Unfortunately I am of the latter ilk. For one, I am the kind of guy who likes my Terminators to carry strong tones of Austrian/governor accent. Terminators who speak in monotone voices who have very clear missions that can only begin once their first objective is achieved: obtain clothes, boots, and a motorcycle. I come from the school of “The Electronic Murderer” (even though I’m not Polish). Picture courtesy of Answers.com.

I am not so much interested in this. “Oh, but it’s got Christian Bale,” you might respond. Watch Harsh Times and then give me that argument. Was Eddie furlong not available? I can’t imagine that the Night of the Demons remake was a higher priority for him. What happened to Nick Stahl? I wasn’t thrilled to have a new John Connor forced upon me then either, but he did an adequate job.

I’m not saying that Bale can’t cut the mustard. Bale’s not the issue. The issue is that they have gotten away from what made The Terminator a classic, and that was…well, Arnold (not to mention Michael Biehn), James Cameron, and the decade of the 80s. I’m not one to totally live in the past. I realize times have changed, but films like Planet Terror prove that the dark, gritty look of the original are still possible to achieve.

Terminator: Salvation is looking more like a Transformers or Matrix knock off (if not a stylized Robot Jox remake) to me based on some of the robot designs. But I guess that’s what you get when you give the co-creator of Fastlane the reigns of one of the most beloved science fiction/action franchises of all time. I’m a little skeptical to say the least.

But to be fair, I can’t judge it too harshly without having seen it. My expectations are set pretty low, so perhaps I’ll be overwhelmingly surprised. Some of my best movie-viewing experiences have come from low expectations.

See some recently leaked video footage at io9.com. I rest my case.

I’m certain that no one in that room could really conceive of what would happen to the world of entertainment and geekdom when Star Wars made it to the silver screen.  The action figures, the payout, the conventions, the ability to play someone called Cocknocker - none of that would have happened.

And Kurt Russell may also be thinking “Wow, I wasn’t typecast for the rest of my life!”

Mark Hammill:

Kurt Russell:

Cocknocker:

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Here’s a guy who claims he is channeling aliens via an energy beam directly to his hairy, slightly repugnant sweaty chest.  The very same chest he then makes an interviewer feel to confirm the alien-beam sweat.

The worst part is, the aliens sound like something out of a 1930’s serial featuring slightly evil aliens with German accents and horrible pronounciation.

As a bonus, the sweaty indivudual being interviewed even includes static as if to signify he’s connecting up with the alien power hour.

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I can’t imagine doing any one thing daily for 17 years short of bodily functions.

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Ouch.  Several broken ribs and a broken sternum later, Eric is lucky to be alive.

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Here’s a quick video essay to introduce you to the Strix - a 120mm, terminally guided, top attack mortar projectile.  This thing will happily find and destroy it’s target, even main battle tanks (MBTs) day or night from up to 7 klicks away.   All you need is a standard 120mm mortar!

I don’t know what’s more interesting.  The presentation, or the cheery, 1970’s science class documentary theme music at the end.

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We have no way of knowing what it is that the inhabitants of the Death Star want, or even if they are friendly. But one thing is for certain. On the fateful day when we must finally engage our enemy in combat, the greatest weapon available to us will be Jeff Goldblum and his Macintosh of Doom.

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A while back I remember hearing rumors that BB was coming to a computer and/or console near you.  Now it looks like it’s a lot closer!  Check out this teaser trailer and the screenshots below.

You can hit up the official site here, where there’s a forum that’s becoming more and more active as the potential release date draws near.

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One of the primary hurdles that Image Metrics faces on a daily basis is the Uncanny Valley.  The Uncanny Valley is a term that refers to the observed revulsion of people viewing objects demonstrating near lifelikeness.  You have experienced the Uncanny Valley any time you’ve been creeped out by a baby doll.

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Maybe Cyber Command wasn’t entirely ill-informed. Think about it; who’s always flying around in starships, fighting interstellar wars? That’s right, the Navy. Who forms the front line of defense against the insectiod alien menace? Always the Marines. If the Air Force is going to remain relevant in the Hollywood version of the 23rd century it has to start thinking about fictitious threats it could potentially defend the country against. Having already been written off by most of the science fiction genre, they had few options left to them: either they could focus on post-apocalyptic radioactive mutants or scary uber-hackers and their spam cannon equipped bot-nets. With the Cold War having so recently ended (in military years), the choice was clear: the Air Force took the red pill.

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This particular piece really stirs something within me. Sure, I love zombies and that’s part of it but it’s more than that.  The look on the kid’s faces, the thought of being trapped at the top of a playground set as hordes of undead children swarm, wondering if they’ll make it with their improvised weapons.  It could also be that one of the children bears a passing resemblence to my own.  It makes me want to go out and write young adult zombie survival fiction.  A group of children, seperated from their parents just at the breaking point of an undead uprising.  How would they survive? What would they have to do?  Would they ever see their parents again?

Definitely stop by Jason’s site and have a gander at his gallery. It will be worth your time.

Technorati Tags: zombies, playground, art, painting, jason chan, braaaaaains