I’ve read a lot of other reviews for Alien vs Predator and the feedback is overwhelming. The traditional critics absolutely hate everything about it. Story. Acting. Even the action. You name it. They hate it. To this, I say “nay, nay”.

There are many versus in the realm of scifi/fantasy but the true fans know nothing come close to the Alien vs Predator crossover. Being a fan of the Dark Horse comics since the beginning, my opinions may be a little skewed. Bottom line, this flick delivers exactly what it promises. Finally, Aliens and Predators clash together on the big screen and hit you with some truly awesome fighting sequences. This movie is “eye candy” in every sense of the words. It is, in fact, the very definition of it.

Now there are problems with it and they can be defined with just one word… humans. In most of the comics, humans are non-existent and when they are around, they’re usually bad ass colonial marines from the Alien series. Instead, we get a bunch of wussy explorers who you’re more than happy to see get killed. This is a Hollywood movie and therefore someone thought it needed a plot. Again, we get something extremely half-assed together. I’m not going to worry about giving up any spoilers because it just doesn’t matter and I need to tell you to prove my point. Towards the end of the movie, a Predator actually takes the last human (who you knew from the start was gonna be the only survivor) under his wing and they have to work together to escape. Umm, no. Just plain wrong. If the writers and director actually did their homework and read any of the comics, they’d know that’s about the lamest thing ever. Predators hunt anything and everything that aren’t other Predators. Swing and miss on that one guys.

Even with with complaints, I don’t know how you can’t get excited when you hear the hissing of the Aliens or the crackling voice of the Predators. Nothing can explain the rush you get when the two look at each other for the first time and you know, it’s so on! You know what? Nevermind the terrible acting and a plot that shows exactly how many rewrites it’s gone through. Fans like myself have been waiting years for this. People! Do you see what I see? There are Aliens and there are Predators and they’re on the big screen. They are kicking the shit out of each other and that is just plain cool! ‘Nuff said.

I had the first half of my motorcycle courses this weekend and considering I had never been on a bike before, I did pretty damn good. Friday night was all classroom stuff. We went over different classes of bikes, rider protection, accident prevention, and risk management skills. Very good stuff. There were people in the class who had been riding for years and even they were impressed with what they were learning. All day Saturday was on the range. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was nervous. They basically threw us on the bikes and we were off doing different exercises all day long. Basic controls like accelerating, braking, and turning. We also did a bunch of clutch control exercises. Then towards the end they showed us a technique called counter-steering. That’s basically when you lean into turn and steer the opposite way you want to go. Scary at first, but you soon see how effective it is and how quickly you can negotiate turns with it. We basically rode for 5 hours. Might sound like a long time, but it was so fun that it flew by so fast. Next Friday is classroom time again. We’re suppose to have a 50 question multiple choice test that we have to pass and then Saturday is all range again. After that, you have a motorcycle license.

Oh, I forgot. Joe Rogan was taking the class with us. You know. The guy from The Man Show and Fear Factor. It was his first time too. He was either there with a bunch of friends or contestants of Fear Factor learning to ride. We were all riding in a line and he was behind me on the last exercise of the day. I heard a crash and then a “shit” followed by an “uh oh”. He dumped the bike and broke the clutch handle clean off. That was the end of that bike’s day.

Anyway, Friday can’t come soon enough for me.

Michael Mann has got to be one of the coolest directors of our time. Ali was amazing, The Insider was extraordinary, and Heat has to fall into my top ten list of the greatest movies ever made. Although each of those movies are very much different, they do have one recurring trait… brilliantly acted performances. Mann simply has a knack of taking actors and directing them in completely believable roles and there is no exception to this in his newest flick, Collateral. I’m too tired right now to do a decent review, but just know the following. Collateral is shot beautifully, written intelligently, acted perfectly. Jamie Foxx is well on his way to being a first rate drama actor and (although it may be hard for some people to believe) Tom Cruise masterfully plays a very very bad man. Two big thumbs up for this one.

Wanna see the Batmobile in action before everyone else does? Check this link out. Better do it quick because I don’t see it being around for long. I had doubts about it when I first saw the pictures, but seeing it roll around is definitely making me a believer.

I just got back from watching Ju-On and let me tell you right now, I won’t be sleeping this night or any other night anytime soon. This thing was scary scary. I haven’t felt like this when watching a movie since The Ring and that makes a lot of sense too. The Ring was the American remake of Ringu and the creators of Ringu made Ju-On. Two big thumbs up for this one. It’s really gonna hang with me. Anyway, check out the trailer. Even that thing by itself is pretty terrifying.

It’s videos like this that make me not want to get on a bike. Did I mention I’m taking my classes on Friday the 13th?

The Car Connection: “‘Why is the Bush administration giving a $100,000 tax deduction to the biggest gas guzzlers on the road, and letting the $1500 tax deduction for fuel-efficient hybrid cars phase out?’ said Brendan Bell, a global warming and energy expert with the Sierra Club’s Global Warming program. ‘The Bush administration is telling car-buyers that if they choose the vehicles that add the most to the country’s oil dependence, taxpayers will pick up the tab.'”

This was pretty interesting to watch.

Thank god it’s Friday. You know what that means? The Village baby. I’ve seen the reviews and they haven’t been that great, but screw them. It’s gonna be scary and I’m gonna love it. So my car was broken into again. This would be the second time and this time they broke the window. Nothing was taken, though, because there’s simply nothing of value in the damn car. Now I’m just stuck with a broken window on the passenger’s side. Guess what? It’s not getting fixed because that car deserves no more money being poured into it. It’s definitely making me want to get on a motorcycle a lot more, though. My classes for it start August 13th and are spread out over two weeks. That’s right. I start Friday the 13th. Bad sign? Let’s hope not. Hey look. It’s time to go home.

MacCentral: “Followers of American politics and others may be interested in some free content posted to the iTunes Music Store this week culled from speeches given at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Boston, Mass.”

A day late on this news, but I think it’s worth posting out. I absolutely love being able to hear Clinton’s speech from Monday again. It was strong and uplifting. Clinton set the bar so high and so quick that I felt no other speaker came even remotely close to provoking the energy he created. Anyway, go download your free speeches.