Tonight's marathon is all about showing the arrival of extraterrestrial life and how that life form attempts to blend in with the rest of society while undercover. Although one of the films is based upon true events surrounding a possible alien abduction with Fire In The Sky, the rest of these films accommodate that notion that aliens have possibly arrived on our planet and have attempted to blend in and imitate everyday life. This marathon ranges from being creepy, scary, intense, romantic, funny, moving, and ultimately being thought provoking. This marathon begs the question of whether we are truly alone in the universe and if not, have they've been here. For tonight's intense and emotional marathon, we have the following films lined up for a powerful evening:
The Thing 2011, Fire In The Sky 1993, Starman 1984, ET: The Extra Terrestrial 1982, They Live 1988, and X-files Fight The Future 1998
Now this marathon hits all the right notes and takes a unique direction that presents all different kinds of scenarios on the arrival of extraterrestrials in the form of living incognitio. While John Carpenter's 1982 science fiction classic The Thing was used for the marathon titled When Groups Battle Outside Forces, the prequel takes its place in setting up the setting of alien life being discovered in Antartica and the marathon ending full circle with the climax of X-Files The Movie ending the journey in Antartica. The prequel to The Thing centers around a research site in Antartica where a group of scientists discover an alien spaceship that harbored an extraterrestrial life form. The discovery of the life form leads to a confrontation between a young graduate student and a scientist while the life form slowly annihilates everyone in the group one by one. The Thing Prequel didn't enjoy the same kind of critical acclaim that it's successor received over the course of time but it holds it's own as the beginning of the story we all know from Carpenter's masterpiece and maintains the look and feel of the original film. The prequel is effective as the first movie of the marathon because it sets up the mystery and excitement behind the presence of an alien life. No one knows what to expect from the presence of extraterrestrial life and The Thing begins with the typical stereotype that aliens from another universe are most likely hostile individuals that should be studied and destroyed.
The second movie of the marathon is the 1993 drama titled Fire In The Sky is based upon a true story where an Arizona logger mysteriously disappears after a total of five days in what's described as an alleged encounter with an alien spacecraft in 1975. At first the town doesn't believe in the loggers friends claim and suspect foul play until the logger Travis reappears naked and bloodied from his mysterious experience. Through his POV, we see the sequence in which he is abducted by aliens and experimented upon making for one of the most intense alien abduction sequences ever put on film. Fire In The Sky is perfect for this marathon because it blends fiction with what's supposedly a true account of an alien abduction.
The third movie of the marathon is John Carpenter's underappreciated scfi romance titled Starman starring Jeff Bridges and Raiders Of The Lost Ark's Karen Allen. In this classic science fiction tale, an alien from space takes the form of a beautiful young ladies deceased husband, asking her to drive him from Wisconsin to Arizona. While doing so, the government observes his arrival and tries to stop them by chasing them cross country. Starman is the perfect prelude into Steven Spielbergs ET because it shows a more likeable and gentle side towards aliens from what the previous two films show them as. Jeff Bridges brilliant performance as the alien turned human garnered him a well deserved oscar nomination for Best Actor. In a career that consists of mostly horror and science fiction, Carpenter creates one of the rare films in his celebrated career in which he shows a softer side to his directing and creates a touching story of an aliens journey to return home and a woman who lets go of her grief through the experience and begins to fall in love with the alien.
The fourth movie of the marathon is Steven Spielberg's 1982 blockbuster and all time classic titled ET: The Extra Terrestrial starring Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore. Generally considered one of Steven Spielberg's finest achievements and one of the most influential movies of all time, ET centers around a troubled child named Elliot who befriends a peaceful alien and helps him to escape Earth and return to his home. Winner of four academy awards and one of the greatest Best Picture snubs in the history of the academy awards, ET is the ultimate alien befriending humans film due to it's tremendous heart and magic in regards to telling a touching story of a boy willing to sacrifice everything for his friend that was never born on this planet. ET shows that aliens can be friendly and more true of a friend than a regular human being.
The fifth movie of the evening is John Carpenters They Live which focuses on a drifter coming across a pair of sunglasses that gives him the ability to see that aliens do exist and have taken over the Earth. They Live brings back the paranoia that Fire In The Sky introduced with people having knowledge of aliens existence and having to live with that information and the stress of trying to convince people of what's real. It's the beginning of the marathon going back full circle to where it began with the finale bringing it all home to where it first started: That home is Antartica.
The sixth and final movie of the marathon is the 1998 blockbuster and TV show turned movie titled X-Files: The Fight For The Future. Based on the intensely popular pop culture phenomenon TV show, the movie focuses on two FBI agents named Mulder and Scully who find themselves battling the government in a major conspiracy cover up in their quest to discover the truth about alien life and the slow colonization of Earth. X-Files feels like the perfect ending to this marathon because unlike Men in Black that comes off as a satire on the whole genre and alien controversy, X-Files brings it home to a powerful close yet leaves you thinking about the possibility of alien life being present on Earth. X-Files is a story where you find yourself rooting for the main characters because of what they know as well as the audience but no one else does. It is what makes the audience cheer for Mulder and Scully in their quest to find the truth and let the world know that aliens do indeed exist. The climax of the film brings it home to Antartica with Mulder and Scully both witnessing the mother ship emerging from the ice and going back home with the government ready to clean everything up as if it never happened.
So what is the message behind all of these films when you put them all together as one? The message is that while we don 't know for certain if there is aliens in the universe or not, we should always be open to the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Those who we deem to be crazy and cynical could very well be telling the truth and if an alien can imitate the life form it comes in contact with, the chances are that it's not very friendly. Other forms of life could exist and be walking our streets without us even knowing it. A alien who befriends a human could very well turn out to be more of a friend than a human being ever will, and feel the void of loneliness. The ultimate message behind this theme is that there are some things in life that are worth fighting for and expanding one's knowledge in hopes of finding out what's real and what isn't.
The fourth movie of the marathon is Steven Spielberg's 1982 blockbuster and all time classic titled ET: The Extra Terrestrial starring Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore. Generally considered one of Steven Spielberg's finest achievements and one of the most influential movies of all time, ET centers around a troubled child named Elliot who befriends a peaceful alien and helps him to escape Earth and return to his home. Winner of four academy awards and one of the greatest Best Picture snubs in the history of the academy awards, ET is the ultimate alien befriending humans film due to it's tremendous heart and magic in regards to telling a touching story of a boy willing to sacrifice everything for his friend that was never born on this planet. ET shows that aliens can be friendly and more true of a friend than a regular human being.
The fifth movie of the evening is John Carpenters They Live which focuses on a drifter coming across a pair of sunglasses that gives him the ability to see that aliens do exist and have taken over the Earth. They Live brings back the paranoia that Fire In The Sky introduced with people having knowledge of aliens existence and having to live with that information and the stress of trying to convince people of what's real. It's the beginning of the marathon going back full circle to where it began with the finale bringing it all home to where it first started: That home is Antartica.
The sixth and final movie of the marathon is the 1998 blockbuster and TV show turned movie titled X-Files: The Fight For The Future. Based on the intensely popular pop culture phenomenon TV show, the movie focuses on two FBI agents named Mulder and Scully who find themselves battling the government in a major conspiracy cover up in their quest to discover the truth about alien life and the slow colonization of Earth. X-Files feels like the perfect ending to this marathon because unlike Men in Black that comes off as a satire on the whole genre and alien controversy, X-Files brings it home to a powerful close yet leaves you thinking about the possibility of alien life being present on Earth. X-Files is a story where you find yourself rooting for the main characters because of what they know as well as the audience but no one else does. It is what makes the audience cheer for Mulder and Scully in their quest to find the truth and let the world know that aliens do indeed exist. The climax of the film brings it home to Antartica with Mulder and Scully both witnessing the mother ship emerging from the ice and going back home with the government ready to clean everything up as if it never happened.
So what is the message behind all of these films when you put them all together as one? The message is that while we don 't know for certain if there is aliens in the universe or not, we should always be open to the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Those who we deem to be crazy and cynical could very well be telling the truth and if an alien can imitate the life form it comes in contact with, the chances are that it's not very friendly. Other forms of life could exist and be walking our streets without us even knowing it. A alien who befriends a human could very well turn out to be more of a friend than a human being ever will, and feel the void of loneliness. The ultimate message behind this theme is that there are some things in life that are worth fighting for and expanding one's knowledge in hopes of finding out what's real and what isn't.
Our Characters for this evening:
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