Want the quick and dirty on the Star Trek relaunch. Much like Batman begins it was a solid start, lots of action but suffers somewhat from a lack of imagination. Since this one is to establish the characters, lets talk about that:

Best-
Simon Pegg immediately puts his stamp on Scotty
Zoe Saldana- gives Uhura a depth that she previously lacked
Leonard Nimoy- much more than a cameo and always always Spock

Good-
John "Harold" Cho- plays Sulu with Restrained intensity
Chris Pine makes an interesting Kirk
Bruce Greenwood is solid as Christopher Pike
Zackery Quinto does a decent job of filling some big ears

average-
Eric Bana is utterly interchangable as the Romulan bad guy

Blah
Anton Yelchin is mildly ridiculous as Chechov
I really wanted to like Karl Urban as Bones but it just didn't work out

Kirk's Mother's Name is Winona??? Really??

Latest Bond is out and doing it's normal strong performance at the US Box Office and Gangbuster overseas performance. This one has not been a critcial darling with many critics. The consensus amoungst those who were not fans is that the Daniel Craig era has been characterized by a transition from brain to brawn and that the new Bond is bears too great a resembelance to Matt Damon's Jason Bourne. This of course presumes that what most Bond fan's want are clever quips and cleverer gadgets.

I can hardly speak for Bond fan's here as I am really not much of a fan of the series, but I can remember thinking that what Bond really needed to stay alive as a franchise was a turn to a more gritty focus and away from all the bells and whistles.

Daniel Craig does a solid job of deflating Bond from jetsetting playboy spy to a gritty, physical and pragmatic operative. This is coming out on DVD soon and I strongly recommend picking up both Qauntum and Casino Royale as the latter film picks up just after the former ends and the plots intertwine.

Labels: Bond, Daniel Craig

Did you enjoy No Country for Old Men but wish is was more main stream. The Road, which is widely felt to be Cormac McCarthy's most accessible novel hits theaters in November. Look here for a sneek peak:

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/08/07/first-look-the-road/

No thats not Kris Kristoferson it Vigo Mortensen. Also stars Robert Duval, Guy Pearce and Charlize Theron. I will watch it but I would watch a movie made from McCarthy's druken napkin scribblings.

Also check out this early Joker concept art for TDK:

http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/08/07/the-dark-knight-early-joker-concept-art/

Labels: Joker, McCarty, The Road

One of the best Sci Fi fantasy movies with a hooker in it. Definitely worth picking up if you haven't seen it. William Hurt, Jennifer Connely, Keifer Sutherland and staring Rufus Sewell. Directed by Egyptian born Alex Proyas who also directed cult hit The Crow and who is in talks to direct The Silver Surfer for Marvel. Features the best creepy little bald kid in a bowler hat ever. Check out the trailer:

Labels: Hurt, Proyas, Sci Fi, Sewell, Sutherland

The Dark Knight is 4/5ths of a very good movie. Actually, to be fair, 13/15ths of a good movie. Don't agree? How many of you really liked the ending as much as the rest of the film? Is your hand up? Are you lying?

I went into the theater half expecting that the Heath Ledger reviews that I had read were fed more by emotion than by honest reaction. I liked him as an actor, but these reviews just seemed a little over the top. They were not! Ledger is everything that you want from a movie villian. He steals every scene. His is creepy, funny, frightening, interesting and most important, charasmatic in a way that Jack Nicholson's 1989 Joker totally missed. the 130 minutes or so with Ledger is a thrill ride for fan and non-fan alike. This performance shows what can be created when an actor and director take this material seriously. Anyone who ever read comics knows that this set of characters and mythology has been used to create everything from absolute drek to masterworks likes Frank Miller's Dark Knigt Returns.

*** Spoilers********

But here is the rub, after Ledger makes his final appearance with more the 20 minutes left the air goes out of the balloon. We then proceed to go on a maudlin 20 minute romp with Aaron Eckhart's two face, who by the way if he was burned that badly would have not just every infecton known to man but also a serious case of dead. Eckhart has been given two or three scenes to develop the character from DA to murderous menace capable of horrific, maniacal villany and mayhem.The final showdown produced the first and only real sniggers from the audience. I had assumed with less than 30 minutes left that Nolan was developing Two-Face to be one of the villans in the next film. The actual ending seems tacked on and stinks of Big Studio. Of course, based on the weekend numbers, it also stinks of big bucks.

Here is my other problem. Chistian Bale's Batman is monotone and deadly dull in this movie. I have to watch Batman begins again because I don't remember disliking his portrayal in that film. I think I know why. He does a good job of with Bruce Wayne, its just Batman that stinks. Tell me the hoarse voice deadpan delivery doesn't get stale. Big surprise for me, because I have always thought that he was a fantastic actor but he is every bit as lame as Keaton, Kilmer and Yes! even Clooney in this one.

Every other name including Michael Caine(is he a Sir yet?, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldham, Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal delivers exactly the spot on performance that you expect from pros of their caliber. Chris Nolan with help from his brother Johnathan, who wrote the origianl story that later became Memento, does another superb job and I can only hope the he continues to pump this franchise full of life. Those of you who are feeling reminded of 1995 Heat pat yourselves on the back as Nolan cites this as a major influence on the film. When asked why he went with Ledger as the Joker when such heavyweights as Robin Williams, Paul Bettany and Adrien Brody had expressed interest, Nolan stated simply, "Because he is fearless". Pat yourself on the back for that one Christopher.

Labels: Batman, Chris Nolan, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight