“What do we want?”
“Time travel!”
“When do we want it?”
“It’s irrelevant.”

That joking exchange between leader of the human resistance John Connor (Jason Clarke) and a nameless character is emblematic of the self-aware sense of humor that the new sci-fi action film “Terminator Genisys” displays throughout. In fact, the movie’s plot is so full of references to the 1984 original that I wonder if someone who hasn’t seen the first movie would find this fifth “Terminator” film totally random and irrelevant itself.

The plot essentially ignores the sub-par 2003 effort “Rise of the Machines” and the soulless nonsense of 2009’s “Terminator Salvation,” takes everything we know from the two James Cameron movies and — acknowledging what’s happened in those — starts a new thread from there, with new actors. Sure, it’s probably full of time-travel inconsistencies, but the screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier is an inventive mashup of the best Terminator themes and ideas.

It’s only when the funny callbacks, clever change-ups, and suspenseful action scenes pause for a moment that the wooden performances of its leads Emilia Clarke (as John’s mother, Sarah Connor) and Jai Courtney (his dad, Kyle Reese) become a weakness. They’re only slightly less wooden than Arnold Schwarzenegger himself, and he’s a cyborg who recites exposition and one-liners exclusively.

In my review of the inexplicably dinosaur-sized box office hit “Jurassic World,” I offered a guide for “How to Decide Whether to Reboot a Franchise.” The first criteria is: “Does your reboot add or alter the story in a significant way while retaining the spirit of the first movie?” “Terminator Genisys” passes that test, and at least for the first half feels like a different movie than the previous ones, full of surprises and scares. It really feels like anything can happen.

This means that it also passes the second test, which “Jurassic World” also failed: “It’s not enough to be self-aware about the pitfalls of making a crappy movie, and then just continue to make that same crappy movie.”

The meta humor of “Terminator Genisys” is way more prevalent than “Jurassic World,” but even while it’s winking at the audience, it’s veering off into new territory. For example, Judgment Day is still about impending nuclear destruction, but it also ties in mobile phones and privacy issues, and has been moved from 1997 to 2017. Within the “logic” of the film, it works.

http://www.lawrence.com/users/photos/2015/jun/30/293634/

Obviously Hollywood can continue to ignore this critic’s suggestions, since “Jurassic World” has made $500 million worldwide. It proves a maxim followed by the studios that has frustrated me for many years: Audiences want to know exactly what they will see before they see it. Tell us that the reboot will be just like that thing that we loved so many years ago, and we’ll buy a ticket with those expectations.

This was on full, embarrassing display in the screening of “Terminator Genisys” that I saw. Paramount Pictures is so worried that audiences will be confused by the chances that this new script takes that they played a trailer — for the movie we are already sitting down to see — where franchise originator James Cameron explains the entire plot, and then issues a huge, major spoiler. Seriously.

I can’t imagine “Genisys” director Alan Taylor is happy about this. I avoid trailers for this very same reason, so the fact that this was shown in the theater preceding the film made me absolutely furious.

Hollywood is a business, so expect nothing to change. For that reason alone, “Terminator: Genisys” should be celebrated for taking chances, especially if its own studio lacks the courage to let the audience discover its surprises on its own.

“Terminator Genisys” is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and gunplay throughout, partial nudity and brief strong language.

‘The Wolfpack’

A controversial documentary opening Friday at the Tivoli in Kansas City called “The Wolfpack” has some serious Hollywood issues as well. It profiles six homes-chooled brothers (now aged 16 to 23) who, along with their parents and sister, live in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. They make creative homemade costumes and re-enact movies like “Reservoir Dogs” and “The Dark Knight” in their spare time, which they have a lot of, because they are rarely allowed out of their small public-housing apartment.

One year, their father let them leave nine times. Another year, once. Without any outside interaction, movies become a window through which the brothers view the world.

Documentarians must gain the trust of their subjects to capture real moments, and director Crystal Moselle pulls off a remarkable balancing act in profiling this family. The Angulo brothers are guarded, but also have big smiles and are bursting to leave the nest. The film calls its own veracity into question by her very presence in the apartment. One must also assume that father Oscar is in a nearby room, listening to all the interviews.

Yet there are truthful, revealing moments throughout “The Wolfpack,” even as there are hundreds of unanswered questions. The control that Oscar exerts over his tribe can’t really be explained, but a fearful cloud hangs over everything. Moselle is off-screen, but it’s obvious that her presence changes the family dynamic, so there are a lot of scenes that are up for deeper interpretation, not to mention at least one scene that was shot by one of the boys.

We may never know the entire story of the Angulos’ sheltered childhood, and “The Wolfpack” doesn’t even chronicle everything that is known. (When the first three boys were born, the couple was living out of a van, for instance.) As it has since its premiere at Sundance where it won the Grand Jury Documentary prize, “The Wolfpack” will likely continue to fend off charges of exploitation.

Taking all of this into consideration, this documentary is still a remarkable piece of work, especially knowing that its subjects are as film-savvy themselves Just how much of their own story are they crafting?

‘Me and Earl and the Dying Girl’

Another huge hit from this year’s Sundance Film Festival is now showing at Liberty Hall. “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” won both the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for first-time director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon. It’s a coming-of-age story featuring an awkward high-schooler (Thomas Mann) who befriends a classmate with cancer (Olivia Cooke).

Novelist Jesse Andrews adapted the screenplay from his own book and it should be noted that Andrews is not — despite what a parent told me last week — the same person who wrote “The Fault in Our Stars.” “My daughter’s been reading all the teens-with-cancer books,” he said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftd7Ibwc1Pw

KKFI First Friday Film Night

Kansas City public station KKFI has started a private-screening film series at Knuckleheads’ Gospel Lounge that features mostly music-related films, some very rare. Tom Waits’ 1988 concert film “Big Time” kicks the series off at 8 p.m. July 3, with some rare archival Waits clips to follow. The Gospel Lounge has limited seating, so tickets will be limited, and are available through the Knuckleheads website.

“We’re trying to show films that the public never gets to see in theaters and make it kind of like you’re watching them at a friend’s house with a small group of people,” says Lawrence resident and KKFI station manager Barry Lee. “This is geared toward music lovers, and we have an exciting lineup in the works for the rest of the year.”

On Aug. 7, the Gene Clark documentary “The Byrd That Flew Alone” will be shown, featuring a Q&A after the film with Clark’s brother David. Sept. 4 will feature two rare blues films, “Howlin’ Wolf: In Concert 1970” and “Muddy Waters Live at the Copenhagen Jazz Fest 1968.” This event will be hosted by KC blues musician Jason Vivone with a Q&A afterward from KC Blues Society President Danny Powell.

More selections will be announced soon. Donations will be $15 for each screening with free popcorn and drinks available.

Photo credit: Zimbio.com