three little things

In 1951, Howard Hawks gave us a classic science fiction movie - The Thing From Outer Space - better known as the first The Thing.

In 1982, John Carpenter gave us the second thing - also known as The Thing.

Now another director by the name Matthijs van Heijningen, jr. is presenting us with another
thing - The Thing (2011).  You ask who is Matthijs van Heijningen, jr.?  He is the son
of Matthijs van Heijningen - but that's an entirely different thing.

Before I give you my take on these three things, you may need to know something about the
background of The Thing.

~~~

Many years ago a spacecraft crashes into the Antarctica ice and scientists - most likely from
McMurdo Research Center - cut out a block of ice in which the thing is embedded and haul
it back to the research station where sooner or later it thaws out and terrorizes the scientists.
The thing is, this thing called The Thing can take on the form of any living being around it -
including dogs - so that no one really knows who is the thing.

That is pretty much it for the plot.

~~~

The Thing #1 is really good -  not particularly scary.  In fact the only thing I don't like about it
is that although the woman in the first thing is just as strong, brave and intelligent as the men -  she always ends up serving them the coffee.

The Thing #2 could be really good if the special effects were not so over the top.  You are left
gasping at the thing as it transforms into disgusting things, yet it leaves you disgusted rather
than satisfied.  The best thing about The Thing #2 is that Kurt Russell is the star and it has a
great ending.  But you'll just have to 'wait and see' to find out about that.

As for The Thing #3 - I would say from the trailer that it is shaping up to be nothing.  It appears
that its strong point is that the director has found more inventive gory ways to let the thing do its
thing.

~~~

I highly recommend The Thing #1 - my 10 year old granddaughter proclaimed it to be the 'best
movie' she had ever seen (but she says that about every movie we watch together.)

I recommend The Thing #2 with some reservations - I guess it would depend on how much  blood
and gore you can stand.

As for The Thing #3 - I won't be seeing it.  You see, I'm getting too old for that sort of thing.