BEATLEJUICE'S IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF TERMINATOR SALVATION

Saw the film on opening day and wrote the review a few days later.

Hello and WELCOME to my IN-DEPTH analysis of TERMINATOR SALVATION ( DA-DA-DA-DA-DA)

Now, I've been a MAJOR fan of the Terminator Franchise since I was young. I shit my pants when Arnold survived that truck explosion in the first fil, I cried when he willingly sacrificed himself for the cause in T2, and I HATED T3 with every fiber of my being. So when I heard that a new Terminator film was being made that could possibly wash the bad taste of T3 out of my mouth...to put it simply, I shat a brick.

When the first trailers came out the hype began. In all honesty the trailers make the film look better than it actually is. That's not to say that it is a horrible film as other reviewers are implying. NO, it is actually a pretty decent film made by self-declared Terminator fanboy McG. He treads carefully into new territory while faithfully staying true to the memory of the first two films. What we have here is a film made for the fans. The film doesn't take much time to explain about Kyle Reese or SKYNET, leaving those not familiar with the franchise in the dark. Throughout the film I kept thinking how confused those non-fans must be right now. The film is also jam packed with homages to the first two films; for example the final battle which is reminiscent of the last battle in the first Terminator film.That is why I HIGHLY recommend that before you see T4 you go out and rent Terminator and T2 to refresh your memory.

Now, the three most talked about Actors in this film are Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, and Anton Yelchin. Most critics seem to take great joy in bashing Bale's performance as John Connor into a pulp. But to do that is worse than what Bale did to that one lighting dude. In all honesty I thought that Bale pulled off a fairly decent performance as John Connor. He wasn't no Edward Furlong mind you, but he was believable. I believed that he was john Connor. The only quirp I have is that he is given the CLASSIC line "I'll Be Back" and he BUTCHERS IT!! Really Bale, You're given a line like that and that's the best you can do?? I almost cried. It's true that at times he yelled when he should have only raised his voice, but that only happenned in a handful of scenes and when it did happenned it seemed like something Connor would do. You have to remember that he was bred to be this big resistance fighter by his mom, so it's natural that he would overreact at times.Overall Bale did a decent job.

Now onto Sam Worthington. Most people I've talked to agree that he is the best character in the film. He is certainly one of the most fun to watch, especially when his Terminator instincts take over. He showed alot of emotion and his reaction when he realized he was part machine was CLASSIC. I truely ended up caring for this character by the end of the film.

And last but DEFINETLY not least: Anton Yelchin. Two words: HOLY SHIT. Anton Yelchin was perfect as Kyle Reese. By the end of the film I could see him growing up into the Michael Beihn we see in the first Terminator. He definetly stole the most scenes for me, when he was on I couldn't stop watching him. He must have watched the first film dozens of times because his Michael Beihn impersonation was SPOT ON. BRILLAINT. Interestingly enough the film had me feeling that Kyle Reese was more important than John Connor, you certainly care more about what happens to him than you do about John.I felt that he was the strongest actor in the film and was thus my favorite character too.

Now onto the film itself. The plot is fairly simple: John Connor must embark on a mission to save Kyle Reese if he is to be born. He is aided by a mysterious new character named Marcus Wright who is on somewhat of a soul search. Now in most Terminator films we are given one Terminator; but in this one we get dozens upon dozens of of Terminators which adds up to a lot of action sequences. There are explosions, high speed chases, and you can expect to see a whole lot of metal butts being blown to kingdom come. Most of the special effects are fantasticexcept for those that involve the mechanical parts of Marcus. It almost felt like they ran out of money and had to resort to lesser quality effects.The same goes for the rubber skinned T-600s. They are just actors stuck inside robot suits. Their movements are almost too fluid to be believable as machines.

Don't expect too much script wise either. It never really stands out as anything else besides words. Another thing the film suffers from is that it can't decide whose story is more important or who it should follow. The result is the film switches between John's Story and Marcus' story. This confused me a little bit. Right when I'd be getting into one character's story the film would switch over to the other one.

A highly hyped rumor is if the Governator would make a surprise appearance in this film. He does; albiet digitally. In this folm he acts as the first ever Cyberdyne Systems Model 101/ T-800 and is the main boss Terminator that Connor must fight at the end. His grand entrance had me shitting my pants and screaming with Joy. He looks exactly as he did in the first Terminator film, and just like that one he takes many hits but keeps on coming.

This is by no means a perfect Terminator film, but it accomplishes what it needs to, and that is to erase all the mistakes T3 made and bring the Franchise back to where it belongs to be.

Terminator Salvation is a film packed with Action sequences, special effects, and fun. It doesn't offer much story wise or in the character development category but surprisingly this doesn't take away much from the film. I had alot of fun watching the film, and I'm sure you will too. Overall, TERMINATOR SALVATION adds up to one sweet experience at the movies.

High Matinee- 3.5 Stars/ 5 stars

CRAZY IDEA

Well, tonight, at the urging of a friend, I reanted and viewed Friday the 13th (2009) (Look for my review to be up at a later date). Well, as I sat watching F13, an idea POPPED into my head. WHAT IF... someone had the nerve to create what would seem like your typical slasher film with all the cliched characters we've come to expect BUT instead of following usual slogic (short for Slasher Logic), the film breaks all the rules. The girls that take off their tops, have sex on screen, and are REALLY loose do NOT die, while those that prefer to keep their shirts on do. The asshole boyfriends live to see another day while the nice, caring wussys get the axe. The overstoned, overdrugged, booze guzzling party dudes make it out in one piece while the sober peeps make it out in several...AND the innocent virgin dies the most horrible death imaginable. OH, and maybe there'd even be a short love scene with the killer and one of the people he's pursuing. Now how F$%#@@ING awesome would a film like that be. Just a thought.

BEETLEJUICE'S IN-DEPTH REVIEW OF DRAG ME TO HELL

Well, Drag Me To Hell is surely one of the best films of the year. From the openning credits you know that you're about to see something truely special.

The story is simple and refreshingly easy to follow, unlike previous films of 2009 ( The brillaint but overly complex Watchmen comes to mind). It revolves around a young 20 something named Christine, who works for a bank. One day after refusing a loan to an elderly Gypsy she finds herself placed under a curse that after 3 days will "Drag Her to Hell" ( hence the title).

What we have here is one of the funnest experiences at the movies I've ever had the pleasure to sit through. You'll laugh, you'll gag, you'll cheer, you'll scream; often all in the same scene. The film has an 80's feel to it. Sam Raimi also dutifully throws in several references to the Evil Dead Trilogy for the fans, which pleased me.

I was constantly transfixed by Alison Lohman, the chick who plays Christine. She is put through so much in this film, but throws herself into it with such vigor and energy that at times it's almost unbelievable. It's also a wonder that she didn't wind up in a hospital during shooting. I was torn between rooting for her to prevail and wanting her to fail because it's just so much damned fun to see her get her butt kicked. For most of the film she is a plain, pretty girl...but there are some scenes where her beauty just shines through. The cemetary scene where she was wearing nothing but a tank top, soaked to the brim with her hair all muddy and dirty gave her a raw beauty that you rarely see in movies these days. By the time this scene comes around she's in total kick-ass mode and is done messing around. Keep your eyes on this girl; She may just be the next action/horror star.

Not surprisingly, Alison wasn't the only good actor/actress in the film. Supporting her in her efforts to lift the curse are Dileep Rao playing Rham Jas the Psychic and the "sit up and take notice" Justin Long as her Fiance Clay Dalton. Both put on good performances; Dileep doing the freaked out and willing to help Psychic and Justin playing the confused "is my Fiance crazy?" Boyfriend. This isn't Justin's first outing in a horror flick; he also starred in Jeepers creepers (another one of my personal favorites) alongside Gina Philips. Other notable Performances in DMTH are Lorna Raver as the Psychotic and evil Mrs. Ganush, and Adriana Barraza as the revenge seeking medium Shaun San Dena who has an early encounter with the curse's demon and afterwards vows that she will do everything in her power to stop it.

I walked into Drag Me To Hell a bit nervous. Sam had made great films ( like the Evil Dead Trilogy) and awful films ( The Spiderman Trilogy). This film was either going to suck or to be a mind-blowing hit. Thank God it was the latter. Sam Raimi is officially back on top. The film has his fingerprints all over it, you can tell that this meant alot to him and that he sweated and bled making this little gem. With DMTH Sam proves that he's still got it. A statement that I'm both proud and relieved to make.

If he's smart he would stop making those god-awful spiderman films and stick to what we know he does best...and that's making us shit ourselves with fear while laughing our butts off in our seats. He is one truely talented filmmaker that time, and Hollywood has not diluted. THANK GOD FOR SAM RAIMI.

So if you're in the mood to have a rip-roarin good time at the movies, run out and buy tickets to the next showing of Drag Me To Hell...trust me, you'll be glad you did.

BETTER THAN SEX 5 stars

BEETLEJUICE'S REVIEW OF STAR TREK

I'm gonna make this one brief. I thought it was an overall good film. The person who played Spock was pretty good but Kirk was alot more entertaining to watch. I agree that it is kind of the new Star Wars for the new generation of kids. The film was kind of weighed down because there were certain things it HAD to do since it's the first film in what's guarantee to be a new franchise. It had to explain the characters, their backgrounds, how they met, etc. I appreciated that it's not following the same plotlines as the original series did, thus the possibilities of new storylines are endless and that makes it all the more interesting. The film did not make me a Star Trek fan...but the next films probably will. While this film was only good, I'm pretty sure the films to come, since they will not have to explain as much or spend time on backgrounds of characters, will be much better.
Live Long and Prosper

3 Stars- Strong Matinee