Chuck Jaeger

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this past weekend's movies, in which Pacific Rim debuted in third, behind Grown-Ups 2, with Despicable Me 2 in first, despite being in its second week:

• There was a movie about men confronting their age after they move back to their home town.  That was the dumb movie compared to the movie about giant robots fighting giant monsters.
• Here's how bad sequel-itis has gotten: Even when we produce a movie that's nothing but special effects, explosions and fighting, it won't succeed.  People will prefer a half-assed comedy, as long as it's a sequel.
• The same weekend the giant monsters movie comes out, the science-fiction speciality channel - the one that made Battlestar Galactica serious and thoughtful - will find a way to make an even dumber movie.
• I had worried about the use of the word "jaeger" to refer to the giant robots in Pacific Rim.  Specifically, I feared that when we finally make giant robots, they'd end up called "jaegers," rather than "mechs" as they're called in most anime.  Turns out I shouldn't have worried.