MOONLIGHT (2016)

"At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you gonna be. Can't let nobody make that decision for you."

One fateful day, drug dealer, Juan (Mahershala Ali) is out on the street checking in with one of his sellers.  As he's walking back to his car, he sees a group a young boys chasing a smaller lone boy.  They say some extremely hateful stuff as they run by.  Most people wouldn't think too much of it, but Juan follows the boys and finds the lone boy, Chiron Harris, hiding in an old boarded up crackhouse.  He takes Chiron under his wing.  That doesn't turn out too well, but it does set into motion a safe place for Chiron to go when things get too bad at home or at school.  Which seems to be most of the time.

I don't want to get too much into the story of MOONLIGHT since the story itself and the way the story is presented is one of the many, many great things about this film.  Honestly, the best thing I can recommend, is don't read up on the movie...just watch it.  Put your goddamn phone down and pay attention to the film.  Think about the story, put yourself in Chiron's (and/or any of the other characters) shoes and then, afterward, simply reflect on it.  It's an extremely rewarding experience.  MOONLIGHT is one of those rare films that opens up so many different thoughts in your head.  I cannot identify with Chiron physically, but some of his mental scars really, really hit home with me.  As painful as it was to acknowledge and think about, just knowing that there's a beautifully made movie that reflects some of my own internal issues was very comforting.

Highly recommended. MOONLIGHT is one of the best films that I've seen in a very long time.

PREDATORS (2010)

Twenty years from now people will still be talking about how badass the original PREDATOR was. Twenty weeks from now nobody will remember PREDATORS was even made.

Eight dangerous people from Earth are kidnapped and dropped off in a huge rain forest planet where three Predators hunt them. The End. That's about it. Whatever you're imagining happened during the hunt is probably better than what actually happened. And I'm completely serious about that too because I've read fan fiction online that had a better story than this film.  The first 30 minutes or so were interesting, with the people getting to know each other and feeling out the situation (along with the audience doing the same), but then everything started dragged down slower and slower and characters started dying...until all we're left with is a couple of dull, unlikable bores rolling around in the mud.  Even the Predators are somehow lifeless and not even scary.

I had high hopes for this movie, since I love the original so much, but after awhile I found myself just daydreaming and bored.  By the end the entire thing is so soulless and bland that I couldn't bring myself to give a shit about any of it.

I also found all the little winks to the original film (minigun, "ugly motherfucker", Little Richard song) to be distracting and irritating. How about skip trying to be clever and shoehorn in all of that junk and instead concentrate on making a movie with some actual tension?  Adding depth to the characters, so the audience might actually give a fuck if they die or not, would have been nice also.

Overall, PREDATORS would have be better if it was just a stand alone film not even connected to the Predator Universe at all.  Watchable, but lifeless.

Part 1 – Predator (1987)
Part 2 – Predator 2 (1990)
Part 4 – The Predator (2018)
Prequel - Prey (2022)
Alien crossover 1 - Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Alien crossover 2 - Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007)