terminator salvation

When Halcyon announced its impending bankruptcy and how it was planning to auction the rights to the Terminator Franchise, I was like "Ohhh!"

And when Sony and Lionsgate both pursued the rights, I was like "Hmmm."

Then a hedge fund named Pacificor secured the rights, and I was like "Zzzz."

I may be a science fiction fan, but I'm a financial troglodyte and I actually had to Google "hedge fund" to figure out exactly what was going on here, but then I realized I didn't care and went back to watching movies with lasers that go "pew pew!" and robots that go "beep boop."

The news today (via Variety), which borders on being complete non-news, is that Pacificor is being approached by "numerous studios, producers, financiers and agents" regarding their recent acquisition. Sony and Lionsgate are also still after the franchise and talks have happened, but nothing even remotely resembling a deal has taken place and will not take place anytime soon. Naturally, no piece on anything film related would be complete without a reference to 3D, which Pacificor sees as the natural direction to take further sequels.

2009 is almost over, and it's been a banner year for science fiction. More than three dozen science fiction themed films have seen release in the US. Some emphasize the science fiction more than others, and a couple may be more occult/horror than actual science fiction, but they're close enough.

While the quality of the films listed below varies wildly, the fact that science fiction elements are featured in so many wide released films is outstanding, and there are at least three critical and box office hits among the list below. At least three of the movies listed below give me hope that smart science fiction films are still viable.

I can't help thinking I'm missing something. I didn't include TimeCrimes because it came out on DVD. What else should be on this list?

9
2012
Alien Trespass
Astro Boy
Avatar
Battle for Terra
The Box
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Cold Souls
District 9
The Fourth Kind
G-Force
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Gamer
Gentlemen Broncos
Knowing
Land of the Lost
Men Who Stare at Goats
Monsters vs. Aliens 3D
Moon
Pandorum
Planet 51
Push
The Road
Star Trek
Stingray Sam
Surrogates
Terminator Salvation
Thirst
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Watchmen
X-Men Origins: Wolverine

TV and straight-to-DVD, or otherwise extremely limited theatrical release include: The Mutant Chronicles, Dante 01, Eden Log, Before the Fall, Sleep Dealer, The Objective, and Outlander.

What was your favorite?

This could be the place where I go on a diatribe about how the Oscars continue to prove themselves more and more irrelevant every year and how, as a writer for a science fiction website, I continue to be annoyed by the lack of respect shown to genre films at awards season. For shame, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences! Shame on you and your children and your children's children!

But I'm not going to, because there is news afoot.

The Academy has announced the fifteen films on the shortlist for the visual effects Oscar, the only award that consistently goes to science fiction and fantasy films. Only three will get to wear tuxes and get luxurious gift baskets full of expensive hand creams. Why only three? Why not five? Probably some silly Academy rule, similar to the one that keeps good documentaries from ever getting any sort of recognition.

And your children's children's children!

But I digress. The fifteen films are as follows:

Angels & Demons
Avatar
Coraline
Disney's A Christmas Carol,
District 9
G-Force
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Sherlock Holmes
Star Trek
Terminator Salvation
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
2012
Watchmen
Where the Wild Things Are

It may feel odd to call Terminator: Salvation a bomb. After all, it did north of $100 million domestically and well over $300 million internationally, but when your budget is $200 million before advertising costs and your movie is a soulless, lunk-headed piece of junk that no one really cared enough about to champion, you've got a problem. That problem, as reported on Sci-fi Squad previously, is bankruptcy for Halcyon, the company that gave McG a fistful of millions to get bossed around by Christian Bale and drive an already struggling franchise deeper into the Earth's crust.

It's time for an update on this ever-troubled series. Halcyon has announced that the Terminator and John Connor will have a new home by February 1st at the latest. It seems that Halcyon has "engaged in in-depth discussions and negotiations with numerous serious potential buyers, including several major movie studios" and that "a number of attractive refinancing alternatives have also been presented. In order to maximize the value of a transaction for all of the company's creditors and stakeholders, we are fully analyzing all these options."

In regular-person-speak, this translates as "Who's going to give us the most money? Huh? HUH?!" The plan is to use these "discussions" to decide on an appropriate starting bid for the film, TV, DVD and merchandising rights.

Looking for something good and geeky to watch? Here are this week's notable DVD and Blu-ray releases:

Mystery Science Theater 3000: XVI [Limited Edition] (DVD)
I've stopped trying to keep track of the endless parade of MST DVD releases, but I'm told this is a must-buy solely because it comes with a limited-edition Tom Servo figure -- quite possibly the only Tom Servo figure that will ever be made, like forever. The four-disc set features the crew tearing down Z-grade flicks like The Corpse Vanishes, Warrior Of The Lost World, Santa Claus, and Night Of The Blood Beast.

Terminator Salvation (DVD and Blu-ray)
Finally, disgruntled Terminator fans everywhere can buy this joyless McG flick and destroy it with their bare hands today! (Imagine the communal catharsis.) I suggest freezing the disc with liquid nitrogen and shattering it to pieces with a sledgehammer. And if that doesn't work, try tossing it into a giant vat of molten steel -- I hear that's a surefire way to dispatch the Blu-ray director's cut, which features alternate endings and Moon Bloodgood's super-short topless scene.

Better Off Ted: Season One (DVD)
What's not to love about a network show that delivers decent jokes about killer cyborgs and giant HAZMAT suits? Buy this, watch it, and catch season two, premiering December 8 on ABC.

Gremlins (Bu-ray)
Sadly, there's no new material added to this Blu-ray release of director Joe Dante's wild '80s classic. (But you know you're dying to watch Spike melt into a steamy puddle of green goo in high-def.)

Looking for something good and geeky to watch? Here are this week's notable DVD and Blu-ray releases:

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (DVD & Blu-ray)
For those who thought Transformers 2 needed more ninja kid-on-ninja kid violence comes The Rise of Cobra, a perfectly forgettable but fun piece of pop productainment. The two-disc version features docs on the film's visual effects plus a digital copy for your computer.

G.I. Joe: Resolute (DVD)
Simply put, Resolute kicks the ass of all other G.I. Joe outings, including the big screen version. The DVD collects all 11 gloriously violent episodes of the Adult Swim series written by comic scribe Warren Ellis. Remember parents, this one's aimed at adults. All the grisly scenes of cartoon blood, murder and mayhem might be too much for the kiddos.

More of this week's DVD releases after the jump.

Reports are brewing that the production company behind Terminator: Salvation, Halycon, will be auctioning off rights to the Terminator franchise. These rights will include the creation of new films, television series and other media spin-offs, but will not include previously released films.

The whole thing is rather confusing, but not unprecedented. In fact, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rights were just auctioned off for a cool $60 million. The Terminator is expected to exceed that figure. Halycon is in bankruptcy now, so I guess this is just part of selling off the assets. Halycon secured the rights for $25 million two years ago, but it would seem the profile of the property has risen since then.

I thought it was safe to assume the Terminator film franchise was dead (for the next several years, at least) after the critical lashing director McG endured for Terminator Salvation. (Let's not even get into Christian Bale's on-set meltdown.) But Terminator 5 is still in the works, says McG, who told IESB he's busy prepping his follow-up to Salvation.

I'm torn here. I love the Terminator franchise, but I hated Terminator Salvation. It was a decent action flick, but it had none of the thrills, heart or spirit of the earlier movies. I'd love to see the franchise continue, but I was hoping Warner Bros. would let the dust settle for a decade and somehow lure James Cameron back to direct. But they've got awful toys to sell and a director who seems willing to ape the earlier, more successful Terminator films for a shot at a hit.

In anticipation of this year's San Diego Comic Con, SciFi Squad and Horror Squad have launched the ultimate fan polls, asking you readers to vote not only for the best films of all time in their respective genre, but also on favorite characters, female heroines, films from the past year and so on. We're going to ask you to make some tough choices here, but that's the point -- how else are we to determine the best of the best? So check out our Ultimate Sci-Fi Fan Poll below and vote away! When you're done, head on over to Horror Squad and do the same. We'll announce the winners just in time for this year's Comic Con.