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AvP Requiem Convention Report Downtown Los Angeles, California. A rogue Predator surveys his environment... watching, stealthy stalking its prey. ...No folks, I'm not talking about Predator 2! This is the "Los Angeles Comic Book and Sci-Fi Convention" which was held this past weekend -- and the "creature" is a Predator fan, wearing an impeccably self-made costume. This monthly convention caters to the cusp of those who want the latest and greatest information and memorabilia for movies and sci-fi -- and the brothers Strause were there to herald the coming of AvP-R -- which opens Christmas Day. Ah yes, as the tag for the movie says, "This Christmas, there will be no Peace on Earth...." AvP aficionados attended in full force to hear what one can anticipate from the latest, eagerly awaited, and perhaps most controversial Alien/Predator movie entry. To share a brief bit about me... I hail from Los Angeles, California and became an Alien fan at the age of nine in 1979 -- when the movie was first released -- my initial efforts to see the movie in theaters at that time (then in Oklahoma where I lived) were daunted due to my age...! (Those dad-gum Famous Monsters magazines didn't make it any easier to go without either with those great Alien movie images and stories of the time...!) -- I was not deterred however, and I eventually devised a plan to buy a videocassette of the first ever release of Alien on "Magnetic Video" VHS a couple of years later by mowing lawns and doing odd jobs -- even though my family didn't even own a VCR at the time! Yet, all was not lost, for down the street from me was a neighbor who had a VHS VCR -- and I was finally able to journey into the Alien's filmic world! These days I have my own home theater setup, "guarded" by an actual life-size Queen Alien, along with a life-size Alien Warrior, Facehugger and Alien eggs. I say all that to say this -- when I talk about Aliens as well as Predators -- I mean business...! Lately, each successive AvP-R trailer, footage, etc., has been looking better and better as each has been released... yet, per the many mixed results of the past couple of Alien movies -- as well as the first AvP movie -- many have wondered, could this actually be an Alien/Predator movie that movie goers can look forward to and get excited about? An onsite Fox representative began the panel, and said that: "AvP-'R' stands for 'R' rated -- we listened to you guys -- and no one wants a PG-13 AvP movie..." -- which rightfully was met by enthusiastic applause from the audience. The red band trailer -- which made it's debut recently on the Internet and which has been well received -- was then shown (click here to see my reviews of the red band Internet trailer and the international trailer). On the heels of applause for the red band trailer, the Brothers Strause greeted the audience -- and any concerns for a lack of presence of AvP-R at this past summer's Comic Con in San Diego were soon brushed aside by way of this very thorough and comprehensive panel. Clearly the Brothers Strause have a love and passion for the Aliens and Predators -- their discussions and commentary transcended any gimmicky or generic sales pitching that can sometimes occur at conventions -- theirs is true, green Alien blooded fandom! Details concerning the plot and the production of the film were discussed. As many now know, the movie centers on a lone hunter Predator who is sent to "clean up" the consequences caused buy incidents incurred from the first AvP movie. Chaos has erupted and Aliens have run amuck in a small town in Colorado, where the Predator must hunt down and eradicate any and all signs of them -- including a completely new alien creature hybrid -- the PredAlien (first seen at the very end of the first AvP movie -- and recently given a photo spread in USA Today). Advertisement A sequence from the movie was also shown which takes place in the latter half of the movie... we are in an Alien hive -- reminiscent of what we've seen in Cameron's Aliens LV-426 colony's nuclear-powered atmosphere-processing station -- the PredAlien is advancing towards the Predator -- the Predator extracts his wrist blades and slashes the PredAlien across its belly... the PredAlien rears back... an Alien Warrior appears and attacks... the Predator blasts it with his plasma cannon... another Alien Warrior attacks -- the Predator catches it by the throat... then another Alien Warrior appears, and the Predator cuts its head off with his wrist blades. The Predator then takes a vile of Alien blood and shoves it into the remaining Alien warrior's mouth -- the Alien Warrior disintegrates. The Predator hears the shrieks of additional Alien Warriors within the hive -- looks down a tunnel -- and throws his Shurikens toward two oncoming Alien Warriors -- cutting their heads off -- and also impaling a human in the wrong place at the wrong time...! This footage definitely felt like finally seeing/hearing the "other shoe drop" -- it was like, f**k'n finally! This is the style, atmosphere, and action that has been ever so elusive in the past few Alien movies -- and which was otherwise once it's signature and defining inertia..! The "R" in "AVP-R" could not only just stand for "Requiem" or R rating -- it could most certainly stand for "Return" here as well -- as the Aliens and Predator have definitely returned in true and faithful cinematic form -- the likes of which we have not seen since the first two "Alien" movies and the first "Predator" film. The Brothers Strause said that the US town concept had already been in place before they came aboard -- however, they made it very clear that perhaps only a single page of the initial script remains per the version that they have created cinematically -- and further, it is their desire, like so many fans and cohorts of the Aliens and Predators, to see these iconic creatures return to space -- with the "possibility" of exploring what I would call the "Boba Fett" character from the first Alien movie (in terms of a character who has had little screen time, yet has immense popularity and allure) -- the briefly seen, mysterious "Space Jockey" -- whose skeleton was encountered in the derelict space ship on LV-426 -- now that would be one "distress signal" worth investigating again...! By Jay Comments? Flames? Praise? Mail feedback!