:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 ::

At the moment, I'm laughing at the rather scattershot nature of my last post. I was rereading it checking for typos and I couldn't help be amused at how it's barely coherent. Almost as erratic as "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" though not nearly as entertaining.

I went to my first Hollywood premiere last night up at the Mann Westwood Theaters for a screening of "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines." It had all the glitz and glamour in all its excrescent glory that one might see at a typical big movie red carpet event. And I couldn't help but notice that there was a deliberate absurdity to it.

We stood in line for about an hour and half thinking we'd be led straight into the theater. The ticket said 6:00 but it was the approximate start time of the festivities. Around 5:45 we were led into some bleachers where we, as enthusiastic spectators, would be on hand to applaud the red carpet walk of the various stars who were there to view and/or promote the film. The nice thing about that was that all bleacher sitters received free T-shirts and the first one hundred of that crowd also received a free pair of T-3 sunglasses in a really cool hard-shell case. Our group was lucky enough to be in that first one hundred. Getting that free stuff made the whole night worthwhile since I dig free stuff. (That and I needed a new pair of sunglasses anyway.)

The limos started rolling in around 6:20 (actors seem to always be fashionably late.) In my two-plus decades of living in Los Angeles, I've never had any real star sightings so this was kinda cool. Ah-nuld and his lovely wife was there, of course, as well as other celebrities like Tia Carrere, Robert Duvall, Blue Man Group, that one guy from "Saved by the Bell," what's her name from "Melrose Place," and Kenny G (?!?). I played along and applauded some celebrities but I was surprised at how blasé I was towards to whole thing, considering how much I enjoy the movies. That was until Kristanna Loken, the actress who plays the latest Terminator cyborg, arrived. Oh... my... GAWD (female readers, feel free to skip to the next paragraph). She was just utterly, completely, stunningly beautiful. And in a classy, elegant, non-slutty way. I know how film and photography might conceal flaws but she was just, plain gorgeous in real life. My fetish for brunettes was completely forgotten for the next few hours.

The movie itself? Surprisingly good considering the rumored production problems and the complete non-presence of "Terminator" progenitor James Cameron. But it wasn't good relative my low expectations. I found this to be a solid, well-directed action movie. The action scenes were excellent and the story conveyed the need to continue this story without feeling forced or contrived. Having played this role twice before, Arnold wears this role like a supermodel in a catsuit. The lovely Ms. Loken was good in a limited role requiring little more than roaming the screen killing people while looking simultaneously menacing and alluring. She had exactly two facial expressions through the film: impassive and less than impassive. Determining any real acting ability or lack thereof would have to wait until later films. Everyone in our party seemed to have liked the film and agreed that had we paid to see it, we wouldn't have felt burned. Crowd reaction was generally positive and there were quite a few who clapped at the end of the movie.

I gotta tell ya. It was a fun night.

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 10:14 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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