Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Star Trek Into Darkness is director/producer J.J. Abrams sequel to his enormously successful 2009 film Star Trek, which successfully rebooted Paramount Studio's ailing sci-fi franchise of the same name. In the 2009 film we were reintroduced to the original characters who filled the bridge of the starship Enterprise from the 1960's TV series. Star Trek brilliantly united both the old and the new in a thrillingly fun outing that set the stage for a Trek comeback.

Star Trek Into Darkness is the fulfillment of that comeback.

The plot is simple. When a mysterious terrorist (played ruthlessly by Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch) begins attacking Starfleet targets, Captain James T Kirk (Chris Pine) leads his crew on a mission to bring the man to justice.

The execution of that plot is far more layered and engrossing than one simple sentence conveys.

There's action a-plenty. And it's edge of your seat, pulse pounding sequences of complex scenarios. And there's effects. We're talking top-tier realistic effects that suck you into the picture, and wash you over with awe. But the core of the thrill in this film is the story. The story of relationships.

The driving force behind the movie is the relationship between Kirk, and his friend, the Vulcan science officer Spock (Zachary Quinto). Their character traits at once play perfectly against each other, and in harmony at the same time. And when crises moments arise you find yourself caring more about their friendship than any action occurring around them.

Thrown into the mix are communications officer Uhura (Zoe Saldana) whose relationship with Spock and longstanding friendship with Kirk is another driving force. Simon Pegg's Scotty has a vital role in this film as does Bruce Greenwood's Captain Pike from the previous film.

The rest of the crew is there, and all play important parts in the film. But there's some fascinating guest stars as well, including Robocop's Peter Weller as a no-nonsense Starfleet Admiral.

Into Darkness also deftly incorporates aspects of previous Trek films and story lines to keep the die hard fans not only satisfied, but happy with the twists and turns this film takes on those previous events.

All in all, a well acted, fantastically shot, energetically written story that will keep you enthralled and focused entirely on what happens next in the film. And you will find yourself gasping and cheering all along the way of this thrilling ride.

10/10.

Elysium (2013)

Elysium was not quite as good as District 9. District 9 was wholly original and unique, full of fresh ideas and moral narrative. Elysium while full of similar moral narrative, also had the misfortune of having the Hollywood gloss applied to its story. Cheap manipulations of emotion via climax and score, not to mention unambiguous victims and oppressors. Good vs. Evil is ok (in this case the Good being the poor and the Evil being the wealthy), but I would have liked to have seen further elucidation on the character and motives of the inhabitants of Elysium. A good morality tale overall, but not as nuanced and detailed as District 9 was. It wrapped up too nicely, too happily, too Hollywood.

My other beef was the use of my old nemesis the shaky-cam. I don't recall such blur in District 9. Only the shaky-cam can take intense action and turn it into a frustrating episode of vertigo, and unfortunately it was on high display in Elysium.

Other than those two beefs, it was a good film. Neil Blomkamp has made another quality entry into the science-fiction pantheon.

8/10.

Pacific Rim (2013)

One of the worst movies I've seen in the theater in a while. I almost got up and left, but I paid ten bucks to see it. I wouldn't have missed much if I had. The acting was the only decent thing about the film. The visual effects were muddy, and for some reason every battle scene was blurred by rain. The respect of the laws of physics was non-existent. And the story, ho-boy the story. While there were a couple of original touches, for the most part it was rehashed cliches. Del Toro even went so far as to steal plot points from not only Independence Day, but also the dreadful Emmerich remake of Godzilla from the 1990's. The rousing speeches all sounded familiar. The conflicts between characters had been done before in every other movie in history. It was overall a very dumb, very boring, very noisy rehash of pretty much every other film of it's genre. I'm only giving it as high a rating as I am because the actors were all quite exceptional in working with what they were given. 3/10.

The X-Files: Jose Chung's "From Outer Space"

I finished rewatching season five of the X-Files last weekend which allowed me to rewatch the film for the first time since it was in theaters. In honor of that, I'm posting a five photo album from my favorite episode that I had posted on my old deleted reddit account.

Writer Darin Morgan again proves he's brilliant by stitching together a plethora of neat references and deadpan humor into a seamlessly entertaining story that respectfully pokes fun at the series itself. Here are some of my favorite moments.

"You ever flown a flying saucer? Afterwords, sex seems trite."

Notice the mashed potato homage to Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. 

"I didn't spend all those years playing Dungeons and Dragons

and not learn a little something about courage."

Notice the "I Want To Believe" poster in Blaine's room. 

Conspiracy hound Jesse Ventura as a Man In Black 

Ventura performs a Pendulum Backbreaker on Blaine 

"As for Reynard Muldrake, a ticking timebomb of insanity, 

his quest into the unknown has so warped his psyche one 

shudders to think how he receives any pleasures from life."

Easy. By masturbating while watching the Patterson-Gimlin film.

Man Of Steel (2013)

I quite liked Man Of Steel. Mostly because of the story, which I thought was the film's strongest feature. I will reveal no spoilers here, but I will say I found no fault with the story or script. Goyer and Nolan are quite brilliant.

The casting was an accomplishment as well. Everyone except for Amy Adam's timid Lois Lane seems perfectly chosen for the part. I mean Kevin Costner as Pa Kent? Come on now, that's a match made in heaven. And Fishburne as Daily Planet editor Perry White was a nice choice too. Just the right amount of gruffness for his brief parts. I also enjoyed seeing Henry Lennox again for the first time personally since The Matrix sequels. I only wished there was a scene involving him barking orders at Fishburne, that would've made me squeal with delight. Russel Crowe, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, and of course Henry Cavill all seemed like the only logical choices for their respective parts as well.

If it were up to the work of the screenwriters and actors alone, I would've rated this film a 9/10. I firmly expected the action and effects to send it into the 10 range. Oh how disappointed I was in that respect.

Goddamn the "shaky cam" and the effing "snap pan and zoom"! Those two overused and unnecessarily relied on techniques have ruined more movies for me than I can count. Now I don't fault Joss Whedon for developing the snap-pan and the snap-zoom. His use of them in Firefly was done with restraint and logic: only in action scenes and only for a purpose, not just for effect. I do however fault everyone else in Hollywood for not knowing how to use them correctly.

I also fault Paul Greengrass for bringing the shaky-cam to the blockbuster movies. Starting with his overuse of it in The Bourne Supremacy in 2004, Hollywood seems to be using it in action films (and even some dramas) almost as much as they jerk off! (I'll leave alone the plain implication of what they're up to behind the camera to get the effect.) The only director I'm aware of who can get away with the shaky-cam technique is J.J. Abrams. But he does the camera work himself, and he although he does it stylistically, he doesn't overdo it.

All that said, Snyder needs to leave these two techniques alone. He hasn't even used the shaky-cam before to my memory, and his inexperience shows plainly here. And while the comics are full of Sups and his enemy of the month smashing eachother through buildings and generally causing havoc, I was greatly disappointed with the overuse of the aforementioned camera techniques in those scenes. Because, while I was pleased to see those sequences included in the film, the only practical result was I couldn't really tell what the fuck was going on.

Also of note, my viewing of the film resulted in hearing loss. It was so loud in the action parts that not only couldn't I see what was going on, but I couldn't make out what they were saying either. Now, I'm not sure if that was due to The Warren's sound settings or due to the film's sound designer/editor being a deaf fuckass. I'll have to withhold this mark-up or mark-down until a subsequent viewing, a viewing wherein I will be bringing earplugs... just in case.

Overall, I'm going to rate this film an 8/10. A point lower solely due to the shitty camera work. When I see this movie again, should the sound also prove to be as shitty as it was this time. That rating is going down to a 7/10. You cant have an action movie that's just a blur of motion and a blare of noise, that's just fucking stupid.

8/10.

Argo (2012)

Argo was awesome. Intense and suspenseful to the end. It illustrates how the power of film crosses all boundaries, particularly in the interrogation scene. And in spite of it's historical inaccuracies present in the movie, Affleck's choice to have the players and scenery physically resemble the real thing was a nice touch that few movies portray. 8/10.

Fast & Furious 6 (2012)

Fast & Furious 6 was a lot of fun. It was dumb, cliched, and unrealistic. But as long as you suspend your disbelief, suspend it waaaayy up there, your gonna have a good time. 6/10.

Also, thanks to reddit I found a picture that sums up the whole movie nicely...

Donovan's Atlantis in Goodfellas

Scorsese is the master of the soundtrack. How anyone would think to match Donovan's Atlantis to a scene involving Joe Pesci and Robert Deniro beating Frank Vincent to a pulp is a mystery, but it works magically: Here's the song. Here's the scene.

Mazes and Monsters (TV 1982)

Mazes and Monsters is one terrible made for TV movie. Supposedly about Tom Hanks going crazy while playing Dungeons and Dragons (though they couldn't use the copyrighted name cause its basically one of those "D&D is the devil" stories), its terribly written, cornily acted, and the visual quality is basically shit. Tom Hanks is his usual genial self, but he doesn't have much to work with. I cant believe I used to think this movie was good... of course I was 9 last time I saw it. But it still holds a special place in my heart, so I can't give it too low a rating. 5/10.

The villainous Stephen from Django Unchained

Django Unchained was a painfully/joyously cathartic film. A true masterpiece. But I would like to take a moment to comment as to why I feel Samuel L. Jackson's Stephen was a truly villainous villain, brilliantly written by Tarantino and utterly inhabited by Jackson.

To start with, DiCaprio's Calvin Candie was utterly villainous himself, but he's your standard "petulant child emperor" character. Like Commodus from Gladiator he is bored with his existence and only cruelty and domineering over others brings him pleasure. This kind of sadism, while utterly villainous, is a different flavor from Stephen's twisted villainy.

Stephen was utterly villainous for the following reasons:

One, he was a conniving, plotting, Shylock-like weasel of a simpering villain. Devising and sneaking around doing his evil masters bidding. The only character that comes to mind for true comparison is Shakespearian courtier Iago from Othello, or Iago the parrot from Alladin for the pop culture referral.

Two, he is a manipulative villain, always putting ideas of cruelty in Candie's head. When Candie admonishes him or dismisses his intentions, he makes them even sweeter with his devil's tongue to the point that he has become the master of this household of horror.

Three, and this is most prescient, he is a traitor. A traitor to his race. Candie was evil, but his evil was aligned with the one systemic norm of the time, racism. I don't believe Stephen even identifies himself as black anymore. He goes so far as to maintain the brutal household's financial affairs, to personally oversee the torture of his fellow slaves in far crueler methods and durations than his master, and upon identifying opportunities overlooked by his master to practice cruelty upon his brothers and sisters, he happily guides Candie's hand to the literal whip.

Lastly, he's a player hater, plain and simple, through and through. Taking joy in the cutting down of others to or below his level is his sustenance. Take Clifton Powell's Chauncy from Menace II Society. Multiply it times 9,999, you're getting closer to Steven.

So it is with all these villainous traits in mind that we experience the utter jumping-up-and-down-hand-clapping joy in witnessing that side of violence that Tarantino calls "the cathartic fun of violence"