Retro Reviews & More

This is to be like the posts designated  prior  as  "Famous" in that they are not theory, not review, and little to no trivia. An inaugural single post on Movie & TV Cars started it all, and more recently, a series of four posts on film music celebrated the themes of John Williams , instrumental themes by other composers , soundtrack songs , and songs repurposed for a soundtrack . The shift in terminology from "Famous" to "Favorite" is because it becomes even more individualistic in opinion. It also begins a series, all supported by data, though each post's subject is measured differently. Favorite Movie Quotes (with Real-Life Application) Spend much time around me and eventually I will begin to spout out film quotes, sometimes in the course of regular conversation. These are not always merely the most repeatable one-liners, but instead actually do a good job of summing up an opinion, good advice, or even a circumstance encountered in life. That i...

Welcome to the 50th post of Retro Reviews & More!  Last week , I promised something special. When I launched the blog over two-and-a-half years ago, I did so with five posts on the Terminator film series, first, a four-parter on timeline theories,  1  The Terminator  | T2 , 2  T3 | Salvation , 3  Genisys , and  4  Dark Fate , and then finally, " +/- Reviews of the Threequels ". In that fifth post, I mentioned potentially revisiting the other "threequel", the television series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles , and for both theory and review purposes, which I always intended as a promise, as well. But before we get to that, I wanted to mention two things I have worked on to prepare for this 50th post. First, I recreated the original four timelines and updated those posts with the new images (it always bothered me that the screenshots had the markup for spelling and grammar "errors"). It was recreated faithfully, aside from a few b...

This will both be a similar post to Famous Movie & TV Cars and continuation of a four-part series that began with Famous Instrumental Themes of John Williams . It is simply commentary, with no theory, no review, and little to no trivia. Famous Instrumental Themes (Various) As I began to formulate the idea for this series, I quickly realized John Williams would require his own post because of his contributions to the film industry. Full disclosure, besides the obvious fact that he deserved it, I discussed Williams' themes first because I wanted to avoid any question of "What about Jaws ?" or "What about Star Wars ?" These and others a re so iconic, after all. Touching on what I discussed about movie scores last week, music directs the audience how to feel, what to expect, etc.  While some may not notice a soundtrack note by note, almost everyone will notice the absence of one. A notable example is  Cloverfield . Being a "found footage" film, a full...

Underappreciated As stated in the previous series of Underappreciated posts, beginning here , sometimes a substantial amount of money is spent so a film can make an even larger profit. The subject films of that series were not these, but I always planned to return to them. As a reminder as to what makes a film underappreciated, it simply deserved better audience and/or critical response than it received. Granted, external factors sometimes keep audiences away, but my opinion is simply comparing lower than expected reception to the final product. Here is the first of three films in my blu-ray collection that are unappreciated in my opinion. Terminator Salvation (2009) | Sci-Fi War Action I think my fandom for the Terminator franchise is obvious if you've followed along with every post. To recap, I had to split my timeline theory, which is more appropriately a (more or less) linear timeline theory, into four posts beginning here , I reviewed the threequels in the +/- format in anot...

This is a new category of post, entitled "Into The Fray." It takes a topic and pits films, as an example, against each other with criteria to score each to declare a winner, at least in my opinion. Before we get into the fray each time, I will state two sets of criteria. The first is to pick the contenders, and the second will be to grade each. Oftentimes, there will inevitably be some overlap of the two sets. Finally, I will write a passage about each film, scoring it in each category, and score it overall. Into The Fray: Sequels What makes a great sequel? I am sure that question has nearly as many answers as people who would answer. For me, it is simple and threefold. First, the original film must be good. Second, a sequel must logically follow the previous film(s), including warranting being made in the first place. This can, of course, include an entry in a planned series of films, but the right story can follow a film that previously stood alone. The main thing is it add...

Terminator : Reviews of the Threequels If you have followed along with my timeline theories (if not, it begins here ), then you are already aware how high in regard I hold The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day . I know they have some flaws, but the timeline is easily comprehended and they are a very enjoyable experience in any case. The remaining four films, which I am referring to as "threequels" for simplicity, have a more obvious mix of good and bad. So, I have endeavored to review them with a formula of three good points and three bad points. The goal is not to build up or tear down, though my overall feelings may be revealed subtly. They are listed in no particular order, only good (+) first and bad (-) after. Since it is common across the board, a terminator is a good point for each film. Additional reasoning will accompany each point, but the overall concept for each terminator is much like how the T-1000 compares to the T-800, in my opinion . The honorable m...

Terminator : Timeline Theories (4 of 4) Terminator: Dark Fate (& Final Thoughts) Abbreviations used are as follows:  T1 = The Terminator (1984) T2 = Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) T3 = Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) TS = Terminator: Salvation (2009) TG = Terminator: Genisys (2015) TDF = Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) JD = Judgment Day TDE = Time Displacement Equipment To summarize the previous three posts and the basic principles behind my Terminator Timeline Theory, I propose T1 is told on a Timeline Prime, and T2 starts on it. This Timeline Prime contains a loop which means Kyle Reese always fathered John, the 1984 T-800 wreckage was always Cyberdyne's source of technology to develop Skynet and Sarah's knowledge of the future always motivated her to train John. When the Connors and T-800 meet the Dysons during the events of T2 , it creates the first branch from the primary timeline. Points in time exist simultaneously, so branching from Timeline...

Terminator : Timeline Theories (3 of 4) Terminator: Genisys Abbreviations used are as follows:  T1 = The Terminator (1984) T2 = Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) T3 = Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) TS = Terminator: Salvation (2009) TG = Terminator: Genisys (2015) TDF = Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) JD = Judgment Day TDE = Time Displacement Equipment To summarize the previous two posts and the basic principles behind my Terminator Timeline Theory, I propose T1 is told on a Timeline Prime, and T2 starts on it. This Timeline Prime contains a loop which means Kyle Reese always fathered John, the 1984 T-800 wreckage was always Cyberdyne's source of technology to develop Skynet and Sarah's knowledge of the future always motivated her to train John. When the Connors and T-800 meet the Dysons during the events of T2 , it creates the first branch from the primary timeline. Points in time exist simultaneously, so branching from Timeline Prime does not cease it to...