Portal:20th Century Studios

Aliens is a 1986 science fiction action film written and directed by James Cameron. It is the sequel to the 1979 science fiction horror film Alien, and the second film in the Alien franchise. Set in the far future, the film stars Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of an alien attack on her ship. When communications are lost with a human colony on the moon on which her crew first encountered the alien creatures, Ripley agrees to return to the site with a troop of Colonial Marines to investigate. Aliens features Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, and Carrie Henn in supporting roles.

Despite the success of Alien, its sequel took years to develop; it was delayed by lawsuits, a lack of enthusiasm from 20th Century Fox, and repeated changes in management. Based on his scripts for The Terminator (1984) and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Cameron was hired to write a story for Aliens in 1983. The project stalled again until new Fox executive Lawrence Gordon pursued a sequel. Although relatively inexperienced, Cameron was given the director role based on his success directing The Terminator. On an approximately $18.5 million budget, Aliens began principal photography in September 1985. Like its development, filming was tumultuous and rife with conflicts between Cameron and the British crew at Pinewood Studios. James Horner composed the film's score. The difficult shoot also affected Horner, who was given little time to record the music.

Aliens was released on July 18, 1986, to critical acclaim. It was well-received for its action, but some reviewers were critical of the intensity of some scenes. Weaver's performance received consistent praise; other members of the cast were positively received, including Bill Paxton and Jenette Goldstein, who played Colonial Marines. The film received a number of awards and nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for Weaver at a time when the science-fiction genre was generally overlooked. Aliens earned $131.1–183.3 million during its theatrical run, one of the highest-grossing films of 1986worldwide.

Credit: 20th Century Fox

Photo from the 1942 film Ten Gentlemen From West Point; Maureen O’Hara is shown at center.

More selected pictures • Read more...

Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904 – November 29, 1986) was a British-American actor. Known for his transatlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing, he was one of classic Hollywood's definitive leading men from the 1930s until the mid-1960s.

Grant was born and brought up in Bristol, England. He became attracted to theater at a young age when he visited the Bristol Hippodrome. At the age of 16, he went as a stage performer with the Pender Troupe for a tour of the US. After a series of successful performances in New York City, he decided to stay there. He established a name for himself in vaudeville in the 1920s and toured the United States before moving to Hollywood in the early 1930s.

Grant initially appeared in crime films or dramas such as Blonde Venus (1932) with Marlene Dietrich and She Done Him Wrong (1933) with Mae West, but later gained renown for his performances in romantic screwball comedies such as The Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne, Bringing Up Baby (1938) with Katharine Hepburn, His Girl Friday (1940) with Rosalind Russell, and The Philadelphia Story (1940) with Hepburn and James Stewart. These pictures are frequently cited among the greatest comedy films of all time. Other well-known films in which he starred in this period were the adventure Gunga Din (1939) and the dark comedy Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). He also began to move into dramas such as Only Angels Have Wings (1939) with Jean Arthur, Penny Serenade(1941) again with Dunne, and None but the Lonely Heart (1944) with Ethel Barrymore; he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the latter two.

No recent additions

You're clowning... you're not clowning? I sense clowns. — Deadpool