Star Trek—Film. J.J. Abrams’ long-awaited revamping of the Star Trek franchise hit the marks it needed to. As an interested fan (wouldn’t go so far to call myself a Trekker—or a Trekkie), I was dreading the “cleaning house” many people expected of non-fan Abrams, but he was incredibly respectful of previous material. He (and his screenwriters) found a great way to tell a new story with elements we’ve only heard about previously and tied them into what we already know of the characters.
But the film did take a few liberties with things—but smartly gave a good reason for that (the perfect plot-twister: time travel). I’m not sure I like the Big Change made to the mythos (as it should affect many, many previously told stories), but the franchise needed a relaunch, and this made sure it was different than what came before (but still can be glossed over as it shouldn’t affect every single being’s day-to-day).
Like I mentioned in an earlier post about the film, it started out wonderfully, by making us actually care about the characters we saw on the screen. I think Star Trek has been pretty good for most of its incarnations, but it’s also been pretty sanitary and cerebral. Opening this film with an unstoppable villain and then a heroic sacrifice (by a new father no less) shook me up like little else I’ve seen Trek-wise.
It’s not a perfect movie; it may not even be a great one, but it is more worthy of the name than many other films and series in the franchise. B+
Trailer Park Boys-- I haven’t seen the Canadian TV series this movie originated from, but I think I’ll eventually seek it out. The movie’s a bit hard to describe (compounded by not remembering many details about it 7 weeks later), but I will say it was pretty funny at the time. Three lowlifes who live in a trailer park try to pull off these ridiculous heists to net them a cool couple hundred dollars (breaking into parking meters, stealing gumball machine money). It could have been handled poorly—or at least in a Will Farrell/Adam Sandler “aren’t I acting obnoxious?” way—but this movie owned the ridiculousness of it all. They weren’t busy winking at the camera because they were living it. That’s a credit in this reality show trash world we live in. B-
Up—film. Another film I have posted previously about. Simply put: it’s brilliant. Great for kids; amazing for adults. One of the best films I’ve ever seen. Beautiful, funny, tender, unexpected. A
Wonder Woman— I’m gonna be honest and say I don’t remember hardly anything about this made-for-DVD movie. I do recall it was decent—bit not mind-blowingly good. I also recall the plot working very well (Wonder Woman has been notoriously difficult for writers to write for). I will say it made me bummed out that the Joss Whedon movie that was in the works for a short time isn’t going to be made because this proved that a good story could be told for the character—and she definitely needs a good “Wonder Woman” (as opposed to any other hero[ine]) story. C+
The Wrestler-- This is one of those tricky films for me: on one hand, it’s wonderfully written, acted, and directed; on the other hand, nothing really happened. It’s one of those films I call “slice of life” pictures that seem to be just a showcase for acting, writing, or directing as opposed to a film with a definite beginning, middle, and end.
I’m not trying to knock it too much. The acting (particularly by Mickey Rourke) was exceptional, and the story and directing were very well done. I was a big WWF/E fan back in the early part of the decade and did a lot of background (off-storyline) “research”, and I know very well what happens to many wrestlers that are past their primes. This film was incredibly true-to-life in those regards—as well as in regards to the absolute torture most of those wrestlers put themselves through to entertain the audience/get a paycheck.
I just wish something would have happened. I was hoping for some sort of climax/closure. B+
Zack & Miri Make a Porno— I watched this with a lot of trepidation because I’m not quite sure what I’ll get with a Kevin Smith movie anymore. Will it be old school Smith with thought-provoking ideas littered with scatological humor or new school Smith with tasteless jokes/characters with a hint of “something bigger” we never get? With the title, you can guess which way I leaned.
But I was wrong. Sure, the first half-hour led me down to the belief that we were going to get more poop jokes than heart, but the movie transformed itself as the titular porno was being shot. Smith deserves much of the credit, but I’ll credit Seth Rogan and especially Elizabeth Banks for giving this film the heart it needed. I think this movie really showed us what both actors are capable of.
It is unfortunate that Smith still needed to push the taste line a little. Had some of the more crude jokes/scenes been taken out, this could have been a great movie for just about anyone. B
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