Aliens Vs Predator - Requiem

It was kind of ordinary. I wasn't bored, but neither was I thrilled, amazed, surprised, shocked, delighted... It's not a bad film, but neither is it remarkable. The comments that I've heard that said it was a "hits of the Aliens, and Predator, series" was accurate.

The only thing that stood out to me was its use of violence towards women, which I thought was pretty obvious and dreadful. ( MAJOR SPOILERS regarding this aspect and the some stuff from the end... read on only if you've seen it or don't care... )

There are times when I see a film and I hear women talking about the violence against women within that movie, and I think they've been a bit one-eyed - seeing only what they are looking to see, separate from the context of the moments within the film itself. And there are times when I think they are bang-on, that in modern cinema, there should be a higher standard of writing. I'm suprised that I haven't heard a lot more about AVPR.

There is an arguement that AVPR is going out to shock, and that's why it has some of these scenes in it. It breaks many of the cinema 'rules', something I'm always in favour of when handled well, but when it does these things, they're... not interesting. Every shock is telegraphed so far in advance that it has no real impact.

While I'm a fan of both the original franchises, and love many of the Aliens Vs Predator comics, if I ever decide to have AVP and AVPR in my collection, it will be when I record them off TV. And even then I'm not sure I could be bothered.

Things New Parents Should Know # 12 - Standards

Many people have standards - there are minimum levels of behaviour, cleanliness, etc., and levels below which they will not descend.

I have some standards. No stop laughing. No really, stop it! I do! I won't wear tracksuit pants outside the house. Hell, I won't even wear them to go out and check the mail. I don't care if others do, but it's just not for me. I'd rather go out in my underwear, or dressing gown... and have done. Just today as Sharon backed the car out of the driveway, I stood on the bonnet in my dressing gown, waving to people.

I would never do that in trackie dacks.

You may start off changing your child's clothing every time they vomit on it, but there will soon come a time when you simply say, "There's not much," and leave it.