Yesterday I got to meet the senior manager responsible for my fast-approaching redundancy. Small fellow, all too quick with an ingratiating smile. Very obviously thick as two short planks, and utterly ignorant of the workings of a London-based publisher of magazines.
Fake tan.
I humbly submit that he survived the encounter. I did him no harm except, perhaps, psychologically. It seemed, to my untrained eyes, that the colour - natural colour, that is - drained from his skin beneath the fake bake as I opined on the inner wheels of our office.
Once I'd finished telling him about the utter insanity of our office, he asked me what I would do to improve things.
"Carte blanche?" I asked
When he replied in the affirmative, I offered my full and frank opinion: Sack 'em all and start again.
That surprised him.
He was, however, suitably impressed by me. He later told my boss he was surprised and disappointed that I wasn't moving to Norwich, since one of their techy guys and I would have made a good team. My boss pointed out that was quite likely, and that their techy guys were now using flightcheck settings I had described. Just so he knew who was the better techy guy, you understand.
After work, I met up with an old friend to see Predators. While it's never going to win any prizes for its narrative, and while the human characters do not develop in the slightest during the film (other than those who develop into corpses), I was impressed by the camera work - almost like a nature documentary in the way it framed the protagonists in wide landscape shots - the view into the world of the Predators - where the big, bad Predators we're familiar with are hunted by their bigger, badder cousins - and the nodding references to other films, particularly the original Predator and Aliens. My personal favourite was Hicks' line to Ripley, delivered by the only woman in the group, to the 'doctor': "When the time comes, I'll do us both."
From start to finish, it was very enjoyable... though the hulking Predator costumes are very clearly not made for swift, natural movement. The duel between the Yakuza guy with his ancient sword and the enormous Predator Hunter almost ran in slo-mo thanks to all that foam rubber. Still, props to the film-makers for staying true to the original and not resorting to CGI the way the Alien series did. The ending doesn't guarantee a sequel, and I'd prefer something indirect - a continuation of the mythos - rather than an immediate follow-up with any of the same cast. Definitely a worthy addition to the franchise, though it's unclear where it wants to sit in the franchise: it makes a clear reference to the events of the original, yet neglects to mention that this creature had also shown up in Los Angeles in the middle of a drug war.
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