Predator

I know, I know. The Predator hit theaters last Friday, I planned around it and that review will get here on Friday. More details tomorrow.

Predator is such an interesting case, I mean it's an action movie first yes, but the fact it juggles action, suspense, with a touch of sci-fi and horror and does it really, really well must be commended because not many movies can do that. So our story introduces us to a crack team of commandos sent to a Central America jungle to rescue hostages but soon discover they are being stalked and hunted by a mysterious figure. I don't think I need to divulge more, because Predator is such a well known and popular film so even if you haven't seen it you probably know a bit about it. And to think though Predator isn't exactly a huge film franchise, the fanbase is strong and has been slowly growing ever since 1987 with no doubt a huge boom in the 90s due to the Alien Vs. Predator franchise that kicked off and has become possibly more popular than either series, and all that came from a well crafted yet humble action/sci-fi film. It's such a good and engaging story, regardless of how many times you've seen it, the enjoyment factor never dwindles but why exactly? Is it the characters and the actors who potrayed them, or perhaps it's just good suspense with a interesting story and great potential for future stories? I can't fully explain how Predator became such a cult film series but I'm glad nevertheless that it's around. I don't think I really need to talk characters cause well, come on. Friggin' Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jesse 'The Body' Ventura, and good ol' Bill Duke are so easily recognizable and are great in just about anything! The Predator itself is such a unique design and gave so much information about itself without really revealing anything about it's culture or insight and I actually really like that. There is a lot of mystery in this movie and it works very well. The soundtrack though comprising very few tracks does a great service to the movie and really amps that adrenaline and uneasiness throughout. I'm very very happy I finally get a chance to go through the Predator movies, and I find it kinda funny how Shane Black one of the actors from this movie is directing the brand new one that just came out, I look forward to seeing what he brought to the table. But we got Predator 2 before we hit that, so we'll see if it outdoes the first or merely give us another good movie.

Die Hard

One of my favorite Christmas movies ever!

Die Hard one of the best action movies ever created starring Bruce Willis and the always awesome Alan Rickman. So the plot of Die Hard follows John McClane who is meeting with his divorced wife at a high rise tower for a buisness party before a group of terrorists break in, take hostages, and try to break into the vault in the basement to gain $640 million dollars, so John has to take on all the well armed, well trained terrorists while also battling the city police to prevent the hostages from being killed. It's a great plot, with awesome characters, spectacular action, and good sparing use of comedy. I think people need to see this movie just for Alan Rickman as the ruthless Hans Gruber, he friggin' slays it in this movie. You want a great villain, Alan Rickman was your man and this movie is proof of it. Bruce Willis really came into his own in the action genre after this, but damn guys can you power down the sequel machine? I have not seen one single movie after the first one. Why? Because, 1. This is a damn near impossible movie to top, 2. There are FAR too many sequels, I think we are up to about number 5 by now? Ridiculous. 3. I got maybe, 15 minutes into Die Hard 2 and I tapped out. You can't beat the original. Case closed. But hey, we got this movie so really doesn't matter. Because this is a movie worth your time around the holidays. But you may be saying, "But Dude, this doesn't have anything to do with Santa, Jesus, the Christmas spirit, or spending the holidays with your loved ones." and yes, you are correct. Does it diminish the movie though? Not at all, it has a Christmas feeling to it all even though there is no snow (It takes place in Los Angeles.), there are decorations, Christmas music playing, a few seasonal clothing pieces spread around, the most notable being the machine gun sweater (Which I wouldn't mind owning one day.), it just works. The damn movie ends on the song Let It Snow! What action movie ends on Let It Snow? This one, and I think maybe the second one. Why? I don't know, don't even think it took place at Christmas time. But getting back to the film at hand. I know I'm not alone in the fact that this is a Christmas movie, and quite honestly those types of people are awesome. I can harp on this movie all day, it is just that glorious. And if I'm being truthfully honest, this might be my favorite action movie of all time. It never gets old, I love the dialogue scenes with Alan Rickman, I love the shootouts and the unbelievable stuntwork, I love the comedy sprinkled in, and it has the best use of Ode To Joy ever put to celluloid. Watch it, have fun with it, give it a shot, and see a whole different kind of Christmas movie.