Fu**king Amateur? No. Fu**ing Good--Surprisingly

“You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.”— The Matrix

I have got to be honest with you, the quote above is how I have felt lately when it comes time to go to bed. I lay there, and at a point in the day where it is completely normal to wind down and get some much needed rest, my mind is still rolling along like an Indycar stuck in 5th gear and headed towards the wall—out of gas with no way to stop. It’s like my brain is telling me that there is a lot of creative things rolling around inside it, and that they need to get out. If nothing else, maybe doing this will help me sleep better at night. Or at least I hope so. I write for a living, and I am coming to the realization that I am good at what I do. A few of you have told me that I should write more, so this is for all of you. See? I finally got off my butt and sidled up to the keyboard. Are you happy now?

That brief intro out of the way, who am I? To the great majority of you, I hope I am a friend, or at the very least acquaintence, and it’s likely that we met either at work, or school.

A few of you see me as your “movie guy.” If you want to know if a movie is good, or what date a film comes out, you come see me. I also possess a “Rain Man”-like ability to know who is in what movie with whom, and what other movies they’ve been in, and with who.

Hey, if nothing else, it comes in handy at parties. I may have been the co-worker who took his PTO and went to the movies (Spiderman and Star Wars Episode 2 are specific examples that come to mind, but I’m sure if I gave it some thought, I could come up with a few more). In case you can’t tell, I like movies.

So, let’s to the reason I really started to write this blog post in the first place. Let me start by saying that I put myself out on a limb for all of you. As we are all well aware, the nation’s economy has taken the crap of most of our lifetimes, and so, to say the least, we all think a little harder before dropping down our hard earned coin.

With movie prices in my neck of the woods at $10.50 for a non-matinee, non-IMAX show (depending where you live, your price may vary up or down), I try not to spend my money on crappy movies although it DOES happen (e.g. I went to see The Soloist on its opening weekend, and disliked it so much, I walked out of a movie for only the second time ever). With that said, I think enough of all you out there to that I would like to provide you with a service—telling you what you should spend your hard earned disposable income on at the local cinema. I like you all enough to feel OK with making that sacrifice.

My first such sacrifice: Terminator: Salvation. As I am sure we are well aware, this movie has gotten publicity for all of the wrong reasons, including on set meltdowns, (Christian Bale, I am looking at you. Oh, and thanks for the help on the title of this post.), and that constant fanboy need to second guess.

There are some who feel McG should not have been selected as the director for the latest installment of the venerable franchise, despite the personal endorsement of one James Cameron (he directed the first two movies in the series, and this other independent movie called Titanic. It won 11 Oscars, maybe you heard of it.). To some, these two factors, and the dearth of negative reviews that preceded the movie top of the list of things not to like. On the contrary, there are a lot of things to like about this movie.

I will start with the performance of one Sam Worthington, who, in my opinion is pulling a Hugh Jackman with this movie. That is, he is using a big-budget vehicle to show that he has star power. I really do feel that this movie is Sam’s breakout role. In a nutshell, on one level, the movie is about him, and his quest to “see the wizard,” if you will. In this case, the wizard is SkyNet. He takes the role of Marcus Wright, a Terminator in denial, and humanizes it, literally. There are scenes in this movie that Worthington actually made me start to well up watching. Also, his subtle love affair with resistance pilot Blair Williams (played by an underused Moon Bloodgood) also adds another dimension to an already dense movie. Worthington oozes an emotional intensity, best displayed in the scenes he has with John Connor (played by Christian Bale).

Despite his blow up on the movie set during filming, and whispers that it may not be an isolated incident, Bale continues to prove that, if nothing else, he is the most versatile actor of his generation (for crying out loud, he’s gone from Batman, to John Connor, and will next play an FBI agent in the upcoming Public Enemies). He brings intensity to any role he plays that cannot be denied. It is this intensity that gives moviegoers pulse pounding intensity for their movie dollar. Without giving too much away, a scene where he tells the Terminator ready to “go ahead, just do it” (kill him), comes to mind.

Bale’s intensity is helped along by the subtle use of special effects. Not to say that are no special effects used in the film, but their use is very subtle and understated, which seems to be a recurring theme throughout the movie. This is one of the positives for me as far as a reason why McG is a great choice to direct this film. He used the effects to further the story, not to just blow his wad and make noise (Michael Bay, I’m looking at you. Pick a movie of his and you will see what I mean).

Overall, McG has crafted an excellent film, one which fills in the gap created by the time travel in other movies (for example, the one that explains how Connor meets Kyle Reese, a real motherfucker—literally. Think about it). That said, while it doesn’t hurt to know the back story of the Terminator saga, it isn't a necessity either, making for an accessible movie for devotee and novice alike.

Should You See it: Yes, blow the $10.50, if you are going by yourself. If you are taking a date, I leave the choice to see a matinee up to you.

What’s Next: Not completely sure, but I think it might be a movie that is one of the trailers that accompanies this film, The Hangover, the latest effort from the director of Old School.