Oscars Weekend: Alien (1980 Winner)

Every year I post up something crowing about the Best Visual Effects Oscar that this film took home in 1980, (it was also nominated for Best Set Decoration--which it should have won for (!), All That Jazz took home the gold guy instead.) but every year I am still blown away nearly 40 years on by the visuals in this film! It is obvious to mention the late artist H.R. Giger when bringing up the award, but actual set designers Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder and Dennis Ayling, who shared the award with Giger, are the unsung heroes of the film. 

Countdown To Halloween Day 3--Space Travel: Prometheus

Oscar Winner: Alien

Nominated for 2 Oscars, it won 1.  Also RIP to actor John Hurt who gave the world one of the most memorable death scenes in movies--EVER!!

Neo Noir: Blade Runner

Horror Loving Cat Chooses

Weird Double Feature: Dark Star & Prometheus

I know this appears to be the strangest double feature ever, but consider that Dark Star was penned by Dan O'Bannon, who later wrote the script for Alien, with the beachball alien from "Star" in mind.  Also several aspects of the John Carpenter directed comedy Sci-fi feature from 1974 have shown up in subsequent film in the Alien franchise (see, for example, the finger skipping scene with ice pick in "Star" and shows up in Aliens with Bishop).  Recently the most striking aspect for me is the communication with the cryotube in "Star" that we see David engaging in with Wyeland in Prometheus. So thought a comparison was in order.  Besides, my 14 1/2 year cat loves this stuff!

Alien (1979)