Really? (On the timer)
I had been meaning to time that sequence.
There is so much going on, it felt like the scene was twice the length of the timer.

The movie really sold what Ripley was going through, before deciding to go on the mission. Cameron mentioned in an interview, he had to make it convincing that she would choose to do that, even if someone in the audience wouldn't have made that same choice. If it was done in a hokey manner, it would undercut the rest…

Like john points out, after all that, it didn't have to be bleak.
Sometimes utter exhaustion is enough.
The movie opened with nightmares; nothing wrong with rewarding the audience with sleep and dreams after that roller coaster ride.

A local gaming store has a whole shelfful of Aliens action figures.
It was ridiculous that I didn't recognize any of the characters.
(I was told that this line was based on comic books, which had built on the Aliens movie.)

I wonder if it helps that Cameron had another strong creative voice (Gale Anne Hurd) besides his own. It would help the Avatar sequels to have someone who could help on the script, allowing Cameron to devote more energy to… everything else.

It helps to have someone like Cameron, who knew what would make the effect more effective. By having the Aliens move realistically but not like a human, the viewer's mind already starts to think of them as monsters instead of stunt-men in rubber suits.

What is amazing is how little action there really is, compared to what we think we saw. Most of it is bits and pieces, but it is done so effectively that our imaginations fill in the details. There are very few shots (movie-wise) of the characters shooting (gun-wise) and us seeing what was hit at the same time. It was…

"Dammit, Zeist is a planet, not a bar of soap!"

Having Newt become a bad-ass, Alien-killing commando would have been an eye-rolling shoe-horning of a child into an action movie. (Which gets done anyways in other movies, and usually poorly *cough* Phantom Menace *cough*.)

The movie got me on the wrong foot with the "we've gotta isolate Ripley again somehow" obvious plot device done right at the start. It was unnecessary to shit on the previous movie's character work for a tiny payoff.

Except they couldn't kill it with guns.
They could stop one, but more would keep coming.

"Why don't you put her in charge?!"

At first, I thought Apone was just showing his steely, "I'm in charge" gaze. It took me a few viewings to notice which finger he used to "look into my eye".

The Champions were Hercules, Black Widow, Iceman, Angel, and Ghost Rider.

"Robin, what has the Joker done now? Drive some people hopelessly insane? Kill an auditorium of people with his poison gas?"

Maybe the glass was made in the USA,
and it was only the "Made in the USA" decal that was made in China.

I was introduced to Ginger Beer last month.
I prefer the non-alcoholic version, at least for mixing in other drinks (like a Moscow Mule).
The alcoholic version was too much like conventional beer, for me. Not enough ginger.

I'm reminded of the Shaw saying: "I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it."

I guess he doesn't need to do any pandering for Craster's vote.

We don't know Trump's order of succession, if Ivanka is unavailable.