Summer Cinema: The Terminator

After watching Yul Brynner relentlessly stalk Peter Martin in Westworld, I was raring to go for one of my favorite films to screen, James Cameron's The Terminator.  Famous for their vault of trailers, the New Bev staff played a few appropriate "killer robot" pieces like Demon Seed and Blade Runner beforehand.

This would be the third time I've seen Terminator on the big screen in three years.  The first was at the Egyptian in Hollywood for the 25th Anniversary; cinematographer Adam Greenberg and some of the special f/x crew were in attendance.  The second time would be paired with the sequel, Terminator 2:  Judgement Day, also at the Egyptian, as part of their Mayan Calendar Countdown series.

But tonight's viewing as part of Edgar Wright's The World's End Is Nigh curating was probably the most enjoyable.  I came to the realization that the film, along with titles like The Great Escape, Big Trouble In Little China, Masters of the Universe and Gunfight at the OK Corral had firmly become one of my favorites of all time.  The acting, actors, characters, story, action; it's all there bundled up in a kinetic, exciting, emotional, scary and romantic tale of science fiction time travel consequence.

If you haven't seen this movie but still read my blog I applaud you because I'm a non-sequitur mother fucker with a mind for movie details and healthy obsession with few subjects.  Anyways, The Terminator is about an assassin and a protector sent back from a nuclear war torn, post-apocalyptic future.  Their target is a young woman whose son will grow up and lead the human resistance against the controlling body of self aware computers.  The assassin, a cybernetic organism covered in human flesh, is played by none other than the King of Kings, Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Protector/soldier/father of the future Kyle Reese is played by soon to be Cameron alum Michael Biehn while mother of the resistance Sarah Connor is portrayed by future ex-Mrs. James Cameron Linda Hamilton.

Some viewers might contend that T2:  Judgement Day is the better film but I strongly disagree.  Sure T2 is great with fine production values, a wonderful cast, pulse pounding action and groundbreaking f/x but Terminator's down and dirty, shot on the streets, guerrilla style "B-movie" quality makes it one of and the first of it's kind.  From Bill Paxton's small role as a blue haired, tire tread marked punk to Arnold's accented cold blooded killer to the poodle hairdo's to Rick Rossovich's "Don't make me bust you up man!" to Reese's sawed off shotgun and sweet Nike Vandals with Velcro straps to shootouts, shotgun blasts, Uzi sprays, alley running, corner screeching car pursuits and plastic explosive dinner recipes; I fucking love this movie.

The film's ingenuity comes from it's simple storyline that deals with immediate threats (That Terminator is out there!) and long term ramifications (John Connor brings humanity back from the brink of extinction).  As co-star Lance Henriksen (originally slated to play the title role but ended up as a cop along with Paul Winfield) once said, the real star of The Terminator is Michael Biehn, whose character Reese is tasked with filling in the story for Sarah and the audience but it's cleverly placed between and during action sequences so it never gets stale.  Bishop is right as the film hinges on Reese's character and Biehn gives a phenomenal performance that is both physical and vulnerable.

For a movie that was only supposed to play for a few weeks like an 80's Charles Bronson vehicle, The Terminator has certainly stood the test of time since it's release 30 years ago.  A new trilogy is in the works (sans Cameron but that's another rant, I mean post) following 2 sequels, a prequel and a television series.  In a strange bit of coincidence, today is James Cameron's birthday.  I hope he continues to create and innovate for another 30 years.

A nice vintage making of:

Summer Cinema Double Feature: Westworld and The Terminator

The World's End is coming!  The movie, courtesy of Scott Pilgrim filmmaker Edgar Wright I mean.  What were you thinking of?  The Rapture?  The Rapture, part II?

To commemorate his promotional trip to Los Angeles, Wright is back at The New Beverly Cinema, curating a two week block of programming.  Last night represented his third fete of genre fare with The World's End Is Nigh:  We Are The Robots.

The special on tonight's menu?  A schlock filled appetizer of theme park robots run amok in 1973's Westworld followed by 1984's kinetic, tech-noir, "B-movie" masterpiece, The Terminator.

Westworld is one of three "lands" at Delos, a resort for the rich where adults can live out their fantasies (mostly of the violent and sexual variety) in seemingly real recreations of the old west, medieval times and the Roman ages complete with lifelike robotic populations.  Divorced businessman Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) is taken by uber-cool buddy John Blane (James Brolin, distracting because Christian Bale looks just like him) to Westworld where they enjoy shootouts, bar fights and whore housing until they continually run into a black clad gunslinger (Yul Brynner, channeling Chris Adams from his Magnificent Seven days).  A robot "virus" begins infecting the supposedly non-violent machines and they begin to kill the guests. 

The film stands as a schlock-tastic 90 minutes filled with laughs, implausibilities and the most inept group of scientists and technicians you've ever seen.  Brynner's strong presence, lined face and bombastic voice are used to great effect as as the creepy robot gunslinger.  His unrelenting pursuit of Peter Martin is a precursor to Arnold's near unstoppable cybernetic Frankenstein in Terminator.  If Arnie is the T-101 then Brynner is a T-81 (Not a TI-81, the graphing calculator).  Written and directed by Michael Crichton, Westworld is like Jurassic Park beta edition.  The themes of creating "life", not being able to control nature and man's discarding of ethics when money is involved are on full display.  Westworld really primed the pump for The Terminator...and for that episode of The Simpsons when they go to Itchy and Scratchy Land...

Check out customer testimonials:

Quick Workout of the Day: Take the Stairs

Do you work in an office?  Do you sit at a desk?  Are co-workers constantly plying you with homemade and store bought treats?  Do you fear waking up fat and deaded?

If so, get up right now and take a lap around the office.  Better yet, go outside and get some "fresh" air.  Better, better yet, take a few flights of stairs!

I promise it won't take more than a minute as a flight of stairs is generally between 12 and 17 steps.  You can take them one, two or three at a time to work your quads and calves.  You can walk up backwards holding on to the rail and work more of your front quads.  If want to get the heart pumping even more, jump to each step for a hit of plyometrics for maximum effort in minimal time.

If you don't have access to a flight of stairs, walk to the restroom or water cooler, shake out your arms and neck.  It's good for you.

Check out this excited person's office routine:

Van Dammage: Life

"A cookie has no soul, it’s just a cookie. But before it was milk and eggs. And in eggs there’s the potential for life."

       Jean-Claude Van Damme

Workout of the Day: The Marky Mark Workout

POW!  You ready to take it back to the 90's with former rapper/underwater model turned actor/producer and Oscar nominee Mark (Formerly Marky Mark) Wahlberg?!  Just in time for Pain and Gain to drop on DVD and Blu-Ray soon (my favorite film of 2013, what!) it's time to get swole up, VHS style!

Form.  Focus.  Determination.  Fitness.  These are some of the keys of Marky's success.  The video starts with a hilarious skit showing Mark in bed being woken by his trainer/manager cousin.

"Let's go get that pump, cuz!"

Seriously though, like his early acting, Mr. Wahlberg alternates between quiet choir boy and in your face rapper persona throughout the video.  But time and time again he speaks of the benefits of working out, taking it slow and working at your own pace.  He'll never be Arnold Schwarzenegger but he's been doing aight with what he's got.

Today we'll take a look at the opening segment of the workout, the Home Training Edition.  Unlike Dolph Lundgren's Maximum Potential, which required no weights or special equipment; The Marky Mark Workout is more or less a home gym routine with simple equipment requirements like sturdy chairs and a set of dumbbells.  Whereas Dolph wanted you to be able to implement his workout into yours any place, any time; Wahlberg's feels more like a starting point until you're strong enough to hit a real gym.

"Mark D, cock D."  "I'll spot you later, yeah."  "You look GOOD!"  "Pow!"

Are some of the things Wahlberg says throughout the video with a hint of Boston accent and thug mumbling. Wahlberg is in great shape in the video and always accompanied by 1 to 3 "fly hunnies" to demonstrate and assist.  Much of his home routine is based around "Triple Threat Super-Sets" which is three exercises for the same body part done in a row in quick succession.



"Come on, feel it!"  After a quick stretch routine the program has you doing three sets of each super-set so a burn is inevitable.

Using the three sturdy chairs, Marky pops his pecs with Push Ups using shoulder and narrow width to work the chest/delts/triceps then follows them up with Bench Dips for the triceps specifically.

Legs are hit with a Duck Squat (holding one dumbbell at your waist with both hands) followed by Lunges and Stiff Legged Deadlift.

Shoulders are bombed with Arnold Presses (photo example, diesel!), military press and shrugs.

Back gets blasted with Dumbbell Row, one arm at a time, alternating non stop until all 3 sets are completed.

Calves are carved out with one legged Calf Raises holding a dumbbell in one hand.

Biceps feel the burn with seated one-arm Concentration Curls followed by seated Dumbbell Curls.

Triceps get tore up with Dumbbell Kickbacks.

Abs are chiseled with Crunches and Leg Lift Kick Backs (Partner pushes feet back to the ground).

It's a pretty complete workout and its fast pace will have your muscles burning and heart pumping.  I don't recommend doing three shoulder or chest exercises in a row as it can harm your rotator cuffs but experiment and see what works for you.  I tend to super-set alternate body parts like Chest/Biceps, Back/Triceps, Chest/Back, Biceps/Triceps, etc so the pump stays in your muscles and you don't burn out as fast or risk injury.



Stay tuned for Marky's trip to the gym and talk on nutrition.

Train in peace.  Ya heard?

Passion VS Paycheck: Bruce Willis

It was announced that Oscar winner Mel Gibson and 13th Warrior star Antonio Banderas have officially boarded the third chapter in Sylvester Stallone's third franchise, The Expendables.  You know, the flimsy, foreign pre-sale funded, wanna be modern day Dirty Dozen with Stallone in the lead?  Where current, aging and forgotten action stars show up for a shot in the arm/career?  The first two films have been a who's who of 80's and 90's action heroes kicking, punching, stabbing, shooting, exploding, one lining and bromancing their way to half a billion dollars in worldwide grosses.

Stallone. Statham. Li. Schwarzenegger. Rourke. Roberts. Austin.
Daniels. Lundgren. Couture. Crews. Adkins. Van Damme. Willis. Norris.

Wesley Snipes was one of the first new additions Stallone announced along with Jackie Chan for part III.  Seagal was rumored to be in talks but nothing has materialized.  Besides, he's too fat to be in the flick, everyone else is still in fighting shape (naturally or not).  This week heralded the surprising news that Indiana Jones himself, Harrison Ford, was joining the ranks while Bruce Willis was going AWOL.

The reason?  Money.  Willis was offered $3 million for 4 days of work in Bulgaria but Hudson the Hawk wanted $1 million a day.  Stallone and company stepped back and brought in Harrison Ford within 72 hours.  Sly then took to Twitter to publicly refer to Willis as lazy and greedy.

Hey, maybe living it up Bruce Willy Style is expensive, ok?

It's quite a shock considering Willis and Stallone have been friends and business partners since the 90's where they headlined action films and Planet Hollywood openings alike. When Stallone was on Letterman promoting Rambo IV, Willis showed up to hang out just to support his friend.  And when Stallone needed some high-wattage names to sell the first Expendables on, Willis and Arnold provided a brief but memorable cameo as a favor.

Is this a sign of Hollywood greed at it's best?  Of how out of touch celebrities are?  Is Bruce Willis the ballsiest mofo on the planet or just out of his mind?

To me, it's a simple case of Passion VS Paycheck.  Willis is no stranger to Hollywood beef.  He's clashed with Antoine Fuqua on set, lobbed online insults at Michael Bay and been torn to shreds by Kevin Smith in print and at live events.  Yet Looper director Rian Johnson sings his praises.  Probably because on Looper, Willy gave a shit and it showed in his performance.  Which to this viewer was his best in years; a somber and thoughtful character fighting to save the love of his life through extreme actions.  Meanwhile, his performance in Smith's Cop Out wasn't anything audiences would be talking about after leaving the theater.

Where it might seem greedy to some working stiffs, I see his outlandish demand as an easy way to say NO.  He's done Sly a favor already and appeared in the first two films, cementing their place in cinema history as the action star retirement home.  It's also shooting in Bulgaria, do you know how long it takes to get from LA to Sofia?  Expedia tells me 14 hours.  Basically, I think The Bruce is just too old and rich for this shit.

Watch Bruce Willy crash the Expendables panel at Comic-Con 2010:

Gotta Drank! Sunset Trocadero Lounge

It was a Thursday night on the Sunset Strip (or near it anyways) and time for some Happy Hour action before checking out the newly renovated Sundance Cinemas (pretty nice) for Only God Forgives (pretty bonkers).

The Sunset Trocadero Lounge is a great little spot, low-key with that old Hollywood feel.  HH runs 6:00-8:00PM daily with drink and appetizer prices all being lopped in half.  Martinis are smooth and strong, the food options pretty varied and tasty.

Metered parking can be a little tricky but it's out there.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/sunset-trocadero-lounge-los-angeles

Ask Me a Question: The Abyss

Panelists include Todd Graff (“Hippy”), Michael Beach (“Barnes”), Lesley Dilley (production designer), Joseph Nemec III (art director), Phillip Darlington (Cameron’s underwater assistant), Starr Jones (makeup FX) and Trey Stokes (“alien” movement designer)! - See more at: http://www.cinefamily.org/films/?time=past#the-abyss-castcrew-in-person

Panelists include Todd Graff (“Hippy”), Michael Beach (“Barnes”), Lesley Dilley (production designer), Joseph Nemec III (art director), Phillip Darlington (Cameron’s underwater assistant), Starr Jones (makeup FX) and Trey Stokes (“alien” movement designer)! - See more at: http://www.cinefamily.org/films/?time=past#the-abyss-castcrew-in-person

Panelists include Todd Graff (“Hippy”), Michael Beach (“Barnes”), Lesley Dilley (production designer), Joseph Nemec III (art director), Phillip Darlington (Cameron’s underwater assistant), Starr Jones (makeup FX) and Trey Stokes (“alien” movement designer)! - See more at: http://www.cinefamily.org/films/?time=past#the-abyss-castcrew-in-person

Panelists include Todd Graff (“Hippy”), Michael Beach (“Barnes”), Lesley Dilley (production designer), Joseph Nemec III (art director), Phillip Darlington (Cameron’s underwater assistant), Starr Jones (makeup FX) and Trey Stokes (“alien” movement designer)! - See more at: http://www.cinefamily.org/films/?time=past#the-abyss-castcrew-in-pe

In a wonderful case of scheduling coincidence, I'll be seeing two films by James Cameron featuring Michael Biehn on the big screen in one week.  First up, a cast and crew reunion event for 1989's The Abyss; Cameron's underwater thriller concerning oil workers and NAVY Seals investigating a crashed US sub and encountering something inhuman beneath the surface.

Carpenter turned Cameron assistant Phil Darlington set up a fantastic event at The Cinefamily; corralling an impressive panel including actors Todd Graff (Hippy) and Michael Beach (Barnes), Oscar winning production designer Lesley Dilley, Art Director Joseph Nemec III (The Shadow!), Make up artist Starr Jones and NTI movement/puppet designer Trey Stokes.  Everyone was comfortably crammed onstage and moderator Marc S. Zicree (writer of a million Star Trek episodes) got it all started.

Tonight's crowd was filled with others who worked on the film, most notably Van Ling, a young kid who built a Power Loader Halloween costume and impressed producer Gale Ann Hurd and James Cameron enough to be hired on for The Abyss and subsequently Terminator 2, True Lies and Titanic.  If you own the Alien Quadrilogy box set, check out A Boy and His Power Loader.  Great stuff.


When you have a panel this size, it's easy for it to fall into awkward lulls, non-sequitur, fractured conversation with a few dominating voices.  Fortunately, Zicree did a great job moderating as he was excited to be there, a fan of the film and smart enough to keep each panel member involved which kept the the audience's attention (well except that one girl in the second row who nodded off, CASUAL FAN).  Before the film, Zicree engaged the guests in a nearly one hour panel.

Recollections of The Abyss:

- Shot for six months outside Gaffney, South Carolina in an unfinished nuclear power plant.
- Shooting under water presented so many variables that every actor had to be ready to shoot at first call.  No one knew what was going to happen day to day.
- A tent constructed over the tanks lasted two weeks before being blown off, just like the locals warned.  Millions of black plastic beads were poured over the surface to block out the light.  Cast and crew members would find them in their ears and random places for months afterwards.
- Darlington was hired as a carpenter, wanted to work first unit and ended up being Cameron's underwater assistant and nicknamed Flipper on set.
- Nemec had a background in diving, figured it'd be fun shoot.  Both he and Dilley had no idea what they were getting into.  The scale and construction efforts were massive.
- 12 to 14 hour days in the tank meant having to decompress, many times while watching dailies.
- The creatures in the film are NTI's, Non-Terrestrial-Intelligence, don't you dare call them aliens!
- Creatures had to be constructed in a way to convey various light patterns, Cameron's thought was that they would communicate through colors.
- Post production took nearly as long as shooting to accommodate special F/X and creature scenes.
- Graff was given his rat sidekick at birth so they could bond.  Had it for two years after filming.
- The rat really did breath liquid, Cameron scripted no dialogue and just told the actors to go for it but they were mostly in shock and thought they were killing the animal.
- James Cameron is a genius who can do everyone's job, probably better than they can.  Grabbed the camera and jumped into the water to get a shot when the camera operator bungled first attempt; took a can of spray paint from someone's hand and did it himself when results weren't good enough, etc.
- Michael Biehn told Beach (who only appears in the opening scene) he was lucky not to land a bigger part and pleaded to be taken with him.
- The production was nicknamed "The Abuse".

Of course much, much, much more was talked about and I wish they would have covered more topics but it was still a school night so the movie had to roll sometime.

They screened the theatrical cut which I'm not overly familiar with.  I grew up watching the 30 minutes longer Director's Cut.  Watching it in it's original form was interesting; for a 2 hour and 20 minute film, it moves quite quickly.  Performances are great all around, Ed Harris is funny and strong as roughneck Virgil "Bud" Brigman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio plays Lindsay, the ire of many characters but always comes across likeable and intelligent.  Cameron regular Michael Biehn dons a stache and plays shaky, paranoid Navy Seal Lt. Coffey, who suffers from pressure sickness and attempts to nuke the NTI's.  Graff as Hippy and Leo Burmester as Cat anchor a great supporting cast of likeable, blue collar types caught in the middle of a hurricane, "aliens", nukes and a possible global military crises.

The ending was a shock as the NTI's are portrayed as good guys who help out Brigman after he risks his life to save them.  The Director's Cut is much more detailed as the NTI's observe mankind's destructive nature and threaten to wipe out the coasts with giant tidal waves before realizing there is love in the world as demonstrated by Bud and Lindsay's repaired relationship.  A fanboy internet critic recently lamented Cameron's status among "geeks" was destroyed when he made a movie with kissing.  But all of Cameron's films, The Abyss especially, are love stories.  Titanic is just the only one without robots, fighter jets or aliens (or in this case, NTI's).

 Check out the making of what's considered one of the most difficult movie shoots of all time:

Summer Celebrating: Biehn VS Snipes

Arnold's birthday was last week.  The day after was Messrs Michael Biehn (Arnie's Terminator co-star) and Wesley Snipes' who starred and sparred opposite one another in 2000's The Art of War; a well made, pre-Bourne Identity of sorts about a secret agent working for shadowy government agencies, getting betrayed and fighting his way to the truth.  Hot off the surprise success of 1998's Blade, Warner Brothers slotted the Franchise Pictures production in the same late August weekend of 2000 hoping to replicate the success.  I remember seeing this in theaters but can't remember if I even knew Michael Biehn was in it.  He got the WITH credit before AND Donald Sutherland which seemed pretty cool.  I just recall thinking Biehn looked like Joe Pantoliano in this flick because of all the hats...

Unfortunately, The Art of War wouldn't be a home run for anyone involved.  It was a modest hit that grossed less than half of what Blade did and was quickly forgotten.  Over the next decade Snipes' only big screen successes came from Blade sequels before being sent to prison for tax evasion.  Biehn, whose star confoundedly never rose after his collaborations with James Cameron, (Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss) battled substance abuse during the 90's but managed to pop up and deliver memorable performances in films like Tombstone and The Rock in between low budget DTV projects.

While it didn't set the box office on fire, The Art of War holds up as an enjoyable, slightly smarter than average government-conspiracy action-thriller.  Director Christian Duguay (Screamers, Peter Weller alert!) gives the production a polished look, utilizing the dense cityscape of Vancouver while assembling a stout supporting cast that includes Anne Archer, Donald Sutherland and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.  It's fisticuffs, shoot outs, car chases, mistaken identity and on the lam shenanigans at it's foreign pre-sale funded best.

If you haven't seen the movie, I'm about to spoil it for you.

Biehn plays Robert Bly, fellow agent to Snipes' Neil Shaw.  We meet Shaw infiltrating a Y2K bash (remember Y2K?!), hacking into computers, black mailing Chinese diplomats, fighting bodyguards and parachuting off the roof while Bly mans the control truck and watches his partner's back.  When Shaw is injured, it's Bly who comes to check on his recovery.  The two are quickly back to work on a surveillance gig when things seemingly go bad and Bly is shot and believed killed.  By the end of the flick we learn that Shaw's superiors are ramping up efforts to fight against a perceived Chinese threat and frame him for the murder of a key leader.  Bly is revealed to be in on it and the two come face to face and silencer to silencer in a final showdown; complete with "Hong Kong cinema techniques stolen by The Matrix" ripple, bullet time effects.

The Biehn has faced his share of colorful onscreen deaths and AoW is no exception.  Following a scrap that includes shooting, brawling and glass breaking across two stories, Snipes trips up The Biehn who falls throat first into a stand of broken glass.  Ouch.

Birthday boys Biehn and Snipes nearly re-teamed for 2007's DTV effort The Contractor with 300 and Game of Thrones star Lena Headey but Biehn's schedule on Robert Rodriguez's half of Grindhouse couldn't accommodate the trip to Eastern Europe.  Maybe with Biehn producing his own films now we may see the two team up again in the future.

Here's part of the final fight with some random music edited in:

See You In 20 Months: Star Wars Celebration Anaheim

Before 2013's San Diego Comic-Con, I would wake up at night in a panic, wondering if I had tickets.  I would soon calm down and remember that I bought tickets in August of 2012.  That's right, Comic-Con 2012 was in July and I bought tickets for the next year a month later.  So imagine my surprise, not-surprise when I found out tickets for 2015's Star Wars Celebration go on sale THIS week.  Yes, that's 20 months, nearly TWO years ahead of time.  We all know this will be a huge event in Southern California but two years?  Jeebus!

Ah well, I'll be ready at 7:00AM to get tickets and excited in two years for my first look at the new trilogy while picking up some power converters from Tosche Station.

http://www.starwarscelebration.com/

Ask Me a Question: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

The Autumnal Equinox (the end of summer) doesn't occur until 9.22 but this past weekend was my last outdoor screening of the season.  You're probably all used to reading about manly, macho men and ways to be kick ass but Saturday was a change of pace for the lady with 1953's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at the Oscars Outdoors.

Starring the blonde myth herself, Marilyn Monroe and buxom outlaw brunette Jane Russell, GPB is a fun time at the movies filled with humor, musical numbers and a whole lotta double entendres.  Directed by Howard Hawks...wait, Howard Hawks?  You mean the guy who made John Wayne a star with Red River?  The guy who produced The Thing From Another World and directed everyone from Robert Mitchum to Clark Gable to Humphrey Bogart to James Caan?  Yup.  I guess macho, manly and kick ass are never far from the mind of Dammaged Goods.

Before the movie, a renowned figure in the dance world (sorry I'm not there to cover, just enjoy) presented a few slides about GPB choreographer, Jack Cole, an exotic looking gent who was one of Hollywood's top dancers/choreographers/instructors.  Cole worked with Monroe officially on three films and unofficially on several more.  Then, we were treated to the presence of a guy (sorry again) who looked like Ringo Starr but had actually danced in the film.  If GPB was released in 1953, that means he had to be in his 70's and damn did he look good for his age.  As a young dancer, he prepped for the famous "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend" number for 4 weeks and the sequence itself took 3 days to shoot.  He shared a quick story about a mistake that was kept in the picture.  During Russell's, "Anybody Here For Love?", she crouches down as members of the men's Olympic team dive over her into a pool.  One came in too low and knocked her in.  He also made a point to mention how hard Monroe worked, her professionalism and her surprisingly quiet nature.

With the sun down and a surprisingly chilly August wind kicking in, it was time to start the show.  Several bizarre trailers and clips played including Wild and Wonderful, starring Tony Curtis opposite a poodle with human tendencies.  Then it was time.  Blondes opens with a musical number and introduces us to Monroe's Lorelei Lee and Russell's Dorothy Shaw.  Lee is looking to marry up and has the perfect target in a nebbish, bespectacled type who gets woozy from a kiss.  The duo hitch a ride on a cruise to Europe where private investigator/buff Olympians/young millionaires/diamond tiaras/straight vodka hijinks ensue.

Monroe is endearingly sweet as the dumb but maybe smart Lorelei which is balanced out by Russell's more aware, primal and simple living Shaw.  Hawks gives the two women all of the power in the film as they're the commotion of every crowd, the main attraction at every show and the desire of every man.  Their beauty might be on display but it's their charm, wit, show-womanship and confidence that keeps us interested.

I'm a Doer! Arnold Schwarzenegger

This past Tuesday, 7.30, marked the 66th year of the King of Kings, our Lord of Lords, mister Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The Austrian Oak means many things to many different people.  To bodybuilding, he's the all time champion, spokesman and arguably the individual most responsible for bringing muscles into the mainstream.  For movie buffs, he's the sword swinging Conan of Cimmeria, the time traveling Terminator, Predator hunting Dutch and Batman's coolest foe, Mister Freeze (Chill!).  Some women find him attractive, others, probably not so much.

By sheer force of will power and self belief, Ah-nuld went from immigrant bodybuilder to movie star to governor, back to movies and then started his own Institute at the University of Southern California to promote post partisanship policies over party lines.  All on only 6 hours of sleep a night allegedly.  A well rounded sense of self is well documented from the business classes and investments that made him a millionaire in his 20's, a lack of professional ego confirmed by directors like James Cameron and Paul Verhoeven, a self deprecating sense of humor that make audiences love and quote him and finally his massive contributions and involvement with charities like The Special Olympics and Habitat for Humanity.

While it's easy to take pot shots at Arnold's life, career and questionable behavior, one thing always remains; Arnold is a doer.  Win bodybuilding's highest title 7 times?  Check.  Get paid $25 million per film?  Check.  Became governor of California with no political experience?  Check.  He even silenced the internet cesspool of insults, Reddit, with a recent post about fitness.  But success will always breed detractors and Schwarzenegger is an easy target for today's entitled, instant gratification seeking masses.

Somehow, the "bullets" fly right by.  Had a child with the nanny?  He's providing for them.  Book didn't sell well?  People still lined up for hours to get theirs signed.  Comeback movie tanked at the box office?  I liked it and quite enjoyed it.  This is what makes Arnold one of a kind, he doesn't dwell on the negative, he simply moves on and doesn't waste his energy on what he can't control.  That's a far cry from today's technology suppressed society that complains over Twitter instead of in person or the media that feeds despair instead of offering hope.

Someone said to me the other day it would be great if we could clone Arnold and get more action movies.  I think we can all agree that Jason Momoa didn't quite deliver as Conan the way Arnie did.  On a deeper level, having more guys like Arnold around is important because they're the world changers; driven to a fault, presenting the best and worst of us while still trying to leave the world in better shape than when we came into it.

Happy birthday, Arnold.  Smoke a stogie and continue to conquer.