Happy birthday to ghosts and to Ellen Ripley

We all know it's just a marketing ploy, but I find it clever that movie studios keep breaking out old films and screening them as "anniversary" events.

Hey, anytime you can see something you like on a big screen instead of at home on your TV, I'm not going to complain.

The next one up is the 35th anniversary of the original "Ghostbusters," which is scheduled to play at the Regal Cinemas theater in Coeur d'Alene, the Riverstone Stadium 14. It will screen at 4 p.m. on Sunday and at 7 p.m. the following Thursday.

But the one I'm looking forward to is the 40th-anniversary showing of Ridley Scott's "Alien," which is scheduled to play at the Riverstone Stadium and at Northtown Mall at 1 p.m. on Oct. 13 and at 7 p.m. on Oct. 15 and 16.

"Alien," which stars Signourney Weaver as one of the toughest woman characters in movie history, is basically an update of the 1958 film "It! The Terror from Beyond Space." But the screenplay by Dan O'Bannon (story credit to Ronald Shusett) is a bit more sophisticated — and, of course, has been in succeeding films taken far into the realm of existential speculation.

At heart, though, the film works best as simple sci-fi horror. Because remember — in space, no one can hear you scream.