You know, I could be wrong, but I think Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) may very well have been the first R-rated motion picture I snuck into theatres to see.
I say this primarily because I distinctly remember seeing the film up on the silver screen, but for the life of me I can't recall who in the name of Sam Hill in my circle of family and friends would've taken me to it. That circle wasn't so big that I could honestly count on someone sneaking me inside, and given my lifelong passion for All Things Science Fiction I damn near had to see this one when it came out theatrically. Do kids still do that these days? Sneak into R-rated pictures?
Oh, well.
Yaphet Kotto was the one crewmember I honestly thought could've gone up against the Xenomorph and maybe -- maybe -- had a legitimate chance of survival. It wasn't because he was the biggest and maybe even portrayed as the baddest in the feature, but it was because of this whole spacefaring group he was the only one who appeared legitimately blue collar. Back in the day, I had a strong blue collar background (I was raised in a small factory town in the midwest), and we were kinda/sorta brought up to believe in blue collar workers. So, yeah, I rooted for the guy. And I suspect he went down swinging.
Sadly, the award-winning actor left us recently, and I felt it appropriate to acknowledge his passing.
He definitely gave us some professional appearances worthy of a second look. His resume tops out at an impressive 95 different screen credits. His early roles had a healthy exposure in television work, but the mid-to-late 1970's shows a change to more motion picture parts, many of them in conventional fare. I loved him in Midnight Run (1988). I also recall him turning up in a small role aboard SeaQuest DSV. I have read that he was one of the actors considered for the part of Jean-Luc Picard aboard Star Trek: The Next Generation, but that's all I recall about that.
Prayers and salutations to his family.
-- EZ
I say this primarily because I distinctly remember seeing the film up on the silver screen, but for the life of me I can't recall who in the name of Sam Hill in my circle of family and friends would've taken me to it. That circle wasn't so big that I could honestly count on someone sneaking me inside, and given my lifelong passion for All Things Science Fiction I damn near had to see this one when it came out theatrically. Do kids still do that these days? Sneak into R-rated pictures?
Oh, well.
Yaphet Kotto was the one crewmember I honestly thought could've gone up against the Xenomorph and maybe -- maybe -- had a legitimate chance of survival. It wasn't because he was the biggest and maybe even portrayed as the baddest in the feature, but it was because of this whole spacefaring group he was the only one who appeared legitimately blue collar. Back in the day, I had a strong blue collar background (I was raised in a small factory town in the midwest), and we were kinda/sorta brought up to believe in blue collar workers. So, yeah, I rooted for the guy. And I suspect he went down swinging.
Sadly, the award-winning actor left us recently, and I felt it appropriate to acknowledge his passing.
He definitely gave us some professional appearances worthy of a second look. His resume tops out at an impressive 95 different screen credits. His early roles had a healthy exposure in television work, but the mid-to-late 1970's shows a change to more motion picture parts, many of them in conventional fare. I loved him in Midnight Run (1988). I also recall him turning up in a small role aboard SeaQuest DSV. I have read that he was one of the actors considered for the part of Jean-Luc Picard aboard Star Trek: The Next Generation, but that's all I recall about that.
Prayers and salutations to his family.
-- EZ
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