Movie Details
| Title: | Star Trek | |
| Director: | J.J. Abrams | |
| Year: | 2009 | |
| Genre: | Sci-Fi | |
| Times Seen: | 2 | |
| Last Seen: | 05.12.09 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (0)
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 05.12.09 | Other Theater | Since I saw this movie less than a week ago, I'm not going to re-comment on its merits. Other than to say... (1) it still holds up, (2) why the hell does a "peaceful drilling vessel" need to be so big?m and (3) why does it have so many damn weapons? Anyway. I found out today on Twitter that the Cinemark in Plano just opened an XD3 theater, which is its IMAX equivalent as far as I can tell. I found this out on the second day of the Aziz Hates Fake IMAX debacle of 2009. And since information about this new format is slim-to-none online (given that the technology is only 2 weeks old), I decided to drive 20 miles each way to check it out. And... I'm pretty disappointed. The screen is big but not IMAX big. So I say about 8 rows back. And there was a noticeable screen-door effect. So I moved a few rows back. And that took care of the screen-door problem, but that made the experience far less immersive and much closer to a regular theater. Although faces looked good, there were still jaggies issues on round, computer-generated objects. Plus, the sound in either seat was far less gut-punching than the 100% Dolby Digital sound at the Studio Movie Grill on Royal where I saw the movie the first time. I know... I was surprised as anyone. So... yeah... I won't be rushing back to the XD3. There's a theater in Dallas that shows 15/70 IMAX, and I plan on hitting it up this weekend to do a one-to-one comparison of Star Trek to see which format I prefer. |
| 05.07.09 | Studio Movie Grill | There are a lot of things I want to say about this movie but I'll just put up front that I'm a massive fan. It's easily the best time I've had at a wide-release film since Wanted last year. Even if the film never amounts to anything more than a big dumb summer blockbuster (and I think it does), it's a pitch-perfect example of how to do a big dumb summer blockbuster. It's entertaining as hell and there's no bits where I was bored or embarassed to be a fan. And - besides that - I'm thinking this movie is going to age really, really well. The bottom line is that I left the movie with such an overwhelming sense of excitement and happiness over what I'd just experienced... it's moments like that that drive me to keep watching movie after movie. These are the moments I'm constantly searching for. Ok... let me just gush over the stuff I loved. First of all, that opening battle... brilliant, breathtaking stuff. The moment where the crewmember gets sucked out into space and everything goes silent was particularly effective. Then we get our first look at the young James T. Kirk, and he's blasting Beastie Boys. Perfect! It was a nice way to bridge between our time and theirs, though I'm not sure why a rebel like Kirk would be listening to such a golden oldie! The casting of the main crew was also completely spot-on. It's amazing that a series with such a massive following and such a distiguishable cast can relaunch itself with completely new actors and still feel so tied in to the original series. Caveat: I grew up watching TNG and was never that big of a fan of TOS. But still, seeing these guys in their prime... it was really fantastic. Every bit of dialogue with the main cast just crackled with energy... like each of the characters inherently knew what was in store for them over the next two decades, and were just itching to finally get to the right place to start their adventures. Chekov and Scotty (bless ye, ya brilliant Simon Pegg) in particular were live-wire-esque in their performances. I'm sure part of the energy I felt from watching this comes by way of comparison to the only Original Star Trek that *I* grew up watching... the movies starting with IV. By that time the cast, though still good, was definitely aged and slowing down. Probably because of that fact, I've always been more of a Picard guy than a Kirk guy. I always figured Picard could out-fight, out-score, and out-lead Kirk any day. But now... and I feel kinda like a traitor to my younger self for saying this... I'm thinking the Chris Pine Kirk could totally out-everything Picard. The guy is just... perfect... there's no other way to say it. Pine's machismo charisma reminds me a lot of a young Bruce Willis, and this reboot wouldn't have worked nearly as well as it did without him. (That being said... I'm not sure I can see him being this perfect for other non-Kirk roles... hopefully we'll be able to see a lot more of him as Kirk). Other things I liked... the head-whipping feeling I got every time the ships went into warp... Chekov's "wicktor, wicktor, six" moment... Pegg's rant to the tiny alien about how he can get by with eating a single bean... Nimoy's heartfelt first meeting with Kirk and his request that he "live long and prosper"... Nimoy's later meeting with himself and saying that his usual fairwell would be "strangely self-serving"... the moment the Enterprise got itself out of the black hole (I was holding my breath at that bit and actually let out a whoop when it happened)... the stunning moment when we first see the Enterprise in space... Kirk's attempt to hit on Uhura in the bar and subsequent interaction with the Starfleet Cadets ("go get some more guys and then it'll be a fair fight"... heh)... hell... there was nothing about this movie that annoyed me even in the slightest. I really do want to see this again in the theater. I actually wanted to go buy some Star Trek toys after the movie let out, but the Target near my house was already closed. Tomorrow perhaps. Such a great movie! |