Star Trek

broderic on May 13, 2009

I’ll go ahead and say it, “Star Trek was fun.”

There were space battles. And worm holes. And Vulcans. And Romulans. Big space ships from the future and the Starship Enterprise. There was sexy Uhura and ninja-tastic Sulu. Scotty, his pal, and their tribble show up. Bones McCoy came as the curmudgeon of the group while a young Checkov exhibited the youthful exuberance of a young Checkov. And Winona Rider.

But Star Trek is Kirk and Spock. They take center stage in this movie as it explores how these ambitious and talented Starfleet officers became rivals and then friends. Yes, at first, they are rivals in the way they command a ship to the woman they bed. Kirk, all cocky and brash, makes a joke of the Kobyashi Maru excercise which Spocked programmed. He beat it, but misses the finer the point of the lesson. Kirk, all cocky and brash, thinks that he can woo Uhura, then he finds out she’s got a thing for Spock. D’oh! Both of theses officers may be the best that Starfleet has produced, but neither one will budge on who should be the leader.

In the end it that leader is Spock, but not of this movie, our Spock whom imdb lists as Spock Prime. (Like Earth Prime of the DC universe). Spock is that leader. As the universal ambassador in our universe, he tried to save the Romulus only to have sparked a time conundrum which kicks off our movie. So, the acts in this film are not done in the same universe as what we’ve watched in the last forty years. It is an alternative which may spark some interesting stories.

What makes this film fun is the introduction of old friends. It may not be the way true diehard Star Trek Trekkies know how each character came to be, but for us simple Trekkers it’s okay as we meet our good friends at a much younger and adventurous time. This film doesn’t foolishly retcon new backstories to the characters, but re-imagines their lives in this alternative univers. It’s like they are given a different face, but remain the same person as they always were.

This new Star Trek is pretty geeky, but accessible. I think I want to see it again in the theatre.

5 of 5 stars.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

broderic on May 2, 2009

Wolverine is a terrible movie. The plot changes left and right. Was it an homage to Watchmen? “Someone’s murdering our old team.” Or did they just make it random. He was helping then he was the enemy then he’s part of the plot. Or he was my friend, then my brother, then my enemy and now my friend again.

The opening was another homage to Watchmen.

Why was Sabretooth jealous of Wolverine? I don’t know. They never show Wolverine doing anything awesome. In fact I thought Sabretooth was the bad ass.

Hugh Jackman was always miscast as Wolverine. Too friendly and not menacing enough. “I’m the best at what I do, and what I do ain’t pretty.” Sure. Sure. Pretty boy. I haven’t seen you do anything kick ass.

I always thought to know the origin of Wolverine was the suck. This movie shows how stupid it was.

I want to see Professor Xavier/Magneto movie.

2 of 5 stars.

State of Play

broderic on April 28, 2009

State of Play. I saw this a couple of weeks ago, so I don’t remember too much. I thought it was good as I left the theatre, but since I don’t remember too much, it might not have been. I remember waiting for the twist. It was there. It wasn’t too unexpected, and it wasn’t so hard to guess. I thought the twist would be different though.

Anywhoo, the movie is a remake of some British mini-series. They say the television show was better. I say who cares. I never saw it, so this was much better.

3 of 5

I Love You, Man

broderic on April 5, 2009

“I need some fucking friends!”

Ain’t that the truth? It’s difficult to acknowledge, but yes, I need some fucking friends. Like who’s gonna be my best man at my wedding. I don’t know Lou Ferrigno, so he’s out of the question.

I Love You, Man. Good flick. It had me laughing. And that’s all I needed for the last couple of days. A few good laughs. And some buddies to share it with.

4 of 5 stars.

Monsters vs Aliens IMAX 3-D

broderic on April 2, 2009

What’s old is new again.

Last Saturday, I needed a pick me up so what better way than to catch mindless drivel at the local movie emporium. Of course, by local, I mean something within a 20 mile drive. In the middle of breakfast, I decided I wanted to catch Monsters vs Aliens in three dimensions. So I drive to the local IMAX three dimension movie palace and join the morning crowd. Supposedly, all showings before noon should’ve been $5, but the premium that is IMAX cost be the same price as a regular ticket. Was this worth it?

Three dimensions is a farce. It doesn’t add anything to the film. It’s a gimmick to get you into the theatre. It worked. The depth of field is pretty cool. They did use the hokey “it’s coming at you” shots, but overall you don’t notice too much overt third dimension hokeum. Yet, I can’t but think that this doesn’t add much to the movie going experience. Sometimes it distracts when scrolling too fast.

The character design of Ginormica was freaky. I like manga, shoujo manga, with creepily big eyes, but Ginormica was disturbing. Must be because I she also reminded me of the girl in Bolt. Do studios share the same computer file for every woman character out there?

As far as story, I really dig the science fiction aspect. You had to be familiar with all the 50s monster movies to get all the monster references: the creature from the black lagoon, the blob, the fly, and Mothra. And Mothra… errr Insectasauros was pure fun. The story reminded me of The Incredibles. The writing reminded me that at least DreamWorks toned down their need to reference pop culture and made a movie that will transcend this day and age.

3 of 5 stars.

Quote of the Day [3.25.09]

broderic on March 25, 2009

“The world is divided into two kinds of people, those who have friends and those who are lonely like poor Tuco.”

Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez aka The Rat (Eli Wallach), “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly”

Quote of the Day [3.22.09]

broderic on March 22, 2009

“Run and hide, asshole. Run and hide. If you should be picked up next week buying a hundred-thousand dollar sports car in Newport Beach, I am going to be supremely disappointed. Because I want my people to find you, and when they do, rest assured we are not going to hand you over to the police. So my advice to you again is this: run and hide. That is all that I ask.”

Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), Ocean’s Eleven