Sigourney Weaver jumped into the limelight pretty quickly. ALIEN was only her third project. But since I was too scaredy-cat to see that at the time, my first memory of her was IN THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY, still my favorite film of hers although there are an awful lot of good ones. She could do comedy (WORKING GIRL) as effectively as drama.
What's your favorite?
26 comments:
I wasn't a scaredy-cat so I did see Sigourney Weaver in ALIEN and ALIENS. She's the glue that holds those films together.
Ripley rocks!
I'm with George.
I also admire her willingness to make herself look silly in stuff like GHOSTBUSTERS and GALAXY QUEST.
Did you know her real name is Susan, not Sigourney?
That's my trivia for the day.
Jeff M.
She's the mother of all the tough chicks since the Alien movies.
I've never seen her do anything less than well, comedy, drama, or action. My faves have already been mentioned here, but COPYCAT is often overlooked, maybe because Harry Connick, Jr. is so unexpectedly creepy.
The Alien films, definitely. I'd like to say something different, but I really can't.
The most recent thing I've seen of her was in the Woody Harrelson cop flick Rampart. Definitely a dark movie. It has problems but I enjoyed it. And Sigourney was excellent as always.
Definitely the ALIEN films (including the excellent ALIEN RESURRECTION, which redeems the series after the fiasco that was ALIEN 3) and GALAXY QUEST. And I wouldn't say I *like* THE ICE STORM as much as the above movies, but she's fantastic in it. (Also she's pretty great in PAUL and CABIN IN THE WOODS.)
Also liked her in DEATH AND THE MAIDEN, ICE STORM, and GORILLAS IN THE MIST.
Loved her in Copycat. And she just sparkles in Dave. She's not afraid to put herself out there.
She was great in Heartbreakers with Gene Hackman.
She is fearless. Not many actors are.
I've had a crush on her since Alien. Love that defiant jaw, and her no-bullshit attitude in everything she does. She was fantastic in Dave and Galaxy Quest, gave luster to Avatar, and of course she was incredible in Aliens as the genre-defining Ripley.
I'll watch her in anything.
Alien, definitely. Although I've liked her in most of the stuff I've seen her in.
Paul got in ahead of me with the "Heartbreakers" reference. Weaver is hilarious in it as a con-woman out to convince rich Gene Hackman that she's Russian.
I seem to remember reading years ago that Weaver changed her first name from Susan to Sigourney after reading that name in an F. Scott Fitzgerald story. I must admit that I haven't read a lot of Fitzgerald--does anyone know the story where "Sigourney" appears?
1926 F.Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby ISBN 014 0007644 p.59:
"Please come and see me...Phone book...Under the name of Mrs Sigourney Howard...My aunt..."
ALIEN, no doubt. I agree, Weaver is a fine and fearless actor, a lot like Jodie Foster or the other way around. In GHOSTBUSTERS, she makes Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray) look silly.
The woman can do no wrong, but if forced to choose I'd go with Aliens... followed very closely by the original.
In Chapter 3. She's only mentioned once, and it's Jordan's aunt:
Jordan’s party were calling impatiently to her from the porch, but she lingered for a moment to shake hands.
“I’ve just heard the most amazing thing,” she whispered. “How long were we in there?”
“Why, about an hour.” “It was — simply amazing,” she repeated abstractedly. “But I swore I wouldn’t tell it and here I am tantalizing you.” She yawned gracefully in my face: “Please come and see me. . . . Phone book . . . Under the name of Mrs. Sigourney Howard . . . My aunt . . .” She was hurrying off as she talked — her brown hand waved a jaunty salute as she melted into her party at the door.
1:13 PM
ALIEN: RESURRECTION remains the least-bad ALIEN film, though Weaver is good in them all. GALAXY QUEST and DEATH AND THE MAIDEN are pretty easy choices for me.
Actually, looks like ALIEN was her fifth pro a/v role. You really should quit overrating film in relation to television...
It's just that I have more often seen films than TV appearances or at least I remember them more clearly.
I've read Gatsby more than once and that reference went right over my head. Thanks for the information.
Am I the only one here who has seen HOLES? Sigourney is one of the all-time baddest screen villainesses here.
But really, it has to be ALIEN. My kind of SF movie - no attempt at metaphysics, there's just a big ugly thing that kills people. It is still unsettling, no matter how many times I've seen it. And ALIENS is a terrific slam-bang actioner provided you turn off your brain and don't ask questions like "why?" and "how?". The rest in the series, uh, no thanks.
HOLES was great, wasn't it?
Of the ones I've seen, GALAXY QUEST.
GALAXY QUEST, ALIEN, ALIENS, DEATH AND THE MAIDEN, ICE STORM, GORILLAS IN THE MIST, and hell, even AVATAR. She always delivers in my book (and my kids love her in HOLES).
In one of those incredible coincidences, I'm watching GALAXY QUEST right now, and it's absolutely hilarious - way, way better than I remembered it. But fine as Sigourney is, Enrico Colantoni as the eternally grinning head alien Mathesar totally steals the show. Comedy gold.
I am not sure I have ever seen this. Must look for it to be sure.
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