Great point, Jess! I think if I were to write a novel, I’d be very reluctant to have it adapted into a film, because it would feel more like “my” vision. If I write a screenplay, it would be to have it filmed one day, and I’d be more prepared to “let it go”, so to speak. CreComm made me realize that I could never be a director so I would have to give up creative control in order to ever get a screenplay filmed.

I have written a number of short films and bits and pieces of feature-length films. Sometimes I’ll just write a single scene if I’m stuck on it enough. If I wanted to be a screenwriter by trade, though, I’d have a hard time letting go of that much creative control.

I’ve had a number of people tell me that Aliens is the better film, so I’m quite eager to see it. My original plan was to watch them both over the weekend but I decided that I’d like to stretch the experience out a bit so I’ll watch it this week or on the weekend.

I actually knew very little about the film going in. Somehow I’d managed to avoid many of the references, so while I realized that I “knew” about the most famous scenes – I didn’t actually know they were about Alien before watching the movie, which really helped, I think.

@Jon M.

I loved the puppetry and costumes. It looked fantastic, and I think that the way the film was shot made it a far scarier film than many contemporary films of a similar vein that rely on CGI. There’s really something to be said about making the most of what could be called technological limitations. It makes one more creative, I think. I loved the tone of the film, and the visual effects were spectacular.

Aliens is more of a ‘crowd pleasing’ film, if you can call it that. Cameron focuses on the action element of the story more than he does the horror part. But there are at least four really effectively creepy moments in it. I hope you like it.

I did the same thing with Lost – but it wasn’t until near the end of the series that I finally learned. Nowadays I often don’t actively seek out trailers, and if I end up seeing a trailer for a movie I’m looking forward to before another movie, it’s more of a nice surprise.

I did stream the Prometheus trailer online, though, because everyone was talking about it and I was curious. I haven’t seen any of the Alien films, so I need to get on that before it comes out.

I love that you have two prop pieces from the film! That’s awesome! Back when the movie was first released, I purchased several books about the ship that were written for youth, but I also found a very cheap reference book at a store that my dad bought for me. I can’t remember what it was called, and I think I might have given it away, but it may have been Archibald Gracie’s book. I’ve been thinking about buying a copy of it (or rebuying…), because I never read more than a few pages of it back when I was a kid. I’d love to see a biopic made about many of the passengers on the Titanic – John Jacob Astor and his wife would make a very interesting film, I think, but I doubt it will ever happen, because any other movie related to the Titanic will be compared too heavily to “Titanic”.

I’ve always respected Rose, and the fact that she fights to get away from her mom and Cal, who control her and hold her down. The significance of the photos at the end was something that went over my head when I was a kid, but I find it very moving today.

I thought of you after I saw the movie, because I knew how much you love the movie, but I also know how much you loathe 3D! If there’s an IMAX theatre near you, I’d recommend seeing it in 3D at the IMAX. The first half of the film is unimpressive in 3D, which is to be expected, but the shots of the ship sinking are magnificent.

With regards to the film…I really enjoy it on a different level now. Before I didn’t quite get how sad the story was…I guess having never been in love made a disconnect for me. But now, of course it’s rather tragic. Additionally, I find the film to be such a feminist film. Rose is a strong character and unwilling to let her actions be governed by anyone but herself. And what I found most satisfying is the fact that she went on and did so many things after the sinking, which is shown in the pan of her photographs near the end.

I have yet to decide if I’ll go see the film in 3D. I didn’t go see Beauty and the Beast (my major obsession prior to Titanic – you name it I had it!) in 3D… *sigh* I just hate 3D so much…