When you look back on your life fifty years from now don't you want to say you had enough guts to go see Transformers on IMAX?

All of my life I have lived in the part of the nation that other US Americans with maps affectionately refer to as "flyover country". This was never more apparent to me than when they declared a town fifty miles north of me as the official middle of nowhere. You'd think I'd be used to living far away from all the big cities and doing without all the fun things that happen there, but it's hard. Missing out on exciting events like furry conventions and Iron Maiden concerts really gets to me. On the other hand, I appreciate those things a lot more than Joe Pokemon average big city liver guy who gets to experience the perks of city life enough to take them for granted. It's like how my european friends would kill for Taco Bell because they don't have that overseas. I may live in a pop culture entertainment vaccuum hellhole (aka South Dakota) but at least I could theoretically get a taco supreme if I had to.

Now they've announced that the Transformers movie is coming to IMAX screens starting September 21st. I would really like to see it on an IMAX screen because the last time I saw it was at the base theater here at Ellworth Space Station. I have always had horrible experiences watching movies on military bases and last last Sunday when I saw Transformers was no exception. The theater was plunged into darkness for ten minutes when the reel fell off halfway though the movie. I should be grateful that when the movie resumed the picture was not upside down, WHICH HAS HAPPENED BEFORE.

I've done the 800 mile round trip Denver drive enough to know that whatever reason I'm doing it for better be pretty good. I try to limit my exposure to Nebraska as much as I can but Transformers movie is worth it (barely). Going down to Denver for the weekend of September 21st would mean I leave my family alone and I'd feel a little bad because my wife's birthday is the following Monday. It looks like I'd rent a car, leave Friday night, check into some crappy hotel around 1 a.m., then see the movie Saturday and maybe leave immediately after that. If I were in my early twenties this would sound like something fun and exciting, but right now in my advanced stages of robomenopause I have difficulty justifying the toll it would take on my wallet and conscience.

Still, there's supposed to be magical deleted scenes and it's not everyday that mainstream pop culture gets tricked into thinking toy robots on the IMAX is a good idea. So I'm stuck between blowing a couple hundred bucks on a road trip to Denver to see it on IMAX and doing the smart thing, which is waiting for the DVD and watching those magical deleted scenes on my ICOUCH. I feel like Megan Fox in that part of the movie when Sam LeBouff gives her that "when you look back on your life.." line, wondering if getting in Bumblebee is a good idea or if Sam has just conceived the world's most elaborate date rape setup and my butt will be hurting later.