“Alien” premiered with that memorable advertising line in June 1979. Nonetheless, science fiction fans being what they are (see “Star Wars” and “May the Fourth”), the film’s de facto anniversary comes ...

In space, no one can hear you scream, but they can sure hear you scratching your head as you try to make sense of the sprawling “Alien” universe. While Ridley Scott’s 1979 haunted-house-in-the-cosmos ...