Terminator Salvation director Mayor McCheese was in trouble last month when he made a big deal of saying he had Terminator 1 & 2 director James Cameron’s blessing, only to be contradicted by Cameron himself.  Cameron recently clarified his position to AICN:

“There’s been some kind of misunderstanding between me and McG, perfectly innocent I believe. He asked me in a phone call when I was shooting in New Zealand earlier this year if I would be a supporter and creative participant in the new film. I said sure, send me the script and I’ll give you my thoughts. And I warned him that free advice is usually worth what you pay for it. For whatever reason I never got the script and to date I haven’t seen a foot of film other than what everybody’s seen in the trailer, which is not enough to form an opinion. So I have zero basis for supporting or dissing the film. As I said in an interview, for all I know it could be a masterpiece or it could be a big steaming pile. I think all people heard was the steaming pile part and concluded I was against the film, which I’m not. In fact, it might be very good, an opinion based solely on what Sam Worthington has shared with me. He’s nobody’s fool when it comes to material, and has absolutely the lowest bullshit quotient of anyone I know, and he has repeatedly told me that he reckons the film is going to be good. I know him to be very critical (in a healthy way) of his own work, and an actor who always aspires to excellence, so I know he wouldn’t praise the film if he didn’t feel it.”

So he doesn’t really have an opinion on whether the movie will suck.  And his clarification doesn’t seem to make what Mayor McCheese said earlier any less of a lie. He may trust those with a low “bullshit quotient”, but the square root of McG is still nachos.

One named wonderdouche McG (aka Mayor McCheese) recently updated his Terminator Salvation blog to discuss the editing and visual effects process.

Charlie Gibson is aware of his responsibility as the VFX supervisor and second unit director of this film. He works with ILM and Asylum every day and makes revisions to the finest detail. We want the patina of the machines to be dirty and heavy and perfectly realistic – that’s why we built so much practically with Stan Winston.

Ooh, “patina”, nice word, McCheese.  You’re so erudite!  Maybe I’ve been wrong about you all along!

We set out to create a world that honored the Terminator mythology but was its own new beginning. Every day I learn from Conrad [Buff, the editor] as he makes the elegant choices of a disciplined filmmaker. It feels great to have his confidence in the movie. I take his opinion very seriously, he provides a daily litmus test for what is worthy of a Terminator film.

Okay, getting kinda fruity.  But I have to admit, I’m impressed he’s been able to repress his inner retard for this long.

Most importantly, Christian and Sam bring power to the rolls of John Connor and Marcus Wright. This is a story of two destinies colliding. Connor is part of a resistance comprised of the ethnicities that make up the globe. This film is so much more that just Los Angeles. It reflects the global crisis of man, all of man versus machine.

Bwahahaha!  This is gonna be so deep, man!  It’s about global crisis!  Choke on my powerful rolls, you robot SOBs!  Drink my venti latte of death!  Feast on my muffins of annihilation!

Haha, “rolls”.  What an idiot.

^{And so I tell da guy, “Hey, oh.  Why ya gotta bust my balls?”}

Zimbio snagged these photos of “Governor” Schwarzenegger visiting the set of Terminator Salvation in L.A. yesterday.  Meanwhile, an anonymous tipster to LatinoReview had this bogus-sounding news to share:

I should make it clear, i have varous contacts in WB and from what i’ve been told the fans are in for a treat. The premise of Arnie’s involvement is to have a fully rendered digital face of Arnie replacing the recently cast Roland Kickinger (The Younger version of Arnie). It seems the Director Mc G [Mayor McCheese] will in no doubt try all he can to ensure the Governator has some sort of involvement and as a result Arnold was on set providing key ADR (Voice over) for the visual effects guys to reference during post production. You have to remember, Arnold’s commitments are preventing his return to the movie business and this seems the best logical way to ensure his involvement.

You may recall Christopher Lee’s face being embossed on a stunt double in the Star Wars prequels?, imagine that with Arnold and you will get the picture.

You may recall, LatinoReview was also behind the bogus PG-13 Punisher rumor a while back.  I won’t get into all the boring technical reasons why I think this is also bullshit, but I will say that if Roland Kickinger was okay with having someone else’s face superimposed over his, I wish my girlfriend were more like him.  She won’t even let me watch Clive Owen movies while we do it.  He just puts me in the mood, okay?

[Other source = /Film]

Arnold Schwarzenegger won’t be appearing in Terminator Salvation, but since he was the star of the two real movies in the franchise, he was recently given a private screening of some footage. As far as his reaction,  and keep in mind he’s a politician now (i.e., a professional ass kisser), the word on the street is "underwhelmed".

"I still don’t know how it will play out with this one," said the star-turned-politician, who said he was given a private screening of early footage by producers of the franchise reboot directed by McG. "They showed me some footage, but I don’t have a feel for the movie. I didn’t see enough. I wasn’t sure who the Terminator was. I don’t know if there is one or if he’s the star or the hero. These are the things that determine the success and how the strong the movie will be."

"Salvation" producers also arranged for the governor to see an early "sizzle reel," a montage of scenes of the sort shown at Comic-Con International last month, where "Salvation" was popular with fans.  Schwarzenegger was polite but cautious on Friday when he was asked if he thought the reel actually had the sort of sizzle he expected.

"I’ve seen very little footage so I don’t really have a feel for it. I hope they do well, and I hope it is a huge hit.  I do hope it creates a spectacle on the screen. That is what James Cameron created." [LATimes]

Speaking of spectacles, remember back in the olden days when they’d bring a bear out in the arena and then a bunch of dogs, and the dogs would have to fight the bear? Or when they’d throw a dog in with a bunch of rats and take bets on how many rats it could kill?  Seems like that would make a sweet movie.  

I added the "I am coming" video because jokes are always funnier when you have to explain them.

Terminator Salvation recently released this new poster.  Should you go see an unnecessary fourth Terminator, directed by the Charlie’s Angels guy, featuring a fake Arnold Schwarzenegger?  It’s better than a hole in the head, this seems to suggest. Though if the Japanese have taught us anything, it’s that a robot’s orifice should be nearer the vagina if you really want the magic to happen. 

[via IMPA]