@iiiiiii was over and we wanted to start the movie season right with something we knew would be great so we rewatched They Live (1988). It's definitely possible that the last time I saw this was ~5 years ago when we double featured it with Videodrome (1983).
God does this movie rules. 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper can act well enough to carry his role and Keith David is more-than-capable of doing a lot of the heavy lifting. I don't know if I've ever noticed this before but Piper is immediately stronger at carrying his lines once he's in a fight scene. I'm not sure if the dialogue itself is more in his wheelhouse or if he's just more comfortable acting from that position.
I've always felt like this soundtrack might be my favourite Carpenter soundtrack. It's basically one leitmotif but: that motif is good, it sometimes throws some great saxaphone over top, and it exeriments around that motif. It's also striking how through most of the movie, it moves between that motif and silence. The music changes once they reach the final location but before that it puts the theme in where it can and stays out of the way elsewhere. The famous fight scene feels so much more impactful for being silent.
I'm not saying anything new here, this movie has already gotten it's positive critical evaluation, but I feel like this movie is a good example of how a movie can be explicit in its themes but still be full of craft.
