TERMINATOR: SALVATION (2009)

The latest film in the Terminator series takes place in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles in the year 2018. The film opens with a raid on a Skynet site by the future hero (John Connor) played by Christian Bale, who apparently cannot shake the raspy-filled voice of The Dark Knight.

The film really gets going when we learn about a Terminator cyborg played by (Sam Worthington) created by Skynet set out to infiltrate the Resistance stopping the war from happening thus ending John Connor's and all of humanity (past, present, and future) from occuring the way it did. I hope you got that because I'm sure most of us watching the film did not; especially if you have a difficult time understanding the time travel paradox.

In the opening of the film, the Terminator cyborg (Marcus Wright) is on death row and before dying signs his body over to Skynet. Understandable so far. I mean, this type of thing always happens to death row inmates. We later find out that Skynet uses his him as this prototype to build a new series of cybernetic robotic lifeform.

The pros of this film is the look. It definitely gives you a "Mad Max" post-apocalyptic and war-like feel making the film set in this bleek future more believable. The catch-phrases used in this movie from the past Terminator films are done well and not overly done like, "Come with me if you want to live," said by ( Anton Yelchin) of the previous Star Trek film. He plays Kyle Reese, a kid wanting to be a part of the Resistance Movement led by John Connor who unbeknown to him is his father. Another pro for this film was the casting for the character of, Kyle Reese played by (Anton Yelchin). And the computer generated origin of the Schwarzenegger cyborg is a great scene in the film.

There are cons. First, there are parts in this film where there needed to be some action or propelling of the story. For instance, does this film really need to be done in the first place? Moving on, in one part of the film, there are "terminator eels" in the water which I found so unbelievable to the story. It's like the robots didnt have any other purpose until somoene ran through the water. What was the point? And I still didnt understand the point of the little mute girl who was friends with Kyle. Why didnt she speak? Was there a point to this character's deficiency? And why were some of the Terminator cyborgs wearing rags around them? Was it the fact so they could mimic our ways McG (director)? They're robots for crying out loud!

Dont get me wrong. There were great action sequences in the film and it really felt different from the other Terminator films and it was better than the last one. But one thing is that there are minor flaws with the time travel concept explained to the Marcus Wright character from Skynet. Not a bad film, but not a great one either, and neither a failure.

Final Grade: B-

STAR TREK (2009)

In 1966, a science fiction cult classic was born. With memborable faces and endearing characters like a brash Captain who flirted with women on almost every episode and an Vulcan-human hybrid named Spock with pointed ears, America and the rest of the world was thursted into a new age of how science fiction was told on television.

Fast forward over 43 years later, J.J. Abrams, creator of the hit show "Lost", and director of last year's monster flick, "Cloverfield," brings a refreshing and spectacular revisioning of the Star Trek franchise giving hope to all fanboys that summer films from Hollywood can be stellar with the right ingredients.

The new Star Trek film is not just a science fiction film. It is an early summer action movie. When a young James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) discovers his true path, he faces opposition from the unobliging and logical Spock (Zachary Quinto- "Heroes") where they meet Nero, a Romulan (Eric Bana) who has come from the future to destroy all Federation planets because of losing his love and his family. A bit cliched, but the story works offering us talented actors who propels the story beyond the talk-talk-talk of the Star Trek series, and giving us balanced moments of how all of these classic characters came to be.

The casting is nothing short of stellar. The characters of the Vulcan, Spock, and Dr.McCoy a.k.a. Bones, give it their best and are great filling the shoes of yesterday's Enterprise crew. A great sci-fi/action film for everyone.

Final Grade: B+

PHOTO SHOOT

this is just a picture of me taken by my mother before doing a photo shoot.