There turned out to be a large group of us at the new Alamo Drafthouse to see the Mister Sinus Theater presentation of "The Terminator". The show started late because the Alamo needed more time than they originally thought to clean up after the 7 PM showing, and the "trailer", which was an old Schwarzeneggar fitness-for-kids video, ran on a bit long, but all of that was forgotten when the main event took center stage.

As others have explained, Mister Sinus Theater is basically a live-action version of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is to say a bunch of wise guys making fun of a cheesy movie. These guys are really good at it, and they're really relentless about it. The glorious thing about movies made in the 80s is that there's such a rich vein of comedic material - hairstyles, music, everything that was trendy - and these guys make a good amount of hash over all of them. I can't really do justice to what they do - it's just the sort of you-had-to-be-there thing that won't translate at all to a written review. What I can say is that we laughed a lot, and when a joke fell flat there was another one right behind it to get you laughing again.

Towards the end of the movie, they stopped the film long enough to do "Terminator: The Ballet", which was a recapitulation of the story done in interpretive dance. That was easily the funniest bit, worth the price of admission in itself. I'll say this: These guys have no fear, and it works for them.

You've got to appreciate snarky commentary, bad puns, sometimes obscure pop cultural references, and running gags that border on the obsessive - basically, junior high humor that's actually funny - in order to appreciate Mister Sinus. If you count yourself in that group, be sure to catch them when you can (and be sure to buy tickets in advance - both shows were sold out). Tiffany has a lower tolerance for this sort of thing than I do and she still enjoyed it, so unless you know you'll hate it you should give it a try. I'm on their mailing list so I'll know when they come back. I'll be there when they do.