In the lead up to the release of Avatar, James Cameron is doing lots of press, and MTV recently got a chance to ask the Terminator 1 and 2 director what he thought of McG’s Terminator Salvation.  Trust me, you do not want to miss this one.  FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

“I have seen it, and unfortunately I saw it the wrong way, on cable at the hotel, while I was working, over three nights because I don’t have much time,” Cameron said. “It’s better than I thought it was going to be.”

HO SNAP!  He thought it was gonna suck because McG’s a loser and his mom’s a bitch but it actually turned out sorta decent!  Or maybe he thought it was gonna be just sorta “meh”, and it turned out kinda “so so”!  AW HELL NAH, SH-T IS GETTIN REAL!

But Cameron went on to praise McG and his creative team for their efforts while also noting that the movie was missing some essential elements that made the earlier films such classics. “It’s actually quite reverential to the mythos of the ‘Terminator’ world,” he said. “I think McG and the writers tried hard to keep reacquainting you with some of those ideas in the story that they were weaving. So actually I thought it was pretty cool. I did feel that it sort of lacked Je ne sais quoi.“

OH NO HE DI’IN’T, FRENCH WORDS FROM THE TOP ROPE!

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(Least sexy shoe-cam photo ever.)

Terminator Salvation wasn’t the worst movie in the world.  It had some cool action sequences, but it followed them up with Christian Bale yelling for no apparent reason and a final 15 minutes that challenged the last 15 of Indy 4 for dumbest ever.  When I saw it I got so mad I punched the wall and lava came out.  Now Halcyon has filed for bankruptcy and is selling the franchise.  Problem is, no one wants to buy.  But that didn’t stop McG from planning two more movies.  He made the comments during a special event in which people who bought the Blu-ray could listen to live commentary from McG.  Sadly we don’t have the transcript, just a pretty great live blog from Gizmodo.  Poor McG.  He seems like a good guy who’s just a little too stupid for his own good.  He’s like the friend who really wants to be in your band, and you’d totally let him, only he can’t play an instrument and keeps drooling on the tambourine.  Also, he seems strangely cocky.  McG, I mean.

6:55: McG just compared his movie to The Dark Knight.

6:57: Audience question: how do you feel about making the horrible Charlie’s Angels films?

6:57: McG: “I really like those movies. If you don’t like them you can f-ck off.” [He later added, 'You're stupid and ugly and this is all just a defense mechanism.' -Ed]

6:59: “I want feedback from the audience if you want another movie or not?”

7:00: From the comments the director’s making, it seems like McG isn’t really a fan of subtlety. I don’t want to get too negative or anything…but yeah. [Editor's note: think of this as foreshadowing.]

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UGO recently discovered that the director’s cut of Terminator Salvation, soon to be released all over your face on DVD and BluRay, will be rated R for “violence and brief nudity.”  This is interesting for a couple of reasons: 1. it’s a slow news day.  2. McG has contradicted himself a few times now vis a vis his film’s rating and the reasons for it.

Back in March at Wondercon, McG told a screaming crowd that WB was trying to get him to cut a scene showing Moon Bloodgood’s boobs.  “Do you want to see Moon’s boobs in the picture?” McG said while sitting next to the actress, trying to fire up the all-male audience.  (I also imagine him pointing at her boobs while he said it, but that may be dramatic license).  And this is neither here nor there, but he also promised the crowd that the movie “is gonna knock your f’ckin balls up your ass.”  Woohoo, I f’ckin love balls up my ass, McG imagined the crowd cheering.

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     Two dollars.

Terminator Salvation has grossed over $370 million worldwide so far (and still isn’t out on DVD).  Yet this is happening:

Three companies belonging to Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek, owners of the “Terminator” franchise rights and producers of May’s “Terminator Salvation,” have filed for bankruptcy [...] Those owed the most money include a number of top industry law firms such as Greenberg Traurig ($437,618.61); Glaser, Weil, Fink, Jacobs, Howard, & Shapiro ($120,672.89) and O’Melveny & Myers ($96,565.86). They also owe $25,000 to C2 Pictures, the production company controlled by previous “Terminator” owners Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna.  In addition, one British individual [Orlando Wood]  is owed $3.5 million. There is no reason given for any of the debts.  The three companies each list estimated assets and liabilities totaling between $10 million and $50 million. [The LA Times]

But don’t worry about Anderson and Kubicek.  They’ll be fine:

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In a recent interview, McG revealed that Christian Bale’s outburst wasn’t his first run-in with an actor, and that Bill Murray had actually headbutted him on the set of Charlie’s Angels. As if actors needed more reasons not to work with McG.

“I’m reintroducing the fist-fight to movie sets,” he smiles. “I don’t think there’s been a film I’ve made where there hasn’t been some kind of physical fight. I mean, I’ve been headbutted by an A-list star. Square in the head. An inch later and my nose would have been obliterated.” Will he be revealing any names? “Nah, I probably shouldn’t,” he smiles. “But it was Bill Murray. Y’know, it’s a passionate industry.” [Guardian via Playlist]

It’s hard to tell if he was being serious and I doubt someone from The Guardian would know the difference, but in any case let’s assume McG is an a-hole and no one should work with him ever. There, done.  Who could make Bill Murray so angry he wants to fight?  He’s adorable.  It’d be like getting mauled by a pygmy baby hippo.