Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Season 2

As with the first, I had some ambivalent feelings about this show's second and likely final season. On one hand, too many of the episodes failed to really hold my interest for anywhere close to their entire running time, and it still stumbles a little too often with dumb logical leaps and story inconsistencies. On the other, it did some things that I really respect, and had at least a handful of really great moments and unique story structures that kept me from ever dropping it. It never reaches the level of greatness that other shows have, but I liked it enough that at least part of me is sorry they'll probably not get a chance to explore their newest time travel retcon loophole in the finale, even if it lessened the impact of other scenes. Plus it's hard to hate something that featured the most accurate representation of tabletop roleplaying I've seen on TV.

The second season introduces a lot of new elements to the series, changing it from a few characters just trying over and over to stop Skynet to more open cast with a variety of conflicting goals. The problem is that most of the people aren't terribly interesting, all of them talking more or less like the same person whether they be soulless machines, veterans of a taxing future war, or just FBI agents who have seen a lot of messed up crap. There's a sort of detachedness to all of the dialogue that makes listening to people argue over whatever less engaging than it should be, and overall stuff just doesn't blow up as often as it should. One particular episode at a funeral practically had me asleep waiting for something to happen. Not that it was always like that, some things like an episode about a terminator sent to the 1920s by accident ended up being pretty fun, and there were quite a few times where music was used very effectively to set a mood for a dramatic moment. I also liked how the deaths were sudden and unceremonious, with no teary farewell speeches. If the show really is over, then it gets the same sort of end, without a chance for true closure. I'm not too torn up about it, and I'm not sure if I'd recommend the series or not, but I don't feel like I wasted my time.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Season 1

I would have preferred to see the Terminator franchise end after the second movie, because it wrapped everything up perfectly, but if they insist on bringing me more entertainment featuring killer robots from the future, I don't have much of a problem watching it. The third movie's plot should be ignored, but it was still an entertaining action movie, and the new show, which just started its second season, is pretty much the same way. It takes place in an alternate reality from the third movie in the current day. For the most part, it sticks with and adds to the universe, but it doesn't obey all the rules as much as it should. The main reason the robots have human flesh, besides blending in, is that only organic matter can pass through the time travel thing, which is why everybody shows up naked (ha ha, naked). The show acknowledges this, but then allows the exploded exoskeleton of a Terminator that's been pursuing the protagonists pass through and then reform itself later. This simply shouldn't have happened, and it's not like there's a shortage of other machines trying to kill the good guys. I also don't like it when shows or movies that involve time travel both feature the characters trying to change the future and doing something to make sure the future goes the way they remember it. I'm sure the movies did it too, but it sticks out here. "Hey, there's no wall here in the future! Probably because we blow it up right now!" "But what about the fact that stopping Skynet from forming now would prevent us from going back to the past to do it?" "Shut up, I'm blowing the wall! Yeah!"

Logical conundrums aside, it's a pretty entertaining show. It stars the queen from 300 as Sarah, the healing girl's lame friend from Heroes as John, and that weird chick from Firefly as Cameron, the new friendly Terminator. Her characterization is a bit weird, because at first she seems very natural and friendly to John, but as soon as they reveal she's a robot, she starts acting like all the others. She has moments of more human-like mannerisms, but they haven't done a lot with that yet. I don't understand the logic behind making a Terminator that's small and flexible when all the others are big, burly men, but she can usually hold her own in a one on one fight. So far, it's pretty much what you'd expect from a Terminator show. Fairly interesting science fiction storylines, decent horror elements, good action. The series has to have a huge budget for blowing stuff up. It's not as big as the movies, but it's pretty destructive. The cast does a decent job too, although no one plays an emotionless killer robot like Arnold. Like most programs that attempt it, it frequently falls on its face when getting technical ("My chess robot has the guts of three X-Boxes and four Playstations daisy-chained together!"), but at least they're trying. The season definitely got better as it went on, and the new episode on Monday promised more cool things to come.

Movie Update 3

This post should catch me up with all the media I've been consuming, which would make posts in the future shorter.

Children of Men


I know director Alfonso Cuaron from creating the only Harry Potter movie I'd call good. The first two were too childish, and the last just wasn't long enough to give the story the care it deserved. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was by far the best in my opinion, it had its own style and the best supporting cast. When I heard about Children of Men, I was intrigued by the idea and liked the cast and director, so I made sure to see it.

Visually speaking, it's one of the best movies I've ever seen. It's not overloaded with expensive computer generated effects, it's just beautifully crafted. The sets and locations are all perfect for the story, and set the mood well. The framing and cinematography are just brilliant, and the whole movie is gorgeous to look at despite the gloomy backdrops. It's filled with long and excessively complex single-shot scenes, and you sometimes wonder how many countless takes it took to get them just right. These long shots aren't just impressive technically, they help contribute to the documentary feel that makes it even more harrowing. You can make legitimate comparisons to Half-Life 2 with both the dystopian setting and visual style, and that kind of helps to make me like it more. The camera work can sometimes feel kind of self-serving, but it doesn't obstruct the actual movie.

The story is fairly minimalistic, it's there and constantly pushing forward but takes a back seat to the emotional struggle of the characters in an eerily believable future we don't want to see. Clive Owen is again very good as the main character, a normal guy who's faced with protecting the future of the world. The whole cast is good, but they are all secondary to the film making that would make it a good movie even if the rest of it was garbage.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance


Another movie for class. Liberty Valance is a Western, but not a typical one. You have John Wayne as the typical rugged western hero who protects the town from evil men, but he's not the main character. That's Jimmy Stewart, a lawyer from the east who's come and is trying to change the town for the better. It's an interesting dynamic shift, and makes it interesting if only for how the genre conventions are played with. John Ford was the master of the western, and he'd done it so many times that he began playing with it just to see what he could do.

It's an entertaining movie, it's definitely not fast paced but it's one of those slower movies that manages to avoid boring you. The characters are well constructed, and it's just intriguing to see how the relationship between the two good guys plays out. The use of black and white is interesting with color being common at the time. It helps set the mood as an old western and also serves to hide the advanced age of the principal actors somewhat. Some of the twists on the genre are less fortunate than others. Most westerns basically end on a shootout, but this one keeps going for a bit after it happens. It seems weird, and it ends up making sense, but you still think it could have been handled better.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington


Hey class movie. It's James Stewart again, although over twenty years younger. I gotta say I love old movies like this, with clever, fast talking characters all over the place. It's still very funny close to seventy years later, which always has to be an accomplishment. I've actually seen a lot of the actors here in other good movies, and all of the big parts are played brilliantly. Frank Capra was much more of a theatrical director than a cinematic one, and he just lets the actors play their parts without trying to do anything too special with the camera.

Like a lot of great movies from the era, it's just as funny as a comedy without being one. The story is about a guy who wants to use his position to do some good for the country, but his path is blocked by corrupt, evil men. Instead of sitting down he fights back, and it's a great, inspirational movie that was banned in fascist countries for showing that democracy can work. I was a little disappointed by the ending, when he seems to triumph more from perseverance that an actual victory, but it's good nonetheless.

Serenity


You can't talk about Serenity without mentioning Firefly, the FOX series it finishes. Although finish is a bad word, since it's a rushed attempt to end a story way too quickly. For some reason, FOX seems to enjoy sabotaging and then canceling good shows that start with the letter F. Family Guy, Futurama, and Firefly all fell victim. Family Guy has been resurrected and is stronger than ever, although it's the least deserving, in my opinion. Things have been spotty with Futurama, but they're working on some DVD movies that will be aired as episodes on Comedy Central. Firefly got its movie, so all three got something, but Firefly got the least while deserving the most. Family Guy is completely random, and Futurama has some things going on but is still mostly just twenty minutes of jokes. Firefly's episodes stood on their own, but they were still driven by plot and character, and there are many story threads that will never get the chance they deserved to be fully explored. It's understandable, since it probably costs a lot more to do a live action sci-fi show than a cartoon, but it's still disappointing.

Anyway, the movie. Firefly is as much a western as it is science fiction, and it's a really interesting setting. The crew of Serenity speaks with a southern twang, and the dialog is a unique blend of informality and cleverness. It's as funny and smart as it is cool and action-packed, and the movie continues the tradition. Thanks to the big movie budget, the action is bigger and the special effects are more special. It allows for more impressive things to happen, and it makes the movie more epic than the show while keeping the same spirit.

It's hard not to be disappointed, but it's not the movie's fault. There just isn't enough time with one movie to do justice to the story. They do a good job filling some gaps and bring it to a respectable end, but I'll always wonder how it would have been handled if the series continued. Like the show, it's a fun, very watchable movie that definitely does more things right than George Lucas.