"Dallas?"

Dallas should have stayed THE HELL outta that air shaft! :)

I look back on 1979's ALIEN fondly. I had tried to sit through JAWS in 1975 or 1976 and...well...it didn't work out. It ended badly. My friend's father had to sit out in the lobby with me watching the last 25 minutes through a small porthole in the door at the Novato theater. (The funny thing is that JAWS is now one of my favorite movies ever. Go figure.)

So, flash forward to 1979. I'm 10 years old. Another friend and I convince our mothers to take us to see ALIEN in an afternoon show. They cave to our begging and take us. This always brings a smile to my face. I WAS FRIGGIN 10 YEARS OLD and sat watching ALIEN like a CHAMP. I remember watching this film unfold like the titular Alien itself - staring at the screen and wondering what was going to happen next.

ALIEN had a realness to it. Things looked dirty and used. Really, everything in the film looks like it could exist. I love that. While STAR WARS was definitely mind blowing and amazing, it looked like fantasy while ALIEN looked like it was the future on celluloid. We loved it. No nightmares. No lobby time. Just sitting...watching...and LOVING this film to death.

Speaking of death...like I said...Dallas should have stayed THE HELL out of that shaft....

Spoiler much?