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Predators, a review by KinkyCyborg

Predators



Title:Predators
Year: 2010
Director: Nimrod Antal
Rating: R
Length: 107 Min.
Video: Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Adrien Brody
Topher Grace
Alice Braga
Walton Goggins
Oleg Taktarov

Plot:Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Featurettes
Closed Captioned


I was entertained by great action as one comes to expect from the Predator franchise but really it's just more of the same. I get it already... the Predators love the thrill of the hunt and are always raising the bar in terms of the skills of their prey but from a race of highly skilled, highly intelligent beings with sensational technology there has to be some other story to explore there. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking for a Predator love story but there has to be some other yarn to spin besides the same old trophy hunting plot.

I have a hard time envisioning Adrien Brody as a badass. I can never quite shake the image of him playing a truly pathetic sap in The Pianist. They should have went with a different lead there. Also I would have enjoyed a more prolonged battle between the Predator & The Yakuza. It was over too fast and was a little too dark to really enjoy.

Overall still quite entertaining although I believe a little re-invention is required in this franchise.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2011 on September 8th, 2011)

Amadeus, a review by Rich

Musical voyage through the Czech Republic...



Title: Amadeus

Runtime:160
Certificate:PG
Year:1984
Genres:Drama, Music

Plot:My Review:
While the story is amazing (and many parts are supposedly true), this is a must own film purely on the superb performance of Tom Hulce as Mozart. Whatever happened to him after this? Get past the American accents and the movie is a joy to watch, probably the best music epic I have seen. Highly recommend it


(From Around the World in 80 DVD's on January 20th, 2008)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon, a review by goodguy

2x13 Earthlings Welcome Here
Synopsis: At a conference on UFOs, Sarah gets a clue that puts her on the trail of the three dots.  Riley has second thoughts about her mission.
My Rating:

And thus begins Sarah's quest into the desert. Her first guide is a woman who was a man, whose transformation was caused by circumstances out of his control, but who embraced them to free himself. His transformation is both a mirror and a question to Sarah. Beautifully done. And even if a little too on the nose, I really liked the small flashes of Waitress Sarah and Warrior Sarah.

But what I loved most about this episode was Sarah driving towards the desert warehouse while listening to Eileen/Alan's recording. Wonderfully shot (the sprinklers hitting the car window, just one example), with an excellent score, vaguely foreboding something inevitable, and with the slightly strange tone of Eileen's voice, culminating in that chuckled "I'm a waitress" as Sarah packs the explosives. That was breathtaking.

As Achim noted, the back-story of Riley and Jesse was handled almost en passant. A tunnel scene, a hotel room scene, a car scene - that's it. Elliptical story telling at its finest, fleshing out the characters and their relation with a few words and gestures. And now here she is, out of her depth. Jesse slaps her around, Cameron is on to her, paradise doesn't look so bright anymore.

Ellison didn't sleep after Weaver showed him the monster in the basement. But he still carries on, talks to John Henry about God's creation and human life being sacred. Yet what's left behind on Sarah's path seems to be only death.

"Checkmate. I win. Would you like to play again?" That's the Terminator plot in a nutshell.

So the episode ends with two major characters bleeding to death - and an UFO? Those who watched the original airing had to wait two months for the next episode. Bummer.


(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon on February 18th, 2010)