Tuesday, January 15, 2008 Rant Archive
When ALPHA DOG hit theaters this time last year, I was one of the many who brushed it aside as being another, tired, Justin Timberfake vehicle. When the DVD was released in the spring, I again brushed the film aside as the kind of MTV fare, best left to HBO Saturday night viewing. Then people began to talk—people whose opinions I actually listen to. They said I should give ALPHA DOG a chance, that there was far more depth to it than the trailers (mis) advertised. So, after a lengthy wait in my Netflix que, ALPHA DOG recently got its turn in my DVD player.
I knew there was very little chance of 3:10 TO YUMA not being a good movie. With a solid cast and a great director, there’s very little room for error, and I was not at all disappointed. Never before have I been so anxious about people making it to a train on time. Christian Bale is Dan Evans, a Civil War veteran who’s struggling to keep his farm and his family afloat. When big-time criminal Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) crosses his path, Evans jumps at the chance to make some money and take Wade to the train that will take him to Yuma prison.
After time-traveling eight years into the future, Sarah and John are having a hard time adjusting to the change. The most immediate problem is establishing new false identities for the Connors, and Terminator-protector Cameron, to adopt. To that end, Cameron reveals to Sarah that a cabals of resistance fighters, sent back from the future, live nearby, charged with the task of bailing John and Sarah out of just this kind of dilemma. However, when Sarah and Cameron arrive at the safe house to meet the resistance fighters, they find three out of the four men have been slaughtered by a new, killer Terminator that curiously retreats, rather than do battle.
TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES is the new Fox action/drama that builds upon the lore of the TERMINATOR franchise. The show is set between the events of T2 and T3, during those years when mankind’s future savior, John Connor, and his militant mother Sarah, were on the run, trying to stay off the grid, and out of the sights of the murderous Terminators. The Pilot episode picks up in 1999, two years or so after T2. Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) and her son John (Thomas Dekker) are still living under assumed identities, yet have managed to craft a life for themselves.
Before the hiatus, Michael (Wentworth Miller) and Whistler (Chris Vance) attempted an escape from Sona just to be thwarted by some cloud cover. Then Whistler somehow set in motion a big escape that involved helicopters and shooting, but that didn’t work out either. Mahone (William Fitchner) was taken away to possibly clear his name and go home. Lechero (Robert Wisdom) decided it was time for him to leave Sona, and T-Bag (Robert Knepper) was planning some way of taking over Lachero’s crew. I’m sure there was more important stuff, but that was all covered in the “last time on PRISON BREAK” overview, and I don’t remember anything else.
Last time viewers could check in with MOONLIGHT, Mick (Alex O’Loughlin) was waving goodbye on a New York street as Beth (Sophia Myles) rode a cab to head back to boyfriend Josh (Jordan Belfi), the understanding D.A. being left in the dust by this mortal-immortal romance-in-bloom. Of course, that was last year, before it became apparent that this TV season had been strangled in its bed by the WGA strike. Now, it’s pretty certain that MOONLIGHT has one, maybe two episodes left before getting replaced with THE AMAZING RACE: POUGHKEEPSIE or whatever crap CBS foists on us. If you like this show, set your recorders, because you’re probably about to see its end.