Transcript of 70mm’s Aliens (1986) Episode.
SLIM Heeeyy, it’s your old pal Slim. And this is 70mm, a podcast for film lovers. Every Monday, I’m joined by famous artist Danny Haas.
DANNY You took down North by Northwest for Ninja III?! I’m watching Ninja III this week! I’m watching Ninja III this week.
SLIM And spiritual advisor, Protolexus.
PROTO How many times does Dave Bautista have to describe what kind of food truck he’s going to have after all this? Can somebody tell me the point?!
SLIM And together as friends forever, we discuss recently watched movies. Later in this episode, we cover the Sigourney Weaver classic, Aliens, from 1986. Will we end leading ladies month on a high note? Or should we not have watched the theatrical version? Find out… now.
[70mm theme song ramps up, plays alone, fades out]
SLIM We love Spotify. You know that. Danny, you’re always talking about using Spotify. Doing listening parties during the day.
DANNY Yep.
SLIM Olivia Rodrigo.
DANNY Yeah we had a great listening party on Discord the other day. Beautiful Spotify party feature that’s inside Discord. Love it.
SLIM We at 70mm, were lucky enough to get invited to a beta of paid subscriptions. So if you’re listening to this on Spotify, and have wanted to support us and get access to our exclusive episodes like Twilight, Batman Returns, and Forever — remember that Batman Forever episode we did?
PROTO Mmm.
DANNY We did?
SLIM Was this one of the best episodes we’ve ever done?
DANNY Shoo.
PROTO Batman and Robin when? [Slim & Danny laugh]
SLIM Batman and Robin Month when?
DANNY Next.
SLIM Shin Godzilla is one of those episodes and Flash Gordon. We had an amazing time doing that. But you can do so right now and unlock those episodes in Spotify for $2.99 a month. If you do that, you can actually just use that link in whatever app you want. It doesn’t have to be Spotify. But if you’re a Spotify fan, you can do so now there’s a link to that feature in our show notes. So just FYI, pretty cool that we were invited to that and we thank Spotify for that. Next month, before we get into the show, Indiana Junes.
DANNY My gosh.
SLIM The entire month!
DANNY Big month.
PROTO Yeah, all four movies.
SLIM Maybe with some bonuses spread in there.
DANNY Tease.
SLIM Danny’s been reading Indiana Jones books non stop since we announced this.
DANNY Non stop.
PROTO He’s doing research.
SLIM What’s the most recent one you were paging through?
DANNY Right now I’m reading Indiana Jones and the Seven Veils written by Rob MacGregor.
SLIM Have you read a lot of the Indiana Jones?
DANNY No, this is my first one. I’m very excited about it.
SLIM We should get someone on that’s read a lot of those books.
DANNY It’s probably nobody.
SLIM Maybe a guest of some kind.
PROTO What’s, what’s the deal with those books? Are those like young adult or like are they short stories? Or what’s the deal with those?
DANNY I don’t think it’s a short, no, it’s not a short story.
PROTO A thickness.
DANNY It’s a good… let’s see here. Where’s page numbers? How does this work? How do books work? Yeah, 275 pages.
SLIM That’s a lot.
DANNY Drew Struzan did all the cover work.
PROTO My boy Drew.
SLIM King. King-ish. Did you have any time for movies to watch this week? Danny, did you watch any movies this week?
DANNY Besides our feature films —
SLIM Aliens.
DANNY Aliens. I picked one out to watch because of a dear podcast of friend of ours, FILM HAGS, they were doing Rent this week and I hadn’t seen Rent the movie. I hadn’t seen Rent the play, actually. So it’s my first time watching it. I knew the music or at least one of the songs very well. Very well enough to get it stuck in my head too much. I gave this film… two stars. I disliked it a lot. I hate — well hates a strong word. I just think it’s a very poorly made film. The pacing is horrific. Performances were just blegh. And I hated the way it looked. It’s just garbage. It’s hard because I gave it two stars mainly for the music. I mean the music is great, performances during the singing were fantastic but goodness. It’s just not, not, not a good film. Chris Columbus, what are you doing?
SLIM Chris Columbus? From Harry Potter One and Two? You talk about not aging well.
DANNY No. Not for me. That was actually, outside of the movies, that was all I watched this week.
SLIM Wowww. Isn’t sensation Idina Menzel in rent?
DANNY She is and she’s incredible. She’s got a, I mean, it’s just weird because the songs are so good, but everything in between is horrific.
SLIM Oh my god.
PROTO Horrific, that is strong language.
DANNY It’s one of those movies where you pause it just to see how much longer you have left. And when you realize it’s an hour. You just regret your decision on even watching it. [Slim laughs]
SLIM You mentioned Chris Columbus and his first two Harry Potters. This is a reminder that we launched our first official goal on Patreon. If we hit — when we hit, it’s not an if — when we hit 200 patrons, we will do the entire Harry Potter movie franchise.
DANNY Mhmm.
SLIM For patrons, for our supporters.
PROTO I was thinking about this today.
DANNY Let’s hear it.
PROTO And my thought I had is that there are probably 30, 40, 50 people waiting to join, they’re waiting until we’re at like 190. [Danny laughs] They’re saying, like, well I won’t join yet because I want, you know, I want to push them over the edge. So they’re waiting. The thing is if all those people who are waiting, just did it right now. We’re at 200 easy!
SLIM Easy. You know, even easier, the best way to spread the word about a podcast is word of mouth. We have these Discorders, you know, that could be spreading the word in their text message apps, their Signals, their IG DMs, that’s just another avenue.
PROTO Pull out your stationary!
SLIM You want to get these Harry Potter movies? Yeah, pull out your letterhead! You know, if people still do that. Catholic guilt. [Slim laughs] That’s right. If there’s one thing my mother has taught me, it’s Catholic guilt. [Danny laughs] We did get some new patrons this week, Chucky, Mac, Chris, Justin, Jonas, Guarv and Jacob which I’m not sure if I mentioned last week. So they signed up for four bucks a month, they get access to the VHS Village, our lovely Discord with an amazing community of people that love to remind me that I didn’t talk about the Harry Potter goal for the last three weeks. But if you wanted to join us, get discounts on prints, get our membership card to the VHS Village. Ian is running some kind of referral scheme slash contest. I don’t even know if I can read this legally. But he’s willing to pay for like people’s first month in Patreon. I don’t even know how it works, but that’s what he’s doing.
PROTO Remember when he when he offered to pay for someone’s year of college?
DANNY I know. Unreal. [Proto laughs] Need to get Biden to do that.
SLIM Ian is literally Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems. He’s scheming. He has no concept of what could happen if it fails. And everything’s gonna come crashing down, at some point on Ian. Proto, did you watch any movies this week?
PROTO I did. I was able to continue the Lean Journey for the month of May, which is Dr. Zhivago. I watched this, which came out in 1965 from David Lean. I gave it three stars.
SLIM Ouch.
PROTO It is about Dr. Zhivago. This is based on I’m assuming it’s a Russian novel. And it’s as confusing as a Russian novel. [Danny & Slim laugh] Because for the first hour, I was pretty lost as to what was going on in this movie. Now I do have to preface by saying I did watch this movie over the course of two nights, which was probably a mistake. This probably should be consumed in one sitting because it did not help me to remember what was going on with all the different characters and the different relationships and the jumping from different timelines, different people’s lives. It was pretty confusing. And just overall though, I just, I wasn’t blown away by much of anything in it. But, you know, in David Lean fashion, there was some amazing moments. It is altogether a pretty amazing story, I think. So you know, people who are committed to the Lean Journey, I think it’s still, you know, a good watch. It’s a very grand story. I don’t know what to compare it to. I was trying to think of like, another movie, but the only other like movie that I can think of like scope wise, I don’t know maybe like Schindler’s List or something. It’s just like very big in that way. So, yeah, so that was it for me for Dr. Zhivago.
SLIM Three stars from you on a Lean movie. Danny what did you give River Kwai? Three stars?
DANNY Probably.
SLIM That’s like, that’s Dr. Zhivago could be like a two star Danny, if I’m doing the math right here.
DANNY I gave it five stars.
SLIM You gave Zhivago five stars?
DANNY I’m just kidding, I didn’t watch it.
SLIM Get the eff outta here.
DANNY Can’t find the time. [Slim laughs]
SLIM Too busy watching Rent and hating it or hating every second of it.
DANNY It’s been a bad week. [Slim laughs]
SLIM Sorry, Proto.
PROTO No problem. [Slim & Danny laugh] I wanted to get on the, you know, I wanted to be in the Zeitgeist of the film world that everybody else you know, everyone else gets to live in.
SLIM Here it comes baby!
PROTO So I turned on our boy Zack Snyder’s newest picture on Netflix. Army of the Dead.
SLIM Ohhhh.
PROTO You guys heard about this movie?
SLIM Big time buzz around this movie in real life and our Discord.
PROTO Yeah, yeah. People are heated over this.
DANNY It’s interesting, right?
PROTO You know, patrons Chuck, Mel and and Neil giving this movie five stars and willing to die. [Slim laughs] I think they were willing to die, sacrifice their souls for this movie.
DANNY Bodies were laid out for this film. Yeah, man, it is, it’s weird. I really don’t know entirely how to feel about it. I definitely didn’t love it.
DANNY Yeah.
SLIM You didn’t give a rating, just to be clear there’s no rating on this Letterboxd entry from Protolexus for this movie on on Letterboxd.
PROTO I felt as a spiritual advisor to this community it wasn’t in the best interest to give it a rating at the time.
DANNY Mmmm. Yeah. I feel that.
PROTO I didn’t want to flame the fire. Fan the flame.
SLIM Yeah, but what was your review? [Danny laughs] Your review fanned the flames. [Proto laughs] Can you recite your review for Army of the Dead? Do you remember your first line?
PROTO Sure. I said “The Paul Verhoeven of Michael Bay’s” [Slim & Danny laugh]
SLIM But he didn’t wanna fan the flames! “I especially enjoyed Dave’s fight with a mattress bed.” [Danny laughs]
PROTO I had a very, I was very conflicted and kind of disturbed because I’ve heard this phrase mattress bed before. So in this movie, there’s a scene where Dave Bautista has to move a mattress bed that’s blocking a door. And the reason I’m calling it a mattress bed is because it’s you see a mattress on a bed frame and he pulls it away. But you know you can’t really call it just the mattress because if it was just a mattress, you want to know that the bed frames there. And then if I call it a bed, you might assume that it’s a bed with sheets and blankets covering it and it doesn’t really give you a clear picture. But I felt like the words mattress bed is more appropriate because there’s definitely a mattress there that’s there. But then also the frame as well. Do you —
DANNY Is it attached to the frame?
PROTO Yeah, it’s attached to the frame. Do you — hearing the words mattress bed, do you feel like that conveys what was in the movie, Slim?
SLIM I don’t even — I thought that he fought with a mattress and it was like just a mattress.
DANNY I thought you were joking about him fighting with a mattress This is a real thing?
PROTO No this happened. This happened in the movie.
DANNY He fought a mattress?
PROTO Yeah, yeah, he won, but he did. [Slim laughs] He fought it.
DANNY What are we — what is — what is — what are we talking about here? This is in this film, the zombie apocalypse film?
SLIM It’s long. It’s two and a half hours, he takes some big time risk with lenses. If you remember the epilogue from Justice League, the whole movie is like that. He’s just, he’s doing whatever the eff he wants. I respect it. But this cabal of Zack Snyder apostles in Discord that will give him five stars if he posted a video on TikTok of him taking a poop —
DANNY Excuse me?
SLIM I don’t agree with it.
PROTO One of the arguments that they give is that, you know, if you like fun, you’ll you know, you’ll enjoy this. But I don’t think I can agree with that. Because there are there’s a lot of aspects of this movie that aren’t fun! Like the amount, it’s way too long. There’s so many scenes. How many times does Dave Bautista have to describe what kind of food truck he’s gonna have after all this? Can somebody tell me the point of the 10 minutes of dialogue?
SLIM Danny’s falling asleep. We got to keep, we got to move on.
DANNY I’m not falling asleep. I’m just surprised the two of you watched this film.
SLIM It’s the you know, it’s free, it’s like free movie, free Netflix.
DANNY You pay monthly.
PROTO It’s like a free movie!
DANNY You’ve paid like seven years for this film. All came down to this.
SLIM We mentioned Letterboxd and every week if you share the show on social media, we give away free year of Letterboxd Pro, gets rid of third party ads, get you a host of features, some year end stats, which I enjoy. And all you have to do is share on social media. This week’s winner from Twitter @SmaugDude.
DANNY Excuse me?
PROTO I love that name! [Slim & Proto laugh]
SLIM Is that a Lord of The Rings character? Smaug?
PROTO That’s the dragon.
DANNY Can we not, Matt? [Slim laughs] You know the answer to that!
PROTO He wants to be like the handler to Smaug.
SLIM I feel like I saw like Vic Berger video where or something where they edited Peter Jackson saying smaug like over and over again. It’s cracking me up! [Slim laughs] Sorry! [Slim can’t stop laughing]
DANNY It’s been a real good show guys.
SLIM It’s been a night! Just a reminder of everyone has forgotten, December is Lord of — [Danny & Slim laugh]
DANNY Stupid ass! Oh my gosh!
SLIM I cannot wait for December, we’re doing The Lord of the Rings movies.
DANNY Hoooly cow.
SLIM Oh my God. [Slim laughs] Smaauuug.
DANNY We’re not gonna make it to December. [Danny & Slim laugh]
SLIM I need to find the video. I had to find what that’s from! Anywho, but if you wanted to support Letterboxd and get a discount 20% off, Pro or Patron status at any point, you can use the link on 70mmpod.com. Ohhh boy, do we have time for anything I watched? Probably not. We need to get cooking here.
DANNY Just pick one, Matt.
PROTO Wait, wait, wait. What about — you gave a movie called Ninja III five stars.
DANNY Yeah, let’s talk about that real quick.
SLIM Oh Goddd Ninka III! So a member of the TAPEDECK conglomerate, BAT & SPIDER, one of my favorite podcasts, if not the favorite podcast, did a movie called cyber cop, which I watched. And it was from a certain director by the name of Sam Furstenberg. And I realized that he did a movie called Ninja III: The Domination which had been on my watchlist for a while.
DANNY Amazing.
SLIM It’s like some cult movie that everyone’s like, “Oh, you got to see this! It’s so crazy! It’s so fun!” And I finally gave in and I fired it up, it was on Amazon Prime right now. And it blew me away. Let me just read some of this right now. A female aerobics instructor is possessed by the soul of a fallen ninja when coming to his aid. The spirit seeks revenge on those who killed them and uses the instructors body to carry out the mission. The only way the spirit will leave her body is with the help of another ninja. This is like the most 80s action movie, this was made for me. I had like an experience watching this movie. And I need to get the blu ray ASAP. I need a poster of this movie on my wall. I’ve never experienced a movie like this.
DANNY Is this a real picture in Discord? It’s on your top four?
SLIM That’s real. I did that in secret —
DANNY What did you remove from your top four for Ninja III?
SLIM I did North by Northwest. [Proto laughs]
DANNY You took down North by Northwest for Ninja III?!
SLIM Let me preface this —
DANNY I’m watching Ninja III this week.
SLIM Let me preface right now. I am not saying that the majority of people will enjoy this movie. This is one of those like 80s action movies that’s very bad, but it has teetered up to the point where it’s very good. And there’s a lot of scenes that are hilarious. There’s a scene with a V8 juice that is one of the most sensual moments I’ve seen this year. That’s all I can say. Streaming on Amazon Prime.
PROTO Dang.
SLIM Rumble knows “lol oh yeah the V8 juice omg” see? Confirmed. “The Domination best movie” in chat right now from rumble. Vindicated dot mp3.
DANNY It’s in your top four, I’m watching it this week. [Slim laughs]
SLIM I can’t wait! I’m anxious to see what that rating is gonna be. Forrest just real quick before we get to Aliens. Can we get Dale to give that weekly Possession update?
DANNY Hmm, interesting.
SLIM It’s a lot of talk in Discord about the traveling Possession blu ray that is now going for $100 on eBay that I grabbed for 40 bucks. Earlier in the year, and it’s currently been with Dale for about two and a half months.
DANNY Like six months baby!
SLIM And there’s a lot of people upset about it. And Dale’s been watching a lot of movies, but I don’t want to, I don’t want to just cause this negativity, you know for producer at large, Dale he’s not in the studio right now.
DANNY He’s under the desk. [Slim laughs]
SLIM Casey just posted a screenshot of the V8 scene! Yeah, it’s everything you’re thinking in that screenshot, everybody, okay? Aliens. [Danny laughs] Sigourney Weaver won the tournament, the Leading Ladies tournament, and we chose Aliens. Second movie in the franchise, the hitmaker, Sigourney Weaver, and maybe James Cameron involved too, but Proto, can you walk us through this science fiction journey of Aliens?
[music from Aliens fades in]
PROTO Previously, Ripley had escaped the alien that killed the entire crew of the Nostromo. Putting herself into hypersleep, Ripley is found drifting in space 57 years later. Her employer is skeptical of her story, since the moon is now a colony. Having lost contact with the colony, Ripley reluctantly agrees to do a deal to return and exterminate any signs of the aliens. Returning to the moon with a squad of Marines, Ripley finds the colony seemingly abandoned except for signals coming from beneath the station. As the Marines move closer, it becomes clear that they are not alone, that Ripley was right. And that monsters are real. Ripley ran last time. But now she has a flame thrower, and a roll of duct tape, and won’t be satisfied until she gives it back to the aliens.
SLIM First question is Sigourney Weaver a god?
DANNY Yes.
SLIM Thank you. [Slim laughs]
DANNY Next question. [Danny laughs]
SLIM A god. I can’t remember the first time I saw this movie. I don’t know if it was a VHS at home. But I made a brief mention, and we can kind of get into it as the conversation goes on. But I remember really this special edition of this movie, more than the theatrical which is what was, the theatrical was on Prime Video. So that’s what I watched. So that’s actually like the majority of my memories of this movie. Proto, do you remember the first time you saw this?
PROTO No, this was the first alien movie that I had seen. So I saw this before I saw the original.
DANNY Interesting.
PROTO Yeah, but and then of course, I watched it last year for the Alien journey. So I guess this is like my third time seeing it.
SLIM Yeah. And for that journey, I think we had the option, or the ability to watch either version when it was on, quote, HBO Max, plug, wink.
DANNY Wink, wink.
SLIM Danny, what about you? What’s your history with Aliens?
DANNY I do remember my first time because this was about two years ago, and I had never watched them. So I think I did my own journey before we did ours, obviously. And started with Aliens with Aliens Two but I watched all the way through Prometheus, I believe, and then I watched Covenant a while ago. Yeah, that was that was my first viewing. This is probably my, I think this is probably my second or third viewing.
SLIM Hmm. How about Paul Reiser in this movie? And his suit jacket collar?
DANNY What was his accent and this film?
SLIM I think it was just Reiser, uncut. I think that’s his voice.
DANNY [whispers] I want to smack the shit outta him.
SLIM What’s on your list for Aliens, Proto?
PROTO Well, speaking of Reiser, there was a line I wrote down. He says when they’re talking about blowing the station up with a nuke. He says “I can’t authorize that line of action. I’m sorry.” Just the way he says “I’m sorry.” [Danny laughs] It’s like this little weasel. Like why is anybody listening to what he has to say?
SLIM He’s like a weasel in general. I never got into, I was so pretty young, Mad About You. I couldn’t really stand Paul Reiser. Seems like so unlikable.
DANNY Where is he now?
PROTO He’s dead. [Slim laughs]
DANNY Oh shit.
SLIM Sorry, go ahead.
DANNY My only Paul Reiser note is his death scene is not satisfying enough. I wanted him ripped to shreds in front of my eyes because I hated this character so much.
SLIM God he’s so slimy!
DANNY Like there’s no real, like we don’t get, we shouldn’t see the Android be ripped apart more than Paul Reiser in this film.
PROTO I feel like I would have been more satisfied if the Marines would have killed him!
DANNY Yeah that’s right there, yeah.
PROTO How could you not have killed him when when he tried to get you both have facehuggers on you and a child? Like how do you not just end him right there?
DANNY Lying to Sigourney from the get go of this film.
SLIM What’s on your list Danny?
DANNY The first thing on my list is when I first watched this film, I watched the HBO Max Director’s Cut. And so when I watched it this time, it was Casey’s first viewing and we watched it. I actually was really annoyed that the segment about Ripley’s daughter wasn’t in this film, or at least in the theatrical. And also I don’t like that they took out the part with Newt’s family as well. I guess that’s probably the two biggest parts of the director’s cut. But I feel like there’s so much more weight to Sigourney spending 57 years adrift and hypersleep to come back to her wife, her, excuse me, her daughter who’s lived an entire life and died in her like in their 60s to have that taken out the film. Because also a kind of, it’s a great performance by Sigourney, but it gives a little bit more weight to her performance with Newt. And those two characters and how she mothers her as well, even to the point of new calling her mother at one point so I don’t like that that’s taken out of the theatrical, I feel like it’s just, it lends so much more to the story, especially Sigourney’s story, or Ripley, excuse me.
SLIM Yeah, I agree. That was one of my favorite scenes. I also just like that kind of design of that room she’s in.
DANNY Oh yeah.
SLIM You know it’s like the hologram room or the projected room. I do want to point out Tim, Tim made a comment in chat. He says he thinks “there was footage of a cutscene with Ripley finding Burke in the alien nest and she gives him a grenade to kill himself.”
DANNY Excuse me? See that’s… what I want!
SLIM I can’t remember, I can’t remember that’s in a special edition or not.
PROTO I did watch that deleted scene after I watched it the first time. It is creepy.
DANNY It’s just a straight up deleted scene?
PROTO Yeah, it’s like not even like cleaned up either. It’s like really dark.
SLIM I also really liked the scenes on what is it — LV…42…6? LV426? Yeah, the scene of the family being sent to find the ship.
DANNY Yeah, it’s rad!
SLIM So I actually even forgot, so on this viewing, I was like, wait a minute, where’s the scene of the family? [Slim laughs] Like getting annoyed as I was watching this movie. I do love the those scenes and apparently, I was on some kind of like Alien Wiki, not just Wikipedia, but like, you know, alienwiki.org. The special edition is considered the canon official version movie, and is referenced I think in like the comic books and books and games. Like those things are connected to this special edition. The other scenes were the automated turret gun scene that the soldiers put together. That scene is legit!
PROTO Yeah.
DANNY So rad.
SLIM Remember that? They’re just like, loading the clips into the aliens. You just hear them screaming in that hallway. Holy moly, what a scene that is. And the other one that I wrote down is Ripley and Hicks exchange their first names to each other toward the end.
DANNY That’s right! Yes.
SLIM So that was, those are some pretty important scenes. And I, I loved this version of the movie, but at the same time, like damn Special Edition rocks. It’s like an extra 45 minutes of footage in that thing.
DANNY I agree.
SLIM So Prime Video, can you wake up a little bit? Maybe put this special edition on Prime?
PROTO Yeah, I totally agree. Because to me that my favorite part of the movie I feel like is the her relationship with Newt. And like the scene where she is getting her to talk by wiping her face and talking to her and cleaning her up.
SLIM Oh yeah.
[clip of Aliens plays]
RIPLEY Uh oh. I made a clean spot here. Now I’ve done it. It’s hard to do the whole thing. Hard to believe there’s a little girl under all this. And a pretty one too.
[clip of Aliens ends]
PROTO My God! That scene is so good. And the idea that you know watching this if this is the only version you’ve seen, and you don’t know that, that Ripley had a daughter like the same age that she left, like, how can you cut that from the movie? It just like adds so much to the rest of the story! Yeah, to me, it’s kind of —
SLIM It’s insanity.
PROTO Dumbfounding that that isn’t included, Or even just, I mean, just have a line of it just mention it in some way that she had a daughter who isn’t here anymore. I don’t know.
SLIM Even in the special edition, there’s a scene where Newt asks about if she had a daughter or a child. And I think just Sigourney responds “not anymore.” And I think Newt says like, “that means she died, right?” or something along those lines. I think I think her daughter died two years where she was pulled out of Stasis. Yeah, like thinking back. What are you thinking?! Cutting that scene out? The whole back half of the movie is her and Newt and like just their relationship, her saving Newt, it’s so good.
PROTO Yeah, her going back for Newt, like that’s the whole reason! Right? Otherwise, she’s just going to save a kid. But if you know that, it’s like this is her chance to redeem — and then at the end, Newt calls her Mommy too. You kiddin’ me?!
DANNY You kiddin’ me.
SLIM You kiddin’ me right now? Lord. One scene, I’ll go through some of my list. And it’s related to the new comments you made. But it’s it’s at the end, where she goes into the elevator. And she is like putting the gun together. She attaches the gun. And the whole scene is just her in the elevator slowly moving. It’s like almost all one shot and it’s maybe like, it feels like two minutes. And the end of that shot is her eyes closed. She takes like this huge inhale before she goes into the queen’s nest. Holy crap!
DANNY Yeah.
PROTO Yeah. Ripley is so BA in this movie. And what’s so great is how — she in like the first Alien, where she’s kind of, you know, she gives her opinion about what should be done. And, you know, she’s, she’s very strong. She’s, you know, she knows what should be done. And she has like a clear plan, but there’s people who outrank her and they make stupid decisions. And it’s not until, you know, and then in this movie, it’s not until there’s no one else to kind of, like call the shots or everyone is too shaken, that she just like comes in. And like the scene where she’s, where she’s like, get me, she tells Hudson she’s like, I need diagrams of every level in this facility anyway into this room. And like, she just starts barking out orders to everybody, you know, as the civilian with all of these Marines, but she totally takes over and saves, you know, saves their lives in this instance, by giving them a chance to, you know, to escape. But it’s just, it’s just so amazing, just the way that the character just unfolds. And, and the way Sigourney plays it. I mean, I mean, it’s just, it’s incredible.
SLIM Yeah, Marcie says Sigourney got an Oscar nom for Aliens.
DANNY Damn straight.
SLIM Resident Oscar expert at it again, Marcie. Danny what is on your list?
DANNY I mean, after that. There’s something about the first scene where they’re infiltrating where the survivors are that they see on their map, and, you know, they start losing their minds. I love the design of that transporter that she drives, that car that she bashes through the wall. I kind of, I want one of those to drive around Orlando. [Slim laughs] It’s like the Ripley Batmobile. I think was so sick. I love that design. I love that whole moment of the film where she’s busting through walls just to save them. Because that idiot marine couldn’t handle the pressure. She yells “do something!” at him and it’s just, she takes control and gosh, she’s just awesome.
SLIM Yeah, you usually are the one that watches the behind the scenes stuff. Did you watch any behind the scenes of Aliens?
DANNY I saw that behind the scene making was a three hour doc and I’m like, well, it’s gonna have to be for another time this week. I want to, I really want to.
SLIM I couldn’t believe it was so long. It’s on YouTube. It’s in you know, like VHS quality. But apparently when they did a rereleased DVD, they include this three hour documentary on Aliens, The Making of Aliens, there’s interviews of them on set, and then they kind of do a second round of interviews where they’re all you know, 20 years old or wherever they filmed for the DVD.
DANNY That’s rad.
SLIM So when they talked about that truck or whatever, it’s like a machine that moves 747s apparently that they repurposed for the movie.
DANNY You’re telling me that that’s, I could go buy one of those?
SLIM It’s real. I mean, it doesn’t, I don’t think it looks like that necessarily. But it’s a short stubby thing with four giant wheels.
DANNY Okay, I’ll keep an eye out.
SLIM That part was real.
DANNY At my local Carmax. [Slim laughs]
SLIM One other note that I had was, let’s see, the audio of the alien’s egg sack opening towards the end of that movie. I think it’s with the queen scene. And there’s just like a zoomed in egg. And that thing just like, it blossoms. [clip of Aliens plays — sounds of egg hatching] That is some effed up audio. I might include it here. So talk about being unsettled — yeah, that’s the GIF right there. [Danny laughs] I can hear it. So sick. The documentary is on Letterboxd, it has a weird name, you might have to do some search foo, to get the Aliens documentary.
PROTO One thing I’ve always struggled with this is why would Ripley agree to this mission? Having lived through the events of the first Alien, why would anyone ever agree to go back but then I was always thinking about it, I was thinking about like her life and her situation. You know, I think you see her like in her room, she like wakes up in a cold sweat from those nightmares. And she like goes and I’m thinking, you know, she’s living in a steel box floating in space. Probably doesn’t feel like she has much going for her, you know, probably a lot of people wouldn’t feel that way. So I guess this time around, I felt like it felt a little bit more believable. But I always kind of thought like, man, how could anyone agree to do this? But then of course, most people aren’t Ripley.
DANNY But she’s also has Reiser just manipulating the hell out of her. You know, he knows what’s there because he commissioned all of this. And then he’s just “Oh, don’t worry about it. You’ll have Marines with you this time and not just whoever the crew was in with you the first time” so he’s just, she feels that safety net of I’ll be fine.
SLIM God he’s such a sicko.
DANNY Such a sleeze.
SLIM That was another thing I wanted to say. Tim mentioned that the mats are a little sus. Some of those shots of like the whatever, the helicopter or whatever entering LV426, yeah that look pretty bad. That does not hold up. But I love the rear projection that Jim Cameron did in this movie, just like in Terminator, you know, they have this giant projection screen. And they’re just doing the stunts right in front of it. I love that! Bring that back! Please! Please!
DANNY Yeah, when the ship crashed?
SLIM Yeah!
PROTO Oh, yeah.
DANNY You could just, you totally know it’s a screen but it still is awesome. [Slim & Danny laugh]
SLIM I know!
PROTO That one and then also when the queen, her egg sack thing is getting, she’s shooting the grenades into it.
SLIM Oh my god!
PROTO That looks so great. [Proto laughs] Like there’s egg yolks falling out of it.
DANNY Ohhhhh god the yolk!
SLIM It’s so gross. It’s like mayonnaise flying out of there. [Proto & Danny laughs] Yeah, they talked about that in the making of documentary about how they had to get really creative and use what they could with their limited budget and rear projection. They had like this rear projection guy. You know, he was like, specialized in doing this technology. So it was cool to have them interview him. And just talk about like, the kind of limitations that they had while filming.
DANNY Is it, since you watched it, is it much — I mean, is the idea much different than what they do for like the Mandalorian show? Or is it the same kind of concept?
SLIM They didn’t show, as far as I remember, they didn’t show kind of like a behind the scenes footage of the rear projection. They just made it sound like they just set up this big screen. And they just had this specialist project, the miniature footage that they were filming on that screen.
DANNY God, that’s awesome. I need to watch this.
SLIM I mean, it went deep. It’s three hours!
DANNY Yeah, when I saw that runtime, when you shared that, I’m like, well, not today. [Slim & Danny laughs]
SLIM Danny, what else you got on your list for Aliens?
DANNY My next scene that I — it’s just, it’s quite perfect to me is when they’re finally locked in after the turrets have run out. And they’re just, they’ve sealed the doors, they’re surrounded and the sonars telling them they’re like 15 meters, seven meters, they’re on top of it. And when Hicks pushes up the vent in the ceiling. And they’re crawling at them. It’s top, like top notch like blood pressure rising moment in this film for me. I just, it’s perfect. And what I also will always die on the hill for is these people in the alien suits running around. [Slim laughs] I love the way it looks. Like I don’t, I know it’s a person in the suits but I don’t even care. I don’t want CG aliens. I want these people running around in practical suits and I love the way it looks. It’s so awesome. And it’s just, it’s a great, it’s a great moment and I love Michael in this.
SLIM Yeah, the aliens, the way he filmed them in the shadows, I loved anytime the aliens were on screen. Especially you know when she is holding the flamethrower in front of the mayo eggs, and they’re like creeping towards her.
DANNY Ohhhh yeah.
SLIM But then the queen tells him to like, push back into the shadows. That stuff looks legit, so good, and it still holds up and it’s still creepy and scary.
DANNY When the first marine dies, her back is to the wall and he kind of unfolds out of the wall and it’s just… it’s perfect. It’s absolutely perfect.
SLIM Tim, our resident expert in chat “Rear projection miniature shots are in camera meaning in front of the lens. Mando digital backings are mostly just for lighting in the backgrounds are typically replaced in post.” Oh, yeah, that shot that Seantana just posted too.
DANNY Yes! I have that written down too. That water shot.
SLIM When the alien comes out of the water.
DANNY Perfect. And it’s genius.
SLIM Yeah, and I was gonna say, it cuts away at a point where I was like annoyed because I wanted to see the full alien —
DANNY Attack a child? [Danny laughs]
SLIM Come out of the water. Like I wanted to see you, Mr. Alien. And in the documentary they actually show that shot in full, they don’t cut, they show like the alien kind of coming out of the water.
DANNY Look how smooth that is. That tail. It’s just, terrifying.
SLIM I’m anti-child gore. You know that. You know that. Look at that shot. Crimeney.
PROTO Yeah, it’s hard to stop watching.
SLIM Geeeez.
DANNY It’s really hard to stop watching, it’s terrifying.
SLIM Proto, you’re up.
PROTO If I may, having watched all the Aliens. And then coming back to this one, especially with the newer ones. I feel like this, it adds to, to this viewing. Because, you know, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant are prequels to the original, you know, quadrilogy. And knowing that this Aliens, the aliens, and these are the aliens that and this is spoilers for you know if anybody hasn’t seen this, but this is the alien that David has designed that are now in these movies, is just so cool to me. Like at first I was always, you know, I kind of felt like ah, they’re making the Prometheus and Alien: Covenant prequels? But the way they’re tying it in to the originals is just, it’s just so cool. And now the gears in my head are starting to turn to think of like, Okay, well, how, how do they alien eggs that David designed, how do they get back in the hand of the the engineers, right? Because they’re on the ship. So at some point, which might be in the final movie of the like a new trilogy, if it ever gets made, is somehow the you know, the engineers getting a hold of David’s design and getting on the ships again. So just the way they’re all like they’re interconnected and kind of like creating a circle for this whole set of movies is just, it’s just so cool. And how this movie, how this, you know, Alien is actually it’s really uh, you know, it’s a sci fi movie about a bio weapon more than it is like an alien. I’ve said it before, I just, I love the Alien franchise. I love the lore. I love the whole universe, everything that’s entangled with it I love all the movies and just seeing this one now with that one fresh in my mind was, it just added to it.
SLIM I’d love more Alien movies in the universe. Just keep pumping those things out. I’ll watch them.
DANNY I think a TV show’s next right? [Slim laughs]
SLIM My god! The photoshop that just got posted.
DANNY Ohhhh my god.
PROTO Stop!
DANNY Ohhh my…
SLIM We’re not going to reveal what the photo is. You have to join the Discord to find out. Bill Paxton, we haven’t talked about.
DANNY Thank you, that was on my list.
SLIM The king in this movie. How many, I mean, lines with during his freakout scenes. So good, his like initial scenes. Unreal, right?
DANNY No.
SLIM No?! Excuse me?!
DANNY I wanted him dead in the first five minutes of seeing this man.
SLIM Whaaat?
DANNY I wanted him gone. Off the screen. I could not handle him!
SLIM Oh my god.
DANNY I can’t be the only one. Proto?
SLIM Kevin apparently in chat apparently.
DANNY The way Bill Paxton talks.
SLIM Proto, can you give us your opinion?
PROTO I love Bill Paxton in this!
DANNY Ohhhh no.
PROTO Listen, most of the characters in this movie are just stereotypes. And he’s the stereotype of the marine that loses his cool and can handle what’s going on.
DANNY He never had his cool!
PROTO When they’re on the dropship he has his cool. But you can tell, like he’s just kind of like he’s like the clown. But he’s also loses it. But he brings it together! He unloads on the aliens when they’re in the med lab, you know, when they’re getting cornered there. Like he does his part at the time.
SLIM Someone else in chat this week said, “is Hudson the worst actor ever?” And I felt sick to my stomach. So I just let that go. You know, I didn’t respond to it.
PROTO I’m a fan. I support him.
SLIM Art says he agrees. But by the end, he’s awesome.
DANNY He never got awesome.
SLIM Yeah, I mean, his freakout scenes where, you know, they’re effed, he’s like literally yelling out loud that “we’re effed”. And at that point, as a viewer, you want to slap him around too. So he’s doing his job. On my list, I loved her, one of them saying, oh, I think it was Gorman saying “We have her report on disk. Need you all to review it.” It’s like the future but there’s still reviewing files on disk. Cracked me up. Proto, what else is on your list?
PROTO I mean, my favorite scene, and I think I’m, you know, maybe one maybe the greatest scene in sci fi.
DANNY Oh, let’s hear it.
PROTO Is when they go into the nest for the first time. I mean, are you kidding me? Just like the build up to that of them, like going down lower and lower, and then how the atmosphere changes, they start seeing the resin, you know, the, whatever those structures are that the aliens build, and they they go from being in this colony station to being in an alien den that is straight from your, your nightmares with humans suspended in goo that are still alive, that now have aliens coming out of their chest. I mean, it’s just so crazy! And like your worst nightmare. And it looks amazing! Like, it just looks it the atmosphere that’s created in it is just incredible. And then also, you know, they they top it off with like, you know, removing their ammunition. So it’s like if things couldn’t get any worse. [Danny laughs] You guys can’t use your guns in here. What a crazy idea! James Cameron, you maniac.
SLIM That was stressful. The queen scene, that scene. I mean, even the end scene where they think they, they won, and they’re back. And the queen reveals herself. And they have that final battle where she gets in the, you know, the mechanical rig. And that that shot where it’s revealed, where the doors slowly open. And she’s standing there and she does the line, the line.
[clip of Aliens plays]
RIPLEY Get away from her, you bitch!
[clip of Aliens ends]
SLIM Oh my god, that is movie magic.
DANNY I mean, her just driving the mec to fight the queen. Like that whole sequence. Like it could be, it could like break the film and be absolutely horrifically bad. But the way it’s shot, and the close ups and the speed at which like she’s still having to move slow. But she has to like predict the movements of the Queen because it’s so fast and the tail whipping and the whatever you want to call the second mouth coming out at her face. It’s just… it’s badass. Like, it’s like the cherry on top for this amazing Ripley film. Like she’s just — and then it just goes out the airlock. And she has to crawl her way out of the airlock. And, you know, half the body of the Android saves Newt. That whole end sequence is perfect. I mean, it’s so much fun. I love it so much.
PROTO Yeah, and, and the way she’s, the way it’s shot, so that they, you know, because it could easily look bad, because it’s not a real mec suit, right? It’s not a real alien. These are all just, you know, set pieces, but the way Cameron shoots it and all the movements, it looks great even now, and yeah, you feel like you’re in the fight and you know what’s going on. But of course, it’s you know, it’s hidden from you, too, you know, you know, maintain the illusion that it’s real, and it’s done so well where you don’t feel like they’re just hiding it because they kind of do it well enough. The action is there, and it’s gripping.
DANNY This is my Pacific Rim.
SLIM Ohhhh. Yeah these scenes have no business still looking this good. You’re right on. My closing thoughts on Aliens, I think I’m at four and a half stars for the theatrical edition. If we had watched the special edition, I think I would have upped it, pushed it to five, five banger, but theatrical, I’m four and a half stars. Loved it, love Ripley. I loved her journey in the first two movies. I love that they kind of just took a chance and made it you know, action terror, which I think is kind of how Cameron described it in the documentary. He didn’t really want to make it hard. He just wanted to make it kind of like almost terrifying in certain scenes. I loved it. Loved this universe, love Jim Cameron. I loved watching the documentary and just hearing all these creative people say how much they hated working for Jim Cameron and Gail Hurd and how they just were so demanding, but I mean, it paid off and in the end. Danny what about you? Final thoughts and rating?
DANNY One last scene I didn’t talk about and I can be quick, probably my favorite shot of the film is when the quiet moment with Ripley holding Newt and the reveal of the queen like before the queen kind of drops her face out and that shot of just arachnid type body of her and backlit and it’s just, I think it’s my favorite shot the film. I absolutely love that shot. And for me, I think my rating on Letterboxd right now is four and a half stars. But going back and watching the director’s cut again. And I guess, is that what you’re calling the special edition?
SLIM Like for whatever reason they call it the Aliens direct, like, updated version, the special edition.
DANNY Yeah. I’m putting this at five stars. I love the director’s cut of this. And I would ask, is there a better one-two punch in sci fi trilogies than Alien and Aliens? Like these two films are just back to back absolute bangers. I mean, they’re just incredible.
SLIM Funnily enough, Tim says Terminator One and Two.
DANNY I think Two’s better than one though.
SLIM Wow.
DANNY I don’t know. I mean, James. Yeah. James the King, James Cameron. When are we doing Avatar?
SLIM Honest, honest to God, I mean, his filmography —
DANNY Disgusting.
SLIM It’s ridiculous! The quality and he’s like, obviously just a pain to work for because he’s like a perfectionist. They even said the doc that like, he’s a cameraman, he’s a cinematographer. He can like do most of the jobs that that he’s talking to in the movie, besides the actors, but man, he backs it uppppp in these movies.
DANNY It’s unreal.
SLIM Proto?
PROTO Umm…
DANNY Don’t know.
PROTO Um… what was I gonna say? Oh, yeah, the thing that about all of this that just blows me away is Ripley’s whole journey in the scope of all of the whole Alien continuum, man. What a tough break. She lives an absolute nightmare from the first movie, she wakes up has to go back. Do it all over again. Goes back into the hypersleep. We know what happens in Three, that’s not that great. Then we know what happens in Four. That’s terrifying. And then that’s the end of her story. What a terrible way to go. I mean sci fi horror, that’s it baby. But yeah, what you guys are saying about yeah, is there a better sequel in science fiction? I don’t know man. This movie is so good, when I watched the Alien and this one last year, I just thought there’s no way a movie can reach the level that Alien did and somehow James Cameron, really, he does it. You know he shifts it you know into a different, you know, different genre, tells a bold story. Does all these things on paper about what you’re going to have in this movie and then deliver that, is really just incredible. But I will say, I agree that the scenes that are removed from the theatrical or just that aren’t there. They really do take away from it for me. So I gave them a special edition five stars. But this I’m going to give four because it doesn’t, I feel like it does lose some of the magic by not having those extra scenes.
SLIM I love that Cameron is just doing whatever the hell he wants with this Avatar, he’s making Avatar Seven right now or whatever. But having said that, can you imagine if he just did something else, you know, sequel to True Lies or something that’s been rumored for years. [Danny laughs] True Lies, you talk about a five banger!
DANNY Are we?
SLIM Oh, my God, Jamie Lee, a vision. Where was Jamie Lee on our voting for Leading Ladies Month?
DANNY We didn’t make the list.
SLIM This is officially closing out Leading Ladies Month, what a month it was. A lot of great films, especially ones that I probably would not have watched otherwise. And it was fun to revisit some classics this month. So hopefully everyone enjoyed it as much as we did. Let’s get into some VMs, you can leave us a voicemail or shoot us a letter at 70mmpod.com. It’s our website, we got a link in the show notes. And we got let’s see, we got some in. Let me tell you, let’s see, we got a few letters in here too. Let me get those first. Andy, dear friend of the show, wrote us a letter. No voice message. Just a quesh. “Hey, just wanted to drop in and ask you guys a quick question. What’s the better James Cameron’s sequel Aliens or T Two? Or secret option C Avatar Four? Okay, that’s all, thank you all for the hard work you guys put into this podcast. Love you guys.” I guess Danny, you already gave your answer, right?
DANNY I mean, both are five star movies. I think I would lean towards Aliens because I like Ripley more than I like Arnold as leading people in these films. I think that’s the only reason really, I mean, I love Terminator Two a lot. It’s really hard to pick. I mean, I just prefer Ripley. I like her story arc. Proto, what was your rating for our Terminator Two episode? I don’t remember.
PROTO I think it was four stars. Yeah, I’m an Aliens guy. I just prefer this, you know, the story and the world.
SLIM We had a VCR World on for our Terminator Two episode. Biiig episode.
PROTO A delight.
SLIM Alright, let’s see, subject line Aliens Poem. This comes from Ben. “Good evening 70mm gentlemen, I have for the first time in my life watched Aliens. Although not as good as the original. At least in my opinion, it seems, the ending is something to truly behold, as if stripped straight from my dreams. The set pieces, the costumes and Weaver’s untouchable hair leave me in awe and simply put gasping for air. Sigourney is acting alone is what truly makes this film a treat. Her portrayal of fear and dread is something that can’t be beat. As a first time watcher I had a hard time with some of the voiceover, oh wait, this is the movie with ‘Game over, man. Game over.’” You didn’t like that line Danny when he said ‘Game over, man’?
DANNY Finish, finish the poem.
SLIM Sorry Sorry. Sorry. “I’m noticing a theme in these movies with leading ladies, a recurring vibe that is toxic and quite grating. It took me a while to get over and settle my anger quite a bit. But is almost every man in these films a total piece of shit? Anyway all this to say this would be a two star movie for me but a four star performance from Weaver, Sigourney. Have a great night gentlemen and thanks for all you do. See you later Crayon, Noodle and yes, Weiner, too. 3.25 stars.”
DANNY Wowowow.
SLIM That’s a low rating Ben!
DANNY 3.25? I didn’t know that’s how that works.
PROTO Check yourself, Ben. [Slim laughs]
SLIM That was a poem, KK. Alright, let’s get into our VMs here. We got a few in. Let us hear from… Forrest.
[voicemail plays]
VOICEMAIL What’s up 70mm, it’s Forrest. Wanted to talk to you guys about a spiritual journey. I went on this past week, loaded up my heart. And my good buddy, Sophie. And we took a risky trip. We went on a listening journey with the spiciest host, Danny, to listen to Olivia Rodrigo’s, SOUR. We could have been hurt. You know, the risk was really there. But we weren’t. We went in with an open mind and open heart ready to hear Danny’s truth and it wrung out loud and clear. All that to say, you know if you’re out there listening and you’re trying to decide should I joined the village? I think you should, I think you need to take that chance. You know, it’s just like they say Live. Laugh. Danny pray. Nood. Cray. Ween. Whatever one is your life motto. You know, just get with it. Click that subscribe button and join us. Okay, I love you, byyye!
[voicemail ends]
SLIM Forrest putting in the work right now.
DANNY He’s putting in the work! Am I making a Live. Laugh. Danny pray. shirt? [Slim & Proto laugh]
SLIM Take that down, Printful! I dare you! I dare you! Printful… don’t… don’t take it down please.
DANNY Please don’t.
SLIM Thank you, Forrest, we love you too. A lot of buzz in the music channel this week in the Discord.
DANNY It’s a big week.
SLIM We got our boy Fam dropping a VM.
[voicemail plays]
VOICEMAIL What’s up 70 boys, this is Fam calling in about the movie Aliens. I enjoy the movie. It’s a four star. It’s kind of like the answers the question of if we had more guns in the first Alien movies, would we have won easier? No. The answer’s no, you would not have won easier. But let’s talk about the alien himself. Him and Freddy Krueger as a kid were probably the two things that scared me the most as a kid just looking at him how big and then the tongue of teeth and then acid spitting and then ripping out of your chest and it was just a lot scare the crowd me every time I saw an alien. This came to fruition at MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida on the great movie ride so in that movie, in that attraction each movie has its kind of section that you go through so there is an Alien section. So this was right when the ride first came out and I knew there was an Alien section I didn’t know what was going on. So as we get into the section you’re sitting in the car I can see people in front of me screaming smoke everything and I see the alien dropping from the ceiling coming down to the cart and then coming back up. I’m freaking out, I can’t get off this ride fast enough. So I started looking and counting cars I’m like okay, it comes up and down every other car so if I’m lucky enough I could dodge it. I could be the other car but I wasn’t, odd were not in my favour. It came down, strobe lights screeching moving smoke just look disgusting. And I melted into my chair. It was so bad, I freaked out. Then the right keeps going and I try to compose myself which will then turn the corner and then an aliens ripping through the wall to the right of you. So I was done. You know I’m cool with Aliens now, I do enjoy the new movies. But when I was a kid, nah, not having it, so it was real bad. Thanks, boys. See ya.
[voicemail ends]
SLIM You probably have been on that ride a million times, Danny?
DANNY Mhm, it was a pretty terrifying, they actually had it set up to where it kind of bamboozled you. Or you could see the alien in the wall up ahead. And you’re kind of focused on it. And then the one drops out of the ceiling on you. And they actually had to stop the coming out of the ceiling animation because it was really effing up some kids.
SLIM Did somebody die?
DANNY I don’t know about died, but it was, it was terrifying. And it came close. Sure it hit somebody. [Danny laughs]
SLIM Sheesh. I rewatched the Freddy Krueger movies in the last couple years and Freddy’s a zilch. There’s nothing scary about him now as an adult. As a kid, yeah.
DANNY I have no desire to watch those movies.
SLIM Proto, any thoughts?
PROTO Yeah, I mean, I have no interest in Freddy Krueger. [Slim laughs] I don’t get it. There’s people who do. Happy for them. [Danny laughs]
SLIM No interest in Freddie. Okay, we have two more VMs.
[voicemail plays]
VOICEMAIL Hey guys, it’s Marcie. I’m calling in this week, because the last month I have been having nightmares about Xenomorphs. And you can ask Dirk and he will verify that this is indeed a fact. Not only that, but I knew in these nightmares that the Xenomorphs were specifically from Aliens, because they were tactical, maniacal, vicious and just a bunch of bags of Ds with a side of a-hole. Which they definitely are in that movie. So it’s pretty wild that we’re watching Aliens this week. And Sigourney won the bracket. So I just wanted to say, hey, believe in your nightmares kids, and one day you can get it covered on 70mm. Also, I love the final battle with Sigourney and the queen and those sound effects of the alien [Marcie makes tail slapping noise] that slapping and everything. It just makes me laugh so hard. And one more final thing. Last week, somebody called in a quote unquote Matthew McConaughey. [Marcie in a perfect Matthew McConaughey voice] And you guys said that was me. Well, it certainly was not me and it certainly was not Matthew. That was like baby Billy. I swear it was. He’s a wily trickster. And y’all need to keep an eye out for him. Okay? If anybody’s calling in pretending to be Matthew it most certainly is baby Billy. So that’s all I have to say guys, hope y’all have a glazed weekend and I’ll talk to you soon! Bye!
[voicemail ends]
SLIM I thought for sure she was gonna play the audio of like the egg sack opening with the mayonnaise coming out. For sure.
DANNY Why you gotta say it like that?
PROTO Bag of Ds with side of a-hole. [Slim & Danny laugh]
DANNY That was an all time voicemail.
SLIM Gonna have to edit it. We’re gonna get kicked off the Spotify subs beta. Next VM, final VM of the show. Where is it? It’s right here.
[voicemail plays]
VOICEMAIL Hello! This is Dirk. Dirkfeelgood calling in. And what do you guys think you’re playing that? When Marcie first opened up to me to tell me she was having nightmares about aliens, well, I recognized it immediately, as post Xenomorph stress disorder, a common condition in avid movie goers. And I used all of my medical knowledge to initiate Marcie on some staggered desensitization therapy. By that I mean, exposing her to films containing aliens of increasingly malevolent intent until she was able to watch aliens and sleep soundly. We started off simple with Aliens that were just having a lot, you know, like Lilo and Stitch, Mac and Me, a bit like the equivalent to Danny in a movie! Then we move on to aliens, reducing a minor degree of peril, Men in Black, Avatar, so a bit like the Proto level, and we were just reaching, just reaching, the ultraviolet nature of predator, enter aliens. You know, this slim level. When oh my goodness, you went and announced the Aliens episode for 70mm. And Marcie having a bit of Stockholm Syndrome when it comes to 70mm, just to watch it! And all of my therapy work ruined! But anyway, love the show. Love you all and how bout that bit when he goes ‘Game over man! Game over!’
[voicemail ends]
SLIM My god! Dirk’s American accent is unreal! [Danny laughs]
DANNY Holy crap!
SLIM Was that a clip of the movie?!
PROTO Just got chilled up.
SLIM Cripes!
DANNY Let me get this straight. Our comparison of Alien films, I’m Mac and Me? And Proto’s Avatar? And Matt is Predator?! Is that what I just heard?!
SLIM I’ll take it. I’m fine with these pairings.
DANNY I just got called Mac and Me. I gotta sleep on this.
PROTO My question. Wait, Marcie is having these Xenomorph nightmares before we even announced Aliens? Is she a precog? [Slim laughs] Is that what’s going on right now?
SLIM I just want to go on record as saying again, Dirk’s American accent is unbelievable. Is that how we sound when we do the British accents? Do we sound that good too? I would imagine so.
PROTO We must. We must sound like that.
SLIM We have to probably sound the same.
PROTO What is this wheelchair? [Proto laughs]
DANNY That’s Mac and Me.
SLIM It’s a real scene from a movie. [Slim laughs] Can we screenshot the kid like going backwards in the water? That’s it, that’s a meme template right there for the Discord. Ohhhh boy. [Slim & Proto laugh]
DANNY Oh my gosh.
SLIM Oh, boy, what an episode. Another one in the books. Just a reminder, the entire month of June, Indiana Jones. 4K release is coming out. They’re a big collection. And I think if you’re a subscriber that Paramount+, I think they’re all in there. Maybe get that free trial jawn. You know what I mean?
DANNY A 4K stream. It’s not possible.
SLIM No, Paramount probably has no capability to doing 4K streams, too new. So now’s the time to bust out those VHS and get watching because it’s gonna be a big month for us. Proto, take us out.
PROTO Wow what a month. The leading ladies that we saw. Powerful roles. Amazing work. I mean, we had Tilda, Gena Rowlands, Jodie Foster, Sigourney, Moana. What a month. You know, we all have leading ladies in our lives. So we should go out and thank them for being the leading ladies of our lives. [Slim laughs] I guess? I don’t know. Go tell the ladies in your life that you love ‘em.
DANNY Mmmm.
SLIM Go tell ’em that you love ’em. We’ll see everybody next week for Indiana Jones.
[70mm theme song ramps up, plays alone, fades out]
SLIM 70mm is a TAPEDECK production featuring original artwork provided by Danny Haas. Spiritual guidance and VGER, the robot who loves movies created by Protolexus. Producer emeritus Dale_a. Prints and other merch are available on 70mmpod.com. This episode was mixed, edited and produced by me, Slim. You can support our Patreon for access to the VHS Village Discord to talk movies with new friends, access to exclusive episodes, discounts on merch, and a physical membership card mailed to you. To check out other TAPEDECK podcasts, find the link in the episode notes. And if you’d like to support our friends at Letterboxd and upgrade to Pro or Patron status, you can do so with a 20% off discount using the links at 70mmpod.com. Goodbye!
