Star Trek

It’s no secret that Star Trek is one of my happy movies. I love what JJ Abrams did to the franchise to make it relevant again and I think that Rodenberry would be happy with it to – knowing that a whole new generation was going to get to enjoy his creation.

The difficult thing about taking on such a well known formula, whether it be from the perspective of a director or an actor, is remembering to stay true to the formula while shaking up enough that you don’t fall into the traps of what came before you. If push comes to shove, when you boil down what the critics of Abrams Star Trek have to say is that they are upset that it deviated in style and tone from the series they remember. My rebuttal to this would be that if the formula, style and tone had been working then it wouldn’t have been changed. Abrams was brought in to breathe new life into the Trek franchise and that’s exactly what he did. As someone who never got caught up in arguing about the difference between a Trekkie and a Trecker he could do what so many couldn’t; together with his creative team he was able to take five decades of plot and characters and sift away at it – allowing the chaff to blow away into the breeze and be left with the real meat of concept.

I am waiting to see what a sequel to Star Trek will bring to the plate. I hope that Abram’s take on the franchise will be more than a one-note wonder, but only time will tell.

Spock: I would cite regulation, but I know you will simply ignore it.
Kirk: See? We are getting to know each other.

Bottle Shock

Bottle Shock is one of my little gems from 2008. I adore this movie and pretty much any time I watch it I get happier. I know that the story is fictionalized but this is one of the best underdog stories I’ve seen on film and I’m still shocked as a American, a Californian especially that I hadn’t heard about this victory over France until it was made into a movie.

What I love about Bottle Shock is that it managed to be a film that is well crafted in all senses of the word. It’s an interesting story, a well written script, the cast and performances are impeccable, the production design & cinematography are beautiful – this is a film that is obviously crafted by a director and producers that have a passion for this story and this art and want to make sure they put the best possible story they can on screen. I get the impression that this is the kind of team I would want behind one of my movies, and that the experience would be a great one.

If you haven’t seen Bottle Shock I suggest that you grab a bottle of your favorite wine, invite a few friends over, pop in the DVD and enjoy what awaits you.

Maurice: Where I'm from, they call it a left-handed compliment. They don't have a name for it in England: it's too ingrained in their culture.

Star Trek

I have been waiting anxiously for Star Trek to come out on DVD for months now, it’s no secret that I adore this film.

What struck me about the film this time around is the camera movement Abrams put into his shots. They’re slightly unique for the camera work one would normally see in this kind of film and I honestly think that it’s a technique I might try out some day. Abrams uses a lot of dolly work for his shots and will start or end with a canted angle. In the planet bound scenes it adds a nice visual character to the shot, but when done on the Enterprise and when they are in space it aids to the visual idea that they are in space, a place without a right side up or gravity to pin the ship down.

I will also be interested to see if Abrams does direct the sequel if he keeps the camera flares or drops them from his visual style. While the camera flares grew on me when I first watched the film, I can’t see any story centric reason for them to be there, they seem to merely be there because Abrams thought they were a nice visual touch. I may have come out of Mission: Impossible 3 feeling like the film was good but looked a bit television like, but I did not get that feeling at all from the visuals in Star Trek.

Be prepared for many, many viewings of this film now that I have it on DVD and don’t have to pay $10 a pop to see it.


Kirk: Showing them compassion. It may be the only way to earn peace with Romulus. It's logic, Spock, I thought you'd like that.
Spock: No, not really. Not this time.

Star Trek

James T. Kirk
Originally uploaded by bluesteel1981

Proudly I can say that I have seen Star Trek in Imax twice. I saw it that way opening day (Thursday at Seven PM) and when Paramount made a deal with Imax to have a special rerelease of Trek in Imax this month I had to go.

I can still say I love this movie. Also, the more I see this the more I am certain that Chris Pine is the perfect replacement for William Shatner as James Kirk. I love Shatner and his Kirk is a character that I liked as a kid (growing up in a Trekkie home) and have grown to love since I began to rewatch the original films. Pine has the perfect blend of wit, charisma and cockiness to make Kirk the character we remember from Shatner and yet change it to be his own. Pine gave up a role in the eternally cursed production of White Jazz to take on Star Trek and I hope that he is very glad he did.

JJ Abrams is set to produce the next Trek installment; but I hope that he decides to step back into the directing chair at least once more for this series. In the end, camera flares or no camera flares, Star Trek is a great film and his approach helped make it so.

Kirk: You know, traveling through time, changing history... that's cheating.
Spock: A trick I learned from an old friend.

Smokin' Aces

Buddy “Aces” Israel, Vegas magician & with big time mob ties, is holed up in Reno trying trying to live the high life while waiting for his attorney to broker a deal with him for the FBI that will allow him to squeal on his mob partners without doing time. FBI agents Carruthers & Messner have been sent to get Israel upon hearing that mob boss Primo Sparzza has put out a hit on him and are racing against time to get there before assassins and hit men from across the country converge on Reno to collect on Sparazza’s reward.

Going into Smokin’ Aces I really didn’t expect a thing, but I came out loving this movie. Joe Carnahan may not have made a crime classic like The Untouchables but what he did make was an engaging, unique action movie full of eclectic characters that keeps you entertained and guessing straight through to the end of the movie. This movie is a heck of a ride to go on, and is greatly enjoyed on repeated viewings.

The Tremor brothers in Smokin’ Aces are part of what makes the movie so memorable for me and are a great addition to the pantheon of cinematic siblings along with the Hanson brothers. The Tremor’s are audacious, insane, disturbing, deadly and oh so much fun. These characters are so demented in their behavior and appearance that I honestly was not aware Chris Pine was one of the Tremor’s until it was pointed out to me. Watch the movie and you’ll see what I mean.
The Tremor’s also have quite an interaction with the character Ben Affleck plays, and in my opinion it’s one of the most memorable scenes in the film. Affleck plays Jack Dupree, a bail bondsman whose team is hired to bring Israel in on a warrant, and while they prep his team meets the Tremor brothers. The scene is over the top, crazy and unexpected but somehow downright hysterical.

I really love Smokin’ Aces. I think it is a stylish film with more than just a sense of style behind it.

Director & Writer: Joe Carnahan
Richard Messner: Ryan Reynolds
Donald Carruthers: Ray Liotta
Buddy Israel: Jeremy Piven
Jack Dupree: Ben Affleck
Pete Deeks: Peter Berg
Stanley Locke: Andy Garcia
Georgia: Alicia Keys
Sharics: Taraji P. Henson
Darwin Tremor: Chris Pine
Jeeves Tremor: Kevin Durand
Lester Tremor: Maury Sterling

Carruthers: You've got to be careful when doing your stakeouts. I did one for... I was on one for six months. I gained, like, 20, 25 pounds. You keep eating this crap...
Messner: Well, that's not my problem, though. I don't gain weight. I tried.
Carruthers: That's 'cause your 12 years old.

Blind Dating

Danny was born blind, something that’s never slowed him down – he doesn’t even use his cane. But like any blind person Danny has had to deal with the pity and annoying prejudices of strangers and his loved ones. Upon entering law school the fact that he has never been in a relationship finally wears on Danny and he decides he’s like to be like everyone else at least in that way and lets his brother set him up on a series of blind dates. However, while this is going on Danny also agrees to take part in a surgical procedure that may restore his sight; at the office of the doctor he meets Leeza, a young Indian woman and the two develop a relationship without Danny knowing that Leeza is currently trapped in the process of an arranged marriage.

While kind of cute in concept, Blind Dating is the classic case of a film that tries to do too much and therefore fails at everything. Parts of this film were down right laughable and the mood changes and plot points were heavy handed, and amateurish. The single most laughable section of the film was Danny’s surgery and aftermath. Honestly, the film would have worked better as a straight romance and Leeza and Danny could have met at a doctor’s office without the necessity of the sight restoring surgery.

One of the directorial problems with Blind Dating was that it looked and felt like a Hallmark or made for TV movie. The pacing was too slow, the tone was just too bright at times and the visuals lacked character. Low and behold I later discovered that director James Keach is a television director that got his start in TV movies.

Call me biased but the one great thing about Blind Dating was Chris Pine. This guy has got some genuine talent to him, and the best, most entertaining parts of Blind Dating are when he is focused on the most. He manages to breathe some life into this otherwise lifeless character and make him not just an attractive guy but a genuinely likable character that has some emotional depth to him if not actual depth in the character.

This is definitely a film for those that want to see Chris Pine be charming for two hours, but really not worth much else.

Director: James Keach
Writer: Christopher Theo
Danny: Chris Pine
Dr, Evans: Jane Seymour
Larry: Eddie Kaye Thomas
Leeza: Anjali Jay
Dr. Perkins: Stephen Tobolowsky

Bottle Shock

I enjoyed Bottle Shock so much I went out and bought it so I could enjoy it for a second time. I really did not expect to enjoy this movie as much as I did.

Watching the movie again I have to give credit to the actors, this is a movie that has a great cast supporting it and is a textbook example of how a good script turns into a highly enjoyable movie when given to a capable director and a talented cast. There is not one performance in this film that bothers me in the slightest – even in the bit parts. I watch Bottle Shock and believe that these characters could physically and emotionally exist in the time period in which the movie is set.

Also, I must give credit to Randall Miller. The setting of Bottle Shock is spectacular and beautiful and instead of letting this overrun the films visuals. I would love to find out if any of the film was shot in sets or if it was entirely on location because this is a Napa that I want to visit badly and I am not an outdoors kind of person.

I will be watching this movie again before too long because it’s the kind of film that is infectious. Watching it puts you in a good mood, makes you root for the underdog and cheer at any victory no matter how small. Bottle Shock is definitely an accomplishment.

Bo Barrett: It wasn't always like this. Before Paris, people didn't drink our wine. I mean, my friends did. But you could hardly consider their palates discerning... Hell, we were farmers... sort of...

Star Trek

STAR TREK - James T Kirk and Spock
Originally uploaded by bluesteel1981

I don’t go to bars. I don’t drink. I don’t party. What I do is watch movies. That’s why is blog is already up to over 100 posts this year, and why I saw Star Trek again. Last Friday after seeing a matinee of Drag Me to Hell, going to dinner, Barnes & Noble, Hot Topic and a few other places, my brother and I walked back past the theatre and saw that Trek was starting in ten minutes…since we had used free movie tickets (yes we see enough movies to earn free tickets a lot) on the earlier film we went.

What did amaze me is that the movie had already been out for about 6 weeks, and even though it has been moved to smaller theatres it is still packing the house, and pulling the audience into the film. People still cheer, clap, gasp and laugh at all the appropriate moments. The shine has not worn off Star Trek.

I will also admit that I have already done an extensive google search to see if I can find the DVD release information for the film…it doesn’t have a date yet. You can be sure that I will be buying this one on the day it comes out and watching it that night. But I still might be seeing it a few more times in theatres.

Leonard 'Bones' McCoy: I may throw up on ya.
Kirk: I think these things are pretty safe.
Leonard 'Bones' McCoy: Don't pander to me, kid. One tiny crack in the hull and our blood boils in thirteen seconds. Solar flare might crop up, cook us in our seats. And wait till you're sitting pretty with a case of Andorian shingles, see if you're so relaxed when your eyeballs are bleeding. Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence.
Kirk: Well, I hate to break this to you, but Starfleet operates in space.

Bottle Shock

In 1976 California vineyards weren’t taken too seriously much to the chagrin of winemakers like Jim and Bo Barrett at Chateau Montelena in the Napa Valley. In Paris, wine store owner Steven Spurrier’s business is failing due to the snobbery of French wine elite and the British-born Spurrier decides to convince the French wine academy to hold a blind tasting between French and California wines in order to bolster his business and improve his reputation. However, once Spurrier arrives in California to select the wines for competition he not only has to deal with the distrust of the local vineyards but somehow process the fact that these California wines are much better than he expected them to be.

Honestly, I knew nothing about Bottle Shock going in besides it made it into Sundance a year or two ago, and starred Chris Pine. I netflixed it because I was interested in seeing Chris Pine outside of Star Trek and Princess Diaries 2. I loved this movie. I have wanted to watch it a second time ever since I resealed the Netflix envelope.

Perhaps what surprised me is that the film is funny. I would not be surprised if it turns out that 90% of Bottle Shock is fiction but it’s so well written and about a unique enough event that I don’t care. Bottle Shock is a well made dramedy that mixes a lot of storylines together to complete one meaningful, thought out film that had a lot less attention than it deserved. The cast in the film is superb, made of mostly unknowns at the time and added some credibility with the talents of Bill Pullman, Alan Rickman & a bit part by Dennis Farina.

It was a bit startling to watch Chris Pine, now known as the rebellious but clean cut Capt. Kirk as a long haired, lazy, hippie. Pine and Pullman play the main roles as father and son and manage to have a very good chemistry together and are a good representation of father and son. Bottle Shock is a period piece even if it isn’t set too many centuries back, and director Randall Miller managed to encapsulate the generational disparities very well using Jim (Pullman) and Bo (Pine) to show this most profoundly and in a very relatable way.

I have to compliment Miller on Bottle Shock. Call me a bad Californian, a bad American, or just too young but I never knew about the Judgment in Paris before this film; I don’t think I would have cared if I had read about it in a text book or on the back of a wine bottle. However, Bottle Shock is a dang entertaining and well made film that has me desiring to find a bottle of the Cheateau Montelena chardonnay, learn more about wine, and visit the Napa Valley. I think that’s probably an earmark of a good film.

Director: Randall Miller
Writers: Jody Savin, Randall Miller & Ross Schwartz
Bo Barrett: Chris Pine
Steven Spurrier: Alan Rickman
Jim Barrett: Bill Pullman
Sam: Rachel Taylor
Gustavo Brambila: Freddy Rodriguez
Maurice: Dennis Farina
Joe: Eliza Dushku

Jim Barrett: Why don't I like you?
Steven Spurrier: Because you think I'm an arsehole. And I'm not, really. I'm just British and, well... you're not.

Star Trek

star trek xi poster 09
Originally uploaded by gjrmoonchild

Honestly, the true test of how much I genuinely love a movie is how often I watch it or talk about it. Last year I genuinely fell in love with Iron Man and I am relatively sure it’s landing on the list of my all-time favorite films. This year I am falling head over heels for Star Trek and if the love affair continues it could also end up on my favorite films list.

What was so great about this viewing was that I got to watch Star Trek with an original Trekkie – my grandmother. My grandmother has followed the Trek universe since the first episode of the original series premiered and has been a faithful fan ever since. I considered this a true test of how the film would hold up against a real fan, someone who fell in love with the series because of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and Gene Roddenberry. She filled my childhood head with the world of the Federation, always had the coolest collectibles and would call foul when she saw the shows do something stupid; if there was anyone that I would genuinely listen to if they cried foul over Abrams updated Trek it would be her.

My grandmother loved Star Trek. A original Trekkie to the core, she told me that she thought Abrams understood the series perfectly and it was a great movie, her favorite Star Trek movie in years.

I challenge anyone out there that thinks Abrams defiled Star Trek to take on my grandmother. She knows her stuff better than most of the haters out there, and above all else since she’s been around the series since its inception she remembers that the series is supposed to be about the characters, the explorations and most of all the adventures – science always took a back seat when Rodenberry was at the wheel.

McCoy: Permission to speak freely, sir?
Spock: I welcome it.
McCoy: Do you? OK, then. Are you out of your Vulcan mind? Are you making a logical choice, sending Kirk away? Probably. But, the right one? You know, back home we have a saying: "If you wanna ride in the Kentucky Derby, you don't leave your prized stallion in the stable."

The Princess Diaries 2: A Royal Engagement

princess
Originally uploaded by Hot Rod Homepage

Picking up 5 years after the conclusion of The Princess Diaries Mia is now the crown princess of Genovia, and now that she is 21 she is preparing to take over as Queen from her Grandmother Clarisse. However, Mia’s American heritage is unacceptable to Viscount Mabrey and he challenges Mia’s right o inherit the throne by dredging up a law that states no Queen can be unmarried and his Nephew Nicholas would be the rightful heir if Mia cannot marry. This forces Mia to pursue an arranged marriage in 30 days, and Clarisse invites Nicholas to stay at the palace while Mia plans her wedding to Andrew so that she can keep an eye on any mischief the Viscount may be planning. As usual, Mia manages to cause a lot of trouble, the biggest matter being that she and Nicholas’ tormented relationship slowly beings to become something more as the two fall for each other complicating both her engagement and the plans of the Viscount.

It may be true that since Pretty Woman Gary Marshall uses the same jokes over and over again, but I still find The Princess Diaries 2 to be adorable and charming. It probably helps that Grey’s Anatomy creater Shonda Rhimes wrote the screenplay and while Grey’s may have gone down the tubes, the woman can write great comedic women. I do adore this screenplay and think it is the perfect blend of a traditional Disney film and a romantic comedy.

One of the reasons I have always loved The Princess Diaries is because of the female leads – Anne Hathaway & Julie Andrews. I don’t think you could better match two actresses from different generations. Anne is grace, poise, talent and beauty - exactly what Julie Andrews is. The two play off each other so flawlessly that you would assume that they could possibly be related. Hathaway is perfect for the role of the unassuming princess and at this point in her career I do consider her the heir to the likes of Julies Andrews or Audrey Hepburn.

I do have to say that from the first time I saw this movie one of the big selling points for me was Chris Pine. I liked him before he was Captain Kirk. Pine plays Nicholas as the perfect romantic foil to Mia and I am glad he has gone on since to continue getting progressively larger roles. I cannot wait to see where his career takes him.

The Princess Diaries 2 is actually a film that I enjoy better than the first. Perhaps it’s because I grew up along the same lines as Mia’s character did, in the sense that in 2004 I was only a little older than Mia, and having grown up with Cinderella stories Mia meeting her prince charming did manage to resonate with me. Regardless, the film is funny, well made and an entertaining watch.

Director: Gary Marshall
Writers: Shonda Rhimes
Mia: Anne Hathaway
Queen Clarisse: Julie Andrews
Joe: Hector Elizondo
Viscount Mabrey: John Rhys-Davies
Lily Moscovitz: Heather Matarazzo
Nicholas: Chris Pine
Andrew Jacoby: Callum Blue

Mia Thermopolis: Oh, by the way, I'm getting married!
Lilly Moscovitz: To who?
Mia Thermopolis: I don't know.

Star Trek

Leonard Nimoy as Spock
Originally uploaded by popomohaha

I saw Star Trek with my Mother on Mother’s Day. I have to say that while the surprise factor was gone, the film was still as fresh, exciting and funny as I remembered it to be. In fact, this time I caught more because I wasn’t laughing so hard at some of the jokes. This is a well written film. It really does balance character, mythology, humor and suspense throughout the entire length of the film. One of the most enjoyable things about it for me is that from the opening frames the film hit the ground running and continues at a break neck pace until it’s conclusion. This is incredibly hard to do and most films that have done it usually sacrifice the film quality or plot to get it done, but Abrams and his writers managed to pull it off so well it seems effortless.

It is also my personal opinion that this Trek film was influenced hugely in its technique and execution by Firefly. While I may not have been too big a fan of things like the lens flares Abrams uses in Star Trek I was a fan of the way he shot space. You’ll notice that there is very little fire in space when ships explode, sound is gone unless it’s coming from an oxygenated environment, and they also use the fast/messy digital zooms that Firefly used constantly in its space shots. The similarities are pretty obvious to anyone that calls themselves a Browncoat and frankly the film is better for it. Firefly helped realistically define how to create space for film and television and I am glad that other people have taken notice of that short lived show.

I also have to say that I am impressed at how seamlessly the filmmakers integrated Leonard Nimoy into the film. When I first found out Nimoy was going to be in Star Trek I was actually worried that he would be used in some artificial, stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb kind of way, or he’d bookend the film and just be superfluous. Instead, Nimoy’s Spock was just as important to the film as any other character and I have to say I am so incredibly glad I got to hear Nimoy’s version of Spock say “Live long and prosper” once more time on screen.

Christopher Pike: Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved 800 lives, including yours. I dare you to do better. Enlist in Starfleet.

Star Trek

Star Trek Trailer
Originally uploaded by AsceticMonk

In this Trek universe James Kirk has grown up rebellious and fatherless because the day he was born his father died saving the lives of the U.S.S. Kelvin crew as it was being attacked by a futuristic Romulan ship captained by Nero. Meanwhile, Spock grows up on Vulcan experiencing a different kind of emotional rift as he is half-Vulcan/half-human and must decide which lifestyle he should choose. Spock enters Star Fleet and rises through the ranks, but Kirk shuns Star Fleet until he is shamed and challenged by Capt. Pike. Three years into the academy Vulcan sends a distress call and Star Fleet sends all of the cadets into active duty allowing Kirk, Bones, & Uhura to join the rest of the Enterprise crew. Once nearing Vulcan Kirk realizes that the disaster Vulcan is experiencing isn’t natural, but the same thing that attacked the Kelvin 25 years before.

Star Trek is unlike any Trek movie I have ever seen and it is all the better for it. JJ Abrams and his writers truly dug into the roots of Star Trek and decided to bring the series back to its core with the original characters, and they returned the original adventurous attitude as well. This is Star Fleet without rules, the impulsive space adventure we all truly want and we get the added bonus of having a Federation universe that is not at peace, it is still at war with the Klingons, Romulans and doesn’t have all the answers.

What is so remarkable about this film is the characters are perfectly acted and written so that they are instantly identified with the originals we know and love without being charicatures or far too predictable. Zoe Saldana is sultry and attitude driven as Uhura; Simon Pegg is hysterical & lovable as Scotty; Anton Yelchin is young, excitable & overzealous as Chekov; John Cho is the perfect blend of cocky & naive as Sulu. On top of that Zarchary Quinto & Chris Pine are beyond perfect representations of Spock & Kirk for a new generation. Not only do they really understand the core of these characters but they understand their relationship and how each man begins to inform the other.

That being said, the single show stealing actor is Karl Urban. Urban was born to play McCoy. From the moment you first hear him, before he ever walks on screen you know that Bones is coming and he captures your attention. He is filled with attitude, heart and that biting wit that always made McCoy a crowd favorite. This may be a bit of Trek heresy but I think that Urban is a better McCoy than Deforest Kelly. Urban is so good that you forget that the other actors are doing phenomenally as well.

What was so great about the writing for these characters is that the writers thought about how to get what the fans would expect in there without making it seem out of place or smack of cliché. Each character has their signature line thrown into the movie, but it happens so naturally that you wouldn’t realize those lines are important unless you are a fan, and eve in you are a Trekkie you might miss them on first viewing.

This movie did the impossible. Abrams has managed to reinvent the Star Trek wheel without throwing the car out of alignment. He pays enough homage to the original films that hard core Trekkies can appreciate it (if they get over their grudges and get to the theatre) but change the timeline so the original films can still be valid. Trek now exists in an alternate timeline. As if that weren’t enough, Abrams has opened Trek up, and people that are completely unfamiliar with the world of the Federation can discover it in an incredibly approachable way.

Go see this movie.

Director: JJ Abrams
Writers: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman
James T. Kirk: Chris Pine
Spock: Zachary Quinto
Old Spock: Leonard Nimoy
Nero: Eric Bana
Capt. Pike: Bruce Greenwood
Leonard McCoy: Karl Urban
Uhura: Zoe Saldana
Scotty: Simon Pegg
Sulu: John Cho
Chekov: Anton Yelchin
Sarek: Ben Cross
Amanda Grayson: Winona Ryder

Nero: James T. Kirk was a great man... but that was another life.