dude

The prey may change — the planets, too, their digital backdrops swirling like screensavers — but take comfort in knowing that when it comes to a “Predator” movie, we’re still talking about a dude in a suit. This time, that dude is New Zealand’s Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, a game 7-foot-3 actor whose eyes bulge behind those motorized mandibles and sometimes shine with feeling.

Despite his size, his Dek in “Predator: Badlands” is what you might call a baby: an untested youth who endures a sibling’s beatdown in the film’s opening moments. Their warlord father is displeased with both of them. After some extreme parenting that would be frowned upon in most societies, alien or otherwise, neon-green blood flows and Dek is hurtling toward another world, vengeance burning in his heart.

“Bring it home — for Kwei,” he mutters in an elaborate creature language invented expressly for the film. (The dialogue itself gets less attention.) Dek will seek the “unkillable Kalisk,” prove his worth in the hunt and, presumably, have some terse words with Dad upon his return.

Not to kill a Kalisk or anything but these Yautja (to use their species name) were never meant to carry a movie. Put one in a film with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the original 1987 summer action hit and suddenly the Terminator seems chatty. Pit them against the immortally gross creatures of “Alien vs. Predator” and the Yautja are nearly huggable.

But main characters they are not. “Predator: Badlands” has a misshapen gait to it, like a comedy skit drawn out to feature length. Fortunately, almost as soon as Dek lands on Genna, a planet of murderous flora, to bag his Kalisk, he runs into a babbling half-robot missing her legs who makes the movie much more compelling. You can either wonder how Elle Fanning, the tremulous heart of “A Complete Unknown” and this season’s “Sentimental Value” found herself in it, or smile at the good fortune of her being a stealth nerd who apparently loves a challenge.

Strapped to Dek’s back C-3PO-style, the disembodied Thia (Fanning) fills the movie with a semi-stoned running commentary: “And what does the chewing — your outside fangs or your inside teeth?” she asks him. When a second Fanning shows up as Thia’s vicious sister Tessa, another “synthetic” built for dangerous off-world work, the film finds its groove as a new chapter in the continuing saga of our friends at the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, a fictional enterprise with such spectacularly bad luck at acquiring bioweapons, they should have faced a hostile takeover by now.

And, like virtually all of Hollywood’s anti-corporate sci-fi adventures, “Predator: Badlands” is, at heart, a pro-business statement, bowing especially deeply to James Cameron’s designs for 1986’s “Aliens,” including its squat vehicles, soulless directives (“The Company is not pleased,” says a computer who isn’t the screenwriter) and the colossal power loader that lets someone human-sized do battle with a beast.

There isn’t much of an original signature here. Returning director Dan Trachtenberg hits the beats competently but not too stridently, like a good superfan should. If you’re expecting Dek’s sensitivity to become an asset, give yourself a trophy. Yet if a machine — or a studio — can produce a robot as fun as Thia, there’s hope for this franchise yet.

It’s a badge of honor to be called a surfer dude. There are plenty on the Laguna Beach High football team, led by their 6-foot-4 junior quarterback Jack Hurst.

Surfer dudes are fearless, agile and stay calm under pressure when there’s an approaching wave. They have good timing, great instincts and enjoy moments of serenity while gliding on a board waiting to test themselves against a wave.

Hurst has to avoid tacklers, so when a wave suddenly appears it’s good practice making quick decisions just like he does in football.

“I do surf a little bit. Don’t know about good. Being on the water is time to be calm for me,” he said.

Hurst has put together a breakthrough junior season after being a two-year understudy to Jackson Kollock, who is now at Minnesota. Hurst has passed for 2,560 yards and 41 touchdowns with four interceptions this season.

“I was sitting behind Jackson and waiting for my moment and my chance,” Hurst said. “We helped each other. It was great walking that journey with him.”

He’d get mop-up duty and learn from Kollock. Both have strong arms but Hurst is more of a drop-back passer.

“Jack’s improvement has been astounding,” coach John Shanahan said. “He turns 17 later this month. How quickly he processes coverages is great. He’s got lot of savvy in him.”

Laguna Beach is a true neighborhood team at 26 players strong, having gone 9-1. The Breakers have drawn Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in a Southern Section Division 3 playoff opener on Friday at Notre Dame.

Hurst is one of the first players to have joined Laguna Beach when it started a seventh-grade team trying to keep local players from leaving. There’s one middle school in the district. The same coaches and same players have followed Hurst through, so the camaraderie and chemistry is an important advantage for overcoming lack of depth.

“It’s been the same kids and same coaches since we were young,” Hurst said. “We’re all very close and play as a team.”

His top target, junior Brady Stringham, has caught 17 touchdown passes. “He’s in the right spot at the right time,” Hurst said.

Notre Dame coach Evan Yabu said of Hurst, “He’s accurate. He’s as sharp as a tack.”

There are few coaching staffs more impressive than the one put together by Shanahan. John Selbe (Cypress), Scott McKnight (JSerra), Mike Milner (El Toro, Fountain Valley) and Mark Flippin (El Toro) are former head coaches. Mike Walcott was defensive coordinator at JSerra. David Ricci coached at Tesoro and Capistrano Valley.

“Once you hear the resume, it’s wow,” Hurst said. “They know some football.”

It’s a reunion of sorts for Laguna Beach. Last season, the Breakers faced Notre Dame quarterback Wyatt Brown when he was playing for Santa Monica. Laguna Beach won 21-9. Brown has passed for 1,504 yards and 13 touchdowns and run for 912 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Laguna Beach and Hurst will need a collective effort on Friday night from his best football buddies.

“I really like that everyone is competing, whether in surfing or skateboading,” Hurst said.

If someone is using surfer lingo after the game — stoked! — you’ll know it was a good night for the Breakers.

Shaquille O’Neal said he’s “ashamed” of the people involved in the gambling scandal that rocked the NBA on Thursday.

Charles Barkley called two of the individuals involved in the matter “stupid.”

Kenny Smith said the situation is “super unfortunate.”

One day after the “Inside the NBA” crew made its ESPN debut, the three analysts, as well as host Ernie Johnson, had a huge story to discuss that had little to do with the actual game of basketball.

On Thursday morning, federal prosecutors unsealed two indictments that outlined separate schemes to rig sports bets and poker games. More than 30 people were arrested, including former Clippers player and current Portland head coach Chauncey Billups, who was charged with participating in a conspiracy to fix high-stakes card games run by Mafia families.

Also arrested were Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, who is accused of being part of a scheme to provide private insider NBA information to help others profit from online bets, and retired player Damon Jones, who has been charged with taking part in both schemes.

“All these guys knew what was at stake, and I’m just ashamed that they put themselves and put their family and put the NBA in this position,” O’Neal said during Thursday’s broadcast. “We all know the rules. We all know the letter of the law. And it’s just unfortunate — you know, innocent till proven guilty, but usually when the FBI has something, they have you.”

He added: “I know Chauncey. I know Damon very well, played with Damon. … I’m ashamed that those guys will put their families and their careers in jeopardy. There’s an old saying in the hood, all money ain’t good money. So if you’re making $9 million, like, how much more do you need? Especially if you know you get caught, you can do jail time, lose your career, put a bad image on yourself or your family or on the NBA.”

Smith pointed out that “gambling is an addiction which could make you make illogical decisions,” but Barkley interjected his opinion that addiction had nothing to do with the decision Jones and Rozier made to help others make fraudulent bets.

“This ain’t got nothing to do with addiction. These dudes are stupid,” Barkley said. “Why are they stupid? You under no circumstances can you fix basketball games. Under no circumstances. … Like, Rozier makes $26 million. Him betting, giving people information or taking himself out of games — how much is he going to benefit taking himself out the game to get unders?”

Barkley added: “You can’t fix ball games. Like I said, this is separate from Chauncey, but the notion that guys are making all this money and giving information — come on, man, stop that. That got nothing to do with addiction. That’s just total stupidity on these two dudes parts.”

Billups — a five-time All-Star who was the 2004 NBA Finals MVP as a member of the Detroit Pistons and is in his fifth season as Portland’s coach — and 10-year NBA veteran Rozier were placed on immediate leave, the league announced Thursday.

Billups’ attorney issued a statement Thursday night strongly denying the allegations against his client.

“Anyone who knows Chauncey Billups knows he is a man of integrity,” attorney Chris Heywood said. “Men of integrity do not cheat and defraud others.”

Jones played three seasons with LeBron James on the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2005 to 2008 and was an assistant coach during the Lakers star‘s second stint in Cleveland. In one of the indictments, prosecutors allege Jones was an unofficial coach with the Lakers from 2022 to 2023 when he used inside information for sports betting.