terminator saga continues . . .

[pnamajck]

we  are  comin'  up  to  number  four  now ?  "salvation" . . . due  out  in  two  days (05-21).  the  tv  spin-off  series (sarah connor chronicles (scc)) was  good . . . sadly,  never  seemed  to  catch  on.

i  will  probably  be  waiting,  in  line,  at  the  cinema . . . day  after  tomorrow.  how  many  others  here  also  will ?

[ozar]

I loved all the other Terminator movies, so hope this one can keep up with those.

[itlnstln]

When I just started high school, I saw Terminator 2 at an IMAX.  I still haven't seen 3 yet.  These days, though, I am not too excited about movies (in general) anymore.

[ozar]

When I just started high school, I saw Terminator 2 at an IMAX.  I still haven't seen 3 yet.  These days, though, I am not too excited about movies (in general) anymore.

3 was much better than I expected it to be.  That female terminator in it was awesome, too.

[ozar]

Here are a few trailers for the new Terminator movie for anyone that might be interested:

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0438488/trailers

[bigpook]

Me neither. There are only a few movies that I really liked and that really moved me this decade. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi, Children of men,  El laberinto del fauno, V for Vendetta spring to mind. But more and more there are movies everybody seems to be very excited about while I think they are huge piles of turd. Dark Knight and such.

While I agree with you generally, you must be baiting when you mention the Dark Knight. High cinema it is not, but there were some really good performances in that movie. I wouldn't say it was a pile of turd.

[IBI]

the  tv  spin-off  series (sarah connor chronicles (scc)) was  good . . . sadly,  never  seemed  to  catch  on.

I gave up on it half way through the second series - far too many plot twists (the end is nigh! no wait, I'd better visit my father today).

Terminator 3 was good though, I enjoyed the John Wyndham style ending. I haven't read much about salvation, but I'm not that hopefully - terminator was always about the combination of the superhuman spectacle and the musing on destiny for me, and neither are likely to be retained in salvation. It could be good in an apocalyptic way, but that's a subject that's very easy to fail at.

[chimera15]

I saw a video on youtube where the director of Terminator called JJ Abrams his yoda, so I don't have high hopes. roflol

[iMav]

Did SCC get canceled?  I watched it fairly regularly...even though I could never really decide whether I liked it.  (I'm a TV junkie)

[chimera15]

Did SCC get canceled?  I watched it fairly regularly...even though I could never really decide whether I liked it.  (I'm a TV junkie)

yeah, got canceled, such a shame, they were just doing something interesting with the t-1001 on the humans side. sigh  It was also canceled right in the middle of a plotline which always sucks.  They left a lot of hanging questions as to what happens.

http://scifi.about.com/b/2009/05/19/thats-it-fox-terminates-sarah-connor.htm

[chimera15]

Well I saw it, it wasn't bad.  The Schwarzenegger scenes were pretty awesome.  He looked just like he did back in the day, was really impressed by that.

[bigpook]

Dark Knight: a movie about a standard (set by Silence of the Lambs) psychopath who also acted in No Country for Old Men and The Departed, to name just two, amazingly in other bodies. They are boring because people without a conscience are in fact one-dimensional and predictable (no matter how much mysterious one liners he manages), but funny in a way, just like the inevitable martial arts popping up in Asian movies. Besides that Dark Knight seems to have been an exercise how to never have two actors talking on the screen at the same time. I think they had only one microphone. No one talks to each other, they are all talking into empty space, all lines of the day at once, cut into dialogues. It's extremely hideous and amateur. Like someone taking a piss on the art of cimema. Story? I don't remember.

Thats pretty scathing but I won't argue with you. I did like No Country for Old Men though, I actually watched it twice.

You mention the " art of cinema " ; are there any american movies that even meet this criteria? ( whatever the "art of cinema" is, I honestly wouldn't know)

[IBI]

You mention the " art of cinema " ; are there any american movies that even meet this criteria? ( whatever the "art of cinema" is, I honestly wouldn't know)

2001: A Space Oddysey

[bigpook]

Lol, it's not like I'm some cinema expert. Anyway, there are lots and lots of great American movies. Such as the first two Terminator movies. Especially the first.

Right, but something tells me that the Terminator movies would not actually qualify as the "art of cinema".

I haven't seen 2001 Space Odyssey yet but it is in my netflix cue.

[bigpook]

Blade Runner.

So thats two Sci-Fi films  so far.

For some reason I was thinking something along the lines of the English Paitent, A Clockwork Orange and the Godfather I and II.

[bigpook]

I love the irony in the Godfather trilogy. Crime doesn't pay, is the message. But generations of teenagers think it's a "cool" movie and want to be like that. Fail. I loved it as a teenager. Another problem is that it is outdated and has been done better. Much, much better. Beaten in its own game. Cidade de Deus.

I think the godfather movies were done in the 70's so they may appear outdated. I put Cidade de Deus in my netflix cue so I will check it out.

I don't think the message in the Godfather trilogy has anything to do with "crime does not pay".  It does pay, and pays very well.

You just need to be smarter than the guy you are going up against and have to be willing to kill everyone that gets in your way. They throw the idea of loyalty and family but thats in name only.

Lots of people like it for the tough guy mafia image, but those are the very same people that end up with a bullet in the head if they actually lived the part.

[xsphat]

Here's a list of a few I think of as great American Movies:

Robocop
Alien
The Thing, 1982 version
Jacob's Ladder
Full Metal Jacket
The Usual Suspects
Lucky Number Slevin
Touch of Evil

[xsphat]

Don't forget the "oldies"

Touch of Evil came out in 1958.

And Lucky Number Slevin is really sharp. You have to pay close attention or you'll get lost in dialogue. The way you talk, I have a feeling you are one to actually take in movies, and that is a good trait in my book.

Now, what about the best of the bad? Stuff like Evil Dead and Nightmare on Elm Street? The Naked Gun or Airplane? Do these fit in anywhere? They are all great at doing what they were trying to do and not pretending to be more, which is a trap in American cinema.

[xsphat]

Funny. Citizen Kane is hard to watch these days. They talk so fake and florid that sometimes their point is totally obscured by the lather-thick bullshivic of it. Compare that to Touch of Evil which still could pass as having modern dialogue. But then again I don't think anyone on Earth still thinks pot is a drug you "mainline" or that a roving band of pot fiends needing their next fix will do anything for money. Now we all know they are too lazy to even get a job or finish school.

[pmyshkin]

Salvation was a total piece of crap. The action sequences were so boring, just big CG robots and explosions. You don't feel any excitement watching it. But what can you expect from a guy who calls himself McG?

On American "art" movies - Stanley Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Woody Allen, David Lynch, Charlie Kaufman, Darren Aronofsky would qualify, just to name a few.

[pmyshkin]

Lynch, weather man

Wow, I never knew he had a channel. Thank you so much for this.

[chimera15]

Show Image

Exactly! lol

[vils]

There are so many magnificent american films...
Bladerunner
Alien
The Maltese falcon
Little Odessa
Jacob's ladder
Chinatown
True Romance
The third man
Total recall
They live
Colors
Cecil B Demented
Brazil

I can go on forever....
...and the TV series;
Dexter
Lost
Band of brothers
The Wire
Baltimore Homicide
Hill street blues
Buffy

..and on and on..

[wellington1869]

Salvation was a total piece of crap.

seconding. i was really dissappointed. ESpecially the "third act", the last 1/3 of the movie when they go to the base there, it basically sucked balls from that point forward.

But what can you expect from a guy who calls himself McG?

sounds like a burger

[o2dazone]

Good I don't have to see it then. My wifes got the hots for Christian Bale anyways, screw that guy.... Bale is hers and Susan Sarandon is mine

[pmyshkin]

Just rent her The Machinist.  You'll look good in comparison, trust me.

Not to mention the movie was just another tired take on the whole schizophrenia/multiple-personality theme. Yeah, it's a spoiler. Who cares? It sucked anyway. Why do people insist on doing things that have already been done?

[xsphat]

Boy, X-Men and Terminator are never gonna open against Star Trek again. I feel vindicated somehow.

[lal]

There are so many magnificent american films...
[...]
I can go on forever....

Please do!  I'm always looking for recommendations of good movies.

[lal]

Why aren't the Europeans posting theirs??

Personally I like watching movies but I'm no expert in the field.  But I think absolutely most German films suck very bad.  The only ones I consider really great are from an artist called Helge Schneider but his stuff isn't known outside German speaking countries.  And he's highly controversial, you either love or hate him

[pmyshkin]

I especially admire Werner Herzog for his breadth and tenacity.  He is always showing people in  difficult situations.

I love Herzog too. But I didn't care for Rescue Dawn or Grizzly Man so much. The ones I like are

Stroszek (favorite)
Woyzeck
Even Dwarves Started Small
Fitzcarraldo

[vils]

Please do!  I'm always looking for recommendations of good movies.

I start with some european films to satisfy Ripster:
The life of others
Soldier orange by Verhoven
Trainspotting
Black narcissus
M and Metropolis by Fritz Lang
The polish sci-fi Sex mission from 1984
The unknown soldier
Almost everything by Pedro Almodovar
Europa by VonTrier
La reine Margot
Betty Blue

Both Polanski and Kubrick have made films in both Europe and the US so I add them in the middle.
American:
Munich
Syriana
The usual suspects
Johnny got his gun
Casablanca
Three Kings
Lost in translation
Nightmare before christmas or just everything by Tim Burton.
Jim Jarmusch's and David Lynch's films
The Coen brothers whole production
Ang Lees films, both Taiwanese and American

And some asian:
All of Miayazaki and Kurosawa.
The Killer
Old boy
As tears go by (Wong KarWai)
Zatoichi

And finally some Israeli films:
Beaufort
Waltz with Bashir
Kippur
Operation Thunderbolt

Three small kids at home have made it hard to go the cinema and renting dvd's is not very practical, when you're about to see them someone always wakes up, and if not, my wife falls asleep....
So the last years I've bought everything I wanted to watch, including TV-series.


So now DVDs are pushing out books from my livingroom bookshelf.

[pmyshkin]

The preview was VERY weird.

It's a very angry and disturbing film. After watching it you might think Herzog was an anarchist.

[xsphat]

Try the Japanese movie Audition if you want to be disturbed for next two or three years.

[vils]

This one?

[xsphat]

This one?

That would be the one.

[pmyshkin]

Try the Japanese movie Audition if you want to be disturbed for next two or three years.

I don't really like Miike's stuff. It seems like pointless shock content to me. I am basing that opinion solely on Ichi the Killer.