In which Adrian Brody battles Predators with the aid of a silly voice

Predators (2010)
It's alright

Oh, okay then. Adrian Brody is woefully miscast. He and Laurence Fishburne have a gruff voice-off that's bound to become the high point in drinking games in years to come. A bunch of characters you'll struggle to remember when you leave the cinema get picked off in mostly unoriginal ways, except Walton Goggins who's awesome in everything. There's a twist featuring one of them that you'll spot a minute after they appear on screen and is exactly what you expect. The dialogue is risible ("I'm alive" got an audible laugh). There's a bunch of nice practical effects and a dreadful CGI explosion. There's some lovely cinematography in the second half and a lot of dreary, by the numbers shots looking up at tree tops in the first. Speaking of which, I know what a jungle should look like (I've watched Predator) and that wasn't a jungle. That was a lake district forest I kept expecting to see hikers turn up in. There's no new weapons, one of the most fun parts to Predator 2. There's way too many nods to the original Predator and even some to Aliens. The ending doesn't. And there are some fun, albeit brief, set pieces.

Aliens was a brilliant sequel to Alien because it took the series in a different direction (horror to war movie), expanded the mythology of the creatures (the alien queen) and featured Cameron's regular themes of nature verses technology and the nuclear family. Predators? Well, Predators features some alien dogs and a predator with a bigger set of mandibles. We're not exactly talking earth shattering advancements here. And there's no chance we'll see a repeat of the Oscar nomination for best female actress Sigourney picked up.

Movies should suck you in and make you forget you're in a darkened cinema surrounded by strangers, taking you off to new and interesting worlds and lives and ideas. Sometimes you go along with the ride even though it's not a good movie (see Killers). Sometimes you never buy into the experience. Sadly, Predators was the later for me. Maybe next time.
2/5

In which Chuck goes solo and I get hacked off at ios4 (again)

This was supposed to be a review of the latest 2 episodes of Chuck. However, my phone, now upgraded with iOS4, decided it was going to overwrite my draft review with an out of date one thanks to a rubbish auto-sync feature. Needless to say, I've now switched this off and managed (just) to overcome the desire to jump up and down on the phone until all that's left is a pile of crumbling circuits. Seriously, the number of problems I've started having with my phone since upgrading to the new operating system is driving me loopy. It's not just the iphone 4 itself that Apple have screwed up (no, you're holding it wrong. Oh, and we displayed the wrong number of bars meaning your phone has always been getting an appalling signal. Yeh, great way to "fix" the issue guys). iOS4 is dreadful. The much mooted multitasking is diabolical, since you can no longer properly close an app. Instead of switching between 3 screens of apps, I can now double click and have to scroll through even more screens that only show 4 apps at a time, because the phone thinks everything I've used for the last fortnight should remain open. I've never been the greatest of typers on the virtual keyboard but I swear the number of mistakes have skyrocketed since the newer, slower OS has been in place. There's now a longer delay between hitting the key and the letter appearing, meaning you can't see what you're typing and the often wrong auto-correct has been activated before you even know it. iBooks is a joke. Download Stanza and flick through a book. Now flick through the free copy of Winnie the Pooh you get with iBooks. Spot the difference? Yeh, that's right, iBooks takes much, much longer to turn the page, so you drag your finger across and have to wait for the page animation to catch up. Great reading experience there. I'll happily get by without colour and fancy fonts if it means I can read a virtual book at the same speed as a real one. If I wasn't locked into a contract and already had a lot of music purchased through iTunes (meaning I can't now port it to a non-Apple device without paying extra, another cunning money spinner from Jobs and co.) I'd be moving onto Android in a heartbeat.

Right then, onto what's left of my Chuck reviews...

Versus First Class (S3Ep5)
Another fun and funny episode, the biggest surprise by a mile being Kristin Kreuk. Back in Smallville she was a doe-eyed plank of wood. Now, out of nowhere, she's charming, sweet in a sophisticated way, relaxed, natural and simply a joy to watch. I've no idea how she got from the insipid Lana Lang to this great guest role but here's hoping there's more to come.
As to the plot, Chuck is sent on his first solo mission, seemingly in Paris in reality taking place on the flight over. Chuck has to find and retrieve a key from a tough Ring agent with no one to back him up.
4/5

Versus the Nacho Samples (S3Ep6)
Chuck has to acquire and then burn an asset, while his family and friends start to wonder what's he's up to.
It's an enjoyable episode if not as fun as usual due to the difficult and painful decisions Chuck has to make regarding his asset. The repeated tranqing is hysterical though.
3/5