(July 5, 2013 at 3:58 am)apophenia Wrote:(July 4, 2013 at 12:59 pm)CleanShavenJesus Wrote: Interesting...
Wikipedia Wrote:Alien garnered both critical acclaim and box office success, receiving an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, Saturn Awards for Best Science Fiction Film, Best Direction for Scott, and Best Supporting Actress for Cartwright, and a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, along with numerous other award nominations. It has remained highly praised in subsequent decades, being inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2002 for historical preservation as a film which is "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2008 it was ranked as the seventh-best film in the science fiction genre by the American Film Institute, and as the 33rd-greatest movie of all time by Empire magazine.
I included Alien primarily because it was a landmark in the development of the horror genre. Shawshank Redemption was nothing but derivative. (And I'm not knocking Shawshank Redemption. It was a fine movie. But it didn't really distinguish itself in any way in the sense that a Rashomon or an Alien did.)
However, I wasn't implying that every one of my suggestions was superior to every film on that list, only that there was a clear bias to it which excluded far more noteworthy films. If I had been interested I would have hand-picked the counter-examples better, but my point would have been no less or better served by doing so.
And it can also be viewed as a film about a biological entity which is close to perfect in the way it propagates... at least that's what my bio teacher said back in high-school... I still think it has a major flaw: the requirement of a host, but that is somewhat countered by the eggs being lethargic until a possible host comes along...
About that american film institute's list.... http://www.afi.com/10top10/scifi.html
Quote:#1 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
#2 STAR WARS: EPISODE IV - A NEW HOPE
#3 E.T. - THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL
#4 A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
#5 THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
#6 BLADE RUNNER
#7 ALIEN
#8 TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY
#9 INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
#10 BACK TO THE FUTURE
