ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Arnold Schwarzenegger

6.07 Fighting the Future in TERMINATOR: DARK FATE

by Leave a Comment

The past and future collide once more in the latest (and potentially final) entry of James Cameron’s famed sci-fi series, TERMINATOR: DARK FATE. Nearly 30 years after the events of T2, Sarah Connor returns to battle to protect Dani Ramos, a mysterious young woman who may be the key to saving the future of the human race. This week on the show, author Troy Kinney and ScreenFish film analyst Chris Utley return to talk about the films portrayal of fate v. free will and it’s questions regarding modern technology.

You can also stream the episode above on podomatic, Alexa (via Stitcher), Spotify or Soundcloud! Or, you can download the ep on Apple Podcasts or Google Play!

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

6.07 Terminator: Dark FateDownload

Terminator 2: Judgement Day Theme
Written by Brad Fiedel, 1991
All rights to their respective owners.

5.01 Bringing THE PREDATOR Back to Life

by Leave a Comment

With the return of The Predator, writer/director Shane Black wants to take you back to the 80s for some good old-fashioned violence and horror… but do other stereotypes and issues come with that? In the Season 5 premiere, Steve welcomes Peter Adourian to talk about The Predator‘s views on hyper-masculinity, mental health and throwback films in the modern era.

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

5.01 The Predator

Thanks Peter for joining us!

DF-14814_R2 – A deadly Predator escapes from a secret government compound in Twentieth Century Fox’s THE PREDATOR. Photo Credit: Kimberley French.

Aftermath – Two Lives Connected by Tragedy

by 2 Comments

Two lives are torn apart by a catastrophic event. When two airliners collide in midair killing everyone on both planes, Roman Melnyk (Arnold Schwarzenegger) loses his wife and daughter. For air-traffic controller Jacob Bonanos (Scoot McNairy) who was on duty when the crash occured, the guilt (whether deserved or not) eats away at him and is rapidly destroying his marriage and his life. Aftermath tells their stories in storylines that we know will converge just as the two airliners did. Will it bring redemption or be yet another life altering calamity?

Both Roman and Jacob struggle in the face of the terrible event. Roman is nearly paralyzed by his grief, which gives way to anger. He doesn’t seem to be concerned about the monetary settlement offered by the airlines. He wants someone to look at the picture of his family and say they are sorry. Jacob, on the other hand, must face the legal and moral issues around his part in the tragedy. While everyone seems to be concerned about him, there is also the sense that his superiors are just as concerned to cover their own liabilities. Both men have some support in friends and family, but in many ways each must face their pain alone. They do not build walls, but their suffering becomes a wall that it difficult to get through. As the two men, whose stories we alternate between, continue their descent into darkness, both come to the verge of suicide.

Schwarzenegger and McNairy both do excellent jobs of portraying the pains that take control of their lives. Both characters have very complicated journeys through their emotional upheaval. We are drawn to both men, even when we see that they turn away from some who would seek to ease their struggle. The film’s themes of grief, guilt, vengeance, and the possibility of overcoming all of those things to find balance and peace all play out in the film.

The last third of the film moves ahead to a time when both men have had a chance to settle into the post-tragedy life. Roman seems to have come to terms with life alone. Jacob has moved away and changed his name and career. We know that eventually the two must meet to bring any kind of closure to their issues. But that meeting has its own surprises, which are really not settled until a denouement in the final scene, some time later. That final scene provides the hope that even the darkest event of one’s life can still not completely overwhelm.

Photos courtesy of Lionsgate Premiere

On the Blu-ray and DVD versions, available today, special features include the audio commentary with Director Elliott Lester and Producer Eric Watson, as well as interviews with Lester and Director of Photography Pieter Vermeer.

Terminator: Genisys – This Movie Has Daddy Issues

by Leave a Comment

terminator

As the one person I know who enjoyed Terminator: Salvation, I was sure that I would find something to like in the universally panned fifth installment of the franchise. Here, future John Connor (Jason Clarke) sends Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back in time to save Connor’s mother, Sarah (Emilia Clarke, no relation except to the Targaryens), from Skynet’s shapeshifting robots. We’ve been here, we’ve done this, but who doesn’t love a little cyborg dustup, right?

Unfortunately (with apologies to those who don’t know), the trailer spoiled quickly that the future John Connor was co-opted by Skynet in the future, and he travels after Reese. What occurs is some classic Shakespearean drama where in true Oedipal form, Connor the cyborg tries to kill off Reese and his mother to prevent them from ending Skynet. Nevermind that we’re supposed to buy all of the scientific hoopla surrounding time travel: we now are supposed to buy that whacking a couple in the past won’t prevent a future offspring from still existing, and there is something so rudimentary about humanity that it can be connected by a set of 1s and os into being part-human, part-machine (but mostly machine).

In the one scene that soared above the others (with apologies to Arnold Schwarzenegger who plays his T-800 to the hilt as protector/papa), Connor has a showdown with the three heroes in a parking garage and offers them the chance to join him or die. While I am not much for lengthy discussions on spiritual warfare and conflict, I found the scene carrying me back to Matthew 4:1-11 when Jesus is tempted three times by the devil. He’s offered sustenance, safety, and power, which he rebuffs.

But isn’t it always the case that temptation is most enticing when it looks like what we think we need? When it’s what we want or comes packaged in a way that we think we ‘love’ it? For Sarah and Reese, the temptation comes in the shape of their own progeny, their own love, their own future. It tries to sell them on something that doesn’t even exist anymore, but which they would, in their heart, want to be true.

And still, they fight it off. They prove heroic by turning aside the lies and fighting for the future, and for those innocents around them. Unfortunately, it gets lost in the shuffle of confusing what-ifs and special effects overload, but it’s why there will be another Terminator film, too.

As much as I hate to admit it, when that time comes – “I’ll be back.”

Maggie: Walking The Line Between Life & Death

by Leave a Comment

maggieI feel like I need to get this off my chest.

I hate zombie movies.

There. I said it.

Honestly I’ve simply never been excited about The Walking Dead, yawn at the prospect of another Romero project (although I acknowledge that he knows the craft well) and I’m not a fan of the gore generally associated with the genre. There are exceptions, of course. (There always are.) Still, those exceptions are usually ones which zombie enthusiasts reject as not ‘true zombie films’ like World War Z and I Am Legend.

And then, there’s Maggie.

Originally intended to have its world premiere at TIFF last September, Maggie was mysteriously pulled from the schedule and held back until the spring. At the time, the rumour was that the distributor was concerned that the notoriously picky festival crowd would tear it to shreds before it hit the public.

That was a mistake.

In a familiar setting, Maggie takes place in a world ravaged by a mysterious virus that is gradually turning humans into zombies. Wade Vogel (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a small-town farmer whose daughter Maggie (Abigail Breslin) runs away to the city. He searches for two solid weeks to find her, only to discover that she has contracted the virus herself and begins to decompose. Refusing to deliver his daughter to the ‘Quarantine’ until absolutely necessary, Wade brings Maggie back to his home where he can care for her properly over her remaining days.

maggie2What sets Maggie apart from other entries into the zombie genre is its tone. In a shocking performance, Schwarzenegger plays his role muted and emotionally, rarely raising his voice above a whisper. (He cries… twice!) Still, without question, the real star of the film is Breslin.

Living in a state of both living and dying, she agonizes over her inevitable death, yearning for a normal life with her friends and family. What’s more, instead of playing out as a thriller or gore-fest, Maggie plays out as a teen-centric cancer drama. (Think The Fault in Our Stars… with zombie-isms!) Rather than focus on the potential gore, Maggie emphasizes the beauty and value of every individual as God’s created beings. Breslin’s performance reveals her as more than ‘just an infected being’.

In addition, as Wade, Schwarzenegger drives this sense of human value home further. Essentially stepping into the role of the Prodigal’s father, he celebrates his daughter’s homecoming in a way that does not judge her rebellion. By welcoming her back into their home, despite the warnings of other citizens, Wade demonstrates that she matters to him primarily because she is his daughter. While she must live with the consequences of her actions, he never allows her to forget that she has value. With a love that mirrors the redemptive nature of our Heavenly Father, Schwarzenegger refuses to let his daughter forget who he sees her as, despite her condition.

In many ways, he gives Maggie her life back.

Is Maggie amazing? No, but it’s a fascinating look at humanity… and the most unique role that Schwarzenegger has ever had.

Even if it isn’t a true zombie film.