There’s another Terminator movie, this one subtitled Dark Fate (54). This one marks the return of James Cameron and Linda Hamilton, and is supposed to be a direct sequel to T2 (we should forget the other films, rightly so). The lackluster box office for this film indicates it might be time for this franchise to put to rest. Our own James, a Terminator fan, had this to say: “Better than the last few but ultimately pointless.”
In the Oscar bait category we have Harriet (66), the story of Harriet Tubman, a key figure in the Underground Railroad in the days before the Civil War. Though I will probably not catch this until home video or streaming, it heartens me that it did well at the box office. Cynthia Erivo has a chance at an Oscar nom.
In animated fare, Arctic Dogs (tbd, RT 17) appears to be a turkey. No interest here.
I read Jonathan Lethem’s book Motherless Brooklyn (60) years ago, and it’s been kicking around as a film project for quite a while. It was Edward Norton who brought it to life, directing and starring as detective with Tourette’s Syndrome. I’ll see it eventually, just not in a theater.
The film I do want to see next is JoJo Rabbit (58), a comedy about Nazis, which is always a tricky thing. It’s about a boy who has Hitler as an imaginary friend. It seems to be polarizing critics, but is getting Oscar buzz.
On Netflix is The King (62), with Timothee Chalamet as Henry V (but it’s not Shakespeare). I saw this today and will have a review up in a day or two.
Gone Elsewhere 
Dark Fate tanking is the least surprising box office news of the year. The series was peaked and done narratively by 1991 and yet every few years they wheeze out another attempt to milk more money out of it (including a failed TV series) with decreasing success.
The biggest takeaway from Dark Fate is that Mackenzie Davis is a star and deserves better than a starring role in a fifth Terminator sequel.
What odds would have been given a few months ago that Downton Abbey would comfortably outgross Terminator in the US?
That’s amazing.
Considering how much cultural impact Arnold, Linda Hamilton and even Robert Patrick made in the first two Terminator films, it’s pretty amazing how little the last four films have done for the careers of some pretty notable stars.
Does anyone even remember Christian Bale actually had a prominent role in a Terminator film? Even if people recall the temper tantrums they prob forget this was the film it occurred on.