Aliens: a scary, funny, awesome Mixed Tape outing
Clayton Dillard
Issue date: 11/10/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
The Mixed Tape Film Series at the Carousel Luxury Cinemas shows no signs of slowing down, even as the initial excitement of the series begins to wear off. The 7:30 showing for James Cameron's Aliens last Thursday night was nearly sold out, with only a scarce seat here or there left empty. Series founder Joe Scott attributes this to the lure of this film's director: "I think a lot of people are excited about James Cameron right now, with Avatar coming out next month. He's one of the greatest, and Aliens was the first true Sci-Fi blockbuster."
The auditorium for the film is appropriately dark before it begins. That is, abnormally dark, as the house lights are still down. One patron jokingly quotes a line from the movie: "They cut the power! Game over, man, game over!" a reference to the character Hudson, played by Bill Paxton in the film. It's this sort of knowing, quick on his/her feet moviegoer that makes the series such a treat for cinephiles. However, the Mixed Tape sessions are notably different from the midnight series, in that the attraction of the former isn't "Mystery Science Theater"-esque like it is for the latter. Once the lights go down and the film flickers on, the auditorium becomes silent, out of both respect and anticipation for the beloved feature.
In the case of Aliens, those feelings are entirely warranted. The epic crowd mirrors the epic scope of a director who sought to make a film which functioned as a sort of two and a half hour thrill ride. If any single film should be compared to a theme park ride, Aliens may be it; the structure slowly builds and layers both the story and characters, then hurls them head first into a nightmarish world of claustrophobic "others," whose primary drive is nothing but unbridled primal hunger for human flesh and perpetuation of their own species.
The roller-coaster idea can also be attributed to the film's tone, which deftly varies from solemn lament on the part of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) to the action extravaganza embodied in Hicks (Michael Biehn) and Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) to the hilarious goofball cowardice of Hudson (Bill Paxton). You know a film is doing something right when the crowd laugh uproariously at one moment, then only a few later, lets out a collective scream at the on-screen mayhem.
James Cameron is, first and foremost, a visceral filmmaker, intent to construct his narrative around that basic central premise. There aren't any underlying themes to speak of particularly, though the bond between Ripley and young "Newt" (Carrie Henn) helps to reinforce the time Ripley has lost while drifting through space. It's an appropriate film to resurrect in theaters, since its scope benefits from the larger screen and the enhanced sound. The James Cameron double feature concludes this Thursday with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, sure to inspire just as much - if not more - excitement than Aliens.
The auditorium for the film is appropriately dark before it begins. That is, abnormally dark, as the house lights are still down. One patron jokingly quotes a line from the movie: "They cut the power! Game over, man, game over!" a reference to the character Hudson, played by Bill Paxton in the film. It's this sort of knowing, quick on his/her feet moviegoer that makes the series such a treat for cinephiles. However, the Mixed Tape sessions are notably different from the midnight series, in that the attraction of the former isn't "Mystery Science Theater"-esque like it is for the latter. Once the lights go down and the film flickers on, the auditorium becomes silent, out of both respect and anticipation for the beloved feature.
In the case of Aliens, those feelings are entirely warranted. The epic crowd mirrors the epic scope of a director who sought to make a film which functioned as a sort of two and a half hour thrill ride. If any single film should be compared to a theme park ride, Aliens may be it; the structure slowly builds and layers both the story and characters, then hurls them head first into a nightmarish world of claustrophobic "others," whose primary drive is nothing but unbridled primal hunger for human flesh and perpetuation of their own species.
The roller-coaster idea can also be attributed to the film's tone, which deftly varies from solemn lament on the part of Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) to the action extravaganza embodied in Hicks (Michael Biehn) and Vasquez (Jenette Goldstein) to the hilarious goofball cowardice of Hudson (Bill Paxton). You know a film is doing something right when the crowd laugh uproariously at one moment, then only a few later, lets out a collective scream at the on-screen mayhem.
James Cameron is, first and foremost, a visceral filmmaker, intent to construct his narrative around that basic central premise. There aren't any underlying themes to speak of particularly, though the bond between Ripley and young "Newt" (Carrie Henn) helps to reinforce the time Ripley has lost while drifting through space. It's an appropriate film to resurrect in theaters, since its scope benefits from the larger screen and the enhanced sound. The James Cameron double feature concludes this Thursday with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, sure to inspire just as much - if not more - excitement than Aliens.
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