Notes on Watching the "Alien" Rerelease with a 14-Year-Old

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the release of Alien.  To commemorate the occasion, last weekend the movie was re-released in theaters.  We were surprised that the 14-year-old seemed interested in watching it.

* Teen girls in our part of town treat moviegoing like a sleepover.  Slippers, baggy hoodies, sweatpants, a fuzzy blanket.  When you're all cuddled up like that in a plush leather Cinemark chair - that's heated, no less - in a cold movie theater, it's not surprising that you might get a little drowsy.  Fifteen minutes into the movie, we get a whispered "I'm getting sleepy."

* Concessions report: Diet Dr Pepper with cherry and vanilla for us, blue Icee for the 14-year-old.  No popcorn, no candy.

* The folks behind this re-release clearly assumed that anyone buying a ticket has already seen the movie.  And so before the movie they screen a 15-minute featurette with Alien director Ridley Scott talking to the director of this summer's new Alien sequel.  And of course, we get lots of Alien clips that spoils good chunks of the movie.  Cue exasperated sighs and groans from the 14-year-old.

* Was the 14-year-old the youngest audience member?  Probably.  There was a family there and the boy may have been 12.

* We agree that the first act of Alien - pretty much everything until the alien gets into the ship - is slow.  We tried to warn the 14-year-old.  We found that chunk of movie slow when we first watched it thirty years ago.  That measured build-up, however, is no match for Zoomers raised on endless scrolls of bite-sized TikTok videos.

* After John Hurt has his big moment at the dining table, 14-year-old asks "Is that guy dead?"  Yes.  Yes, he is.

* We did not go full geek and wear our Nostromo T-shirt.

* The movie got the 14-year-old good on the jump scare when Tom Skeritt's in the dark air vent trying to figure out where the alien is - we know it's closing in but we're not sure from where - and he swings his flashlight around behind him... and the alien is right there!  Eek!

* The 14-year-old's assessment in the hallway outside the theater: "It was okay."  That's pretty high praise actually from someone who often thinks anything made before 2010 is dusty ancient history.

* The next day, when asked what were her favorite parts, the 14-year-old could think of two: when Sigourney Weaver blew the alien into space and when android Ian Holm's creepy white sweat first appeared.

* For the record, the 14-year-old loved James Cameron's Aliens sequel.  As any decent American would.

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