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 left me feeling like I had been in Malibu watching a foreign film without the benefit of subtitles.

Cameron is, of course, the T-800 of all directors -- a fierce taskmaster, with almost superhuman drive and very little patience for human fallibility. On the "T2" set, someone had T-shirts printed up with the filmmaker's (supposedly) favorite saying:”If I wanted your opinion, I would have given it to you.” When he’s not working, however, I've found that Cameron can be erudite and charming, and an infectiously enthusiastic evangelist. That’s the Cameron who’s been working the Oscar campaign trail recently. Many of the nominees seem exhausted by the endless rounds of Q&A's, screenings, awards – some have a reason to look haggard after plugging their films and performances for almost a year, since Sundance 2009.  By contrast, Cameron just started his pilgrimage after “Avatar” came out at the end of December, and his cyborg stamina hasn’t flagged yet.

It was the "good" Cameron who got on the phone recently to talk about the role of actors in his revolutionary “performance capture” technology and why he feels that the “Avatar” stars haven’t gotten their due from the Hollywood community. He was disappointed that neither Zoe Saldana nor Sam Worthington were nominated for Oscars or any other significant acting award. Yet he was not totally surprised, because the performance capture technology is so new, and many people in the film industry still are unfamiliar with how the process is done. Many – particularly actors -- are apprehensive about the process, and their role in it.

"Actors have to be taught more about it, that it empowers them and doesn’t replace them, “ says Cameron. “What we’re replacing is the complicated application of prosthetic makeup.”

Even Saldana and Worthington needed reassurances at one point. “I had to look into their eyes and be able to say to them, ‘What we do today is what you’ll see when you go to the premiere,' “ Cameron says he told them, as they embarked on the production of the film. “Otherwise, why would they commit to doing a great performance if you think the performance is going to be mediated and modulated down the line?”

The performance-capture filming takes place on a specialized stage called “the volume.”  Actors wear special skintight suits with reflective markers so their every move can be tracked by more than 100 cameras. To avoid the “dead-eye” look of earlier motion capture films like “Polar Express,” Cameron also developed a special head-rigged camera to record the actors faces and capture the “liquidity of the eyes.”  The camera’s data are fed into computers that render a high-quality 3-D replica of the actors and, in a startling change to the filmmaking process, Cameron was able to add all of his camera moves in post-production.

Early on, when they were doing preliminary tests of the technology, Cameron and his crew realized that the on-screen avatars needed to closely resemble the live-action actors. They had shot prototype footage with Yunjin Kim from “Lost” as Neytiri. The results were not good.

“Her eyes and her expressions, the way her mouth formed speech, just didn’t translate that well, “ Cameron said. “We had no way of knowing whether it was an accurate performance, and it struck us as important for the character to physically resemble the actor as closely as possible, especially the mouth. I cast people I wanted the characters to look like, and then we did laser scans of them, cyber scans, physical busts, plaster molds of their faces. Everything was done in the way you develop physical makeup, and then given to the CG guys to scan and bring to life. “

Cameron also dispelled the popular image of “performance capture” filming as somehow being onerous for the actors. The experience is actually close to performing theater. It’s filmmaking with all the boring parts cut out – no waiting for camera moves, no coverage, no endless waiting around in trailers for lighting, makeup….

“The beauty of it is that it’s uninterrupted. When they do get a performance that’s great, all the coverage comes from that performance. I don’t have to say ‘Do that again for your close-up.' That’s a much more artificial thing to ask an actor to do.”

-- Rachel Abramowitz

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PHOTOS: Top, James Cameron on the set of "Avatar." (Fox) Bottom, James Cameron at the Golden Globes (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)

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 best sci-fi show on television right now, which is saying a lot considering the crowd of competitors. The series was impressive from its very start for its production values, casting and cerebral ambitions, but early on it was missing a certain something; I didn't stop watching and I'm glad I didn't because by the middle of the first season the show found its groove (in part by finding a defining rhythm that wasn't beholden to a rigid, single-episode procedural pace). Like "The X-Files" (yes, it's hard not to compare the two, considering the starting-point premise of FBI investigations into the paranormal), this show has an intricate and still-unfolding mythology. It's not too late to jump on board, especially with this polished Warner Home Video collection of the entire first season on seven discs with extended scenes, loads of commentary, featurettes on special effects and the science of the show, a "Deciphering the Scene" feature for true "Fringe" students, a gag reel and more. The Blu-ray is worth the extra money, the features are even better and the show's cinematic approach lives up   to the format.You can find it at retailers everywhere or directly from Warner Home Video. Want to read more about the show? Check out the Hero Complex visit to the Vancouver set.

TAUNTAUN SLEEPING BAG:

($100) This may be the best nerd gift of the year. Originally made as a one-of-a-kind prototype for an April Fool's Day spoof, the sleeping bag is an irresistible bit of "Star Wars" that takes us all back to the icy slopes of Hoth, where frosty Luke Skywalker was saved by his quick-thinking pal Han Solo, who was resourceful enough to eviscerate a dead tauntaun (think of a cranky snow camel crossed with a llama) and show the desert-planet kid inside to keep warm. Hmmmmm, cozy! This sleeping bag is made of polyester and it won't save you from hypothermia on the frozen tundra (it's not for outdoor use) but it's a crackerjack gift and even has a lightsaber zipper so you can slice your furry friend open just like Han did. For sale exclusively at ThinkGeek.

"THE HUNTER" GRAPHIC NOVEL: ($25)  Here's one of the best graphic novels of the year and a killer gift -- Darwyn Cooke's sublime adaptation of the hard-boiled antihero created by Richard Stark (the pen name of the late, great Donald Westlake). The handsome book boasts Cooke’s spare and stylized artwork (think somewhere between the vintage cool of “Mad Men” and the storytelling flair of Milton Caniff’s “Steve Canyon” comic strips), and the 144-page tale from IDW Publishing is a meticulously faithful adaptation of the 1962 novel of the same name that introduced the scowling Parker. Available through most book merchants or directly from IDW. You can read more about this great book in the Hero Complex feature on Cooke and his mission to bring Westlake's classic character alive in a new way.

"TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY" LIMITED EDITION: We don't know if "Avatar" will live up to its billing as "a game-changer" for special effects, but director James Cameron already pulled that feat off once with "T2"  and its then-startling quicksilver CG effects. I'm a bigger fan of the first movie in the franchise (better story and none of Ed Furlong's petulance) but this limited-edition packaging ($115) of the sequel is too sweet to ignore with the 14-inch, skinless, glowing-eyeball bust of the T-800 that even makes sound effects. This six-disc (!) definitive packaging comes with every "T2" featurette and extra to date, including the Skynet Blu-ray edition of the film. That's fine, but did I mention that the metal skull makes noises and its eyes glow? Cool. This package was just released by Lionsgate in May so there's a good chance that fans you are shopping for may not have seen it before. A great gift, too, for any old college friends who now work in the Schwarzenegger administration who are spending Christmas in Sacramento for the last time. You can find it for sale at a variety of merchants.  

HERMIONE'S EARRINGS, STARFLEET CUFF LINKS and "THE DARK KNIGHT" MONEY CLIP : If you're looking for a sly, understated gift for "Harry Potter" fans (you know, something that doesn't scream "Muggle!") consider these graceful earrings of sterling silver and pink crystals ($59) fashioned as an homage to the ones worn by actress Emma Watson on screen. You can find them at the Warner Brothers shop along with a staggering array of wizard merch. In the same low-key vein, for fanboys who don't want to loudly broadcast their obsessions, there are some nifty Starfleet cuff links ($65) that are crafted from enamel and plated silver and have a bullet back closure; you can find them (as well as a Klingon counterpart product) at Cufflinks.com. We also like the folding, magnetic Batarang money clip ($39) from the Noble Collection that would fit the sleek sensibilities of Bruce Wayne but might be too small for the wad of spending cash he keeps in his utility belt.

-- Geoff Boucher

READ PART TWO RIGHT HERE AND PART THREE RIGHT HERE

READ the 2008 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

 

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 familiar with their efforts said.

If they don't prevail in the suit or raise enough money to pay back Pacificor, however, they may not get the chance to make another movie. According to the complaints, the hedge fund may end up taking control of the "Terminator" rights, which served as collateral for its loans.

Anderson and Kubicek have been involved in numerous lawsuits during their three-year career in Hollywood, during which "Terminator" is the only film they have produced and released.

After watching the first few weeks of "Salvation" box office totals, I remember wondering whether we'd be seeing another installement in the killer-robot franchise, and that was before all this latest behind-the-scenes drama. When I visited the set, director McG was clear on the fact that he wanted to make a trilogy but the story of "Salvation" didn't leave an espeically obvious next-step for the story (especially considering where the finale left charismatic newcomer Sam Worthington's and his character Marcus, perhaps the best part of the film).

So what's next? McG is busy now preparing for "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and also has plans to make an adaptation of "Spring Awakening" by all expectation "Salvation" star Christian Bale will soon be returning to Gotham City.

All things considered, I suspect the plug has been pulled on "Terminator," maybe for good this time...

-- Geoff Boucher

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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 from different mothers, as the kids might say.

The two are alike in surprising ways that has everything to do with why there are SpongeBob ceiling fans at Target and a newly opened roller coaster called Terminator Salvation: The Ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

Although the two-dimensional characters share a host of traits -- ferocious dedication to work, extreme mood swings, a distinct fashion style and an ambiguous sexuality -- it is their mutual ability to emerge unbreakable from nearly all circumstances that helps explain their colossal worldwide appeal to three-dimensional humans. What mortal among us, subject to the blings and arrows of our consumerist, post- 9/11 world, wouldn't like to plow through the day with the relative ease of either of these two fine fellows?

SpongeBob, who heartily soaks up the juice of life, feels everything. The Terminator (I'm talking strictly about the 800 Series, Model 101 here; subsequent portrayals in sequels are all mere commentary on the 1984 original) feels nothing. But whether it's a spotlight moment of acute social shame or a torrent of shotgun blasts, you can't bring this pair down, at least not for long.

Both mega-merchandised figures are marking notable cultural milestones this summer on television and at the movies. SpongeBob is a still vibrant 10 years old, a birthday Nickelodeon is celebrating with a weekendlong marathon that begins on Friday and culminates on Sunday, the actual anniversary of the pilot episode's first airing.

Meanwhile, the Terminator franchise chalked up its fourth major motion picture in May, a few months before its official 25th anniversary in October. The film has performed well internationally but only lukewarm domestically, foreshadowing perhaps that the unit may be nearing the end of its life span.

Still, no matter how the future may look for either one, they haven't done too badly for an invertebrate with a name tag and a cyborg that looks a lot like California's governor.

The world crushes us all. No one more than children. Don't get me wrong, I have children, and with 6.7 billion inhabitants on the planet, everybody needs a little crushing now and then for society to function. (No, you cannot throw your spaghetti in the waiter's face.)

"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

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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 we believe gave the most definitive performance in brackets. No doubt there are many characters you feel we’ve left off.

Yeah, yeah -- and the site does include a more in-depth examination of each choice. There will be debate over ones who didn't make it. I really like River Tam on "Firefly" -- but it was short-lived -- and the women of "Cleopatra 2525" and Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity in "The Matrix" and ... well, let's stop there.  And there may be some on the list who deserve to be higher. Wonder Woman and Xena, 22 and 23? Hey, I like Leeloo and Claire bear, but not over those two icons.

Again, it can be debated (Lois Lane! "Bionic Woman!") until we're all breathless, but give the site credit for taking on the task. Here's their final list. Let the comments flow.

The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi:

1) Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver, "Alien" series)

2) Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer")

3) Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff, "Battlestar Galactica")

4) Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson, "The X-Files")

5) Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton, "Terminator," "T2")

6) Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher, "Star Wars" series)

7) Rose Tyler (Billie Piper, "Doctor Who")

8) Sam Carter (Amanda Tapping, "Stargate SG-1")

9) Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols, "Star Trek")

10) Leeloo (Milla Jovovich, "The Fifth Element")

11) Claire Bennet (Hayden Panettiere, "Heroes")

12) Storm (Halle Berry, "X-Men")

13) Pris (Daryl Hannah, "Blade Runner")

14) Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer, "Batman Returns")

15) Barbarella (Jane Fonda, "Barbarella")

16) Sarah-Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen, "The Sarah-Jane Adventures" / "Doctor Who")

17) Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox, "Transformers")

18) Susan Ivanova (Claudia Christian, "Babylon 5")

19) Number Six (Tricia Helfer, "Battlestar Galactica")

20) Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew, "Star Trek: Voyager")

21) Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer")

22) Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter, "Wonder Woman")

23) Xena (Lucy Lawless, Xena: "Warrior Princess")

24) Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner, "Alias")

25) Marina (Stingray)

-- Jevon Phillips

Photo credits: "Aliens" - 20th Century Fox. "Star Wars" - Lucasfilm Ltd. "X-Men" - 20th Century Fox.  "Xena Warrior Princess" - Reuters.

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'Extremely complicated' is an understatement for a two-minute scene that took two weeks to film.

Early in "Terminator Salvation," Christian Bale as future resistance leader John Connor leads a raid on a Skynet facility, escapes in a helicopter, gets walloped by the force of a nuclear explosion, crash-lands and crawls from the wreckage, only to get attacked by a crawling Terminator. Did we mention this is all in one shot? To achieve this, visual effects supervisor Charles Gibson coordinated two film crews working over multiple locations to compile all the elements of the scene. "This sequence was extremely complicated," Gibson says.

The shot begins on a back lot in Albuquerque, with Bale crawling out of a hole. A whip-pan shot blurs the transition to the helicopter suspended from a construction crane in front of a blue screen. As Bale runs to the helicopter and grabs the control stick to take off, the background shows a miniature of the facility. The model was then blown up, switching the view to that of a computer-generated helicopter buffeted by the force of a nuclear explosion. As the camera pushes back into the cockpit, the scene seamlessly transitions to a hand-held camera take of Bale struggling with the controls. The helicopter, meanwhile, is on a rig that's spinning it around.  When the helicopter crashes, we're shown a new helicopter already arranged in crash position, with a stunt man in Bale's seat. After he unhooks himself and falls to the roof of the cockpit, Bale picks up the action, crawling out of the helicopter in time to see a mushroom cloud and be grabbed  by the Terminator lying in wait.

"It was one of the most-planned sequences of the movie," Gibson says of the two-week shoot (for two minutes of screen time). "We try to leave a little bit of breathing room. You get a much more fluid execution and you don't feel the phases of the shot as you move through them."

-- Patrick Kevin Day

CHECK OUT INTERVIEWS WITH EFFECTS MASTERS: WIZARDS OF HOLLYWOOD

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Photo: Christian Bale in "Terminator Salvation."  Credit: Richard Foreman / Warner Bros.

The Hollywood dream brings would-be movie stars to L.A. every week, but it also brings a curious collection of rich rubes, earnest impresarios and cold-eyes hustlers. Claudia Eller and Ben Fritz, who cover the film industry for the Los Angeles Times, have a revealing look at two neophyte Hollywood players-- Derek Anderson (shown in photo below, second from left) and Victor Kubicek (on the far right, next to diretcor McG) -- who scored a major stake in the "Terminator" franchise and may be a combination of all of those types.

 

Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek were having lunch at the Italian cafe Il Piccolino in West Hollywood in the fall of 2006 when they were served up an irresistible dish that wasn't on the menu.

The two men were presented with the chance to buy one of the best-known franchises in American cinema, the "Terminator" series, even though their entire producing experience consisted of one low-budget comedy that never made it into theaters.

The Hollywood neophytes were informed of the prospect by dining partner Peter Graves, a veteran movie marketer. "It was shocking," Anderson recalled. "We were in disbelief."

Anderson and Kubicek swooped in and quietly seized the rights, going on to produce one of this summer's most anticipated event films, "Terminator Salvation," which opened over the weekend to a relatively weak $53.8 million. The movie, starring Christian Bale of the "Batman" films, has revived the series and catapulted Anderson and Kubicek into the Hollywood mainstream. But they've also encountered controversy along the way. The pair have been enmeshed in several lawsuits -- since settled -- and other disputes involving investors, business associates and a major studio.

"Terminator" now stands alongside George Lucas' "Star Wars" as one of the few major movie brands to be independently owned and produced outside the studio system. This comes in an age when media conglomerates build their businesses around huge properties that they turn into films, toys, video games and more.

"It's remarkable that nobody in the business realized that the rights to one of the most iconic brands of all time were available," said Erwin Stoff, a principal of the management/production firm 3 Arts Entertainment.

Though distributors Warner Bros. Pictures and Sony Pictures put up most of the film's $200-million production budget, Anderson and Kubicek, who risked little of their own money, stand to rake in half of any profits that might come from box-office, DVD and television sales as well as all the proceeds from a new video game and other consumer products. In addition, the two control the sequel rights.

"It was a huge coup for them," observed Sony Pictures Vice Chairwoman Amy Pascal. "I wish we owned the rights and controlled every franchise -- that's the business we're in."

Leapfrogging from nowhere into the Hollywood stratosphere took savvy, the right connections and, more than anything, luck. "At the end of the day, it's a pretty significant thing," Anderson said. "I feel like we've been so blessed."

Questioned about the legal issues that trail them, both men declined to address specifics, but Anderson said, "In all our business dealings, we always try to honor our word in any agreement we have. I have to look at myself in the mirror every day."

READ THE REST

-- Geoff Boucher

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CREDITS: Red carpet photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images shows Jeffrey Silver, Derek Anderson, McG and Victor Kubicek at "Termaintor Salvation" premiere. McG portrait by Al Seib/Los Angeles Times.

Judgment Day 2009 arrived for the "Terminator" revivial and, well, the future does look grim.

Director McG had hoped to start a new trilogy for the killer-robot saga but the box-office wasn;t kind as the film brought in $53.8 million in its opening weekend, placing it a distant second to the $70 million brought in by the family-friendly "Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian" over the four-day holiday weekend. Ben Fritz of Company Town has more on the numbers...

After a decent start Thursday, "Terminator Salvation" quickly fizzled, indicating weak audience word of mouth. Its four-day total was $53.8 million, and its total gross since Thursday is $67.2 million. That's less than what studio executives had expected based on tracking and a relatively weak start for the $200-million blockbuster, which was financed by The Halcyon Co. and is being distributed by Warner Bros. domestically and Sony overseas.

Its three-day total of $43 million is actually $1 million less than what the third "Terminator" film opened to in 2003, a bad sign given significant ticket price inflation since then...

READ THE REST

--Geoff Boucher

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CREDIT: Christian Bale and Sam Worthing face off in "Terminator Salvation," photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Ben Fritz over at Company Town has the box-office numbers on "Terminator Salvation," the McG-directed revival of the killer-robot franchise... 

"Terminator Salvation" looks like it's heading toward a five-day gross between $70 million and $80 million after opening Thursday to $13.37 million. That's a bit more than half of what "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" opened to on the same date last year. Also the fourth film in a beloved action-adventure series, it went on to sell $152 million worth of tickets by the following Monday... READ THE REST

This Sunday I have a story on the cover of the Los Angeles Times Calendar section about McG and his new film, "Terminator Salvation," which lands in theaters on May 21. Here's an early look at the story.

Next week the “Terminator” franchise returns to theaters with its darkest chapter yet, a relentless, spirit-crushing vision of the future where humans are snuffed by killer robots. There’s are not a lot of light-hearted moments in this film, but you might hear chuckles in the theater during the screen credits because of one line: "A McG film."

McG? Let the eye-rolling begin. There’s something about that name that conjures up images of Sacha Baron Cohen’s hip-hop buffoon Ali G or maybe McLovin, the nerdy, underage boozehound from “Superbad,” cultural references that don’t exactly lend themselves to the fearsome, grinding gears of “Terminator Salvation.” His resumé hasn’t relieved the pressure, as since it’s highlighted by the gloss of two “Charlie’s Angels” films, a lot of pop music videos and a Superman film project that infamously never got off the ground.

The man behind the name McG — or perhaps under it — is the most relentlessly upbeat filmmaker in Hollywood today, but even his face droops when the nickname issue is raised. “Believe me, I know, people hear the name and they just think, ‘That guy must be a jerk,'” the 38-year-old said with a groan. “And having it hasn’t helped me, that’s for sure. But it’s what everybody has called me forever."

The moniker wasn’t handed to him at a college keg party or when McG worked as a top music video director during the 1990s; it was hung around his neck by his parents who put “Joseph McGinty Nichol” on his birth certificate back in Kalamazoo, Mich., but then decided “McG” would be a tidy way to avoid household confusion since the boy’s grandfather and uncle were also named Joseph.

It’s a quaint story, but it’s too late: The damage has been done, and McG finds himself lumped in with Dane Cook, Criss Angel, Brett Ratner and others in the pop culture category of “clearly popular yet widely loathed.” In the June issue of Esquire, a headline praises the director by saying “McG is not a douche bag” and, well, just think how proud his mom must be.

All of this is dismaying to many people who know and work with McG, but they say a turning point has arrived. “Pretty soon,” says “Salvation” executive producer Dan Lin, “McG is not going to have to explain himself. He’s a talented, multifaceted guy. Honestly, he epitomizes the American dream. And unlike most people, he accomplishes his dreams."

Well, perhaps, but at the very least McG does seem like a man for the times in this Hollywood era of popcorn movies that need to be huge and high-concept. By reputation, he is loud but cheerful and, as he puts it, “good at working with big personalities,” which brings to mind Christian Bale’s notorious rant on the “Salvation” set (more on that later). His colleagues say he is intensely prepared — one Warner Bros. executive said the director became a world-class scholar of all things “Terminator” — and in touch with youth culture (which speaks to his sidelight as a TV producer with credits including “The O.C.”). Lin, revealing much about the contemporary tugs of Hollywood, adds that McG is not only adept behind the camera, but also won over Pizza Hut execs in talks about “Terminator” tie-ins.

McG has shown a flair for the unexpected in his career. Growing up in Newport, his Michigan roots made him an outsider, as did “my slight build, my orange afro, the braces — I was the odd kid out in a land of Adonises,” he said. He was passionate about music and, after a few attempts as music star or record producer (he did co-write some hits for the band Sugar Ray), he ended up making music videos at a surging time in Orange County music. “He always had a kidlike enthusiasm about him,” said Dexter Holland, lead singer of the Offspring, a band that hit the top of the MTV charts with McG’s videos. “And the great directors are able to bring you into their world and feel like a kid again."

Drew Barrymore was impressed with that flair as well and brought McG to Amy Pascal, co-chair of Sony Pictures, and insisted he be the director for “Charlie’s Angels.” Pascal was deeply skeptical but won over by McG’s intense preparation and, well, because star and producer Barrymore was going to walk if the newcomer wasn’t trusted with the $100-million project. “Amy Pascal was reluctant,” McG said, “but it worked out after I acted out the entire movie.”

The 2000 film grossed $40 million its first weekend in the U.S. (which set a box-office record for a first-time director), and critics split on whether it was great, mindless fun or just grating and mindless. A 2003 sequel followed, and while McG isn’t especially proud of the second film, the movies racked up a combined $523 million worldwide.

 

"Terminator Salvation" director McG is one of the more, uh, enthustiastic people you'll ever meet and he has perhaps the most action-intense film of 2009 with his revival of the classic time-travel-and-killer-robot franchise. Those are some good reasons to come by the Apple Store on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, but here's an even better one: He's bringing some finished footage from the film that doesn't hit theaters until May 21.

I'll be there interviewing him on stage and then moderating some questions from the audience. Hope to see some of you Hero Complex readers there.

Photo: Christian Bale and McG on the set of "Terminator Salvation." Credit: Warner Bros.

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Christian Bale's tantrum, the remix

Christian Bale gets all Gotham on cinematographer

VIDEO: Bale's career highlights, from "Newsies" to "Terminator"

       

I dropped by the Sunset Boulevard office of director McG yesterday to chat about "Terminator Salvation." I asked him about the late addition of a digitial-image cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie but he just grinned. "I can't give away all of the surprises." He told me he was headed to the Lakers' playoff game against Houston with the California governor in a few hours (that didn't end so well for the home team) a tidbit that left me wondering if the politician is already sizing up his post-Sacramento prospects in Hollywood, although it's not entirely clear that's his next career aspiration. Whether the old star is back on board for good, I see big things ahead for "Terminator." You can read about my visit to the set in this extended version of a story that appeared in last Sunday's Summer Sneaks issue of the Los Angeles Times. (The one in print was trimmed for space issues.)

Reporting from Albuquerque, N.M.

Director McG had a bit of sage advice last year for a visitor to the set of “Terminator Salvation,” which had set up shop in a vast hangar at Kirtland Air Force Base here. “If you go too far that way,” he said, pointing across the tarmac, “someone will shoot you.”

Knowing the boundaries and risking sniper fire — those are pretty good metaphors for anyone daring enough to add a new installment to the killer-robot franchise without either signature star Arnold Schwarzenegger or director James Cameron listed in the credits.

“Terminator Salvation” will arrive in theaters May 21 with new faces and a darker ethos than the earlier films in the series, but it is a companion piece to them, a pure sequel — or is that prequel? It’s difficult to say with a franchise that skips through time like some sort of “Back to the Future” with a body count.

This time around the stars are an unmasked Christian Bale, who is coming off the staggering success of “The Dark Knight,” and Aussie newcomer Sam Worthington, who, in an intriguing bit of Hollywood linkage, will star in Cameron’s eagerly anticipated 3-D epic “Avatar” at the end of the year.

The year is 2018 and mankind is being snuffed out by the malevolent machines of SkyNet. The man who is destined to lead the human resistance, John Connor (Bale), is now an adult but is struggling with his legacy and the suspicions of his ragged compatriots. He also is staggered when he meets Marcus Wright (Worthington), whose last memory is of being a death row prisoner before the apocalyptic attacks of SkyNet. Wright turns out to be a SkyNet-created cyborg model, but one that does not match the prophecies that have guided Connor his entire life. The distrusting pair set off on a quest to find answers and the path leads to Dr. Serena Kogen (Helena Bonham-Carter) and an ending that “will shock everyone,” McG promises. The cast also features hip-hop star Common, Moon Bloodgoode, Anton Yelchin and Bryce Dallas Howard, the daughter of filmmaker Ron Howard.

For former music video director McG (his birth name is Joseph McGinty Nichol, he grew up with the nickname) the film is a chance to establish himself in the special-effects blockbuster sector after directing films such as the glossy “Charlie’s Angels” and the plane-crash/football melodrama “We Are Marshall.” If this film clicks as Warner Bros. expects, McG will have a film franchise as well as his considerable success as a television producer with shows such as “Supernatural” and “Chuck,” as well as the four-year run of "The O.C."

“I do believe this a great opportunity for me,” McG said, “and we have a story to tell, state-of-the-art special effects and in Christian Bale nothing less than the most credible and intense action star in the world.”

There was a reason I pursued print journalism instead of broadcast, but here in the 21st century you have to embrace all media, so I went on the KTLA morning show Friday to talk about summer fanboy films such as "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "Star Trek," "Terminator" and "Land of the Lost." I had to be in the studio by 6:45 a.m. and, as you can see, that didn't leave me enough time to actually iron my shirt or deal with bedhead issues.

Tonight at 11 p.m., KTLA will be airing the big Summer Sneaks special that was produced in conjunction with the Los Angeles Times, and I'll be a big part of that as well. This Sunday is the huge Summer Sneaks issue of the paper, and I have four lengthy articles in there on the films mentioned above. Check them out with your Sunday morning coffee or check back here over the next few days and I will be posting them along with more (gulp) video.

-- Geoff Boucher

HERO COMPLEX COVERS THE FILMS OF SUMMER 2009

The dark visions of "Terminator Salvation"

Seven things I love about the new "Star Trek"

Hugh Jackman: "There's a lot of Mike Tyson in Wolverine"

"Angels & Demons," a secret trailer?

Meet Slughorn, the newest arrival at Hogwarts

The Krofft brothers return to "Land of the Lost"

Nicholas White, one of the contributors now to Hero Complex, sat down with Anton Yelchin, who is one of the stars to watch this summer...

 

Sipping hot tea on a recent Tuesday morning in Studio City, the Russian-born actor Anton Yelchin could have passed for one of the thousands of scruffy, out-of-work musicians who roam the Valley with unruly hair, an aura of angst and their "Repo Man" wardrobes. Yelchin, still eager to prove himself after almost a decade making feature films, was a practiced study in low-profile excitement.

“These two movies," he said, "are special.”

Special indeed. Next month, Yelchin has an appointment with fanboy-film destiny. On May 8, he will portray Pavel Chekov, the "Star Trek" crew member first brought to life by Walter Koenig on the 1960s television series, and then on May 21 he plays memorable freedom fighter Kyle Reese in "Terminator Salvation," the dark revival of the killer-robot franchise.

The early buzz on both films is strong and either may finish among the year's highest-grossing films. That fact that is not lost on the actor who, despite his growing filmography, is just a few weeks removed from his 20th birthday. The confessed movie nerd logged plenty of hours watching Michael Biehn portray Reese in the original "Terminator" film and he also made an intense study of "Trek" in its many permutations.

"I got really lucky, and I am very happy to do them, but I look at it as getting better each time,” Yelchin says. “There is a sense of responsibility, but it’s just in capturing what people appreciate about the character. No one wants to lose what made ["Trek"] last for 40 years. But then again, it might go away right now if it’s not rejuvenated...watching ["Terminator"] over and over now, it’s fascinating, very intense, vulnerable. It’s a layered character work that Michael Biehn did. It’s an interesting character to take and adopt to say, ‘How did they act when they were younger?’ There are different paths to the same person.”

Yelchin was sitting in a gelato store but none of the parade of passersby gave him a second look; that's really no surprise considering his released work to date has plenty of blink-and-you-missed-it projects, among them "Charlie Bartlett," "Fierce People" and the panned David Duchovny-directed "House of D," a trio of films with a cumulative domestic box-office return of $4.4 million. Even a cameraman stalking the sidewalk with a paparazzo’s photo lens ignored Yelchin.

“I just don’t think there is any reason for them to follow me,” he said with a shrug. “I haven’t really done anything for them to follow me. I really think that’s it. Now that I’m not going to school per se, I don’t go out much. I think it’s mostly when you think you are a big deal, you send out that vibe. Which is stupid. I’d rather you give me attention for the movies I do than walking out of some place. That’s not my job to me. It’s me.”

His profile will likely be surging to new levels soon. Directors J.J. Abrams ("Star Trek") and McG ("Terminator Salvation"), both familiar with big-budget projects, have stirred the interests of fanboys with their separate of reinventions of classic, lucrative sci-fi franchises. At comic book conventions such as Wonder Con in San Francisco, each of the filmmakers was greeted with thunderous ovations by thousands of fans -- the same fans who have moved the center of Hollywood's attentions after the box-office heroics last year of "The Dark Knight," 'Iron Man," "Hancock" and "Wanted."

Abrams has brought a glossy, high-adrenaline style to "Trek," but at its core is the optimism and pioneer spirit of Gene Roddenberry's original science-fiction TV series. The new "Terminator," meanwhile, is coated in dirt and moodiness (it was filmed in the oven heat of New Mexico).

“You would look around the crew and they would be wearing goggles and wraps around their faces from the dust,” Yelchin said. “Everybody would be screaming and yelling and intense. Things are exploding. It’s an intense movie. It’s a war movie.”

Speaking of combat conditions, what about Christian Bale's now-infamous rant from the "Terminator Salvation" set? The audio snippet pinged across the globe on the Internet and, to the chagrin of the filmmakers, became a sensation; if you missed it, the audio documented Bale's extended attack on Shane Hurlbut, director of photography, who made the mistake of walking through Bale's sightline during a shot. The tirade was mocked by "Family Guy" and remixed as as a club song, but Yelchin finds nothing funny in the topic or its persistence in pop culture. 

“I really like Christian," Yelchin said with an unamused tone. "People don’t know how sets work, so it gets blown out of proportion. He loves his daughter, loves his wife and loves his job. That encapsulates how he lives his life. It didn’t affect anything. Christian apologized, and it was a heartfelt apology. Who could say it better than him? It’s a hard place to work, and it’s [crappy] that someone put something out there. How many times do people yell at each other in any job?”

Yelchin points across the street at Vitello’s restaurant (which happens to be infamous itself as the site where Robert Blake's wife Bonnie Lee Bakley ate her last meal before she was shot to death on a nearby street).

“In Vitello’s restaurant, people yell at each other,” Yelchin says. “But no one is videotaping or recording Vitello and putting it out there. Can you imagine if a set stopped because a person yelled? It was five minutes, it went away and then everyone started shooting.”

EXCLUSIVE

What actor is poised for the biggest career surge in 2009? I wouldn't bet against Chris Pine, who will be hitting warp speed after boldly taking on the role of James T. Kirk for the new "Star Trek" revival, but I also wouldn't underestimate Sam Worthington, who (at least in the early footage I've seen) absolutely holds his own opposite the rasping intensity of Christian Bale in director McG's "Terminator Salvation"  The 32-year-old Aussie is also the star of James Cameron's "Avatar," which arrives in December, and follows it all up with the role of Perseus in "Clash of the Titans" next year.

In this exclusive shot above, you see Worthington as Marcus Wright during his intense riverbank confrontation with Bale's John Connor. Wright's last memory is being taken to a prison's death row but years later, with the murderous machines of SkyNet wiping out the human race, he awakens alive but not sure how or why ... or what exactly he has become.

-- Geoff Boucher

RECENT AND RELATED

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Christian Bale's tantrum, the remix

Christian Bale gets all Gotham on cinematographer

VIDEO: Christian Bale's career highlights, from "Newsies" to "Terminator"

In today's edition of Everyday Hero, your roundup of handpicked fanboy headlines, let's try to work together as professionals...

THE CHRISTIAN THING TO DO: The audio of Christian Bale's enraged outburst on the set of "Terminator Salvation" continues to echo throughout the celebrity-obsessed ether of the Internet. Now there are T-shirts for sale, a nifty soundboard so you can mix-and-match Bale's torrid tantrum and there's a jaunty pop ode to Bale by the L.A. band Mae Shi (which plays tonight in West Hollywood at the Troubadour). And of course there's the brilliant "Bale Out," the club remix of the new John Connor's meltdown. The debate continues, too, about whether this snippet of rage is just a fleeting bad-day kind of moment or if it's a startling glimpse into the true personality of a Hollywood bully. In the audio, you can hear Bale stifle the peacemaking comments of a guy named Bruce -- that would be assistant director and associate producer Bruce Franklin, who is still trying to calm everybody down. Franklin talked to E! and said Bale's rant was a passing moment of little import and came during the filming of the "most emotional" scene in the movie. Frank also said, "He didn’t walk around like that all day long. It was just a moment and it passed. He is so dedicated to the craft. I think someone is begging to make some noise about this, but I don’t think it’s fair.” Patrick Goldstein, who writes the Big Picture blog, listened to the rant and shrugged. "If you look back at the history of film," Goldstein writes, "there is a long tradition of brilliant nut cases, from Marlon Brando and Peter Sellers and Rip Torn right through Nick Nolte and Don Johnson to Sean Penn, Joaquin Phoenix and Russell Crowe. Oh -- and did I forget Mickey Rourke? Oscars go for great acting, not necessarily for good behavior. The difference, of course, is that nothing is private anymore." Here's an unexpected take: At Gold Derby, Tom O'Neil suggests that the talented Bale could be ruining his chances to pick up an Oscar in future films (such as Michael Mann's upcoming "Public Enemies") with his growing problem-child reputation: "Bad boys don't win Academy Awards. It's no coincidence that the Oscars' two biggest losers — Peter O'Toole (eight defeats) and Richard Burton (seven) — have been Hollywood's biggest hell-raisers. Or consider Marlon Brando. Early in his career, when he exulted in being a 'tude-heavy dude fond of throwing his fists around Hollywood, he left the Oscar ceremony in 1951 hugely embarrassed — the only cast member of "A Streetcar Named Desire" not to win despite widespread predictions otherwise. Things just got worse after that. Over the next two years Marlon Brando lost best-actor nominations for 'Viva Zapata!' and 'Julius Caesar.' " Interesting...but of course Brando eventually did win (twice), and Russell Crowe wasn't exactly known as a teddy bear when he grabbed the trophy for "Gladiator."   

MASTERS OF THEIR DOMAIN: Is there a 1970s-1980s toy or cartoon series that isn't being drafted for duty as a summer movie? Here's an excerpt from Micheal Fleming's recent update on an, ugh, "Masters of the Universe" project that is ramping up: "Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver have set 'Kung Fu Panda' co-director John Stevenson to make his live-action directing debut on 'Masters of the Universe,' a reimagining of the signature Mattel toy line. Pic will revolve around He-Man, a prince who transforms into a warrior and becomes the last hope for a magical land being ravaged by the evil Skeletor. Silver is producing through his Silver Pictures banner. Mattel's Barry Waldo will be exec producer. WB acquired the property in 2007, and Justin Marks wrote the first draft of the script based on a story he developed with Neil Ellice. The Mattel property was adapted into the 1980s cartoon series 'He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.' The property was previously turned into a campy flop by Cannon Films in 1987, with Dolph Lungdren as He-Man and 'Frost/Nixon' star Frank Langella as the villainous Skeletor. The film project is a big priority for Mattel, which licenses a high-end line of He-Man toys that are popular with hardcore collectors." [Variety]

HEY HOLMES, WHATTUP?: One of the easiest things to do as journalist is interview Robert Downey Jr. Even when the guy says absolutely nothing, he's effortlessly entertaining. Now there is one problem -- if you happen to be an on-air interviewer, the actor will do everything in his power to upstage you and make you look like a complete stiff. Case in point: Here is Downey on the set of Sherlock Holmes with MTV talking about Mickey Mouse, Bruce Jenner, Rodney Dangerfield...and the death of MTV.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: At the premiere of "Fanboys" there was a photo that comes close to earning the caption Wookiee Nookie...it's Kristen Bell and Chewbacca and things appeared to be getting, uh, hot and hairy. OK, I'll stop now...

ON THIS DATE: It was 26 years ago today that David Cronenberg's "Videodrome" opened in the U.S. and was dubbed a "'Clockwork Orange' of the 1980s" by none other than Andy Warhol. The film starred James Woods and the oh-so-seductive Deborah Harry of Blondie fame, and its plot was a surreal mix of sleaze merchants, warped reality, violence, brain tumors, media excess and entertainment addiction. In other words, it was pretty much just as the Internet is today. To celebrate this anniversary, let's go plant a wet one on our television set...

  Thanks for reading!

-- Geoff Boucher

CREDITS: Christian Bale photo from Getty Images. "Fanboys" premiere photo by Wire Image.

Wow, that was fast. You've heard the Christian Bale tantrum and now you can dance to it, thanks to "Bale Out," a genius piece of mixing by L.A.'s very own RevoLucian. Needless to say, DON'T LISTEN if you are easily offended...or if you don't want to rock out at your desk.

VIDEO: Christian Bale's career, singing in "Newsies" to slaying in "Salvation"

Is "Terminator Salvation" the "Iron Man" of 2009?

Oh my.

Have you heard the scorching on-the-set rant by Christian Bale, who was clearly furious at Shane Hurlbut, the director of photography for "Terminator Salvation"? Clearly, somebody in the film's audio department decided that the famously severe actor's tantrum should be heard by the world ... which is why it landed at TMZ. The incident was reported months ago but the audio has finally made it out to the internet.

And ... wow, he was mad.

You can hear it right here but, please, don't go there if you are offended by coarse language or if you are a big fan of Bale and don't want your affections shaken.

Why the vicious tantrum? Essentially, Hurlbut (who worked with "Terminator Salvation" director McG on "We Are Marshall") walked across Bale's sight-line during a scene. That's a huge no-no and anybody with Hurlbut's two decades of experience on movie sets is well aware of that.

"If you do it one more time I ain't walking on this set if you're still hired!" Bale barks at Hurlbut at one point during the three-minute snippet (the besieged cinematographer can't be heard well during the barrage -- clearly the audio is all from a microphone that is on or near Bale).

When it comes to Hollywood blockbusters, there are different types of directors. The two most common are the Gen. Patton types who act like they are leading a military campaign and the P.T. Barnum personalities who hype everything and care far more about selling popcorn than creating lasting pop culture. Less common are the stately, professorial filmmakers (they are usually British, like Christopher Nolan) and, rarer still, are tortured-poet, art-house auteurs who somehow crossed over into CGI territory.

There is at least one other category, and it's my personal favorite, at least when to comes to interviews: the true evangelists. They are consumed by their movie and eager to spread the word. And right now McG, the man bringing the "Terminator" franchise back to the screen, is the most stirring evangelist director in town.

We won't see how the public embraces "Terminator Salvation" until May but if the movie doesn't connect no one can blame its director, McG, who is a man on a mission. Yesterday I went to a somewhat dizzying presentation at the Directors Guild over on Sunset Boulevard where McG showed footage from "Terminator Salvation." And, wow, the guy is just enthusiasm uncorked, a bottle of Red Bull in bluejeans. He is also, to his credit, reaching out to fans, the media and peers with both candor and proud passion when it comes to this franchise revival that very few people were clamoring for.

He said some interesting things, but first, a bit about that footage....