We here at The Flickcast don’t like to judge films based on their rating. While it might be in vogue to jump on the hate wagon when a popular franchise goes for a PG-13 instead of an R, none of that matters if the story is good. The rating should be dependent on content, and that content should be determined by what ever choices lead to the best possible movie.

That said, it is hard not to feel a little enthusiasm when the current rights holder to the Terminator franchise tweets outs gold like this:

@meganeellison: @terminatorfans We can’t really tell you guys anything about Terminator BUT it will be an R rated film as God and James Cameron intended.

In the years since the release of the first two Terminator films, action and violence has grown more and more accepted by the MPAA, leaving films like T2 as examples of very soft R rated films. The franchise doesn’t “need” an R rating in the same way a Zombie film or a Slasher movie does. However, knowing that at the very center of all things Terminator  an R rated film means in the writing phase there will be no compromises, which is very encouraging after the debacle that was Terminator: Salvation.

Perhaps you didn’t realize it but there’s a fine tradition in Hollywood of having actors say the title of the film they are in during the film itself. Sometimes, like in Hot Tub Time Machine, it’s done with a nod to the audience.

Other times, as in Terminator, it’s done in a more off=hand manner and makes sense given the situation in the story. Whetever the reasons or circumstances, this has been happening for along time and will probably go on for a long time to come.

Of course, someone has taken the time to put all these instances together in one video (two, actually). That person is YouTube’s own Honsco and we’ve got the new video, and his first one, to share with you today.

They contain a lot of our favorite movies and after seeing this repeated over 150 times it never really gets old. Check out both videos after the jump.

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Now that he’s not in office anymore, it seems like former California Governor can’t keep still. First he announces that he’s doing a comic book/cartoon franchise based on the fictional affairs during his term as the Governator, and now he’s ready to jump on the big screen as The Terminator.

THR has the full scoop.

The star’s agency, CAA, has put together a package that it’s currently shopping to the studios that includes rights to produce a new Terminator sequel, which would be directed by Justin Lin, hot off Fast Five, which opens domestically Friday, and produced by Robert Cort. No screenwriter has come on board yet.

When the movie’s rights holder the Halcyon Group went through bankruptcy in 2010, Lionsgate and Sony joined together in an unsuccessful bid to claim the franchise for themselves. More recently, Universal has been talking to CAA about tackling the project.

The idea of both Lin and Schwarzenegger is obviously still in the preliminary stages, but with Lin’s Fast Five opening big this weekend, you can imagine that Universal, Sony, and Lionsgate all jumping on the project like a Snickers at a fat camp.

No word just yet on how this effects McG’s “reboot” of the franchise with Salvation but even McG will have to step aside when the Governator wants back at playing the metal-head.

Welcome to this week’s On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage this week. Let is know if we missed something interesting. Otherwise, on to the links!

• Supercut: If I Told You, I’d Have to Kill You.

• National Lampoon’s Christmas Inception.

• LIST: 8 of the dirtiest Sexual Innuendos in children’s cartoons.

• Batman robs a Taco Bell.

• HBO cutting out the vampire middle-man (or woman) and making a show about porn.

• Chelsea Handler to host the MTV VMA’s. General MTV-watching public’s response: Who?

• The new promo for Dexter is pretty terrible, and we haven’t even seen the show.

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We at The Flickcast are pretty diligent about serving up all the news that comes out each week. However, try as we may to cover it all, some things occassionally slip by. Well, no longer.

Welcome to On The Radar! This weekly post will be your premiere destination for a comprehensive roundup of items that may be developing stories we’re watching, Twitter commentary, or other relevant news that wasn’t quite ready for prime time just yet.  In short, a grab bag of geek items which are sure to please.

Let’s see what blips are on the radar this week.

‘Zombieland’ devours video rentals

Zombieland dominated the video lists this week, “…on the Nielsen VideoScan Blu-ray Disc chart, “Zombieland” went three for three, bowing at No. 1 and …racked up 31% of its total first-week sales from the Blu-ray Disc.” Way to go Zombieland, we can’t wait for the sequeal.

‘Avatar’ 3D boosts Cineplex ticket sales in Canada

3D showings of Avatar did wonders for Cineplex’s bottom line in Canada, “Despite running for only 13 days during its latest financial frame, “Avatar 3D” was Cineplex’s biggest boxoffice performer during the fourth quarter to Dec. 31, and has done around $74 million in Canadian ticket receipts to date.” No surprise really given the popularity of this film and the fact 3D showings are still being sold, out or causing line-ups.

Geek flicks drive Viacom profits

DVD and Blu-Ray disc sales from Star Trek, Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe stimulated Viacom’s fourth quarter earnings to the tune of $694 million.  Not bad considering the $173 million it made in the same quarter in 2008.  Also helping was the indie hit Paranormal Activity which increased operating expenses by 24%.

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Ever since Joss Whedon put in his open request for the rights of the Terminator franchise back in November, things have been pretty quiet on the front of studios bidding for the sci-fi property. The first news came through yesterday, as Lionsgate put in an offer for $15 million, with a 5% cut of future gross receipts.

The property was originally put up back in September, as the company currently holding the rights, The Halcyon Group, filed for bankruptcy. The auction includes just about anything Terminator, which include the rights to future films, TV series, DVDs, and any merchandise that gets produced.

Up until now, the films have been around the block, so to speak. Pacific West helped produce the rights to the first films, while distribution rights went to MGM, then Artisan and Columbia/Tri-Star, then to Warner Bros and Sony for the final two films. A purchase by Lionsgate could mean a resurgence in the franchise, as they are known for mildly successful reboots with Punisher: War Zone, 3:10 To Yuma, and Bangkok Dangerous.

Other studios have until February 4th to submit their offers, which have to top Lionsgate’s bid by at least $500,000 in order to count. The auction for all other “Terminator” assets will take place on February 8th in Los Angeles. No word on if Joss Whedon has plans on taking out his credit card to outbid the studio, but he’s still got time.

When it comes to the Terminator mythology, I often wonder if the War Against the Machines is best left unexplored. I mean, let’s be honest — it’s the glimpses of grilled rats and a desperate humanity that made it so frightening. Once Terminator: Salvation and Fox’s The Sarah Connor Chronicles spent a lot of time in the Can’t-Really-Be-Changed future, it became rather boring.

However, I think if you’re going to explore that bleak future, a Dark Horse series is the place to do it.  As you may have heard already, Zack Whedon has been given the enviable task of penning a new series that will explore the life and times of Kyle Reese. Before Reese was sent to 1984 to save Sarah Connor and inadvertently fathered John, he was just your average soldier. Whedon’s six issue series aims to bring him to life, and describe just what it’s like to live under the robotic regime.

Whedon is joined by some top-notch artists. The new “Terminator” series will be drawn by Andy MacDonald, who you’ll recognize from NYC Mech, Punisher War Journal. If you’ve read NYC Mech, you should be pretty excited as he’s really the man for Skynet’s rubble. But if you prefer to judge a comic book by its cover, you’ll undoubtedly be pulling these, as the covers will be done by Y: The Last Man’s Massimo Carnevale

The first issue will be on shelves by March 2010. Even though my interest in the Terminator franchise has really cooled, I’d be interested in picking this up.  2 hours of raging against the machines and scrounging for food is a bit much, but 6 issues strung over a period of months? That’s a dystopia I can invest in.

This week on The Flickcast, Chris and Matt are joined on this milestone episode by comic and video game expert John Carle and, as usual, dive into a whole bunch of new topics. This time around the guys discuss Joss Whedon’s bid to buy the Terminator franchise, XBox’s new Live Rewards program, the epic Guitar Hero vs. Rock Band war, Best Buy’s foray into video on demand and the merits of various Michael Caine movies.

Of course, the guys also made some more great pics this week including John’s pick of the great new demo for Left for Dead 2, Matt’s pick of a very special episode of Batman: Brave and the Bold and Chris’ pick of the 1992 Oliver Stone movie Natural Born Killers.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

Thanks for listening.

That Joss Whedon is a funny guy and one heck of a writer. His shows, including Firefly, Buffy, Angel and Dollhouse, are among the most favored by fans and, of course, we love his work here at The Flickcast. Now, with the Terminator franchise apparently up for sale (again) Whedon has made a modest proposal of his own to buy the entire thing in an open letter to those selling the franchise.

Among the items covered in this open letter are how much he offers for the franchise and what he would do with it if he got it. Its a funny and, in some cases, inspirational attempt at humor from a man who knows how to bring the funny.

Although, maybe he’s serious and thinks he would do a good job with the franchise? And, thinking about it a bit more myself, I think he would do a great job with Terminator also. Interesting thoughts indeed.

Take a look at the full text of the letter after the jump, courtesy of the fine folks at Whedonesque. Once you read it, give us your thoughts on the idea.

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At first I was pretty excited to watch the new Fox television series based on the Terminator films, which were originally conceived by James Cameron. Sadly, after the first few episodes, I wasn’t completely hooked and my enthusiasm waned a bit. I did, however, continue to watch the show through the entire first season. Then, the second season began and it seemed the show had finally found its voice and started to really come together.

The show continued for a second season and then, as we know, was canceled by Fox — which renewed the equally low rated Dollhouse instead. But even with the cancellation of the show, it may live on as a DVD movie which will, perhaps, answer some questions poised by the finale of the series. Fortunately, while you wait for the DVD movie to happen, or not happen, you can watch the entire second season on DVD or Blu-ray, which is what I’m going to talk about here.

The second season, set in the time after Terminator 2: Judgment Day, picks up where the first left off telling the story of Sarah Connor (Lena Headey), her son John “the future leader of mankind” (Thomas Dekker) and Cameron, the Terminator (Summer Glau) sent to protect him from other Terminators who want him dead. This season John and Sarah have decided to stop running, which occupied them during the first season, and are instead intent on stopping the birth of Skynet — the super computer that eventually destroys most of humanity.

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It looks as if another franchise could end up being a victim to the economic recession. The rights to the lucrative Terminator movie series are up for sale yet again. The LA Times reports Derek Anderson and Victor Kubicek, who acquired the science-fiction franchise in 2007 for $25 million and produced Terminator: Salvation, are looking to sell the rights as they work through a Chapter 11 reorganization.

But fans shouldn’t get too worried about never seeing their favorite Terminator model on the silver screen again. There’s a long history of franchise rights changing hands over the years.

At the time of release in 1984, production company Hemdale Films owned a 50% interest and director James Cameron sold the other half to producer Gale Anne Hurd for $1. Carolco Pictures, owned by producers Mario Kassar and Andrew Vajna, bought Hemdale’s stake in 1990 for $10 million, but filed for bankruptcy in 1997.

Kassar and Vajna then created C2 Pictures, which bought their old company’s stake for $8 million and the remaining 50% from Hurd for $7 million. In 2007, Kassar and Vajna sold the rights to current owners, Anderson and Kubicek.

No word yet on how the potential sale will effect Terminator 5 and 6, which Terminator: Salvation director McG is working on, but if box office receipts and ownership history are any indication of what the future might hold, the potential owner is sure to find some way to keep the story going.

This week on The Flickcast, Chris, Matt and Christina discuss a whole slew of new topics and revisit a few old ones. Some of the things they cover in this episode include Green Hornet casting news, Steven Spielberg’s next movie, the somewhat surprising performance of G.I. Joe, Terminator 5 news, Tim Roth playing Abomination in two other movies, the death of John Hughes and a whole lot more.

The trio also makes some great picks this week with Christina’s choice of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in honor of John Hughes, Matt’s choice of Running Scared starring Paul Walker and Chris’ favorite comic book Blackest Night, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis.

Last, but certainly not least, in honor of the 20th episode, the team announced a cool contest for all the listeners of the show. So, be sure to listen to this week’s episode and then check back right here later today for all the details on how you can win some great prizes!

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

Thanks for listening.