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Terminator 2, a review by Dragonfire

Skynet, the 21st century computer waging a losing war on humans sends a second terminator back in time to destroy the leader of the human resistance while he is still a boy. His mother is the only one who knows of the existence of the Terminators, human-like robots that exist only to kill and are nearly indestructible, and Sarah, the boy's mother is currently in a state mental hospital because of her 'delusions'. A second protector is sent back to the past by the Human resistance to protect John Connor, their future leader, at all costs.

My Thoughts

I saw this one when it was first released in the theater - I actually won tickets to an early screening from a local radio station. Anyway, I enjoyed the movie then and I still like it.  It has been a while since I last saw it, so I had forgotten a few small things.  For a while I was thinking that I had forgotten whole scenes and sequences, then I remembered that my DVD had 16 or 17 extra minutes added back into the movie.  Some of those minutes did help to add some explanations while others didn't seem as...important.  I liked that Arnold's Terminator had been reprogrammed to protect John.  The new Terminator..T-1000 I think was really cool, especially the whole liquid metal shape changing thing.  Of course that made him harder to kill..but it was still cool.  The action scenes were done well and helped to keep things interesting.  I remember being surprised by how...buff Sarah was in this movie.  It was almost like she was trying to give Arnold some competition in the muscle department.  lol

I watched 2 short extras on the making of the movie..the first one had lots of interesting stuff on how the effects were done.  It was talked about how the liquid metal thing built on what had been done in The Abyss.  There are more extras that can only be accessed through the DVD-ROM, which I haven't checked out yet.  I do really like the movie.  It is a very well done action movie.

 

I've started working on a longer review to post at Epinions, but it isn't done yet.

(From Dragonfire: What I've Been Watching on January 15th, 2009)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a review by Achim

I had read mixed reviews about this one. The unfavorable ones, which I had found first, almost made me not see it, but after also finding a couple of good ones I went to see it today.

First off, I was mislead by the title, make me expect a different third act than what they gave me. Of course, what I expected was basically one BIG plot hole, which never came... So, while not really getting what I came for, at least the movie made a lot more sense. I really liked how they ended the film; of course it opens up strong potential to make this a franchise again.

The real stars of this film are of course the apes, or their digital animators (and motion capture doubles). The emotion that the apes bring across with their eyes, faces and body language is amazing. While I found them almost always recognizably digital, I was still in awe of the "acting". James Franco and Jon Voight do their best to breathe a little life into their characters, but they are always overshadowed by the apes

How Caesar comes into existence and his development from caged in prisoner to leader of his fellow primates is quite believable. At one pivotal moment the whole theater gasped in awe (when he finds quite a surprising way to express himself).

Between a and a

(From Rise of the Planet of the Apes on August 12th, 2011)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Length: 1479 min. Video: Audio: Subtitles:

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Plot:
Monty's Python's chief weapon is surprise. And silliness. Their two weapons are surprise and silliness. And men in drag. Their three weapons are surprise, silliness and men in drag. And bizarre animation. Their FOUR chief weapons... Oh, bloody hell.

As young men, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin showed tremendous promise as gifted comic artists. Then they created Monty Python's Flying Circus - very possibly the most tragic waste of Oxbridge education ever broadcast. If your television ever produces the sight or sound of rich drama or accomplished acting, there is most assuredly something drastically wrong with your set.

But it is clear: no programme in the history of television has brought such enlightenment to the common man. Monty Python's Flying Circus provides a veritable university education in cultural literacy - tailored, of course, to suit those not quite done with evolution.

The world will never forget Monthy Python's Flying Circus. But perhaps, someday, we'll forgive.


Monty Python's Flying Circus
1.01 Whither Canada (1969-10-05)
Writer: Graham Chapman (Writer), John Cleese (Writer), Eric Idle (Writer), Terry Jones (Writer), Michael Palin (Writer)
Director: Ian McNaughton
Cast: Graham Chapman), John Cleese), Eric Idle), Terry Jones), Michael Palin), Carol Cleveland), Terry Gilliam)

A classic. Especially great during the first two series. My favorite Python is John Cleese.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 9th, 2012)