jekyll has written 3 reviews.
The new "Star Trek" movie is excellent. As an origin story, it's accessible to non-Trekkies, but fans will better understand and appreciate some homages to the original series. There's plenty of great action and a number of surprises....
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The new "Star Trek" movie is excellent. As an origin story, it's accessible to non-Trekkies, but fans will better understand and appreciate some homages to the original series. There's plenty of great action and a number of surprises. J.J. Abrams has also done himself, and anyone else involved in sequels to come, a huge favor. With the main plot focussing on a rogue Romulan who slipped backward in time, the explanation that things change as a result both feeds the Spock aspect of the storyline, but also has what I'm certain is the very intentional effect of freeing the new movies from existing canon. J.J. Abrams may as well have walked across in the middle of the scene, holding a big neon sign saying, "Ha-Ha, fanboys, I just made it that I can tell whatever story I want!" It smartly unshackles these new movies, and this new movie certainly takes advantage of that in a few big ways. A few cutesy comedy bits were groaners, and I don't care for the new Scotty. Chekov's 'funny' accent gets a work-out, but it's not close to Voyage Home's "nuclear wessels" sequence. Kirk's rise to captaincy is ridiculously meteoric, but I can forgive that since clearly the movie needs to have a cohesive crew by the end. While Zachary Quinto is a great new Spock, the new Bones is the most spot-on, however, and Karl Urban could be DeForest Kelley's son. It's a B+/A- overall, and a solid A for fans.
Posted may 9, 2009 5:29 am pt
A genius movie that explores the premise that just a second or two of difference can make all the difference not just in your life, but in the lives of people encounter, with fortunes changing drastically. Tasked with meeting her boyfriend across...
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A genius movie that explores the premise that just a second or two of difference can make all the difference not just in your life, but in the lives of people encounter, with fortunes changing drastically. Tasked with meeting her boyfriend across town in but 20 minutes, and along the way coming up with several thousand marks in currency to replace drug money he lost, Lola sets out to do what she can. The near-constant pulse-pounding beat and European techno on the soundtrack keeps your heart racing with anticipation. Smart and intriguing flash-fowards show how the lives of those she meets are changed, for better or worse, from their run-in with Lola. As the story comes to its conclusion, it starts again, with Lola delayed just a second or two at the start, with her path altered ever so slightly, as are the flash-forwards. A final third act shows the story unfold if Lola is just a second or two quicker at the start. All-in-all, it's a great action film, with a few humorous and romantic moments thrown in, and it's so good the German language with English sustitles doesn't really distract from the good time.
Posted jan 27, 2007 8:16 pm pt
David Cross is one of those rare comedians who is never hampered by bad material, partly because he often writes such great material for himself. But no matter what medium he is working in, his participation guarantees it will be funny. He...
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David Cross is one of those rare comedians who is never hampered by bad material, partly because he often writes such great material for himself. But no matter what medium he is working in, his participation guarantees it will be funny. He possesses that "Tim Conway-esque" quality of making awful material funny, and funny material absolutely hilarious. He is one of those people who is willing to do absolutely anything to make people laugh. An Emmy-winning writer (for The Ben Stiller Show), he also co-created, and starred in, HBO's cult classic sketch comedy Mr. Show with often partner Bob Odenkirk. He first really shined on TV for me on Just Shoot Me, in his guest role as Donnie, Elliot's brother who had pretended to be brain-damaged for a decade to avoid work. He has also had brilliant turns in both Men in Black movies. His most recent success has come on FOX's Emmy-winning Arrested Development, as doctor-turned-actor Tobias Fünke. Every scene he is in he does something, no matter how subtle or grandiose, that makes the scene better for his presence. An accomplished stand-up comedian, he is also a Grammy-nominated artist for his comedy album, Shut Up, You ****ing Baby. He has also recently added videogame voiceover work to his resumé, hilariously portraying remote-control aficiando Zero in GTA: San Andreas, as well as a soldier in Halo 2. If you ever desperately need a laugh, find anything with David Cross in it. You will get what you need, guaranteed!
Posted jun 7, 2005 8:12 pm pt
