Stimulus Tuesday

Every Tuesday at the Sethchild Cinema, they have dollar popcorn and dollar drinks. This gives Steven and I the perfect excuse to take in a summer blockbuster every week. If you have to grow up and work through the summer, you might as well splurge on big screen CGI, cheap popcorn and a couple rounds of air hockey. Ahh, adulthood.

Our first movie: Terminator Salvation aka Sexy Men with Guns.



Seriously. Arnold was a fantastic Terminator and the scariest bad guy ever created. But he wasn't.... attractive, per se. I mean, he really had a quality that made him not human. Which is why it continues to be strange to see him in office. But now in the fourth movie, they are amping up the sex appeal. Everyone is in these crazy detailed leather and boot couture outfits, women swing from abandoned scrap metal and then let their long curly hair flow around their perfect white teeth and post-apocalyptic eye make-up. It's a little strange. Sarah Connor came back in the second movie looking completely ripped, but it wasn't for sex appeal. She was leading the resistance! She had to be physically fit. Everyone in this movie is too pretty to be fighting machines. Though I do like a good set of cheekbones on the big screen.



Other than the visual appeal, the movie was fun. And if you have seen (and guiltily loved) the third movie, your expectations are in the right place for this one. It combined some of the best elements of the series in the big action numbers - motorcycle chases, big crane truck race, scary stripped down terminators, and the obligatory final battle in a factory. How do they end up in so many factories with the same stairs, spitting fire, and machinery noise? Are they using the same set for each film, just updating the special effects? Speaking of which, CGI Arnold was awesome and chilling. Reminded me completely of Otto in one of the final levels of Wolfenstein 3D. He was worth all of the ridiculous "dialogue." Probably the movie was a giant flop, but liking Arnold movies is practically a learned behavior in my development. I give it an A+ and suggest you read this article. Because it's nice to read about Christian Bale not yelling at someone for a change. (Beware of plot spoilers)

Next week's movie: Up! Thank heavens for Pixar. It's not summer without it.

And if you're still jonesin' for a Kris Allen fix ... here's a pretty cute little article about our favorite American Idol. All together now: Awww.