I am not a trekkie, but I am a fan of the original TV series.  And as a fan of the original series, I have to say the movie Star Trek fell short of my expectations.  Sure it was entertaining – plenty of bone shaking special effects and intense action scenes.  Seeing the young crew of the Enterprise working together on their “first mission” brought back fond memories of watching the show in syndication for many years.  However, I was disappointed in the historical inaccuracies peppered throughout the film, which made me think the writers never bothered to study the original series.

Star Trek technology and the companion soundscape from the original series always fascinated me:  the swishing sound of the doors automatically opening and closing;  the hypnotic hum of space travel, with a complete repertoire of sound effects for the ships computers and all the interesting and innovative gadgets and medical devices.  The movie had lots of sound effects, but mostly to accompany the action, not the technology.  The technology I would have expected was curiously absent, or so modernized as to be undetectable.  No tricorder on board?  And what about the food replicator, and the universal translator  - are these technologies too old school? And three dimensional chess – couldn’t there have been at least one game? The film featured an updated transporter operated with a joystick and a computer screen.  Fascinating, but what happened to the sliding controls of the mixing board for beaming up the landing party?

The actors were mostly cast well and played their parts admirably.  ”Bones” McCoy though was unconvincing – too tall and calm…no “damnit man” but he did call Spock a “greenblooded hobgoblin”.  Unfortunately, the script seemed to veer off course, especially the romance that developed between Uhura and Spock, which would have been unlikely in the original series given the ritualized mating traditions of Spock’s Vulcan heritage to which he was bound.   The script strayed further off course by suggesting the Enterprise was Kirk’s first “assignment”.  I won’t divulge the plot details, but should point out that a quick bio check on James T. Kirk reveals that he was actually assigned to two ships prior to the Enterprise and that in the original series, there is no mention of a training mission, on which the movie is based.   And young Chekov is portrayed with such a thick accent that the voice recognition system can’t even understand him.   Not funny – if you want funny, see the Star Trek spoof film Galaxy Quest.  In the original series, Chekov was known more for his hot temper and fierce Russian pride, which led him to comment once that “scotch was invented by an old lady from Leningrad”.

And what happened to Shatner?  Did he not approve of the movie citing artistic differences?  Nimoy does the voice over for “Space, the final frontier….” stealing Kirk’s lines.  Blasphemous!

I did enjoy the film, but ultimately reject the arrogant notion that after all these years, the producers have the right to invent a story that does not jibe with the history of the original show.   The main plot line was weak – not nearly as interesting as any of the TV episodes; the action scenes were over the top; the romantic subplot, simply silly and out of place; and the nuances of technology that made the show in the words of Spock, “fascinating”, were sadly absent.

I went and saw Star Trek on a whim. I would have normally never even saw the movie because I have no connection to the TV show by the same name.

Well, I’m really glad that I did go ahead and see it, although I did hesitate. The movie was extremely entertaining. Chris Pine, who plays Captain Kirk is pretty good in his role and quite believeable in his character. He is also amazing big screen man candy! I can’t believe that’s the same guy from Princess Diaries 2!

The movie follows Kirk before he become captain, and it involves time travel, a little rivalry with Spock and a creepy looking, and effective Eric Bana as the villian.

What I liked most about the movie is that it does not take itself too seriously. It’s not trying to be dark like the new Batman franchise, which I for one totally hate! I love campy Batman! POW! There are moments where you will laugh out loud and that what makes Star Trek fun to watch.

Star Trek totally succeeds for me and is worth your summer movie dollars.

Have I said enough that writer’s block has been kicking my ass? Well it has. And I’m sick of it. They say the only way to end writer’s block is to write. So fuck it. I’m going to post something on this blog everyday until I put together a post that I actually like.

Excuse me because I may get random. I may get raw. Some days I may not make sense. There are days when I might write complete and utter bullshit. But I don’t care. Hell, I dropped $15 on the domain name, I’ll stink up the joint if I want to. You can read/not read. Comment or not comment. But I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do.

What’s on my mind? A few things.

The murder of OB-GYN George Tiller disturbed the hell out of me.  How do you commit a murder in the name of God in a church? I detest that people pick and choose which Bible verses to count as truth. Even if God sought “vengeance” against sinners (which I don’t believe because God is forgiving), isn’t there a verse in the Bible that says “Vengeance is Mine?” Meaning if you’re a Christian, you should leave the judgment to him. “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” assholes.

So planes disappear in thin air now? For real?

I watched the Star Trek Movie last night and it was effin’ awesome. I didn’t even like the television show, but the movie kicked ass. I watched it right before sleep, though, so I had weird dreams about time travel.

For the love of God, Dick Cheney PUH-LEEZE JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP! Where was all this openness and disclosure when you were in office?

So since I divorced Hip-Hop, why is he coming around sounding all sexy and turning me on again? Aside from my Wale fandom, I’ve been enjoying the sounds of J. Cole, Mickey Factz, Big Sean & Drake. But I’m still too stubborn to fully commit to him again. So for now, we’re still just messing around on the regular.

Speaking of the New Jacks in the game, Charles Hamilton is a fucking douche. He got insanely lucky that his girl only punched him once. I would’ve been on some T.I. shit, …but seeing this nigga bleed’s the only thing that’s gon’ relax me…

Is it just me or has Facebook gotten extra boring lately? Or maybe I’m just a Twitterholic.

People talk shit about Beyonce, but she’s a bad bitch. And not because of any music or movie she’s put out lately. It’s because of a verse I heard Jay spit on a Raphael Saaqdiq remix. This dude said: I know I used to ask of you/to get it and go like a drive thru/until that day you said “Close your eyes, let me ride you/(let me ride you)/Drove me insane with ya ride too/Nice move/Maestro, you can cue the wedding march/I’m done/Tried to run/But Cupid hit me dead in heart. If that line is autobiographical, eff what you heard, Bey is my hero.

I think that’s all for now. Told you it’s going to be random as hell. But I’m going to write my way out of this slump. One post at a time.

It’s the first day of Law School and I’m sitting in this large classroom filled with bright young students typing furiously away on their laptops learning something along the lines of Legal Methods.  The instructor is talking about some magical moment when a student actually begins to understand the root of a law school problem…that moment when the professor’s Socratic method stops being torturous and becomes logical…she grins slightly and declares, “It’s like having a Vulcan mind-meld with your professor.”

Yeah, that went right over my head.

Until last night.

I saw Star Trek and I had a moment of pure clarity when Mr. Nimoy performs the Vulcan Mind Meld on Chris Pine.  Aha!  So that’s what a Vulcan Mind Meld is!  Leave it to me to not even bother to look it up for a whole year and a half since Legal Methods class.  But watching the movie felt like a piece of a giant pop culture puzzle just started to click into place for me, and while I’m generations late, I’m signing up for the Star Fleet!!!

I loved the movie, especially Spock.  I really enjoyed how he tried so very hard to be the stoic Vulcan, but always, always manages to give in to his human nature so very effortlessly.  Mmm…I like me them tortured ones.

Chris Pine was very foine eye-candy as well. I cannot complain there.  I didn’t even mind the several times he was choked in the movie.  He definitely has his comic timing down pat.

And speaking of flawless comic timing…what about John Cho and his fencing?  Loved it.  Love him!

The movie definitely had great character development, a storyline that wasn’t entirely confusing, excellent comedic & dramatic performances and fabulous special effects.

There were only 3 things I didn’t like about the movie.  I despised the kid who played young Kirk (really bad acting, kid), there should have been more fun training scenes, and finally….the movie should have been longer!

For all of the above, I give Star Trek a solid A.

PS, all this while, every time they said, “Beam me up, Scotty,” I thought “scotty” was a machine.  Nope. Another puzzle piece clicked in place.  Scotty=person/ship engineer. gotcha. thanks.

So I haven’t blogged in a while.  Things have been crazy.  My show that I was Stage Managing went up. yay!  It took a big toll on my relationship.  My real life relationship.  I’ve never done a show when I was with someone before.  Ok lets put it this way, I’ve never ’stayed’ with anyone through a show.  I told his when I started that if he started to feel neglected to let me know.  But unfortunately by the time it came up, I was already too into the show to be able to step out and take more time for him.  Right now I have The Last Supper on.  A great movie about a group of grad students that have people over for dinner and debate, but now they start killing their guests if they don’t like that political, social or moral opinions, I would suggest everyone watch it.  Anyways. Back to the rest of my story, the show opened, so now I have more time, and I think everything will be ok.  And I agreed it would probably be a good idea if I didn’t stage manage all the time, and if I did, don’t do as many nighttime and weekend hours unless I’m getting paid.  Since this is all voluntary, and my fiance works days.  So when I’m gone for four hours a night right after he gets home, and for half a weekend day, after a month or so I can see how it started to strain.  Easily enough my next two shows are Lighting Design, so I don’t even really need to worry about the neglect problem again in theatre a good while.  Since lighting design takes far far less time away from home than stage management.

I saw the Star Trek movie today. OMG yay!

It’s funny, I’ve been having the urge to write a lot since I missed it a bunch, but with this movie on I keep losing my place, so I think I’ll finish up sometime when it’s over.

Peskerbots out

As you may recall reading in an earlier post, Holy Spirit Parish in Fremont, CA (Diocese of Oakland) has a 135-seat theater (see Holy Spirit Parish Fremont, CA). Deacon Bill Drobik attended a press screening for Star Trek a few days ago and sent me his review. He has graciously given me permission to post it.:

Jimmy Olson (aka Deacon Bill Drobik), your Cub Reporter, had these thoughts from the screening:

I’m old enough to remember the TV series Star Trek and confess that I have some original episodes of Star Trek on my Apple TV drive at home.  That makes me old enough to have grandchildren, and pre-qualified to draw an analogy to what I saw at the spectacular IMAX preview at the Metreon in San Francisco last night.  What a thrill!

In a few words, the film exceeds expectations. It may well be said by real journalists that the storyline, casting and acting are the real strength in Star Trek, and not the digital extravaganza we were expecting. No matter what your locus as far as Sci-Fi, Star Trek, Star Wars or Star Tours at the Happiest Place on Earth, there is much to like about this film. 

It begins with birthing, a most worthy launch point.  In the middle of a deadly battle, we see the courage and emotion of a franchise being given life.  It’s just enough to give us a sniff of Kirk before we get grounded in the strength of Spock’s character arc.  Zachary Quinto is outstanding as Spock, being cast in a bold new way.  Entertainment Weekly’s Summer Movie Preview told of how J.J. Abrams had two big fears in making this movie, finding the courage to tell Leonard Nimoy how to play the character (who appears through the magic of time travel) and how to reach today’s “slick and irony-wired audiences.”  I don’t know how many takes the director needed to get Quinto so glib, but he’s outstanding in delivering his lines with such precision while wrestling with his human emotions.

The second concern of Abrams, about the audience was more than met by the digital wizardry being more ready to play.  During a space battles I felt the force of the bass sounds slapping my adam’s apple more than a few times.  Stunning visuals, believable technology.  Consider the fact that the tricorder was the forerunner of today’s “clam shell” cell phone.  As a Star Trek fan, I probably didn’t need a clever dialogue to make me happy.  But as the people around me constantly chuckled during the movie, I sensed that they were, in fact, an “irony-wired” audience.  I felt every bit of the grandfather as I watched how many young adults took in the preview.  But I was so elated to see the “faith” in this franchise being passed on to this upcoming age of fathers and mothers of children for whom this could be their new Star Wars, a movie grandchild with the legs to go the distance, not just a wind sprint.

The secret to this film, in Jimmy Olson’s opinion, and what carries the day for those seeking a witty dialogue, is in the casting and acting.  I suspect an award by the Academy could find its way here for casting.  And not just because of strong resemblance to the ethnicity or demeanor of the characters.  The storyline and punch of the supporting actors is such a treat!  I don’t remember seeing such a courageous birth to Chekov or Sulu, for example, but I have to believe those actors gave thanks to God when they got their script.  Whatever Harrison Ford felt when he got the chance to be Han Solo might be a way to describe what this movie gives birth to.  In Entertainment Weekly, Abrams is quoted as saying “People are going to love these characters again.”  He is spot-on.  Is he old enough to be a grandfather?

Deacon Bill Drobick, aka your Cub Reporter “The Word for the Week”

BillDrobik@yahoo.com

Fremont

Les Voyeurs #34
Robert Wise

Émission diffusée le vendredi 2 avril 2008 à 16h.
Rediffusée le samedi 3 avril 2008 à 10h.

Actualité

Le(s) Festival(s) de Cannes

6^e et ultime saison des Soprano (dossier dans le numéro d’avril 2008 de la revue « Générique(s) »)

Rec : film espagnol de Paco Plaza et Jaume Balagero (actuellement à l’affiche)
7ème Festival de films documentaires de Lasalle en Cévènnes, les 1, 2 et 3 mai 2008. Toutes les infos sur www.henridelatour.lautre.net/

Sortie chez Mk2 d’un coffret DVD Fritz Lang

Dossier : Robert Wise

La ressortie quelque part en France de Le Jour où la terre s’arrêta est un excellent prétexte pour évoquer la carrière d’un réalisateur qui toucha à tous les genres : SF bien sûr, mais aussi comédie musicale, fantastique, polar, film de boxe, film de guerre…

De ses débuts comme monteur (en particulier sur Citizen Kane d’Orson Welles) jusqu’à Start Trek en passant par West Side Story, Nous avons gagné ce soir, La Maison du diable une quarantaine de films… et peu de déchet !

Filmographie de Robert

Mademoiselle Fifi (1944)
La malédiction des hommes-chats (1944)
Le récupérateur de cadavres (1945)
Criminal court (1946)
Né pour tuer (1947)
Ciel rouge (1948)
Secrets de femmes (1949)
Nous avons gagné ce soir (1949)
Two flags west (1950)
La maison sur la colline (1951)
Le jour où la terre s’arrêta (1951)

The captive city (1952)
Les rats du désert (1953)
Mon grand (1953)
La tour des ambitieux (1954)
Hélène de Troie (1955)
Marqué par la haine (1956)
La loi de la prairie (1956)
Femmes coupables (1957)
Cette nuit ou jamais (1957)
L’odyssée du sous-marin Nerka (1958)
Je veux vivre (1958)
Le coup de l’escalier (1959)
West side story (1961)
Deux sur la balançoire (1962)
La maison du diable (1963)
La mélodie du bonheur (1965)
La canonnière du Yang-Tsé (1966)
Star (1968)
Le mystère Andromède (1970)
Brève rencontre à Paris (1973)
L’odyssée du Hindenburg (1975)
Audrey Rose (1977)
Star trek, le film (1979)
Rooftops (1989)

Bande Originale de la Semaine

Diamond Dogs par Beck

Extrait de la bande originale de Moulin Rouge de Baz Luhrmann

Les-films-que-y’a-que-Michel-qui-les-a-vus

Svidd Neger d’Erik Smith Meyer

Musiques

Somewhere : reprise de la b.o. de West Side Story par Tom Waits
My Favorite things : reprise de la b.o. de La Mélodie du bonheur par John Coltrane

Extraits

Le jour où la terre s’arrêta

La Malédiction des hommes chats

Facciamo quindi un breve riassunto: il cast del nuovo equipaggio per il prossimo e atteso film di J.J. Abrams sembrerebbe al completo, manca solo una conferma…

Con la conferma (fonte Hollywood Reporter) dell’attore Carl Urban nel ruolo del dottor McCoy e di Chris Pine nel ruolo del capitano Kirk i ruoli principali sono stati tutti assegnati. Fuori dal cast resterebbe solo Will “Panzone” Shatner, ma voci di corridoio ancora girano per i corridoi. A breve inizieranno le riprese (si vocifera di esterni girati in Islanda) e il rilascio del film è previsto per il Natale 2008 negli Stati Uniti.
Vedremo.

Intanto eccovi una tabella riassuntiva di ruoli e attori:
Spock (giovane): Zachary Quinto
Spock (anziano): Leonard Nimoy
James T. Kirk (giovane): Chris Pine
Leonard McCoy: Carl Urban
Montgomery Scott: Simon Pegg
Hikaru Sulu: John Cho
Pavel Chekov: Antony Yelchin
Uhura: Zoe Saldana
Christopher Pike ?
Madre del capitano Kirk ?
Padre del capitano Kirk ?
? Greg Grunberg
???????????????????? William Shatner

…ed una bella immagina, presa direttamente dallo stic!

[Fonte: WebTrekItalia]