Vazquez is cool and shit, but Alien has Ripley

To be fair, so does Aliens. And I think she's a more interesting, developed character in Aliens.

And she set a standard for the female action hero that most people don't miss even today. She's just...a chick and an awesome dominating hero.

I'm with you on this one. I was surprised by how it was never really a thing at ALL that she was a woman (given that she was supposed to be a dude initially, that makes sense). And also that she was not necessarily SUPER BADASS. She felt like a strong female character, not a Strong Female Character. Nowadays, it seems that in order to be a female action hero, you have to be able to punch everyone in the face and shoot lots of guns while wearing hot dresses. Not that I MIND that, but you're right about how Ripley is different.

To be fair, so does Aliens

Unremarkably, so do Alien 3 and 4.

However, I rank the introduction of Ripley in Alien as way more satisfying to me than the subsequent introduction or continued appearance of any character in the series. First seeing Ripley trumps meeting Vasquez in my books.

And she was more different in Alien from the pack than she was in Aliens, which is why I like as I do. Aliens gave more room to flesh her out, but her appearance in Alien worked for me partially because she wasn't as fleshed out. I mean, she wasn't explained. This was an extraordinary situation, sure, but it's not as big a deal yet that she be the one that hauls their asses out of the fire. It's not going against anyone's expectations but ours. By Aliens, we already know how cool she is.

I mean, she wasn't explained. This was an extraordinary situation, sure, but it's not as big a deal yet that she be the one that hauls their asses out of the fire.

I agree; that was very cool.

To radically change the topic, for some reason I am watching Just Married with Brittany Murphy and Ashton Kutcher.

It's amazingly awful. Offensively so. They make light of rape and spousal abuse (but it happens to Ashton's character! So who cares? Men are barely even federally rapable!) and everyone's pretty horrible.

Christian Kane is in it, and he plays a wuss and a ponce. Knowing how personally he seems to take his roles, this must have chapped his ass.

For some reason (free Showtime On Demand this weekend), I am watching Blue Valentine, and man, that was a bad choice. I mean, it's a good movie, but I have a party to go to later, and now I feel bleak.

I've been watching trite crap, obviously. I recommend it. Even if it's nasty like Just Married, it's really pretty easy to leave behind.

I wanted to go out to see a movie this weekend, but none of Hugo, The Artist, or The Descendants was a strong enough pull to get me into outside pants. Finishing up Unstoppable now. Wish I hadn't been spoilt, though.

How'd you like Unstoppable ? I thought it was surprisingly great. What were you spoilt about?

I think I'm going to see The Artist this afternoon.

I knew what the precise death toll was, so it removed suspense.

I liked it more than the reviews would have predicted. But I won't think about it again.

Unstoppable was a lot of fun, and Chris Pine and Denzel Washington are so nice to watch, and I loved Rosario Dawson. That's the kind of movie I could watch over and over. Not a lot of investment in it, but it's entertaining.

For me, knowing how it turned out took a lot out of it. I didn't like the rest of it enough for it to stand on its own. I'm also not a huge Chris Pine fan. He's cute, and he's alright, but that's it. I'd rather have seen Rosario and him switch roles, or something.