THE TERMINATOR (1984)

Los Angeles, 1984.  Sarah Connor is about to have a bad day.

Little does Sarah know, while riding a scooter to her waitressing job, but she is about to be the focus of one of the most important events in human history.  The simplified version (as to not spoil the story or the sequels too much) is in 1997, a super intelligent and self-aware computer system called Skynet launches a worldwide nuclear assault on humanity.  In the aftermath, some humans band together to form The Resistance.  Their leader is one John Connor, son of Sarah Connor.  For decades they fight the robot army controlled by Skynet.  Finally, in 2029, on the verge of defeat, Skynet sends a cyborg assassin back in time to 1984 to kill John Connor's mother before he is even born.  Not a bad idea, except that the Resistance also sends back a human, Kyle Reese, to protect Sarah.  What follows is exciting as fook!

THE TERMINATOR is without a doubt one of the the most influential movies of all time.  Not just on other movies, but on popular culture as well.  As for me, I've seen it, at least, a hundred times.  The story is brilliant (not only is it action-packed and thought provoking, but it's actually romantic as well), perfect use of slow-motion, the direction and editing are unbelievable (there is not a single wasted moment in the entire film, every single scene is moving it forward!), it looks amazing and the acting is great all the way through.  Outside of a few minor goofs (car headlights in the police station scene, gun sounds, etc.), THE TERMINATOR is an outstanding film and entertaining even after numerous viewings.  A timeless classic.

Part 2 - Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
Part 3 - Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
Part 4 - Terminator Salvation (2009)
Part 5 - Terminator Genisys (2015)
Part 6 - Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

SKI PARTY (1965)

Shoehorned between the superior BEACH BLANKET BINGO and the lame HOW TO STUFF A WILD BIKINI (all three were released within three months of each other!), SKI PARTY tells the completely nonsensical tale of two friends, Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman, who, instead of simply talking to the two girls they like, go through a ridiculous amount of trouble to try and hook up with them.

After a "failed" date at a drive-in, the two boys tag along on a school skiing trip that the girls are going on.  Nothing wrong with that.  Things seem to be going well, but then when the boys realize that they don't know how to ski...they, for whatever insane movie logic reason, decide to dress up like women!  And to compound the problem, the most popular boy in school now has the major hots for the female version of Dwayne!  It's actually kinda funny.  Also, Frankie Avalon enters a ski jumping contest in order to impress Bobbie Shaw, who he's been fake-flirting with in order to make the girl he secretly likes jealous!  That's right...instead of simply saying "I like you." to the the girl he likes, he follows her to another state, temporarily impersonates being a woman, fakes liking another girl and then enters a ski jumping contest to impress the girl he doesn't like.  With writing like that I guess it shouldn't surprise you that James Brown & The Famous Flames show up as a ski patrol.

Wacky story, some really good songs, beautiful locations in Sun Valley, Idaho and on Santa Monica Beach, California, humorous "breaking the 4th wall" moment, charmingly terrible special effects, Dick Miller in a small role as a taxi driver, lots of attractive girls in the background, brief Annette Funicello appearance as a college professor and the end credits promise of a "Cruise Party" movie that sadly never happened.

Attentive viewers will notice that in SKI PARTY Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman's characters are named Todd Armstrong and Craig Gamble, but in the same years DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE BIKINI MACHINE Frankie Avalon and Dwayne Hickman character's names are switched.  Meaning Frankie is Todd in this film, but Craig in DGATBM and Dwayne is Craig here, but Todd in DGATBM.