Alien (law)

In law, an alien is a person who resides within the borders of a country and is not a national of that country, though definitions and terminology differs to some degree.

Etymology

The term "alien" is derived from the Latin alienus, meaning stranger, foreign.

Categories

Different countries use varying terms for "aliens" including:

Alien (creature in Alien franchise)

The "Alien" (also referred to as a "Xenomorph") is a fictional endoparasitoid extraterrestrial arthropodal species that is the eponymous antagonist of the Alien film series. The species made its debut in the film Alien (1979), and reappeared in the sequels Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), and Alien: Resurrection (1997), as well as the crossover franchise Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007). A similar creature of a slightly different design also briefly appears in the Ridley Scott film Prometheus (2012). In addition, the Alien appears in various literature and video game spin-offs from the franchises.

Unlike many other extraterrestrial races in science fiction, the Aliens lack a technological civilization and are predatory creatures with no higher goals than the propagation of their species and the ultimate destruction of lifeforms that could pose a threat to them. Like wasps or termites, Aliens are eusocial, with a single fertile queen breeding a caste of warriors. The Aliens' biological life cycle involves traumatic implantation of endoparasitoid larvae inside living hosts; these larvae erupt from the host's chest or intestines after a short incubation period, rapidly mature from juvenile into adulthood, and seek out more hosts for implantation.

Alien (franchise)

Alien is a science-fiction horror film franchise centered on a film series that depicts Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her battles with an extraterrestrial lifeform, commonly referred to as "the Alien".

Produced by 20th Century Fox, the series began with Alien (1979), directed by Ridley Scott. It was followed by three sequels, released in 1986, 1992 and 1997. A planned prequel series directed by Scott is in development, beginning with the 2012 release of Prometheus.

The series has led to numerous books, comics and video game spin-offs. Related to the franchise is the two-part Alien vs. Predator series, which combines the continuities of Aliens with the Predators from the Predator film series.

Background

After completion of the film Dark Star (1974), writer Dan O'Bannon thought to develop some of the ideas (especially the theme of "alien hunts crew through a spaceship") and create a science-fiction horror film. Provisionally called Memory, screenwriter Ronald Shusett collaborated with O'Bannon on the project, adding elements from a previous O'Bannon script, Gremlins, which featured gremlins causing mayhem aboard a World War II bomber and wreaking havoc with the crew. The duo finished the script, initially entitled Star Beast, which was later changed to Alien after O'Bannon noticed the number of times the word "alien" occurred in the script. Their script was sold to Brandywine Productions, a company formed by producers Gordon Carroll, David Giler, and Walter Hill that had a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox. The writers imagined a low-budget film, but the success of Star Wars inclined 20th Century Fox to invest millions on the production.

Citizen (film)

Citizen is a 2001 Tamil film directed by Saravana Subbiah and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film features Ajith Kumar in dual lead role as a father and son with Vasundhara Das, Meena and Nagma playing supporting roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Deva, whilst cinematography was handled by Ravi K. Chandran. The film opened to positive reviews in June 2001 and was a commercial success at the box office.

Plot

A district collector, a judge, and a police official are all kidnapped in broad daylight. The kidnapper cocking-a-snook at the establishment, calling himself 'Citizen' and appearing in different disguises to get at his targets. C.B.I. officer Sarojini (Nagma) finally traces the common factor among the kidnapped trio to the fictional hamlet of Athippatti, consisting of fishermen. But to her surprise both the village and its 690 odd inhabitants seemed to have been wiped away from the face of the official gazette maps. The diggings tell a story of a mass massacre that must have taken place about a couple of decades back. 'Citizen' is finally apprehended. He comes out with his story of the gory happenings at Athippatti and how he, as a little boy, had been the sole survivor of the nightmare that gripped the village that day from the map of India, twenty years back. The entire village was wiped off including women and children by the three kidnapped officials because of their greed for power and money. Ajith wants the citizenship of the three government officials revoked including their families as a punishment for their atrocities to the inhabitants of Athippatti.

Citizenfour

Citizenfour is a 2014 documentary film directed by Laura Poitras, concerning Edward Snowden and the NSA spying scandal. The film had its U.S. premiere on October 10, 2014 at the New York Film Festival and its UK premiere on October 17, 2014 at the BFI London Film Festival. The film features Glenn Greenwald and was co-produced by Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, and Dirk Wilutzky, with Steven Soderbergh and others serving as executive producers. Citizenfour won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2015 Oscars.

Synopsis

In January 2013, Laura Poitras, an American documentary film director/producer who had been working for several years on a film about monitoring programs in the US that were the result of the September 11 attacks, receives an encrypted e-mail from a stranger who called himself, "Citizen Four." In it, he offers her inside information about illegal wiretapping practices of the US National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence agencies. In June 2013, accompanied by investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald and The Guardian intelligence reporter Ewen MacAskill, she travels to Hong Kong with her camera for the first meeting with the stranger, who reveals himself as Edward Snowden.