Terminator

[Spoilers below!]

Kyle: "Come with me if you want to live."

I love science fiction, time travel stories, and strong female characters. And I'm a romantic. So you can imagine how I've always felt about this movie.

The whole freaking story is a paradox. How could John Connor even exist in the first place if John himself had to send his father back in time to rescue and impregnate his

Star Wars 5: The Empire Strikes Back

[This review includes spoilers.]

Leia: "I love you."
Han: "I know."

It's a middle movie. But it never felt like one.

The opening battle on the ice planet Hoth with the imperial walkers is just stunning. I remember being totally floored when I saw it in the theater. (Yes, I'm old enough to have seen Empire in the theater.) And I was shocked down to my socks three times -- when Vader cut

Star Wars 4: A New Hope

[This review includes spoilers.]

Leia: "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

I feel somewhat inadequate to the task of reviewing a movie whose impact has been felt for decades all over the world. Those are pretty big shoes for a melodramatic science fiction movie with aliens and robots, but let's face it, Star Wars is very, very special.

The big thing that works about the

Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith

[This review includes spoilers. And it was written right after I saw it in the theater.]

Padme: "So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause."

I just saw Revenge of the Sith, and I can't get it out of my head. For me, it's up there with Empire, which has always been my favorite. This one is darker than Empire. It had to be. George Lucas deserves some heavy-duty praise after all

Pleasantville

Jen: "We're supposed to be at home, David. We're supposed to be in color."

A long time ago when I still liked Reese Witherspoon, I was bowled over by Pleasantville. It's still one of my absolute favorite fantasy movies. The first part of the movie is hilarious and original, while the second part explores some pretty serious topics and goes in unexpected directions. I've often wondered why

RoboCop

[This review includes spoilers.]

Murphy: "Dead or alive, you're coming with me."

I don't care for heavy-duty violence in movies. But I've always had a soft spot for RoboCop. It should have been a forgettable B movie, and it wasn't. It was clever, bitingly satirical, moving and visceral. It stayed in my head a long time after I first saw it.

Murphy is the only truly human character in

Blade Runner

Roy Batty: "All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain."

Blade Runner is my favorite science fiction movie. It is so rich and powerful that it lends itself to repeated watching and analysis. It asks the big questions. What is a human being? What is not? Where do we draw the line?

As likable as Harrison Ford is in every other movie he's ever made, I never liked him in

My favorite Christmas movies

I spent some time trying to figure out what to post for Christmas, and finally settled on talking about my three favorite Christmas movies.Number three may be more Dan's favorite than mine, but we watch it pretty much every year. From the deadly triple dog dare to the family's first experience with Chinese turkey, A Christmas Story is a clever slice of life, a piece of the past that rings true

Serenity

[Danger, Will Robinson! Spoilers below!]

Mal: "So. No more running. I aim to misbehave."

This is a marvelous movie, satisfying on many levels. Joss Whedon was able to tie up a lot of loose threads from the series, and give us an exciting story that really worked.

We finally got the lowdown on the terraformed planets and moons, and that they were all in one huge solar system. Made