Okay, let me play catch-up a little bit here... let's start with movies...



I have seen a few movies since the last movie blog (nearly a month ago.) I will begin with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.



Okay, I have to preface this by saying that I have always been a huge Arnold Schwarzenegger fan. It is tough to rate a movie like this objectively because part of the appeal of a third sequel is so that fans of the series can see more of the same. That means more of the same explosions, more of the same Arnold in leather and sunglasses and unfortunately, more of the same one-line corny comebacks. That being said, it will be graded on the "sequel scale" and get the benefit of the doubt - ignoring the fact that as a stand-alone movie it would rate several stars lower.

This one did have a few updates. Most noticable was Kristanna Loken as the T-X robot (or Terminatrix) sent back to kill John Connor and all his future rebel leaders. Nick Stahl was surprisingly good in the role of John Connor and Claire Danes as Kate Brewster delivered the best acting of the movie.

I was expecting it to suck really bad, and it probably rated so high because it was better than expected. Sure, there was a huge leap of faith required on nearly every scene as you had to suspend reality and logic to appreciate what the filmmakers were doing. Don't even get me started on the armor-plated coffin. The only real unforgivable part was a HUGE continuity error... not storyline - it changes too much to even try to poke holes... but when the three heroes are in the masoleum and Claire Danes has a gun pointed at Arnold, there is a POV shot from Danes pointing the gun at him in which Arnold is standing at an angle with his right foot and shoulder behind and both left limbs toward Danes - cut to a shot of her holding the gun - cut back to the same shot showing Arnold. He has the opposite leg and shoulder back! When you have this size of a budget - shouldn't someone WATCH the frickin' movie and check for such obvious errors?

Oh and a side note: Remember, I said I really like Arnold... get the DVD - listen to the actor's commentary and see if you aren't left with the impression that all those allegations of sexual harassment just might be true. He spends more time talking about the T-X robot's re-sizable boobies than the film itself.

RATING 6 out of 10

Next up is the television series 24. I watched the complete Season One over the course of a week or so while doing video editing. In 24, Keifer Sutherland plays CTU (Counter Terrorist Unit) agent Jack Bauer. Bauer is the best agent (why make a movie about an average agent) ever and is assigned to protect a presidential candidate from of an upcoming assassination attempt. Keifer has really grown up as an actor and is more than comfortable playing the action hero. His range is almost a detriment to the show as we have been trained to expect such a small range from our action heros.


Dennis Haysbert does an excellent job as presidential-candidate David Palmer. While it won't pop immediately to mind, you will slap your forehead and say "oh yeah" when I tell you that he played Pedro Cerrano in the Major League movies. That alone is a testament to the skills of Haysbert. A believable presidential candidate and a voodoo-practicing baseball slugger couldn't be more different - but both are delivered in completely believable fashion.

There were a lot of really good acting jobs. Sarah Clarke did wonderful as Nina Myers. Xander Berkeley may be getting a bit typecast, but it is only because he does the role of the jerk so well. Even Dennis Hopper (uncredited) as the evil Victor Drazen was very good.

As a television show that takes the concept of stretching one day into 24-one-hour episodes it delivers amazingly. It slips a bit when you watch it like I do - back-to-back-to.... I mean - 23 cliffhangers in one day is both a little hard on the nerves and a little hard to believe. I would imagine though that watching one a week, it goes down much easier. I highly recommend this first season.

RATING 8 out of 10

- posted by Chris @ 8:18 AM