Films watched in 2019

[nicky]

 

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE (2019)

4/5* (No spoilers)

I've been waiting 28 years for James Cameron to come back to the Terminator franchise ever since I saw T2 on opening day back in 1991 aged 15. And there I was again, on opening day 2019, to see the official continuation of that film. TERMINATOR: DARK FATE was great.

Although I enjoyed the film a lot, it wasn't without a few disappointments along the way. And a massive plot-hole (or two) that  I'll choose to ignore. But by far the biggest let-down for me was the opening scene where we see a direct continuation of T2 complete with a de-aged T-800, Sarah and John Connor. The scene was criminally short and didn't hold the weight it should have done to carry out Sarah's emotional arc of the rest of the film. But nevertheless Linda Hamilton back as Sarah was able to telegraph a lot of emotion in her performance to make up for it. I know a lot of fans will be annoyed at the direction they chose to take with this film but I think some of the decisions were necessary to give flavour to the relationship between Sarah and the T-800 aka "Carl" (Schwarzenegger) which I thought was probably the best part of the film. 

It's also quite repetitive of the first three films; again a soldier is sent back in time to protect someone of importance from a Terminator also from the future. But that's what the Terminator films are; chase films - TERMINATOR: SALVATION (2008) and TERMINATOR: GENISYS (2015) weren't chase films and they were easily the worst of the franchise. But I thought DARK FATE did a lot to make it fresh with the new set-up and characters and more importantly their relationship with each other which added so many new layers to what might have easily been another simple chase film (which is what T3 was). This is why DARK FATE easily surpasses the previous sequels after T2 in every way.

The action was great and the climax to the film was fantastic and managed to hit some real emotional beats as I was so invested in the characters. I won't say nostalgia had nothing to do with it because it did; it was a joy to see the T-800 and Sarah fight again and actually brought a tear to this geek's eye. And the ending was amazing, really heartfelt.

It's not a classic like the first two films, nothing will beat them, but it's a fun romp and in this day and age of disappointing sequels to films from decades ago. It could have been A LOT worse and I would consider ourselves lucky that this is what we got because DARK FATE is actually a decent enough and worthy continuation of T2 and Sarah Conner's story.

WTF MOMENTS: Spoilers: 

1) Why did the machines send back a T-800 CSM-101 that looks like Arnold again? Surly John and Sarah would immediately recognize him and be alerted to imminent danger. Hardly a smart tactic for an infiltration unit...and those T-shirt, shorts and shades weren't fooling anyone. Also haven't the cops been looking for him ever since T1??!! How did he evade them?! They all know his face now after he shot up Cyberdyne in T2!

2) In T2 we learned that the T-800 has a chip in his head and a switch has to be reset in order for him to be able to learn more without Skynet's restrictions, right? So how has Carl now learned to adapt to human society and make his own decisions in the past 22 years? Who reset his switch???

3) In T1 and T2 we learned that dogs sniff out Terminators and don't like them so how is it that Carl now has a dog that loves him??

4) Carl has a girlfriend but their relationship is "not physical", so how did he get away with not having sex with her all those years together??? Did he tell her he had a headache every time??

5)  So Carl tips Sarah off and texts her the exact times and locations of each of the terminators that arrived after he did. How did he know when and where they'd be? He can't be connected to Skynet cos it doesn't exist anymore and why would he have access to a mainframe in the future anyway?

6) Grace has Carl's location tattooed on her belly by her commander in the future. Was her commander Dani? And how did the commander know Carl even existed if there was no Skynet let alone his location or that he would even help (he's a Terminator!)???!!

7) So Sarah changed the future so Skynet no longer exists, right? So how does a T-800 who looks like Arnold CSM-101 come back  to kill John after Sarah erased Skynet from the future?! He shouldn't exist let alone look like Arnold.  He (and Grace) even confirms Skynet never existed when he tells Rev-9, "I came from that future, it failed". This is the film's biggest plot-hole.

Edited November 1, 2019 by nicky

[Raylenth]

John Wick 2.  Still completely ridiculous but totally awesome.  For one thing, the locations they filmed on!  Blooming gorgeous!

 

However, why don't all those henchpeople quit on the spot once they learn John's coming after their boss?

[Daniel]

Zombieland: Double Tap was a very funny sequel with some parts even funnier than the first. Terrific performance from Zoey Deutch and make sure you stay for the mid credits scene. Hilarious.

[Broo]

Warm Bodies - I'd seen this a few years back and remembered enjoying so thought I'd rewatch. For a zombie film it's actually very sweet <3 little gem of a film with some good humour, nice acting, it's not big or flashy but has lots of heart. I'd recommend :)

[Daniel]

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil was an excellent sequel. It certainly seemed to have a larger budget than the original although not quite as good. The effects and costumes were great and despite its lengthy running time did keep you involved.

[Daniel]

Countdown was a good scary (appropriate for Halloween viewing). It had some very creepy moments and certainly a horror for phone addicts but (as always) the CGI effects let it down at the end (when will horror film directors realise this?).

[Raylenth]

Between Two Ferns: The Movie.  I was completely unaware of the existence of the internet shorts that preceded this Netflix film by a number of years, but it's not necessary to watch them to understand the film.  It's an amusing film.  If you are unfamiliar with it it's a comedy about a public access TV chat show host who is absolutely terrible at his job as he insults all the guests but because his show is really popular because people love laughing at him, the head of an LA network makes loads of celebs go on it.

Featuring a host of big names, and the credits are worth watching, this is definitely one to watch.  I'm going to go back and watch all the original interview episodes as well.

[Raylenth]

In The Tall Grass.  A film about a bunch of people who get lost in a very big field.  Weird stuff happens.

It's based on a Steven King novella, who I usually love, but this film just left me going 'eh?'.  The CGI is sparse but what there is could be better.  I'd be interested to hear what others thought of it if anyone watches it or know what it was all supposed to mean.

[Raylenth]

Colossal.  That was a really good film, a very interesting idea and I thought it was well executed.  I'd definitely recommend people watch it.

[Raylenth]

Silence Of The Lambs.  It's been a long time since I've seen it so I decided to watch it again.  It's an iconic film for a reason and it definitely deserved all of the awards it won though I have to say I do prefer the TV version now.

[Raylenth]

The Dark Tower.  I'd probably give it a 3.5 out of 10.  It wasn't horrific, it was fine to watch, just a bit 'meh, on to the next film'.   I'm a long time reader of Stephen King books but never got around to reading the Dark Tower novels because the depth of the deep lore in it that is connected to his other novels and at the time I didn't fancy starting another complicated story.  You don't need to know the lore from TDT books to read the others (or watch the film/TV adaptions) , but if you are reading TDT then it's intertwined.

Having said that it was easy to watch TDT as it wasn't hampered by the mythology even though there were blatant references to other stories that are affected by TDT world (It, Shining and The Stand).  It was an OK story, with OK acting but ultimately forgettable.

[Daniel]

Last Christmas was a likeable and easy watching Christmas film. Certainly not a classic but had enough funny moments to make it worth watching, especially if you are fan of George Michael.

[Faerie Tanith]

Dinosaur. Something I haven't seen since I was about 5. Much shorter than I remembered it and surprised to hear the voices of actors I've come to know and love (Sebastian from The Little Mermaid turned quite nasty- who knew!). Also, I feel old saying this but the effects of a 2000 kids movie about dinosaurs hold up way better than some of the stuff they make today. 

[Raylenth]

The King.  It was an enjoyable film to watch, based on the Shakespeare version of Henry rather than the historical version.  The sets and costumes were all lovely and it was well acted.  The story is nothing new, Henry V has been done tons of times before, so it didn't really do anything significant but it was still a good film to watch.

[natedammit]

I watched Enchanted. There is no better film.

[natedammit]

18 hours ago, natedammit said:

I watched Enchanted. There is no better film.

Correction, there are only 6 better films.

[Faerie Tanith]

Bird Box. I feel like everybody overhyped it, can't say I found it much different from The Happening.

[Daniel]

Doctor Sleep (or The Shining 2 if you prefer) was good, even it was longer than it needed to be. It had some creepy moments and certainly answered questions you may have had from the first film.

[Daniel]

Frozen 2 was a very good sequel. Not as good as the first and the songs were certainly weaker but it was still a great story with some funny moments. Plus more Olaf.

[Raylenth]

The Snowman (2017).  It was terrible and I turned it off after about 20 minutes.  It felt like scenes of the story had been removed making the plot confusing.

[Raylenth]

Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones. It was a mediocre film about on a par with Twilight for tween angst.

[Raylenth]

Ex Machina.  It's an impressive film for an indy with such a small budget, the sets, shots of Ava and scenic bits were really phenomenal.

[Faerie Tanith]

The Boy. I liked it, but it felt a little bit weak. It had an amazing premise and potential for so much shock with the plot twist, but somehow it kind of felt a little flat.

[Daniel]

Charlie's Angels was a good action comedy. Don't believe the reviews it was fun and likeable escapism. Better than the other Charlie's Angels films. Another great performance from Kirsten Stewart.

[Wrong Name]

Cleanin Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters - Awesome fan made documentary that has been 12 years in the making! Features interviews with 99% of the cast and crew you’d want to hear from telling stories of what happened throughout the entire process of making the film. Loads of stories and footage that I’d never seen before and had me laughing out loud several times. Was great to see some of the cast and crew who have sadly passed on in recent years talk so fondly about the making of the movie. I highly recommend not just to fans of Ghostbusters, but also to anyone interested in the movie making process, especially for what it was like to make it in the 80’s!