Somehow February became “Predator” month in our home. The boys have never seen any of them, but the trailer for the newest one (Predator: Badlands) intrigued them. When we looked up the parent guide and saw that it was rated TV-13, we decided to start with that one. Most of the others are rated R and all have a lot of violence. But we rationalized it wasn’t any worse than the Jurassic Park movies. That’s how we choose whether or not movies are appropriate for our boys now. You’ll notice we skipped Predator 2. It has nudity and sex scenes for which we have a hard line NOPE when it comes to our boys. We also watched several other movies and some new seasons on some favorite shows.
1.Predator. This first one is the one we all know. It’s Arnold Schwarzenegger in all of his steroid muscle glory. The acting is terrible and being an 80’s movie–the effects are lacking. But it’s still one of the best ones in my opinion. Rated R.
2. Alien vs. Predator. I don’t like the aliens. In fact I hate the aliens. If it was just about the predators, I would be fine. But there are always WAY too many aliens in the alien movies. The other thing to note about any of the Predator and Alien movies is to not fall in love with any of the characters. Most will die some sort of gruesome death at some point. I did like that one of the Predators teams up with a human at one point to defeat the aliens. Rated R.
3. Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. As much as I hate the aliens, I really hated this one. They pushed boundaries of who was allowed to die and took it WAY too far. We all were disturbed by this one and quite honestly should have stopped watching. It became more of a horror movie, and I didn’t care for it at all. Also, more Predators were needed to fight the quickly multiplying aliens. There was only one and he was getting his butt kicked most of the movie. Rated R.
4.Predators. This one has an interesting story line. Humans with specific skill sets are abducted and dropped on an alien planet where they are systematically hunted by the Predators. It’s very intense and has a lot of good twists and turns. Rated R.
5. The Predator. I liked this one. Even though there was a lot of destruction, and mayhem–there was a lot more story to it. There’s a young autistic boy whose father is a military sniper. His father encounters the Predator while on a mission and mails some of the alien tech to his home and his son figures out how to use it. Now a super evolved Predator is hunting them both down. It is probably my second favorite of all of them. Rated R.
6. Prey. This one takes place in the 1700’s and revolves around a Comanche tribe. When a Predator lands and is hunting down and systematically killing the young Comanche warriors, a young woman in the tribe proves that she is good at hunting too. I really liked it. It’s rated R.
7. Predator: Badlands. This one is my favorite. Rather than it just being a mindless bloodbath of killing, there’s a really good story line that shows the “why” of the Predator ways and some characters that offer great comic relief. It’s Rated PG-13.
8.Frankenstein. This is a new spin on the Frankenstein story and stars Oscar Isaac (from Star Wars) playing Dr. Frankenstein who builds the monster. Just Super Rockstar and I watched this one. It was okay, but kind of boring–too much story and not enough action. Rated R.
9. Mercy. When we saw the trailer for this movie, it looked kind of “meh”. The idea of watching the main character (played by Chris Pratt) in a chair talking to AI didn’t seem all that thrilling. But it is really good. He’s a detective that is accused of murdering his wife and has only 90 minutes to prove his innocence to an AI judge or face immediate execution. Morgan was at work, but Grayson watched this one with us and we all liked it. Rated PG-13.
10. The Lincoln Lawyer–Season 4. I love this show series so much. Last season ended with Micky being pulled over and a body found in the trunk of his car. This season, he is having to defend himself from life in prison for the murder of the body found. I love all the characters, and we enjoyed this season a lot. Rated TV-MA.
11. A Man on the Inside–Season 2. Ted Danson plays Charles, a retired widower who has found a new career as a PI. He is fantastic. This season he has obtained his PI license and is undercover on a college campus. Rated TV-14.
12. Agatha Christi’s Seven Dials. What a fantastic find for a TV series for Super Rockstar and me. There’s only 3 episodes, but so very good. It’s a great Agatha Christi story based in the 1920’s where a murder takes place in a wealthy family’s home. We really enjoyed this. Rated TV-14.
13. Thursday Murder Club. I loved, loved, loved this movie. I had no idea that there is a book series and I plan to read them as soon as possible. Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kinglsey, and so many other great actors play retirees who enjoy taking on cold cases and trying to solve them. But they stumble across a current murder that is connected to the cold case they are working on. It’s such a fun, lighthearted, intriguing movie. I highly recommend it. Rated PG-13.
14. The Night Agent–Season 3. If I’m being completely honest, this isn’t my favorite TV series we watch. The first season was pretty decent, but 2 & 3 are “meh” at best. I’m not a huge fan of the actor that plays the main character (Gabriel Basso). He just seems kind of milk toast to me. It’s ok, and worth watching –especially if you’re experiencing “show hole”. Rated TV-MA.
That was all for February. I can’t wait to share with you all that we’ve enjoyed in March–so many good ones. In the meantime, I would love to hear about what you are watching–I’m always looking for new ideas.