortunately bites it on the way back to pick everyone up. Lots of great women on that team.
Yeah, Ferro was a good soldier. She didn’t scream or panic when she saw the Alien in her cockpit, she just cooly reached for her gun. She was tough until the end. And I loved her “Fly the Friendly Skies” graffiti on her helmet. Cameron has always been pretty good at creating strong female characters. What an awesome movie.
Yes, she was unflappable. Humorous. A real fly-boy (girl). I loved her graffiti on her helmet too.
They all wrote their own graffiti, except for Michael Biehn, who replaced James Remar after filming had begun. I have no problems with Remar as an actor, and he would have brought toughness to the role, but the way Biehn played Hicks, almost like a reluctant hero, with a warmth and depth, was pretty awesome.
It’s amazing how well this movie holds up…. it didn’t have the unlimited budget it looks like it has, Cameron was still a pretty inexperienced director that the cast didn’t respect, and there were many “creative difference” problems, so much so that Cameron replaced the DP during the shoot, causing the cast to temporarily walk off.
But the world this movie creates feels completely authentic to me. And the camaraderie between the marines is palpable. I’ve seen it so many times that I know it inside and out, and there is not a false note anywhere.