Predator: Badlands and Sinners

Two movies with the unexpected (because I don't watch trailers?)

Predator: Badlands

This predator movie follows a young predator on his first hunt, and somehow makes the ugly alien a very likable and funny guy in the process! While the effects are good and the story is ok, the plot seems to intentionally find every trope from previous Predator and Alien movies, with a dash of Star Wars for the fun nostalgia factor I guess? This definitely isn't a masterpiece but its a pretty decent action flick that is an easy watch. Sure, you need to read subtitles to understand the protagonist but he's not a very wordy guy so its all good. Thumbs up!

Sinners

Twin gangsters (played by Michael B. Jordan) try start up a juke joint for their hometown community of blacks, using money they stole from mobsters to buy up property from the K-K-Klansmen. To this end they also rope in their cousin who is a real good musician, so good that he can summon forth spirits from the past and future but this attracts bloodthirsty and equally musical vampires to the opening night. Does that not sound like the craziest summary ever? It does feel like it takes a super long time to setup the characters which isn't great, and when the action bits finally get around they are over far too quickly. It's billed as a horror, but its actually just boring at the start and tripping balls crazy towards the end. Not recommended.

Prey (2022 movie) and Alice in Borderland (2 Seasons)

Killing for sport.

Prey

Naru (Amber Midthunder) wants to prove to her tribe that she can be a huntress but is constantly overshadowed by her skilled brother. When a Predator on safari arrives from space, the hunters quickly become the hunted. While it is a simple story it is very well done and comes with decent action sequences to boot. Recommended!

Alice in Borderland

A strange event sends people into an alternate version of Tokyo where they must participate in cruel and deadly games to survive while collecting a deck of playing cards. This is a really odd two season show, but it is also really good with multiple excellent characters, great music, and good sets and cinematography. It also has loads of death and gore so be warned! If you are ok with that (or liked Squid Game) then this is definitely one you should watch.

Alien vs Predator (2004)

[Post number twelve of the Blaugust Challenge!]

Having detected a strange heat signature beneath an icy whaling station, Weyland Corp begins recruiting a bunch of red shirts to go down and discover an ancient temple that serves as a proving ground for extra terrestrial beings who just so happen to be part of pretty popular franchises. Said aliens are done fantastically well and through clever writing you even get to distinguish a few "champion" class ones. Ok, maybe just one or two. There's a lot of killing, a few explosions, and a ton of work done on the special effects which really make the movie shine.

Also whoever thought up of how to put a Pepsi sponsor in an otherwise remote location is genius. Acting wise everyone is decent enough (even the animatronics) but for the humans you don't really get attached to them before they get squished between the rock and the hard place. They do try their best but essentially they are second fiddle to the monstrosities running about, and that actually works just fine given that people would be expecting the focus to be what the title suggests.

We'll be OK... right?

Overall I score it a pretty decent and suitably entertaining three and a half acid blood splats out of five, and would recommend it to any looking for a light on the brain, action flick. 

Blaugust Bonus: I once went into the horror section of a museum (somewhere in San Francisco I think) with my brothers and at one part you could either go up a bridge to a slanted and odd looking house above some greenish water or go around safely on the side. Being afraid of the water I opted to circle around while my brothers went into the house and since I was watching them while walking along I was caught completely by surprise when a life sized alien sprung out from the wall beside me complete with dripping saliva from its mouth and mouth within a mouth. That scared the heck outta me!