Welcome to the day after judgement day
20192 h 08 min
Overview
More than two decades have passed since Sarah Connor prevented Judgment Day, changed the future, and re-wrote the fate of the human race. Dani Ramos is living a simple life in Mexico City with her brother and father when a highly advanced and deadly new Terminator – a Rev-9 – travels back through time to hunt and kill her. Dani's survival depends on her joining forces with two warriors: Grace, an enhanced super-soldier from the future, and a battle-hardened Sarah Connor. As the Rev-9 ruthlessly destroys everything and everyone in its path on the hunt for Dani, the three are led to a T-800 from Sarah’s past that may be their last best hope.
Details
Movie Media
Cinema
Movie Status
Available
Movie Rating
Good
Actors
Starring:
Natalia Reyes,
Mackenzie Davis,
Linda Hamilton,
Gabriel Luna,
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Diego Boneta,
Fraser James,
Alicia Borrachero,
Enrique Arce,
Edward Furlong,
Jude Collie,
Brett Azar,
Nicholas Wittman,
Mario de la Rosa,
Claudia Trujillo,
Rochelle Neil,
Tom Hopper,
Steven Cree,
Pete Ploszek,
Tábata Cerezo,
Christine Horn,
Pedro Rudolphi,
Blair Jackson,
Kacy Owens,
Phillip Garcia,
Lorna Brown,
Stuart McQuarrie,
Tristán Ulloa
The original Terminator film was a fantastic film for the low-budget 80s movie that is was. Terminator 2, still the highlight of the franchise, is one of the best action movies ever made. And then there’s the rest. And that’s not even addressing The Sarah Connor Chronicles tv show. While the TV show was not bad, movies 3-5 were nowhere near as good as Terminator 2. Despite the franchise trying desperately to mimic its success ever since. This time around, the tactic for doing so was ignoring everything that happened after T2 entirely. Which, thankfully, turned out to be a good idea.
So, just to be clear, Dark Fate is a sequel to T2 and ignores all the previous sequels to it. While Dark Fate is not on the level of the first two movies, it is not an objectively bad film. The action feels almost non-stop with only brief reprises. The new villain Terminator is much more of a threat than previous models, even more so than the T-1000 from Terminator 2. Every Terminator is hard to kill, but this thing is damn near invincible. And it has a bit of personality, seeming to actively enjoy its job of killing. Despite that, it only kills people in the way.
While the action, effects, and scenery were all top-notch, the characters were somewhat lacking. And that is really what made Terminator 2 special, the writing and acting. Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger both did fantastic jobs reprising their old roles. The rest of the cast felt like they could have benefitted more from stronger writing. The thing that made John Connor special was that he was a kid. He knew bad things were coming but still had a bit of a wide-eyed view of the world. Dani (Natalia Reyes’ character) is an adult and more able to take care of herself (albeit still being the least badass main character).
The biggest issue with Dark Fate is not the movie itself, it is the franchise. Terminator as a whole is a victim of its own success. The franchise knocked it out of the park with T2 and have been trying to do that again ever since. And audiences have seen, time and again, that they just can’t. Dark Fate is definitely a step in the right direction, but audiences will always compare a new Terminator to T2. Given that T2 is considered one of the best action films ever, that is one heck of a high bar.
Just another period western meta comedy short film.
20140 h 09 min
Overview
In the tradition of classic westerns, a narrator sets up the story of a lone gunslinger who walks into a saloon. However, the people in this saloon can hear the narrator and the narrator may just be a little bit bloodthirsty.
Details
Movie Media
Other
Movie Status
Available
Movie Rating
Excellent
Actors
Starring:
Shawn Parsons,
Scott Beehner,
Brace Harris,
Eileen O'Connell,
Jordan Black,
Timothy Brennen,
Travis Lincoln Cox,
Schoen Hodges,
Circus-Szalewski,
Chet Nelson,
Keith Biondi,
Nick Offerman
Normally short films are not my thing, but a friend recommended this one and I will watch darn near anything with Nick Offerman in it. Being only 9 minutes long (counting end credits), the whole short is one big joke. It starts out stereotypical, with a mysterious stranger walking into a saloon in the wild west. Then the voice of the Narrator (Offerman) kicks in to set the scene. The thing is, the characters can hear the omnipotent Narrator.
The scenery and set-up here are perfect. Anyone who has seen a western knows what the stereotypical old west looked like. The saloon full of ruffians and vagabonds who are all as ready to shoot you as look at you. But that is where the similarities with classic westerns ends. As the ominous Narrator starts to spill secrets out into the open, everyone’s trigger fingers get itchy. While the Narrator is pretty clearly manipulating everyone, people are still angry (at him as well as each other) as their dirty laundry is all unfolded.
The Narrator’s dialogue is set up like an audiobook. If a character says something, the Narrator might tack on “he lied, as he hand wavered towards his gun” and tip off the rest of the cast. The Gunfighter provides a unique mix between classic western, modern comedy, and breaking the 4th wall. The actors all played their parts extremely well, even the unseen Offerman with his unique voice. Despite the whole scene being one big joke with a few smaller ones sprinkled in, it never gets stale and viewers will be laughing from beginning to end.
Tra la la terror!
20191 h 30 min
Overview
A boy named Harley and his family attend a taping of The Banana Splits TV show, which is supposed to be a fun-filled birthday for young Harley and business as usual for Rebecca, the producer of the series. But things take an unexpected turn - and the body count quickly rises. Can Harley, his mom and their new pals safely escape?
Details
Movie Media
DVD
Movie Status
Available
Movie Rating
Bad
Actors
Starring:
Dani Kind,
Finlay Wojtak-Hissong,
Romeo Carere,
Steve Lund,
Maria Nash,
Naledi Majola,
Richard White,
Sara Canning,
Celina Martin,
Kiroshan Naidoo,
Keeno Lee Hector,
Lia Sachs,
Lionel Newton,
Daniel Fox,
Lily Spangenberg,
Jenna Saras,
Vash Singh,
Eric Bauza
I have seen a lot of horror movies over the years with many different premises. It is very rare to get a brand-new idea for any movie, let alone a horror film. Yet The Banana Splits Movie did just that by adapting a children’s show from the 1960s into a horror-comedy. Conceptually, it is such a strange idea. Not Sharknado strange or WTF-did-I-just-watch strange, but just strange. How many people today still remember the original Banana Splits show? It has been almost 50 years since it went off the air. But that is part of why this movie works too. It is not like anyone else is doing anything with this franchise.
The Splits themselves are dated enough that modern viewers may not even realize this was once a real children’s show. I myself would not have realized that if a few reviews I read had not mentioned as much. So, in this version, the titular Banana Splits are animatronics instead of people in costumes. I know what you are thinking, we are all thinking it: Five Nights at Freddy’s. Maybe there is a connection there, maybe not. No one who worked on this film has confirmed or denied that.
There were two areas where this movie suffered. Unfortunately, they were big ones. The first was the lack of humor. Despite being labeled a horror-comedy, there was not much comedy here. Aside from the concept of children’s show characters going on a murder spree, there is no real attempt at humor. It felt like they were trying to pull off a low-key style of humor but just fumbled the ball. The other thing was the acting. Considering the horrific life-or-death situation, the characters did not seem very afraid outside of their death sequences. The actors seemed to really try when they were about to be knocked off, but there was no general sense of fear.
Ultimately, The Banana Splits movie was just another mediocre horror film. If you, like me, enjoy mediocre horror films, then this is for you. But it is not a film likely to appeal to a wider audience. When you boil it down, this is a low-budget slasher. The bad guys are just robots instead of people. Maybe it is different for people who watched the original Banana Splits show, but considering it is a 50-year old program there are probably not many people still around who fit into that category.
Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron
