This blog covers Movies, TV, and other Geeky things...... Movie Reviews (over 3,400 movies rated so far) Countdowns of my top movies by year.... and much more.
I'm a sucker for anything Time Travel Related and I got some suggested movies that came to my attention on Amazon Prime. Beyond the Time Barrier from 1960 has a great poster -- unfortunately the movie was just so-so. The story follows a military test pilot that ends up going through a time wrap that during a test flight and ends up in the year 2024 (the distant future back then). Of course as in most of these old time travel movies the future is a bleak place thanks to a plague (oh crap).
(Apparently all the mutants shop at the same store.)
The theme of the story was cool -but the plot moved along slowly and there were too many scenes of just dialogue. I felt like I've seen better and more interesting versions of similar stories in old Twilight Zone episodes so as a movie this left me really underwhelmed.
Terminator: Dark Fate 2019 5out of 10 (Time Travel Movie # 18)
I have to be honest ..... I was really disappointed with this film. It brought back Linda Hamilton --who has been absent from the franchise since T-2. It brought back James Cameron (at least being involved in the series again) and it brought back an older more out of shape Arnold. Honestly watching this film made me really question whether Disney should do Indy 5 with Harrison Ford. I don't mean to be mean --but bringing back Linda Hamilton seemed like a good idea on paper -but instead of the bad-ass I remember from T-2, I felt like I was watching someones grumpy old grandma going on adventures.
Instead of following the events of the past Terminator (which I enjoyed) the series tries unsuccessfully to reboot itself yet again further damaging the brand. It is like some weird attempt at doing a bad sequel to T-2. It takes the franchise in another new direction where apparently John Connor has been killed by an Arnold Terminator after Skynet was stopped and yet further in the Timeline the robots still rise and now a new girl is the one that will lead the rebellion. I didn't find myself liking any of the new characters that were introduced to the franchise. The story seemed uninspired and unoriginal. It was only watchable because there were some fun action sequences in the film. As a Terminator fan I would consider this film an unnecessary watch. Box office wise this sixth installment was a disaster and may have permanently damaged a once thriving series.
The original Terminator was a terrific time travel action movie done on a low budget and starring a pretty much unknown at the time Arnold Schwarzenegger. By the time they made the sequel T-2 Arnold was the biggest movie star in the world. T-2 had cutting edge special effects and is one of the best sci-fi action movies ever made in my opinion. It was a non stop roller coaster ride and a box office success. The first 2 films were a perfect 1-2 punch--but of course like many other franchises --whether the story dictates it or not they keep trying to cash in on the franchise name. There was a third Terminator without James Cameron's involvement which was a good action packed film - but was the first piece in ruining the story laid out in the first 2 films. It is almost like the franchise just abandoned all concept of connecting with the previous films which is why this once powerful franchise is less valuable today. Sure some of the films were still enjoyable --but the franchise gets ruined a little with each unconnected film.
That being said I personally enjoyed Terminator Genisys as a solo film on its own. If T-3 and Terminator Salvation hadn't already happened this soft reboot that took some of the basic ideas from the original film and went in a new direction with them was satisfying to watch. This film brought Arnold back deaged to look like he did in 1984. It follows the Kyle Reese character sent back from 2029 to 1984 to stop Sarah Conners death (played by the talented Emilia Clarke). When Kyle arrives in 1984 he finds that the past he thought he was being sent to has already been altered and the clueless girl he thought he was supposed to protect has been raised by a reprogrammed older Arnold. If the two previous films in the franchise hadn't happened this would have been an excellent addition to the franchise. Unfortunately as a fan you pretty much have to pick and choose which films you personally consider canon to make any of the films work together. I just really wish the franchise could have been run better from the beginning. It is a shame that T-2 was so amazing and the franchise never even got close to being that good again.
Putting the franchise issues aside, I really enjoyed this film much more than a lot of other people apparently did. I thought the action and story were fun. I actually loved Emilia Clarke way better than Linda Hamilton from the original 2 Terminator films. The old Arnold versus the younger Arnold was a cool element.
While on a flight from Los Angeles to Washington DC for an important meeting a plane that continues to climb despite the pilots best efforts to stop it. A couple important passengers find themselves stuck in a strange dimension where they are put on trial for events that haven't occurred yet. This movie feels like a Twilight Zone episode. The concept of the story is cool --but it gets a little preachy during the trial which basically puts the characters on trial for creating a powerful weapon that hasn't happened yet. The film feels at times like it could be a stage play since it basically takes place in only two sets the plane and the trial in the dimension without time, The film is basically equivalent to a good yet not great episode of either Twilight Zone or the Outer Limits. If you go into it with that expectation you may enjoy it.
The Story of the film revolves around a group of scientists who find their time-viewing screen allows them to travel through time as they literally walk through it and into the future. Once through the portal they encounter some mutants (guys in store bought bald caps) that immediately made me think of the movie within the movie in Strange Brew. A long chase scene down a desert canyon leads them into a cave where the last humans are surviving and preparing to leave the dying earth. At this point the pace of the film slows down and drags a bit as they talk and live with these future scientists. It has some interesting stuff like the strange Androids that are quite freakish looking that would have actually made for better mutants.
(Creepy Androids)
The conclusion of the film helps to make up for the middle section as the mutants attack just as the spacecraft is about to leave earth. A battle occurs between humans, their creepy android servants and mutants leading to a cool and intriguing ending. All and all it was a watchable film that showed some potential (at least in some of the concept) but that fell flat in some areas that left it just so-so in the end.
Gemini Man is a decent action film that centers on a character (played by Will Smith) who is a super elite assassin who has decided to retire. The people who he works for don't like that idea an try to take him out as they consider him a loose end. It turns out the assassin sent to kill him is a younger clones version of himself.
The movie has some fun action sequences and a decent story --but I really had a hard time accepting one point in the film. They establish at the start of the film that he is such an amazing assassin that he was able to kill a man from a long distance on a moving train and yet when he ends up battling himself both of them have the accuracy of a couple of stormtroopers shooting cans in the desert. If you can get past that fact which I considered a flaw in the film you may enjoy it. It is definitely worth a watch at home if you haven't seen any decent action flicks in awhile.
I came across this film as a suggestion on Amazon Prime. The poster for this film is terrific, but the film itself is just overly silly and not very entertaining. It is trying to be like an Abbott and Costello meet the monsters type of film or similar films from and earlier era --but is misses the point that those films had big name comedy stars and prior followings. Abbott and Costello were a team with one character playing more of the straight man role. The two bumbling characters in this film were equally dim and seemed to just be breaking in and out of celebrity impersonations the whole time.
The two Amazonian space woman in their space outfits were the only true highlight of this silly film --but they deserved better leading men to play off of. The Vegatable men space creatures that were under the control of these Space Babes as the bumbling duo called them were of the quality of maybe a Jr. high school play. They looked like dressed up potato sacks that were decorated at the last minute. The creatures belong in the worst of sci-fi creature designs hall of fame and look like costumes that were so bad that they were rejected from Lost in Space.
I would say to pass on this stinker of a sci-fi comedy.
Russ mentioned this show a couple years ago and the rest of us finally got around to watching it when it hit Netflix. Check the link below as we discuss Cobra Kai.
The gang is back to tackle another 1980's Classic. This time around it is Caddyshack. Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield. This film is a comedy goldmine and we had a blast chatting about it.
With the theaters still closed in July we decided to tackle an 80's Classic. The John Hughes teen comedy Sixteen Candles. Personally I thought this was one of the more fun discussions we have had in awhile.
In our recent podcast from early July: Brad, Andy, Dave, and Russ discuss how the corona virus will affect the movie industry. What movies are coming directly to home video because of COVID-19? What safety measures will be in place when Disneyland/Disney World open up? We discuss the new Scooby-Doo movie Scoob!, Disney’s Onward, and more.
Checking up on posting some recent podcast links. In this podcast from late May 2020 we discussed what Brad, Andy, David, Russ and Jason talk about what they’ve been watching recently.
