The Ugly Truth - Poster

So when I first started watching the trailer for The ugly Truth I was certain that it was going to be a comedy. I knew nothing of the film before I watched the trailer, and the poster makes the film look like something I would be into.

Then about half way throught the trailer I realized that I wasnt watching a trailer for a comedy flick, but rather a trailer for a romantic comedy. Damn, I was so ready for another knocked up.

So now I am stuck asking myself, will this romantic comedy be enough “comedy” for me to see it?

So I figured I would leave it up to you guys. What do you think, Comedy or Chick Flick?

Right At Your Door

STARING: MARY McCORMACK, RORY COCHRANE, AND SCOTTY WAYD JR. AS TIMMY

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: CHRIS GORAK

RELEASED: 2007.

RUN TIME: 96min

<SOME MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD>

Knock, Knock!!

Who’s there?

Terrorism!!

Terrorism who?

Pizza delivery………………..

Right At Your Door, is a compelling drama set in post 9-11, Los Angeles. The film has some very impressive acting on the parts of Mary McCormack and Rory Cochrane, however Scotty Wayd Jr. phoned it in.

The story begins as Lexi (Mary McCormack), and her husband Brad (Rory Cochrane) wake up on a normal hectic shitty workday. Lexi, has a tight schedule as she’s in a hurry to hit the freeways and beat the morning traffic… Written in true Hollywood slacker style, Brad is currently unemployed and needs to stay home to make some calls. (smoke weed and play Guitar Hero)

Lucky for us we don’t see too much of that as the action starts off very fast and heavy. Coming over the radio (in real-time) we hear that Los Angeles has been hit with 3 conventional bio-weapon bombs. Brad of course goes after Lexi, as he gets deeper into the city he begins to see that the Police have got the city totally locked down, and anyone trying to leave the blast zone’s are arrested or shot if they do not comply. As Brad earlier reacted on pure adrenaline he finally decides to get back home as the radio news is urging everyone to take shelter from the smoke and fallout.

At this point the film starts to get a little predictable. After sealing up the house Lexi somehow manages to come back, Brad of course is afraid to let her in as she’s been exposed to the fallout. Shock settles into frustration as the uncomfortable situation plays on the two characters. Lexi’s behavior starts to really interfere with the viewer having any empathy for her, as her careless actions start to really get annoying and begin to put other peoples lives in jeopardy. However just when you think this story is predictable and about to loose all credibility the predictable falls on its ass, there’s a great twist ending that I didn’t see coming, even when I knew to expect one, Intense film! The realistic drama is at times very surreal. I recommend this film for adults only. Overall this film is a classic in the vein of a Alfred Hitchcock or Rod Serling Twilight Zone episode.

The DVD includes, a commentary by Chris Gorak, “Forearm Shiver” - An interview with Chris Gorak, “film school” - Tips on making an independent film with Chris Gorak, and alternate script endings.

Superman - Confessions of a Superhero

STARS: CHRISTOPHER LOYD DENNIS, MAXIMUS BATMAN ALAN, JENNIFER GARRETT, AND JOE MCQUEEN AS THE HULK

DIRECTED BY: MATT OGENS

Released: 2007

Run Time: 92mins

< MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD>

Well you can see the stars as you walk down Hollywood Boulevard, in this documentary filmmaker Matt Ogens, walks us down the streets of (Hollywood and Highland) as we follow the personal lives of four superhero impersonators (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Hulk). The film travels along as they make a living off tips, taking photos with the tourists outside of Graumanns Chinese and Kodak Theaters.

The star of this film is undoubtedly Christopher Dennis, he plays SUPERMAN and has the street cred that makes the other impersonators look up to him. The film goes into his personal life as we get a look at the inside of his (Superman Shrine) apartment. If you look closely you can see some strange stuff in there. Eh’ Hemp’. We also discover why he’s decided to become an actor, as he only does the Superman gig during his time off. “Eh’ hmm yeah right.” We also meet his wife as she travels with him to the Superman Expo in Metropolis, Illinois. The journey is quite touching as Dennis is a person that obviously has some personal issues and they are touched upon, however the film never openly mocks him or his obsession with Superman.

The documentary also covers the story of Maximus Alan, who’s a dead ringer for George Clooney. As a struggling actor Max, befriended Dennis, and because he looks like George Clooney decided to become the BATMAN version of him. The film really explores Max in a way that I found surprising, as he’s a guy that has violent mood swings. These sometimes get Max into trouble out on the street, and with the law.

(WONDER WOMAN) Jennifer Garrett’s story is the classic small town girl comes to Hollywood to find fortune and fame. Her story is rather sad as you follow her along to auditions trying to get real acting work. Her story I felt was the most touching of the four, that’s all I will say about her story.

Another similar story is the way that Joe Mc Queen (HULK), ended up in Hollywood, as he has a hard time dealing with what he calls, “pan handling for chump change, taking pictures with tourists.” I actually met Joe about a month ago in a Hollywood CVS Drug Store parking lot. He was walking home in the Hulk costume and just looking at him I felt so bad for this guy. It was at least 90 degrees and it must have been 130 in all that foam he was wrapped in. We exchanged hello’s, as I wondered how this guy does what he does everyday. It was real interesting to see he was a major part of this film.

The film is quite moving as the cameras are rolling. The documentary starts to naturally uncover four distinct compelling story arcs. As Max starts to go into therapy for his anger problems, and Joe lands a his first movie role you realise that these are real people struggling to find a direction in life. The stories are sad, real, moving and in a way capture the timeless allure that Hollywood has over people that want to become stars!

This documentary is filmed in widescreen, and has a very impressive surreal soundtrack. The editing is extremely well done, and the story’s are touching. I wouldn’t recommend this film as a comedy, its more of a story of real humans caught in a very special time of their lives. A classic independent documentary if I’ve ever seen one.

The Dvd includes a commentary with Superman and his wife. 6 additional scenes including “ComicCon” footage, an in depth interview with the director Matt Ogens, a Radio interview, a superhero photo slide show, and the theatrical trailer. I was bummed as the subtitles are only in Spanish, as I often use them to write reviews. Damn!

Planet of the Apes

Because we absolutely needed one, 20th Century Fox is planning another Planet of the Apes film.  The project, currently titled “Genesis:  Apes,”  has long been rumored to be in development.  Apparently this film will be a remake of the fourth Apes film “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.”  But it had been over a month since we had heard anything about this film.  Many people thought the project was dead.  But during a  break session in a marathon showing of the five original Apes films on the Fox Movie Channel,  Fox’s production chief Tom Rathman spoke about the project.  Rathman appeared on camera and had the following to say:

“We are very close at Fox on a new Apes script - this one a kind of prequel story before the first story, with a return to the social thematics that mark the first one, but with an entirely contemporary setting - Earth 2009.”

Oh Joy!  I just cannot wait to see this! (Can you detect the sarcasm in my words?)  Seriously people, why are the braniacs at 20th Century FOX destroying another classic property?  Wasn’t the last Apes debacle enough?  That film ended up as one of the only works of the great Tim Burton that I dislike.  Please, at least tell me there will be no more Mark Whalberg.  Normally, I am a fan of his.  But he was terrible in that movie.   Okay, I will say this.  The film looked good (as is expected from a Tim Burton film)  The costumes were well done.  In fact, the costume design was nominated for several awards from several organizations, including BAFTA.  All that said, why oh why are we getting another Apes film?  Well, you can thank Blu ray sales for this one folks.  The series was recently released on Blu ray and they have been selling incredibly well.  And if there is a chance to squeeze some extra cash out of a property already owned by a studio, you know they will do it.  As far as I’m concerned, you can file this one under “Who Cares?”

a/k/a Tommy Chong

STARING: CHEECH MARIN, PARIS CHONG, LOU ADLER, SHELBY CHONG, ERIC SCHLOSSER, PETER COYOTE, JAY LENO, GEORGE THOROGOOD, BILL MAHER, AND TOMMY CHONG.

WRITTEN , PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY: JOSH GLIBERT.

RELEASED: 2008

RUN TIME: 75min.

<VERY MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD>

Tommy Chong and Cheech Marin, most people know them as “Cheech and Chong”, were riding a comedy high during the counterculture that took place during the late 60’s and 70’s. The movie Up In Smoke was a huge comedy breakout film for the two comedians, however over the decades of successful films and stand-up they eventually split up. Cheech, went on to work in films, and also had a success tv career, Nash Bridges. Chong, did the same, and recently had a recurring role on That 70’s Show.

Tommy Chong also had a successful (tobacco) pipe company “Chong Glass”. This is where the story begins as documentary filmmaker Josh Gilbert, takes us on a trip along with Tommy Chong, as they chronicle the events that have led him to a 9 month federal jail sentence for selling (tobacco) pipes. Sounds crazy but its sadly true, as we see in this film how certain steps were taken to insure he would have no choice but to serve jail time for illegal sale of (so called) drug paraphernalia.

The documentary goes back to the comedians origins as the film follows him along for his last 2 weeks before reporting to prison. The film shows a lot of classic footage on how Tommy met up with Cheech, and how the whole “Cheech and Chong” machine got started. There’s also some classic “Cheech and Chong” movie, and stand-up footage. Intermixed along with the chapters on his life and career Tommy talks about why he believes he was targeted by the feds in a drug sting because of a joke he made about the Bush administrations “War on Drugs”. There’s some great interviews with Cheech Marin, Tommy’s, legal defense team, Chongs family, celebrity interviews, and some great news footage.

I found this documentary very informative, compelling, sad, and humorous. It provided a transparent explanation as to what really happened to, “a/k/a Tommy Chong.”

The Dvd contains Chapter Selection, Deleted Family Footage, and an interview with “Cheech and Chong” on the origin of the “Dave’s Not Here” bit.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  From my family to all of yours!  There is a lot to be thankful for this year in theaters.  It’s been the year of the hero, with several superhero movies all having various forms of success.  We had “Hellboy 2:  The Golden Army”  which was beautifully done, very funny, and chock full of monster goodness!  There was “Hancock” and that was certainly an interesting take on the genre, regardless of what you thought of the movie.  Can’t forget about those Marvel superheroes!  “The Incredible Hulk”  was a great film, clearly the best version of the Hulk to date.  It obviously drew influence from the Hulk t.v show (even including the “sad walking away song”) and Norton was brilliant as Bruce Banner.  Of course, the first real smash hit of this year was “Iron Man.”  Fans finally got to see one of Marvels more popular, yet under-utilized superheroes hit the big screen, and they showed their support!  It was the first film to gross 300 million this year.  That movie was just plain fun.  Robert Downey Jr simply IS Tony Stark.  Then we got “The Dark Knight.”  Wow.  What can’t I say about that movie?  Well, I can’t say it was bad.  Hands down (in my opinion, of course) the best film of the year so far.  We can be thankful for Heath Ledgers role as The Joker.  Rest in peace Heath, you are sorely missed.  “The Dark Knight”  was one of the highest grossing films of all time for a reason.  It is the best superhero movie ever, and the first one worthy of Oscar consideration.  And speaking of heroes without any super powers, how about “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.”  Sure, some say it was the worst Jones movie to date.  But it was good to see Indy back on the big screen.  And I for one am glad to see there may be a future for this franchise with the addition of Mutt played by Shia “The Beef”  Labeouf.  I don’t care what anyone says, I think that kid is great.

On a side note completely unrelated to movies, I personally have a lot to be thankful for.  The past year, I’ve experienced some serious personal tragedies, so I feel like I can say this.  Let everyone be thankful for the things that they have.  Enjoy the time you have with your families and friends.  Enjoy life and love.  And certainly, enjoy the movies!  I am thankful for joining the team here at Movie Guys. Thanks guys, you’re the greatest.  I am thankful for all the people who come here and let their opinions be heard.  Thanks for coming to the site guys! You make this fun and definitely interesting.  I am thankful for the intelligent conversation and the great back and forth we get here on the comment boards for our posts.  It’s been fun so far!

Thank you to everyone who comes here and enjoys what we do.  I hope that we can continue you provide you with the news and reviews you want to see, and I hope you continue to come and enjoy the site.  Here’s to another great year at the movies!

Cheers

Jason Statham, Robert Knepper - Transporter 3

What makes a good action film? To me there are really only a few qualities. 1) The Bad Guy. 2) The Kick ass hero. 3) Some explosions and fight scenes, and of course 4) The hot chick.

The Bad Guy

Robert Knepper plays an excellent villain. Knepper is one of the reasons I watch Prison Break, and I loved his role in Hitman. Transporter 3 is no different. He plays the role amazingly well, and really added some spark to the film. However, I really felt like he was held back. I really think that his character should have been a little more evil. Either way, he did an excellent job as the villain, and I really think that his contribution to the film was amazing.

The Hero

How could you go wrong with Jason Statham. His performance was excellent in the first two Transporter films, and I was very glad that they kept him for a third. Statham is the perfect action star, tough and emotionless. His fight scenes were some of the best I have seen from Statham, and as usual he did an excellent job with his character.

However, I was quite disappointed in the amount of “unbelievable” moments. Statham pulled off some pretty ridiculous moves, with his fight scenes, and his chase scenes. I only think Statham was hit once or twice despite the fact that he was in a dozen or so brawls. His car chases where awesome, but very un-realistic. I know it is the movies, but i really expected something a little more believable from Statham.

The Hot Chick

Natalya Rudakova, are you serious? How did she land the role as the love interest? I really don’t understand how some one so unattractive could land the role as Statham’s love interest. I loved the idea behind her character, the foreign chick that spoke broken English, but I really think that they could have chosen someone a little more attractive. I am also beginning to wonder if her characters “language” was to cover her bad acting skills. To be honest, Rudakova damn near ruined the whole film. If it wasn’t for her quirky personality in the film, I think she would have ruined it all.

The Conclusion

I know my review may sound negative, but I really liked the film. For some reason though I couldn’t write this review without it sounding negative. However, Transporter 3 was much better than it’s predacesor, Transporter 2. The fight scenes were amazing, even if they were flawed, and the story was great. I just really wish they would have tried a little harder to keep the integrity of a film.

Let the hero take a hit every now and then, tone down the car chases, and get a more attractive girl. I know, you can’t win them all but I just think that making these three small changes would have made Transporter 3 more than just a GOOD movie.

Dark City: Directors Cut

Staring: RUFUS SEWELL, KIEFER SUTHERLAND, JENNIFER CONNELLY, IAN RICHARDSON, RICHARD O’BRIEN, AND WILLIAM HURT.

Directed By: ALEX PROYAS.

<VERY MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD>

The Dark City Directors Cut, is a totally re-edited film that includes over 11 min of additional footage. There are a few new scenes that were obvious however the entire film has been re-edited by director Alex Proyas, and unlike the recent new Waterworld cut, this is not the TV version. The image quality is staggering as the remastered print looks amazing compared to the original. Its almost like comparing VHS to DVD, its that good!!! The new cut delivers a more mysterious take on the intentions of The Strangers. The opening narration, that all but gave away the plot in the original film has been removed. For new viewers of the film this will add a new twist on just who or what The Strangers are. Small cuts in dialog are also noticeable, as the music score has also been altered. Upon my first impression of Dark City I was instantly reminded of The Matrix, the look and colors are right out of the machine world, there are other striking similarities as well.

Originally released in 1998 , (a year before The Matrix btw), Dark City is the story of John Murdock (Rufus Sewell) , as he awakes with his memory erased, in a hotel room with a dead call girl. The enigmatic Dr Schreber (Keifer Sutherland), wants to help him as he calls, and tells him to leave immediately. John escapes just as the Strangers come looking for him. The Strangers, are pale looking freakish men (no women) in black, that have psychokinetic powers.

The police eventually come into the scene as Detective Frank Bumstead (William Hurt), has been hot on the trail of the killer, that has now killed six prostitutes. Fearing that her husband is going to be arrested for the murders Emma Murdock (Jennifer Connelly), attempts to convince detective Bumstead that he’s not the killer.

As Murdock slowly begins to remember fragments of his youth spent at Shell Beach, he’s confronted by the Strangers. They try to capture him, however quickly realize he now has the same psychokinetic powers they do.

If I cover more plot details the story will become clear, as the new cut takes away the obvious and creates a new aura of mystery to the film. As I re watched the original cut I couldn’t help but notice it seemed rushed. In reviewing the “Directors Cut” , I watched the movie at least 3 times, every time I found myself enjoying it more and more..The Directors Cut of Dark City, is a superior film in every way. If you were a fan of the original, this new version will blow you away!

The DVD has 3 commentaries including one by film critic Roger Ebert, it also contains new bonus features, and 80 new photos.

Run time: 111min.

Will Smith as Hancock

Now 100% Spoiler free!!!

Starring:  Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron

Run time:  1hr 42 minutes

Plot Synopsis:  A hard-living superhero who has fallen out of favor with the public enters into a questionable relationship with the wife of the public relations professional who’s trying to repair his image.  Along the way he discovers the nature of his powers, the reasons for his amnesia, and his mysterious past.

I have always been drawn to superhero movies.  Something about the thought of having super powers appeals to the kid in me.  I would love to fly, have super strength, and super speed.  Wouldn’t you?  I think it appeals to all of us.  We might not all enjoy superhero movies, but a part in all of us wants to have some kind of special ability. I think.  And I have always been a fan of the traditionally Will Smith 4th of July blockbuster film.  I’ve enjoyed every one, from “Independence Day” to the set of Men in Black movies.  The movies may not be the best examples of cinema, but they never fail to entertain me.  Sure, there is not much re-watch value, but they are good for 2 viewings, once on the big screen and once at home on DVD.  Anyway, “Hancock” is a superhero movie.  But it is not like your average superhero movie.  This movie stars  Will Smith as the superhero slob known as Hancock.  Hancock is not without his human flaws, a characteristic of this movie you won’t find in most movies in this genre.  He is  an alcoholic, a slob, and foul mouthed.  This hero is definitely not a role-model.  When he is not “saving the day,”  Hancock lays around on bus stop benches drinking his life away.  When he is “called into duty,”  he is reckless, with no regard for public safety  and no remorse for the damages he causes in his pursuit of “justice.”  And because of all of this, the public does not think highly of their “hero.”

It was originally based on a screenplay titled “Tonight, he comes.”  It was written with some dark dark themes.  It was thought that it could never work as a movie, it couldn’t be made.  For instance, one particular scene that was written involved showing the rape  of a small child.  Now I’m not saying that I would like to have seen that in the movie.  But it does give you an idea of dark the original piece was meant to be.  And knowing this as I re-watched the DVD, I found myself disappointed.  Because there was so much that could ve been better.  The original work screamed for an R rating.  Unfortunately, it did not turn out as intended.  It was dark, but not that dark.  The R rating was deemed too dark, so the film was shot for a PG-13 rating.  The unrated cut I watched was not much darker.

What makes this movie special is the subject matter it touches on.  There are real emotions here, and the film does a good job  of getting the audience to feel for the characters.  At first, I found myself upset and overall disgusted with Hancock.  As the film progressed, you got to see some truly endearing qualities in him.  I began to feel a bit for him.  And in the end, when all is getting explained, I really felt bad for him.  I connected with this hero more than any other hero I’ve seen on film.  Hancock has really human problems just like the rest of us.

While the film played with emotions rather well, I felt that overall the action was lacking.  I would have liked to see this film a little longer, with more room being given to action.  Both when Hancock was acting like a slob and after he cleaned up his act.   The action that was there, did little to help advance the story.  It felt to me like it was there just to be there.  And the obligatory boss battles (without giving anything away, there were two big “fights” with different “enemies”)  were very different.  One was very good.  The “final showdown” as some would call it, was great.  It was emotional, powerful, tense, and thrilling.  An earlier big battle seemed silly to me.  WIthout giving up too much, Hancock fought with someone who had similar powers, but I didn’t feel like this fight fit in the story well.  Overall, I would have to say that as a movie, it was simply good.  Not great.  It had near endless potential.  If it was a touch darker.

The unrated 2 disc DVD I picked up included the standard set of special features:  behind the scenes footage and  featurettes on stunts, costume design and special effects.  As far as DVD’s go, this one is nothing special.  The special features do not warrant a buy in my opinion.  This movie is a solid rental.  It was a nice story, and an interesting take on the genre overall.  Action was okay, the drama was there.  Pick it up for a nice Saturday night at home away from the cold.  But I wouldn’t buy it.  At least, that’s just my humble opinion.  In case you are interested, “Hancock” comes out today!

Terminator: Salvation

*Update*

The official Sony Pictures site has just posted a rather cool “motion poster”  for the upcoming Terminator film.  Check it out here!

Sorry 790, I had to do it.  As much as you may despise this film, as much as I may agree with you on this, it is time.  For as many T4 haters, there will be as many (quite possibly more) fans of the upcoming man vs metal flick.  And this post, 790, is for them.  Now that I have dispensed the necessary apologies, on to the news T4 fans!

The Internet has been buzzing about McG’s upcoming “Terminator:  Salvation” in recent weeks.  There has been footage of the film leaked onto the web, which we would have loved to bring to you if not for studios demanding the footage be pulled from most sites.  If you have not seen it, I will say that it is still out there if you look hard enough.  I have seen it in a couple of places, and it is surprisingly cool.  If you are a fan and you’re looking forward to the new movie, I recommend you hit up Google and search for the clip.  Basically, it’s a brief rundown of some of the concepts of the movie, it shows several terminators in action.  The footage reveals some terminators being created for the movie, including a gigantic “harvester” which apparently rips open remaining buildings and “harvests” humans (there are rumors out there that the plot will center around Skynet’s attempt to harvest humans to get DNA for future terminator models).  The footage also shows an early model terminator, the T-600.  The 600 series is supposed to have a “nasty soviet” look.  In addition to these terminators in the footage, there is also some pretty official looking concept art out there which shows the harvester, the T-600, a snake-like terminator as well as “moto-terminators.”  These “moto-terminators” are basically motorcycle/terminator hybrids.  No, I’m not kidding.  Again, these pics are still out there on the web, waiting for the savvy T4 fan to find them.  Unfortunately, I can’t post the pics either, but please find them and check them out.

Another story generating quite a bit of buzz in the world of terminators is the man himself, the original terminator, Mr Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Recently photo’s have surfaced of Arnold on the set of T4.  What was he doing there?  If you remember, when Schwarzenegger was last asked about the movie, he said he found it “confusing.”  So why go to the set, Mr Governator?  Well, according to McG himself, the T-800 model apparently plays a pretty big role in this film.  Arnold would not have time film the movie, what with all his governating going on.  So maybe he was there for a little motion capture session?  Any terminator film without Arnold probably wouldn’t feel like a terminator film.  So could we see Arnold appear as a CGI T-800?  Seems probable to me, but I can’t confirm this.  Here is what McG had to say on the T-800:

“We’re trying to synthesize a human character with a CGI character and that may or may not have something to do with the T800,”  And he isn’t pleased with the progress, as he says “At the moment it’s not good enough, and we’re running out of time.”

I really hope he finds a way to get Arnold in the film.  It just wouldn’t be Terminator without him!  Now to address all the Internet rumors about the plot of the film, including the controversial “ending.”  McG addressed all of this when he aired footage from the film, and sat down for a little Q & A in London recently.  So lets start from the beginning.  McG was a doubter on day one.  He didn’t believe that the world needed another terminator movie.  It was not until writer Jonah Nolan convinced McG of his vision to re-invent John Connor ala “Batman Begins.” The two are now comparing the movie to Begins and the new Bond films as re-inventions of the classic characters.  An origin story showing how John grew up to be the leader of the resistance.  The film is said to be a “gritty, dark, grimy war movie.”

Bale as John Connor

Christian Bale will star in the film as the leader of the human resistance, John Connor.  But Bale is already Batman.  Two franchises running at the same time?  Why would Bale do that?  He does have a history of being picky with his film choices, and apparently T4 was no exception.  McG said that when he asked Christian to star as Connor, he was initially told to “Fuck right off.”  Bale wanted nothing to do with the film unless he was convinced that it could be done as a play with no big budget effects.  McG convinced Bale that the film would work as a serious drama, and he signed on to play John Connor in three films.  Apparently, McG has the next two films already “arced out.”

So what about this footage that was shown in London, you ask?  Well, the footage shown was a combination of the featurette leaked online that I referenced earlier, in addition to some new, unfinished footage.  The new footage was described as “Transformers style meets the Matrix.”  The description alone is one of the reasons why 790, and now I, are starting to worry about this film.  Why do all robots have to suffer from what I now affectionately call “Michael Bay-itis?”  Anyway,  the footage shows Marcus Wright (played by Sam Worthington) and Kyle Reese (played by Anton Yelchin).  Marcus awakes, seemingly unaware of the time and place.  He asks what happened, was it Judgement day?  Then Marcus and Reese are being chased through the desert by a harvester.  It smashes a gas station, and the chase through the desert provides, according to McG himself, some “fairly standard Hollywood action.”

Then there is some of the John Connor drama.  John is trying to be the leader he was raised to be, but there are some more experienced military leaders who are reluctant to let this “young, non-soldier”  take command.  Connor discovers the DNA plot to create the genetically modified T-800’s (as mentioned above) and warns that if the T-800’s come online so soon, the war will already be over.  Apparently there was also a scene here that was also shown at comic-con, showing Connor confronting a chained up Marcus Wright.  Connor exclaims that Marcus killed his mother and father, be he won’t kill him.   Perhaps this is the scene in question?

Bale and Worthington

Connor is seen talking to resistance Pilot Blair Williams (played by Moon Bloodgood).  He says “This is not the future my mother told me about.”  To which she replies “If you saved us in another future, you can save us in this one.”  It is also said that Connor gets to utter the now infamous phrase “I’ll be back.”  But it is not used in the same context.

Finally, the most popular and equally disgusting rumor floating around the web is about the films “ending.”  Rumor is that the end of the film has John Connor killed and replaced by a recommissioned Terminator.  This is another point of contention I have with the film.  As I read this rumor, I was disgusted.  I thought to myself, how could they ruin the mythos in this way?  Well, according to McG, the rumors are false.  John Connor will not die at the end of the movie.  Here is what he had to say:

“That is not the ending. John Connor is not the machine. We did discuss that idea, but that is not the ending, I can say that right now.”

Well thank goodness for that!  That would have been horrible, and really upset a lot of fans.  I probably would not have gone to see the movie if that proved to be true.  And I still don’t completely trust this news.  I don’t trust McG.  I think he is terrible.  And it wouldn’t shock me if they did something like that.  Apparently, there is a lot of terminator fiction out there meant to show avid readers what happened in the future war that up until now was left to the imagination.  790 tells me this stuff is very good (I haven’t read it yet, but I intend too)  If this path was followed by McG, the movie would quite possibly be very different.  It doesn’t seem like it was followed though. The movie is not out yet, and very little footage has been seen by anyone outside of those working on the film.  So we can’t be sure what it will end up like.  But I have my doubts, considering McG is the director.  I mean, he has already mislead us by telling us he met with the franchises original director James Cameron, and saying he got Cameron’s blessing.  This was not true, of course, and McG did come clean.  He said while he did not get his blessing, he didn’t come out damning him for making the movie.  It was implied that Cameron followed a truly great film by a great man (Alien from Ridley Scott) so he knows what it is like.  What does that even mean McG?  Just say it man!  No one said it was cool, or I hope you do well.  They all basically said, “whatever.”

So there you have it, a rather complete update on all the Internet buzz for McG’s “Terminator:  Salvation.” Does any of this news change your opinions of the film?  Please, let your voices be heard, this is a divisive issue.  Are you with me and 790, worrying about this film and how bad it seems to be?  Or are you psyched to see the future war, and more man vs metal madness?

“Terminator:  Salvation” stars Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Common, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Helena Bonham Carter.  It is currently set for release May 22, 2009.