5 Favorite Alien Invasion Sci-Fi Movies

Photo via Paramount

The alien invasion storyline predates film and goes back to the 19th century when HG Wells’ The War of the Worlds popularized the subgenre in 1897. It wasn’t until the 1950s that alien invasion films became prevalent: The Man from Planet X (1951), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), and It Came from Outer Space (1953). Then in 1953, Wells’ novel was adapted to film, officially giving rise to the alien invasion subgenre in science fiction. Though these types of movies fall into sci-fi, many of them can also be classified as disaster films.

Personally, I’m a fan of all sci-fi/fantasy disaster movies ranging from the big budget tentpoles of the summer blockbuster season to the b-movie, bad CGI, bad acting, bad science sci-fi films that premiere on the Syfy network or go straight to DVD. Although I love natural disaster films like the upcoming Into the Storm, I’m breaking down disaster movies into a specific category this time around: alien invasion — for the sake of keeping this list relatively short, though, any films that also fall into the superhero/comic book genre have been left out. (Sorry, Marvel’s The Avengers!)

Today We Celebrate Our Independence Day!

Half the fun of any holiday is picking out an outfit.

I know the Fourth of July probably isn’t significant to people outside of the U.S. In fact, I could see how our rampant patriotism once a year could be obnoxious. But as a born-and-bred American, I’m taking this day to revel in tradition. From drinking booze with my best friends, to barbecuing, to wearing some combination of red, white and blue, what’s not to love about July 4th? Okay, there’s probably a lot: drunken idiots, sunburn (from which I will probably suffer,) country music. But let’s put aside all that negativity; July 4th is a holiday. It’s a real holiday on which those of us with office jobs get to take off work in the middle of the week and kick back. (For those of you who have to work, I’m truly and deeply sorry. Your job sucks, unless you like it I guess.) So in the spirit of celebrating the United States, freedom, and Captain America (or whatever,) here are some of my favorite parts of the holiday.