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"I see everything."
The field of robotics took another giant leap forward recently, with the creation of Rex, a "bionic man" with fully functional artificial human organs and lifelike features, bringing science reality ever closer to the science fiction depicted in movies. As incredible as it sounds, humanoid robots, or androids (just "droids" if you're George Lucas), like Rex have been appearing on screen since well before Czech writer Karel Capek gave the English language a name for them in his 1920 sci-fi play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), with the human simulacrum Hadaly a featured character in the 1896 French movie L'Eve Futur (The Future Eve). Hundreds of movies have included androids — and their part man, part machine, cyborg cousins — since Hadaly, but which ones were the best? Help us rank the movies with the coolest, the baddest, the sexiest, the deadliest, the most terrifying androids and cyborgs.
Rate the Top 10 Best Android & Cyborg Movies >>
Posted 03.06.13 by BrentJS -
"I'm a woman and can't be taken for granted. Life's a bitch, now so am I."
Robert Rodriguez made us wait an agonizingly long seven years before he felt that the script for the follow-up to Sin City was good enough to go into production, but the extra three months it took for him to choose the actress to play the femme fatale in the movie were almost unbearable. It was recently revealed that Eva Green has been selected to play Ava Lord in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, inspired casting that already has fans of the original movie and of the comic books created by Frank Miller salivating for opening day.
You can't have a great hero without a great villain. After all, it's the dastardly actions of the villains that provide the necessary obstacles for the heroes to overcome to achieve their greatness. But, just because a villain is evil to the core, that doesn't mean that she can't also be incredibly sexy. Help us choose the movies that have the hottest, the sexiest, the deadliest female villains.
Rate the Top 10 Hottest Female Movie Villains >>
Posted 02.27.13 by BrentJS -
"My fellow Americans. This will be the last time I address you."
Today’s the day! The last day of the 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar has arrived.
What does that mean to you? Well, for the vast majority of you, not a whole lot. That is, unless you actually use the calendar — more commoly referred to as the Mayan calendar — for more than decoration, in which case you'll have to turn the giant stone dials back and start all over again at Day One, Year One. However, for the small minority of doomsday alarmists among you, today is the last day of the world as we know it. Hope you didn’t have big plans for the weekend!
In the spirit of our (possibly) imminent destruction, help us choose the best movies about the end of the world and the terrifying new world that continues on after the apocalypse.
Rate the Top 10 Best Apocalyptic Movies >>
Posted 12.21.12 by BrentJS -
Arnie wasn't lying when he said, "I'll be back."
The Austrian Oak, Arnie, the Governator, Ah-nuld, ...whatever you call him, Arnold Schwarzenegger is in a class all to himself. Born in Thal, Austria, in 1947, Schwarzenegger rose up from his humble background as the rebellious son of a local police chief in post-War Europe to dominate the world of professional body-building — three Mr. Universe and seven Mr. Olympia titles between 1968 and 1980 — and then he set his sights on Hollywood. Despite one mouthful of a last name and a thick accent, Schwarzenegger tackled Hollywood with the same zeal he put into bodybuilding, becoming Sylvester Stallone's chief competitor for the title of '80s action mega-star, starring in a string of monster hits that, all told, have earned over $3.8 billion at the worldwide box office.
After climbing as high as he could in U.S. politics (limited by the fact that he was born overseas), Schwarzenegger is once again in the entertainment business, popping up in a cameo role in Stallone's ode to he-man action movies, The Expendables, before playing a more significant role in The Expendables 2. Schwarzenegger will team up with Stallone again in the action-thriller The Tomb, take on Mexican drug lords as an aging small-town cop in The Last Stand and is rumored to be involved in some way with a planned fifth movie in The Terminator franchise. Whether Schwarzenegger's second act in Hollywood has a hope of matching his first remains to be seen, but let's look back on the movies that made him great and pick the best ones.
Rate the Top 10 Arnold Schwarzenegger Movies >>
Posted 10.07.12 by BrentJS -
It's been a wild couple weeks for the Terminator franchise. A week ago, hedge fund Pacificor purchased the rights to the Terminator franchise through an auction, clearly finding the franchise worthy of further sequels. Days later, The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgement Day co-writer William Wisher complied with ideas for two more sequels.
According to Deadline Hollywood, Wisher has written a 24-page treatment for a fifth and sixth Terminator, which would include elements of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Salvation, while concentrating on characters Kyle Reece and Sarah Connors, (played by Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton in the original) in a post-apocalyptic battleground in a story that would involve time travel. The sixth movie would include an appearance by Arnold Schwarzenegger in a role with a surprising twist, and both sequels would include new villains such as "night crawlers" which jump out of the dirt to attack rebel fighters and "shape-shifting cyborgs that can morph together."
While Terminator fans will find satisfaction with Wisher's ideas that would seemingly return the franchise to its former glory, they shouldn't start speculating that Terminator creator James Cameron will come back to the franchise. Cameron told MTV that he has no interest in returning.
I have stepped so far away from the Terminator universe. I know what you know at this point. I'm happy with that. I made a decision a way's back to just let it have its life, you know? From my perspective, it's run its course and I don't know what else to say that hasn't been said. Plus, frankly... the soup's kind of been pissed in a little bit by other filmmakers, so I don't have any personal desire togo back to it. So I certainly wouldn't want to be a dog in the manger and disallow my friends from making a little money off it. Why would I do that?
Posted 02.19.10 by Ryan -
According to Variety, Sony has emerged as a potential challenger to Lionsgate's bid to buy the rights to the Terminator franchise. Originally purchased by Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek of Halcyon Co. from Mario Kassar in 2007 for $25 million, Lionsgate's "stalking horse" or floor bid was considerably lower than that at $15 million plus a 5% cut of future grosses, while Sony's bid is unknown.
Anderson and Kubicek produced 2009's Terminator Salvation, which earned more than $370 million worldwide, but filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings after failing to make good on their debt to hedge fund lender Pacificor. The pair tried to forestall the necessity of auctioning off the rights to the franchise, arguing in court that it was worth at least $70 million, but were ultimately unsuccessful.
Thursday was the final day for submitting offers and it is likely that there were other bidders besides Sony and Lionsgate, but Halcyon Co. is not commenting. The auction will be held Monday in Los Angeles, with the bankruptcy hearing following on Wednesday. The winner of the auction will control the rights to all future Terminator movies, TV shows, DVDs, and other related merchandise. As the stalking horse bidder, if Lionsgate doesn't win the auction, the winning bidder will have to pay the company a "breakup fee" of $750,000.
Posted 02.06.10 by BrentJS -
Christian Bale has had enough. In addition to the negative press that Terminator Salvation seems to have generated due to the unfortunate professional name chosen by director Joseph "McG" McGinty Nichol, the spotlight of criticism has been aimed at the film's star and his off-screen behavior on several occasions.
Bale has made the news several times in the past year following volatile public statements and domestic disturbances. And, his Terminator Salvation set rant, rife with f-bombs, was such a popular download that the secretly released audio, set to thumping club music, has received over 3 million views on YouTube.com.
Bale, initially unapologetic, eventually went on live radio to ask forgiveness for his behavior. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bale explained:
I was being told how it had gone like wildfire, and I was worried that it could completely overwhelm the movie itself. There's so much hard work that's gone into this. We had 77 days of smooth running and four minutes of me just going way too far -- and that shouldn't characterize the making of the movie. My concern was that people would unfairly judge the movie based on my bad behavior.
When asked if he was worried about what people would think of him, Bale said:
I don't feel like I have to explain, ''Well, I'm not really like this. I'm a wonderful guy and I have a lovely smile and how can you not like me?''
Bale also deflected questions about McG and some of the criticisms aimed at him in a characteristic manner:
Look, all of the stuff with my behavior and what people f---ing think of McG, none of that should matter a damn to anyone. They just want a damn good movie.
Posted 05.19.09 by BrentJS -
After the successful reinvention of the Star Trek mythology by director J.J. Abrams, fans are more excited than ever to see what director McG can do to reinvigorate the Terminator franchise. Terminator Salvation opens this week, yet many of the popular topics of conversation around the opening focus on the director's hip-hopesque nickname.
McG, whose real name is Joseph McGinty Nichol, is tired of the constant controversy over his name. He told Entertainment Weekly:
If you can't get past my name after 12 years in this industry, you're not invited.
If you don't have the hustle to figure out that McG's short for "McGinty," which is my mother's maiden name, and that she's the least funky person ever, I'm kind of done. My name won't define my movies. My movies will define my name.
Posted 05.18.09 by BrentJS -
Terminator Salvation opens in less than a week and you would think that the star, Christian Bale, would be out hyping the movie. Instead, he told Entertainment Weekly that he almost didn't make the movie:
I went, "No, I don't even have to read this." I just thought, the mythology is dead. I mean, I did flick through (the script), because you can always be surprised. But I wasn't surprised by what I read in that one.
Apparently, it took an impromptu visit from McG to convince Bale that it was a project he needed to be a part of. Bale said:
I had people telling me, "Don't do it, Christian. Don't go with that guy." In a strange way, I like the fact that he keeps that name because it does him no friggin' favors. But people hear it and they go, "F--- him!" People were telling me, "Christian, you're too good for Terminator." And I'm thinking, "I'm too good?" I'm not a snob. I really f---ing enjoy watching a good action movie. Who do you think I am?!
In Terminator Salvation, Bale plays John Connor, the man destined to lead the human resistance against Skynet's army of terminators. The film also stars Anton Yelchin as a young Kyle Reece, the man who traveled back in time in The Terminator to save Sarah Connor (and ends up fathering John Conner), and Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, a human-terminator hybrid.
Posted 05.15.09 by BrentJS -
Joseph "McG" McGinty Nichol has come a long way from his humble beginnings shooting still photos of local bands in Newport Beach, California. McG's still photography led to him shooting music videos and music documentaries before Hollywood came a-calling in the form of Drew Barrymore's big-screen adaptation of the classic TV series Charlie's Angels.
The McG-directed films Charlie's Angels and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle were both financial successes, but McG immediately tried to distance himself from those films in favor of "more substantial material." If McG's latest project, Terminator Salvation, is even half as good as the trailers, the film's release should obliterate any further references to Angels when discussing McG's work.
There are many elements that go into making a film both a critical and a financial success, but arguably one of the most important factors is hiring the right actors to bring the story to life. In a recent interview, McG was asked about some of his Terminator Salvation casting decisions. About Christian Bale, McG said:
I wanted him to play Marcus, but he was more interested in playing Connor, and we went about the business of working on the script. Christian Bale is so passionate about acting and about his craft. He has no entourage. He's got no assistant. He is about the work. That's who he is. And, to work with an actor who's that focused and that intense, is to all of our benefit.
McG goes on to discuss casting Bryce Dallas Howard and Moon Bloodgood:
I took one look at Bryce, and I know a thing or two about her upbringing and who she is as a young lady, and I thought that she was effectively a wonderful First Lady choice for this world. Then, you take a look at Moon, and Moon, to me, is the third leg of that triangle of Ripley and Sarah Connor. Moon can damn well do one-handed pull-ups on a psychiatric bed, turned upside down, and that's following in the footsteps of Sarah Connor. She is a survivor and she doesn't have a rich uncle in Hollywood. She's got to pick herself up by her own boot straps and make it happen, and I responded to that. I said, "I believe you would be the last woman standing, so come be a part of this."
Terminator Salvation also stars Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reece and Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, a human-Terminator hybrid.
Posted 05.12.09 by BrentJS