drhoads-93743

I watched this episode once about 10 years ago and didn't think much of it. Upon watching it again recently, I realized how great it is. It doesn't have that classic Twilight Zone vibe to it due to its dark nature; however, I appreciate how deeply creepy it is and well-directed. It's very nightmarish. Great camerawork and well-acted.

Watch this episode if you're in the mood for something a bit different from the series and something a bit darker.

Dark Fate has some big successes; unfortunately, its failures, although few, are big.

First, the special FX: Some of the CG in this film is phenomenal. I mean terrific. But a few of the shots are so plastic that it detracts from the movie. I didn't see this film in theaters, but I can imagine that the audiences laughed at the low quality CG in some shots. They were really cringeworthy. It's such a shame because many of the special FX are terrific. Even from the beginning of the film when there's a big shot of Mexico City, it just looks so fake. If you contrast this with T1 and T2, those are real shots of LA. They look real; they feel real. Why do these filmmakers think the CG is going to fool us so they can save a few bucks with location shots? They look bad and they feel plastic.

One other minor criticism I have of the cinematography: I really hated the handheld camerawork for the closeup shots. It made me feel like I was watching an episode of 24 or something. Just doesn't fit in a Terminator film.

Arnold is terrific in this film and so is his character. I found this character's storyline to be very strong. He's very funny and there is some real depth to who he is.

Linda Hamilton is very good -- not great, but very good. She's a grieving mother who is pissed off at the world, so it's understandable that her character comes off a little unlikable.

Gabriel Luna: The villain. He's good. Not Arnold in T1 or Robert Patrick, but he does a fine job. He's not very menacing, but his capabilities as a terminator are menacing. There is a strong feeling throughout the film that he can track pretty much anybody anywhere in the world, and this builds suspense. I also very much liked how they explained his capabilities.

Mackenzie Davis: I was a bit worried about this character watching the previews, but she really is a strong actress and a good character. I overall think they handled this part very well.

Natalia Reyes: This character and her storyline are the weakest part of the film by far. Some of it is not her fault in that the film pretty much had to kill of John Connor in the beginning, so she had big shoes to fill. I frankly didn't buy this character at all. She's a beautiful actress and was fine in her role, but not anything close to great. The explanation for why her character is the driving force of the film just doesn't work. It's not believable. They tried everything they could to toughen up the image of this sweet, beautiful, petite Columbian actress, but they just couldn't do it. Her story was already weak on its own, and this weakness is compounded by her being terribly miscast. She's just the wrong actress for this film. Not an ounce of roughness in this woman. So it just fell completely flat. Unfortunately, she is supposed to be the main storyline. So all the strengths of this film get essentially wasted on this horribly thought-out plot.

So overall, it's far better than its three competitor sequels to T2, but it's not up to the task of being called a "worthy sequel." I'm not trying to be unrealistic here. It's hard to compete with T1 and T2, which are legendary films and T2 is perhaps one of the greatest sequels in cinema history. Dark Fate is just lacking. But it is strong enough for Terminator fans to enjoy if they are willing to accept that it has some major flaws. Watching the storyline of the T-800 is entertaining enough, and so is seeing Arnold and Linda back together again. Watch this with an open mind and you'll enjoy it. Going in expecting it to be as good as T2 will just make you pissed off. So do yourself a favor and go in with an open mind to have some fun. Arnold is terrific.

I'm very glad I stuck this one out.

It is a little slow at the beginning, but the moral clarity of this film really stands out. This is a true story that needs to be heard. It's a story of an undercover freelance journalist who was a great hero, though many people don't know his name. It's a story of how the New York Times and the other intellectual elites in the 1930s defended one of the most evil regimes in history. It's a story of the naivety of so many well-meaning people. It's a story of the unspeakable evil of communism. These are stories you won't usually hear from Hollywood, but someone had the balls to make this.

The only negatives of this film are some obvious lacking in production value at times. But this is made up by surprisingly terrific acting and some extraordinarily effective scenes portraying the great evils of communism.

This film is even more polarizing than Hereditary. I understand why it's very off-putting to some, but many people will find another great film from Ari Aster.

I understood the film even better once I heard it's an analogy of a breakup. It just also happens to be a very, very creepy and disturbing film with a hell of an ending, if you ask me. It's not that the ending has never been done before; it's that Aster executes it in a way that gets under your skin. Very brilliantly done.

I found myself thinking about it a lot afterward. Even had a bit of trouble sleeping that night. It puts you into another world, a world of pure evil. Very much in the same "world" as Hereditary, where there is an absence of anything pure and holy, an absence of joy, and absence of goodness. Hey, it's a horror film. Isn't that what we want?

If hell exists, this is very much what I would imagine it would be like. Visually, you might at first think what you're seeing is beautiful, but you slowly start to realize you're not in paradise. It's the opposite.

Not quite as good as Hereditary, but very memorable nonetheless.

Ari Aster is a genius. I'm sorry if you disagree. I think he's truly a master at his craft.

This is a film that many people relate to, but most who relate to it will be ashamed to admit it. It's unconventionally romantic, emotionally complex, and much too real at times.

One of the reasons why I love this film is it's difficult to deal with. You find yourself wanting what they want, yet you know you shouldn't. It's as if we all become the characters the moment the film starts and we are taken on a journey of deep existential and moral questions. We know the answer to the moral questions, but we pretend we don't know. We pretend Jesse and Celine are the heroes we are rooting for to win, but we know they are the villains of the story.

While Before Sunrise was an innocent movie about two young people with innocent and pure intentions, Before Sunset is about how the same people are now impure and not innocent. They are manipulative from the very beginning, manipulating themselves and the whole situation, but their passion and love is the same as in the first movie.

This is an incredibly sexy movie about two people; one is up to no good and she knows it deep down, and the other is a dirtbag who pretends to be an innocent good guy. But Linklater lets us pretend that they are both innocent for our own selfish benefit, then at the end we are left secretly shameful of what we've done. It's almost like we ourselves directed the story where it went and we are left feeling guilty that we did such a thing. However, it couldn't have happened any other way.

Jesse and Celine are good representations of humanity. Maybe once in a lifetime will someone have a passionate love like this, and Before Sunset shows us how we are often slaves to that passion. It's appeals to the 15-year-old in us even though we are now 30 years old.

It sounds like I'm down on the film, but all of these complexities are why I love it.

A lot of effort went into this film, but it just falls flat. It's ultimately boring, not because it's too slow; it's just hard to care about this story.

Steve Carrell does a fine job, and without him, the film would have nothing going for it. Emma Stone, who plays the central role of Billie Jean King, just comes across as Emma Stone as usual...but she plays tennis!

The narrative of the film doesn't really have much nuance. It's sort of a typical "men are sexist; women are victims and they can do whatever a man can do" thing. It's too predictable. It's not predictable because many people already know what happened in the actual events. It's the narrative that's predictable. No deep characters. No interesting take on events. A lack of creativity in the actual filmmaking. Utterly forgettable.

The positives of the film are, as I mentioned, Steve Carell. His portrayal of Riggs isn't groundbreaking, but at least his acting is fun to watch. While the directing, editing, and score are bland, the cinematography is something noteworthy. It's a nice film to look at.

I remember seeing the previews of this film. I was about at a 4/10 for interest. One day I was bored and saw it on Netflix. And since I had heard a lot of good things about it, I decided to take a watch.

Wow. What a badass film. It's funny, it's interesting, it's creative as hell, and awesome music. By the end, I sort of nodded my head and said to myself "Yeah, that was a masterpiece."

Edgar Wright really is a genius. Every second of this film is packed full of entertainment. It doesn't let you rest for one second before another crazy scene happens with loads of style and fun.

This film doesn't deserve a 1/10. It's well shot and, in very few instances, well acted, but many of the performances are simply subpar.

The second biggest problem with this film is the lousy screenplay. Just about every scene is written to try to shoehorn the plot and the characters, but it's so awkwardly done. The characters and the situations they get into are so beyond implausible and they flow out so unnaturally.

The main character's first gay experience with his best friend is something you would only see in a Hollywood movie. It wasn't even remotely plausible or sentimental or reflective of teens coming to understand their sexuality. It was shoehorned in. But in Hollywood, if it's about homosexuality, we have to give it brownie points for trying. That's all that matters to them and the critics.

But here's the biggest problem with the film: if you're going to make a film that's totally implausible and overall mediocre acting, you have to at least make it interesting. This film is boring. And there's not even close to enough quality art direction to make up for that.

It's a slow film that's poorly done, but all that matters to the academy and Hollywood folk is that it's about a gay black kid with a crackhead mama. That's enough for them to drool all over it and call it the best thing ever made.

Perhaps it's just the vivid memories from my childhood, but this is a far underrated Disney film from the 60s. Is it moving? Not really. Is it groundbreaking? Not really. Is it the best Disney film ever made? Not even close. But something about this film entertains me even as an adult.

There are a few sequences in this film that are comedy gold. I laughed hysterically as a kid. But even now that I'm a grown man, I can't help but find these sequences still hilarious.

It's a really whacky film with whacky characters and whacky scenes. But you know what? It's also a unique film. It's a snapshot of 1960s Americana that's very, very special, in my opinion, and even better than the first installment The Absent Minded Professor.

The fact is, this film is not a big-budget, Oscar-worthy masterpiece, but it's still interesting. You've got to give a film credit for taking place in essentially one tiny space and constantly keeping it interesting.

If you like suspense, but you're willing to put aside the, at times, not super high production quality, give this film a try. It's seriously an interesting movie, and I'd even call it well-made.

The acting really isn't bad and the some creative direction.

7/10

This is an absolutely dreadfully terrible film. I'm not just hating on it because it's a cheesy rom com. By the end, my wife and I were chuckling because of how terrible it was.

The only thing that could have made this film better is if Tommy Wiseau actually played the part of Luca. That would have made the whole thing make sense.

Sarah Jessica Parker clearly owed someone a big giant favor, or she she was so bored with her life and getting no work that she took this part out of desperation.

I hate brainless comedies. I like smart jokes and clever setups. Is this film a comedy masterpiece? No. Does it have brilliant moments? Yup.

In some ways this is like a typical Ben Stiller comedy. But I feel like it's much more clever that what I usually see. A lot of newlyweds can relate to this.

My wife and I love this film and quote it all the time. It's a shame so many people don't get this movie. Besides Dumb and Dumber and Something About Mary, I think the Farrellys can make some terrible films. This isn't one of them. It's a great movie I've laughed with many many times.

The Room is so bad that it's good. Then way below that, there's Mac and Me. Then below that, there's nothing. Because literally nothing is worse than this film.

My wife made me watch this. I had no interest, but I thought it was possible I could be surprised by this movie. After all, Sandler has made me laugh in the past, though it's been a long, long time.

It was one of the worst films I've ever seen. Apparently...people went to see this film...or something...and it did well at the box office...but apparently people are stupid. Awful, awful, awful, awful, awful. Embarrassing to watch.

In a way, this film is like a play; it's also like a rom-com...except I don't like plays or rom-coms. So why then do I love this film? It has fun characters; a beautiful look; romance; and although the dialogue isn't anything you'll ever hear real-life people use, it's very entertaining and interesting.

This film makes me nostalgic for a time and place that never existed, but I wish existed. It brings back memories of being 18 years old, meeting a girl, and staying up all night with her trading flirtations but rarely if ever acting upon them.

It's a film that puts a smile on my face and brings me to that Edenic world in my head -- a world that never existed except for on screen, but I really wish it had existed.

This film reminds you how Marvel started off as something in the quasi real world. The technology, the plot, the characters, although far fetched, aren't too far fetched for you to imagine they are real.

It feels almost as if you yourself could step into an Iron Man suit. It almost feels as though if you were to drive to Southern California, you just might find Tony Stark driving around in one of his fancy cars. It almost feels as though Stark Industries is a real company and you could buy their stock today if you wanted to.

I'm in the minority here, but I don't like what Marvel became. It turned into a world of complete fantasy with no clear rules and no limitations. But Iron Man reminds us of where it started. It is perhaps the greatest superhero movie ever made and, in my humble opinion, easily the greatest Marvel movie of them all.

Favreau is a genius.

This film is beautifully shot. Usually you don't say that about a horror film, but it really does have great cinematography. GREAT music, a mix between an indie band and 80's horror soundtrack. Very interesting anachronisms as well. It's set in modern day, but the elements of the sets range anywhere from the 1950s to the 1970s.

I also must say, some pretty decent acting as well, and likeable characters.

While the element of "it" following is really creepy at times (also, it's strangely beautifully done), and while the notion of the premise of the film is very engaging and keeps you interested, it does grow a little old at times. The following part is creepy. It's not so creepy when they get close to a victim. It's not bad, but it's not quite as exciting as the build-up to it.

Overall, a beautiful looking indie film that any suspense/horror film seeker will enjoy.

If you haven't seen this film for a while, go back and watch it. It's a ridiculous film, but that's what it's meant to be.

Ernest Goes to Camp, while I loved it as a kid, is difficult to watch for me now. As silly as it was back then, it's aged even worse. (I still will give it a watch from time to time) But Ernest Goes to Jail is much better crafted and much more self-aware of what type of film it is, with some clever, well-thought-out humor.

First, I think Alfonso Cuaron is a good director. But this is one of those films that tries to impress you with how boring it is. Even my Mexican wife, who loves any film, actor, character, or TV show having to do with Mexico, was bored to tears by this.

It's textbook pretentious filmmaking. Nothing to grip you. Nothing to keep you interested. No mystery. No wonder. No real characters. No real tension.

It looks no better than a higher budget film school experiment.

No one will remember this film in five years. It will not be talked about. It will not be seen. It will become one of the many, many forgotten films that some pretentious director suckered a bunch of pretentious people into thinking they liked because it's slow and boring...but that's artsy, I guess.

If you are a fan of the Price is Right, you'll really enjoy this film.

The fascinating story behind some bizarre events on the Price is Right over the years. The main event centering around someone guessing the exact price of the showcase.

Subsequently, the contestant explained how he did it. The story was simply not credible. And I've been baffled ever since as to what the true story is. The true story is much more interesting than I thought it would be.

Give the film a watch to find out what actually happened.

I turned the film off halfway through. It seemed like it might be one of the worst films I've ever seen. Luckily, right before I turned it off, it started to get a tad bit better, which led me interested enough to watch the rest later. Halfway through, the nonsensical craziness seems to show its point.

While some of this film is off-putting, some people will really enjoy this. Just don't give up on it. It gets more interesting and understandable deeper into the film.

Not really my style of film overall. But I was pleasantly surprised how much I ended up enjoying, especially considering the fact that I utterly hated the first part.

This film didn't miss the mark because it's different. It missed it because it had no clear vision, and Rian Johnson just clearly didn't know who the Star Wars characters are.

First, the attempt at humor was AWFUL. No one in the theater laughed at any of the jokes. The actors didn't know how to deliver the and they didn't fit with the characters AT ALL. SOOO awkward.

The B story with Finn and Rose is totally not needed. Doesn't add anything to the story. The characters have no chemistry. It's almost as if you can tell both of the actors don't know who they're supposed to be in this story and who they are to each other. Their chemistry is just awkward.

In defense of Kelly Marie Tran, she just didn't have a character to work with. She seems like a fine actress. She's actually very pretty. But for some bizarre reason, they went out of their way to try to make her a nerdy tomboy, as little feminine as they could make her. Rian...what were you thinking? How are we supposed to buy this love story between them when they seem like, at best, awkward friends? It just doesn't work.

Finn's character is just going nowhere. At the beginning of Force Awakens, he seemed like he was going to be pivotal to the whole story. Nope.

Luke's character was a debacle. Total debacle. Everyone knows it except Rian Johnson.

Besides the Luke debacle, you know what the biggest problem is? The First Order isn't threatening. It's hard to take them seriously. The only villain with any promise is Kilo Ren. But even he isn't threatening anymore. Vader was in control, calculated, powerful, and merciless. Ren is a whiny brat now. So who else are we supposed to be scared of? The dark side is just a bunch of bumbling idiots who we can prank call and make mom jokes to.

Unless they do something fast to the story, they probably only have one more successful box office film in the franchise. If they don't pull it off by the next sequel, people are going to lose interest.

The classic Star Wars characters are all gone now. No threatening villain. And our main characters are pointless.

I gave the film a 6/10 because, with all of its flaws, there are moments of beauty and, I don't care what anybody says, a pretty tense climax.

I gave this film an 8, but in reality I was toggling in my mind between picking either 10 or 6. I know it's weird, but I can't quite tell what to make of this film. Is it great, or it okay?

The atmosphere of the film is truly creepy, like from a nightmare. The visuals and score were crazy in a great way. What I imagine a bad DMT trip would be like.

I really only see two problems with this film. First, some might say it moves a little too slowly. Finally, for a film with such bizarre elements as this, I was kind of hoping for a conclusion that was a bit more symbolic and/or surprising and/or ambiguous.

Many people have been talking about this film like it needs some great explanations. And unfortunately, I really don't think it does. The ending seemed pretty straightforward and there was little I was confused about. Only a few small elements needed further explanation, which I was able to quickly Google. But that was it.

The buildup was so intense, and I was a tad let down by the time the climax finished.

They were on the verge of making a masterpiece. But they fell short in a few areas.

Overall, I definitely recommend. Just have patience with it. Watch it at night with the sound up loud in order to hear the very soft-spoken dialogue and to get the full effect of the terrifying music.

This film is just what it needs to be. If they changed anything about it, it wouldn't be as good.

Funny, interesting, and fun. All the characters are like dudes you wish you could hang out with. The rut Mike is stuck in is relatable to most people. But it ends up being a great lesson on how to pick yourself up after you've gone through something rough. Because "the future is beautiful," to quote Rob from the film.

Mike, Trent, Sue, Rob, and Charles. Wouldn't you just love to party with them?

On an objective scale, this film is pretty cheesy. It's a direct ripoff of Point Break. The acting from Walker and a few others is pretty terrible. Every scene is unrealistic...

But why do we watch movies? We watch because we enjoy them. And I can't help but enjoy this film.

It almost feels like it's in the same world as Training Day. Not as dark (and certainly not nearly as good as Training Day). But it captures LA very well. And nostalgia runs through this film like crazy. Makes me sad to know those days are over. And even sadder to know that Walker is gone.