Star Trek

The idea for a Star Trek reboot series has always been out there. It is an idea that came about in 1968 with the film prequel. Then the idea sat on the shelf for a while when finally in 2009, director J.J. Abrams put it all together. Obviously, this was a project with a very big risk to it with questions as to whether the film can top the original and others that preceded it.

This film follows around a young James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) who is kind of a primadonna and party boy who out of the blue finds his way into the Starfleet Academy and onto the Enterprise. He then meets a vulcan in Spock (Zachery Quinto) and their relationship starts out roughly but develops into friendship as time goes on. The plot has a lot of things including time travel and gives a good history of how the crew got assembled and developed. It also show Spock in many different forms which is interesting.

Probably the biggest challenge for Abrams was selecting a cast. Abrams probably felt to be true to the original that he had to follow creator Gene Roddenberry's lead from 1964 somewhat. You could certainly question actor Chris Pine as the choice for James T. Kirk. Before 2009, Pine had mostly worked in televison with not many films roles to his credit. That said, Pine plays the role of James T. Kirk perfectly which includes a great deal of character development throughout and he is able to bring out a full range of emotions that is required for this character. I liked him. I think it is kind of the same with actor Zachary Qunto who plays Spock. Quinto is an actor with no prior experience and does very well with a character that is just as complex and powerful as James T. Kirk. He also earns bonus point for looking like Leonard Nimoy who made this character famous. Once we get deeper in the cast, we see that it is made of actors that are more established and familiar to us including Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana and John Cho and I think each of these are casted perfectly and deliver great performances. Also, Eric Bana plays a villain from Nero and is absent quite a bit but plays his part well as a character that you just don't like.

Another challenge for this movie would be the plot because there is time travel in this movie that could be hard to follow and damage the flow of the movie, but it is really done well and in a neat way pays homage to and brings back the deceased Leonard Nimoy. The plot does show us different sides of Spock and Kirk that we are not used to seeing and the film does have a great set-up in the first scene that is probably one of the most memorable scenes in the Star Trek series. Finally there is a love scene that comes in the middle which is really unexpected. I think there is a lot of substance in the plot and liked it.

For a film that involves space and time travel, it is going to need many different sets and also special affects for it to be credible and there is plenty of that here. The special effects here are frankly great and ground- breaking. The elaborate sets and costumes show the time and effort that went in to making this film. You can tell Abrams really went the extra mile in putting all this together and it works. 

I think Star Trek really is a film that is great in every way. It is a film that kept many pieces of the original but also added many new things which kept things fresh and interesting so both old fans and new fans of the series could appreciate it. I recommend this movie.

4.5/5

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42

Along with hockey and basketball, baseball is a great sport that I can't get enough of. One of the reasons I like it is there are  many ways to play, many ways to win and it is a long, constant season. The film 42 is exactly those things. It is a film with many meanings made for a big audience and it is also a film that will probably be remembered forever.

Based on the powerful true story, the film retells the story of baseball player Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) and how he became the first African-American player in major league baseball during the 1940's and broke many barriers and had a lasting impact on our world.

The Jackie Robinson story is no doubt a great story but I had some concerns coming in to this. There are so many parts and aspects to this story that need to be addressed.  Obviously, there is the major cultural dimension to this film and how that is to be handled. Also, there is the question of who the actor will be who plays Jackie and can he handle portraying such a major historical figure. Also there is the baseball aspect which could be challenging showing games from many years ago in stadiums that don't exist today.

Well actually, I think the film handles all these issues very well. Aside from the scenes involving the owner of the Dodgers, Branch Rickey played by Harrison Ford who is  just over-the-top silly, the cast is very well created. The cast help tell a convincing story with some secondary characters getting significant parts with some of them close to emerging as the main stars of the film. Boseman's performance as Jackie Robinson is great and I think this newcomer will soon get many more lead roles. Maybe an underrated part of this movie is how it depicts baseball in the 1940's so beautifully and realistically. The whole film really feels like you have walked back into time to the 1940's which is very impressive. Further, the racial bigotry shown in the film is not fun to watch but it is obviously a necessary pert of the story and it is well handled.

In short, 42 is a film that has many things to offer and learn from and essentially shows us the proper way to live in this world. It shows that the color of your skin should not matter and that we should accept everyone equally and judge people on their own merits and not skin color.

42 shows the power of one man, Jackie Robinson and his great impact on baseball and our society and baseball. I think it is a film that will always stand out and be remembered. Thumbs up to director Brian Helgeland who can add this one to his already impressive resume.

4.5/5

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Abandoned

                       
In her time, Brittany Murphy really was an epic actress. A pretty girl who worked her way up through her teen years in television shows like Drexel's Class and Party of Five. As she got older, she put herself in good films like 8 Mile and Sin City. Before her death in 2009, she probably needed just one or two films to really put her on top. Now that she is gone, it is crazy and a little sad to see her in the 2010 released movie Abandoned which really was a drop down for her near her end.

Abandoned is a direct-to-dvd thriller film about Mary Walsh (Murphy) who takes her boyfriend Kevin (Dean Cain) to the hospital for a routine foot surgery. After a wait that seems too long, Mary goes to find out what's going on with Kevin. Unfortunately nobody at the hospital that she talks to has any information for her and they even tell her they don't know who Kevin is and then the hospital staff asks her why she is even there.

As expected with a quality actress in a direct-to-video film, Murphy is the star and makes this film effective. She is not perfect but she is likable and a good leader of the cast. I also like the way the character is portrayed. Portions of the film are shot through a different camera style making the film kind of mysterious.

The film has a twist and it is a good one and few details are given about it which make it work. There are some pretty good action scenes too. That said, there are some holes and unresolved questions at the end of this film which probably explains why this film never made it to the theater.

Overall, Abandoned is an above average film. That said, the main reason to check this one out is to see one of Brittany Murphy's final performances.

3/5

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Midnight in Paris

In many ways, I can see why everyone seems to love the 2011 Woody Allen romantic comedy fantasy movie, Midnight in Paris. It has a romantic side for the ladies and wine and restaurant themes within the city of Paris for the many fans of the city. A film like this probably should have not worked for me but Woody Allen is probably the one director that could interest me in something like this and he does.

As the title says, the movie is set in Paris with lead character Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) going through a crisis involving his love life. He can't decide if wants to live the rest of his life with his fiance Inez (Rachel McAdams) or a woman named Adriana (Marion Cotillard) who he meets through time travel that allows him to go back to the 1920's.

This is a plot that kind of goes in different directions. The time travel idea is obviously different for a romantic film and the film delivers the feel of the 1920 very well which brings a lot to the table including figures like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Picasso. The scenes of Paris are beautiful and this movie is stylized very well. Paris, the City of Love, is naturally a great setting for this love story and the plot makes you look at many sides of the story. That said, there is some dry writing throughout, some very slow scenes and the pace of the movie is slow overall. Much of the plot is typical of romatnic movies which again I am not a big fan of and I would rate the plot as only "fair".

Probably the main reason why I liked this movie is the cast. From leads, Wilson and McAdams to the supporting characters played by Adrien Brody and Kathy Bates, they are excellent and helped the movie work through it's flaws.

I enjoyed Midnight in Paris and got something out of it but only to a point. While I liked it, it is a one-time watch for me.


4/5

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Cedar Rapids

As the title suggests, this movie from 2011 is set in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A questionable setting definitely as Cedar Rapids is obviously not a place where most films are set and as we know Iowa is a state more known for farming than anything. This is a comedy involving people in the insurance business. With this premise, Cedar Rapids shouldn't have worked. For me, it did though and ended up being a winner.

The movie has a typical set up for a comedy with the lead characters not connecting with each other which gives off an "enemy" feel to it. This is set at an insurance convention and deals with the issues in the workplace; so this is not a typical comedy and that makes it original. Even considering that this is a comedy and not a drama, the film has a good character study. It's shows how the leads characters played by John C. Reilly and Ed Helms build their relationship and grow together as people, and eventually become friends. This is also a film that is more realistic then most comedies and this adds to how good of a comedy this is.

As with most comedies, some of the substance of the movie here can be a little dumb and  it does get a little lost in some of the secondary ideas. Sigourney Weaver's  character really has no point and is used only for sex scenes. Some jokes also seem forced and miss the mark. These are typical flaws of this genre though so I won't hold it too much against the film.

Cedar Rapids is a surprisingly good film. It is a fun kind of uncanny film that worked against the grain. It is a film that sadly has been forgotten but it shouldn't be. I recommend it.

4/5

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Let me In

Let Me In is a 2010 remake of the 2008 Swedish horror film Let the Right One in which was based off a 2004 book. I was opposed to this remake as Let the Right One in is in my opinion one of the greatest horror films of all time. It is a film that got me more into the horror genre and was a surprise for what it was. I really doubted that a remake could be anywhere near as good as the original. Well the remake Let Me In is in many ways very similar to Let the Right One in. It's kind of an uncanny picture that comes out a winner even though it shouldn't have.

Now set in 1983 in New Mexico, outcast and shy Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) learns that new neighbor Abby (Chloe Grace Moretz) is a vampire along with her father (Richard Jenkins). Through it all, love develops with consequences slowly appearing.

What really made the original so good is the young actors, Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson. They were creepy, intelligent and fun to watch as a duo. Smit - Mcphee and Moretz, are not even close to the same level but still not bad. This duo has really decent chemistry that make this film move with vampires that are not typical and both really make this film as you would have hoped.

As with the original, this works as a dark piece. You get people burning, gore and a love story. A piece that feels typical but at the same, it goes against the grain and is a little different. It has an ending that is the same as the original which is ok but there are some holes with characters seeming to get around too easily and disappearing.

Being an 80's movie fan, I appreciate the idea of putting this in that decade and it is done just all right. There is period music, style and images but the time frame is still not related to the main theme of the film which it probably should be.

Let Me In is obviously different from the original and far from a flawless film, but still it is an-above average film. Who knows what the future holds but this one of my favorite remakes for now.

4/5

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The Croods

If you think about it, prehistoric times seems like it would be one of the most interesting settings for a film. It certainly is something that has not been done much. There could also be the educational and curiosity factor as it would be interesting to see prehistoric times depicted on film with the different and now extinct animals and beasts that you could use. If you really tried, you could come up with something pretty cool. That said, this idea probably would also have some difficulties though. It might be hard to come up with a plot idea for primitive cavemen. Also humans didn't live that long back then for a lot of reasons but one could be dealing with predatory animals which could be interesting and maybe challenging. The Croods is set in prehistoric times and is one of the first animation films of the year. It really does touch on a lot of the issues above and has a lot of ups and downs with mostly pretty decent results.

The film follows the Crood family who are really your basic prehistoric family, if we knew what that was. Grug ( Nicolas Cage) is the father who is trying his best to keep his family together and this character and most of the others have pretty good development throughout the movie. Ugga (Catherine Keener) is the mother of this family and the weakest character in the story who is just not provided with much to say or do. Eep (Emma Stone) is the oldest child who is hungry for adventure and wants to live a different lifestyle outside of the cave in opposition to her father and this character is developed very well. Thunk (Clark Duke) is the overweight middle child who along with the grandmother character Gran (Cloris Leachman) provide most of the humor of the story. Guy (Ryan Reynolds) is a boy who is found in the wilderness and is more advanced than the Croods who primarily stay in their cave. Guy shows the family a  new way of life and adds some nice variety to the film.

This film uses an old story-line of one world physically coming to an end which forces the characters to journey and venture to a safer land. This part of the film is a bit strange as the plot does not hint at this or lead up to this and there is no explanation  as to why this is happening. This really makes the ending kind of a mixed bag. It is original and creative but it was out of place and hard to believe and I didn't really see the point of it


                                           


Actually some of the secondary highlights of this film come close to being better then the main highlights which was probably not intended. There are some very good action scenes, nice atmosphere and  the animation fits this period with dark, light and colorful designs. The movie is visually beautiful.

I suspect that the Croods will likely be forgotten quickly as the subject matter might not be all that appealing, especially for kids who might be one of the target audiences here. A film that is a first of it's kind for 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks and the animation world and that's definitely saying something.

3.5/5

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