Prey deserved a cinematic release. It’s the best Predator movie since the first one, and Midthunder is perfect in it.

That said, I also understand if someone doesn’t dig it as much as I do.

I haven't seen Prey, but I will write: I think Predator 2 is a superior movie to the original Predator. It's greatest advantage is that it spends literal zero time getting to the action, even if the characters don't quite know the stakes.

I disagree, I think the slow build of 1 is essential. At some point movies abandoned tension building so they could get a fast scare/action beat in place as soon as possible. Alien takes forever to get to the facehugger, let alone the big chap, and I think it’s better for that.

Predator 1 is also much better in that it subverts the typical hyper masculine soldier energy and makes them, for lack of a better word, prey. They’re not horny teens or babysitters, they’re an elite squad, and they are helpless.
Prey handles that aspect very similar, with the French trappers and the Braves.

And while it does get to the action faster and feature a much higher Paxton ratio, it also has a ton of Morton Downey Jr screaming to deal with.

Prey was one of my favorite movies from 2022. I'm hoping that one day one of the theaters in town like The Vista or The New Bev does a screening of it. Would love to see it on the big screen with an audience.

One critique I have about Predator (1) is that, from my memory, it is a LOT of "tell, don't show" up until the point at which the "elite squad" gets taken out.... and then it more-or-less becomes the most elite-of-the-elite one-man show of figuring out how to defeat an enemy... and it isn't exactly clear (to me anyway) that Dutch has much in the way of motivation beyond being the alpha.

This is lampshaded by the entire existence of Keyes in Predator 2. In contrast, Danny Glover's Harrigan is fighting (in the entire movie) for his people, the city, and in some sense an abstract "justice". Taking the plot at face value: Harrigan isn't even supposed to be involved in a "Predator" storyline, he's unknowingly stalking the Predator even while the Predator has begun to single him out. Without Predator 2, there wouldn't be franchise about Predator "culture", and I'm pretty sure that one of the motivating "twists" of Prey wouldn't exist in that movie's plot.

Oh totally. And I’m not saying 2 isn’t good, I just think 1 is a better movie.

Where has this discourse been? I guess I should have watched Prey sooner if it was going to generate some opinions!

Fun stuff, gents!

Aliens, Predator, The Thing, and Hellraiser were the film universes I glommed onto when I was about 10-12. I could hold lengthy conversations about any of them, despite the wild fluctuations in quality of the main sources (movies) and the often superior secondary sources (comics and books).

We just finished The English on Amazon Prime. It’s an incredible, gritty, haunting, dark, and violent Western that’s an amazing 8 episodes cut down into 6. It falters a bit near the end, is what I’m saying, more for pacing than any flaws in the acting or plot. Recommended if you like that sort of thing, but frequently hard to watch due to the horrors of the time.

I finished Season 4 of Lower Decks and I agree that it was very good. It's very deep into its own canon now, so anyone who is tempted by it needs to start with Season 1. I preferred how Lower Decks ended its fourth season contrasted to how Strange New Worlds ended its second season.

Each of these has been so good I am tempted to give Prodigy a try. I was this close to trying to get back into The Orville, but after hearing a Brannon Braga interview and being reminded he is involved with the show, I think I'll keep moving past it.

Every now and again, I feel the compulsion to experience The Concert for George again. It's something I wish to God I could have experienced in person, but am so glad it was filmed.

It took place at the Royal Albert Hall on the one year anniversary of George Harrison's passing, and quite honestly may be the single most impressive assemblage of musical talent on one stage. Eric Clapton. Jeff Lynne. Billy Preston. Joe Brown. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Ringo Starr. Paul McCartney. George's son Dhani. All there to perform George's best songs.

I usually skip over the Indian orchestra led by Ravi Shankar that comprises the first half as it's just kinda overlong and not what I'm there for (even if they do bring Jeff Lynne out to sing The Inner Light, which is nice), and jump straight to the Monty Python's Flying Circus "intermission". Yeah, Monty Python sans John Cleese (even twenty years ago, Cleese kinda sucked) also perform a few bits.

If you have any fondness for George Harrison, I advise you to look into this one. It's as beautiful a celebration of a musician's life as you'll ever see, and I cannot stress enough the sheer level of talent on that stage. The show is worth it for McCartney and Clapton dueting on "Something" alone.

Ways back, I got to see Overlord during its theatrical run. It's a movie I had done no research on beyond the plot, which is basically "Allied soldiers vs Nazi zombies." It's pretty great! Taught, harrowing, good effects, and reminded me of The Thing. Especially because I spent most of the movie staring at the lead thinking "Does Kurt Russel know how badly he's being ripped off by this kid?"

Turns out, that kid would eventually become our own John Walker. It's Wyatt Russel, Kurt and Goldie's boy. I had to laugh.

But now! In a feat of beautiful serendipity, we've started watching Monarch: Legacy of Monsters on Apple TV. It timehops a little bit, but it's staring Kurt Russell as a colonel in 2015...and his son Wyatt as the same character in 1959. It's just...chef's kiss.

Project #28: Super Troopers

An easy win. Basically holds up and doesn't involve too much out-dated stuff. Always a delight to watch Brian Cox in this, too.

Should I see the sequel? I never did.

The Hidden Fortress and High and Low, both Akira Kurosawa movies. The Hidden Fortress is one of Kurosawa's weaker movies. In no way is it bad, it's just that Kurosawa made so many great movies that something that's only good has to be ranked lower on the list.

High and Low on the other hand is great. As a police drama it's not the type of movie I would normally gravitate to but was willing to give it a try because of Kurosawa. It's one of those few movies that I would recommend regardless if someone like the genre.

Since my kid is in his third consecutive month of being obsessed with Halloween, I have never felt more like Jack Skellington. So we watched Nightmare Before Christmas today. He loved it, and if it helps transition him a bit from Halloween to Christmas, all the better!