Yes, mass effect FTW! Geth are most of that win.
The dialogue, I haven't got very far(little past Palaven) so I can't judge.
And about original aliens, not so much...
Kung-fu Panda and Wall-E are two of my favourite films, but I tend to watch documentaries instead of films.
My aliens almost always arise because I find something I like(occasionally I find two things instead and try to combine them), try to copy it and end up with a rather different creature(an uncanny and indirectly useful ability, it seems), and modify that creature to make it scientifically plausible. Want to read about one of my ideas?