lysergic-acid

Predator (1987) was the violent birth cry of one of the greatest sci-fi franchises of all time. Yautjas are such an iconic creature design, and through all of the films and comics, a rich and compelling lore has been spun around this mysterious race of alien hunters and their rather violent dealings with humanity.

With the bar set so high by the first film, not all of the follow-up films have met audience expectations. Predators (2010) was the only sequel that truly matched the quality of the original, but it did so in many ways by emulating it (albeit with added twists likely inspired by the comics).

Prey is a much greater departure from the formula of special forces soldiers battling Yautjas in a sweltering jungle. Instead, we finally get a film that dives into the long history between humans & Predators previously only alluded to by stone carvings and a mysterious war trophy.

Amber Midthunder and her castmates do a bang-up job of bringing the 1719 Great Plains and Comanche culture to life. As we're introduced to the cocksure young warriors and their Plains Indian lifestyle, we're also treated to gorgeous shots of an expansive, pristine wilderness. The first act of Prey feels almost like a back-to-nature adventure film but for the building sense of dread as we catch glimpses of the Feral in the peripheries, waiting to pounce.

Of course that's the main attraction of the movie. The Feral is yet another variant of the Yautja we've never seen before. And his unique armor and weapon designs are... magnificent. They're so fitting of both his name and the setting, and his unique weaponry on top of just top-notch choreography, editing and VFX makes the fight scenes in this film far more thrilling than any previous installment.

If previous films were like Iron-Man duking it out with the Punisher, this film was like Deadpool vs Spider-Man. Those young Comanche warriors fight like people who grew up stalking prey and relying daily on exceptional agility, hand-eye coordination and lightning fast reflexes. Similarly, whilst the Feral can still lift a full-grown Grizzly over his head, he's built more like a quarterback than an offensive lineman.

Yeah, some will complain about the lack of a shoulder cannon; but, honestly, who cares? Yautjas hunt to continually evolve their tactics and technology. Wouldn't be much point if every Predator for centuries just used the exact same weapons, would it? The Feral has clearly adapted to his particularly primal existence. And his skull helmet is metal as all hell.

Anyway, I'm glad to see a Predator film channel the whimsical creativity of the comics and execute the vision so artfully in every department. So many other Predator films have had brilliant concepts let down by poor casting or sloppy VFX or bad designs (okay I don't love the Feral's elongated face neanderthal forehead, but he wears a helmet for most the film). Prey has finally brought the franchise back to form, introduced us to the badass Naru, and opened a new and exciting direction for future films to explore.

I honestly cannot wait for what else Trachtenberg has in store for us. LFG!

The BBC typically produces pretty high quality documentaries. Unlike Discovery/History Channel, they tend to be more informational, better researched and less sensational.

Waco: Madman or Messiah starts off alright, providing well-corroborated background on the Branch Davidians and David Koresh. However, towards the end of part 1, things start going downhill. It starts with cheesy graphics and music to play up the Seven Seals nonsense that Koresh spouted. But what's really unforgiveable is how, in part 2, they turn a well-documented and heavily investigated event into a subjective, he-said/she-said, "pick your own facts" story.

Air time in part 2 is heavily skewed towards the Branch Davidians and their sympathizers who make multiple false claims. They do also interview a negotiator and a member of the tactical team. However, the false claims made by the Branch Davidians are never addressed, even on key facts like whether the ATF went in guns blazing and would have killed all the women and children if the Branch Davidians hadn't "defended themselves" as the Branch Davidians claim or if the Branch Davidians had shot the ATF first, causing them to return fire as they rescued their injured colleagues (several of whom died).

This is a really well studied and heavily litigated incident. So there would have been tons of evidence based on ballistics, the footage from numerous TV crews, police reports and interviews, etc. But instead of actually figuring out what happened, the BBC chose to leave out all the direct evidence, giving each side equal weight in the program.

They don't even mention the fact that the Brand Davidians started the fire (arson investigators found that the fire started simultaneously in three separate parts of the building, and arson detection dogs alerted to the presence of chemical accelerants at each of these locations). Contemporaneous news reports didn't have access to these facts, but decades later the BBC did and simply chose to conceal it to make their documentary more open-ended.

This whitewashing of the Branch Davidians as harmless religious eccentrics who were innocent victims of jackbooted government thugs is extremely dangerous. The documentary makers know full well how dangerous this is given that they showed footage of Timothy McVeigh, the KKK and other far-right anti-government crazies rallying in support of the Branch Davidians during the siege. But they still chose to promulgate the surviving Branch Davidians' false narrative.

I was really turned off from this movie when I saw the screencaps of Alita's giant-ass eyes, but they don't feel as distracting in the film after the first few minutes. What surprised me (before I knew who the director and producer were) was that the film actually flowed really well and had a great story with lots of heart and some very emotional scenes.

That said, there were a few things that bugged me about the film-namely, some awkward/cheesy scenes in a few places that didn't quite match up to the rest of the film, Nova's character design (Ed Norton looks really bad with that hair and outfit, though I'm told that it's very true to the source material), and the other big-eyed characters aside from Alita all look extremely cartoonish and unrealistic (luckily these background characters only ever show up in very brief flashbacks).

But the rest of the film is such an entertaining and enthralling experience that the few flaws are very easy to overlook.