An Academy Tribute to Richard Donner

It was a go-go week with the opening of Wonder Woman, Austin for Russellmania II, back to Los Angeles for the premiere of Van Damme's Kill'em All then the next night it was off to Beverly Hills to the Academy theater on Wilshire for an amazing night, a tribute to Richard Donner! Known to his friends as Dick, Donner is one of the most influential and successful directors in history. From The Omen to Superman to Scrooged to The Goonies to Lethal Weapon, his work is filled with heart, humor and of course, terrific action! Truly unsung in the age of directors as brands or corporations unto themselves, like Steven Spielberg or Christopher Nolan, Donner worked every job in the film business before become a force in the 80's and 90's. His films set the mold and broke box office records, the former head of Warner Brothers joked that the Lethal Weapon films were huge hits but he had to give Donner a Range Rover to keep making them.

Things kicked off with two former Donner or wife Lauren Shuler employees turned DC and Marvel chiefs Geoff Johns and Kevin Fiege. The two paid tribute to the guy and gal who gave them their first unpaid then part time then full time jobs in the business and how Superman: The Movie will always be the gold standard for comic book adaptations. Film clips followed by heartfelt and hilarious anecdotes flowed through the evening as actors joked about Donner's big booming voice but even bigger heart. Chunk from The Goonies actor Jeff Cohen told of the years long tale of trying to transition out of acting and when it was time for college, asked for a letter of recommendation and instead got his tuition paid for by the generous couple. Corey Feldman was a last minute addition and shared that Dick Donner paid for his rehab and he's been sober ever since.

The highlight though was towards the end when Lethal Weapon stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover took the podium and riffed effortlessly and hilariously off each other for nearly 10 minutes. Joking that Donner would tell Gibson to act better in dramatic scenes or that the actors would both get Oscars for Lethal Weapon 4 when it was really paying for the Donner's third vacation home. There needs to be a Lethal Weapon 5 or at least a sitcom for these guys, pronto! Co-star Rene Russo joined them and sang Donner's praises and then the man himself joined them on stage. Donner was funny but mostly flabbergasted at the turnout and kind praise. In the lobby were posters, slates, production displays and more on display. Truly a great night to one of my favorite directors. I was an intern there when I first moved to LA and got to chat with the down to earth Donner whenever he came in as he asked me about my workout habits as he was working with a trainer several times a week (before saying "yeah? fuck you"), my immigrant parents and calling me "kid" or "Rocky".

Match Up Monday: Die Hard VS Lethal Weapon

Last night the Egyptian Theatre continued their awesome line up of holiday titles. So far you've run the gamut of classics new and old like It's a Wonderful Life, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Scrooged and White Christmas. But Sunday was for action. Particularly, awesome 80's action with 1988's Die Hard and Lethal Weapon from 1987. I'd never seen either one on the big screen and was excited to soak in two Christmas set staples. Last week I saw some attention whore internet guy trying to act like he was strange or an early adopter/inspiration to consider Die Hard as a Christmas movie. Uh, it's set at Christmas. At a Christmas party. There's Christmas decorations. Christmas music. There's frigging Christmas themed tape used to hide a gun complete with jingling bell sound effects to remind you it's Christmas. What exactly doesn't make the film a Christmas one? Some people just can't get enough of themselves I guess...

Anyways, 20th Century Fox's Die Hard is a classic of film and the genre. John McTiernan directs a polished and creative blend of big action and high drama. Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza's script loosely based on Roderick Thorp's novel is a textbook example of storytelling. You have set ups and payoffs, interesting characters, human drama, wise cracks and funny jokes along with inventive and exciting action sequences that all take place in only a few locations. Every character is memorable from limo driver Argyle (De'voreaux White) to coke snorting douchebag Ellis (Hart Bochner) and Al Leong's candy bar grubbing baddie. It was fun to see Fox Plaza and Century City from the 80's as The Ralph's and McDonald's are still around. No more .74 gas though...Bruce Willis' put upon John McClane has to overcome Alan Rickman's slick group of mostly long haired, European terrorists all while dealing with a pending divorce and running around with no shoes. The digital print looked great and besides a few hairstyles, the film plays pretty timelessly. The film had a tumultuous road to the big screen but proved to be a big hit, grossing $137 million bucks worldwide and leading to two solid sequels and two not so great ones over 25 years and $1.4 billion in global receipts. Oh and everybody says "pal" a lot.

A year before, Warner Brothers redefined the buddy flick with Lethal Weapon, Richard Donner's tale of mismatched cops. Danny Glover plays Roger Murtaugh, a 50 year old ready to retire while Mel Gibson is Martin Riggs, a suicidal cop on the ragged edge. While Rickman's Hans Gruber was after $600 million bucks, Riggs and Murtaugh come up against the remnants of a Vietnam War outfit selling heroin dubbed Shadow Company, lead by The General (Mitchell Ryan) and his out there to Pluto mercenary henchman Mr. Joshua (Gary Busey). Shane Black's explosively dark script along with Donner's workman expertise combines family, loss, intense action, stunts, jokes, drugs and near suicide in a cohesive and endlessly entertaining package. The final chase sequence takes place on Hollywood Boulevard right next to the theatre where we were watching. Musso and Frank's was the only marquee I recognized as still standing. Whereas Die Hard seemed timeless with it's gorgeous print, classical music and polished sheen, Lethal felt very much of it's time. From wild hair and outrageous fishnet outfits, you get homophobia, Apartheid and mismatched partner banter and a really bad 80's song over the credits on a beat up, 30 year old print. Gibson's angry-crazy acting and waking up with a cigarette and beer screams 80's but that's because the flick has been ripped off so much. Michael Kamen's scored both films with DH going atmospheric and heightening the shock value while his Eric Clapton assisted guitar and saxophone riffs in LW are nearly laughably awesome 3 decades later. Over here we get "son of a bitch" stated from nearly every cast member.

The films share much of the same DNA as Joel Silver co-produced both, Michael Kamen composed, both were shot in Los Angeles and familiar faces like Mary Ellen Trainor, Grand L. Bush and Al Leong appear. And you could smoke indoors back then. They both defined the action genre for contained settings with Die Hard launching a plethora of imitators (on a bus in Speed, by boat in Under Siege) while the buddy picture would never be the same after Lethal Weapon. Weapon would be a top 10 grosser for the year with a $120 million dollar take worldwide and kick starting three sequels over 11 years for a $955 million global haul. Die Hard keeps on ticking with new creatives (4 directors in 5 movies) involved and a proposed 6th installment in the works while Lethal Weapon lies dormant after a falling out between producer Silver and now retired series director Donner. Allegedly original writer Black wrote a 5th installment while Warner Brothers was keen to revive the franchise with younger actors but Gibson refused to participate before running into personal woes.

Winner: It's a tie! Die Hard is a masterful piece of filmmaking with a truly unique story while Lethal Weapon is an era time capsule that is arguably more entertaining. Die Hard is one of those movies you watch once in a while and marvel at its near prestige accomplishments but Lethal Weapon is the crowd pleaser you view regularly.

Yippie-ki-yay mother f*cker and go spit. Have a Merry Christmas while you're at it, pal.

What the Chuck?! Walker, Texas Ranger VS The Black Dragons

Speaking of TV reunions, a random episode of Walker, Texas Ranger was Chuck full of them this week. I'm always surprised when people don't know Chuck Norris was a movie star before becoming a TV staple and internet hero.  As a Karate Man I was always aware of Norris' show Walker, Texas Ranger but never really watched it regularly while it was on.  I knew it was popular, had 2 spin offs and ran for a solid 8 years.  Today, reruns are on a couple different channels and I'm catching up.  While people claim this is the golden age of television, all I see are a bunch of sad sack looking mother f*ckers, talking heads and story lines that should only take up 1 episode stretched out to 10 and still not resolving jack sh*t.  In 5 minutes of one episode of Walker there were Hummers, shootouts, trucks chasing a plane, a fight inside the plane, a guy thrown out of the plane with no parachute, Walker rescuing the guy in midair and then landing with a smile and bro-hug.  No wonder I find much of today's television boooooring.

Black Dragons, episode 18 of 2000's final season (weird, I was just talking about episode 18 from The Flash...), is the tale of P.K. Song (Street Fighter & American Dragons' Byron Mann), a vicious heroin dealer who threatens any that would oppose him and assaults Ranger Francis Gage (Judson Mills) when he tries to intervene in a heated argument.  Mann is a solid actor with quiet charisma and a scary villainous side honed from playing a ruthless and violent assassin in Dragons and as a violent and ruthless gangster in the Chow Yun-Fat/Mark Wahlberg flick The Corrupter.  Turns out P.K.'s father Edward is a diplomat (mutha fudging Mako! View In Peace) so the bad guy has immunity.  Mako actually played a completely different role 3 years earlier on the show and co-starred opposite Norris in 1981's An Eye For An Eye and 1992's SIDEKICKS!  We learn that P.K. is working for The Black Dragons, a hardcore sect of the Chinese Triad who set up drug smuggling during The Vietnam War and are still bringing product in through Dallas.  Does this sound like an awesome TV mash up of Lethal Weapon 1&2 to anyone else?!  Then we get a Mortal Kombat connection as Shang TSung himself, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa shows up as P.K.'s drug smuggling boss Master Ko and yoked out Deron McBee (Motaro from MK: Annihilation & Malibu from American Gladiators) as pre-Dog the Bounty Hunter looking local dealer Luke.  If that weren't enough, Magnum P.I.'s Larry Manetti shows up as a low level street crook and informant while Enter the Dragon villain and Karate Hall of Famer Bob Wall gets his neck twisted as a security guard.  Phew!  Oh and the dude who breaks his own neck from Showdown In Little Tokyo plays P.K.'s homeboy driver.  Damme!

Walker and partner Jimmy Trivette (Die Hard's Clarence Gilyard, Jr.) along with Gage and female ranger Sydney Cooke (Nia Peeples) figure out P.K.'s racket and dad Edward relents, removing his son's immunity and letting the law do it's thing.  Of course much karate fighting is involved and we get not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR final showdowns of hand to hand combat.  Norris and Tagawa mix it up in a living room with lots of wrist locks and sweeps while Gage and P.K. duke it out in the grassy back yard with punches and kicks, Trivette and Luke smash up the kitchen while Cooke wrecks some random ass dude who isn't in a bunch of action movies outside in the driveway.  We all know that Norris is a badass and a true martial artist but there's a lot of stunt man work in the fight scenes here.  Angles from behind are always a dead giveaway as are the super fast high kicks.  Byron Mann's double looks shorter and a lot wider taking the falls of the grassy bout.  We get lots of kicks of the front, hook and jump spinning back variety and ya know, nobody gets shot too boot.

(Pre) Ask Me a Question: Die Hard 2 w/ Steven E. de Souza

What's your favorite Holiday movie?  A Christmas Story? It's a Wonderful Life?  Scrooged?  Nah, I'm talking about action movies set at Christmas time!  Die Hard, Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight, I Come In Peace, The Last Boy Scout and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang come to mind; i.e. Joel Silver, Shane Black, Renny Harlin and Richard Donner created their own wonderful sub-genre to celebrate peace on earth, goodwill towards men as well as extreme violence, machine guns, one-liners and explosion filled mayhem.

This December, The Arclight Cinemas is hosting multiple screenings of Holiday set classics dramatic, funny and action packed.  I'll be hosting Die Hard 2: Die Harder with special guest screenwriter Steven E de Souza on hand for Q&A.  Unlike The Van Damme Double Dip, Dolph Night or The Carl Weathers Tribute, The Arclight Presents Die Hard 2 was not curated by Dammaged Goods.  While I did secure the guest, I won't be doing my usual trivia, prizes and custom tee shirt giveaway as the event is only a couple weeks away.  In a strange bit of repertory screening coincidence, DH2 helmer Renny Harlin has 3 films showing in Los Angeles this month.  This Thursday is The Adventures of Ford Fairlane at The Egyptian in Hollywood complete with Andrew Dice Clay and screenwriter Daniel Waters in attendance for a night I wish I had programmed.  The same evening in Sherman Oaks, Harlin's "amnesiac assassin" tale  The Long Kiss Goodnight starring Gena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson is also playing.  Mr. Harlin was cool enough to respond to my invitation to speak at DH2 but awesome/sadly he's shooting a film overseas.  Super buff and intense villain William Sadler lives in New York full time while I'm still working on lining up some additional guests.

Screenwriter Steven E de Souza is a billion dollar man, as in, his films have grossed that much around the globe in a star studded career dating back to the early 80's when he moved to Los Angeles from Philadelphia.  He quickly landed on a game show where he won a car then was able to talk some producers into reading his writing samples which led to a job at Universal.  There he worked on KNIGHT RIDER, writing and producing 20 episodes in the first season.  From there features came a calling and he became a go to guy for scripts combining action, humor and character.  His scripts were picked up by mega stars of the eras: Commando and The Running Man for Arnold Schwarzenegger, Die Hard, it's sequel and Hudson Hawk starring Bruce Willis, Beverly Hills Cop III with Eddie Murphy, Judge Dredd for Sylvester Stallone then two with our guy Jean-Claude Van Damme; Street Fighter, where he also directed, and the crazy nano-bombs and counterfeiters in Hong Kong tale, Knock Off.   de Souza jumped back to television periodically, developing animated sci-fi-action mash up, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs as well as globe trotting action explorer series Adventure, Inc. starring Dammaged Goods Hall of Fame'r Michael Biehn.

The Arclight and Cinerama Dome in Hollywood is a Los Angeles landmark.  The Dome opened in 1963 when back then, it was radical concept that would cost less to construct with a shorter completion timeline than typical theaters.  The large, curved screen was meant to to utilize 3 projectors as well as 70mm print along with it's geodesic design to give films an epic, event quality experience in terms of picture and sound.  By the late 90's, stadium seat multi-plexes were all the rage and The Dome was in danger of being demolished.  It was deemed a historical landmark in 1998 then in 2002 after a 2 year renovation, reopened as part of The Arclight Cinemas Complex under Pacific Theatres.  Since then the Arclight has hosted movie premieres and special events while drawing out actors and filmmakers just wanting to catch a movie.  Every seat is assigned and an employee welcomes you at every screening.  I believe there's a 3 trailer maximum before the film with no other advertisements.  Talking and texting are grounds to be removed and guests are usually not allowed in 5 minutes after start time.  There's a full service cafe, bar, gift shop and coffee bar in the lobby as well as an upstairs bar for 21 and Over screenings where you can imbibe alcohol during the flick.  Die Hard 2 will be one of those 21+ events...

Con-Man: Salt Lake City Round Up

Saturday was a short day where we hoped to get Danny Glover's photo, see Simon Helberg and maybe Stephen Amell before doing a last walk of the floor for any unseen swag.  We breezed on in the door with our Gold passes and I headed for Photo Ops where a very small line was formed.  I'm not one for paying to interact with celebrities but I hadn't spent much at the show and I had a significant discount so I figured what the hey, it'll make for a funny Christmas card.  Danny Glover has always been an actor I've enjoyed, especially in the Lethal Weapon series and Predator 2 where his clap in Gary Busey's face actually saved a rude asshole and his rude asshole assistant one day at work when I was ready to beat up an old man and his underling. 

After a few minutes on the floor we realized we'd seen everything the day before so we headed to Simon Helberg from The Big Bang Theory's panel.  An announcer/organizer type came out several times to pump up the crowd with bad jokes and asked us to scoot in to make room for people coming in.  Compared to the light hearted fun of Alan Tudyk and emotional frankness of Manu Bennett from Friday, Helberg's panel was a bit awkward and got pretty old.  Sure I've seen the show he's famous for but I'm not exactly it's biggest fan.  More than one question was in regards to guest stars and all I could think about was the BS fact that they're all supposed Flash fans but John Wesley Shipp from CBS' own The Flash television show never guest starred.  Also, there wasn't an introduction per se, whereas Manu Bennett can have a quick sizzle reel of action pieces, Helberg's clip consisted of him telling jokes without audio.  He seemed like a nice guy but the moderator didn't do much to prep the crowd and talk about Helberg's career, beginnings or how he got involved with the show and just handed the mic(s) to the crowd.  Coupons were handed out for Helberg's autograph and photo op so when people asked for photos on stage they were awkwardly denied.  One question asker said San Diego sucked but I'm sure he's never actually been there to see how clown shoes Salt Lake's show is in comparison but we'll get to that later.

The panel got lame kind of quickly with too many kids asking incoherent questions or people making comments instead of asking anything and then the fawning fans asking for up close and personal time.  They just gave you coupons to meet him, if you want a face to face experience, you gotta pay!  That's how this show works!  Helberg did get to talk about his studies at NYU, thinking the show would be canceled due to the writer's strike, being in awe of Stephen Hawking, the loneliness of shooting his astronaut subplot, working with Joss Whedon for Dr. Horrible, how a movie he directed is based on his bumbling, bad luck ridden attempt to win his girlfriend back and that he can't name favorites among the cast since he would alienate others.  Even though we had primo seats for Stephen Amell, having only seen season 1 I figured the panel would be very season 2 and upcoming 3 heavy so we decided to bounce.  It was off to the arcade for another crack at Captain America and The Avengers.  Armed with about $10 bucks in quarters we triumphed over additional villains like Crossbones, Juggernaut, Ultron and then the Red Skull himself, on a space station!  After 5 stages and about 25 minutes of gameplay, we had defeated the game and the universe can sleep safely once again.

Then it was time for our photo op with Danny Glover.  I honestly thought no one would be queued up but I was wrong.  There were dozens of people already waiting.  I had planned to say something to Mr. Glover but once we got in with him, he was just so kind and happy to be there that all I could do was shake his hand, ask how he was doing and smile like a goof.  A truly enjoyable experience and the photo is now hanging in the den.

Parting thoughts on Salt Lake Comic Con?  It's a fun show but still has to work out a lot of their logistical issues.  Thursday's wait time and disorganization was pretty unacceptable to me although Friday went smoothly.  Saturday got real crowded and it's estimated that 120,000 peeps rolled through in total.  But if their staff can't handle that capacity, maybe they should consider capping ticket sales.  Oh wait, they're for profit so no, that won't happen.  Their info book didn't include an actual schedule of events and there could have been a lot more signage around the floor for special events, panel rooms, etc.  The exhibition floor was decent with lots of variety but we got through it pretty quickly.  Panel wise beyond actor spotlights were mostly fan run and listening to super fans talk about a subject really isn't that interesting or educational compared to someone involved professionally in a comic, movie or book discussing their experience.  How does it compare to San Diego Comic Con?  It doesn't.  At all.  I hope attendees will stop comparing themselves to the show because they're not on the same level.  At all.  They might have crammed nearly as many people into the show but they also gouged them to buy upgraded ticket packages that didn't even get you much.  The entire show is based around selling autographs and photos whereas SDCC is about celebrating the arts with over 1,000 panels to choose from. Nothing was going on outside the show unlike San Diego where half a dozen venues offsite offer more activities, many for free while SLCC had special events with Kevin Sorbo and Hulk Hogan available for a separate ticket price.  So for their own sake, I hope fans and organizers of SLCC work on making their show better, not trying to compete with San Diego because they're not in the same league and mouthing off about something you've never even experienced is just sad.

With Salt Lake City being such a religious town, the show did not occur on Sunday so our flight back to Los Angeles included no less than Bruce Campbell, Jon Heder, Cary Elwes and Lou Ferrigno.  Lou is still a pretty big boy and Bruce has that great, distinctive voice that could read you your rights and be entertaining.  I'd probably come back to Salt Lake Comic Con but only for Thursday or Friday, there's just not enough going on to keep you there for 3 days.  I hear there's a huge outdoor store outside SLC complete with an indoor shooting range and full sized Ferris wheel so that would be cool to check out.  Until then, America needs your help!

Mel Gibson Week: Destiny

It's been a randomly Mel Gibson filled week in my life and that's just fine by me.  Mr. Gibson's public struggles have been well documented but I always stood up for the guy because none of us really know what happens in someone else's life if we're not there.  Whether you like him or not or think he's crazy or not, he's been a part of some great fucking movies.  I was never a Mad Max guy but the Lethal Weapon series, Maverick, Ransom, Payback, The Patriot, Chicken Run and Signs were some of the jams of my movie upbringing.  Edge of Darkness, his Taken twinge'd comeback picture didn't set the box office on fire but I thought it was very well done, intense and used its violence to chilling effect.  Plenty of 90's superstars have failed to reignite their leading man careers; from Stallone to Costner to Ford to Russell but it's just easier to kick Gibson when he's down because people love to judge others but not themselves.  Follow up piece The Beaver was a somber look at depression and while effective, went widely unseen.  With that, Hollywood's most reliable truth became clear again, if you're not making someone money, game over.

My (online) week with Mel all started with an article over at Deadline Hollywood, where a reporter who had viciously attacked Gibson in the past, had over the years actually become friends with him and asked the creative community to give him a break.  Sure we've heard this kind of stuff before, Robert Downey Jr. and Jodie Foster have been vocal supporters of the Gibs while filmmakers like Robert Rodriguez enlisted him to villain duty in Machete 2 and Stallone tried to get Mad Mel to helm Expendables III but had to settle for Riggs playing the baddie instead (and getting swole!).  I remember a few years ago, the American Cinematheque announced a Mad Max triple feature with a Q&A from Gibson and I nudged my lady, expecting some boos which of course came while I clapped and later found out the event sold out the 600 seats of the joint.  While there, Hollywood's shittiest but most well connected moderator asked Gibson about the last few years where Gibson simply stated, “Everybody gets ups and downs. It’s either sink or swim or you just don’t wake up one morning. But I kept waking up, so I figured what the f—?”.  Right on, Mel.  In an age where child rapists get nominated for Oscars, I'll still support Reverend Hess' work.

Isn't it illegal to record someone if they don't know they're being recorded?  Yet when those tapes came out, phew, it was not good for Gibson.  Apparently she turned down a settlement offer from Porter and that's when she leaked the tapes in a bid for more moola.  But she wasn't smart enough to know not to talk about it so an appearance on Howard Stern violated the confidentiality agreement and she is no longer entitled to payment.  Throw in the fact that she recently claimed to be broke and got turned away from Vanity Fair's Oscar after party, things are just tough all over.

On the work front, a potentially awesome team up project was announced to shockingly little fanfare on Impact Online that says Jackie Chan and Mel Gibson are partnering up for a period action adventure flick called Dragon Blade.  The flick would see Burt, I mean, Bret as a Roman Legion commander fighting in China where he comes across Detective Inspector Lee and the two team up to take on a formidable foe.  This of course led to instant excitement and wishful titles being bandied about like Shanghai Mavericks, The Sugar Tits Gung Fu Express and Drunken Crazy Cop Master.  Hopefully this flick goes into production and we get a big, vast, violent action-adventure saga of survival and camaraderie.

Lastly, my awesome boss of all people sent me a link to an online quiz about What 80's Action Hero Are You?  After careful consideration of each question, guess who I got?  Mother fucking Martin Riggs.  Cause I'm honest yet crazy, enjoy childish things but keep my word like an adult, would risk myself to take out an asshole and would totally try to buy $100,000 worth of cocaine with whatever cash I had one me.



So here's to you, Mel Gibson, and the massive career you've had thus far.  Keep waking up and charmingly fucking shit up.

Excuse me while I pop in Lethal Weapon...

(Not) Love Actually: Predator 2

The Alien and Predator franchises have provided 20th Century Fox with 10 movies over 30 some years and have employed young visionary directors from Ridley Scott to James Cameron to John McTiernan to Robert Rodriguez.  While Alien, Aliens and Predator are all considered classics today, their ensuing sequels haven't been quite as well remembered.  Predator allegedly started as a joke after the success of Sylvester Stallone's Rocky IV had many insiders claiming the only fight Rocky had left was against E.T.  Enter screenwriters Jim and John Thomas who crafted a script around an alien race of hunters who come to earth in search of the most dangerous prey and end up going head to head against a crew of combat soldiers.  After a tough shoot in Mexico which saw production shut down while the creature was redesigned, Predator finally hit theaters in 1987.  The film was a hit with the second highest opening of the year and would become one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's signature roles as well as arguably being one the manliest movies of all time.

Fox was interested in a sequel and the brothers Thomas pitched half a dozen ideas.  Their notion of bringing the Predator to an urban jungle was the one Fox shined too.  After hammering out details with Nightmare on Elm Street 5's director Stephen Hopkins and producer Joel Silver, the brothers produced an early draft after only 3 weeks.  Arnold's character was originally included but The Oak wasn't too keen on returning as he didn't believe in Hopkins as a director and thought taking the Predator out of the jungle was a mistake.  Like the Commando sequel before it, Arnold passed and went on to star in another sequel, Terminator 2:  Judgment Day.  Having already worked with Silver on Lethal Weapon, Danny Glover was brought in to star as Mike Harrigan, a tough Los Angeles cop who is prone to violence and busting crooks.  Predator boasted one of the greatest dude ensembles of all time with Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Jesse Ventura and Sonny Landham in the mix while part 2 would enlist Gary Busey, Robert Davi, Ruben Blades and Bill Paxton to support new hero Glover.

Predator 2 is set years into the future where Los Angeles is plagued by gang violence and heat waves.  After fighting it out with Mexican and Jamaican gangs, Lieutenant Mike Harrigan is told to back off as the Feds, led by Busey's Peter Keyes, are there to take charge.  After Harrigan's best friend and partner is killed, The Glove launches his own investigation and finds himself up against a visiting Predator, the alien hunters drawn to heat and conflict.  Turns out Keyes is actually a paranormal investigator type for the government on the trail of the alien.  Hoping to capture the creature for study, Keyes' team is wiped out in a slaughterhouse melee leaving Harrigan the job of taking out "pussy face" and saving the city from the Predator's nuclear self destruct sore loser fallback.

A couple years ago, the American Cinematheque hosted a Predator and Predator 2 double feature.  It's one of my life's greatest accomplishments that I rounded up 10 friends to go.  Predator of course holds up as half macho/kickass action movie, half scary as heck survival story.  Predator 2 though had many of my friends scratching and shaking their heads.  Meanwhile, a buddy and I laughed our asses off and had a great time.  P2 is pure action/horror schlock that is funny, trashy, gory, violent and semi-exploitative.  Glover is just fine as the lead and he's given some great badass physical antics as well as random laughs such as clapping in Gary Busey's face to punctuate a threat and muttering about "damn birds".  Bill Paxton is the real diamond here with his over the top performance, inappropriate jokes and general Paxton-ness.  This film marks the end of his sci-fi trifecta as he's now been kilt by a Terminator, Alien and Predator.

Upon release, Predator 2 opened up at # 4 for the weekend during Thanksgiving of 1990 on it's way to a ho-hum $30 million take, roughly half of what Predator made in the states.  While Alien films popped up in 1979, 1986, 1993 and 1997; the Predator would not be seen on screen for another 14 years before resurfacing in 2004's Alien Versus Predator. Standalone sequel Predators would hit theaters in 2010 but the makers only recognized 1987's Predator as an influence.  Said flick is ok but kind of slow and really apes the first movie's tone, setting, characters, dialog and music.  The fact that Predator 2 tells it's own story without rehashing the original while introducing new characters and adding to the mythos makes it a success in my book.  Many a sequel/remake/reboot could learn something from Predator 2 as it's fine to honor the original source material but it shouldn't stop you from making your own damn movie and telling a new story.

You're one...ugly...mother...