【英语时差8,16】影评：终结者T4（上）

 Terminator: Salvation¹ I’m gonna plant a flag and say that the fourth film in the “Terminator” series is not science fiction. Furthermore, that’s exactly its problem. Arguing about whether something is science fiction is probably self-defeating – but that didn’t stop us from trying to do it for seven years, once a month, two hours a shot, during which time I attended the venerable Bloomington, Indiana Science Fiction Discussion Group. And if you think a political or religious argument can get heated, just put a dozen hard-core science fiction fans in a circle and ask them to define their passion. In fact, maybe SF IS a religion. Then again: nobody in the science fiction field itself has ever proposed even a workable definition of the genre² that didn’t get shrugged³ off or burned to the ground. When we start splitting hairs, things get slippery, and more and more works can be filed in numerous places. Hence, terms are coined, such as “hard SF” (the science is rigorous) and “soft SF” (like the so-called “soft sciences”, perhaps social issues or psychology⁴ are inventive, but at the expense of cutting edge physics). But again: there is no room in SF for “Terminator: Salvation”. That’s because SF is primarily a field of ideas; and “Salvation” doesn’t have any of those – not about science, not about fiction – other than “let’s keep things moving”. At least one facet⁵ of the “Terminator” series hasn’t gone straight downhill: and that's the special effects. The first film was down-and-dirty (though the night photography was pretty nice, and makeup⁶ by Stan Winston, turning Arnold’s face into half robot, worked well). The second film did its part to push the movies into the computer graphics⁷ age. The third “Terminator” we can skip. And now this new one, with effects by ILM, is cutting edge again (if, last year, you thought “Transformers” was cutting edge).

1 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

2 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

3 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

5 facet   

n.(问题等的)一个方面；(多面体的)面

参考例句：

• He has perfected himself in every facet of his job.他已使自己对工作的各个方面都得心应手。
• Every facet of college life is fascinating.大学生活的每个方面都令人兴奋。

6 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

7 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。