Oblivion (2013) 8.5/10 Salvaging the remains on earth after years of Alien-war, Jack Harper finds pieces of truth and himself that were washed away in time. Liked the SF-designing.
Only God Forgives (2013) 9/10 To avenge his brother, Julian is forced to dwell the lowest of the low Thai criminal circuits. Not for the faint of heart.
True Romance (1993) 9/10 Classic Tarantino showdown on a rerun.. Great cast & great acting, definately worth a rewatch. A nice romantic contemporary feel good action flick.
Let me begin by saying I don't consider myself to be a full-fledged "Trekkie" because I've never gone to a convention or donned a Starfleet uniform or a set of Vulcan ears. Having said that, I do enjoy the world of Star Trek and never miss a new series or movie. Years ago, when I first heard that JJ Abrams was taking a stab at a prequel featuring the original crew of the Enterprise, I wasn't very optimistic because although Abrams is a good filmmaker, he and the new cast had very big shoes to fill. I mean, when it comes to Kirk and Spock, Shatner and Nimoy are pretty much Trek gods. To my surprise, I enjoyed it and was looking forward to the prequel-sequel.
Abrams' latest installment, while IMO not as good as it's predecessor, was also enjoyable, but at times head-scratching. Here are a few things that struck me as off-kilter....
Tribbles
Anyone who's ever watched the original series knows that Tribbles weren't introduced until much later in the timeline. No one had even heard of a Tribble until the crew of the Enterprise answered a distress call from a space station filled with the fury little rodents(?) two years into their five year mission, so the fact that one made it's way into this movie before their five year mission ever got off the ground and everyone acted as if it were a household name was more than a little perplexing.
Now sure, some people might say that these movies are a collective reboot and not prequels, but Abrams doesn't do a very good job of making that distinction when he constantly refers to Trek lore and includes "Spock Prime" in his movies. You can't help but think about what's been done before, and where the Star Trek timeline is suppose to go. Case in point, the "needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" knockoff scene. Which brings me to....
Spock/Kirk death reversal.
Who can forget Spock's death scene in Wrath of Khan? And who can honestly say that Kirk's death in this movie had as much meaning and impact as Spock's did? To me, it felt rushed and I thought the role reversal was cheap and prevented Abrams from really making this movie his own, instead of just regurgitating past storylines and putting a new twist on them. Spock yelling "KHAAAAAAAAANNNN!!!" was the proverbial jumping of the shark and that was the point where I pretty much lost any emotional investment in the film. At that point, it became just another shrug-worthy action flick.
Klingon Predators
Say what?
This is a Klingon...
This is also a Klingon...
This is NOT a Klingon...
Pirates of the Caribbean have no place in a Trek film.
But hey, it wasn't all bad. We did have this....
....which would have been worth the price of admission alone, had I paid to see it.
Even though I'm poking a little fun here, it was all-in-all an enjoyable film, especially if you just went to see the action. Great performances across the board, I just take issue with the material they were given to work with. I hope that if Abrams decides to boldly go once again, he does his homework before jumping into warp.
Hurlyburly (1998) 8.5/10 Good film about 'fast lane' Hollywood interpersonal relationships and the questions about the meaning and depth of the lifestyle.
Stranger than Paradise (1984) 9/10 Slow paced black & white film about a Hungarian cousin who visits her nephew in New York before she heads off to her aunt in Cleveland.
"Enemy" with Jake Gillanhall............wtf, rated 7.9 out of 10. Don't waste your time. My wife and I give it 1 out of 10. Stupid stupid movie. Me too for even watching it!
To be fair, good things in the movie are the performances of Will Arnett and William Fichtner. What a waste of time. So many plotholes and dumb writing... ugh.
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