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Star Trek Into Darkness Review

Bendedict Cumberbatch as Commander John Harrison

Rating: 3.5/4

J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek Into Darkness” launches the first great blockbuster of the 2013 summer. The film launches straight into action with Kirk (Chris Pine) and Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) running away from a primitive civilization on a distant planet whilst Spock (Zachary Quint) stops the imminent destruction of the planet from a volcano. Shortly after returning to Earth and Kirk being stripped of his command of the Enterprise, Starfleet finds itself under siege from former Starfleet agent John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). “Into Darkness” also brings about the addition of Alice Eve as Carol Marcus (Kirk’s ex and mother of his child in non-alternate reality). 

I’m just going to go ahead and spoil it but Harrison is Khan, one of Star Trek’s most famous villains. There are some slight continuity issues with including Khan due to London being destroyed during WWIII in the Star Trek cannon. Nevertheless, Cumberbatch is thrilling to see as Khan though and a far superior villain to that of Eric Bana’s Nero in the 2009 “Star Trek”.

That said, I feel that Abrams and the writers of “Into Darkness” may have stepped into murky waters with utilizing Khan as the main villain of the film. This film will undoubtedly be compared to “Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan”, the series most acclaimed film. Justly so though, the film gives a fair too many winks to fans of the series by essentially mirroring many elements of “Wrath of Khan”. The film even goes as far as including the famed Khan scream of “Wrath of Khan”. “Into Darkness” brings back one of the greatest things of the rest of the Star Trek cannon though and that is the commentary on real life world issues. Khan’s characterization is surely based upon the post 9/11 world that we live in and it’s a joy to see Star Trek going back to using these metaphorical themes that reflect our contemporary society.

Winking aside, the film is a thrilling ride for Star Trek fans and for those who wish to enjoy a good popcorn flick this summer. The film corrects many of the missteps of the first film with a better constructed plot, better characterizations, and more SImon Pegg. For the record, more Simon Pegg is always on my list of things a movie could use. 

You suck NBC

For decades,  NBC stood as a channel meant for quality television. They had Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, and more recently shows such as Community and 30 Rock. Some of the finest television shows of all time have been on NBC and I still think it could be that channel.

Robert Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC

With NBC’s upfront announcements, I hereby declare that you suck Robert Greenblatt (NBC’s Chairman) and you suck NBC. It is baffling just looking at what shows they ordered, what shows they passed up on, and the actual scheduling is an entire ordeal in itself.

What looks like complete junk/What shows NBC dropped the ball on

Out of NBC’s returning lineup, only two sitcoms survived (Parks and Rec and Community). Leading to a lot of shows being picked up.

NBC has a show that does mediocre ratings for their network for two years (miserable on any other) and then decides to cancel it. A few days after, they decide to pickup a show with one of the stars of their recently canceled show. If this sounds bizarre and stupid, that’s because NBC is exactly that. They canceled Whitney and promptly picked up Undateable starring once again Chris D’Elia. 

Even more baffling is that they picked this up instead of John Mulaney’s show. While Mulaney isn’t a star by any means, it sounds like Mulaney could have been a really solid television show channeling Lorne Michaels. Mulaney is a star moments away from becoming the next big thing and NBC passed up on it. The show also had Martin Short and Elliot Gould in it, two actors alone who would at least have me give the show a look at.

Welcome to the Family looks well stupid frankly. I don’t find Mike O’Malley a big enough persona to carry a show like this and the trailer makes it look like another one of NBC’s shortlived sitcoms that barely make it past a few episodes. It’s too bad this show will take Joseph Haro from MTV’s Awkward though, a show that he does very well on in his limited role. 

Let’s talk Scheduling

For a number of years, NBC has relied on having a strong comedy block on Thursday nights to survive. This makes sense since a lot of ad revenue comes from this night due to things like new movies opening up on weekends. 

Parks and Recreation is going to get slaughtered in the 8 p.m. opening slot. I love Parks and Rec but only a fool would think that it’ll survive against Big Bang Theory and The X-Factor/American Idol. Small time Community has done well in this slot for a number of years due to its small but devoted fan base. When you only have two returning sitcoms (Parks and Rec/Community), you don’t throw one of them to the wolves to be eaten.

NBC is basically asking its former NBC stars to save their network

Next order of business. Sean Saves the World is taking the highly coveted 9 p.m. slot that has previously been home to The Office for a number of years. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING NBC?!?! This is probably the most baffling thing NBC is doing with their new lineup aside from not picking up Mulaney’s show. The 9 p.m. slot is your bread and butter, the base to your pyramid, the anchor of your network. But of all things NBC decides to do, it puts a multi-cam sitcom with former Will & Grace star Sean Hayes.

Michael J. Fox returns to television along with Breaking Bad’s Betsy Brandt

What’s even more baffling is that they passed up putting Michael J. Fox’s show in this slot, the show that already is signed and guaranteed for a full season 1 order. People love Michael J. Fox, I love Michael J. Fox. It seems so incredibly bizarre that they wouldn’t put this in the anchor slot. Honestly, I could run a television station better than Mr. Greenblatt. 

It’s obvious what Greenblatt is trying to do here with the complete picture of Parks and Rec, Welcome to the Family, Sean Saves the World, the Michael J. Fox Show, and Parenthood. They’re trying to essentially live in the 1980’s, but guess what? It’s the year 2013. NBC is trying to recreate a lineup similar to that of the Cosby/Family Ties lineup of the 80’s and also with a taste of Modern Family. 

I want NBC to do well, but I think this channel needs some serious changes in management in order to survive. Television viewers deserve better than the mess that is your network.

The Host Review

Rating: 0/4

I’ve seen a lot of bad movies in my days and The Host gets to join my beloved list of worst films ever made. I was seeing it at the local dollar theater and figured that it might at least entertain me for a few hours. This movie made me physically angry with just how stupid it was.

The Host stars Oscar nominated Saiorse Ronan as Melanie Stryder, a girl in a dystopian like future in which aliens or something take over human brains and control their bodies. In the first few minutes, Melanie is caught by a group of aliens and consequently imprisoned by one named “The Wanderer”. If this movie sounds ridiculous, that’s because it is. 

For the duration of the 125 minute run time of this movie, you get to hear Melanie and the Wanderer bicker back and forth about the boys they love. Frankly though, I just don’t care.

Given the fact that this movie is based off a Stephanie Meyers’ book, I probably should have expected all of this. I went in thinking that it could at least be a fun time. Instead I sat through two hours of cringe worthy dialogue and just an overall dumb plot. 

As the late Roger Ebert once said “No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough.” This movie had like what felt like 2 or 3 endings and I’ve never had such a deep desire to see the credits of a film.  

I think one of the main problems with this film is that you have some legitimately great actors and people behind the scenes but instead you got this movie. Saiorse Ronan is one of the more talented actresses her age as evidenced by her performances in Atonement and Hanna. I hope she got paid good for this movie because she definitely just lost some street cred on this. 

Best Actor winner William Hurt is criminally underused in this film. He deserves better as an actor and we as viewers to see him in better movies. 

Andrew Niccol needs to sit back and watch some of the movies he’s written/directed and realized what’s gone wrong. I find him very hit or miss as a director. My favorite film of his, Lord of War, shows that he’s a very capable director and writer. I suppose when you’re working with material like this, you can only get a movie so good.

Anyways, this movie sucks. 

Iron Man 3 Review

Rating: 3/4

Director/Writer Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) brings some much needed personality into the latest Marvel film Iron Man 3. One of the things the Marvel series has been missing has been a personal touch of emotion and humor. While I enjoy most of the other films, they very much do feel like cookie cutter films made with a recipe by Disney executives.

When you have a movie written and directed by Shane Black, you’re bound for a fun time and Iron Man 3 is exactly that. Nonlinear storytelling, cliches embraced and flipped upside down, and set during Christmas; all the classic Shane Black touches are there.

So what’s good and what’s bad? Well I think this is clearly the best written and directed of the series. For those who aren’t aware, Iron Man didn’t really have a screenplay and Iron Man 2’s screenplay certainly had its problems. Jon Favreau’s directing was adequate but nothing to write home about.

While Iron Man 3 has a mostly good script, it does have problems. The “bad guys” motivations are somewhat unclear. Why do they want to take over the world after Tony Stark pissed them off in 1999? I have no idea, but the film just kinda autojumps from alright guy to straight up evil. Then there’s some confusion for me on some other things. Like how does the Extremis virus work? I have no idea what it takes to actually kill somebody with Extremis and its never really explained in the film.

Perhaps I’m asking too much when I ask for logic but whatever. This movie is still fun. RDJ is the same RDJ we’ve come to love over the years  post-drugs RDJ that is. I very much did enjoy the narration from RDJ that felt like it was channeling something right out of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. 

Anyways, its a solid popcorn film but nothing more. You’ll most likely laugh for 2 hours and have a jolly old time.

Why you should be watching Awkward.

The other week I found myself consumed in the most unlikely of television shows. MTV’s “awkward.” is doing something really fascinating as a television show and especially within the genre of teen comedies. 

I was just thinking the other day about how this genre has sort of fallen by the way side or perhaps it’s just that I don’t find myself interested in them. I figured I would give “awkward.” a chance though, one episode couldn’t hurt.

The show walks a fine line of simultaneously being aware of the tropes of the genre while also embracing them. This show is very fun and quite charming though and has me gasping at moments of surprise or joy.

This show is cheesy in the best ways possible. Television could take a lesson from shows like “awkward.” and lighten up a bit. In the show’s cheesiness though, it is incredibly honest and completely representative of high school though. Then again, my life still seems to be full of cheese. Maybe those things don’t change after all. 

The show is not perfect, especially some of the arcs in Season 2. Particularly how they temporarily turn Jake into a jerk and then not. This show is still worth checking out though.

I hope that Season 3 brings good things just like the show’s Seasons 1 and 2. If the show’s writers were smart, they’d play a lot more on Jenna and Sadie’s hatred of one another. Sadie is actually one of my favorite characters in the show, her sarcasm is one of the finer points of the show.

Anyways, Awkward. appears to be available on Netflix through next Monday and I believe it’s also streaming on MTV’s website for those of you without Netflix.

To quote Sadie Saxton, “You’re welcome”

The Tipping Point of Cultivating Mass

I was sitting on a flight from Denver to Madison when I happened to sneak a glance at the woman’s phone next to me. The text she was sending was complaining about how uncomfortable she was because of the big guy next to her.

That person was me.

It’s hard to face the facts sometimes and this was most definitely one of those times. I remember looking at myself in the mirror several times  over Christmas break thinking about what that woman had written on her phone. I also noticed a large distinct double chin that didn’t go away no matter what way I positioned my face. Over Christmas break I sat on the couch doing nothing but watch Netflix and playing video games while eating large amounts of food because surely that would be the answer to all of my problems. After a month of that, I came back to school and continued to do very little about a problem I knew had been troubling me for most of my life.

Near the end of January one day, I stepped on my bathroom scale and knew for certain that a change had to be made.  I’ve tried losing weight in the past with little success or dedication. This time was different though. I realized how little dedication I had put towards myself, how little self control I had, and how little I cared about myself.

I decided to count calories this time around using a website called My Fitness Pal. It’s a really nifty website that tells you how many calories you can eat in a day based on your height and weight. They have apps for android and iOS that let you enter in almost any food you can think of.

The first few weeks were brutal, mostly because I had no idea what I was doing. I quickly realized that my diet of chicken nuggets and french fries had to come to an end. I still don’t eat that great but I’ve certainly become more health conscious since I started counting calories. I try to focus more on eating things like chicken breasts, fruits, and veggies. Then just drinking water more as well.

I’ve also incorporated a bit of exercise into my daily regimen. I bought one of these fancy pedometers called a fitbit. It syncs up with my myfitnesspal account and updates my calories based on how much I walk or don’t walk throughout the day. I try to walk the predetermined goal the makers of fitbit set of 10,000 steps per day which is roughly 5 miles. While I don’t reach it every day, it’s always something I’m thinking of throughout the day. I don’t really mind walking, it gives me plenty of time to clear my mind and reflect on various thoughts I have. It’s a bit relaxing to be honest. I’m not sure I’d ever be one to just run for an extended period of time, I much prefer the simplicity of walking. That and I am incredibly lazy, walking is the simplest and laziest form of exercise I know. 

I also bought a kitchen scale which I’ve found to be quite useful in my weight loss endeavor. I mean, who knows what 4 ounces of chicken looks like? Or an ounce of Doritos? Yeah, I still eat Doritos. They’re delicious. Except instead of consuming the bag in the span of two days, It’s more like a week now. 

But anyways, over the 10 weeks since I’ve started this endeavor I’ve lost about 32 pounds. While I still have a long way to go, I think I’ve finally gotten into a good habit. I’m eating much better and much happier with myself because of that. I weigh less now than I did since probably my sophomore year of high school, kinda crazy. 

So long and see you at the movies

Just a few short days ago Ebert wrote his final published words

So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I’ll see you at the movies.

Today in class I read the news that Ebert had died of cancer and I just felt an extreme sense of emptiness. A lot of the ways I think about film and life in general are heavily influenced from reading his reviews religiously over the past several years. 

Reading Ebert’s  movie reviews wasn’t just helpful for figuring out what movies to go see on a week to week basis, it helped grow my love of film. I wouldn’t be the same person if it weren’t for the influence that Roger Ebert has had on me.

It’s a shame his last movie he reviewed had to be “The Host”. That said, enjoy watching the intro to Siskel & Ebert and see you at the movies.