Paul Bettany is ADORABLE in Wimbledon. Effervescent and charming and pretty damn irresistible. Although, I'm with Jessica that he'll always be Stephen Maturin to me. God, I loved Master and Commander.

I don't know why, exactly. Something about the severe lines of his face kind of give off a serial killer vibe to me. I buy him very easily as a villain, but have a harder time with him as a hero or romantic lead, which is horribly unfair, I know, but sometimes, being that distinctive looking can be a real detriment.

He was a frighteningly effective younger version of Malcolm McDowell in Gangster No. 1, so there is precedent for him to play scary violent. But the first thing I saw him in was Master and Commander, so I have a benevolent opinion of him generally.

What's truly horrifying is how much Anthony Michael Hall looks like older Malcolm McDowell - moresoe than younger Malcolm McDowell did because of the hair color. Malcolm went white almost overnight.

But shirtless boxing?

They had Sigmund Freud dueling via tennis in the Seven Percent Solution (not cannon, I know, but pretty loyal for a revisionist story), so I don't think boxing was that out of the question. If there are women spectators might be the more appropriate question.

I never remember he's Maturin until someone tells me! He's so amazing in that role. I thought he made the movie.

The new Terminator movie blows shit up real good but is otherwise pretty much crap.

I've been excited for it, but I became concerned when I heard it got a PG13 rating.

Paul Bettany is Naked Chaucer to me. He is charming in that.

dcp, re "Diane Duane's Romulans (My Enemy, My Ally) and John M. Ford's Klingons (The Final Reflection) much better than anything in TNG and DS9 canon. Have you read them?" No. I read other Duane Trek books, but managed to miss that one. I'll go looking for them.

I've been excited for it, but I became concerned when I heard it got a PG13 rating.

Wasn't that the case for T2 as well? I seem to remember something about Edward Furlong being too young to go and see it. Although that might have been in the UK, where I think it might have had a 15 certificate.

Friends and I are having a Terminator movie night in preparation for the new release. We'll be watching Terminator and T2. Not sure about the third, as friend has objections to it. I can't remember it well enough to be sure why.

The new Terminator movie blows shit up real good but is otherwise pretty much crap.

Aw, I though it blew shit up real good and was pretty good otherwise. I don't think it necessarily succeeded in being as deep as it wanted to be, but I thought it was effective tonally. It focused more on the characters and worldbuilding than plot, though.

I just wanna drool over Sam Worthington.

If that means they need to indulge in some man-loving, well, these things do happen.

NATLBSB.

I've been excited for it, but I became concerned when I heard it got a PG13 rating.

The problem is with the premise, unfortunately.

I blame Christian Bale, because if he'd been cast in the role that was originally written for him, there would have been a point to telling this story. But noooooo, he had to be all "I wanna be John Connor and do my scary Batman voice again only this time without a mask!" and now instead of an interesting story about an original character in the Terminator universe, we've got a completely boring story about John Connor doing exactly what we've been told he's going to to in three other movies and 2 seasons of TV. Yaaaaaaaaaaaawn.

There are also several MAJOR continuity mistakes that make me want to sit down with everyone in Hollywood and explain verrrrryyyyy slooooowwwlllllyyyyyyy about time travel and internal consistency and the proccesses of cause and effect. Possibly with flow charts.

Because if anyone had sat down and actually thought about the timeline for ten seconds, they'd have realized that the thing that's driving the entire plot COULD NOT HAVE WORKED THAT WAY. As it is, bad movie. No biscuit.

Listen, and understand. That terminator is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.

As I read on another site, The Terminator is about the inevitability of death. Sarah Connor is living a carefree life, and is suddenly faced with Death, and only after she becomes pregnant is she able to defeat death.

Similarly, T2 is about John Connor entering adulthood. Only after he gives up his protector and confront Death on his own does he grow up.

And then McG's Terminator is about blowing shit up real good.