You can listen to us discussing these films at length on the podcast on the show, but please do check out the list below for perpetuity. Sam’s list is annotated and included below, Tom’s is not annotated and its right here. This just means you will have to check out the podcast to hear Tom’s viewpoints. So check out Sam’s choices after the jump, along with a few choice thoughts and honourable mentions. Enjoy!

10. Fish Tank

Andrea Arnold’s excellent second film is not quite the match of the stunning Red Road, but the performance from Katie Jarvis and the touch of the director in the interpersonal scenes elevates this to somewhere that the script doesn’t quite merit, notably given the slight overcooking towards the end. Some amazing scenes, however, and some beautifully constructed and openly-interpretive moments between characters make this nigh-on unmissable.

9. Star Trek

Easily the best blockbuster of 2009, this film is not far off perfect, outside of the terrible scene involving the original Spock. Delete that and you have an indecently entertaining film with, perhaps, the best ensemble cast of the year. The character moments, especially those involving Chris Pine’s Kirk and Karl Urban’s McCoy, are charming and packed with charisma and comedy. Unexpectedly, a Star Trek movie was the most accessible and entertaining action film of the year.

8. Up

Though it’s somewhat messy for the most part, the first ten minutes of this film are enough to give it a solid top ten spot. The ‘life’ sequence at the start, wordless and annotated only by music and tiny personal moments, is completely breathtaking but the rest is a rag-tag road movie with a terrific sense of adventure, just a slight lack of focus. The character moments are sweet and touching, the story itself, focusing on the Pixar-favoured topic of fatherhood, is perfectly pitched and the animation, and imagination involved in that, is wonderful. Forgetting Cars, will they ever truly misstep?

7. Let the Right One In

A very Swedish take on the vampire movie, this was another driven by likeable characters and a sweet romance, but oh so much more bite and existential interest than that other abominable vampire movie. The performances from the two child leads are perfect, but the best thing here is Alfredson’s filmmaking, his camera retaining a stillness throughout which mean that the explosions of violence and disturbing themes are allowed to breathe enough to get under the skin of the audience.

6. Funny People

I wasn’t completely alone in loving this film, but I might be completely alone in loving the film as much as I did. Adam Sandler gives a great performance in this sprawling, hyper-personal exploration of comedy by Judd Apatow. Sandler’s character seems oddly close to his own life, which Apatow is intimately familiar with, and is used to examine the psychological make-up of comedians and the mindset they hold which prevents them from truly connecting. It’s not about all comedians per se, but it explores that mindset held by those who need to keep misanthropy a part of their act. Beyond that, the character interplay is perfect and there are just plenty of fascinating, emotionally open scenes. It’s Apatow’s passion project and, for whatever reason, I just connected completely.

5. Fantastic Mr Fox

Unexpectedly, a huge return to form from Wes Anderson. Ostensibly taking Roald Dahl’s tale as a starting point, Anderson imprints his own style on the source material without losing the overall spirit of the original. The voice performances are perfect, especially the great Jason Schwartzmann, but the star of the show is Anderson’s directorial choice-making. Plenty of great jokes and, in the stop-motion, the best choice he has made in his whole career, completely suited to his minutiae-fetishism on one level and just so aesthetically-pleasing on another. It’s also the first of his films since Rushmore where he seems to genuinely like his characters, a difference which is so important in how much love you can build up for the film.

4. Synecdoche, New York

I love achingly personal filmmaking and this, from the cavernous mind of Charlie Kaufman as both writer and director, is self-examination to the point of borderline insanity. The film drives from meta level to meta level, getting further and further lost inside itself but never, for me, losing the neurosis at its centre: the need to be remembered for something great. It evokes the madness of attempting to create great art, the subjectivity of the world which prevents this from ever being truly possible and the intense need and desire to achieve something, whatever it may be, before death.

3. Where the Wild Things Are

A mad mess of ideas and inspiration, Spike Jonze proved himself once more to wholly understand the spirit of his story, creating a narrative which takes Maurice Sendak’s book and expands it into a swirling, mad imagination picture. It captures the moment when children begin the journey to adulthood, when they realise that they are no longer the centre of the world and have to compromise to the needs of others. Max may well be a disturbed and troubled young child, but I think the feelings and thoughts that he has just capture those that most children would have at that age in his situation, just more vividly than may would perhaps have liked. It’s slightly self-indulgent in places, but it evokes and engages with childhood in ways that modern movies simply never even try. All that and the soundtrack is the absolute best of the whole year.

2. The Wrestler

Low-key and often too close to stereotype in the script, this is a film elevated an enormous amount by the amazing performances, direction and cinematography. Aronofsky shifted away from the insane ambition of The Fountain to deliver and measured, appropriate directing job to prove his versatility, Marise Alberti’s cinematography captures the cold isolation of the characters and the supporting players, notably the ever-brilliant Marisa Tomei, are superb. But, come on, the star of the show is Mickey Rourke. His performance goes somewhere beyond acting onto a meta level that suggests this will be a once-in-a-lifetime role. If that’s the case, he took his chance with both hands and booked his place back amongst the greats after all those year’s in the wilderness.

1. The Hurt Locker

Iraq filmmaking has proved itself a difficult art. The shift has gone from those explicitly exploring the experience of soldiers with a heavy political stance to those exploring the soldiers coming home with a heavy political stance. None of them have been absolutely awful (outside of Redacted and Stop-Loss) but none have managed to explicitly understand the experience of soldiers from an entirely apolitical viewpoint. The Hurt Locker is not only the most exciting, tense film of the year, but it’s understanding of the psychology of the soldier, and its focus upon this, captures what is actually important about Iraq. This was Jarhead with a boatload of action and without the showy visuals, though the visual style here is gripping. Kathryn Bigelow should and hopefully will win the director Oscar this year, not just for the construction of scenes and her understanding of space, but for her focus on the relationship between the lead characters and subsequently their relationship to the warzone. Emotionally and physically, this is a breathless film.

Honourable Mentions

District 9 – Thrilling allegorical sci-fi, only let down by reliance on genre traits.

Milk – Stately and finely-tuned biopic, excellent acting, slightly ponderous in some places.

Slumdog Millionaire – Overrated undoubtedly but still extremely entertaining and sweet. Superb direction.

(500) Days of Summer – Arrival of a talent in Marc Webb and career-best performance from Zooey Deschanel.

Moon – Lovely, charming sci-fi with immense central performance and best performance by Kevin Spacey in years.

Zombieland – Hugely fun and rollicking zombie ride.

Rachel Getting Married – Career-maker for Anne Hathaway, only dips because of hyper-long wedding sequence.

Bronson – Tom Hardy’s performance dominates but Winding Refn’s work is, as always, bracing.

In the Loop – Satire at its highest, only let down because it never quite reaches the Strangelove-ian heights it’s going for.

Anvil: The Story of Anvil – Heartfelt, sweet hair metal homosocial love story.

Doubt – ACTING! And more ACTING!! Stagey at times but otherwise nye-on perfectly judged.

Drag Me to Hell – Raimi returns to horror with fun, cheeky ride with great horror performance from Alison Lohman.

A Serious Man – Obtuse, uber-Coen exploration of Book of Job. For fans only, maybe. If you’re a fan though, world class.

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Thought I’d wish y’all a Happy Holiday with some hotness (much like I did last year).

Later.

2009 was a pretty fucking awesome year! Seriously. I’ll probably make another post about the rest, but there were some amazing movies and some great records that came out.

Top 10 Albums

A lot of people are making lists for the decade, but I decided that I just couldn’t do that. It was too difficult of a task. So I stuck with just doing a top 10 favorite records for the year. In previous years, I’ve done bigger lists, but I’m keeping it small this year. And, as usual, this is a list of my favorite records, kind of like a personal playlist, rather than ones that I would say are the best.

Anyway, the list is below and I’ll also be counting this list  on The Playlist with The Reverend on 90.3 The Core tonight at 9pm! Make sure to tune in. I’ll be playing one song from each album.

1. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone – Anti
2. Frank Turner – Poetry Of The Deed – Epitaph
3. The Lawrence Arms – Buttsweat And Tears – Fat Wreck Chords
4. M. Ward – Hold Time – Merge
5. Coconut Records – Davy – Young Baby Records
6. Monsters of Folk – Monsters Of Folk – Shangri-La
7. Dear Landlord – Dream Homes – No Idea
8. Conor Oberst And the Mystic Valley Band – Outer South – Merge
9. NOFX – Frisbee/Coaster – Fat Wreck Chords
10. Future Of The Left – Travels with Myself and Another – 4AD

And besides those, there are a few honorable mentions:

• Cheap Girls – My Roaring 20s
• Sonic Youth – The Eternal
• The Decemberists – The Hazards Of Love
• Mason Jennings – Blood Of Man
• Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
• Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
• Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
• Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career

You know, I almost wanted to put Lady GaGa on that list somewhere. I think I’ve spent some serious time in the second half of this year discovering a love for her. I never would have thought that I’d think so highly of her, but she’s pretty friggin’ awesome. However, I just can’t say that The Fame Monster was that great overall. It’s good for a few really great songs, but there’s also a lot of filler. Oh well.

And 2010 is already looking like it’s going to be a great year with new records by Murder By Death, Minus The Bear, Against Me!, Spoon, She And Him, and more already announced. I can’t wait!

Top 10 Movies

I actually had a much harder time making my list of top 10 movies for the year. There were a TON of good flicks this year and there were so many that I just didn’t have time to see either! Ultimately, these were my favorites:

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Star Trek
3. Up
4. The Hangover
5. Dead Snow
6. Zombieland
7. District 9
8. Paranormal Activity
9. Fantastic Mr. Fox
10. Coraline

And of course, some honorable mentions:

• Whip It
• (500) Days Of Summer
• Watchmen
• Last House On The Left
• Whatever Works
• The Wrestler

So there you have it, my favorite albums and movies of the year. I’m hoping to post another entry about other things from 2009 if I get a chance over the next week. But until then, don’t forget that I’ll be counting down that top 10 albums list tonight on The Playlist with The Reverend on 90.3 The Core!

Wow! I haven’t written one of these in like forever…..I suppose I can say I was waiting to get some new obsessions because I did the first two so close together that they had quite a few repeats. But anyway I digress, so lets get on with it shall we? By the way this post will be media heavy as I am doing several different things here. ENJOY!

1. Nine- I cannot wait to see this and I am already obsessed with a couple of the songs from the soundtrack. I have quite the thing for musicals and I have probably posted about this movie a million times before, but I cannot say how excited I am to see this enough and who the hell knew Kate could sing like that?

2. Belly dancing- from the moment i heard about this type of dance I have been in love with it.  I love to dance, have since I could walk, and I really wanted to know how to belly dance so a few years ago I got this amazing dvd and started dabbling in it. Well I loved it and I looked pretty good after doing it for a while, but eventually I stopped. I love belly dancers bodies mainly because they are the shape I would go for, curvy not thin with a bit of a belly (a little belly is cute). So I have been trying to get back into working out and stuff recently stumbled across two clips that make me want to give my old hobby another try.  Here we go:

3. Zach Quinto- All I can say is I saw Star Trek and this guy stole the show. The entire time I kept thinking Spock is way too good looking , but he is really funny and cool so I like him. I remember seeing Zach on that Tori Spelling show a while ago and thinking he was super cute, and I must say he just keeps getting better.

4. Actresses of the Moment-

Kate- She is always so fun and bubbly and plus she is starring in my no. 1 current obsession and singing probably my favorite song on the soundtrack. Her actors studio episode was so fun and cute…LOVE HER.

Blake Lively- I have been seeing more of this girl lately (not just on Gossip Girl) and I genuinily like her. She seems like a geek that is unafraid to be goofy or silly and I like that. I think it is about time girls stop being so serious and learn to have fun like the boys. I also rather like the fact that she is a young actress that doesn’t look like she needs a cheeseburger every time I see her.

5) Peppermint Bark- I have no idea why I (and several people I know) freak out about this stuff because you could actually find crap that tastes exactly the same all year round, but as we know there is something about a limited edition that makes us want it even more.

6) Songs of the Moment-

Cinema Italiano- I frickin love this song!

Quando Quando Quando- yes yet another thing from Nine and I have to say it fought kate’s song for my favorite from the soundtrack. It is just so sexy and fun.

Tik Tock – I know I am late, but I had to give this one several listens before I made the decision to actually like it.

Carry Out- Its Tim and Justin can you really go wrong here?

And I think that is about it for this weeks edition of current obsessions. Later for stopping by kids ;0).

Barbara Walters recently came out with her list of Most Fascinating People of 2009.  So I decided I would make my own (and in my humble opinion, even better) list.  Here are my favorite celebrities of ‘09…

1. Adam Lambert

Okay, so the whole American Music Awards thing was kind of, well… gay, but not in the good way.  When I heard there was a man-on-man kiss, I was nothing but happy there was finally going to be some media representation of this segment of the population.  But the kiss seemed rushed and awkward and like they were trying way too hard.  It just wasn’t the sexy kiss I was expecting.  (I’m a straight woman, but I still wanted a sexier kiss.)  As for the other controversial “dance move,” well I won’t go there (and really wish Adam hadn’t either).   

But in the end, I don’t really care.  He’s a rock star, and rock stars do weird things.  They take chances and push boundaries.  Sometimes it works out for them, sometimes not.  Adam, like all entertainers, puts himself out there in the public eye for people to praise or tear down, never knowing which it’s going to be.  You have to admire him for that alone.  (Well, you don’t have to, but you should.)  From everything I’ve seen and heard, Adam Lambert seems like a genuine, straight-forward, and kind-hearted person. 

And let’s not forget, that boy can sing.  I will buy every CD he ever puts out.   I love his voice, I dig his personality, and I think he’s awesome (which would explain why he’s on my Most Awesome list).

2. Bethenny Frankel

The Real Housewives of New York has the most memorable and funny lines of any show out there, including non-reality shows with teams of professional writers.  And the reason is this:  Bethenny Frankel.  Her off-the-cuff, no-nonsense commentary is hilarious.  She’s the reason I watched this show beyond Season 1. 

Not only is she funny, she’s intelligent and beautiful and she can cook!  More reasons for her awesomeness:  she owns her own business, she invented a margarita (get the recipe), and she wrote a best-seller (Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting). 

Bethenny is currently expecting her first child.  Congratulations, Bethenny–you deserve all the happiness in the world!

3. Bobby Moynihan

One of the funniest people on SNL right now is Bobby Moynihan whose best-known SNL skits are probably the ones where he plays the son of the Italian talk-show host.  He gets surprisingly little air time on the show–I’m not sure what Lorne is thinking.  What I’m thinking is that this guy probably has a majorly awesome career ahead of him which will surpass Saturday Night Live, ala Steve Martin or Mike Myers–he’s that funny.  (My predictions are pretty accurate–see #5.)  I hope to see more of him in movies or other tv shows soon.

4. Brent Spiner

Why is Brent Spiner, aka Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation, on a list for 2009?  Because I discovered something awesome about him this year–his wickedly sarcastic sense of humor.

And I have Twitter to thank.  Without it, I never would have known that Spiner is funny…in a bitter and biting way, but that’s the kind of humor I like best, so it works for me.  Some of my favorite twitter comments from him: 

• When someone who had been unsuccessfully trying to get him to talk to them on twitter made a comment that they weren’t stupid enough for him to reply to, he chose that comment to answer.  His response:  “Yes you are.” 
• When someone accused him of only tweeting about his glory days in the 90s, he replied “Not true. I also tweet about the 80s.”
• When someone asked “What are the prerequisites for you to consider someone an idiot?” he answered “Questions like this.”

If you enjoy being verbally abused, or if you just want a good laugh, you, too, can follow Brent Spiner on Twitter.

5. Chris Pine

Back in 2005, I predicted Chris Pine would be a big star.  I also said Alec Baldwin should focus on comedy, long before he starred in 30 Rock.  I should really have my own network or movie studio (haha).  But enough about me, let’s talk about Chris.  He’s cute, he’s charismatic, and he makes a great Captain Kirk.  It turns out I’m not the only one who thinks he’s awesome.  GQ named him their 2009 Breakout Star of the Year.

I’m going to go waaay out on a limb here and predict that Chris Pine will be in many more Star Trek sequels. 

6. Craig Ferguson

I hate talk shows.  They’re just not my thing.  Yet I watch The Late Late Show religiously.  Why?  Because of the awesomeness that is Craig Ferguson.  Besides, where else can you find talking crocodiles, gay Aqua Man, and a weird little lip-syncing guy with suprisingly large biceps in a leather bondage outfit all in one place? 

Also, this is the one talk show where the conversations with the guests aren’t scripted.  Craig keeps it real, and his silly humor and quick wit make this one of the best shows on television.  His latest thing is the “awkward pause” which he uses to take the audience into commercials, as opposed to a round of applause.  I don’t know of anyone other than Ferguson who could turn an awkward pause into something funny and entertaining.  It’s always a great day for America when Craig is on the air.

And if that’s not enough, he’s got a sexy Scottish accent and a bestselling autobiography called American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot.  I bought it and loved it.  I suggest you listen to it on audio, like I did, to get the full effect.

7. Jeremy Davies

You might know him as the scientist guy on the popular television series, Lost, or from the cult-classic movie, CQ, or from his supporting role in Saving Private Ryan.  Or, you might not know him at all.  But you will.

Not only is Jeremy Davies an awesome actor, he brings a little of his own zen-like calm yet quirky demeanor into every role he plays.  He has a presence on screen, and whenever he’s in a scene, my attention is naturally drawn to him.  Any project he takes on is going to be 10 times better just from him being in it.  If I was a casting director, he would be my “go-to” guy, and I expect to see him in more high-profile roles in the future.

8. Maria Lark

So what if Patricia Arquette won an Emmy for her role in Medium?  Anytime Maria Lark (who plays Arquette’s daughter) is in a scene, she steals the show.  You just can’t compete with a cute face like that.  And her acting skills are remarkable.  Maria, who is adopted, was actually born in Siberia.  Though young, she has already co-starred in a hit show and co-hosted The View with Barbara Walters!   How awesome is that?!

I always look forward to episodes of Medium where Maria has a larger role.  I simply adore this amazing, pretty, and talented girl.

9. Travis Wall

Travis was great as a contestant on So You Think You Can Dance, even dancing in the Emmy-winning piece, The Bench.  It turns out his awesome skills extend to choreography, as well.  The numbers he comes up with are not only consistently good, they are usually the stand-out pieces of the show. 

I’m thrilled that shows like So You Think You Can Dance give me a window into the work of gifted and talented dancers and choreographers like Travis.  People are speculating that he’ll get an emmy nomination for his work this year, and I have to agree that he’s certainly deserving of one.

Travis also has his playful side.  On a previous season of SYTYCD, he donned  a sexy red dress and blonde wig and did a silly yet technically challenging and hilariously entertaining dance.  I think the producers pulled the video from youtube, claiming copyright issues (boo! have you never heard of free advertising, dimwits?), but you can see a still photo here.

10. Zachary Quinto

Yes, he played Spock in the Star Trek movie, and yes, he was awesome in it, but that’s not why he’s on the list.  He’s here because of something far more sinister…Sylar.  Zachary Quinto plays Sylar, a sociopath with superpowers, in the tv show, Heroes.  And he’s really good at it.  So much so that whenever I see him in something else, even if it’s just an interview, I get a little chill.  The dude freaks me out.

He has a great role to play in Sylar and skilled writers to thank for some excellent lines, but I don’t think anybody else could deliver those lines quite like Zachary Quinto.  Sylar is a bad, bad man, but he has so much fun being evil that I kind of look forward to him wreaking havoc with the other characters’ lives.  Sylar will stand out as one of the most memorable villains of all time, even after Heroes is no longer on the air, and we have Zachary Quinto to thank for that. 

* * *

So there’s my list of the most awesome celebs of 2009.  Agree?  Disagree?  Have someone you’d like to add?  Leave a comment and tell me your thoughts.

Zac and Zac should really hang out more often.

♥

*snerk*

Totally NSFW Star Trek slash “read” by Zachary Quinto:

I really don’t feel that explanation is necessary, but if you think you need it, here you go.

Thème : Star Trek, Skins, Twilight, Alex Pettyfer & 90210

Type: Bann’ & Icons

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]]> http://onebananagirl.wordpress.com/2009/12/19/stuff-1/ Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:08:41 +0000 OneBananaGirl http://onebananagirl.wordpress.com/2009/12/19/stuff-1/

Thème : Heroes

Type: Bann’ & Icons

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This first bit is in baby talk, naturally.

Hello, Noah!  Hello, Noah!  Hello, boy.  That’s a good dog.  Good dog.  Good Dog.  That’s a good boy.  Good boy!

Cutest. Dog.  Ever!

Yes, I know, I talk about Noah’s master waaaayyyy more than I should, but I tell you, I love Noah just as much.

A killer combo!  Forealsies!

Thème : Tormented, The Vampire Diaries, Skins & Heroes

Type: Bann’ & Icons

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I'm just sayin' !

Zachary Quinto

star of: Star Trek/Heroes

don’t forget what we learned about gayface!

I am a Trekkie at heart. While I did grow up watching the original 1966 series (my parents are Star Trek lovers), I must admit I absolutely adore J.J. Abrams’ rendition. Not only was it wildly entertaining, but it featured some of the best lines of the entire running series. Not to mention, the cast did feature some all-star actors and actresses. Favourite part(s)? Anything and everything with Spock in it. No one can ever replace Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock…but Zachary Quinto is a freaking babe…and the pointed ears, crazy eyebrows and bowl cut don’t seem to make him any less attractive. I’d consider that a pretty wicked accomplishment.

I digress, though. The above image is the most epic ‘hero shot’ I have ever seen in any film. I’ve seen my fair share too…I’m not addicted to television but I do, on occasion, have sordid moments with my DVD player. This scene in the Star Trek movie made me die when I saw it in the drive-in, though. I couldn’t help but let one of those almost-shrieks of excitement slip out from between my lips. From then on, I had a very illegal and very good quality bootleg copy of this movie on my laptop until I was able to purchase it, guilt-free, I might add, from the store and watch the special features…over and over and over again. Like i said: epic. The aforementioned ‘hero shot’ is very hard to obtain nowadays, but J.J. Abrams captures it with style. As for not-so-subliminal messaging, if you haven’t seen it, please, for the love of God, go rent it from the video store.

In other random news…

• Ray LaMontagne – You Are The Best Thing
  This is a fantastic song by a totally under appreciated American musician. Even though I scour Last.fm low and high for hours in search of Canadian artists…he is one hell of a musician, American or not (I will not get started into an extensively boring and biased opinion piece on the American music industry). I am not a big fan of the Top 40 @ 4 kind of music. I like that LaMontagne infuses some jazz and soul into his work. The blending of the genres is musically savvy. He knows what’s what. Plus, I’m betting there are at least two of his songs that you will recognize when you hear them. You just never knew it was him. Like I said, under appreciated. Plus that song puts me in an unnaturally happy state of being. I dunno why, but I’m suspecting the strategically placed feel good riffs are designed to inspire happy-go-lucky feelings. Crafty LaMontagne, very crafty.
• It’s all quiet on the writing front (if you don’t understand that reference, please refer to your local video store). Instead of the sounds of bombs dropping, shells firing, there is an astounding, deafening silence. It feels like someone shut off my brain. I am severely lacking drive and motivation. I think it’s the overwhelming pressure of my first university exams and the busy time that is Christmas. C’est la vie.

• I love the tag feature of this blog. I think I’m a little tag happy, but it’s good to be informed.

And now, I have an exam to go study for. There are simply not enough hours in the day to get finished what I need to.

Here are a few of my pics from Spike’s VGAs on Saturday. I apologize for the quality, they were taken on my iPhone.  

Alessandra Torresani

The Cast of Jersey Shores

Mike Tyson

Zachary Quinto

Jack Black

Jake Gyllenhaal

Kimbo Slice

Samuel L. Jackson

Cast of Blue Mountain State

Me

My Man

*** THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS***

I have seen J.J. Abram’s Star Trek three times this year. I saw it twice in May, once by myself, and again with some friends. I was hoping that I would like the film upon a second viewing. That did not happen. So, I decided to watch it one more time, thinking that I may enjoy it; three times is the charm, right? Have my opinions of the film changed?

I am sorry to say that no, they have not. I went into the film on my first viewing open-minded; I read no reviews or spoilers and I did not even know what it was about. I saw it simply because I had never seen a Star Trek film and I am a casual fan of the science fiction genre, although I prefer entries into the genre to be dark, like Ronald D. Moore’s Battlestar Galactica. This does not mean that I am immune to goofy science fiction, because I love the original Star Wars trilogy.

The film follows the journey of James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) as they become members of Starfleet. We see them as children, then adults when they decide to enter the Academy. I applaud the film’s writers for contrasting how much different Kirk and Spock are; one is a troublemaker with pent-up aggression and no respect for authority, and the other is a being of logic. This is one of the few praises I have for the film.

I have many problems with Star Trek, some major and some minor. One minor complaint is that there is too much humor for my tastes. Sure, comic relief is nice, but there are moments in the film where there should only have been tension. One such instance is the scene where Kirk’s hands become swollen after a reaction to a vaccine McCoy (Karl Urban) gives him after smuggling him onto the Enterprise. Yes, I know it sets up the scenes to follow where Kirk speaks with Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood) on the bridge (which I have a problem with and will mention later), but why would you include comedy in a scene that is intended to be intense? The scene would have been perfect for me if that element was removed. Actually, it still would not have been because what follows is utterly ridiculous and an example of the poor writing that plagues this film.

"Hey guys! I'm here to tell you something Captain Pike should have already known by way of Uhura."

After Kirk makes it onto the bridge, he tries to explain to Captain Pike that they are heading into a trap. Kirk mentions a lightning storm that occurred on the day of his birth. He makes it known that it was in Pike’s dissertation. If that is so, why was Pike unable to see the connection? Uhura (Zoë Saldana) makes this scene even more unbelievable; she picks up an emergency transmission from a Klingon prison planet one day prior: 47 ships are destroyed. Why did she not notify anyone immediately after receiving the transmission? 47 ships were destroyed and she decided to not tell anyone of importance. Captain Pike was even surprised to learn of it and he is the captain! The answers to these questions are simple: they are nothing but plot contrivances to simply get Kirk onto the bridge to be the voice of reason.

The antagonist of the film is a Romulan named Nero, portrayed terribly by Eric Bana. Nero is on a mission to get a hold of Spock Prime, played by Leonard Nimoy, whom he hates and seeks for revenge. The back story that gave way to Nero’s rise to the role of a villain is absolutely retarded, if I may be blunt. 129 years from the events taking place in the film, a supernova threatened the entire galaxy, and Nero’s home planet, Romulus, was in its path. Old Spock was tasked with trying to save the planet. The planet was eventually destroyed, along with Nero’s family. Using Red Matter, a substance that can create black holes, old Spock was able to destroy the supernova, but he and Nero were dragged through it. Nero came out first, finding himself to be in the past, followed 25 years later (Nero’s time) by Spock Prime. Nero blames old Spock for the death of his people and his family.

What I want to know is how the supernova threatened the entire galaxy, a threat that is stupid on its face. Supernovae do not just appear out of nowhere, without warning, especially in a world with advanced technology such as Trek’s, and it would not destroy Romulus unless the planet was orbiting the exploding star. Was the supernova unable to be detected? Nero has a huge mining ship complete with advanced weaponry that destroys the U.S.S. Kelvin and other Federation ships, so I do not think it is a leap in logic to assume Romulus can detect supernovae*; the planet could have been evacuated.

"I'm not going to kill him. I'm just going to dump him on Delta Vega so the writers have a way for Kirk and the others to win."

When I say that Nero is portrayed terribly by Eric Bana, I mean it. Not a single line uttered by him convinced me he is a great villain. After all, we have an antagonist who marooned Spock Prime on Delta Vega so he could witness the destruction of Vulcan. That is quite villainy, right, especially since it is contrived as all hell? Why not keep old Spock on the ship and view the event from there, while observing his emotional pain? Spock Prime says that he was compromised emotionally anyway. The answer to this is also simple: the writers needed a way to conveniently have Kirk find him on Delta Vega to advance the plot; as I said, “contrived as all hell.” Abrams and co. expect the audience to hold their suspension of disbelief while Kirk is deserted on Delta Vega and just happens to meet Spock Prime, with a Starfleet base within walking distance. Sorry, I just cannot do that. I was staring at the screen in disbelief at the cinema.

Dare I mention one of the most horrible scores to ever grace a blockbuster film? There are moments when the score made me laugh, particularly the song titled “Nero Sighted.” Has a piece of music that is meant to be dramatic ever been more humorous? The score even fails to invigorate the action sequences.

There are some things in the film that I genuinely like. I like a portion of the opening battle when a crew member is blown out into space and as the camera follows her, there is nothing but silence. I also happen to like the scene where Spock beats on Kirk after he demonstrates that he is an even more unlikable character and I think Zachary Quinto has the best performance in the film. These do not mean much, however, compared to the horrible writing and in-your-face scientific stupidity. I still think the film is overrated and one of the worst released this year.

Let's hope that any other films by Abrams et al for this series do not live long and prosper.

You may perhaps call this an ultimate expression of dorkiness, but with the recent release of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek on DVD, I have found myself wondering how to say some of the series classic lines ma ka ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i. While this may seem entirely purposeless, one way that the Hawaiian language will survive centuries into the future is for it to embrace pop culture and therefore make it its own. Futhermore, let me add that after I caught a student-dubbed version of the 90s cult classic To Wong Foo earlier this year at UH-Mānoa, I can’t imagine Huaka‘i Hōkū, or Star Trek, would do any harm.

Of all Star Trek’s one liners, my favorite by far is Spock’s classic farewell greeting, “Live long and prosper”. As farewells go, it’s hard to be the positivity in this one, at least, in my opinion.

Going through the Hawaiian Dictionary, I thought the word pōmaika‘i would be best as it conveys multiple eyes I think Spock would approve of: “Good fortune, blessedness, blessing, profit, prosperity; prosperous, fortunate, beneficial, blessed, lucky; good luck, improvement (of property), welfare, benefits”.

It felt strange to just say “E ola loa a pōmaika‘i”. So I went ahead with “E ola loa me ka pōmaika‘i!”, which would reverse translate along the lines of “Live long with prosperity or good fortune”.

There is the secondary greeting that Star Trek’s Vulcans have used, probably not to sound redundant: “Peace and long life”. For this one, I went for a similar phrase as the one above: “E ola loa me ka maluhia.”

On a more humorous note, there is the plethora of Dr. Leonard McCoy’s “Dammit, Jim! I’m a doctor, not a….”

I took the oft repeated “I’m a doctor, not an engineer”, an added a few emphatic phrases for extra oomph. What I arrived at was “Tsa! He kauka nō au! ‘A‘ole ho‘i au he wilikī!”

Of course, I am not a professional translator and my Hawaiian skills are not necessarily the best, so if you have a better translation, let me know. This is always something to pass onto the lexicon commitee!

Loved it! I’m not a huge fan of Star Trek, although I do appreciate it on occasion. Star Trek is a big thing in my family. Sometimes it seems like I’m the only one who is not into it. Even after years of growing up with a sci-fi nut family, it still took an even more zealous boyfriend to convince me that Star Trek (and a variety of other sci-fi shows and movies) were worth watching. I was especially excited to see the new film adaptation because of J.J. Abrams’s involvement. He did Alias, which was one of my favorite shows of all time, and Felicity, which I was obsessed with in college.

I have to say, I thought this movie was very well written, excellently cast and well acted. Zachary Quinto, who plays the young Spock, plays my least favorite character on Heroes, and not just because he’s the bad guy. It’s because he is an unsympathetic bad guy. All the good villains have an element of vulnerability that makes them relatable in spite of their misguided evil tendencies. Sylar does not. If you want to disagree, I welcome your comments. But he was born to play a young Spock. I really thought everyone did a great job of showing what youthful energy might have been like for the characters we are so well acquainted with as older adults.

This is not a movie I’d necessarily recommend to someone who was not already somewhat familiar with the premise of Star Trek and a basic knowledge of the main characters and their distinguishing characteristics. But I would say I am on the bottom end of the spectrum in terms of my Trekkie knowledge, and I really enjoyed it and will probably watch it again.

Star Trek – a series of films that I have never actually watched, so I guess I’m part of the target demographic for the reboot. A big Summer Blockbuster, but you know what, actually a very good one. A story based around Spock and Kirk with characters that are engaging (even Anton Yelchin’s Checkov who makes you laugh with his first few lines becomes a rounded character and someone whom you’re with as the film progresses). Eric Bana (of Chopper fame) is also great as the baddie (and his ship is quality).

The film is entertaining enough for you to suspend your disbelief and be a part of the Star Trek world that’s unfolding on the screen.

But, for God’s sake, ENOUGH OF THE LENS FLARE!!!!! Honestly, it’s like someone designing a poster for a Summer Fayre on Word has just noticed the fonts option and made each sentence a different typeface. The director even stood on the side of the set shining torches into the lens to create excess flare. They even put fake flare on the cgi scenes. Enough already!

Let’s just hope that excessive lens flare doesn’t become de-rigeur for a classy shot the same way that a shaking camera has for action.

4 on 5

Info:
Director – J.J. Abrams
Starring – Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Bana, Winona Ryder, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Bruce Greenwood, John Cho, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin
UK release – 8 May 2009

Not only did I NEVER once think to watch The Milk Video ^TM in Hi-Def, I NEVER once thought of watching it at full screen… before I read it at the site today.  What kind of Zachary Quinto stalker fan am I?  OK, in my defense, that video still kind of scares me, so that may have had something to do with it… or perhaps I was too distracted and hypnotized by the eyes… the same eyes that distract and hypnotize me here:

You had me at hello.

Daily ZQ Photo