Dr. Silberman, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love The Terminator

Before I begin, I'd like to just preface this entry by saying that the title is once again an attempt to be clever, and I apologize to anyone who still has no clue what the hell I'm talking about.
Just about six summers ago now... I was in Kentucky for my annual trek to visit an aunt and uncle I have up there with my dad. A couple days into the trip my uncle suggests a movie (they're big movie people, they like to go at least once a week)... so I said "Yeah, sure, I'm game for a movie. Which one do you want to see?" or something along those lines. That part of the day is a little blurry for me, but what happened later on that day I still have vivid memories of. So my uncle was all hyped about "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines", and all's I could think of was: yikes. I really don't want to go see that movie--- the world prophesized by Jim Cameron in the Terminator mythos was way too scary for my tastes. Even to the point that I never even saw the first two installments. I never went in for horror flicks and I'm not really an action guy either. But, albeit begrudgingly, I went. I went and I sat and I waited, after getting my huge bucket of popcorn and 32 oz. water that I would later regret. I sat through the previews while devouring the popcorn--- and started to get just a little bit nervous at the prospect of the film I was about to see. My uncle had prepped me in the car about the whole timeline and who John Connor was, who Sarah Connor was, who Kyle Reese was... who the T-800 was. But it was so damn confusing I basically tuned him out very quickly. I soon regretted tuning him out as the film started getting underway... and suddenly, captivation. Pure, utter, captivation--- I was at the mercy of Jonathon Mostow's story within minutes. I never saw a movie quite like it... seasoned perfectly with just the right combination of bravada, thrills, testosterone, hotness (Kristanna Loken's "arrival" scene), and funniness. The action was mind-blowing even if you weren't an action junkie (and I would know, because as previously stated, I'm not an action/adventure kind of guy). The crane chase scene just had me going "Wow. This is a great film." Say what you may about the lack of Sarah Connor or Schwarzenegger's 60 year old Terminator, and say what you will about Mostow's directing style, but I thought the movie rocked... and most important, it made me crave more. James Cameron gave no words of consolation to Mostow... no support. He had felt the story had been told in the first two pictures and no more needed to be said for the franchise. All's I have to say is thank God Jonathon Mostow disagreed. Without T3, I may've never even discovered the first two glorious entries to this marvelous saga. And thank God I went to that movie theater that day. Last but not least, I thank my uncle for introducing me to what I believe is the best story of human survival ever told.
No fate but what we make. So what are we waiting for?