Star Trek Into Darkness

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“Is there anything you would not do…for your family?”

Star Trek Into Darkness

My rating: 4 1/2 reels out of 5

Years ago, J.J. Abrams changed they way people knew Star Trek. Creating an alternate universe and basically reinventing the Star Trek world to new possibilites…and lens flares…lots of lens flares. As a somewhat big fan of Star Trek, I have to admit the last film had to take some time to grow on me. I was one of those Star Trek purists losing their minds. The more I watched Abrams’ Star Trek the more I started to enjoy it and appreciate it. Everyone is perfectly casted in their roles; they look the part and they act the part. Abrams creates a sci-fi universe that any nerd would like to be part of. So finally have accepted this new Star Trek universe with new rules and possibilities, we enter the next chapter, Star Trek Into Darkness. It has that couple extra ingredients to make the average summer blockbuster even better, great characters and great writing.

After a terrorist attacks the Federation, the Enterprise crew is sent on a manhunt to capture him. Every major actor has reprised their roles as the crew of the Enterprise. There is great chemistry between all the actors and they play off each other very well. There is a lot of humor throughout and I found myself missing some lines because of laughter, from the audience and myself. Playing our antagonist is Benedict Cumberbatch, probably best known for his role as Sherlock Holmes in the modern version on BBC (you can find the first couple seasons on Netflix, great show). He is a great actor and just like everyone else, a perfect fit in his role.

A couple of themes come to mind when I think about this film: vengeance and family. Vengeance affects all characters, good and bad. Some of our characters are seeking vengeance and it is shown on different scales. A terrorist act against a populace, character seeks social justice. Small scale, one character’s friend is hurt, character seeks personal vengeance.  Family is threatened, character seeks vengeance on a large scale. Family referring to their crew members. A bond exists between members of a ship. You work closely with them and experience life and death situations with them, they become your family. Our characters are willing to do anything for their family.  Moral issues are faced, and life or death choices are made. “I have no idea what I’m supposed to do, I only know what I can do.” – Kirk

On top of all the action and special effects, we have great characters to go with it and great writing. Nobody wants to watch boring, bland characters. Characters are the spice of any movie. Of all the characters in Abrams’ Star Trek, I think I love his version of Spock the most. Torn between his Vulcan side (logic) and his human side (emotion), it’s almost like watching someone with split personality. There is one moment in the movie where one of the characters is revealing plot points through dialogue. Maybe I’m a bad listener but I got a little lost. Minus this one moment, the whole movie moves naturally and there never really is a dull moment. I felt the writers were precise on what they wanted the film to be. From beginning to end, Star Trek Into Darkness has all the ingredients to exceed your average summer blockbuster film.

My expectations: High. Usually when I say high, if I leave the theater saying “wow,” then my expectations were exceeded. While I didn’t have the “wow” factor, I found myself smiling and pleased throughout the film. My expectations were met.

Recommendation: I can definitely recommend this to science fiction fans. For those Trekkie purists out there, embrace the new Trek universe Abrams has created and just enjoy it. I feel that this is fast-paced  and action-packed for the casual movie goer to enjoy.

Re-watch value: I will re-watch this and the desire to is about medium. And when I do, I’ll re-watch it Dolby Atmos, my new favorite way to watch a movie. Yes, over IMAX, which is how I watched Star Trek last night.

Memorable: Very memorable, I’ve been thinking about this film a lot since last night.

And if you have a few minutes, watch this amusing trailer for the previous Star Trek from the guys at Screen Junkies:

To The Wonder

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Getting artsy-fartsy up in here…up in here.

to the wonder

My rating: 2 1/2 reels out of 5

There is a scene in (500) Days of Summer where Tom and Summer go to an art gallery. They try their best to explain how the art makes them feel but are only able to come up with one simple sentence. This is kind of the way I feel about Terrence Malick movie sometimes. A little background on Terrence Malick for some of my readers (thanks to some trivia from imdb). He created two masterpiece works early in his career, Badlands and Days of Heaven (both of which I still have yet to see). He then took a 20 year hiatus before coming out with The Thin Red Line (my favorite film of his) in 1998. He has a distinct style to his films. He often includes narration from one or more of his characters. Nature is usually a major element in his films. Visual dialects through images. Known as a bit of a recluse from public life and rarely gives interviews or makes appearances. Has been known to tell actors they’ll have big roles in the film but when the film is released, will find that their role was dramatically cut down or even cut out entirely. There is obviously a lot to this famed director. Most film buffs will know him. I often tell my friends that he is the most artsy-fartsy filmmaker I know. His vision is not for everyone; he is unconventional. His last movie, Tree of Life, movies theaters had to warn patrons on how the film doesn’t follow the traditional movie narrative. I’ve witnessed people leave 20 minutes into the movie because they were obviously bored. Best way to describe his movies; they are visual poetry. They are different from anything else you would ever see.

To The Wonder is a semi-autobiographical look at Terrence Malick, having married a woman from France and moving back to Texas with her. While traveling in Europe, Neil (Ben Affleck) meets Marina (Olga Kurylenko) and they fall in love. They travel back to his home in Oklahoma where problems with their relationship arises. Marina finds solace with a priest and fellow exile, Father Quintana (Javier Bardem), who is struggling with his vocation. And now is the part where I’m like Tom and Summer in that art gallery. “It’s so complex.” – Tom. “In a way, it says so much by saying so little” – Summer.  To The Wonder deals with the theme of love in a philosophical way (Malick’s undergraduate work at Harvard was Philosophy). If there is anything that the movie showed me is that love is definitely a complicated thing, whether it’s the love between two people or if it’s the love of God. 

I used to joke that it doesn’t seem that hard to act in a Terrence Malick film. All you have to do is use your body, not much dialogue involved. Unfortunately Ben Affleck has proved that it can be hard to act in his films (sorry Ben, I love the movies you direct!). According to imdb trivia, there was no script that was used during filming. Terrence Malick would give the actors pages of thoughts and independent lines every morning and he would ask them to play the emotions without speaking, just with their body. Minus Ben Affleck, everyone easily conveyed what they were thinking or feeling through their eyes and their body. And that’s the heart and soul of a Malick film, visual imagery. You need to use your mind and your emotions when viewing his films. It’s easy to forget a piece of narration or an image in his films. Often his films demand more than one viewing to get a full understanding of what he was trying to convey and even then, you may not get a full understanding.

To The Wonder is not Malick’s best work, maybe it’s because this was the shortest gap he has ever had between films, maybe he needed more time editing the film. The film received boos and cheers at the Venice Film Festival in 2012. I honestly find it hard to sit through his films. The theater I saw it at was showing it on 35mm. And from my projection days, I found myself counting reels. “Ok, one more reel to go,” I thought. Perhaps I’ve gotten tired of Malick’s style or maybe I just couldn’t engage in this story very well. Either way, the visual poem of To The Wonder is a hard one to grasp in just one viewing.

My expectations: I didn’t really have low or high expectations on this one. I expected the film to be a certain way and that’s what it ended up being.

Recommendation: I can only recommend this to Terrence Malick fans.

Re-watch Value: I would like to watch this film to analyze it more but probably pieces at a time though. My desire with this particular film is low.

Memorable: There is some memorable images in this film but the film itself won’t be memorable for me.

Iron Man 3

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Summer movie season 2013 has begun

 Iron Man

My rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 reels

Every year for me, summer officially begins the first friday in May. Summer movie season means big-budget, action-packed, thrill rides. This year we begin the season with Iron Man 3. The movie marks the beginning of Marvel’s phase 2, a group of serialized movies that will eventually lead to the second Avengers movie in 2015. Iron Man 3 is filled with lots of action and lots of humor but unfortunately gets a little complicated with writing.

Our hero, Tony Stark, is dealing with problems. He is suffering from anxiety and insomnia ever since the alien invasion in New York (or Cleveland disguised as New York, haha). As he tries to deal with his problems, a terrorist known as The Mandarin emerges and threatens the country and everything that Tony holds dear to his heart. Tony Stark is brilliantly played by Robert Downey Jr, able to humanize his character effortlessly. As with the other two Iron Man films, he is surrounded by oscar caliber talent. Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce have joined the cast and excel at their roles. Besides Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Favreau and Rebecca hall, the rest of the cast is dull. 

There is a lot I can say about this film but I feel like I would be giving away too much. I’ll say there are plot twists in this film, some you will see coming and some you won’t. There is a lot of action to satisfy the average movie goer. The movie is light-hearted with lots of humor throughout the film. Enough special effects to have the credits last more than 10 minutes in order to show everyone who was involved in the project. And yes, there is a scene at the end of the credits (the scene is humorous and does not reveal anything for the next film).  If Iron Man 3 suffers from anything, I think it is the writing. I enjoyed Tony’s journey as a person and his arc as a character. The problems I have with the writing stem from everything else. Our villain’s henchmen come off a little inconsistent with their powers and abilities. And at times, they seem a little overpowering. The story is slightly hard to follow. I just thought they complicated things with subplots and misdirection. I’m honestly not even sure what the our antagonists wanted in the film. Despite all that, Iron Man 3 is a fun movie to watch and enjoy. I was entertained throughout but it definitely felt like it was missing the wow factor.

My expectations: High. Unfortunately, when I let my expectations get high, I leave room for disappointment. Expectations were not met.

Recommendation: If you are a fan of the Iron Man movies, then you will probably enjoy it. If you are a fan of the comic book Iron Man, then you will probably not like it. I’m not familiar with the comic books but this is my best guess.

Re-watch value: I could watch this again but the desire to watch again is weak.

Memorable: Introducing my new category, “memorable.” The best movies are ones that you’ll remember for years to come and quote from endlessly. Was Iron Man 3 memorable for me? It was not.

Oblivion

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When predictability ruins a movie.

Oblivion

My rating: 2.5 reels out of 5

Oblivion started rough for me. It had an over-explanatory voiceover that laid out the world and what it had become. In my mind, this bit of dialogue didn’t leave much room for the audience (in particular, me) to discover things on their own. I was self-aware of the movie; thoughts started to cross my mind. I started to predict what will happen. Most of the time, my predictions are wrong and I am pleasantly surprised. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times. By the time third act came, I was bored and was just waiting for it to end.

Despite being boring and predictable, Oblivion is an aesthetically pleasing movie. I enjoyed the cinematography, the art direction, and the special effects. Nothing was distracting and everything complemented each other. The cast does a good job in their roles. One cast member always stands out to me every time, Melissa Leo. I didn’t even know she was in the movie until I saw the credit roll. She is always versatile in her roles and I would put her on par with Meryl Streep.

It’s ok to pay homage to older films but they should be a little more subtle. There were subtle hints that the filmmakers were fans of Star Wars. There was a scene of a drone being destroyed and it was shot in a way that reminded me of The Empire Strikes Back when the Han and Chewie destroyed a probe droid. However, some homages are overdone and have become cliché, especially with homages to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. I’m a little tired of seeing an antagonist that reminds you of Hal. Unfortunately, there’s another movie that this movie “borrows” from and that’s where the predictability of the movie came for me (to help avoid possible spoilers, I’ll omit the title of that movie). With movies, there has to be a sense of anticipation. When that anticipation is lost, you lose the audience.

My expectations: Medium Expectations. I kept hearing great things about this movie, mostly from my friends who work at a theater. Needless to say, I was disappointed.

Re-watch value: I could actually watch this movie again but I won’t go out of my way to do it. If I’m channel surfing one day and come across it, I’ll probably stop and watch it for a little bit. Like I said, it was aesthetically pleasing.

Recommendation: I can recommend this to average movie goers and those interested in seeing it.

P.S. I saw this in Dolby Atmos. Most theaters will probably only have one auditorium with this sound system and Oblivion will be gone because of Iron Man 3. If there is a theater with this system, I recommend you check it out. True surround sound.

Evil Dead

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A worthy remake/reboot

Evil-Dead-Poster

My rating: 4 reels out of 5

After the opening scene in the new Evil Dead, the film continues with aerial shots of our main protagonists driving to the cabin. Sweeping aerial shots that are very reminiscent of the opening shots in The Shining (personally, my favorite horror movie). It’s a testament to the care and passion that went into making this film. The creators are fans of the horror genre, they appreciate it and they want to add to it. I’m a fan of the original Evil Dead movies. They were scary, humorous, and good fun to watch. I never forgot about the actor that is Bruce Campbell. If Bruce and Sam Raimi had a hand in remaking this classic horror movie, then I was all for it. With director and writer Fede Alvarez, they took the original movie and were able to add to it. Definitely not as humorous and a lot more serious.

A group of friends including a brother and a sister head to a remote cabin in the woods, not to have a good time but to help their friend overcome their drug addiction. I liked this aspect of the story. It was able to add some depth to the characters and I thought everyone did a good job in developing their characters. Characters don’t have to explain where they come from, they just need to act a certain way. And the way they act can be enough to explain where they come from. Unfortunately, some of these characters still make the classic-horror-movie-mistakes, such as going off alone (what are you doing? Don’t do that! Ah, you’re screwed).

The story movies fluidly (no, I did not notice the editing) and there were some things I definitely didn’t expect to happen. I like being pleasantly surprised. The music gets a little interesting in the end, the composer throws some sound effects in that were a little distracting for me. The movie lacks humor like its predecessors but I liked the seriousness of the movie. Psychological horror movies scare me more than the gory horror types. This was one gory horror one I enjoyed even though I didn’t find myself scared. I did find myself grossed out and cringing at a lot of parts because it would suck if that happened to me or anyone I know. I’m sure, Evil Dead, will please most audience and leave some screaming (There was this one woman in my audience that warned us that she’s a screamer. She was not kidding, biggest screamer I have ever witnessed in a movie viewing). Was this the most terrifying film I have ever experienced? No. 

My expectations: Medium expectations. The marketing on this movie was pretty big. A friend of mine said it looked overhyped. I wasn’t way excited to see this movie but I wanted to see it and horror is my least favorite genre to watch. My expectations were exceeded.

Re-watch value: When I heard reports from friends of how gross this movie was, I was expecting something far worse when I actually saw it (have I been desensitized?!). With that said, there is some interesting imagery that I won’t forget for a while and there was nothing in this film that was worse than Kevin Ware’s compound fracture during this year’s NCAA tournament (look it up at your own risk). So would I watch this again? Yes, I would.

Recommendation: I would only recommend this to horror fans and fans of the original Evil Dead movies. It’s not for the faint of heart.

Any fans of the original Evil Deads should wait until after the credits, it’s short but I was amused.

Jurassic Park 3-D

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They don’t make them like this anymore.

Jurassic Park

My rating: 5 reels out of 5

When I first watched Jurassic Park with my mom (one of my oldest fondest memories with my mom, love you!) I actually had a bad headache. Despite not feeling well, I thought to myself as I slunk in my chair, this movie is awesome. It’s pretty amazing when you watch a favorite movie from your childhood and it’s even better than your remembered, especially when your perspective changes after you learn how movies are made. Jurassic Park still amazes me with the depth of the characters, the beautiful soundtrack, and the captivating story. It pleased audiences nearly 20 years ago and it will please audiences for years to come.

Advice Mallard

Saw someone created this meme and I just had to re-post it, after I did some spelling corrections, haha.

You know a movie is great when despite knowing what happens, you still feel the tension and emotion in a scene. I still feel the anticipation as the ground shakes when the T-Rex is coming, I still feel the fear of the children trying to hide from the Raptors, and I still got goosebumps when Dr. Alan Grant sees the dinosaurs for the first time and the theme music starts to play. Jurassic Park is definitely one of the finest achievements in recent cinema history. It has a depth to the characters without having to explain where they came from too much; great ensemble cast. John Williams creates a beautiful and memorable piece of music that will have you saying everything to the tune of it (like my friend did after the movie last night, lol) or acting like Peter Griffin. The story moves along smoothly and doesn’t drag anywhere. As a wannabe film editor, when I don’t notice the editing, then you’ve done a great job in my book (great work, Michale Kahn!).

If you’re only familiar with Jurassic Park on dvd, or even VHS (haha), then I suggest you find the closest IMAX theater and check it out. I can’t imagine a better way to watch this movie. Some movies are much better on the big screen and this is one of them.

My expectations: I’ve seen the movie before and I can’t quite remember what my expectations were when I was younger. When movies get the 3D re-release treatment, my first thoughts are usually “eugh” or “money grubbing hollywood at it again.” So I have to say my expectations were a medium to low. I do despise 3-D but when a movie is on the IMAX, any reservations I have about 3D is superseded by 12,000 watts of sound. Also the 3D on the IMAX is not to bad. Safe to say my expectations were definitely exceeded.

Re-watch value: It’s been a while since I’ve seen this movie and I even own it on DVD. It took a re-release for me to watch it again. Personally, I do most of my movie watching in theaters. This movie has a lot of re-watch value but I need some kind of urge to watch it again.

Recommendation: I would recommend this movie to anyone. Um, parental discretion advised, lol.

Earlier this week, the movie world lost Roger Ebert. He has had an influence on me a little bit. May he rest in peace with Siskel on the balcony forever and ever.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

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A phrase you’ll hear often about this film or variation of: “It’s definitely better than the first.”

GI Joe

My rating: 2 reels out of 5

I’ve all but forgotten about G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, but it is the first bad movie I saw that made me look forward to a sequel. The second movie, Retaliation, was pushed back from June 2012 to a March 2013 release date, reasons being the studio wanting to add 3D to the film  but the underlying reason was they wanted to shoot additional scenes with Channing Tatum after test audiences were disappointed with the lack of screen time for the dreamy Tatum. After a long delay, the sequel is here and it doesn’t have to do much exceed its predecessor.  The best way to describe it, mindless entertainment.

It’s hard to describe a sequel without comparing it to the first film. I believe this film can stand alone from its predecessor and it’s not necessary to watch the first one. The only reason I would suggest watching the first one would be to understand the back story of Stormshadow and Snake but they touch upon it a little in this film. But if you need to know, yes it’s better than the first one. There’s honestly not much I can say about this film. It’s a mindless action movie with guns and explosions (add Dwayne Johnson to improve franchise).

My expectations: I had a strong desire to watch this movie (way to go trailer cutters, you got me excited for it). I was a little disappointed but I didn’t feel like I wasted my time.

Re-watch value: I would probably watch it again if I didn’t have to pay for it, haha.

Recommendation: I would only recommend it to people who are interested in watching it, people with low expectations, and huge fans of Dwayne Johnson.