"My family is not dying tonight. You are coming with me."

Mirrors, 2008. Two and a Half Stars.

I was in the mood for a scary movie. But this movie just didn't do it for me. Mirrors creep me way out, but not movies about mirrors. And especially not this movie about mirrors. There really wasn't much scary atmosphere or anything like that, and everything felt forced. So I just wasn't in to buying what these mirrors were selling.

One interesting thing is Esseker and the story of how the mirrors got haunted (THOUGH since "Esseker" was being written in a MIRROR, I really felt that they should have done the corny thing of the name being backwards and it really being "Rekesse". HWAH!). Also, Amy Smart is in this, and she's great. And her death scene was really the only other cool thing about this movie.

The ending's a bit cheesy, but I liked it a little. Though it didn't fit in with the rest of the movie, since it was so stylized when everything else was so reality-based. Which is a shame! Wasted potential.

Kiefer Sutherland, I miss you in The Lost Boys.

“Don’t you watch the news?” “I hate that fuckin’ show.” -OR- “I was gonna get some.” “I kind of doubt it.”

Idle Hands. Two and a Half Stars.

HA HA HA! Brilliantly horrible. ...Or, horribly brilliant?

I recommend it!

"What should I tell your men when they find out you're gone?" "I'll be back."

Terminator Salvation, 2009. Three Stars.

This review is a long time coming. And it's why I haven't been updating; I really wanted to get this one done before I wrote anything else. But it was so difficult to write. I have so many mixed, strong feelings. And my suckage with words was making it frustratingly hard to get out what I wanted to say.

Here we go:

I love The Terminator, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day is my all-time favorite ever. I don't remember much about T3, which I'm pretty thankful for... but my point is, I grew up with Terminator, and I am crazy about it.

So when I found out about T4, I made sure I got my Opening Night/Midnight ticket. I was very excited!

Because, LOOK AT THIS TRAILER!! It THRILLS me! It's scary, and exciting, and makes me feel like, "YES! Finally, we get to see the aftermath of Judgment Day, and John Connor kicking butt!!"

Well, this is why I try not to get too excited about movies before I see them, because when I get excited, I always get let down. And poor little me was nearly devastated.

The movie is NOT BAD. Really. But it's also NOT FANTASTIC. It felt like a long movie. There was way too much attention paid to some parts, like when Marcus is trying to figure out where the heck he is, whereas other parts were glossed over, like John Connor's relationship to his wifey (WHO IS PREGNANT, and yeah it's cool to see a pregnant lady in a movie and not have it be a big deal, but when John Connor is spawning? BIG DARN DEAL. Yeah, also there were no sparks between them. It was just blah.)

Also, the other movies oozed such a strong sense of doom, which was surprisingly missing in this flick. And Skynet just wasn't very scary.

I'd heard that originally, the focus of this movie was going to be Marcus, and that John Connor was just going to be running around in the background. I would have been cool with that. I think it would've been interesting. But what ended up happening is that both Marcus and John Connor were the main stars of the show, and it just didn't work out very well. It was pretty confusing and disjointed.

I'm still unsure how I feel about Christian Bale as John Connor. I love Christian Bale. And I love that he has done a lot of cool weird cult-y sci-fi action-y flicks (American Psycho, Equilibrium, Reign of Fire, Batman Begins / The Dark Knight, Rescue Dawn). I would have preferred that John Connor be someone a little less "known" so the audience can have an easier time seeing John Connor as John Connor rather than John Connor as Famous Hunky Guy. But clearly Christian Bale's impressive CV shows that he's more than capable of being a fabulous John Connor.

Yet, John Connor didn't really feel very John Connor-y. We know that eventually he becomes this kick-butt hero of humanity, but... what happened to his smart-ass-ness?? One of my friends mentioned that he thought John Connor was just expectant of everything to happen, hence he was on edge and paranoid. I agree, this could explain his blank-ness. But I don't think the movie did that much to tell us that he is actually going through that. So it just felt awkward. It makes more sense that, at this point in his life, he should be at a transition stage where he's still his smart-ass-y self, but is beginning to show his strengths as a leader.

It was awesome when he was listening to that same Guns N' Roses song ("You Could Be Mine," which is in fact my most favorite GNR song!) from T2 while he was on his bike and catching the Moto-Terminator. But since they were pulling so much from that scene, I wish they just had him say "Easy money"!

I was totally fine with the actor that played Kyle Reese, and it didn't bother me that he played a big role in another summer blockbuster. And I think it's cool how young he is; it's like we're witnessing the genesis of John Connor's influence on him and future soldiers.

I thought I would hate Fake Arnold, but, I didn't!

I would like to see this movie again...

Hey, does anyone else think that McG's a douche?

You know what was pretty great, actually? "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles". And that got canceled. I call shenanigans!

"Isn't that kind of insulting?" "I guess it's supposed to be. I mean, we're trying to get rid of them."

The Gate, 1987. Two Stars.

This seems like a movie you love if you grow up with it (like The Peanut Butter Soution and The Worst Witch... actually those movies totally rule!), but I didn't grow up with it, so, as an adult, I thought it was dumb and boring. But there's this one part that almost made me cry! The look young Stephen Dorff has on his face toward the end of the movie, when his friend falls down the stairs into hell... you can tell there's a moment of sheer panic; of, "I'm way too young for this shit." Haha!

*no quote*

The Day of the Triffids, 1981. Zero Stars.

It's not even fair that I even mention the possibility of stars. My boyfriend Tim and I rented this TV miniseries, and it was so frustratingly boring that we stopped watching after the first episode and returned it.

So all I can say is, it's so boring that I couldn't watch it. And that's saying something, because even if something's terrible, my need for closure keeps me watching movies and such until the bitter end.

"Keep behind me. There's no sense in getting killed by a plant."

The Day of the Triffids, 1962. Three Stars.

Yeah!!! Totally awesome!! KILLER PLANTS FROM SPACE!

I love that people, deprived of their sense of sight, become incapable, bumbling idiots! And hot damn, that scientist dude was a bit abusive, eh? Though I guess I should be glad to see that back then, a lady in a movie would even be allowed near science-y equipment.

Super fun movie. But I heard there's an British 80's miniseries that's more true to the book, so Tim and I are gonna check that out next.

"Give us a hand. Pick up that arm and find out who it belongs to."

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, 2008. Two stars.

This movie tried to do many things. But it was pretty fun! EVEN THOUGH THE SPECIAL EFFECTS AND COMPUTER ANIMATION WERE AWFUL. LIKE, REALLY COMPLETELY TERRIBLE. Like, ever hear of "rendering??" The makers of this movie haven't!

I hadn't seen the first Starship Troopers, so I wasn't familiar with this universe. Because of that, I probably missed some self-references and the general feel of their society. But whatever, it's not like I missed out on much. The movie's basically them killing big bugs still.

Tim and our friend Alex totally dig the first one, so that's one of the next flicks on my list. And I've been told to stay away from the second one...

"You dropped my baby, bitch!"

Resident Evil: Extinction, 2007. Three Stars.

Life after zombies, eh? This was actually way less oppressively disheartening than The Walking Dead (which I can't even read anymore, because it's reaaaaally depressing and I can't handle it. Awesome comic though!) Alice still kicks major butt, so the action was pretty good. And she has rad hair.

So, this movie was okay. I enjoyed watching it, though Tim, who started out watching it with me, left the room after awhile because he didn't have the patience for it. It was better than the sequel. Though I don't really remember the sequel... just that I didn't like it nearly as much as the first one. The first one's still the best. I think, however, I'm always going to enjoy Resident Evil movies, even if they make more and they are absolutely terrible...

I just can't get over Milla Jovovich!! She's sooooo pretty and such a good actor! And she always does cool roles. My faves: Katinka and Leeloo!

"Sir, I think I speak for everyone when I say: To hell with our orders."

Star Trek: First Contact, 1996. Four Stars.

In case you're not familiar with my Star Trek experience, it's kind of explained in my Insurrection review!

So, this movie kicked butt!! It was so great! I'd never been that familiar with The Borg, so this was really cool. They looked phenomenal, especially for mid-90's special effects!! They were really scary. And the thing with how Earth makes First Contact, and how The Borg were going to destroy it, and the thing with Data, and everything... was so COOL!!

A+ movie!!!


FYI: I found this website while looking up The Borg. What??

"We're in the Bitch's Back Yard!"

Stay Alive, 2006. One Star.

Elizabeth Bathory creates a videogame that allows her to kill people in the 21st century. Bwa ha ha ha ha!

Actually, this sounds pretty awesome! But unfortunately, the movie is not awesome. Much potential for ridiculous funtimes, but instead, it's just... icky and obnoxious. I hope that someone someday remakes this into something spectacular. At least Peter Petrelli shows up in the beginning, he's a cutie.

BTW, Frankie Muniz inexplicably lives at the end. Which I'm okay with, because I liked him in Malcom in the Middle.