Terminator

Director Justin Lin has set aside his plan to make a “Terminator” film but if you wanted a phrase to sum up his mind-set, a good one might be “I’ll be back.” Lin had been ramping up a fifth installment in the classic killer-robot franchise (despite the history of business challenges that have complicated the franchise’s status), but now that effort has taken a backseat after the success of his action film “Fast Five” and his desire to take that high-velocity franchise to its narrative finish line with a planned trilogy that now has a lot more industry fuel in its box-office tank. “Creatively, I’ve had to put some stuff on hold and walk away from some projects that I’d really love to do, but this is an opportunity for me and for us to close out the franchise the right way,” Lin said of the car […]

Fox canceled Joss Whedon‘s 2002 television series “Firefly” after a meager14 episodes were produced, but you can’t take the sky away from this space Western — the series maintains a cult following among “Browncoats,” the fans who have taken the series to U.S. Navy ships and even outer space. Fans were disappointed when the show’s big-screen sequel, “Serenity,” didn’t spark the prayed-for second season. Now, Capt. Malcolm Reynolds and his ragged, vagabond crew are back on television on Discovery‘s Science Channel — and while there aren’t new adventures, Science is the first channel to roll out all 14 episodes in the proper order, “the way Joss had intended it,” as a Discovery spokeswoman puts it. The season finale airs May 29. Our Noelene Clark caught up with “Firefly” and “Serenity” cast member Summer Glau, who played River Tam, the ship’s […]

Don’t bother making weekend plans — armageddon arrives Thursday. If you go by the lore of “Terminator” and the timeline set down by “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” the artificial intelligence of Skynet — the computer system commanding the entire U.S. military arsenal – went online Tuesday at 8:11 p.m. and began a 48-hour sequence of events that, well, doesn’t end well for us flesh-and-bone types. As you read this, Skynet is learning at an exponential rate and will soon recruit iPods, microwaves and missiles for its Thursday attack against humanity. If by some chance all of this doesn’t happen Thursday, we’re not out of the woods yet. After years of doomsday fantasy and fear-the-future science fiction, there are plenty of other red-letter days to mark down:. April 21, 2011 — Beware your gadgets “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (2008-2009): Skynet becomes self-aware and begins “Judgment […]

The great thing about time-travel movies is you can always go back and do it all over again. This weekend, the American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theatre does just that with a series of time-jumping double-features – ”Planet of the Apes” with “Escape From the Planet of the Apes” on Thursday; ”Star Trek: First Contact” with “T2: Judgment Day” on Friday; and “The Time Machine” (1960) and the cult-film “Beyond the Barrier” on Sunday. And on Saturday it’s an all-McFly marathon with “Back to the Future,” “Back to the Future II” and “Back to the Future III.” This is the 25th anniversary of the first film in the Robert Zemeckis-directed franchise that starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover. Marty McFly (Fox) travels back and forth through time thanks to his pal Doc Brown (Lloyd) and a very special DeLorean. The first film […]

Los Angeles Times film reporter Rachel Abramowitz is back again on the Hero Complex, today it’s a piece on her encounters with Jim Cameron… I first met James Cameron on the set of “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” and what I remember most is the screaming. It was a rainy night and Cameron’s crew was set up at one of those glass mansions in Malibu, which, for the purposes of the film, was the home of Skynet scientist Miles Dyson, portrayed by Joe Morton. The script pages for the evening were an ambush scene — Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton, had invaded the home to assassinate Dyson — but Hamilton was the one who seemed under attack. My very vivid recollection of the night was watching Cameron berate the actress. It was only later that I found out that the two were dating; that […]

HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE, PART ONE Stressed about finding the perfect gift for that special Muggle, Trekkie, Twi-Hard, Jedi or Bat-fan in your life? Relax and read on: You’ve come to the perfect place at the perfect time, because this is the 2009 Hero Complex Holiday Gift Guide — just think of us as a sort of retail Yoda guiding you through the complicated swamps of holiday shopping. “Buy or buy not. There is no browse…” It’s the perfect time to get your geek on, too. The fanboy culture is in full blossom at the box office and in pop culture beyond, and this holiday season there’s a mountain of gifts and gadgets that speak to the Comic-Con constituency. Here are some of the most heroic: “FRINGE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON” ($60 for DVD, $80 for Blu-ray): “Fringe” may be the […]

  Business reporter Ben Fritz, over at out sister blog Company Town, has been covering the ongoing angst among the makers of ”Terminator Salvation,” a film that fell a bit flat here in the U.S. but did very well overseas. First, Fritz worked on a piece about the slippery past of producers Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek then that was followed with his report that the duo’s bankruptcy filing. Now Fritz is back with a deeper look at the situation that updates the news by reporting a new volley of lawsuits and the producing tandem’s fragile grip on the franchise. Here’s an excerpt: The suits come as the Halcyon Company, owned by Anderson and Kubicek, has been attempting to raise money to keep operating their company, according to several people familiar with the situation. The duo also is in the early stages of development on a fifth “Terminator” film, two people […]

This Sunday marks the 10th anniversary of SpongeBob SquarePants. This year is also the 25th anniversary of James Cameron’s killer-robot classic “The Terminator.” That’s not the only link between the two disparate pop-culture icons, writes Martin Miller, an editor at the Los Angeles Times. This is a longer version of his piece that appeared this week in the paper. One serves up the glorious Krabby Patty; the other metes out pitiless death. You might think that a gregarious sponge who is fond of red ties and speaks crystal clear English underwater has little in common with a time-traveling, red-eyed killing machine whose default language setting comes with a heavy Germanic accent. And that’s where you would be wrong. Spongy, dead wrong. Despite their obvious differences, like for instance, a backbone and a penchant for murder, SpongeBob SquarePants and the Terminator are actually brothers […]

“The Dark Knight” might not have beaten “Slumdog Millionaire” in last year’s Oscar race, but it would’ve been interesting to see it given a chance.  And “Iron Man” versus “Doubt?”  Many would’ve chosen the Golden Avenger.  Now we will get to see these types of matchups since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has expanded the best picture field to 10. Of course, even with the expansion, some movies will still never have a chance in this category (“Watchmen,” probably way too polarizing), and aside from a couple of crowd- and critic-pleasers, many may not have the quality to compete. But as this news gently wafts over the awards world, we wonder how it can/will benefit the fanboy community. – Jevon Phillips RECENT AND RELATED Heath Ledger’s Oscar will not go to his parents after all “The Dark Knight” snubbed […]

I’m a big fan of lists, so is Jevon Phillips, a star contributor here at Hero Complex. Here’s his take on a recent tally of the women of sci-fi….or is that sigh-fi? — G.B. As usual, there’s a lot to dispute about anyone having a top so-and-so list, but Totalscifionline.com‘s 25 women who shook up sci-fi isn’t too startling. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Battlestar Galactica” and “Star Trek” are the only franchises with multiple entries on the list (and rightfully so). Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley of “Alien” fame was named First Lady of Sci-Fi. Of course, there were parameters, which the site laid out like so: We’ve limited ourselves to TV and film – SF and fantasy literature probably warrants a further list all of its own – and in those instances where multiple actresses have portrayed a character, we’ve written who […]