On December 16:

1431  Henry VI of Englandwas crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.

1485  Catherine of Aragon, Queen of England, was born.

1497  Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.

1653  Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland.

1707  Last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan.

1770  Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer was born.

 Portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820

1773  Boston Tea Party – Members of the Sons of Liberty disguised as Mohawks dump crates of tea into Boston harbor as a protest against the Tea Act.

 This iconic 1846 lithograph by Nathaniel Currier was entitled “The Destruction of Tea at Boston Harbor

1775 Jane Austen, English writer, was born.

 A watercolour and pencil sketch of Jane Austen, believed to be drawn from life by her sister Cassandra (c. 1810)^[A]

1787  – Mary Russell Mitford, English writer, was born.

1790  King Léopold I of Belgium, was born.

1850 The Charlotte-Jane and the Randolph brought the firs tsettlres to Lyttelton, New Zealand.

1882   Sir Jack Hobbs, English cricketer, was born.

 Jack Hobbs (left) walks out to the SCG with his opening partner Herbert Sutcliffe.

1883 Max Linder, French pioneer of silent film, was born.

Max Linder

1888  King Alexander I of Yugoslavia, was born.

1893  Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, “From The New World” was given its world première at Carnegie Hall.

1899  Sir Noel Coward, English playwright, actor and composer, was born.

Noël Coward, c. 1920s

 1905  Piet Hein, Danish mathematician and inventor

Piet Hein (Kumbel) in front of the H.C. Andersen statue in Copenhagen

1905 A great rugby rivalry was born when a last-minute try to All Black Bob Deans was disallowed, handing the Welsh victory.

1907 The Great White Fleet (US Naval Battle fleet) began its circumnavigation of the world.

 Map of the Great White Fleet’s voyage.

1915  – Turk Murphy, American trombonist, was born.

1917  Sir Arthur C. Clarke, English writer, was born.

1920 The Haiyuan earthquake, magnitude 8.5, in  Gansu province in China, killed an estimated 200,000.

1938  Adolf Hitler institutd the Cross of Honor of the German Mother.

 Mutterkreuz

1943 Tony Hicks, English guitarist (The Hollies), was born.

1944 The Battle of the Bulge began with the surprise offensive of three German armies through the Ardennes forest.

1946 Benny Andersson, Swedish musician, singer and songwriter (ABBA), was born.

1947 Ben Cross, English actor, was born.

1947  William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain built the first practical point-contact transistor.

1949 Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget, later knons as SAAB, was founded in Sweden.

1952 Joel Garner, Barbadian West Indies cricketer, was born.

1955 – Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este, was born.

1960  1960 New York air disaster: While approaching New York’s Idlewild Airport, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 collided with a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation in a blinding snowstorm over Staten Island, killing 134.

1971 – Independence Day of the State of Bahrain from British Protectorate Status.

1972  Angela Bloomfield, New Zealand actress, was born.

1991 Independence of The Republic of Kazakhstan.

1997  Dennō Senshi Porygonan episode of Pokémon, was aired in Japan, inducing seizures in hundreds of Japanese children.

2003  President George W. Bush signed the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 into law. The law established the United States’ first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

Eric Bana gives Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto some hair care tips.

(Paramount) Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Eric Bana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Bruce Greenwood, Leonard Nimoy, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Ben Cross, Winona Ryder, Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Morrison, Rachel Nichols, Faran Tahir. Directed by J.J. Abrams

Even icons from time to time must reinvent themselves, if for no other reason to remain relevant in changing times. That is even more true for those having to do with the future.

The Federation starship U.S.S. Kelvin is investigating strange readings at a black hole. To the surprise of the ship’s captain (Tahir), a gigantic spacecraft of unknown design emerges from the singularity and without any provocation at all, opens fire on the starship, crippling it. The captain is forced to come aboard the unknown ship and is escorted to its captain, a Romulan named Nero (Bana),  who proceeds to ask the Federation representative some rather odd questions, the strangest being what stardate is it. The answer drives Nero berserk and he murders the captain and once again opens fire on the Kelvin.

The second-in-command (Hemsworth) orders an evacuation of the doomed Kelvin, paying special attention to his wife (Morrison) who is in labor. He intends to join her, but the ship’s automated functions are out of commission, and they are needed to gain critical time for the crew of the Kelvin to make their escapes. He realizes with sickening horror that he must remain aboard to run the ship manually. The young lieutenant saves his crew by ramming the dying starship into the unknown spaceship, crippling its weapon systems and propulsion. The name of the young hero? George Kirk.

Years later, his son James (Pine), born the day of his death, is adrift in Iowa, drinking in dive bars, picking up every woman he can and generally just lashing out at the world. While attempting to pick up a pretty Starfleet cadet named Uhura (Saldana), he gets jumped by a number of cadets, holding his own for awhile before getting his tush handed to him until Captain Christopher Pike (Greenwood) stops the fracas and clears the bar. He talks to the young Kirk about his father, and the difference he made to the 800 lives that were saved by his sacrifice and invites Kirk to join the Academy.

At first Kirk is reluctant to join Starfleet but eventually relents. On the shuttle ride to San Francisco, he meets an irascible divorced physician who is joining Starfleet to rebuild a career that had been essentially stymied in his divorce. The medico’s name is Leonard McCoy (Urban).

Already at the academy is a young half-Vulcan named Spock (Quinto). Tormented by young Vulcans for his half-human ancestry, Spock elects to follow the Vulcan disciplines of logic and dispassion of his father Sarek (Cross) with the blessing of his compassionate mother Amanda (Ryder). Despite this, Spock elects to decline admission to the Vulcan Science Academy (the first Vulcan ever to do so) and join Starfleet. After graduating from the Academy, he devises the notorious Kobiyashi Maru test, the infamous “no-win” scenario.

In the meantime, a brash young Ensign Kirk is blowing through the academy in a mere three years, still picking up women wherever he goes including a beautiful young Orion ensign (Nichols) who has come up with a rather ingenious solution to Spock’s test, landing him in hot water with the Academy dons. Unfortunately, an emergency comes up that relates directly to Kirk’s past, one that will bring all the disparate elements and characters together and forge together a crew that is destined to become a legend, while a man from the future (Nimoy) holds the key to the lives of Spock and Kirk.

The Star Trek franchise has been in decline for several years now, with an over-saturation of product that eventually seemed somewhat formulaic in many ways. Star Trek reboots the franchise with the original characters as seen through fresh new eyes. Director J.J. Abrams balances a delicate line of maintaining the spirit of the original series while adding additional elements of action and epic scope. Thus his new re-imagining of Star Trek will please not only hardcore Trek fans but also more general audiences.

Electing to go with a cast of young actors while steering clear of big name actors (Bana as Nero is the most recognizable face in the show other than Nimoy, and Bana is nearly unrecognizable in any case), and they come through in spades. All of the major crew members (Cho as Sulu, Pegg as Scotty and Yelchin as Chekov, as well as Urban and Saldana) have extremely pivotal scenes and establish their characters nicely.

Much of the success of Star Trek rests on the shoulders of the two leads, and they pull through splendidly. Pine captures the essence of James Tiberius Kirk without the quirks and mannerisms of William Shatner. He nails the bravado, the charisma, the independence and the compassion of Kirk but at the same time manages to render him human and fallible. Like Shatner’s Kirk, he is rash and sometimes prone to egotism, but at the heart of him is his brilliant intuition and willingness to risk. Pine takes an epic character and makes him accessible.

Quinto, best known as Sylar on the hit TV show “Heroes” makes a marvelous Spock. He radiates icy calm that masks the boiling inferno below the surface. Spock is heavily conflicted but chooses not to come to terms with his conflicting natures; instead he subverts his more human aspects in favor of the Vulcan stoicism. Quinto also has an uncanny resemblance to Nimoy as a young Spock, and fills the boots more than adequately.

There are plenty of breathtaking special effects, not to mention some intense action sequences, the best of which is a parachute jump onto a drilling platform high in the atmosphere of Vulcan. Visually, this is a movie that will rock your world.

But is it Star Trek? That’s the question most Trek fans were hoping to have answered. I have to say, yes and no. The original television series in many ways was less action-oriented than this is. Yes, there were plenty of fistfights, phasers set on stun and epic space battles in the original, but the themes had to do with things that were important to series creator Gene Roddenberry; man’s inhumanity to man, racial tension, drug abuse, gender inequality and the supreme waste and ultimate uselessness that is war. Here, we are being re-introduced to the characters that the producers hope to rebuild the franchise with and the movie is more about that than taking on issues.

However, the foundation has been laid and hopefully in the future we’ll see stories more in tune with the high bar that Roddenberry set. Given the outstanding box office returns the movie had, it is inevitable that there will be at least one or two more installments in the movie series if not more. The action and special effects will get the bodies in the door; the characters will bring those bodies back for more. Abrams has hit a home run with the new Star Trek. Now, the question becomes can he do it again?

WHY RENT THIS: Breathtaking special effects and heart-pounding action sequences drive the movie. Young actors bring established characters back to life with fresh perspectives. Pine makes a fabulous Captain Kirk and could be a future star.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: The overall tone that Trek-haters despised is still present here.

FAMILY VALUES: Some scenes of brief sexuality and some violence; also there is a nightmare-inducing creature during the Delta Vega sequence. Otherwise, fit for most young audiences (but not for the very teeny tiny).

TRIVIAL PURSUITS: The seven years gap between this movie and Star Trek: Nemesis is the longest in the franchise history.

NOTABLE DVD FEATURES: There are three different home viewing versions of this so far: a single-disc DVD which is essentially just the film, a 2-disc Special Edition DVD which contains some deleted scenes including Abrams’ take on the Klingons, and a 3-Disc Blu-Ray which contains a humongous number of featurettes, as well as a 360 degree view of various Enterprise and Romulan sets. There is also a feature on Gene Roddenberry’s legacy.

FINAL RATING: 8/10

TOMORROW: Disney’s A Christmas Carol

DVD Top 10.
Bestsellerliste der Woche
von Illuminati bis State of Play

Illuminati:
Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) entdeckt Beweise, dass die mächtigste Untergrundbewegung der Geschichte, ein uralter konspirativer Geheimbund, den man als ‘Die Illuminati’ kennt, wiederauferstanden ist. Kurz darauf wird er damit konfrontiert, dass die katholische Kirche, der zutiefst verhasste Erzfeind der Illuminaten, einer tödlichen, existenzvernichtenden Bedrohung ausgesetzt ist…

Nachts im Museum 2:
Seine Tage als Museumswärter sind passé: Larry Daley ist als Erfinder nutzloser Dinge erfolgreich, kehrt jedoch ins Museum zurück, als er erfährt, dass die seinerzeit zu Leben erwachten Ausstellungsstücke in den Keller des Smithsonian in New York verfrachtet werden sollen. Ruhe ist allerdings auch dort nicht angesagt, weil auch die mystische Tafel von Akhmenrah, die den Exponaten Leben einhaucht, versehentlich zum neuen Ausstellungsort transportiert wurde. Nun bricht dort das Chaos aus, und Larry muss für Ordnung sorgen…

Slumdog Millionär:
Glauben Sie an das Schicksal? Für Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) ist es der größte Tag seines bisherigen Lebens. Nur noch eine Frage trennt ihn vom 20 Millionen Rupien-Hauptgewinn in Indiens TV- Show ‘Wer wird Millionär?’

Der Womanizer:
Der Junggeselle Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey) gehört zu den Typen, die drei Freundinnen den Laufpass geben. Gleichzeitig. Per Telefonkonferenz. Auf der Hochzeitsfeier seines Bruders hat er also nur ein Ziel: Er will die einzige Brautjungfer herumkriegen, die er bisher irgendwie übersehen hat. Doch der Geist seines verstorbenen Onkels Wayne (Michael Douglas) – der Connor beigebracht hat, die Frauen zu wechseln wie die Hemden – verfolgt ein ganz anderes Ziel…

Star Trek – Die Zukunft hat begonnen:
James T. Kirk ist ein rebellischer Hitzkopf im amerikanischen Niemandsland, der nie den Tod seines Vaters bei einem Angriff eines romulanischen Raumschiffs verkraftet hat. Nach einer seiner Prügeleien fordert ihn Captain Pike, einst ein Freund seines verstorbenen Vaters, auf, der Sternenflotte beizutreten. Dort macht sich Kirk zunächst keine Freunde, bis ihn eine Mission zwingt, endlich Verantwortung zu übernehmen: der Romulaner Nero bedroht Vulkan, den Heimatplaneten von Kirks späterem Weggefährten Spock…

Transformers 2:
Nachdem Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) die Welt mit Hilfe der gutmütigen Autobots vor den bösartigen Decepticons gerettet hat, freut er sich auf ein normales Leben. Als er aufs College geht, lässt er nicht nur Freundin Mikaela (Megan Fox) zurück…

X-Men Origins: Wolverine:
Hugh Jackman schlüpft wieder in die Rolle, die ihn zum Superstar machte: Wolverine – der Mann mit den unverkennbaren Stahlklingen, bemerkenswerten Selbstheilungskräften, ruppigem Charme und einer gehörigen Portion trockenem Humor. ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ erzählt die Vorgeschichte Logans mit Augenmerk auf seine mysteriöse Vergangenheit, seine komplexe Beziehung zu Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) und das ominöse Weapon X-Programm. Der Zuschauer erfährt, wer Wolverine wirklich ist…

Duplicity:
CIA-Offizier Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) und MI6-Agent Ray Koval (Clive Owen) standen früher im Geheimdienst ihrer Regierungen. Derzeit haben sie in die Privatwirtschaft gewechselt, um mit lukrativen Verträgen das meiste aus dem Kalten Krieg herauszuholen. Beide jagen jeweils für ihre Bosse Tully (Tom Wilkinson) und Garsik (Paul Giamatti) einem milliardenschweren Patent nach. Keiner ahnt, dass sie eine heimliche Affäre und eigene Pläne haben…

Männersache:
Tagsüber arbeitet Paul (Mario Barth) in einer Berliner Zoohandlung und abends an seiner Karriere als Komiker. Zugegeben, seine Auftritte laufen mies… bis Paul anfängt, Witze über seinen besten Freund Hotte (Dieter Tappert) und dessen Freundin Susi (Anja Kling) zu reißen. Auf einmal läuft es auf der Bühne: Pauls Gags über Hottes Beziehungsgeschichten, nicht enden wollende Shopping-Orgien von Susi und den Pärchen Kaffeeklatsch bei den Schwiegereltern sind ein Renner…

State of Play – Stand der Dinge:
Ein junger aufstrebender Politiker und ein Washingtoner Enthüllungsreporter finden sich mitten im Epizentrum einer Reihe von Morden wieder, die nur scheinbar nichts miteinander zu tun haben. Der Kongressabgeordnete Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) ist Hoffnung und Zukunft seiner Partei – ein aussichtsreicher und ehrenhafter Newcomer, unter anderem im Vorsitz des Komitees für Verteidigungsausgaben…

Weitere Informationen, auch Top 100 Liste, erhalten Sie hier

Je sais qu’en ce moment je ne suis pas trés présent sur le blog because déménagement, mais cela ne ma pas empécher de tester le Blu-Ray du Space Opéra de ce début d’année.

Eh bien je peut vous dire que j’attendais un blu-ray avec une bonne image et un bon son et côté bonus droit à quelques commentaires et un petit making of. Et bien je me suis bien tromper pour les bonus car de ce coté la je fût trés agréablement surpris.

Perso je ne suis pas un fan de la série originel mais le film de J.J Abrams est tellement bien fait qu’il devrait même plaire aux novices.

Donc comme pour le film qui fût une bonne surprise, ce blu-ray est l’une de mes sortie préférer en cette fin d’année.

Over the course of this week, we will uncover twenty titles you need to seek out at your local DVD store. Here is Part 4.

The list is laid out something like this. The title, year it was made, genre, synopsis and finally my rating. I hope to do more of these lists as I uncover some of the treasures hidden at the local videostore.

5. Still Breathing (1998) (Romantic – Drama)

Two lost soul-mates: Rosalyn (Joanna Going) is a cunning con-artist in L.A.and Fletcher (Brendan Fraser) is a secure puppeteer in San Antonio have the same dream linking each with the other.

Fletcher travels to L.A. to find this woman he can’t get out of his mind. “Still Breathing” is the perfect example that man still believes in destiny and true love.

The brilliant use of color, passionate dialogue and soft tones accent Fletcher’s quest for true love. What this film seems to have that a lot of romantic films don’t is a heart and a flawed true love.

Because of those two elements there is a little bit of reality in what the film is saying.

Fall in love with this little movie and always remember the ivy. (4 of 5)

4. Swingers (1996) (Comedy – Drama)

This is Mike’s story. Mike (Jon Favreau) is a left his girl in New York and came to LA to be a star. It’s taken six months longer than Mike would like and he’s not doing so well. Mike’s friends Trent (Vince Vaughn) and Rob (Ron Livingston) take Mike to Vegas to forget about life’s problems.

During that trip Mike is going to find out a little about himself. “Swingers” has a brilliant script, brilliant cast and it’s a lot of fun.

This little cult film made movie stars out of Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau. It’s so laid back and true to the world that you really relate to these guys.

Vaughn is utterly brilliant as the trio’s leader. He is quick-lipped, charismatic and makes the whole film flow. “Swingers” is a great little comedy to sit back and relax with. (4 of 5) .

3. Unholy, The (1988) (Horror)

A priest (Ben Cross) battles a demon that kills sinners in the act of sinning. “The Unholy” is one of those horror films that blur the line between religion and horror.

Imagine if you were faced with your ultimate temptation, would you give up all you are to have it?

The priest in this film is faced with that temptation and he is just a man. He also is protecting an innocent from the greatest evil man has ever known and being faced with his temptation may condemn that innocent for all time. I used to adore a short-lived television series called “Dark Shadows”.

It was a 1990s revival of a 1960s overly clever gothic soap opera of the same name. The star of that show was a cursed vampire named Barnabas Collins, who was played by Ben Cross.

That show and “The Unholy” are the two pieces of work that stand in my mind when I think of Ben Cross. Sure Cross was in “Chariots of Fire” but these two roles in the macabre are the ones that meant the most to me. If you can get into the mind of this priest and see his internal battle this film will challenge your mind like none other in this genre. (4 of 5)

2. Quigley Down Under (1990) (Western)

Sharpshooter Matt Quigley (Tom Selleck) claims to be the best long distance shooter in the world and is hired from America by Elliot Marston, an Australian rancher (Alan Rickman).

When Quigley arrives in Australia and confronts the rancher he finds a devious and cunning man. Marston’s plan for his employment shocks Quigley and he refuses. Marston tries to kill Quigley as he tries to escape Australia. Quigley finds that Marston is doing the unspeakable deed without him and it looks like Quigley may be the only man to stop him.

A western is a perfect setting for star Tom Selleck. He looks so at home as Quigley and his showdowns with Rickman are ripped right out of the classic westerns. The story is simple and that’s the way westerns should be.

Director Simon Wincer uses Quigley’s marksmanship with intensity and suspense that you are blown away when Quigley picks up his rifle. Rickman plays his villain with panache like he did in “Robin Hood” and “Die Hard”. “Quigley Down Under” is a great little western. (4 of 5) .

1. Pumpkinhead (1988) (Horror)

A group of renegade teens take a trip to the country where one of them is involved in a motorcycle accident. The accident kills the son of the local storekeeper (Lance Henriksen).

Filled with rage, the storekeeper pleads to a witch to unleash an unstoppable demon on the renegades. During the killing spree, the storekeeper realizes he may have a closer connection to the beast than previously thought.

“Pumpkinhead” is as close as one can get to the perfect modern monster film. The film was created and directed by “monster-creator” extraordinaire Stan Winston, who delivers one of the most original creatures ever to grace the silver screen.

Winston also gets an incredible performance out of veteran horror actor Lance Henriksen who brings a lot of passion to his lead character. This is one of the greatest monster-creature films of the horror genre. (4 of 5) .

(Possible Spoiler): A little known realization about this film occurs towards the film’s finale. Look ever so closely at the creature as it faces off against Henriksen. If you look close enough you will see the creature’s face echo Henriksen stating that in fact Henriksen’s soul was apart of the voodoo that created the demon. It’s awesome!

NOTA : 8 RECOMANDAT

Download subtitrare Star Trek

Trailer Star Trek :

From esplatter.com

July 25, 2009 Before he enjoyed mainstream commercial success directing Clive Barker’s “Candyman,” Bernard Rose helmed this amazing 1988 dream-horror film that wowed critics who called it a thinking person’s “Nightmare on Elm Street.”

Charlotte Burke plays an overly imaginative 11-year-old British girl who, during an illness, falls deep into a fantasy world where she hooks up with a crippled boy (Elliott Spiers) that she’s never met before. She also has disturbing and frightening visions of her father (Ben Cross) and a dark, foreboding country house. The dreams become more and more frightening as the film goes on, in a film that is in many ways better than the more commercial “Candyman.”

While it mainly stars children, “Paperhouse” is intended strictly for adults and even features some terrifying make-up effects. Perhaps the fact that “Paperhouse” is a difficult film to pigeonhole — is it a horror film, a fantasy film, an art film? — that has made it a title that its makers have decided to no longer market in the United States. Or perhaps it’s hung up in a rights dispute. Who knows. The only thing we can be sure of it is that it’s unavailable.

The film hit VHS in the U.S. in 1990 and never saw another release. Considering what a good film it is, it’s ard to believe it never made its way to DVD — but it never did and there’s no sign whatsoever of any kind of release. In addition, child actress Charlottte Burke never went on to appear in anything else.

The film was based on the novel “Marianne Dreams” by Catherine Storr — also out of print.

Make Up Department
  Sarah Grundy … hair stylist
  Jenny Shircore… makeup chief
Special Effects Department
  Steve Crawley … wire effects
  Alexander Gunn … special effects technician
  Bob Harman … wire effects
  Alan Whibley … special effects supervisor

Este domingo La Vanguardia viene acompañada por una película inglesa de 1981, dirigida por Hugh Hudson. Distribuida por la 20th Century Fox y con un reparto que cuenta con actores cómo Ben Cross, Ian Holm y Nigel Havers entre muchos otros. Esta película fue ganadora de 4 Oscars en 1981, el de la mejor película, mejor guión original, mejor banda sonora original y mejor vestuario.

El argumento se situa en 1920, donde dos jóvenes que nacieron para correr y nada se lo impedía a ninguno de los dos. Se nos explica las razones por las que corren que sontan diferentes de uno al otro como su propia vida pasada. Cada uno con su propio Dios, sus propias creencias y su empuje para conseguir correr más rápido que cualquier otro hombre.

Una historia basada en hechos reales y que por 1€ más La Vanguardia, vale la pena tener la película en nuestra colección particular.

Segundo estimativas da Paramount, Star Trek, a nova versão de J.J. Abrams para a clássica série Jornada nas Estrelas, teve uma excelente estréia nos cinemas arrecadando mais de US$79 milhões de dólares em seu primeiro fim de semana de exibição. Com esses valores a produção estreou em primeiro lugar nos Estados Unidos mas não conseguiu superar os números iniciais de X-Men Origens: Wolverine (embora os valores arrecadados no primeiro dia de exibição de Star Trek indicasse o contrário, como informado aqui). De qualquer modo, os executivos da Paramount estão comemorando o resultado das bilheterias que foi cerca de US$3 milhões acima do esperado. O fato é que Star Trek é um sucesso graças ao talento que J.J. Abrams demonstrou em todo o processo de produção do filme.
Recebi algumas fotos dos bastidores onde Abrams aparece comandando o set de filmagens, conversando e orientando os atores e a equipe e as compartilho com os leitores deste blog. Saibam, pois, que elas podem ser ampliadas em ótima resolução. E quando forem ampliadas, repare em cada detalhe das imagens. Veja, por exemplo, na foto de baixo como o Pine e o Quinto parecem cansados. Repare também como o diretor se expressa bem com as mãos em todas as imagens!

Acrescento também alguns links para quem quer saber de mais detalhes, como os excelentes textos repletos de curiosidades interessantes publicados no blog Caixa de Sabão do Sr. Atoz: Star Trek redux, Star Trek em 2009: detalhes para quem não viu e Star Trek em 2009: a resenha do Sr Atoz. Leia também o texto Longa vida ao novo Kirk publicado no blog do Alexandre Maron e estes dois – Os criadores de criaturas e  Um Nokia do futuro em Star Trek – publicados em Brainstorm#9.

Além destes, veja o que foi publicado neste blog sobre Jornada nas Estrelas/Star Trek e baixe também os papéis de parede que publiquei.





Todas as fotos são de Zade Rosenthal exceto esta de cima, cujo fotógrafo é Gregory Schwartz.
TM & Copyright ©2009 by Paramount Pictures.  All rights reserved.

One of my guilty pleasures in life is watching huge, over-the-top summer blockbusters.  Give me Michael Bay explosions, feature a hot, sweaty six-packed hero and toss in a sexy, bronzed heroine and I’ll gladly fork over $10 to overlook clunky dialogue and poorly contrived romance sub-plots.  But you better keep me glued to the seat without once thinking about getting up to pee.  That’s the unwritten contract between me and you, Mr. Blockbuster Director.

 Friday night, my hubby and I took in Star Trek.  I’m not a Trekkie, but I love, love J.J. Abrams and the trailer looked cool, so I was optimistic this would be a kick-ass ride.  I sat with my tub of coconut oil-slathered popcorn and a vat o’ Dr. Pepper (seriously, I could’ve swum laps in that “medium” cup), the lights dimmed and boom! – I was launched straight into 20 minutes of backstory.  Sigh.

Yes, it was an action sequence;  yes, there were explosions and hell breaking loose;  and, yes,  it did tie in to things to come, but most of it could have been worked into the film along the way without losing any of the character motivation it precipitated.  Let’s get to the story already.

Okay, the movie gets to the present:  Kirk’s a rebel without a cause and chip on his shoulder, Spock’s grappling with the emotions of his half-human self (Whoa, that’s Ben Cross playing Spock’s dad – love him from way back – HBO’s The Far Pavilions – yes, I’m that old for anyone who remembers), Bones, Uhura, Chekov, Zulu – the gang’s all here.  We’re ready to rock n’ roll…

And we did – sort of.  This was a rollercoaster ride, but not in the right way.  Good, fast action scenes interspersed with slow, bumpy story scenes and scenes that were downright superfluous.  Granted, Mr. Abrams is re-imagining an established franchise and there was a lot of history to explain, but you have about two minutes to grab me and then it better be non-stop in the dark, careening action for the next two hours.   (See Casino Royale for an excellent example on how to accomplish this.)

After watching the movie I got out my pink highlighter to re-examine my manuscript yet again for sagging plot, ways to amp the conflict and anything else to keep an editor from saying, “Eh, I’d rather watch  C-Span”.  I think bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips says it best – “Keep the reader in the story.”  If you give the reader one second to think of something else to do rather than turn the pages of your book to see what happens next, they will.  And they may not pick it up again.  So, I guess that means my recently written six-page flashback from the villian’s POV of him puffing on a cigar whilst staring at the stars ruminating about his rotten life has got to go…

Anyway, next up on my summer watchlist is Terminator: Salvation with yummy, yummy Christian Bale (Yes, I’m also a Balehead from way back – TNT’s Treasure Island, anyone? Circa 1990.  Again, I’m old.).   McG, you better deliver the goods because I’m old school on this saga and you better make my bladder work for this one.

A reboot of the Star Trek franchise following the crew of the Enterprise on their first adventure.

Directed by – J.J. Abrams

Written by – Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Gene Roddenberry

Starring – Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Bruce Greenwood, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Ben Cross, Winona Ryder, Chris Hemsworth, Jennifer Morrison

I am by no means a Trekkie, I’ll start with that. I used to enjoy the original series and have watched most of the films in the series but make no claim to be the super fan that some are. I don’t know if that helped me to enjoy the film more or not but I was blown away by this one. If you haven’t seen this one yet then skip this review entirely. I suggest to go into this one knowing nothing of it’s plot. That’s your warning as I may reveal things here that you don’t want to know.

For a film who’s entire plot hinges on a time travel story I’m impressed with how incredible it is. Time travel stories usually tend to be weak flicks, here it works though. Someone has traveled back in time, changed history and now everyone is stuck with it. There’s no fixing it and righting the wrongs that have happened. The characters will just have to exist in this new time that has been created for them. It’s kind of a cheap way to take all that’s happened in the history of Star Trek and throw it all away and had the film been a pile of junk it would be unforgivable. Thankfully we’re treated to such an amazing movie with incredible characters that all that time travel crap can be accepted.

This may be the closest to perfect movie I have ever seen. The characters are familiar and new all at the same time. The story never slows down and is brisk without going overboard and moves at a perfect pace. There’s references to the original story that should be suitable for the long time fans out there and even as a casual fan I found them to fit right in. The opening scene with Captain Kirk’s father sacrificing his life to save the crew and his wife (who happens to be in labour at that moment) almost brought a tear to my eye. I blame this on my experiences of becoming a father myself and not on the fact that I’m a big suck! HAHA!

After that we’re shown brief glimpses into the lives of Kirk and Spock before they make their way to Starfleet. The scenes are short enough so they don’t drag on to long but informative enough to allow us some access into their characters motivations. I was worried that there would be a long drawn out part where they make their way through the ranks of Starfleet and I would fall asleep from boredom. Instead we get the quick jump of 3 years later where an emergency on Vulcan brings all the cadets into action.

The action almost never lets up from that point on and the film is visually stunning. I can’t recall ever seeing the Enterprise in action quite like this. I could’ve done with a little less lens flare though. Maybe it’s an Abrams thing, I don’t know. The only problem I had with the movie was that there wasn’t enough Scotty. Simon Pegg does a great job and I would’ve liked to have seen more of him. There’s always the next one though and we all know it’s coming.

I love what they’ve done here and I’m dying to see this one again. I wanted to go again today and if the kids hadn’t been home I just might have. I’m sure there will be some hardcore fans out there hating this one but I am a fan now and hope there’s a few more in the series to come like this.

Under the marquee – Will

Star Trek (2009)
PG-13
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Winona Ryder
Runtime: 126min

Holy crap. I think I can officially say that the curse of odd numbers is over. The 11th installment of the Star Trek movie franchise is awesome.

This isn’t the same Star Trek that Trekkies/Trekkers will remember. Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, along with director J.J. Abrams, have done quite a bit to reboot this series into something new and more modern. However, there is still a lot of the original spirit preserved in this new rendition. While it’s more action-packed, the fun, the humor and most importantly, the characters remained intact.

I was worried by the casting. Would these new young actors appropriately and correctly portray the Kirk, Spock, McCoy and others that we have come to know and love/hate? In one word, yes. Chris Pine made an excellent young James Tiberius Kirk. Cocky, womanizing, and a smart ass, Pine even went so far as to incorporate some of the body mannerisms from the original series. However, he did not do a straight imitation of Shatner’s Kirk and made the role his own. Zoe Saldana showed the same femininity and strength as the original Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, as well as the empathy and compassion. Simon Pegg really needed more screen time as his rendition of Scotty was cheeky, humorous and just absolutely love-able. John Cho was an excellent Sulu and they did great with some of the scenes where he got to get out from behind the helm. Zachary Quinto, I think, had the most difficult job since he had to act as Spock while the original actor, Leonard Nimoy, was around (Can we say i-n-t-i-m-i-d-a-t-i-n-g? I know I would be). He did fine and not once did I think “Sylar’s Spock?” Given the direction the movie took the character, Quinto had to delve more into the half-human, half-Vulcan conflict Spock had to deal with. While he had no problems projecting the logical side of Spock, the “lightswitch rage” was a bit much for me. But my most favorite performance had to be Karl Urban as McCoy. He was the most spot on, in my opinion and just absolutely fantastic. It was nice seeing him stretch his acting muscles for a change (rather than his real muscles but I wouldn’t be opposed to that…). Eric Bana was a bad-ass Romulan but sadly, I felt that they did not develop his character and story enough.

On with the plot… The story was okay. It’s not quite what hard-core fans would want to see, I think, because it is not a representation of the backstories of the characters. There is time travel and because of this, time-lines are altered so some things changed. I felt that there was a good amount of development in showing the progression of the crew becoming what we see in the original series or at least something close to it. However, in terms of the conflict with Nero, that felt like it was developed only to the point that it got things moving. I would have loved to have seen the comic “Star Trek: Countdown” filmed and included in the movie to draw the audience in more as to why Nero is hellbent on revenge and why he was even there in the first place. The brief summary that is provided in the movie doesn’t do enough to make people take much of an interest in it. Yes, there’s a few things that don’t make sense once you start thinking about it but overall, the plot holes aren’t glaringly there. There’s also some gratuitous stuff…filler. I’m talking specifically about that scene you see in the trailer with the juvenile Kirk taking a car for a joyride. Frankly, that did NOTHING for the movie or the character.

The special effects were pretty much flawless and the action sequences exciting. I know there’s a lot of lens flare in the movie but frankly, I stopped noticing it. The Enterprise was fantastically re-designed. I loved what they did with the bridge and the engine room. The transporter effect was lovely, as well.

I would say, overall, this was a great attempt at resurrecting the franchise and they definitely succeeded in setting the stage for bringing it back.

I highly recommend seeing it in IMAX, if you can. It is a limited 2-week engagement (thank you, Night at the Museum).

P.S. Winona Ryder’s in the movie?

The newest “Star Trek” movie may help the franchise live long and prosper… continue reading this Movie Review.