A little behind with the films.  To be honest, I’ve been binging some shows – trying to catch up to the seasons on my dvr.  That and the end of summer term have been kicking my butt.  Not to mention (hand spread wide) all this (vague gesture).

The Aristocats: As an adult, I look at this and think, “hey, they never explain who the father of the kittens is/was and what happened to him.”  I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me since Disney is so fond of giving kids only one parent.  Having now had a cat (I use the word “had” loosely since she didn’t stay permanently and the kittens were a little bonkers), I now appreciate more the cat-like behavior and poses the illustrators used in some spots.  The whole “dogs take the basket and Edgar’s hat” subplot seems just to extend the duration.  But who can’t swing to “Everybody Wants to be a Cat”?

Aeon Flux: I had forgotten a number of the details of this one.  I knew it was part of my “anti-utopia” collection, but I had not watched it in at least ten years. And I had not watched the TV series.  So it was a bit odd to be watching it now – what with the pandemic on and all.  I have a feeling I will get that with a number of films as I go through my collection.  Plus Jonny Lee Miller!!  I admit that I’ve liked him since Hackers – and his work on Elementary was amazing.  I wish I could have seen him in Frankenstein with Benedict Cumberbatch – though I would have wanted to see it both ways, which would get expensive.

AVPR: Yeah, well, I did get the whole set for a steal.  It’s not good.  And I really hate the “rich kids act like dicks to the poor kid with a crush on the rich girl” trope.  I can’t say it doesn’t happen – I have no knowledge – but it’s so tired.  Sure, teenagers are jerks.  That’s true – I was one – I can confirm it – it’s the hormones.  The most interesting part is probably looking at actors and thinking – hey, that’s young Shawn from Psych!  And Sam from True Blood!  

The A-Team: I grew up with this show.  A guy in my class used to call himself Murdock and act silly (What ever did happen to Mike Powell?).  I watched a few episodes again a while back – and they are endearingly improbable.  That said, I love this movie.  It’s silly and over the top and absurd and entertaining.  I imagine the screenwriters, late at night, a little tipsy, laughing their butts off about the tank flying and taking bets on whether that scene makes the final cut into the final.  Besides – Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley, Patrick Wilson?? – so much fun.

Aliens . . . “Another glorious day in the core!”  One of the best scenes for introducing characters.   In a matter of minutes, we get brief lines which establish personalities for the Marines.  (Not fully fleshed out characters, but sense of some of them as individuals.)  So many great lines.  Top ten quotable films – plus Michael Biehn (totally on my very first freebie five list ).  

Alien3 : (not sure how to make it into a cube – and that is what I always call it – Alien cubed.) The revised cut is better in some ways – at least the dog doesn’t die.  Still annoyed about Newt and Hicks, though.  It was creatively written for not having access to weapons – but Ripley could have gotten more support if she had just told the doc what happened (aside – Charles Dance! May have to move The Golden Child up in the rotation).  

Alien Resurrection: I know not everyone liked it, but I did.  It was an interesting way to extend the character – and didn’t involve retconning Ripley being saved from the boiling liquid metal.  And Ron Perlman is always fun.  Weaver certainly got to be more of a badass in this one.  And of course, the tired “corporation/military is the enemy” trope.  It might be a nice change of pace if the corporation was actually the good guy.

But what really makes me crazy – after watching many of these in succession – is the lack of consistency with the aliens.  I suppose you could argue “different types would take different gestation times”.  But honestly, the amount of time between the facehugger implanting the embryo and the little one bursting out of the chest should be at least close to the same across the shared universe.  Instead it’s a free-for-all.  24 hours or so in one, less than an hour in another, days in another.  Okay, it needs to work with the script, being dramatic and all . . . but just changing it as a crutch is lazy writing.  

Jurassic Park: Yeah, out of order – it’s all about guidelines rather than rules 😉 . . . I remember hearing someone say that Spielberg thought it took too long to get to the island.  I don’t know where he heard that, but it took less than 20 minutes.  I’ve never thought it was too long.  Overall, well done film.  Later I would read the book in a chaos theory and literature class – and was surprised.  I’m not sure if I would still think the film was better if I had read the book first (since that seems to have a big effect), but I do think the film is at least equally as good if not better than the novel.

Blade: This is one of the films which helped kick off the new age of comics-based films.  And it was good.  Wesley made the whole thing work.  But the plot – trying to “instantly turn” everyone in the Blood God’s path?  Um, if everyone is a vampire, then who do they feed on?  They’ll be stuck feeding on animals?  And once again, we see that Whistler shoots himself, we see the gun drop, we see the sheet go back over the body . . . and yet in the second one he’s been turned?  Clear case of “oh crap we didn’t really think it would be this successful – how can we get Kris back?” retconning.  Appropriate for a comics movie, though.  Oh, and crossover for Sanaa Lathan with AVP.  And I admit, the line about ice skating uphill – the way it’s delivered makes it seem like it should be of deep meaning and importance.  But it’s really just an attempt at a burn?  

My favorite line? “How do you think we fund this organization? We’re not exactly the March of Dimes.”