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Q: Oh Great Oracle! What in your opinion are the best movie aliens of all time? But I don’t mean movies where the aliens are the villains, like in Alien (the movie that would obviously win any such contest). I guess I mean “background” aliens, like the Cantina scene in Star Wars. — Megan, Riverside, CA
A: First, The Oracle agrees with you that the Alien alien would win any movie-alien contest (by far) — it was just so perfectly realized. I also agree that the Cantina scene in Star Wars really reset the bar for movie aliens — it’s hard to overstate what an incredible impact that scene had (even if it looks a little pedestrian now, even with George Lucas‘ later GCI additions).
What other movies has excelled at such “background” aliens? Well, the Star Trek movie extras in rubber masks aliens have always been a major disappointment in this regard — although they’re dramatically improved in the latest franchise reboot.
Post-A New Hope, Star Wars continued to introduce many weird and wonderful aliens, from Admiral Ackbar on down (although I think it speaks to the complete creative paucity of the prequel series that, despite having CGI technology, the aliens in those three Stars Wars movies are all almost completely forgettable).
Other movies with terrific “background aliens” include 1997’s The Fifth Element (a terrible film) and the 1984 fantasy movie The NeverEnding Story (I think the “giant-head” creatures in the Childlike Empress’ court are classic!).
Other suggestions? Readers?
Aliens from The Fifth Element (top row) and The NeverEnding Story (bottom row)
Q: We are wondering where the storyline came from for Avatar? Does it have anything to do with a Hindu goddess? — Jim
A: The storyline is entirely writer-director James Cameron’s, although he has openly acknowledged many “sources,” including “every single science fiction book I read as a kid,” as well as the movies The Emerald Forest, Dances With Wolves, At Play at the Fields of the Lords, and Princess Mononoke, which all share similar themes.
And yes, Cameron was also aware that in the Hindu religion an “avatar” is a deity who has come down from heaven and taken form on Earth. He explained what an “avatar” is to Time magazine way back in 2007:
It’s an incarnation of one of the Hindu gods taking a flesh form. In this film what that means is that the human technology in the future is capable of injecting a human’s intelligence into a remotely located body, a biological body. It’s not an avatar in the sense of just existing as ones and zeroes in cyberspace. It’s actually a physical body. The lead character, Jake, who is played by Sam Worthington, has his human existence and his avatar existence.
In other words, a computer or gaming “avatar” also comes from the Hindu word, but since both meanings are appropriate for the movie, it’s the perfect title for the film.
Q: Oracle, I beseech thee: I remember Wil Wheaton taking a lot of heat — though I was never sure why. Do you think he’s finally redeemed himself with Evil Wil Wheaton on The Big Bang Theory? — Mark, Las Vegas, NV
A: The Oracle never quite understood the animosity directed at Wheaton personally, which apparently arose because a lot of people didn’t like the character of Wesley Crusher, the character he played for four seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Even if the character was annoying (and I’ve always personally found Star Trek characters such as Voyager’s Neelix to be faaaaar more annoying), why take that out on the actor? But that’s what a lot of people did, making this an early example of “internet demonization.”
But I would say that Wheaton has absolutely had the last laugh — he is, of course, not mocking himself with the character of Evil Wil Wheaton, but the internet geeks who tried so hard to demonize him. And the fact that this character has become such a fan favorite on a hit show proves that plenty of people are now sharing a laugh with Wil — at his former-detractor’s expense.
Q: I know the 2005 movie The Descent has nothing to do with Jeff Long’s novel The Descent, despite both being about subterranean creatures. But will there ever be a movie based on the novel? It’s good! — MAGPIE, Toronto, Canada
A: Much has been made of the similarities between between the 1999 novel The Descent (which is terrific, as is the sequel, Deeper) and the 2005 movie of the same name.
Then again, it’s not like it’s the most original story of all time: if you’re going to write a thriller about going underground, you’re probably to create “devil”-like creatures. And even author Jeff Long has acknowledged that he based his novel on earlier works — namely Dante’s Inferno.
But I do think Long got a really raw deal. There was, in fact, a movie version of his novel in the works prior to the release of the 2005 movie, to be directed by David S. Goyer, the writer of Batman Begins and a director in the Blade series, for Dreamworks.
But I can find no evidence of any such movie still in the works, and with the break-out success of The Descent, I suspect the movie version of Long’s novel will probably never happen now.
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