Contains spoilers.

Let me start by stating that yes, I am a STAR TREK fan. Particularly the original series. However, I have never been to a convention, never dressed up as any of the characters, and I do not speak a word of Klingon. That said, as a kid, I would have LOVED to have done any and all of the above.

My point? While I count myself as a fan, my fanaticism has its limits. There are those who can talk STAR TREK circles around me. And I welcome their input and observations. I say this because I truly enjoyed much of J.J. Abrams’ new STAR TREK film. I also had some issues with the film that keeps it from being a favorite. Or even as great as its first half promised. And my problems with the film are, in part, fan-based and, in other part, common sense-based.

There’s nothing more frustrating to me than a really good film that allows sloppy moments to intrude on the world of the story and characters. That said, I should state here that I am all for re-imaginings. It seems to be the thing these days. No longer is the sequel king. It’s the remake. And I’m all for it if it can do something new and unique with the material and characters. And this STAR TREK movie does that. Much the same way CASINO ROYALE re-started the Bond franchise and re-imagined our ruthless hero. Is it the Bond from the novels? Not really. Is he still highly watchable and exciting? Yes. The Bond series needed a breath of fresh air and they got it. Sadly, the second installment forgot about character development, but that’s another film and another post… Back to TREK.

J.J. Abrams’ new take on the old series is almost terrific. In fact, the first half of the film held me lovingly in its grip. True, I went in fearing the worst, but the filmmakers had some great ideas on how to re-invigorate these characters and films and they managed to pull off the near-impossible: take these much-beloved characters –an institution, really– and give them over to an entirely new cast in an entirely new environment. Changing the timeline, as they did, is quite brilliant (and keeping within the rules of the TREK universe) and have single-handedly set us up for a whole lifetime of new adventures that do not require most of the facts and circumstances of the original series or any other offshoot, be it television or film.

The casting is near-perfect. Even if these aren’t exactly the characters as we knew and loved them, they’re pretty damn close; close enough to remind us why we loved them and make us yearn to love them again. And here is where one of my problems with the film rears its ugly head. It’s an issue that may very well be insignificant to anyone but a lover of STAR TREK. The casting and direction of the actors was so spot on, so fun to watch, both nostalgic and new all at the same time, that it’s that much more disappointing when they get one of the characters wrong.

I initially saw the film in the theater and had some reservations and issues, but all films deserve a second viewing (at least) and so I rented the Blu-ray and sat down for another look. And sadly, the same issues remained for me. The first being the casting of Simon Pegg as Scotty, originally played by the late James Doohan. As an actor and comedian, I think Pegg is great. But his (and the filmmakers’) take on Scotty basically mocks Doohan’s character. In fact, I would go as far as to say, with the exception of the accent, there is little-to-no similarities between the two. Pegg’s Scotty is a wise-cracking goofball from another movie. Whenever he’s on screen, the kids in the audience may be entertained, but the rest of us are stuck with a cartoon character. The filmmakers worked so hard to get all the characters right, why did they abandon this one?

Anyone who watched the original show knows that Scotty was never the comic relief. Not any more or less than any other character. But in this STAR TREK universe, he serves little else. His very presence undermines all the tension Abrams worked so diligently to build up throughout the film’s first half. Abrams might as well have cast Jim Carey and let him run around the bridge talking out of his butt. It’s all very silly and out of place in a world where entire civilizations are wiped out and intimate family members murdered. But someone somewhere seemed to think that the film might be getting too serious and that they should dip into sitcom-land for a little while lest anyone get too tense or involved or, god forbid, think the filmmakers where taking this all too seriously.

At one point, Scotty accidentally transports himself into an engine cooling system while our beloved Captain Kirk has to watch him zip through transparent water tubes a la WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY. Now you don’t have to be a STAR TREK fan or know any of these characters to recognize the tension all but completely disappear as the film veers off into an odd comic nether-sphere.

Add to that Scotty’s little alien friend –his cute little buddy that follows him around– and we have an episode of GILLIGAN’S ISLAND on our hands! Perhaps in their attempt to incorporate the many different elements of the TREK universe, the filmmakers thought this would be fitting. Sadly, for me, it completely took me out of the film and made me hyper-aware of the folks behind the scenes trying to make a few more “commercially-minded” choices. So, in effect, they took a beloved character, placed him in a rather riveting story, and then decided he should be more like Bill Murray in MEATBALLS.

But Pegg’s Scotty is really the only major character that completely missed the boat for me. There are a few instances where I thought the filmmakers were trying a little too hard to incorporate now-famous phrases or actions, like Karl Urban’s McCoy stating “I’m a doctor, not a physicist!” at a point where it really doesn’t make any sense in the context of the conversation that’s taking place and just ends up standing out like a sore thumb. But that I can easily forgive because it is all in the line of trying to make the characters more like the ones we know and love. You can’t get everything right. Especially on the first outing.

But now comes the clincher; the moment in the film when logic and character motivation are replaced by a weak plot necessity resulting in what feels like blatantly lazy writing. In one fell swoop, the writers (or whoever made this decision) have Spock decide that he wants Kirk off the ship so badly that he actually has him ejected off the ship and onto a dangerous ice planet. Whoa, hold on here, cowboy… Now while the filmmakers may have written themselves into a corner in needing to get Kirk and the older Spock together, they unfortunately resorted to an act that I do not for one second believe any captain or character (not to mention a logical Vulcan) would enact. Not on a ship with a brig. Lock the guy up. Done and dealt with. Or why not simply sedate Kirk as they had done previously, if you want some extra security? No, it makes no sense to the story or characters and ends up making me aware of the writers struggling. What’s odd is that this STAR TREK feels like a film where the filmmakers DID actually care and were hyper-aware of the characters and their motivations. So what happened here? Why a moment of such lazy writing?

Unfortunately, this unbelievable moment leads to one of the film’s most extraneous sequences where Kirk is chased by some wild beasties across the frozen landscape. This feels like the effects determining the story and not the other way around. It’s gratuitous and not particularly interesting. It’s an aversion from the story. For this viewer, the entire sequence and the clear unmotivated plot manipulation that preceded it took me out of the film and gave me a slight sinking feeling in my stomach. Mostly because, up until that point, they were doing such a bang-up job and I was so completely IN the world of the film! And of course, this sequence leads us directly to the introduction of Scotty, adding insult to injury.

The good news is, though it takes a while, the film finally finds its footing once again and is pretty damn entertaining straight through to the climax. Yeah, Bana’s Nero is not all that interesting or developed, but he is serviceable in a film that has chosen to spend the bulk of its time reintroducing us to these beloved characters in their new skins. And rightfully so. The film (and the franchise) depends on this.

So, for me, the filmmakers made some crucial mistakes in the second half of the film. They allowed themselves to get lazy as well as give in to some overly commercial elements that, in my opinion, should not have been there and, in fact, disrupted the flow and integrity of the story.

But perhaps it’s a small transgression given the task they set for themselves and the amount they actually did get right. Still, all in all, what they got wrong brought the film down enough for me that it just doesn’t sit in my gut as comfortably as I would like it to. And that’s a shame. Because all I really want at the end of the day is good storytelling and rich characters (and yeah, these days that makes me a demanding audience member). And for the first half of the film, they delivered that in spades. But once they stumbled, I was never quite able to shake that feeling that this film was almost terrific. But these days, almost is more than we can usually expect from any film produced and developed by an American studio. So by that gauge, STAR TREK is still way above average.

Hot Fuzz

Director: Edgar Wright

  Release Date: February 2007

 Cast: Simon Pegg – Sergeant Nicholas Angel, Nick Frost – PC Danny Butterman, Jim Broadbent – Inspector Frank Butterman, Bill Nighy – Metropolitan Chief Inspector Kenneth, Timothy Dalton – Simon Skinner

Intro: Recently voted as UK movie fans favourite comedy film of all time (Odeon poll 2009) I thought I’d revisit this movie myself and put up a quick review! I’ve always preferred this one to Shaun, but I did see Hot Fuzz first. Strangely, a lot of people I asked about both of these films tend to prefer whichever of the two they saw first. Anyway, enough rambling from me on with the review!

Plot: Sergeant Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the finest police officer London has to offer, with an arrest record higher than any other on the force. However, his superiors have decided that he is making them look bad and so they send him to the seemingly sleepy town of Sandford miles out in the country. It would seem that Sandford is not only winner of ‘village of the year’ several years in a row but also crime free. Once there, Angel is partnered with overeager PC Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) whose police training consists of watching too many cop movies and going to the pub. PC Danny Butterman is also the son of amiable Police Chief Frank Butterman (Jim Broadbent).  Angel’s new assignment sees him growing more and more frustrated and is made even worse when, after a series of grisly ‘accidents’, the villagers and the police seemingly turn a blind eye to the possibility of foul play. Angel is convinced that Sandford is not what it seems and is convinced there is more sinister and darker going on.

Review: Through a montage of chase scenes and action set pieces in London we are introduced to PC Nicholas Angel, presented as one of the greatest officers the Metropolitan police have ever had. However, fearful of Angel upstaging every other policeman in London he is packed off to the sleepy village of Sandford, and he is none to happy about the new assignment.

From the word go the film is packed full of references and draws on this source material brilliantly throughout. It is presented from a very British perspective, in a village where everybody knows each other, but also combines story elements from films such Bad Boys II and Point Break, and puts this kind of explosive Hollywood action into the quaint ‘local’ village of Sandford. This works surprisingly well, and includes some excellent action set pieces with gunfights at the local Somerfield and local pub. The second half is the more action packed of the movie, with car chases through country lanes, a swan chase… and even an action packed fight scene in the towns own model village. This all produces (with a tongue in cheek feel) some funny scenes and great stunt work, including the odd one liner thrown in for good measure.

There are some inventively gory scenes, making this not the usual light hearted British comedy most are used to (as well as making everyone a bit more careful around churches and model villages). There are some great performances from everyone in the cast. Pegg and Frost make an awesome comedy duo. As well as the ‘moustache twiddling’ Simon Skinner played by Timothy Dalton and the supposedly kindly old amiable Chief Inspector Frank Butterman, played by Jim Broadbent.

Conclusion: Hot Fuzz is a homage to all buddy cop action movies in the years gone by. Hot Fuzz, like Shaun of the Dead draws from all the material that makes this kind of movie work. Shaun of the Dead was not only a spoof of all zombie movies, great and small, but it was also a thank you with a ‘tip of the cap’ gesture to all those movies too. Hot Fuzz does the same thing and it does it superbly. Pegg is brilliant as is Frost as his bumbling sidekick Danny Butterman. Overall an enjoyable, action packed comedy. Let’s hope this kind of writing, enthusiasm and feeling of personal input into a film continues. Now, does anyone fancy a cornetto? 

Our friends at T-Shirt Bordello already got high marks for their line of Shaun of the Dead fake charity products (see: ZOMBAID), but hats off again for this “Winchester Tavern” shirt.  Inspired by Shaun’s favorite hangout, the classic design printed on a blood-red tee is perfect for a little beer drinking and zombie killing down at the pub.  To check out this or other Bordello merch click HERE.

There is, at the moment of writing this, about 6 million registered Twitter users. That accounts for about 3.8% of all internet traffic. That’s a lot of traffic.

Now some will tell you that most of this traffic is nonsense, pure advertising. People trying to sell stuff, from wine to cars and everything in-between. But I find that there are people out there who are just on Twitter to speak to other people, in a detached way, a virtual way if you will.

Some of it is a popularity contest, there are people who are at the top. Most of these are the celebrity types trying to plug that DVD or concert that they are in. Now there’s no harm in that, I’m all for free advertising just so long as it comes from the person and not from some sort of robot thing that sends out info on the star all day on its own.

Celebrities now have a chance to communicate with a fan base in a way thats never been available before. Directly. No star of TV, Radio or Movies has ever been able to talk to fans, live without going onto some talk show, and lets face it they only go on them when they have a DVD to plug. Now we get to hear about their lives, what they are doing right now.

Then there’s the other side of the coin, the stars who just employ someone to tweet for them. One of the biggest culprits of this is the ultra famous Tom Cruise. I was following him for a bit but I got sick of all the tweets coming from someone else, or some sort of bot. Which is reflected in the amount of people who follow him, at the time of writing it stands at 193,571. Now that sounds like a lot of people, but for a global star it’s not much. Richard Bacon has 1.2 millon followers, and really he’s only a UK star, but he tweets himself and often. As is the way with most of the UK stars. Eddie Izzard uses Twitter in his live show, allowing his page to be seen by everyone in the audience. Simon Pegg, now a huge star in his own right after playing Scotty in the latest Star Trek brilliantly, He tweets himself. Stephen Fry tweets a lot and has recently gotten over 1 million followers for it, He gives talks about twitter and is one of the main reasons I’m on Twitter.

So what do ordinary people like you and me do on Twitter? I mean I don’t have a DVD to sell, nor do I sell anything. Why am I bothering to be on twitter? Well there are normal people on there too, there are conversations to be had with these people. From time to time the stars get involved too, replying directly to something you said. There’s a certain thrill in getting a tweet from someone like Philip Schofield (who’s great btw), Alan Davis or Simon Pegg. But the real heart of Twitter lies with the normal people, those people who work everyday and tell you what they are doing. Remember there’s no undo button in Twitter. Once it’s sent out to your followers, it’s out there. They all know what you just said.

Twitter is the best thing to happen to communication since the fax machine, and no ones knows what it’s for yet. Even the company who provides Twitter to the world can’t figure out a way to make money from it. It beats Facebook because it’s comparatively easy, it beats MySpace because it’s not stupid. There’s nothing happening in the world without Twitter knowing about it first. That headline you read in the paper this morning? There was a tweet on that yesterday, even the BBC have a twitter bot telling us about the latest breaking news.

No one knows what’s ahead for Twitter. It will, at some point, have to make a profit if only to keep it alive. Just how that can be done is the big question. For now all is well in the Twitter world. There’s something for everyone in Twitter, come have a look. Start by following me, ’cause I follow some cool people.

Something that has mystified me for a while now is the rise and rise of Ricky Gervais. Ok, The Office was a good show, and I don’t mind that it got the accolades it did… But how has that success lead to Ricky Gervais becoming a Hollywood leading man?? Radio, yes. Stand-up, yes. Awards hosting, I suppose so. But romantic lead?? No no no.

I can buy Simon Pegg becoming a romantic lead. He has made a great transformation from TV comedy star, to Hollywood leading man. And I find his performances believable, funny and charming. But Ricky Gervais? I don’t know. I don’t think charm is something in his arsenal.

You know who I would like to see get a chance as a Hollywood leading man? (The video above might be a clue!) Dylan Moran. He is witty, hilarious, handsome, magnetic. He was brilliant as the lead in Black Books, and has played a few supporting roles in big movies, but hasn’t been given the lead role he deserves.

The thing about Dylan Moran is, there is just something about him. Even though his persona is that of a wine swilling, smoking, depressing guy who moans about everything, there is still something very sexy about him. Like he’s the kind of guy you’d like hole up in a Dublin pub with, while it pours with rain outside, drink copious amounts of red wine, and bitch about the world in general. As odd as it sounds, that’s a fantasy of mine!

And I know there are a lot of women who agree with me!

So listen up film producers, and Hollywood bigwigs. Enough Gervais! More Moran.

As you were.

Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Star Trek) and David Tennant (Doctor Who) play the titular characters. Now we have the bare bones promo poster and synopsis.

WILLIAM BURKE and WILLIAM HARE are scratching out a living in 1830s Edinburgh. After yet another failed business venture, they return to Hare’s lodging house to find that their tenant has suddenly died on rent day. As the boys decide how to dispose of the body over a drink, they discover that a corpse can fetch a hefty price. Edinburgh is the centre of the medical universe and the city’s doctors are crying out for more cadavers for their educational lectures. First they try the infamous DR. MONRO, but he’s not interested, so they sell the corpse to DR. KNOX, his vain and ambitious rival who urges them to bring any more ‘unfortunates’ they may stumble upon.

Entrepreneurial Hare is quick to realize they’ve hit on a great money making venture and despite the more sensitive Burke’s misgivings, they embark on a series of plans to secure more bodies. They arrange a series of deadly ‘accidents’ for the local unfortunates and to celebrate their success, they go out on the town to celebrate. There, Burke meets GINNY, a beautiful and spirited aspiring actress.

Drive on by the promise of romance, Burke agrees to step up their operation; branching out into “ethical” murder. The professional rivalry between Knox and Munro is creating a very lucrative trade for the boys as Knox needs extra bodies for his groundbreaking photographic map of the human body. In a series of hilarious comic misadventures Burke and Hare begin to secure a steady stream of bodies and the cash starts rolling in.

With the authorities closing in, Hare promises Burke he’s got a new plan; they just need a bit more money and then they can go legit and open a funeral parlour.

The pressure builds when Knox is arrested after dissecting some well known locals and he immediately implicates Burke and Hare as his supplier of fresh corpses.

Burke and Hare sweat it out in the cells as a crowd gathers baying for bloody. In a wild, but romantic gesture, Burke volunteers to take the rap to save his friend and the love of his life, Ginny. As the hangman’s noose goes around his neck, our hero is smiling bravely and when asked for his final words, he pronounces “I did it for love.”

Source: Collider

felt the need to blog.

then the feeling disappeared.

evaporated into thin air.

just like a ninja.

yeah.

a ninja.

my brain is in a weird state.

don’t know what it thinks it is doing.

I only took a 15 minute break at work the other day.

then I showed up half an hour early the next.

and then I was in bed and asleep by midnight.

yeah.

crazy.

i’m okay with this though.

maybe it will become permanent.

time can only tell.

back to my ninja brain.

it just realized Simon Pegg is Scotty in Star Trek.

awesome.

my ninja brain feels like it got in a fight with another ninja.

ugh.

stupid ninjas.

i think i am ready for bed.

but i have to finish my ice cream instead.

and my movie.

i love Star Trek.

i also loved watching Up.

I cried.

in the first 5 minutes too.

it was awesome though.

not the crying part.

the movie.

haha.

hoping tomorrow is a good day.

it’s a monday.

let’s hope it’s a good monday.

i think this is it for today.

…lata days

I wish Simon Pegg taught me how to ride a bicycle. I hear he’s got strong shins.

Havia muita incerteza sobre o novo filme devido ao fraco desempenho que a última série apresentou e, principalmente, ao fracasso de Star Trek Nêmesis, mas a Paramont não ignorou as grandes quantias que ganhou com a marca e resolveu investir numa nova produção! A atitude da empresa foi entregar o projeto ao nome do momento J. J. Abrams gerando desconfiança por parte dos fãs devido Abrams ser fanático por Star Wars e ter pouco conhecimento da franquia, mas o resultado não podia ser melhor! Foi o melhor “filme pipoca” do ano com bom desempenho na bilheteria e se o maior desafio era trazer Star Trek para o grande público além do universo nerd, Abrams conseguiu usando a fórmula da série clássica que muitos achavam estar desgastado.

Na história, o vilão Nero e sua tripulação voltam ao passado alterando o futuro em busca pelo embaixador Spock e promover um genocídio intergalático. Por força do destino o cadete Kirk e os membros originais da nave Enterprise acabam se cruzando e cabe ao Spock do futuro orientar o futuro capitão da nave estrelar, a partir deste ponto o enredo foca o relacionamento de James T. Kirk com Spock do passado.

Todos os personagens foram bem desenvolvidos no enredo garantindo bons momentos, Karl Urban como Dr. McCoy (sua atuação lembra muito o original de DeForest Kelley) e em especial Chris Pine que faz um James Kirk encrenqueiro, cara-de-pau e mulherengo permitindo uma sutil homenagem ao intérprete original William Shatner com pequenas canastrices. Não houve mudanças significativas com Sulo (John Cho) e Chekov (Anton Yelchin, a não ser pelo fato de sua descendência russa) já o engenheiro-chefe Scotty de Simon Pegg não é diferente de outros personagens do ator britânico, as alterações foram feitas em Uhura (Zoë Saldana), pois teve que ser modernizada, mas é na figura de Spock que a mudança foi maior, de todos Zachary Quinto é o mais parecido fisicamente, porém a sua personalidade foi mudada devido aos eventos do filme, curiosamente a sugestão de Quinto para o papel foi dos fãs e graças ao sucesso da série Heros o papel foi conquistado.

A grata surpresa está na presença de Leonard Nimoy, o ator vive mais uma vez Spock que veio do futuro garantido a felicidade dos fãs e enfatizando as mudanças na cronologia sem desprezá-la. O Spock original no enredo serve como uma espécie de mestre Yoda ao guiar o jovem Kirk ao seu destino e garantiu os melhores momentos de toda a franquia tendo o direito de encerrar o filme com o clássico “o espaço a fronteira final…”. Apesar de equilibrar ação com muito bom humor, além dos diálogos emotivos comum nas produções anteriores de Star Trek o filme tem um fraco vilão não sendo levado a sério pelos heróis.

Abrams fez um filme família, nunca em toda história da franquia o tema “pais-e-filhos” foi explorado com tanta intensidade. Pode não ser o melhor de Star Trek, mas é uma volta triunfante agradando a todo o público prometendo uma continuação superior.

Curiosidades

- O filme foi promovido na recente série Fringe de J.J. Abrams, dentro da história um paranóico chamado Michael Carlin diz ser o Spock esse personagem é interpretado por Clint Howard que já havia trabalhado em um episódio da série clássico ainda criança.

- Zoë Saldana (Uhura) fez uma fã de Star Trek em “O Terminal” (The Terminal, 2004) de Steven Spielberg.

- A voz do computador é de Majel Barrett Roddenberry esposa de Gene Roddenberry (1921 – 1991), o criador da série. A atriz participou desde o primeiro episódio-piloto até a última série para TV. Morreu de leucemia em dezembro de 2008.

- Não só  J.J. Abrams veio de Lost, os produtores Damon Lindelof e Bryan Burk são os responsáveis do atual sucesso da série.

- A frase final do filme “… onde ninguém jamais esteve” é uma referência a “Jornada nas Estrelas: A Nova Geração” na série clássica a frase era “…onde nenhum homem jamais esteve”.

Por: Rodger Kenzo, colaborador do Barril de Porva

After a reminder of the forthcoming bookclub selection, a Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, we get into some news, starting with some sad news about the loss of great icon and then some TV news, with updates on Gattaca and a very exciting fan made film coming in 2010.

For our main feature we have an interview with Ben Lichius, one of the co-creators of The Black Coat, from Ape Comics. The Black Coat is America’s first superspy. Set in New York City in the days before the Revolutionary War, the Black Coat fights against the British and forces of the occult to protect the burgeoning nation.

Comic Book Outsiders Episode 64

… I continuously get mixed up in my head.

Actor Simon Pegg (Sean of the Dead, Run Fatboy Run), Singer/Songwriter/Actor Glen Hansard (lead singer of The Frames, movie & album Once w/ Marketa Irglova), and Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family)

Not the names and who’s known for what, but their faces. They’re just a ruddy, ginge-tinted mush in my head.

I actually got this shirt a couple weeks ago from Tee Fury, but I’ve been kind of lazy about posting it. It’s a pretty decent one though. I also have another coming from Woot that may be one of the best zombie shirts ever. It really covers all your bases. I’ll make sure to post that one as soon as I get. But besides these two, I’m really trying to cut back my t-shirt buying. It’s not even totally a money thing as it is that I’m running out of places to store them and I’m on about a two to three month long rotation now.

I know it’s been a little while since my last update, but there hasn’t been too much to write about. I didn’t do my radio show last week and the only movie I’ve watched is How To Lose Friends And Alienate People with Simon Pegg–the only real reason I had interest in it. I have literally nothing to say about it except for how overrated Megan Fox is. The movie wasn’t great and it wasn’t bad. It just was. I also started writing a short entry about a pink urinal that I used last week and how the urinal is one of the manliest objects to exist since by definition is for men only and woman physically can’t use it properly. But then I got lazy and didn’t really finish it.

Oh well, I’m doing my show tonight, so I’ll post the playlist tomorrow and, this weekend, I’m going to try to see Men Who Stare At Goats, Planet 51, or Pirate Radio. I’ll post about whatever I get to see.

See ya then!

Star System – Se non ci sei non esisti è un film del 2008 commedia basata sul romanzo delle sue memori scritte nel 2001 con lo stesso nome, dello scrittore inglese Toby Young.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Robert B. Weide | Simon Pegg | Kirsten Dunst | Jeff Bridges | Danny Huston | Megan Fox

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

Veteran actor Edward Woodward has died aged 79, his agent has confirmed.

The Croydon-born star had been suffering from various illnesses, including pneumonia, and died in hospital, said Janet Glass.

Woodward is most famous for his roles in the cult 1973 horror film The Wicker Man, alongside Sir Christopher Lee, and TV series The Equalizer and Callan.

Sir Christopher described Woodward as “a very good friend and a splendid actor”.

Ms Glass said he had been ill for several months and passed away surrounded by members of his family.

The actor, who lived in Hawker’s Cove near Padstow, died at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.

“I knew him a very long time and he was a superb human being,” she said.

“That integrity shone through in the roles he played. I can’t ever remember, in all the productions he undertook, anyone having a bad word to say about him and he never had anything bad to say about anyone else either.”

Ms Glass added: “Universally loved and admired through his unforgettable roles in classic productions, he was equally fine and courageous in real life, never losing his brave spirit and wonderful humour throughout his illness.

“His passing will leave a huge gap in many lives,” she said.

He was last seen on screen in BBC One soap EastEnders as Tommy Clifford earlier this year.

Barbara Windsor said she was “deeply saddened” at the news.

“I have such fond memories of our time working together,” she added.

Diederick Santer, executive producer of EastEnders, said: “All of us at EastEnders are very sad to learn that Edward has passed away.

“We were thrilled when he joined us for a stint of six episodes earlier this year. He was a delight to work with, and delivered a characteristically touching and layered performance. Our thoughts are with his family.”

Robin Hardy, who directed The Wicker Man, said of Woodward: “He was one of the greatest actors of his generation, without any question, with a broad career on American television as well as British film.

“He was the absolute star of The Wicker Man. He was an extremely nice human being.”

Film critic Barry Norman described Woodward was a “very fine” actor.

“He made about three dozen movies but he was rarely given the chance to star in a movie, ” he told BBC News.

“The two films that do stand out are obviously The Wicker Man and Breaker Morant, about three British soldiers in the Boer War. In both he gave excellent performances.”

Actor Simon Pegg, who was a big fan of Woodward and cast him in his 2007 film Hot Fuzz, said on Twitter: “So sorry to hear we have lost the great Edward Woodward. Feel lucky to have worked with him.”

He later released a statement, saying that Hot Fuzz rehearsals “were often gleefully tossed aside just to hear him (Woodward) recount stories from his life and career.

“Edgar Wright and myself sought him out because we were fans of his work, by the time the cameras stopped rolling, we were devoted fans of the man. My love and sympathy goes out to Michelle and his family.”

Woodward is survived by his second wife, the actress Michele Dotrice, and four children, three of whom he had during his first marriage.

Source: BBC

Awesome English character actor Edward Woodward has moved on. I first noted him in my favorite 1980’s TV series, THE EQUALIZER, where he played an ex-agent who uses his bad powers for good, helping random citizens of New York. While my peers were reveling in the pastel pastiche of MIAMI VICE, I couldn’t wait for Woodward’s killer tude and Shakespearean diction to take-down the criminal scum of Fun City. I discovered his earlier work such as BREAKER MORANT and of course, THE WICKER MAN (1973) where he plays the inverse of his bad-ass New York hero. It was good to see him in HOT FUZZ to boot and he will be missed. Now here’s the coolest TV intro and theme from the 80’s, with music by Stewart Copeland:

I’ve been saddened to read online that theatre, film and television actor Edward Woodward has died in hospital today at the age of 79. Mr Woodward was known for playing roles such as TV’s Callan & The Equalizer and also film roles Sgt Neil Howie in the Wicker Man and Tom Weaver in Hot Fuzz among many others. He had been suffering from various illnesses including pneumonia. Various people who worked with him have been paying tribute including Barbara Windsor and Simon Pegg. He is survived by his second wife actress Michelle Dotrice and four children. Thanks for reading.

I’m too sad to write about it. I’m not going to be able watch it at Christmas. The Tennant was the only reason I watched it! *Cries*

It was bloody good though! Better than the one with Zoe Slater! It had X-Files-y tones to it. I prefer the episodes like that and being an X-Files fangirl, it was just up my street! And LOL at Trina from Eastenders being in it (or Crys-taaaal from Bad Girls if you prefer). The Doctor said about water waiting and being patient. How it always wins and that is a a very true quote. I thought the ending was good too but it made me sad =( as my friend @stev02008 from Twitter said, the Doctor is pretty scary when he lets the power go to his head! I just remembered that I have a few of my Doctor Who books to read so I can carry on with *my* Doctor still even when Emo Boy does take over. I’m going to miss him =( Chris showed me earlier that he’s going to be in a movie with Simon Pegg.

So I’m a Celeb is on now and as Simon Pegg said, when are they gonna do a series with famous people? The only person I really like is Kim Woodburn from How Clean is Your House! Colin and Justin (LivingTV babies), some Italian tv chef, Lucy Benjamin and some others. Bloody hell, the only reason I watch this is for Ant & Dec. I love their presenting style, they never fail to make me laugh! Oh, and Sabrina from Misteeq? They haven’t released a song since 2002/2003!!!! Oh well, it’s a bit of escapism. It’s ok so far.

So back to X-Factor! LLOYD IS STILL THERE?!?!?!?! I mean ffs, at least Jamie can at least SING. Glad Stacey is through because I like her and I know that she has a lot more to offer and same goes to Joe. Glad they stayed and don’t care about anyone else! The charity single is ok (You are Not Alone) but I think most charity singles are a bit cheesy tbh.

Oooh, Baileys Coffee ad. I must try my free sample. I love Baileys! I haven’t seen the Coca Cola Christmas advert yet so I don’t think it’s anywhere near the 25th of December!

Anyway, bored now.

x

A competência de Nicholas Angel (policial londrino) é tanta que até faz os outros policias parecerem inúteis e com tamanha competência seus superiores resolvem mudar Angel de Londres à uma pequena cidade com festas tradicionais e encontros na vizinhança.
Lá Angel conhece o policial Danny Butterman,policial bobo e bem intencionado,quando tudo parecia perdido uma série de acidentes ediondos motiva Angel a entrar em ação.Convencido que há algo errado , ele percebe que Sanford não é tão tranquila assim.

Na década vemos trocentos filmes americano porcos fazendo paródia de certos filmes e gêneros,mas foi na Inglaterra e com somente dois filmes onde nós encontramos os melhores fazedores de paródias da década.
É impossível falar de Chumbo Grosso sem antes falar do maravilhoso Todo mundo Quase morto,sendo que Chumbo Grosso vai ainda mais além.
Quando todos pensávamos que Chumbo Grosso era só mais um filme fazendo paródia de filmes policiais,vemos que o filme vai além e nos apresenta uma trama um pouco parecida com o filme A Vila,a sociedade totalmente utópica do filme faz o filme de Shyamalan parece só mais um.
O roteiro e a direção são certeiras,sem falhas,alguns momentos previsíveis e alguns surpresos,a mistura de ação e comédia é perfeita e pra ajudar ainda mais temos a absurdamente competente edição.
Fotografias,locações e trilha sonora são também ótimas e notáveis e pra falar do filme é impossível não comentar nas referências engraçadíssimas á Caçadores de emoção,perfeito.As atuações são impecáveis Simon Pegg tá incrível (pra variar) mas quem rouba a cena é Nick Frost que mistura inocência com idiotice na medida certa,ainda temos os ótimos Thimothy Dalton,Jim Broadbent e Paddy Considine espetaculares.

Por fim o filme é impecável,uma das melhores comédias da década e concerteza a mais mal distribuída no Brasil e a mais subestimada de todas é o tipo de filme que se existe algum tipo de erro,me indiquem que eu não enxergo.

Nota:10/10

Chumbo Grosso (Hot Fuzz,2007)
Diretor:Edgar Wright
Roteiro:Edgar Wright e Simon Pegg
Elenco:Simon Pegg,Martin Freeman,Bill Nighy,Nick Frost,Thimoty Dalton,Paddy Considine,Jim Broadbent

However, it is only for a Total Film Comedy of the Decade shoot presumably for Shaun of the Dead. Still we have Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim film to look forward to along with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in Greg Mottola’s Paul and Spielberg’s Tintin.

a rare smile...

R

Martin Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Simon Pegg, Penelope Cruz

Mel: The human default setting is loneliness, man.  Sadness is a guarantee.

Gary (Freeman) is a former rock star who has settled into a mundane life as a commercial jingle writer, and his wife, Dora (Paltrow), has grown weary of his detachment from life.  Gary starts to have strange, but enjoyable dreams about another woman, and then starts to explore lucid dreaming as a way to spend more time in his dreams.  As he gets better at this, the line between dreams and real life starts to get blurred.

Have you ever been dreaming, suddenly realized that you were dreaming, and then tried to take control of the dream, only to wake up?  I’m always disappointed when that happens.  I was just about to go flying like superman!

Well, that’s the experience Gary Shaller has in this movie.  Everything looks more beautiful in his dreams, the woman he meets there (Penelope Cruz) inspires him, and he doesn’t have to deal with the problems he has in real life.  The only thing that would make it better is to have control of the situation and stay there longer.  For this, he turns to Mel (Danny DeVito), an expert in lucid dreaming…and holder of several random part time jobs.  He both teaches Gary the finer points of lucid dreaming and warns him about the dangers of getting too absorbed by that alternate world.  I enjoyed DeVito’s odd, but understated performance.  Sometimes he tries a little too hard, but he’s funny and sympathetic here.

I thought the performances were all good, in fact.  Gwyneth Paltrow is funny when she’s angry, and she does a nice job of maintaining some amount of likability, even though she’s frustrated and angry most of the movie.  Simon Pegg is subdued, but still enjoyable as Gary’s best friend, and former band mate.  He still doesn’t want to leave behind the rock and roll lifestyle they had years ago.  At least, he thinks he doesn’t.  In fact, there’s a myriad of characters who aren’t sure of what they want in life or how they’d get it even if they were sure.

This movie has all the feel of a Charlie Kaufman script, but doesn’t quite achieve the wit and depth of his writing.  Instead, it meanders along, without a lot of energy, at just a quick enough pace to maintain interest.  The dream sequences aren’t imaginative enough, and also, maybe it’s just me, but Penelope Cruz just doesn’t seem like the right actress for the dream girl role.  It’s not a question of attractiveness, it’s about her look.  It needed to be somebody who has a good combination of being captivating while simultaneously being a little bit creepy.  Natascha McElhone, in Solaris, is a good example.

I liked the idea of this movie, and as I mentioned, the performances were all fine.  It just needed a more well written script, and the main ideas needed to be fleshed out a little bit more.  It’s missing a level of complexity that would have made it very memorable.  As is, it’s interesting while you’re watching it, but forgettable when it’s over.  Kind of like a dream.

Look both ways before crossing the street.

10 – 2.5 for lacking a certain complexity/energy/heart that would have pushed it to another level – .7 for the dream sequences being too dull and for Cruz not being a very dreamy girl = 6.8