The Reviewer Beames Up for Star Trek

The eagerly anticipated reboot of the the Star Trek series finally has arrived with (technically the 11th film in the series) the self titled Star Trek by the popular new action/drama wunderkind JJ Abrams at the helm. In full disclosure I need to point out that I have been a huge Star Trek fan (mainly Next Generation) for a long time. When I heard they wanted to give a much needed jump start to the franchise by making a prequel, I was skeptical. I mean, c'mon, do we really need to see a movie of Kirk and Spock Go to Starfleet. But, for all intent and purpose, JJ Abrams has done a pretty good job of making a younger, slicker and action packed Star Trek that introduces us to these beloved characters that have been satirized and joked about for decades.

The film straddles the two worlds of hardcore Trekkies and non Trekkies alike by exploring the origins of the two main characters...James Tiberius Kirk and a half human/half Vulcan named Spock. Unbeknown to them, they share a common bond of family tragedy in their lives. We meet them both as precocious children in their own right. The rebellious Kirk and the ever logical Spock. But, what I liked is they give Spock more freedom of expression than what we would see in the original series and the subsequent first 6 films. Mercifully, we are quickly taken through their days of Star Fleet and how they came to join the Academy. Their paths of getting there were similar in its guise and it is here that we also are introduced to Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy who quickly befriends Kirk. All this while, the evil Captain Nero of the enemy Romulans is wrecking havoc on the galaxy and it is up to our young and inexperienced heroes traveling in the newly christened Enterprise to save the day, which you know they will...it's Star Trek.

Before I get into what is good about the film let me say what I didn't like about it. Aside from the usual predictability and necessary suspension of disbelief. I was not at all interested in the evil Romulan threat, it wasn't interesting enough. And of course, in Star Trek world, when in doubt throw in a time travel plot line. I also felt JJ rushed through the introductions of the characters and giving some of them like McCoy cute dialogue that is representative of how we have come to know these characters in the past. The climax was also quick and clean, without any real suspense. It also seemed that you can go higher in rank pretty easy in Starfleet. I'll get into the acting soon enough. What I liked about the film was the special effects were fantastic, seeing Leonard Nimoy again as Spock. He certainly still remembers the characterization very well. Trekkies will love bringing in Captain Pike but he seemed to be an afterthought once we are settled on to the Enterprise. Finally, I really enjoyed the push/pull relationship between Kirk and Spock. The all important element of chemistry is evident and like all great duo's, without the solid chemistry between them, the film would just fall flat. That was JJ's best handiwork.

As for the acting. First of all, before I get slammed with angry messages, let me just say that Star Trek is not a story that demands stellar acting. However, as an actor, good work is demanded of you at all times to make the story truthful. Chris Pine who portrays the iconic James T Kirk grows on you. He embody's the characteristics we know about Kirk, a horny, rebel who plays by his own rules. But, except for one occasion he made Kirk his own with no trace of William Shatner and I applaud him for that. Zachary Quinto (Sylar from Heroes) brought emotional depth underneath all that logic and I thought he was the best of them all. The great Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead himself) was pretty funny as Scotty and I welcomed his comic relief. As for Karl Urban as McCoy. He was highly irritating. He essentially mimicked DeForest Kelley's work as McCoy and although you hear imitation is the finest form of flattery, it's not in this case. Create your own character. Same goes for Anton Yelchin as Chekov, he just mimicked. Walter Koenig. Some found it cute. I didn't. John Cho did a decent job as Sulu, we certainly see a new side of him. Zoe Saldana as Uhura also decided to create her own character and even though she is essentially filler, she made the most of her scenes. There is an interesting twist to her love life from the original series that's for sure. Finally, Eric Bana as Captain Nero was boring and completely devoid of interest for me. He was indicating badly to the point of annoyance. Great Star Trek villains like Ricardo Montelban as Khan, Christopher Plummer as General Chang and Alice Krige as the Borg Queen all made me feel something about who they are and the reasons why they did what they did. I hope JJ takes note of that in the next one.

Overall, Star Trek is entertaining with all it's faults (there are gaps in the writing). I would rate it the 4th best in the film series. It's not a great film but it exceeded my expectations. As far as prequels go, this was one of the better ones I've seen. Yes, it's is even better than Star Wars Episode 1. However, I would recommend in the sequel that JJ take his time and not rush through sequences and make the villains have more depth. I give Star Trek 3 stars and is out now in a theater near you.

The Reviewer is Curious About Benjamin Button

This week, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button has come out on DVD and Blu Ray. David Fincher's tale of a man who ages backwards and the adventures and lessons that he learns along the way. Based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and adapted by Eric Roth (who also wrote Forrest Gump which I'll get to later). Benjamin's story is told through his diary to Daisy (Cate Blanchett), an elderly woman on the verge of death by her daughter Caroline (Julia Ormond). This film looks like a labor of love by Fincher and Brad Pitt who stars as the backwards aging Benjamin. We share Benjamin's life from his birth as an old man, all the way back to his infancy. What we experience is an unconventional love story that is held together by Cate Blanchett's superb work and Brad Pitt's lack thereof. There are other great performances as well by Taraji Henson, Tilda Swinton and briefly, Elias Koteas. But they are not enough to make this a great film.

There are a lot of metaphors incorporated through the film and they all seem to be centered on the affect that time has on all of our lives. I found the prevailing themes of redemption and live life to its fullest as the primary message which could be construed as corny but I found comforting. The ever present refrain of "You never know what's comin for ya." is spoken throughout the film and is a warning to us all. Hurricane Katrina is also a very visceral metaphor in the film and it seems to embody that mantra. Essentially, nothing lasts, but it's choice as a metaphor for this film is...well...curious

A lot of great special effects were used to depict Benjamin from birth until about half way into the film when the real Brad finally shows up. All throughout, Benjamin's voice is narrating to us, sharing his adventures and his simple wisdom for us all. It is because of this that the film has a Forrest Gump like quality and especially Brad's accent and voice inflection is very similar to Tom Hanks who played Gump (I've seen Forest Gump and you Mr. Button are no Forest Gump). Whether it was a conscious or unconscious choice is irrelevant, I personally thought it sounded forced and as we like to say in the acting world, indicated. That is not to say that his acting is bad overall but he seemed to focus too much on his accent and not enough on his the spine of his character. But, to his credit, there are times when he does a decent job of finding the emotional reality of the character, except for a few scenes which his lack of emotion is glaring. The scenes with Julia Ormond staying with Blanchett as she is dying didn't do much for me. I enjoyed Blanchett's elderly characterization but I found Ormond to not have clarity about her character which left me feeling nothing about her relationship and how she really felt about her dying mother. The Cinematography by Claudio Miranda is outstanding. I just love the way the shots were framed and the wonderful use of color. One of my favorite shots is in an elevator with Tilda Swinton...sumptuous.

The film deservedly received 3 Oscars for Art Direction, Visual Effects and of course, Makeup. I agree that it should not have won Best Picture but the film's message of seizing life was beautiful and especially as I am entering a turning point in my life, just passing 40, the point is quite powerful for me. I commend David Fincher, (who is a great director) for creating a modern fable and trying to bring magic back into movies. I just wish there was more magical moments to enjoy. But, I was still entertained overall and I give Benjamin 3 out of 5 stars.

The Reviewer Meets "Wendy and Lucy"

Wendy and Lucy breaks down to a simple theme of; woman loses dog. However, if that is all there is to it, it would be a bust, but Wendy and Lucy offers some poignant moments as well. We find out it's not just the dog who is lost.
Michelle Williams is Wendy, a woman who is looking to start a brand new life in Alaska, driving across country from Indiana with her beloved dog Lucy. The film opens with Wendy and Lucy playing together in a park where Lucy run off and finds some friendly transients who tell her how wonderful things are in Alaska. We then see Lucy who has a little money sleeping in her car when she is rudely awakened by a security guard and she has to leave the parking lot. Unfortunately, her car won't start. Here is where everything starts falling apart for Lucy. In a stupid act, Wendy, commits shoplifting in a supermarket and an overzealous grocery clerk catches her and calls the police and has her arrested, leaving poor Lucy tied up outside. (It isn't clear why the police would not make arrangements for the dog as well). After, being released with a fine, Wendy goes back to the supermarket to get Lucy and finds she is gone. Now she is really in trouble. Then comes Wendy's attempts to find Lucy and her difficulties intensify. Not to mention, she still has to get her car fixed, which she thinks is just a simple problem. Luckily, Wendy gets help from a samaritan, in the guise of the security guard, (played sweetly by Wally Dalton). After, a harrowing experience in a park, Wendy finds out that Lucy has been found, but that her car is pretty much dead. So, she has to make a choice, will she choose to get Lucy and keep going somehow to Alaska or go back home without her. The time of her decision is a touching scene.

Wendy and Lucy is a simple film that has heart. The spine of the film is loss. Michelle Williams gives an overall good performance but her acting is inconsistent. There are times when I just didn't feel she was desperate to find her dog, even though she was playing the given circumstance of her character. I had to ask myself a few times, how does she feel about that? Other times, she did well and performed with the given emotion that is required. Veteran, Will Patton has a small role as the distracted owner of the auto mechanic shop and he too did a decent job. His character was not too difficult and therefore not much was expected of him I felt. I feel like it was a wasted role overall. Kelly Reichardt wrote and directed and did a good job. The plot points were clear and the theme of loss is quite apparent. I give Wendy and Lucy 3 stars and is currently out on dvd.

The Reviewer Takes on Wolverine

The summer blockbuster movie season is upon us. After months (seemingly years) of endless promotion Wolverine...X Men: Origins, has finally slashed its way onto the big screen. Let me first start out by saying that I have not read any of the Wolverine comics, never was the biggest fan of X Men. But Wolverine is a pretty cool character and so I wanted to see where he came from. We find out where he came from all right, but it is not very clear as to how someone who is born in the 1840's is alive and kicking today. We understand that Wolverine has regenerative powers (only from previous X men films and if you hasn't seen those, you would be lost) but regenerative powers does not longevity make, or so I thought. He has all this longevity and can never die as well, except for cutting his head off. (If you just read that and think he's a vampire, I sympathize but you would be mistaken). I understand, it's a comic book movie and therefore you need more than the usual suspension of disbelief. However, that is a pretty important plot point to clue the audience in I would say. We learn all of this in a good montage in the opening credits where our hero Logan aka Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman (as if you didn't know by now) who's power is having his bones jut out of his hands like knives and his half brother Victor who also has the same longevity and regenerative powers but has claws and acts like a big cat and who's name is Sabretooth ( although they never say it, again you have to have watched the first X Men film for that) played by Liev Schreiber are seen fighting in the American Civil War, World Wars 1 and 2, Korea and Vietnam. The funny thing is, they are Canadian. Setting aside, nationality and historical semantics for a while, we also learn that Victor is a pretty sick cat (pun intended) and that Logan has to constantly remind him to chill. But, as fate would have it, Victor goes too far in Vietnam, which causes both him and Logan to be executed by a firing squad. Surprise, they don't die and are sent to a stockade instead. Enter, Colonel William Stryker (Danny Huston) who recognizes their powers and entices them to join his secret team of mutants to go on missions.

From here, the film becomes fairly predictable. We meet the team of mutants, including Wade, who is the most sarcastic of the bunch (played by Ryan Reynolds, who can't seem to play anything else and note to Ryan it is not cute, it's annoying as hell). They go on a certain mission in Africa which rubs Logan entirely the wrong way and he quits the team. Although, hasn't he learned from other action films, that you just can't quit a military operation without consequences. So, Logan becomes a lumberjack in British Columbia, meets and falls in love with a school teacher when his past comes calling. Obviously he turns it down, but when tragedy strikes, Logan is hell bent on revenge. Victor is back to his old killing tricks and it's up to Logan to take him down. But, Logan needs an edge in killing his older brother, so Stryker convinces Logan to let him experiment on him by injecting an indestructible metal (Adamantium) onto Logan's skeletal structure. Hence, the metallic claws are born. Here, Stryker wants to erase Logan's memories to make him an obedient soldier. Logan overhears this while underwater and decides he wants no part of it. He escapes and the adventure truly begins.

From here, the film descends into predictable Hollywood formulaic action plot twists about Logan being double crossed and going after both Victor and Stryker and meeting other mutants along the way, including a fan favorite...Gambit who for some reason was not in the previous 3 X Men films. They did a good job with the ending, which helps explain why Logan, in the other X Men films, doesn't seem to remember who or what he is. There is a pretty comical sequence with The Blob (Kevin Durand).

Wolverine is a typical action film, so I will not be overly critical of the acting but I give Hugh Jackman a lot of credit. This is his 4th time brandishing Wolverine's claws and he didn't phone it in and still gave a lot of life to his character. Liev Schreiber did a good job as the villanous Victor and Danny Huston was also pretty good as Stryker. They all seemed to understand their characters and lived out their imaginary circumstances fairly well. The writing for the most part was better than the previous X Men films but for some reason the folks who write X Men films, have a terrible time with catchy one liners (see Halle Berry in the first X Men for probably the worst one liner ever). Aside from that, Gavin Hood did a good job with the directing. If you are a big action buff, you will not be disappointed. For me, the Dark Knight is still the new gold standard for comic book films and Wolverine is not in its league and it's not supposed to be and that's alright. Wolverine is a good popcorn film. I give it 2.5 stars.

The Reviewer Delves into The American Future

Looking for a thought provoking documentary on American history that is more unconventional in scope, than check out Simon Schama: The American Future.
British/American historian Simon Schama (who gave us the magnificent History of Britain) presents an intriguing look at where America is today and its possible direction by conjuring up its past, all through the backdrop of the historic 2008 presidential campaign. This, in all honesty, more left leaning look at American history is broken up into 4 segments that cover;
1)American Plenty: which covers the scarcity of precious resources as seen through the drought that has effected the water level of the Colorado River as well as how precious water is becoming. It was troubling to see the diminishing Colorado and what could become bleak times for the Southwest.
2) American War: One of the better segments of the series that focuses on the Civil War, Spanish American War while touching on WWII, Vietnam and the current Iraq War and how with Mark Twain, the anti-war movement was born and still flourishes today. I particularly liked how Schama essentially breaks Americans into 2 camps when it comes to war politics by singling out 2 of our Founding Fathers...Thomas Jefferson (who was against a professional army and Alexander Hamilton (who was all for it).
3) American Fervour: depicting the role of religion in America's history from the emancipation of slaves to Civil Rights, to conservative evangelical Christians. It was powerful but also disturbing to go over Jefferson's words of freedom and religion but to also hear of the slaves he kept that were denied those same freedoms Equally troubling but also uplifting is hearing the stories of little known Civil Rights activist Fanny Lou Hamer and her struggles and how religion was a great comfort to her, in her darkest times.
4) What is an American? This was to me the best segment which covers the bitterness certain Americans feel over immigration, primarily focusing on Mexican and Chinese immigrants and their trials and tribulations. It is hard not to feel effected by seeing the history of the hatred towards the Chinese and how Mexicans have been viewed since we annexed Texas. I was uplifted by the story of Grace Abbott, a woman ahead of her time who did so much to bolster immigration reform. However, the fact that Schama failed to mention that all immigrants have always been looked on with disdain when they first arrive disappointed me.

That is not to say this is a bash America only documentary. There are wonderful segments of average Americans and especially seeing the 2008 election virtually recreated and how Americans were moved to vote in droves was a wonderful reminder of how great this country is. I especially enjoyed a tribute to a Latino American veteran of WWII. However, if you are looking for a pure flag waving-America has never done anything wrong-historical documentary this will not be for you. However, if you can be objective, by tapping into what is great about America as well as the dark deeds of our past, Simon Schama, (albeit in an abbreviated way and not showing enough of other good things that Americans have done in our history) provides an unemotional, sobering look at where we have been and where we are going as a nation. In the words of Grace Abbott on what it means to be an American: "We are many nationalities -- we should not be ashamed of this ; if all races can live together we can meet the true American opportunity." I give the American Future 4 out of 5 stars and is currently available on DVD.

The Reviewer Checks Out The Ugly Duckling

A charming little short play that features the strong performance of Richard Scott as Prince Simon. The production is very fast paced, a little too fast as most of the time the actors are too concerned with speaking their lines too quickly instead of waiting for a reaction from their partners. Mr. Scott and Elena Duarte as Princess Camilla are the exception and main attraction in the play. They both listen and respond to each other very well and seemed to have a genuine connection. Mr. Scott has a strong stage presence but a warm sentimentality that is endearing. His entrance is also hilarious and to me is reminiscent of fine vaudevillian comedies of the past. My only critique of Mr. Scott is to come across more strongly as a prince, because it was hard to tell how he felt about that.
Miss Duarte is certainly comfortable onstage and has a sweet quality to her that is hard not to like. The rest of the cast as I mentioned before seemed too rushed as if they had a specific time limit in which to say their lines. It's a shame it is only a one act, as I would've liked to have seen how the story played itself out. Overall, this was fun and if you have 30 minutes to spare, come check it out in it's final performance tonight.

The Reviewer Checks Out Frost/Nixon

A fine rendition of the play of the same name. Michael Sheen and Frank Langella reprise their roles from the play as David Frost and Richard Nixon in a story about one of the most famous political interviews in the history of television where a struggling English talk show host, David Frost scores an interview with then former President Nixon and gets him to admit wrongdoing in the Watergate scandal. At times it has the typical cliched feeling of the underdog-going-up-against-the-champion type story but it was entertaining. However, I felt like Mr. Howard was using Nixon as a metaphor for President Bush and wanting to put Bush in the hot seat for all of his wrongdoings as President, with himself as Frost. The portrayal of Nixon was fairly pathetic, but then again, there is no version that of him that is flattering, especially Anthony Hopkins version in Oliver Stone's "Nixon." What was interesting is how much of a money grubber Nixon is shown to be, ie; always wanting more money for doing the interviews. Not to mention being delusional, as in not recalling a drunken phone call to Frost a few nights before their final interview.

Parts of the film are a little slow and oftentimes too grandiose for a story of this kind. But the climax is a huge payoff and Langella does an incredible job of portraying the desolation, the anguish and loneliness of Nixon. However, I liked his nonverbal emotions to his vocal inflections better. Sheen does a admirable job as the partying playboy Frost. You can see how he feels about his difficult circumstance and how everything he had was literally on the line with the success of this interview. The supporting cast led by Kevin Bacon, who goes back to his cold loyalist part he played similar to A Few Good Men as Nixon's chief of staff Jack Brennan. It works for Kevin and he is good at it. Oliver Platt also plays his typical sardonic, caustic witted type character as Bob Zelnick. Sam Rockwell plays the whiny, revenge filled James Weston who wants nothing more than to make Nixon pay. Rebecca Hall plays Caroline Cushing, in a not much to do part except smile, look pretty and be strong for her man, role. However, she conveys good compassion when called on. At the helm, Ron Howard, who's direction seems a bit rushed and distracted at times, especially when he is showing who David Frost is. I didn't have a strong feeling for Frost one way or another but it was a good attempt. I give Frost/Nixon 3.5 stars and is currently out on blu-ray and dvd.