FILM REVIEW: Star Trek Beyond

I had heard that Star Trek Beyond was not getting great reviews, but since I have been a longtime fan of the franchise (beginning with watching the original series reruns in the early 1970s as a kid and continuing with the Star Trek: The Next Generation series in college). I think I have seen every Star Trek movie there is (except perhaps one of the last movies with the ST:TNG cast). I've also seen and enjoyed) the first two Star Trek movies 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness and 2009's Star Trek with the rebooted cast starring Chris Pine as  Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock and Karl Urban as Bones. Anyway, with me, it was not whether I would see this movie, but when. And after hearing that John Cho's version of George Takei's Hikaru Sulu would be depicted as openly gay (having a male partner he's raising a daughter with) I got tickets to see it opening weekend!

My worries about reviews were unfounded since Star Trek Beyond is certified fresh at Rotten Tomatoes with an 85% rating. This is (slightly) lower than the first two movies, which had 95% and 86% ratings, respectively.

One interesting difference of the latest entry into the Star Trek movie franchise is that it was co-written by Simon Pegg (who plays Scotty, primarily as the comic relief) and  JJ Abrams has relinquished the director's role to Justin Lin but still is listed as a producer.

The most compelling aspect of the film is the killer casting and the nuanced performances as updates of the original characters. The three leads are (mostly) excellent, but in the smaller roles, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Cho as Sulu and and Pegg as Scotty all standout. As with most summer blockbusters, the effectiveness of Star Trek Beyond is dependent on how good (or bad) the villain is. The villain in Star Trek Beyond is Krall, played quite well by a mostly unrecognizable Idris Elba. There's also a new female character named Jayla played by Sofia Boutella (last seen as the woman with the crazy blade legs in Kingsman: The Secret Service).

The story this time is built around central themes of loss as we see Spock learning about the death of Ambassador Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy of course) who actually represented Quinto's Spock from a different timeline that intersected in the 2009 Star Trek. We also learn that Spock is thinking of leaving Starfleet and has broken up with Uhura again because in light of the destruction of his homeplanet he is feeling compelled to try and go to New Vulcan to find a Vulcan mate and contribute to rebuilding Vulcan society and culture. Unbeknownst to Spock, Kirk is also thinking of leaving the crew of the Enterprise, and has applied to become a Vice-Admiral at a huge space station near a mysterious nebula.

Of course, the Enterprise ends up exploring the nebula where it gets attacked by a huge swarm of powerful alien spacecraft that forces the crew to abandon ship as the saucer section is forced to separate and crashes on a planet. Krall captures most of the crew (with Uhura and Sulu) but Bones and Spock, Chekhov and Kirk and Scotty land on the planet in separate groups. It was good to see that Chekhov had a larger role than in previous films due to a freak accident that killed the 27-year-old actor Anton Yelchin last month which means he will not be appearing in any more sequels.

In the end, the crew is reunited and we learn that even Starfleet officers can become corrupted and that people will come up with all sort of rationales to justify horrific actions. The visuals are exciting and the action is frenetic but overall this was a better than average entry into the Star Trek movie franchise.

Title: Star Trek Beyond.
Director: Justin Lin.
Running Time: 120 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of sci-fi action and violence.
Release Date: July 22, 2016.
Viewing Date: July 23, 2016.

Writing: A-.
Acting: B+.
Visuals: A-.
Impact: B-.

Overall Grade: B+ (3.33/4.0)

WATCH: Trailer #2 For Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

The second trailer for the new Star Wars movie dropped today and it already has well over 10 million views!

WATCH: Teaser Trailer For Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens!

The first trailer for the latest Star Wars film, the seventh in the series, subtitled The Force Awakens, has been released today and already has 10 million views. Directed by J.J. Abrams, Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens  will be released in December 2015.

CELEBRITY FRIDAY: The Title Of The Next Star Wars Film is The Force Awakens

The title for the next Star Wars movie, which is technically  Episode VII in the 9-episode epic started in 1977's Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, is called Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, is being directed by JJ Abrams and will be released on December 18, 2015 by Disney.

Hat/tip to Joe Jervis

Happy Star Wars Day! "May the 4th Be With You!"

Today is Star Wars Day, May 4th. Because of the pun "May the 4th Be With You" this date has become known as a day to celebrate everything Star Wars-y.

FILM REVIEW: Star Trek Into Darkness

I finally saw the latest Star Trek movie when I got back from my Caribbean vacation at my favorite theater in Washington (the AMC Courthouse Plaza 8) and then saw it again with the Other Half back home in Los Angeles at the movie theater closest to our house (Edwards Alhambra Renaissance 14).

Star Trek Into Darkness is a sequel to 2009's Star Trek directed by J.J. Abrams which attempted to re-boot the Star Trek movie franchise, mostly successfully. However, a key weak point in that movie was the villain, played by Eric Bana, and the script. The strongest aspect of the reboot was the casting of all the legendary characters such as Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Bones (Karl Urban), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), Sulu (John Cho) and Chekhov (Anton Yelchin).

So, this second film in the new Star Trek movie franchise has a good base on which to start from and uses it to excellent effect. One of the brilliant aspects of the film is the casting of the villain, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. He is introduced to us as John Harrison but he will be much better known by true Star Trek fans by another name (which I won't mention here because it is the key spoiler to the film's plot). In fact, the story is one of the best parts of this film, even if it was apparently constructed by the team of Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman (the creative team behind Fringe) & Damon Lindelof (the longtime showrunner behind Lost and one of the writers of last year's Prometheus).

Without talking about the plot, I can review other aspects of the film which highlight why it is so enjoyable. As a result of events that happened in the 2009 film, this version of Star Trek is in a very different time line from the Star Trek universe that we have been accustomed to from the multiple television series and subsequent films. In this parallel universe, there are several important differences, such as 1) Planet Vulcan (Spock's home world) has been destroyed and 2) Spock and Uhura are in an actual relationship between Kirk and Spock, and 3) There is still a cold war between humans and Klingons.

Essentially the film is a sci-fi action film built around a buddy flick between Spock and Kirk. Quinto and Pine have a good chemistry between them and there is non-stop action which will sate any summer blockbuster junkie. Combined with a clever plot and what you have is a very enjoyable time at the movies!

Title: Star Trek Into Darkness.
Director: J.J. Abrams.
Running Time: 2 hours, 9 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence.
Release Date: May 17, 2013.
Viewing Date: June 5, 2013 and June 15, 2013.

Writing: A.
Acting: A-.
Visuals: A.
Impact: A.

Overall Grade: A/A- (3.917/4.0).

WATCH: Trailer for Next Star Trek Movie

The third trailer for the new Star Trek movie directed by JJ Abrams indicates that Star Trek Into Darkness will be one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Abrams did a good reboot of the Star Trek franchise with his 2009 film (see my A- review) but the plot was a mess and Eric Bana was somewhat disappointing as the villain. Chris Pine (Kirk), openly gay Zachary Quinto (Spock) and Zoe Saldana (Uhuru) were well-cast and quite good, asare John Cho as Sulu and Simon Pegg as Scotty.

Hopefully in his second at bat, Abrams will be able to use his cast in the service of a good story and exciting entertainment. Hot British actor Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) joins the cast as the villain.

Check out the trailer!

Celebrity Friday: JJ Abrams To Direct Star Wars VII

The celebrity news today that geeks are buzzing about is that J.J. Abrams, the director of the reboot of the Star Trek franchise with  2009's Star Trek movie (and its sequel Star Trek Intro Darkness coming out on May 17, 2013) has apparently been chosen by Disney to direct the next Star Wars film coming out in 2015 following Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm, Ltd for 4 billion dollars last fall.

Deadline Hollywood reports:

Star Trek director J.J. Abrams will be helming the next Star Wars movie. “It’s done deal with J.J.,” a source with knowledge of the situation told Deadline today. Argo director Ben Affleck was also up for the gig, the source says. Despite saying publicly that he didn’t want to direct a new Star Wars, Abrams was courted heavily by producer Kathleen Kennedy to take the job. Expected in 2015, Episode VII will be the first new Star Wars movie since 2005′s Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. Michael Arndt is writing the script for the first installment of the relaunch of George Lucas’ franchise by Disney.

Many people are unhappy with the choice, notably Alyssa Rosenberg of Think Progress. I think I am agnostic on the choice, but it is definitely unusual to see someone who belongs to both "nerd universes" of Star Wars fandom as well as Star Trek fandom.

Celebrity Friday: Victor Garber Thinks Everyone Knows He's Gay

Victor Garber has been one of my favorite actors since he played the father of the main character Sydney Bristow (played by Ben Affleck's wife Jennifer Garner) on Alias,  J.J. Abrams' first foray into television.

You may also remember him as the architect in James Cameron's Titanic (he is the one who tell Kate Winslet's character that the lifeboats only have the capacity to carry half the people who are on board the doomed ship). recently he is getting noticed as the pivotal role of the Canadian ambassador in Affleck's Argo (which last Sunday won the Golden Globe for Best Director and Best Film--Drama).

One of my blog friends, Greg in Hollywood did an interview with Garber which got interesting:

I just decided to ask him: “Wikipedia lists Rainer Andreesen as your partner. I wondered if that’s something that’s public, that you’ve confirmed.”

He seemed surprised by the question but said: ‘I don’t really talk about it but everybody knows.”

Garber then added: “He’s going to be out here with me for the SAG Awards.”

So in the end, our chat ended up being a bit more interesting than I thought it would be!

Interesting contrast between Garber's coming out and Jodie Foster. Then again it is probably not too fair to compare the two since Jodie is a 2-time Oscar-winning actress and has generally been in more and higher-profile films than Garber.

Celebrity Friday: Fringe Renewed for Final Season

The television show Fringe has been on the verge of cancellation from almost the very beginning. It was created by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Robert Orci. Unfortunately, it never was able to capture the imagination of a wide audience like Abrams' Lost although it was spared the ignominy that his NBC show Undercovers underwent (cancellation in under 10 episodes). Kurtzman and Orci also worked together on Alias, which was one of my favorite shows and made Jennifer Garner a star.

The stars of  Fringe are Anna Torv, John Noble and Joshua Jackson. The show is really an update of Fox's The X-Files with a more complicated "mythology" back story and even wilder, more unbelievable phenomenon. It varies between frankly ridiculous plots but it's the acting and the relationships between the characters which has me hooked. It airs Friday nights at 9pm.

Now, happily, the news has been announced that Fringe has been renewed for a fifth and final season (of 13 episodes).

Another One Bites The Dust: Terra Nova Axed

Stephen Lang (Avatar) and Jason O'Mara (right) starred in the
ill-fated Fox television science-fiction series

The Fox high-concept, big-budget, science-fiction family drama show, Terra Nova, has been cancelled. Many bloggers, yours included, are sad to see the show go, not because we don't think it should have been cancelled due to its numerous flaws and foibles, but because of the implications of the cancellation of a Steven Spielberg-executive produced science fiction drama will have for the viability of the genre in the medium.

The Other Half is a much more reluctant (and possibly discriminating) television watcher than I am. He watched the pilot, on my suggestion, but although that (allegedly $20 million budgeted) 2-hour extravaganza generally received strong reviews the problems became clear very quickly. Ostensibly, Terra Nova was a story about people from the future (25th century) on an environmentally ruined Earth being given an amazing opportunity to go back millions of years into the past to colonize a pristine paradise when dinosaurs ruled the earth and avoid the mistakes that had ruined the future. (The plot is surprisingly similar to the Julian May Pliocene Exile books of the late 1970s.)


The main problem was that Terra Nova was trying to be multiple shows simultaneously and many of these visions were anti-thetical to each other. For example, it tried to be family friendly by having a too-cute 5-year-old daughter be the focus of multiple plot points, as well as "tension" around teenage angst caused by the presence of a 17-year-old son with daddy issues and a 16-year-old daughter experiencing her first romantic crush. The attempts to try to attract the 18-49 demographic to the show were pretty extreme, such as having co-star Jason O'Mara show off his furry, chiseled torso as well having a group of rebellious teens caught in the forest and menaced by marauding dinosaurs. The structure of the Terra Nova colony was bizarre, with the benign dictatorship of the Stephen Lang character barely questioned, except by the rogue, non-conformists "Sixers" who preferred to live out in the jungle with the deadly dinosaurs instead of in the relatively safe confines of the Terra Nova complex. So the show had family drama, a teenage love triangle, a teenage first-love story, an insurgent war storyline, a police/scientific procedural AND there was an entire series-wide arc about the entire time travel mythology. Too Many Things!

Terra Nova also had very expensive visual effects (lots of people complained about the CGI dinosaurs, but my position was, hey this is TV not film, with proportionally reduced budgets and expectations of verisimilitude) and wildly uneven acting.

The point I'm trying to make here is that the cancellation of Terra Nova after Fox ate the tens of millions of dollars to produce the first few episodes (with ratings that were low but not disastrously so) chills the environment for other sci-fi flavored shows like Fringe and Alcatraz (both also on Fox) as well as, more importantly, future science fiction shows. There are so many amazing hard science fiction books that could be turned into well-done shows. It doesn't have to all be about the effects, one really just needs to be able to communicate a sense of significant difference from our current world.

I have been a longtime fan of Fringe which is now in its 4th season and is co-created by J.J. Abrams, the creator of Lost. Abrams has another new sci-fi-influenced show called Alcatraz which simply doesn't look interesting to me so I haven't watched it all.

It's interesting to compare the declining fortunes of science fiction on TV compared to the ascendant fortunes of its sister genre fantasy on cable (HBO). The new season of the critically acclaimed series Game of Thrones is starting on April 1 and HBO has committed to a huge investment in another fantasy series based on the work of Neil Gaiman called American Gods. 


I like fantasy and science fiction so I am happy about the success of Games of Thrones but still sad at the demise of Terra Nova.

MOVIE REVIEW: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

The Other Half and I were feeling like watching something not too serious for the last weekend of the year and since Brad Bird is one of our favorite directors (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant) we decided to go see his lastest film, even if it is the 4th installment in the Mission Impossible movies starring Tom Cruise.

Also influencing our decision to see the film was the fact that it was sporting a surprisingly positive rating on rottentomatoes.com of 93%, pretty high for your typical mindless action flick. The third one (2006's Mission Impossible III) had been produced and directed by JJ Abrams and had (somewhat ineffectively, in my estimation) combined numerous action sequences with intricate, highly charged emotional scenes between Cruise and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

This fourth outing stars Cruise again (now 49 years old but astonishingly still able to maintain his credibility as male action hero) as well as Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), Paula Patton (Déjà Vu, Precious) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, The Town). (Spoiler alert! Tom Wilkinson has a literally short-lived cameo as the Secretary of Defense and Anil Kapoor (the TV host in Slumdog Millionaire) shows up late in the film as comically randy billionaire.) Looks like actor Josh Holloway (Sawyer on Lost) is starting to get some work in movies although his part is also pretty small.

I would talk about the plot of the movie but it is typically simultaneously indecipherable and non-sensical. What is most important in this kind of movie are the shooting locations, the fancy gadgets and the overall production values and on this level Mission Impossible IV does not disappoint.

The movie begins in Budapest, Hungary (the second film I have seen in little over a month to do so: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy also begins with a pivotal scene in this apparently gorgeous city) and then movies on to The Kremlin in Moscow, then the tallest building in the world (Burj Khalifa), located in the United Arab Emirates and then ends in Mumbai, India. It really is quite thrilling to get a close-up look at the interior an exterior of the Burj Khalifa, as well as the view from 130 stories.

There are all sorts of fanciful gadgets used by the "Impossible Mission Force," even the much-maligned, (frankly ridiculous) full-face masks introduced in the very first edition of the series which basically allows anyone's face to appear on anyone else's body (perfect facial impersonation). However, here the writer (or director) do themselves a favor by making fun of the face masks, while still deploying them in a way which forwards "the plot."

The production values are frankly top-notch throughout and though the film is well-over 2-hours it never seems to slow down and due to the penchant for killing characters played by major actors the viewer really does have a sense that perhaps this time the bad guys will actually win and that any member of the team can be killed at just about any moment.

Except for Tom of course. After all, there is the inevitable Mission Impossible V  to look forward to!

Title: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.
Director: Brad Bird.
Running Time: 2 hours, 13 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action and violence.
Release Date: December 21, 2011.
Viewing Date: December 30, 2011.

 Plot: C.
Acting: A-.
Visuals: A.
Impact: A-.

Overall Grade: B+ (3.33/4.0).

Celebrity Friday: Bradley Cooper Named Sexiest Man Alive

Bradley Cooper has been named "the sexiest man alive" by People magazine, annoying fans of Ryan Gosling. I have been a fan of Cooper's since his appearance on J.J. Abrams' Alias television show which starred Jennifer Garner as a secret CIA agent with family issues and Michael Vartan as her handler and love-interest. Cooper played Garner's best friend who was also in love with her. Even back then I could not understand why garner's character would prefer Vartan over Cooper.

Now that the 36-year-old single guy has become a bona fide movie star with appearances in The Hangover and its sequel his profile has soared. This was his reaction when he learned he had been named the sexiest man alive for 2011 by People:

"I think it's really cool that a guy who doesn't look like a model can have this [title]," saysthe Hangover actor, 36. "I think I'm a decent-looking guy. Sometimes I can look great, and other times I look horrifying." 


Another reason to love him? Cooper, whose father Charles passed away in January, is especially close with his mom, Gloria. When he learned he'd been crowned Sexiest Man Alive, the "first thing I thought," he says, "was, 'My mother is going to be so happy.' " 

Congratulations, Bradley

MOVIE REVIEW: Super 8

The Other Half and I saw J.J. Abrams' Super 8 last weekend. It was billed as his homage to the classic Steven Spielberg movies of the 1970s and 1980s such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial. Interestingly, Spielberg is listed as the producer for this film.

The story is set in the 1970s and is centered around the lives of four young teenaged friends who live in Lillian, Ohio, a small. mid-Western town. The main protagonist of the film is Joe Lamb, a 13-year-old who lost his mother in an industrial accident and whose Dad is one of the deputy sheriffs of the town. His best friend is Charles who is trying to make a zombie movie with his Super 8 camera. While filming late at night the kids witness a horrific train derailment, which looks like it was caused intentionally by their biology  teacher. The military shows up to clean up the train wreck, which was apparently a military transport. The audience starts to see people around town disappear in strange circumstances, providing us brief glimpses of what could be some kind of alien creature.

The movie is very suspenseful, with some amazing set pieces (the train crash sequence is incredible) and there were moments when either myself or my husband literally screamed out loud in surprise. Abrams skillfully deploys the "children-in-danger" motif which occurs so often in Spielberg's films to great effect and combines it with a coming-of-age story. The later aspect of the plot was less interesting to me, and the resolution of the alien creature storyline is full of Death Star-sized plot holes but overall Super 8 is a very enjoyable theatrical experience.

Title: Super 8.
Running Time: 1 hours, 52 minutes.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, language and some drug use.
Release Date: June 10, 2010.
Viewing Date: June 12, 2011.

Plot: B-.
Acting: A-.
Visuals: A-.
Impact: A-.

Overall Grade: B+/A- (3.4167/4.0).

Fringe Renewed For 4th Season!

Ending weeks of suspense, the low-rated but interesting science fiction show Fringe co-created by J.J. Abrams has been renewed for a fourth season. Fringe airs Fridays nights at 9pm on Fox. It's really just an update of The X-Files with better writing and special effects, but I do like it.

Especially with pseudo science fiction badly done like NBC's The Event likely to be cancelled and SyFy's Stargate: Universe already cancelled, Fringe is one of the few treats for a science-fiction fan to watch on TV.

However, coming soon (Sunday April 17th, to be exact) HBO will start airing Game of Thrones, which is based on the acclaimed and best-selling fantasy series by George R.R. Martin. True it's not sci-fi, but it is looking really really good (and a faithful adaptation).

NBC Cancels J.J. Abrams' "Undercovers"

NBC's Undercovers is toast. The spy series created by J.J. Abrams and Josh Reims has been cancelled by NBC. It is the second TV show cancelled by the network this season, although. It is also the first network show to have two Black actors in the lead roles, Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

It's too bad. I enjoyed the show; it was probably better suited for USA or another NBC-Universal Comcast cable outlet.

I am also watching NBC's The Event but that show has some problems and I would not be surprised if it is cancelled by the end of the season.

'Glee' Starts Off Second Season

The Emmy-award winning musical comedy Glee returned to television last night with it's second season premiere featuring a new female football coach to act as a foil for Jane Lynch's Sue Sylvester, the cheerleader coach.

Anyone watching the new shows? With Lost gone, I'm looking forward to Undercovers, the new show from its creator, JJ Abrams. I watched the pilot episode of The Event on Monday, and except for Laura Innes (previously the disabled lesbian ER doc Kerry) the rest of the cast seemed pretty 'meh' and the direction seemed positively clumsy. There's clearly a long way to go before The Event can claim to be the heir apparent to Lost.

Lost Series Finale Tonight

Today is the final episode of Lost. Starting at 7pm there is a 2-hour summary of the first 6 seasons (skewed towards the final season) and then there's a 2-1/2 hour final episode, simply titled "The End" starting at 9pm.

Promo for 'LOST' Series Finale on Sun May 23

Boris Kodjoe Returns To TV in JJ Abrams' "Undercovers"

JJ Abrams (the creator of Fringe, Lost and Alias) is returning to television (this time on NBC) with a show called Undercovers which stars Boris Kodjoe, one of the hottest Black actors working today.

Undercovers which stars Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as CIA agents who fell in love and got married five years ago and left the agency. A good friend of theirs from the old spy days gets abducted and they get re-activated to save him. The couple, Steven and Samantha Bloom discover that being spies again is the spark that has been missing from their marriage.

Co-creating the show is Josh Reims (Brothers and Sisters) who is writing the pilot episode, which will be directed by Abrams, which is the first TV pilot he has directed since the first episode of Lost.

Hat/tip to Wonder Man.