Tag Archives: movies

Even Non-Trekkies Love Star Trek Now

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Katie and I saw Star Trek this week end.  Yep… you read that right.  Katie went with me to see a Sci-Fi movie.  That means either the apocalypse is nigh…. or it is a really good movie.  Well, no other apocalyptic signs are taking over the world at this moment, so it must mean… there is actually a good Trek movie for non-Trekkies out there!

And to that I say – finally!  I love Trek and all, but the last several movies were rather heavy on the Trek-isms.  Isn’t that what TV shows are for?  Chase off the wimpy non-fans and make constant inside references to stuff 10 episodes back?  When movies start doing that, it’s time to throw in the towel.

Or call in J.J. Abrams.  Mr. Abrams seems to have that Midas touch.  Well, not always in the sense of money, but he always seems to make the projects he is involved with quality.

So, go see the movie.

And then ponder this… Spock travels back in time, and things in the past are changed.  So… what if old Spock starts spilling everything rattling around in that Vulcan mind of his?  Wouldn’t he be able to send the Trek universe ahead technology wise by a few centuries?  That would be some awesome stuff to explore in future television series or movies – the universe with some crazy advanced technology.  What if he just tells the federation “umm… better avoid the whole Seti Alpha system – it’s messed up.  Trust me” or  “And by the way – there are these crazy dudes called the Borg out there – here is how to defeat them” or even “hey, you might want to find some whales… soon…”

Summer Movies So Far

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I have seen a few – but not all that I want to. Got to keep the budget under control, so several will have to wait until the dollar theater. My thoughts so far:

Iron Man just… rocks. It better win a bunch of awards. It’s just that good. And I never was a huge Iron Man fan growing up.

Speed Racer was way under rated. This was a great film. It was the only film I have ever seen that got a standing ovation from the audience when it was over. Seriously.

Indiana Jones and the Title I Can Never Remember was a good flick If it had come out two years after Last Crusade, everyone would have loved it. People just have to remember what they liked about the first one to connect with what is great about this one.

Lost is not a movie – but that season finale was intense. I really liked it, and I was glad they stretched it to three hours. I think the only weakness was that they tried to do too much and probably needed that extra hour that got cut due to the writer’s strike.

Still need to see Prince Caspian, Expelled, Kung Fu Panda, and Sex and the City. Didn’t know I was a SatC fan? Well, I’ not at all. Just seeing if you are paying attention. Also waiting for The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Hellboy 2 (I really liked the first one) and some other ones that I can’t remember now.

U2 3D: The Movie

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My wife and I saw this a while back, but I forgot to post on it. The U2 3D movie is awesome. Even if you don’t really like U2, the 3D technology is so realistic. I’m not talking the red and blues glasses of a few decades back, or even the funky plastic cheap-o Disney ride glasses of the last decade. you still have to wear funky glasses, but the advances in 3D film are really noticeable. The shots that look over the massive crowd in the soccer stadium make you feel like you are really there looking out over the crowd. The drum set also looks incredibly real in 3d. On top of all of this, they also added some graphics to a few scenes – basically, they took what was showing on the screen behind the band and made it float transparently in front of the band. Neat effect.

We saw it an I-MAX, which really added to the realism. I recommend taking this route if you can.

The Best Spaceships in the Galaxy

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IGN.com created a list of the top 10 space ships, based on “pop-culture impact and all around cool means of transpo.” It’s a pretty good list, although I have one gripe: no X-Wing? Come on. That is the top fighter craft in SciFi ever. I would kick that video game space ship out of number 7 and put the X-Wing in there. Why would a video game space ship be in here anyway? Give them their own list. Also, if I really thought about it, I would probably find something to replace number 10, even though that is a cool space ship.

Another thing I have to disagree with: “can’t explain what people were thinking when they came up with TNG‘s D” (in reference to the Enterprise-D of Start Trek: The Next Generation). Whatever! That was the coolest Enterprise ever, even though it is a little dated now.

The coolest thing: Serenity makes the list….

More on the Digital Piracy Controversy

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I’ve been writing other places about all of the controversy surrounding digital file sharing.
For the record, I don’t think that it is right to steal music or movies or anything else in the long run online. I do think that it should be legal to be able to sample or preview something before you buy it, even though in most cases this is lumped in with piracy, so it still has to be avoided. I also think we need to deal with things like out of print titles in the debate. Like, re-issue them or release them for free online and stop complaining about it. But, I’ll just link to my other posts on these issues.:

EduGeek Journal post on “The Great Copy Protection Debate”

This post comments on an ongoing debate on the New York Times website about copy protection. It’s an interesting read on two sides of the issue. I became really fed up with the way on side was presenting their take, so I commented on the issue with some more thoughts. My comment is number 3 (posted at 2:27 pm on January 16, 2008) at the bottom of this page:

Bits Debate: Mixing It Up Over Remixes and Fair Use

Speed Racer is a Trip!

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I have to admit – I never really got into Speed Racer as a kid. I think it only came on some PBS channel that only came in vaguely once a week at 3:00am on Monday morning. So I really didn’t care much about the movie, until I read all of the buzz on the trailer. It’s totally different than anything else I have ever seen. If the buzz for this movie keeps on being good, I may still go see it. Check out the trip here:

http://movies.aol.com/movie/speed-racer-2008/28066/main

What New Shows Am I Interested In This Season?

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To be honest – none. Sure, there are some interesting ones out there. But I probably won’t watch any of them. Why? Because they will probably get canceled.

I’m wondering how long it will be before the TV watching public begins to just stop investing in any new shows with me. Think of the shows that showed promise, or drew a fan base, such as Firefly, that were given bad promotion, and then canceled before given a chance to gain viewers. Sure, you have shows like Jericho that can come back from the dead – but that’s only one so far. So many shows are now trying to latch on to the Lost or Heroes formula: long, complicated plots that span entire series (or at least entire seasons) with intrigue and mystery. The problem is: you dig in, invest in the show, and then it bites the dust. I’m just going to sit back and wait to see if anything makes it to season 2. Then rent the DVDs for season 1.

This is really just the problem with the entertainment industry in general. No investment in anything if it’s not a hit right off the bat. And not to mention over-saturation. there are just too many movies, TV shows, CDs, games, etc pushed out every week. I remember recently that Bono said there may never again be another U2. Not because no one can ever be as good as them – it’s just that the record companies are not supporting and developing bands enough to allow for them to grow into another U2. I think that can be said in all sectors of the entertainment industry: companies are too caught up with getting the next biggest thing out there yesterday.

Brief Summer Movie Reviews

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My wife and I are actually not that huge into movies. We tend to miss most of them. However, we seem to have gotten a chance to see many of the big releases so far this year. Here are my brief thoughts on them:

Spiderman 3: Lots of good ideas – but too many for one movie. Many scenes, and some characters could have been cut. Not better than part 2, but still a fun movie.

Shrek 3: Really funny. I like Shrek movies. Just as good as the first 2, if you ask me.

Pirates of the Caribbean 3: Great action sequences, great special effects. Hated the ending, but I still enjoyed the overall experience. Keith Richards as Captain Jack Sparrow’s Dad is classic.

Transformers: Awesome movie. Plot? Who cares! I love giant, fighting robots. The biggest problem with this movie (as any other Michael Bay movies) is that a ton of innocent bystanders die, without any emotional weight. Mass deaths like that are devastating, and I think the movie would have been better without them. I already know what Creecy is going to say about it, though: “it’s a racist movie. The only good guy robot to die was black.” Well, Creecy, it’s a Michael Bay film – we all knew Jazz was toast from the beginning. His most cliche characters always bite it.

Live Free or Die Hard: I would have never seen this one, if I hadn’t have been with a group that wanted to see it. Not a big fan of the Die Hard series. Still, entertaining – even if 90% of the action is even more unbelievable than in the first three. I was waiting for Bruce Willis’ sidekick to bust out and say “Hi, I’m a Mac…” at any time – but it never happened.

Coming soon, and looking forward to:

Bourne Ultimatum: Katie and I love the Bourne series. The trailers look awesome – so we’ll be there. “I doubt you are sitting in your office.” “Why is that?” “Because – if you were, we would be having this conversation face to face.”

The Kingdom: Looks like a gritty take at culture clash gone wrong. Set in Saudi Arabia, staring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garder (and many other quality actors that I can’t pull out of my head right now).

Underdog: The trailer looks hilarious. I’ll want to see if the movie lives up to the hype. “Y’know, you never see dogs hurting each other for money.” “You never see people sniffing each other’s butts.” “Touché.”

We’ll probably also get around to seeing Fantastic Four 2 (yes, I liked part 1), Harry Potter 50 or whatever number it is (never read the books, but they make entertaining movies), Evan Almighty, and Ratatouille before all is said and done.

Screwtape Letters: The Movie?

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Screwtape Letters book cover

For those that know me, you know I am a big C.S. Lewis fan. In fact, I am re-reading The Space Trilogy now. Well, not now as I type this, but as in the general now. I can only hope and dream that someone wises up and turns these books into movies. But it seems that there are definite plans to make a movie based on The Screwtape Letters.

This could be good or bad. Film versions of Screwtape and The Great Divorce could benefit from the right director and special effects crew. But they are both stories that could be ruined if the spiritual message is forced too far up front, or scaled back too far. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie did a decent job with this, although leaning a little too much towards the “scaled back” side. And the fact that they needed James Earl Jones to do Aslan’s voice. I like Liam Neeson, but after Lion King….

Anyway, if you don’t know much about Screwtape, SciFi.com had a good summary:

“First published in 1942, The Screwtape Letters takes the form of a series of missives from a senior demon, Screwtape, to his wannabe diabolical nephew, Wormwood. As a mentor, Screwtape advises his protege on the finer points of undermining faith and promoting sin. His instructions are interspersed with observations on human nature and Christian doctrine.”

Bond is Back: Casino Royale

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Okay, I will have to admit – I don’t really get to see that many movies. A lot of them just don’t seem that interesting to me. Even less seem interesting to my wife, and I don’t like to go alone. And she really doesn’t like Sci-Fi.

Luckily, we do both like a good spy/action flick. There have been so many complaints about the choices made for the new James Bond movie, that I decided I really wanted to see it. Of course, the complaints were made before anyone had actually seen the film. Now that it is out, all I can say to the naysayers: HA! The new Bond dude rocks.

I like the new direction of the Bond films. For one: less cheesy unnecessary sexual escapades and one-liners. All of Bonds, umm, “relationships” got tiring and unoriginal after the first few films. At least in this film they get more realistic. I won’t spoil anything, but the first girl that Bond runs into would have turned out differently in previous films. And most of his quips got so predictable.

Also, you’ve got to love this: Bond can make real mistakes in this one. That just rocks.

Of course, the cool gadgets are somewhat missing – but you have to realize that these just had to go to make Bond more realistic. It’s hard to believe a film were the hero just always happens to have the tools to deal specifically with the problems that he finds himself in every time. Also, the film is more violent than past Bonds. So, due to that and the fact that the sexuality is not totally gone means that this is not a film for everyone.

So, what about all the complaints that Craig doesn’t look like Bond? Tsk, tsk, silly fanboys. He totally nails the Bond that this re-boot is trying to create. The new Bond is dead serious about his license to kill. The new Bond can kill you with his cool gaze. The new bond actually looks like he exercises. Brosnan was the perfection of the original movie Bond that Connery started. Craig is the perfection of a new Bond in a post-Bourne Identity movie world.