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)

THE SLAMMIN' SALMON (2009)

Another excellent comedy by the five-man comedy group Broken Lizard.  This time around the entire movie takes place inside a restaurant called The Slammin' Salmon, named after the owner: retired heavyweight boxer "Slammin" Cleon Salmon. Anyway, Mr. Salmon has lost a bet with the Japanese yukaza and he has to come up with $20,000 cash by tomorrow. So he offers his wait staff a reward of $10,000 to the person who can sell the most that night.  The loser gets a beating. When the wait staff hears this they go nuts and will do anything to win...or, at least, not lose.

This is a great idea for a movie and minus all the crude humor it actually reminds me a lot of the old screwball comedies of the 1930's.  Super-fast pace, mile a minute dialogue, multiple things going on at one time, hilarious one-liners non-stop, great physical humor and a fantastic supporting cast.  The most pleasant surprise though was just how funny Michael Clarke Duncan was.  He was hilarious!  I think every time he was on screen I was cracking up.  His lines were funny, but his delivery was absolutely perfect.

I really like this movie a lot and have enjoyed it many times over the years.  Highly recommended.