Movie Talk - The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Next up is a quick look at a franchise I’ve sometimes talked about here: the Terminator franchise. Yeah, I’m jumping on the Terminator bandwagon since that new trailer for Terminator: Dark Fate was released. I thought it looked fine, but I want to see more before I make my decision on it. We’ve been burned before with this franchise, so I can’t blame fans for sitting this one out. Thankfully, I’m sitting the possibly “meh” entries out for this post. Today, it’s just the first two movies: The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

T2 is what introduced me to the franchise. I know I’ve seen it on TV plenty of times. I even rented it as a kid, though I never got to watch it unfiltered. In fact, I think this is the first time I’ve seen it without it being edited for TV. I didn’t see the first movie until a few years later on TV as well. Since I had the time, I decided to watch them over the weekend. I have T2 on DVD while the first movie was relegated to Netflix. It’s also the first time that I’ve seen the extended edition for T2.

Favorites - 11 Villainous Characters Gone Good

“Everyone loves a good redemption story.”

I don’t know who said the quote, but it's a true one. While we sometimes like seeing folk be bad, we also like seeing them go good. You can look everywhere for this common trope as well. This list was actually what started the whole thing. I didn’t have to think hard about which heroic figures have gone evil, though. I did have to put a little more thought into this one. While some names popped into my head easily, others took a minute. These aren't necessarily my favorite characters and it’s not in any order, so let’s start off with someone really random.

1. Sami Brady (Days of Our Lives)

I know you’re looking at me weird, so let me explain. When I was younger, my grandmother was an avid watcher of Days of Our Lives. Guess what we more or less had to watch at about 2pm? We didn’t have another TV, so I had to do something with that time! If you’re wondering, no, I’m not a DOOL fan. I haven’t watched the show in years. I do glance at it at the YMCA if it's showing, though. Even though I’m not a fan, I can say I got fond memories of it. Sami wasn’t necessarily one of them.

To put it nicely, she was one… witch. She was usually scheming to get some dude. I think one of them was named Austin. Even when she got the dude, she’d screw it up somehow. She was pretty much the jealous sister of the show. After some time, I do remember her becoming less of a witch and turning into a somewhat nice person. I guess the writers or actress got tired of that constant role of villainess. I don’t know if she stayed that way since soap operas are a lot like comic books. I can say that Alison Sweeney did a good job with that role. The fact that I remember her says something. 

2. Vegeta (Dragonball Z)

I think it’s time to swerve away from the odd and look at “The Prince of all Saiyans!” When Vegeta came onto the scene, he was a straight-up bad guy. No one can doubt that. I don’t think anyone can forget what happened to poor Nappa, aka “Mr. Clean with a ‘Stache.” Even after his time on Namek where he allied with the heroes, he wasn’t a good dude. Vegeta was obsessed with being better than Goku and he even did some really stupid things because of his Sayian pride. When you let the evil android get stronger instead of taking him out earlier, you’re not exactly good, are you?

Even when Goku returned for the World Tournament years later, he was still a douche. He let himself be taken over by Babadi (some green thing?) and went on a rampage. It wasn’t until his own son was in danger that he actually began to look heroic. He sacrificed himself to take out Majin Buu and even though that Pepto Bismal-looking thing didn’t die, it was a noble sacrifice. Like all characters in the DBZ universe, he did come back but he came back different. He even put an end to his rivalry with Goku.

Favorites –16 TV Shows That Ended Too Soon

With everything that’s going on these days, we may have something pretty good to look forward too: another season of Young Justice. This was one show that I felt got cut down too soon. It ended with a crapload of stuff left to talk about. When you have the Lord of Apokalips show up in the last minute of your show, you better do something with it! I hate it when shows get cut off too soon. It definitely sucks when they’re just one season in. Even when it’s lasted for a few years, something happens and it’s gone like a fart in the wind or something.

So, here are a few shows that went away too soon. If you notice some popular underrated shows missing, that’s because I can only do so much. Besides, Pushing Daisies didn’t sound like my thing. There were a couple of shows that went away before I could get invested in them like Almost Human and a couple of others. Whether they were animated or live-action, there have been ones that I was pretty sad to see go. The list isn’t in complete order, but the first few are ones that I still feel jaded on.

Top 36 Heroes - Part 1

Now that I’ve done a “Top Villains” list, I guess it would be good to do a “Top Heroes” list as well. So, what is a hero? The hero is described as someone of distinguished courage and ability. Sometimes, they’re well-regarded for their brave acts and upright qualities. The hero has so many good qualities that he or she is looked at as a model or and ideal. For me, there were a lot of people that I’ve looked up to as heroes.  Some examples include my dad, some uncles, Jesus Christ, and most figures from history.

Today, I’m talking about fictional heroes. They’re usually the protagonist, the leading character in some sort of story. They may even be the sidekick. Instead of doing honorable mentions for this part, I’m just extending the list to 36 heroes this time. Why stop at 36? It's simple. Forty’s too much and I’ll be turning 36 in about nine years. Anyway, it was originally going to be 30, but I just want to get as many of my favorites on the list. Besides, I have a lot more to say about heroes than I do about villains. So, let’s start this engine and go to warp factor 1!

36. Popeye

That’s right, folks! The sailor man with an addiction to spinach has made the list. All I know Popeye from are the 5 to 7 minute cartoons I used to watch when I was little. I kind of still enjoy them now. They’re just freaking hilarious. So, why did I choose Popeye? Well, that’s simple. It’s always fun to see him going up against some challenge in order to save that pole named Olive Oil. When the chips are down, all he needs is a little glob of spinach to strengthen those muscles back up and win the day. He’s probably the only hero on this list who’ll make you want to eat healthy, and that definitely something to admire about the character.

Top 22 Villains - Part 3

Well, I'm at the end of the road for this list. Who's in my top eight villains? Let's find out:

8. The T-1000 from Terminator 2 

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is one of my favorite movies. The T-1000 is one of those reasons. In the movie, his main goal is to kill John Connor, the boy who would one day grow up to become humanity’s hero. While the T-800 from the first movie is the iconic version, the T-1000 kicks that version out of the water. The machine is just ruthless in the movie. He does all he can in trying to find and kill John Connor. He’s a shape-shifter, he’s virtually indestructible, and he rarely talks. Whoever decided that Robert Patrick should play the T-1000 should get an award or something.